Dinner with Family

It's not often we can say we had dinner with family these days. It's so different being so far from family. Some days it seems perfectly normal and other days it just doesn't seem right. Like yesterday and today. My uncle's mom died and we are so far away. It just doesn't seem right to not be able to do anything for him....to not be there for him. I'm glad my dad is there for him. Anyways, on Sunday my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came over. We had a nice dinner and the kids got to play outside. A, my nephew, is getting brave. He tried to jump off the play set! I couldn't believe it. That's another new development. We got a play set from the neighbor for cheap. They are moving out of country and couldn't take it with them so they sold it to us for cheap. The kids love it. I can't wait until we have a fence. We've also been potty training G. He's doing OK but we are still having regular accidents. Usually about once a day. Once he's doing better and we have a fence, I look forward to being able to send them outside to play while I get dinner ready. Let them run off some of that extra energy before they come in to eat and go to bed. We have big windows across the back and can see most of our backyard from the kitchen. I think they will like being able to play outside more. We got some really cute pictures.

GQ telling Daddy about his hand that got stepped on.

 A sliding on his own.

Doc is almost always happy.

I absolutely love this picture of A. He reminds me so much of my brother (his daddy so of course that makes sense).

Swinging like a big boy!

A has figured out how to climb up on his own.

My brother's dog is going to come stay with us for a weekend in a few weeks. That will be interesting. I imagine the kids will love it but they will be wound up for the first little while I'm sure. The dog is pretty good though. We will just need to do our best to take her outside for walks each day. Anyways, that's all for tonight (not like I write much anymore anyways). For now, I'm watching my Red Wings play.

Trip to the COLD

I haven't updated in awhile. We have been busy as always with Christmas, our trip north, school starting back up, and potty training. We took a quick trip north to meet our new niece and spend some time with family over New Years. It was about 5 days total I suppose but we were really only there for about 2.5 days since it's such a long drive. The kids were THRILLED to get to see snow and make snow angels. The drive home was slow going at first due to the roads. I didn't get any snowy pictures since I was the one outside with the kids and my gloves simply were not warm enough. I do not miss the snow and cold but it sure was good to see family.

The kids played outside with their cousin.

Mr. X apparently wasn't feeling well and fell asleep with Opa. He then promptly threw up all over when we hauled him upstairs to get him ready for bed.

Our sweet new niece. Loved cuddling with her!

The kids loved the rocking chairs. It's been so long since they've sat in one. The floor is slanted (it's an old farmhouse) and GQ would rock the chair right across the floor.

When we first got there, it was in the 40s which is still chilly compared to the temps we left. The very next day a winter storm blew threw and it was barely 20! I froze but then again I freeze in 50 degree weather. We rang in the new year with my parents and WB's parents while playing pinochle. It was wonderful. We also had time to visit WB's grandparents. It was a short but very sweet visit.

We came home to short-sleeve weather!