I felt like venturing out.  At about 80% of normal.

Our balancing boy...

Preparing for the big balance...

The balance...

and the dismount (he's looking back for Dan's approval)!!

After his big performance he needed to call cousin Lexie on his pretend phone to tell her all about it!

Here are some favorites from this morning in the snow...

Carter (who refused to look), his friend, Will, and Tyre.


Talking business... I can't always understand what these two are saying... but they seem to have no problem understanding each other. I just kept hearing a honk, honk and backhoe...

It's so fun to see how Carter relates what we read in his books to what he sees outside. My good friend, Ellie, bought Carter a book by Ezra Jack Keats when he was first born called, The Snowy Day. We have read it so many times that it is falling apart. As we were walking to our car in the snow after church on Sunday Carter was saying... crunch, crunch, crunch just like in the book. He also loves a book from Dan's mom called, Sadie and the Snowman. It's about a little girl who keeps building a snowman even though the birds and squirrels take the eyes and the nose. Then at the end of winter she saves the last bit of melted snowman in the freezer for the next year. It's really cute. Anyway, as soon as we got outside this morning, Carter wanted to build a snowman. This isn't really snowman building snow... but we tried...

Will was super excited to see the snowman... I mean snowhead...

For the first time in Dan's time as a teacher we are experiencing 2 snow days in a row. I do love this part of winter. Everything is so clean and quiet. Dan and I stood out on the front porch for a few minutes last night to get a little break from all the noise inside. It's just so peaceful to watch the snow fall. I think we got 5 or 6 inches over the last two days.



I thought this looked so funny... basketballs that someone forgot to bring in (months ago). They look like part of a mountain range.

We are currently enjoying a snow day...


I'm enjoying it because everyone is still sleeping (except for Ty who is out trying to make some money shoveling). The last snow day we had they were all up at 6am playing video games because they were so excited to have a day off of school. Thankfully we found out school was canceled last night instead of early this morning... so they were able to get their excitement out before they went to bed.

Have I mentioned how much Carter likes to "read?!"

This is a day's worth of books picked up off his bedroom floor.

It's been four days of this stuff. I hate being sick, other than the homebrew part.

Our little monkey...

Or should I say kitty... as he prefers to be called. The kitty named Six.

Vote for Bryce!

My good friend Katherine has her son's portraits done at a studio in Illinois. They always turn out super cute! Recently a picture of Bryce was entered in the studio's Best of 2008 Portrait Contest. If his photo gets the most votes Katherine will win a free session. So... even if you don't know Katherine... she would love your support! Just click on the link above and vote. Bryce is photo #1!!

I'll give 10 points to anyone who can guess who Tyre dressed up as today for spirit week at school...

A first for Carter (and for our country)...

Saying goodbye to President Bush...


and hello to President Obama...

Monday Shopping.

The art of actually getting eye drops to go into a 2 year old's eyes...

...with out any teenagers.

Alyssa and I are having a post off. I win.

"Fred's Cars"

I told Fred that after college he should start his own line of model cars and call them... Fred's Cars. He has the incredible ability to fix or build just about anything. I actually go to him now when I need help fixing something... not because Dan can't... he's just so busy. Our other guys have started to do the same. The other day Steven got a memory card stuck in his phone. He tried for several hours to get it out before he handed it over to Fred. Fred had it out in less than a minute... no joke!

Anyway... last May Fred gave Carter one of his model cars. That car has been everywhere with us (Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nebraska and Ohio)! It is by far one of his favorite possessions... but he has still always called it Fred's car. The poor thing is a little beat up now. The paint is starting to chip and the windshield has a pretty nice crack in it. Well... the gray car is finally getting a break. Last week Fred put three new cars in Carter's toy box that he didn't want anymore. Carter went nuts when he opened his toy box the next morning. Here they are (in order of importance)...

The black SUV goes everywhere with him (even to the potty)...
The red one is my favorite...

He calls all of them his Fred's cars... I love it... and I'm sure Fred does too.

When we first moved into Joe's Place I didn't think about Carter growing up here. We've always known that we hoped to be here for a good chunk of time... but for some reason I didn't think much about what Carter's experience would be as he grew. I don't think life could be much better for a 2 1/2 year old boy. He is in awe of these four guys and asks when they are going to get home from school almost as much as he asks about Dan. He'll name each of their dining room chairs, he'll pull out toys they've given him and look at their pictures on the fridge.

Last night Tyre and Steven were playing with one of Carter's nerf basketballs. Carter could not wait to get in the game. They of course included him... and then Steven spent the next hour playing "chase the ball" with him. We are once again so thankful for this place he is learning to grow in (sorry for the blur.. I try not to ever use my flash)...

Dan's dream phone finally arrived today... I'm anticipating our only communication to be via that little black box for the next week or so.

I turned 29 today. It's strange being a twin... but living so far away from each other. We've celebrated most birthdays together, so it's always kind of funny to see a cake with just my name on it. Happy birthday, Erica!!

I've been documenting (with pictures) the time Matt spends here documenting Joe's Place. Tonight he stopped by to do interviews with Dan and myself and then with the 4 guys. Matt is a very, very patient man... because tonight (really this entire week) was not a night where anyone clicked.

Celebrating 7 sweet years today...

Be sure to scroll down and see our updated posts!

Reading by the fire...

This boy loves to read... and we love reading to him!! Nights like this are not really possible during Joe's Place hours... so we cherish these sweet times we get alone with Carter.