School crafts

Austin has been going to Mother's Day Out now for a month and it has been so great!!! He gets to do so many fun things and I know he is learning a lot. Everytime I pick him up there are multiple papers that he has colored and worked on (they do a new color, number, and letter every week). Plus he always has multiple crafts that he has made. It's nice to know that his mind is being challenged while having fun all at the same time.

Plus as his teacher says "he's learning the rules." I don't expect teachers to take the place of teaching kids what's right/wrong but it sure is nice to have someone else besides mom and dad teaching Austin how to share and take turns, etc......But everytime I pick him up he gets a big smile on his face, and says "MOMMY!!" which is then followed by a big hug and "I MISSED YOU!!" And hearing that just makes my day!! Here are all his January crafts

And his marshmellow igloo before it was eaten---yum!!

Enjoying The Weather

After so much cold and snow around Christmas and the first of the year we finally started to thaw out and had a week of warmer weather. We hit about 60 degrees a couple of days so we tried to take advantage and spend some time outside. We spent Monday afternoon at the park for about 2 hours, we spent Wednesday afternoon building sand castles at the Sonic playground, and on Friday we took a trip over to the Duck Pond.

And those ducks were HUNGRY !!!!

But the warmer weather didn't last long....the next week we were back to cold, and ice, and more snow.

We went sledding again with the usual crowd except this time Austin's friends Audra and Marion joined us!!

We have had more snow and sledding opportunities this year than usual. It is alot of fun, but I'm ready for Spring to hurry and get here.

Play Time

Mikayla and her necklaces

Austin and his clay "cookies"

And his birthday cake.....since I didn't have candles he improvised (the clay on the top of the toothpick was the fire.....he always suprises me with his creativity)

Mikayla's Least Favorite Thing

THE CAR WASH.........she still cries when we go through it!!

Mikayla's Favorite Things

1. Necklaces and Stethoscopes---she loves to put them around her neck and prance around
2. Computer off button---especially when Daddy is playing video games or mommy is blog posting
3. Whatever Austin is playing with---this makes for some inevitable tattle tailing and some tears
4. Toothbrushes---if we forget to shut our bathroom door we will soon see her walking around brushing her teeth with our toothbrushes (even though she has one of her own)
5. Remote Controls and Phones---we have snatched these away from her enough that now if she picks them up she will even go and hand them to Daddy
6. Her Grandma Reid---who she will even choose over her own mommy. And at church if she sees Grandma up on the stand leading the music she will cry and squirm because she wants to go and get her.
7. Little Einsteins---she loves to dance around to the opening music and will even sit and watch some of it
8. Austin's Potty Chair---ever since potty training Austin, whenever we are in the bathroom helping him with the potty she will soon join us and always starts clapping her hands like she is saying "yeah"
9. Her Blanket---don't even try to put her to sleep in her crib without giving her a blanket so she can pull it up over her face
10. Daddy's Underwear Drawer---she likes to pull them all out on the floor
Mikayla is a great eater and will try and like almost anything. Her favorite song is "If You're Happy and You Know It" which she does the actions to. The last two check-ups at the doctor's office she has been "off the charts" as far as her height. She is super cute, funny, sweet, and lovable!!!

Snowy Cold Days

We have had snow covering the ground for 2 weeks now which is very unusual for oklahoma......it has actually only snowed a few times but the temps have been so cold that the snow doesn't have a chance to melt. So we have tried to take advantage of the snow the best we can.

The funny thing about this picture is that Mikayla is in the background screaming because she had fallen down in the snow and didn't like the feel of it on her bare hands.

We went sledding again this week and had a blast!!!

On the way home :)

Today we found ice cycles on our roof.....Austin thought they were pretty cool and that they were fun to eat too......he ate 2 of them!!

The temperatures have been so cold that today and tomorrow the schools have been closed not because of bad road conditions (they are actually pretty clear), but because of the frigid cold temps. Actually, I kind of find that to be kind of humorous.

But by tomorrow morning (Friday) at 7 am the temp is suppose to be -1 degrees with wind chill of -15 degrees. BRRR!! That Is COLD!!!

1st Day of School

Austin was very excited to go to "school." We have been talking about it for several weeks. It is actually a Mother's Day Out program that he goes to on Mondays now. I think it will be very beneficial for both him and me. He walked into the school very slow and timid. He said hi to a few of the kids that were already there. After giving them handshakes and a high five he then felt safe enough to pick up a toy and start playing and didn't even notice that I left. When I picked him up his teacher said that he did great. She mentioned there was a couple times when he said "Where's my mommy?" It's nice to know that he at least did miss me some :)

When I picked him up they were playing with the big bikes/cars and after seeing me shouted "MOMMY.....THAT'S MY MOMMY!!!" He made a Christmas ornament with paint inside and a popcicle stick snowflake. They talked about the letter h, the number 8, the shape diamond, and the color brown.

Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam!!!

Austin's first sunday as a sunbeam went great!!! Craig took him into Primary and sat Austin down in his chair and then left without any problems. Craig commented "that is the most still I have ever seen him in church." His sunbeam teacher said that he did great......sang songs and participated well. We picked him up after church was done and he was all smiles and wearing his "I am a Child of God" crown to which he exclaimed "I'm a King!!"

No Objection About Bedtime On This Night

Sweet Dreams!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

After waking up that morning, I asked Austin if we should make daddy a birthday cake and he responded "yeah, a Spiderman cake." So that is what we did.....

Austin helped me make the cookie dough and enjoyed putting all the candles on the cake.

Sorry Craig that your presents weren't much of a suprise this year......I guess I need to explain to Austin a little more what the words "secret" and "suprise" actually mean.

But I hope you had a great birthday anyway!! I so appreciate you and all that you do for me and for our family. You are a super husband and father, a great provider and spiritual leader. You make us all laugh and make everyday a fun one. I love you forever!!!