How We Beat the Winter Blues

This year has been a doozy for getting outside and burning some of that little boy energy. We have had several days off of school due to the frigid temperatures. When you have rambunctious boys in the house, you have to find something for them to do, or a mom could really go crazy! Here is what we did to beat the winter blues: When you can't go outside to play in the snow, why not bring the snow inside? Thanks for the idea Stephanie! The boys had fun digging for their cars and driving them through the snow. Blake also really enjoyed painting the snow with his watercolors. They made a "cabin" fort under the kitchen table. They completed the inside of the cabin with only the necessities, like pictures, a rock, and pretzels! Hopefully this cold snap will come to an end soon so that we can get back outside and enjoy the Wisconsin winter weather!

First Visit from the Tooth Fairy

We had our first visit from the tooth fairy a few nights ago! Blake lost his first tooth, and was he ever excited! His tooth had been loose for a while, and we could already see the new tooth behind the old one. I thought he would have lost his first tooth a lot sooner considering he had his first tooth at 4.5 months! We are sure there will be more toothless smiles in the very near future, as the other bottom tooth is also loose!

Blake Turns 6!

Inquisitive, creative, silly, sweet, caring, adventurous. These six words describe our now six year old, Blake Marcus! He was so excited when I told him that he would now have to use both hands when showing how old he is. We love you lots, Blakers! Happy birthday! Blake had a fun morning celebrating at the YMCA in Eau Claire with a few of his kindergarten buddies. They went swimming, played basketball, and then ate a birthday lunch at Culver's complete with custard! Randy also thought this was an adventurous day, as the car battery died upon getting ready to leave the YMCA. Not fun when you have 4 hungry boys who are tired and ready to eat. Luckily, on of dad's that came along to help out had jumper cables in his car and they charged up the battery. In the evening we had a family birthday celebration with Grandma Claudia and Papa Ron. We ate cake and ice cream and Blake opened his gifts. It was a busy and exciting day! We hope you had a fun birthday Blake!

Wisconsin Winter Fun

When the weather gets cold and snowy in Wisconsin, you quickly learn that you have to bundle up and make the best of it. This winter started early in Wisconsin, actually about a month and a half earlier than the actual first day of winter. With this early start to winter we have learned that if we still want to get outdoors for some fresh air and exercise we need to bundle up and go for it! The outdoor activities our family most enjoys in the winter are running (for Mandi), sledding, shoveling (for Bennett), snowboarding (for Blake), hunting (for Randy-- yes, can you believe that he is STILL deer hunting--until January 4 when the season ends), and hanging out at the hunting cabin. We had a couple of "warm" days for sledding over at Papa and Grandma's house with Grandma's grandchildren, Colten and Claire. Bennett was Claire's buddy and Colten was very helpful in teaching Blake to snowboard. It was a fun afternoon, and afterwards we enjoyed cookies and hot chocolate! Yummy! We also made it down to the cabin for a little "getaway." We started a fire, enjoyed some pretzel/craisin snacks, went for a sled ride, built a fort, and watched a movie while Blake and Randy went hunting.