Tunnie

Now that we're back home and finally getting back to our usual routines, Noah is getting in some good playtime with his new birthday and Christmas toys. One of his favorites {and, admittedly, mine too} is the Cars GeoTrax sets that he received. Paired up with, of course, the MegaBlocks, which makes a great "tunnie" {tunnel} for Lightening, Sally, and Sarge to drive through.

"Mom! Tunnie!"




And, in other news, Little Miss turned four months old today.

I. Cannot. Believe. It.

Four month post coming tomorrow.

Two Little Glo-Worms

Ellie, the glo-worm....

meet your very own Glo-Worm.

2010 Motto

Last year, I chose a word for the year: cultivate. Throughout the year, I found myself trying {though, not always successfully} to do just that... cultivate good things within myself, my family, and my relationships. And, while I know I could easily spend another year with this word as my {our} motto, I've chosen a new word for 2010:

With two kids, a hubby, a house, and a billion other interests, I'm finding myself looking for ways to streamline and simplify our lives... so that we can spend a little more time doing the things we love and spending more quality time with the ones that we love.

Still on the Road...

We made it to Oklahoma late last night.

We. Are. Exhausted.

Especially since Noah woke up once we got there {around 11:30PM} and then didn't go back to sleep until well after 2AM {the last time that I looked at the clock while rocking him... during which, I fell asleep too}.

Luckily there were a couple of aunts and a Nana who were more than willing to take on some of the baby duties so we could get a little more rest before heading the rest of the way home.

And a Papa who was more than willing to relax and watch a movie with a very tired Ben and a sleeping Ellie.

Thanks for putting up with all the crying last night.... and we'll see you soon!

Next stop, HOME!

On the Road Again

We're on the road again today, but we had to get a couple of pictures before we headed out the door...

Thank you! For everything. We had a blast and hope that you did too. We love you!!

Snow and Siblings

I love the snow. I take that back, I love looking at snow. Preferably while I'm inside, snuggled up with the Hubby or a kiddo, with a nice warm fire or blanket and no place to go. I'm starting to think that Noah is the same way. He loved looking out the big window and saying "sno!". But getting out in it and playing in it just made him a little whinny. {Though he was WAY excited to get to put his boots on!} Ben and Noah were probably outside for about three minutes. And me? I was out there long enough to snap these pictures and run back inside to the safety and warmth of the house!

If you look carefully in the photo below, you can see the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in the background - what a beautiful view to wake up to every morning, don't you think?

***

For our last dinner while we were there, Ben's Mom and Dad took us to eat at P.F. Chang's {YUM!}. Our waiter even brought Noah a set of children's chopsticks, but since he couldn't spear his Cheerios with them, Grandma Haze helped him out and fed him some Cheerios with them.

Noah thought it was the coolest thing and would even pull more Cheerios onto his place mat for her to "feed" him. haha!

***

Since we're leaving early tomorrow morning, Marian and Sylas and Eric came over to say their goodbyes.

We'll miss you guys and hope to see you again real soon!!!

Here Comes the Snow!

Despite the fact that there was snow starting to fall, Ben, Carol, the kids and myself loaded up into the Sequoia this morning and headed out to run a few errands... including a stop at the Carter's outlet. I could have spent two hours there... and more money than I should have! Afterwards, we got back to their house to find Sylas and Marian waiting for us. Sylas was way excited to give Noah and Ellie their Christmas presents, but Noah was {almost} more interested in going to play with him! Funny behavior for the kiddo who just a few days ago wanted to rip into any and all presents he could!

We spent the rest of the day indoors, avoiding the snow and enjoying each other's company:

Later in the afternoon, Eric and Amanda came over too - to spend some time and eat dinner with us and to get prepped for the evenings snow removal work.

After dinner and everyone else left to work {Ben's parents own their own snow removal and landscaping business}, Ben, Marian and I attempted to get a photo of the three {of the four} grandchildren:

It's was pretty hard to find one in the midst of all the ones I took in which all the kids at least had a "normal" facial expression!

But this photo, was definitely one of my favorites from the day and showed just how protective Sylas is over his Momma... every time Noah tried to snuggle up close to Marian, Sylas was right there to snuggle up close too.

Love it. Love them.

Meeting the Colorado Family

We had a super full and super fun day today in Colorado.

We started with playtime for the cousins:

Sylas was very good about sharing with Noah.


Noah, on the other hand, was not so good about sharing with Sylas.
We've got to work on that Buddy.


Ben clipped a massive stack of coupons, gearing up for taking over the grocery shopping.

Grandma Haze and Ellie enjoyed some special, quiet time.

We also met up for dinner with the Crews side of the family for dinner at Cracker Barrel {YUM!}. Obviously, none of them had met Ellie yet and, with the exception of Eric and Amanda, no one had met Noah either. And, despite the kids' crabbiness, it was nice to see everyone, let them {finally} meet the kiddos and enjoy a perfectly prepared chicken fried chicken.

Great-Aunt Linda was just in love.

So was Aunt Marian.

And Great-Aunt Diana too.

The boys, however, were much too busy coloring to be bothered with a photo.

And, I couldn't help but giggle a little when I saw this picture... I'm pretty sure Great-Aunt Linda was hoping that Ellie would talk her kids into making her a Grandma too. ;)

Driving....

to Colorado is fun when you have a two year old and a three month old.

But it's even more fun when the two-year-old gets a little stir crazy too.

All four of us were very glad to finally make it to Colorado and I'm pretty sure that there were several people who were pretty glad to see us too... though I didn't take a single photo once we arrived. Undoubtedly due to all four of us being just happy to be out of the car!

Getting Ready

We're gearing up and getting ready to leave tomorrow for the second portion of our trip. It goes without saying that everyone was soaking in as much Noah and Ellie time as possible.

Thank you, for everything. Seriously.

And see you again in just a few days!

Great-Grandparents and Old Friends

Two people that we haven't been able to see much this trip {partially due to weather and partially due to busy schedules} is my Grami and Papa Snow. Luckily, they were able to come over this morning and spend some time with us, see their great-grandbabies, and laugh with us at all the crazy antics of these silly little monkeys of mine.

Grami and Papa Snow, we love you, more than you will ever know!

***

We met up with one of my oldest friends for lunch. Shannon and I have known each other since fifth grade {at least} and I have so many memories with her of birthday parties, camps/retreats, Prom, OBU, and the list goes on. Shannon and her husband are currently living in India and have been stateside for about the past seven months with their three darling little girls. They leave tomorrow to head back home and I'm SO glad that they were able to take the time to see us today.

And Shannon, I apologize now - I haven't gotten after these photos yet with PhotoShop... and probably won't until I get back home.

Shannon and Ellie {and all the other kiddos in the background}

Us, with the kiddos.... and Ellie hidden behind Noah's balloon!

Until next time, we love ya'll and are praying for you!!

New Year's Day

This afternoon we headed over to visit Grandma Lucy one last time before she left to go back home to Arizona. She was pretty excited to get in some Ellie and Noah time.

And, of course, Aunt Marsha was more than happy to get in some Noah and Ellie time too!

Happy New Year!