Sledding

Since it was finally above 0 and since we hadn't been out of the house for more then a minute or so at a time we decided to take the boys sledding yesterday. We got everyone all bundled up in their winter gear and drove down to the Iowa State Center to find the perfect sledding hill(I know we live a block and a half from there but we had to take Callie with and she needed warmth so we took the van and she napped while the boys played:) We found a good spot and Carl and the boys made their trek to the top. We discovered our sled is very fast and there wasn't quite enough flat ground at the bottom of the hill to stop in a nice orderly fashion so the first time down Carl and the boys both flew off the sled at the bottom of the hill when they ran into a big snowbank. In addition to the rough landing they also got a snow shower to the face most of the way down. Despite all that Gabe LOVED it and was raring to go again. Ty not so much, my red head had a very red face to match his hair and he was not convinced this sledding thing was all that much fun. Gabe and Carl braved the hill a few more times and even convinced Ty to go a couple more times as well. I'm pretty sure Gabe would have kept going all afternoon if we would have let him. He loved it and showed no signs of wearing out even walking up and down the big hill several times. Dad however did not quite have Gabe's endurance and Ty was quite cold so we called it an afternoon after this one last run, complete with a good stop at the end.


We are hoping to be able to use the sled more this week as our temperatures are finally supposed to be a little warmer!

Callie's 3 Month Pictures

Here are Callie's 3 month pictures. Normally we go down to Portrait Innovations by Jordan Creek but did not want to spend quite so much or get quite so many pictures this time so I found a coupon for Target in Ankeny(just click on photos on Target's home page and then Portrait Studio and you can print them off) I think they turned out pretty cute, but I am a little biased:)

3 Months!

Callie turned 3 months old on Saturday! She is smiling a lot more now and even seems like she is starting to laugh a little. She can roll from her tummy to her back and does when she is mad! She started to discover her hands and they seem to be her favorite new chew toy. She has slept through the night a few times but is still inconsistent(much to Mom's disappointment:) She puts out the pouty lip when she starts to cry and it makes us laugh. She brings so many smiles and so much laughter to our house.

First Casualty of the New Year

Fortunately no person was hurt only my glass cake stand and cover. The boys came downstairs to play this morning while Carl and I were upstairs. Pretty soon we heard a crash, never a good thing to hear when the kids are downstairs by themselves. We came into the kitchen to discover this. My red velvet cyclone cake ruined-actually it was doomed from the start, it fell over in the van on the ride home last night therefore I didn't put it in the fridge to save I was going to throw it out this morning. Apparently the culprit was hungry. Here is the incriminating evidence of which of the children was the perpetrator. Anyone care to take a guess?

Lots of Christmas

4 Christmas's down and 1 to go. We celebrated with my family on Christmas eve, did our own family Christmas on Christmas morning, the Mawdsleys on Sunday and then celebrated with Carl's family on Monday. The Mawdsleys and Clark Christmas both were post poned due to the bad weather but we still all managed to have a good time. We will be celebrating with the Angus's on Saturday.

Gabe helping Grandma pass out presents(Ty kept giving all the presents to Pete:) Getting a little help from GrandpaGabe's turnCallie after sleeping through the present opening with some of her giftsMommy and CallieOne of my attemps at a Christmas Eve Jammies picture(none were successful)Checking out whats in the stockings.Callie with her presentA little help from the big brothersA little something for when she gets biggerNot happy about this picture attempt
Smiley GirlAll the kiddos with their stockings(in case you're wondering Callaghan is not on her stocking because Pottery Barn would only embroider up to 8 letters so we had to do Callie instead)Ty and Callie(one of his few tender big brother moments)
After looking through my pictures I realized I didn't take any at the Mawdsley Christmas or any good ones at the Clark Christmas, although we did get a family picture on Matt and Nancy's camera which she is supposed to be sharing with us(hint, hint). After Saturday we will offcially be done, which is good because I don't think the toy box is going to hold much more:)

Happy Christmas!

Merry, I mean Happy Christmas from the Clarks!
(Christmas Pics to be posted soon:)

The Gingerbread House

Gabe had his Christmas party at preschool this past Friday. As part of their activities they made ginger bread houses out of graham crackers, frosting and little milk cartons. Gabe was so proud of his when he came home but not so proud of it that he didn't want to eat it. That was the first thing he wanted to do when we made it through the door. I made him pose for a picture with it before he chowed down. He seemed to enjoy most of it but he said the gum drops made his mouth too spicy:) He even shared with his brother who also seemed to be a fan. It is so much fun to see the cute little things he brings home from school.