More fun with Grandma and Papa

Skiing, shopping, birthday celebrations and more play time!  Thank you Mom and Dad for a great visit-we always love to see you!

Papa and Owen hitting the slopes

Grandma Sue and the kids warming up at the lodge by the fire

birthday shrimp cocktails

steak salad

sneaking upstairs with a cake

ready for church

lunch with Papa

hot potatoe

Early Birthday and Playtime with Papa and "Sue"

The temp when we woke up was -6 so most of us were happy playing inside for the day.  Owen is loving the open space of the basement and he and Papa spent time playing ball and building lego towers.    Grandma Sue, who Owen keeps calling "Sue", helped me decorate ladybug cupcakes and also got some good one on one time with Clara.  We took advantage of having both sets of Grandparents here and celebrated Clara's birthday early...she loved it.  

lego towers-well, they were 2 seconds before I took the picture

ladybug cupcakes

Owen putting Papa down for a nap
Owen fell asleep with Papa soon after reading that book to him

horsey rides with  Grandma

Sari & Felton Grandparents

helping Clara with her cupcake

LOVING her cupcake...she carefully scraped off all the frosting to eat first

enjoying her new toys & bow

new shades from Auntie Lis

Welcome Mom & Dad!

We are looking forward to picking up Grandma and Papa at the airport tomorrow!  It's bound to be a cold but super fun weekend...we are all very excited to see you-travel safe!!

Yellowstone Park

This is just a snippet of our trip to Yellowstone last weekend.  We drove to Cooke City on Friday afternoon and spent 3 nights at a one-room cabin at the end of the road, literally.  The kids were awesome travelers and we did get a little sleep in our cozy cabin.  Check out the Yellowstone link for the whole album...see what happens when you let us loose in a beautiful place with 2 cameras!

the happy snowshoers

our hike ended here b/c the bison in the background is resting on the trail :)

the kindof-cold-happy-to-have-a-snack-in-hand hikers

the big city

look at this HUGE fella as tall as that jeep

also a big guy and so exciting to see

Unusual Fruit

Call me a dork, but I love Owen's preschool assignments.  Today his assignment was to bring an "unusual fruit".  So, Owen and I set out for the grocery store.  We consulted the produce man after learning that they did not have star fruit, and ended up taking home a pumello.  By the way, consulting the produce man is something to do more often.  He told us about pumellos and sliced one for a taste test-they are worth a try if you have not had one!

Owen and his pumello

feeling better after antibiotics, a 4 hour nap and eating a marker

Andrea Felton, M.D.

Just sayin'...Clara has an ear infection.  Owen is up at night, cranky and often draining (because of tubes).  Clara throws up, is up at night and clingy.  Neither run a fever, tug at their ears or tell me their ears hurt.  We're getting the hang of this!

Hearts and Love

heart pancake breakfast with Curious George

checking out his valentine's from preschool friends

savoring her heart sandwich...with pink cream cheese!

I love these bathing buddies!

She is in love with "Dad".
SO happy to see Daddy come in...you would never guess that she threw up on him 20 minutes later.
We are home today.  I predict ear infections but we'll keep you posted!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Weekend Happenings

Owen and I went on a date Thursday night to Brynn's band concert.  Owen has been fascinated lately with band instruments (he keeps saying Santa is going to bring him a trumpet) and it was fun to see them in action.  

Cleaning Helper #1

Cleaning Helper #2
Dyson: so easy even a 2 year old can do it.  He can even empty the filter!

It seems that maybe Mr. Groundhog was right...early spring?  We have been working (okay, mostly Brett) on the basement all weekend so we took a break to soak up some sun and play a little golf on one of our grass patches.
Stay tuned for finished basement pics soon!

Little Miss on the other hand took a snooze.  She has been a sick snuggle bug for the past few days.

New Carpet!

There is an end in sight!  Carpet in the basement means more livable space AND  no more mopping up  drywall footprints throughout the house.

before carpet

the carpet was installed today

This is actually the first time Clara got to set foot on the basement floor.

Daddy's first pony tail-pretty good huh?
I also have to point out her backward shirt...but I don't care because I love that he got her dressed and gave her a pony.  She obviously doesn't mind either!

You Are My Sunshines

I consider myself someone who enjoys and appreciates every day but these kiddos brighten my days more than anything.  Owen's imagination is amazing and I love watching him in action.  He woke up from a nap the other day and stood at the top of the stairs cupping his hands.  "This is my little baby buffalo.  Wanna see him?"  Clara and I checked out his empty hands, pet the buffalo and commented on how cute he was.  He put him down for a nap and then carried him down stairs with us.  Owen carefully set him down on the floor and said "Look at my buffalo!  He's walking!  Do ya see him Mom?"

Clara's smile is the sweetest.  Her ambition and interest in Owen is so fun to watch.  Her recent interest is  climbing up in the rocking chair on her own, rocking and trying to get down on her own.  She has face planted, but she keeps going back for more.  Then she'll stand in the chair and look at us...she loves it. 

stickers in the bathroom while I get ready
Owen was decorating Clara "look at this pretty flower girl"

naked reading

muscles

2 seconds later Clara was on the floor in front of the chair and Owen's smile was a bit bigger...
both of them were laughing

"oh nothing, just checking the time"