Cold, Hot & Random

 January 25th: cold and snowy.

 January 29th: hot and sunny.  Not really as hot as my kitchen window says it is, but it was warm!  (Apparently warm enough to keep the spider out of his web in my window.Nice.)

 We took Grandma out for a picnic at Sonic today to enjoy the weather.

Chase was not too thrilled with my photo shoot.  He just wanted lunch.

After lunch it was back to Grandma's house to play some soccer.  Taylor insists on wearing a dress or skirt most days now....not sure where that comes from, not me! 

 Chase did a little tree climbing.

 And Taylor did a little reading.  She also knows that Grandma always has a snack and drink available, so she was quick to get to the porch for a break.

 Back at home there was some driving to do.

 Wild and crazy - no hands.

 Here's the random for the week - my pillows spend more time on the floor these days than the couch.  It's ok though because typically these two, or three - sorry Zeke - are playing nice together when the pillows are out of place!

 Chase had a 3-day phase of hair spiking going on.  Bryce was over to spend the night on Saturday so they both took a bath and "fixed" their hair before church on Sunday.

 Speaking of Bryce, apparently he had Hawaiian Punch at his house at some point.  Chase has been asking to put in on the grocery list for a long time now.  He finally got some this week and it was everything he was hoping for.  Taylor also likes her "lion punch". 

 Poor Zeke.  Taylor LOVES a waggy tail.  It is her most favorite toy.

Luckily, Zeke doesn't mind...yet.

Finally!

 Chase finally got the snow he's been wishing for!  

He was honestly more excited to see snow than he was to get Christmas presents!

 They couldn't wait until morning so we had to bundle up and head outside to catch some flakes.

 We promised him that when he woke up the ground would be covered and he could go out and play then.  That finally convinced him to go back inside.

 All we had to say to get Taylor to come in was "hot chocolate".

 Someone is easily distracted.

 Morning came earlier than usual for us.  Chase was in his snow gear about 7:30.  Luckily the ground was covered but it wasn't quite as much as the weatherman had promised!

 We tried to build a snowman but the snow just wasn't very cooperative.

(Taylor was still sound asleep in the house at this point!)

 Zeke loved the snow too.  He ran in circles and circles and circles and then repeated.

 After Taylor woke up we went over to my parents so Chase could have "the biggest snowball fight ever" because you know the snow is always better at the grandparents house!

 Three little angels.

 Actually, the snow was better here!  They didn't have much of it but it stuck together well enough for me to put together this masterpiece.  Dave made fun of my first attempt so I was quick to send him this picture to prove my skills!

 A snowy day made for happy kids!

 Before the snow ever started we took a bowling trip to pass the time!  Chase was super-glad that Bryce could tag along.

 Without the ramp the ball takes a looooong time to go down the lane.  They had fun swinging arms and singing songs while they waited.  The ball literally touched a pin and didn't knock it down when it finally got there!

 Favorite part of the trip: the snacks!  When we left, Chase said "thanks for taking us bowling" and Taylor said "thanks for taking us to the bowling alley for snacks".  She is a nut.  She loves some snacks.

Mandatory stop in the arcade before we left.  Luckily the race car games are actually more fun to kids when you don't put money in them!!

More of the Same

 This week was pretty much more of the same from last week.  Nothing to exciting going on and we're ok with that!  Bryce came over to play one day.  They made pinecone bird feeders.  They took it pretty seriously.

 Zeke has now attended 2 puppy kindergarten classes.  He's got 100 times the energy of any of the other pups in the class but he is learning everything he's supposed to.  He tries to cheat and just lay down anytime you ask him to do something, knowing that is usually enough to get him a treat.  Taylor likes to hold the magic clicker and make him do tricks.

 Taylor also had a better day at ballet class last Friday.  Her choice for a reward was sweet tea.  Who knows where she gets that from?!  For the record though, that was the last tea I've had.  We'll see how long I make it!

 Playing in the dog crate is still loads of fun.

 Turns out playing in the mud is fun too.  Our backyard is a mud pit now that we've had 1000 4 days in a row of rain.  Gotta love it. 

 Finally, I got to try something new last weekend.  I volunteered with the Jensen-Schmidt Tennis Academy for Down Syndrome.  I was paired up with Sarah (far right) for the weekend.  I wanted to bring her home with me.  She was always telling me "you're so nice, you're so pretty, you're so kind."  I told her she should come give that speech to my children!  It was a good time.

My Little Furry Friend

Little Zeke and I have had quite the love/hate relationship.  And by this I mean that I've had a craigslist ad ready and waiting for a few weeks now.  Each time I get close to being finished with him he will wink his little puppy dog eyes and start behaving again.  I think we're finally going to make it now.

 Taylor said if Zeke goes, she goes with him.  The dog crate is quite the source of entertainment these days.

 Zeke has been signed up for Doggy Kindergarten starting next week.  

I'm sure after that we'll be best of friends.

 In other news, we've been up to not much at all!  It's been nice to be bored.  We did have a house full of visitors one day last week.  Chase kept busy playing basketball with Kaleb and Kailee.

 Taylor and Kathryn were actually caught playing nice together several times!  

This doesn't always happen with these two!

 The whole crew eating lunch.

 It's never too cold for kids to want to play outside.  I finally caved.

This picture was ironically taken when Zeke was behaving and Taylor wasn't!  She had a less than stellar day on Friday, like wouldn't participate in dance class if her life depended on it day!  They both know how to turn on the charm when needed.  Wears me out.