First Snow!

Last Wednesday night, our first winter storm blew through town.  The boys went to bed eagerly awaiting all of the snow we kept telling them about.  At that point, there wasn't a whole lot that had fallen.  We learned late Wednesday night that Tyler was going to have his very first snow day from school.  It turned out that the phone ringing woke him up, so I shared the news!  He was so excited!!

He ran off to bed (eventually as he thought he could now stay up all night) excited to see what awaited him that morning outside. Kevin ended up being up all night fussing and telling us he "can't sleep real good".  So we traveled down to the basement to sleep, thinking that the colder air might make it easier for him to sleep.  

We woke up to Tyler, Jacob, and daddy talking excitedly about all of the snow!  It wasn't nearly what was predicted, but there was still a lot for our first very snowfall in Nebraska!!  After a good breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes (the boys have never had chocolate chips in them we realized...or at least their reactions and our memories made us believe they had never had them that way) we all got our snow gear on and headed outside to clear off the driveway.

While Adam worked on snowblowing the driveway and sidewalks, Jacob took his time trying to figure out all of this white stuff.  He was not happy until dad was done snowblowing and able to play.  Until then, he had lots of tears and screams as he was unable to walk very well in his snow boots and didn't like that his big brothers kept coming up to throw snow at him (or he would get some spray from their snow ball fight at each other).

Kevin was ready to play in the snow!  He needed no help this year as he ran off to start throwing snow at Tyler and rolling around the front yard.  Eventually he got out the red sleds and the boys discovered that they could sled down the front yard and even down the side walk.  We live on top of a hill, so even though it isn't the fastest, it was still a very fun discovery.  Kevin enjoyed throwing snowballs at daddy (and preferred the close range shot), and had a lot of issues with his hat coming down over his eyes.  But he was having so much fun, he didn't let a silly hat slow him down today.  :)

Tyler was BEYOND excited by the snow and to get his very first snow day from school!  He has been asking all fall when it will get here. He was immediately out the door and attempting to make a snow fort and caught throwing snowballs at me and his brothers.  He loved racing the sled down the driveway once Adam got it cleared off (the driveway has quite the slope to it) and trying to stop himself before he got to the street.  He was also big enough to handle getting snow thrown back at him this year and had a blast having a snowball fight with dad!  

So we spent the morning outside playing.  It was so much fun and by the end everyone was having a blast, even Jacob!

I can't help sharing this picture.  It is just "classic Kevin" lately.  He is a child that wears his emotions on his sleeve and he shows them with such intensity.  He is either extremely happy with the best sparkle in his eyes, or incredibly sad/upset about something.  I looked over to see him like this and had to snap a picture.  It just sort of sums up how emotional of a guy he can be.

And a few moments later, he is fine and back to playing with dad.  I guess he was too far away in the first shot because he moved in closer before throwing.  :)

And a shot from earlier in their snowball war.  I love this picture.  Kevin had SO much fun throwing snowballs at dad!!

Both boys needed a quick reminder not to pick up the chunks of  snow and ice that were left by the snow plow.  Apparently, seeing a big chuck of snow is way too tempting to go throw at daddy because they both kept picking them up.

Getting to climb to the top of the pile is so much fun!!  And while they were out there they got a fun treat!

The snow plow drove by!  All three boys stopped in their tracks to watch it drive by.  :)

It was a great outing!  The rest of our first family snow day was spent drinking hot chocolate and celebrating our Family Christmas.  We are bad, but it seemed like the perfect time given all of the different gatherings this year to go ahead and as a family exchange presents.  Ultimately, it was great even though us parents had a bit of guilt about not waiting.  We all took our time opening a few presents and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening playing!  

Unfortunately for Kevin, he started going downhill that evening with a high fever and wheezing.  It never dawned on us at the night before was a precursor to getting sick (I just figured he was scared of the storm's wind).  Ultimately, he was up all night sick and having a hard time breathing. The next day he spent laying around with a super high fever and still wheezing.  So we took him to the doctor and after a breathing treatment and two doses of steroids yesterday, I am excited to see him this morning.  His fever is down and although very congested, is breathing much easier today!  So now off for a few snuggles before everyone else wakes up!  :)

Spiders

Despite knowing that these two spiders are in my house and are a prized possession of Kevin's (so they are always being played with), my heart still skips a best (and sometimes I scream) when I discover where he last put them. He thinks they are so awesome and wants a real one. Boys!

Walking is so not cool

Today Jacob has been busy riding around a Little People bus. It's not made for sitting on it and moving, but he's not letting that slow him down. Everywhere he has been this morning has involved riding there on his bus.









He was even so kind to go in reverse and try to knock a box down the stairs that I was about to take down. Such a character. But at least he can entertain himself. :)

Busted

I woke up to get Tyler up for school and found our newest lover of books, Kevin, reading in his room bright and early. He's just started sounding out words and reading simple books on his own. He is so proud of himself and we are excited for him. though having him up did catch me off guard as it is so early!

Santa at the Zoo

This morning we loaded up and headed to the Children's Zoo to see Santa and ride the train.  It was cold outside, but we all had fun!  We started with a fun train ride. Jacob was not too sure about all of the fuss to get in line or why we were out in the cold, but enjoyed a lot of quality time snuggling with grandma.

The big boys had their own seat on the train!

And Jacob was not convinced that this whole train ride thing was going to be fun.  :)

We rode the train around the zoo twice, and then it dropped us off at a special location to go see Santa.  We got off and walked to stand in line.  We had some very excited boys ready to see Santa!

It was a long line, so lots of opportunities for snuggles with grandma.  Kevin took to snuggling with dad.  And Tyler used the opportunity to tell everyone how excited he was to see Santa.

Eventually we made it to the front of the line, and one of the zoo workers who was helping Santa got the kids thinking about what they were going to tell Santa and gave them a jingle bell of their very own.  Kevin was making sure he had this two items ready to go.

To our surprise, Kevin was excited to see Santa.  He had spent the whole time waiting in line not sure about the whole thing and insisting that daddy carry him.  But when it was his turn, he promptly went and climbed up!  I wasn't sure how it was going to go, so I just took a lot of pictures.  :)

Tyler was very ready to tell Santa his three things.  He knows that Santa might combine them or do his own thing, but this year he requested a snap circuit robot, a snap circuit board, and an art kit in a briefcase.   Kevin used the opportunity to ask for a remote control car and a new toy Tyler had just discovered in a magazine this morning....some sort of dragon and knight castle playset.

Jacob, although good in line, was not pleased once we got up to Santa.  I did however attempt a quick picture of Santa with all three boys.  :)  I forgot to try one with just Tyler and Kevin.  

After Santa, we headed outside to drink some hot chocolate and eat a cookie.  And then we set off to see a few animals, including a bald eagle (being one of Tyler's favorite animals right now).

Here, Jacob is yelling "hey" at grandma to try and get her attention.  It was quite funny as he was being so loud!!!  

Definitely a fun, yet exhausting day!  :)

Exhausting.

Sometimes playing with your brother is so exhausting that you fall asleep after lunch before mom can lay you down in your bed.

Mess

Apparently when your little brother spills his water and when you go tell your mom as such, but she is busy switching laundry over and asks you to wipe it up, it means pulling out every cloth towel to dump on the spill and then leave them. :)



I was a little surprised this is how Kevin decided to help clean up Jakes spill as now I have a lot of towels to clean up. But, just so happy he came to tell me about it and was willing to help me out! He's getting to be such a big guy!

Another tooth

Last night Tyler lost his second tooth. He was sitting at dinner and fell out of his chair. When he got up he was holding his tooth. :).

We joked with him that now for Christmas did he want his two front teeth. He didn't get it and thought we were silly. :)