Enjoying the Snow

We had a bit of balmy weather last week (the temp made it all the way above freezing!!!), so the kids and I made some visits around campus and then played outside in the snow.

 They really loved sharing the sled for rides :)















Ike's hat may have been a little large for his head.

















Dave posing with our tiny snowman.  And here he is crushing the poor thing.

Ike had a fabulous time raking the snow.

Dave engaging me in a pretty intense snowball fight.

Ike reporting for snow removal duty.  And a video of him eating some questionable snow.











While we did have a fantastic time playing in the white stuff, we are getting pretty sick and tired of this weather!  Right now we are housebound yet again.  We are counting the days to Florida (literally...only 17 left!).

The Blizzard

Last week brought some pretty nasty weather to our neck of the woods (and to lots of other places around as well).  I heard we ended up getting somewhere between 16 and 18 inches of snow over the course of a couple days.  I have never seen (or felt) anything like it.  Unfortunately, it was way too cold for the kids to even enjoy playing in it, so we were feeling a little cooped up by the time it was all over. It is kinda cool that we have witnessed a blizzard though.  Anyway, here are some pictures from the beginning of last week.








Ike loved touching the doors and saying, "brrr" about a million times a day.

Looking out the kitchen window.

View from our deck.

The boys vegging out and watching some youtube videos.

The wind was blowing so much it made the snow look like a desert...pretty creepy looking.















Ike watching Josh brave the -41 windchill to shovel some of our driveway.











And here is a video that Dave shot (his first of many!).  Cold weather experiment.  

Looks like some more snow is in our future this weekend...hope everybody stays warm!  And have I mentioned lately that we are sooo ready to go to Florida next month?  Sick of this snow already  :)

Ike Turns 15 Months

The big guy turned 1.25 years last Saturday...he is growing up way too fast.   I cannot get over how much he changes from day to day and I just love his developing personality.  This is one of my favorite ages because (unlike a certain 4 year old I know), Ike finds everything we do hilarious and entertaining so I always feel super awesome about myself when he's around.  His view on life is incredibly refreshing!

Anyway, he's also crazy busy and can be a little terror (still not a fan of being told no).  I am pretty sure he still prefers Josh to me because in the mornings when Josh is at work Ike goes searching for him and leaves me in the dust.  He really seems to enjoy music.  Not just dancing to it, but he sits and just takes it in sometimes.  Here is a video of him jamming on Dave's drums.







Posing on the stairs.  Oh and his outfit single-handedly helped lead the Colts to victory  :)










That night, we ran the water for the kids' bath like we always do.  Then I heard a big splash and Ike was coughing.  Apparently he can now climb into the bath tub...







Josh figured we may as well take a picture to document.












His favorite books either center around trucks/tractors or any kind of animal.  He definitely says "tractor" now and kind of says truck.  Animal sounds are still a little sketchy, though he does know what that a snake hisses thanks to my mom.  He is much better at recognition for now; if I ask him to point to a particular animal he knows that.  Ike knows some of his body parts (belly, ears, eyes, nose, mouth), but regularly gets them confused.

Watching the loader plow the chapel parking lot.  He LOVES watching the grounds crew plow around on the roads.

Playing play-doh with big brother.












Ike will eat just about anything still, and he has some strange favorites.  For instance, he gets beyond pumped when Josh gets out celery and blue cheese to snack on.  He loves weird cheeses (feta, swiss, some weird stuff Josh got at Ikea) and sometimes likes to eat on whole oranges. 

Just eating blue cheese from the container.








More than anything, Ike is our big goofball.  He loves to joke around and play and is really good at imitating whatever face you make at him. 

Love this face. 










So that's Ike.  It is so much fun (most days) to watch the boys engage with each other.  Ike has definitely learned both good and bad habits from Dave, so it will be interesting to see how he develops differently because of his experience of having an older brother. 

Getting Outdoors

I was looking at the weather forecast (go ahead and look it up for northern Indiana...it's a real doozy), and reminiscing back to last weekend when it was in the 40s and we got to play outside.  Seriously, what is happening to the weather this year??  Anyway, here are some pictures from our adventures outside just 7 short days ago!






Ike loved the slide.  It's crazy that he can climb up and slide down all by himself now.













Dave getting his swing on.

Ike loved the poles put out to help the maintenance guys plow.  





They have certainly needed them this year to help plow around campus...we have gotten so much snow!

More fun on the slide.

We took several bike rides around campus.

And finally, Ike fell in love with the teeter-totter.







We are getting nice and cozy and preparing for the frigid temps of the next couple of days.  Hope everybody stays warm!  Oh, and here is a video from last week...Dave singing, "If You're Happy and You Know It" on the drums.