It Is COLD

The last couple of weeks have been pretty non-eventful. The kids started back to school and we started back into our normal routine. Ellie started back to dance and we got to see what her costume will be for the recital this spring. They are going to be ladybugs for their tap routine and then they just take off the wings and antennas and use the same costume for their ballet routine. Ellie was so excited to see a picture of her costume. I remember the excitement of costume time. We all can't wait for the snow and cold weather to leave so we can go outside and play again. Even thought it wasn't their first choice, Andrew and Jackson did have to play outside in the cold last Sunday. They went out to the ranch to cut ice and a little later I get a call from Andrew saying they had locked the keys in the truck and were out in the middle of his pasture. So I had to wake up Lincoln who had been napping for about 1/2 hour, get Ellie to quit her painting project she was working on and head out to unlock the truck. It takes around 40-45 minutes to get out there and then we had to drive through the pasture to find them. They were originally going to walk towards the house the his landlord sometimes stays in when he is town, but Andrew had a lucky moment. He had a lighter in his pocket and some trash in the back of his truck. So they built a little fire and did some ice skating on the pond while they waited for me.

Jackson had been asking for pudding cookies for a few days, so Ellie and I made some on Friday while he was at school. She decided to take a break though and look through my Cake Pop cookbook. She found a lot she liked.Lincoln, on the other hand, decided he wanted to help. Doesn't he just look like he is up to no good. I get this look a lot and it is the, "What? I wasn't doing anything." He loves to get the chairs and use them to climb up on the counters. We have many stand-offs every day about the chairs. He will stand by the chair and keep watching me to see if I look away and then he will take off with it again. Just the other day, he got up to the counter and I found him with two knives on the floor from the butcher block and the cord that plugs into the griddle in his hand trying to plug it into the wall. Saturday Ellie and I joined my mom, Caroline and Molly at the bridal shop to try on wedding dresses and prom dresses. It was packed but we thankfully didn't have to wait too long for a dressing room and they just tried on dresses together. It was a pretty crowded in the dressing room with the five of us and several big dresses. This is the first one Molly tried on. It was super cute on her.Of course Ellie had to try on a flower girl dress. We went with a red one since they are going to wear red dresses for the wedding. Caroline has a really cute dress picked out (not this one).And this is the dress Molly decided it. She looks so cute in it and it is so fun. The pictures don't do it justice. Molly looks so grown up in it.I had a picture of Caroline in a wedding dress, but she is holding a picture of the one she really wants and I was afraid Jared would see it. She tried on some cute dresses and looked beautiful, but I think it just cemented in her mind that she did really want the one she had in the picture. Shawn can order it but Caroline wants to find some where she can try it on first just to make sure.

Saturday night we headed out to Tom and Mary's to celebrate Tom's birthday. He even got a special cake and the kids sang happy birthday to him. Ashlyn showed Lincoln how to ride the stick horse.Ellie told Lauren to take pictures of her while she did wedding poses. I think Lissy needs to get some new ideas for poses from her.
The kids don't have school tomorrow but Jackson does have his first basketball practice. He is playing in a league at the YMCA and his coach is a friend of ours and he has some friends on the team. This is our first go-around with basketball so it should be entertaining.

Here is a video of Lincoln's new "talent". My kids have all taken their sweet time in saying Mommy and Lincoln still hasn't said it. I was teaching him where his nose was and would point to his nose and say, "Lincoln's nose." And then point to mine and say, "Mommy's nose." It didn't quite work out the way I thought it was going to.