January

I can't believe January is almost over!  It has been very freezing, and mostly gray skies all month.  

I am so happy to say, we made it though without too much cabin fever!  

I decided to get back into quilting this winter.  I did a lot of quilting before the kiddies came along.  

I follow a lot of quilting blogs, and they inspired me to start again.  I love all the modern fabrics!

Most quilters now a days have expensive sewing machines to quilt with. 

I don't, but I really enjoy doing it the old fashion way. By hand.  

This took me about 3 weeks. It is only size of a small lap quilt.  

I love to have a project waiting for me at night after the kids go to sleep! 

This is a smaller doll quilt I made.

I love how this little quilt turned out!

My mom came at the end of the month for a week long visit. 

The night she flew in, it was very snowy. Ty went to the airport to pick her up. 

The kids were so excited that Nana was coming. They sat by the window for an hour waiting for her. 

She needed a vacation, and we had a very nice time. She helped me get stuff ready to pack up.

Zealand is learning the art of fly tying from him daddy.  He loves to sit with Ty and tie some flies!  

He uses his Thomas crane and Play Doh scissors so it is safe.  

When Ty was on winter break he would go get Ty out of bed everyday,

 and drag him into the kitchen to tie flies.

Zoey loves going to art class at school. This project turned out very cute.

We got to decorate this bear as a family for her classroom. Go Dawgs!

Zealand insists on pancakes every morning. He gets his favorite two Mrs. Butterworths, the Bisquick, a fork  and sits down to wait for his 6-9 pancakes.  I try to switch it up with french toast or waffles.
Thank heaven Nana bought us a plug in griddle for Christmas! It is a lifesaver! I can make 6- 8 pancakes at once!
He will not eat any veggies or meat so I really go crazy trying to think of things he will eat.
He is growing like a weed so the pancake diet must be working.

After pancakes he loves to watch Polar Express.  

Our backyard

Our Front Yard.  The city never plows side streets. Drives me a little crazy, but the Xterra loves it.

The kids showing off for Nana in the snow.

Is there anything cuter than a little kid in sleepers?

Zealand watching Zoey and the girls at gymnastics. I think we better keep an eye on him. 

He is a charmer! 

A lady at gymnastics asked if he was 3 or 4. I said he was 2 and 1/2 she was amazed. She said he talks so well and is so big. It is hard because he is still little in a lot of ways and is very tender hearted for  looking so grown up.

Nana took us to our favorite place to eat, Steak N Shake!  We are happy because we heard they opened one in Las Vegas.  That is the closest one to Utah. If PA school doesn't work out, Ty and I are going to open up a Steak N Shake in Ogden. 

 It would be huge hit!

Yummy!

After lunch, Nana took us to Chuck E Cheese.  I have to admit this is only the second time I have taken the kids there. I am a bit weary of germs, and Chuck E Cheese seemed a little frightening.  :)

 However, this one seemed to be very clean, and not crowded at all. The kids had a blast! 

Their favorite game is bowling. Zealand loves to wait for the ball to roll out.

He got a little nervous for some reason.  

He chased Chuck E around the whole place.

This kid LOVES music! He can sing just about any song he hears.  He loves to bang his drums, but we like it better when he strums quietly on his sister's guitar or piano.

Nana went and ate lunch with Zoey at school.

She has lots of cute friends.

She is such a good girl to pick white milk.

Her classmates are baffled why she doesn't get chocolate or strawberry. 

She is very good at making good healthy choices. 

It was No-Name Calling Week so they were supposed to wear yellow.

This little handsome guy is one of her best buddies, Marcell.  

At pick up time he comes and opens her door for her.

She is really going to miss her friends when we move in April. 

Her teacher said the kids will be sad to see her go.

Silly kids.

Zoey is doing a great job in kindergarten. We have so much fun listening her read all by herself. 

She has mastered her Dick and Jane books!  

At night, we have been reading chapter books aloud together. 

So far we have read: Stuart Little, My Father's Dragon Trilogy, and now we are reading 

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

It is fun because then we watch the movie together.  

It is very hard to believe we have about 80 something days left in Indiana!

I feel like we have had "the best of times and the worst of times" here.  

We are excited because maybe just maybe spring is just around the corner. 

 I guess we will see on Ground Hog Day! -Zara