Snow Fun!

We were so lucky to be invited to spend some time with my Uncle Kraig and Aunt Jena and their family at their cabin.  I've never really done sledding or snowmobiling, and neither have my kids.  We had so much fun!  I thought I was doing great at taking pictures, but I didn't get quite as many as I hoped.

Camden is that little blue spot on the snowmobile.  He loved it! 

 Mckay wanted to sled sooooo badly!

 Again and again! (And on a very big hill!)  Sometimes I took him, but mostly Brian.  I finally made a deal with Brian that I'd come and help get Mckay back up the hill.  The snow was easily up to my knees, so that little thrill-seeker had the easy job!  Just wish we had toddler snow goggles for him.

 so hard...can't make it...too steep...

 Here you can see Camden's little face at the end of his ride.

 Later, Brian and I got to go out.  Jena's dad took us to this amazing spot where it felt like the top of the world. It was so beautiful--just blue and clear and untouched by anyone except us.

 Daddy and Mckay on the swing

 Mckay all by himself

 Nate wasn't much up for the snow, but he had a blast with the games inside.  He and Hailey played for a long time!  The bigger kids came in earlier and made awesome tunnels and forts with all the sleeping pads

 Master Sledder...Camden!  He absolutely LOVED the sledding.  Over and over and over, by himself,  on the giant hill, too!  It was so fun to watch him.  And he could climb up the hill mostly by himself. :) When we got home, he said, "We need to go back there," just before he fell asleep.  

 Up and down the stairs, playing peek a boo.  

Fun with cousins! The little black heap is Camden. :)

There were a few miracles of finding lost keys, unfreezing frozen pipes, saving some ill-prepared scouts, and finding other lost keys.  Thank you so much, Kraig and Jena!  And thank you, Clyde and Karla!

Sight words

Camden's homework includes taking sight words from a book they read in class that week and writing them in sentences.  I know the directions say otherwise, but his work is to use all the words in a story/sentences.  So, after much persuasion, I finally convinced him that it was ok to write "jumped" instead of "jump" because it makes more sense and is really close. Well, that was enough of an argument for him that he decided "forest" made more sense in his story than "for".  He he!

His story: 

Up, up, and away went the tiger! Did balloons make him go to the zoo?  No, it is not a balloon.  He jumped from a forest but the wind blew him off to the zoo.  

Not bad for having to incorporate 12 sight words! 

McKayvman

Mckay is in a charming, adorable stage right now.  He is so fun!  But lately, he's turned super goofy as well!  He loves performing.  He knows a bunch of words, but will only use a few favorites each week.  This week, it's "Daddeeeeee".  Everything is "Daaadddeee!"  Brian took Camden and Nate to get a drink during church.  Mr. Magoo realized "Daaaaddddeeee" was leaving without him and let out a huge protest.  There was nothing I could do to calm him, so we hurried to follow before we interrupted too much.  He's a serious Daddy's boy, and doesn't like Nate to sit on Dad's lap or either older brother to get attention from Dad.

This week, he's also saying "ding dong" but he doesn't know what it means or why he says it.  "Dah-saur", (yeah....are we really surprised that it's a first word for him?) is one from last week.  He just laughs when I try and get him to say "Mommy".   He also grunts. A lot.

He can't bear to be left out of what Camden and Nate are doing, and will just throw himself into a wrestling match.  He loves to copy the silly dance moves that the big boys do, so of course, they do more silly things to watch Mckay copy them.

He also has no hesitation about expressing his grievances to me about the injustices of life imposed on him by Camden and Nate.

He also learned to climb up onto the table, which is countertop height!  We're in trouble now!

I hope his humor is more of a personality trait than a stage.

I hope his inability to stay asleep is a stage that ends now. :( He just wakes up between each sleep stage and requires Brian to yell at him.  Seriously, soothing words or cuddling are totally ineffective and make him really upset.  A few times cuddling has sent him into a night terror-like state.  But, Brian says "NO! STOP IT!" and he goes back to sleep.  It can't be me or Nate (we've both tried!).