Pile Up On Daddy

It was too cold to play outside today, so Brewer started a game of pile the blankets and pillows on Daddy.

If you look really close, you can see a peek hole for where he could still see the game that was on.

Daddy is a good sport for playing pile up on Daddy time!

Cooper's First Tooth

Today was a big day for Cooper!  We noticed a few weeks ago that Cooper's front two bottom teeth were a little loose.  Now this is a big deal, because we have been waiting for this since his dentist appointment over a year ago where the dentist said it shouldn't be too much longer because the roots were no longer there.  So we have been patiently waiting for this day.   

 Earlier this morning he was snacking on a banana, when his loose tooth was bumped, and started to bleed. After he got it to stop bleeding, he was being very cautious about what he ate and drank for fear of what might happen. During the football game, Randy and Brewer got out some tortilla chips to snack on and Cooper asked for some as well. Pretty soon, he came in with his tooth...

Any day, we should have a second one out as well!  Now, we just need to wait to see what the Tooth Fairy will leave for him in his place.

Racine Snow& Ice Sculpting



On Saturday afternoon, we went up to Racine to check out their Snow and Ice Sculpting Contest that was going on downtown.  The temperatures were in the 40's, the sculpting was not going as planned.  As a result the judging had been postponed until later on Sunday when the temps were expected to be a bit colder.

This one was an underwater scene of a seahorse by some coral.  The details were pretty amazing regardless of the melting conditions.

All of the sculptors had a pencil and paper drawing of what it was suppose to look like.  It was interesting to see what we did see to come life from their drawings.

In conversations with the sculptors of "Jack Frost," they said that the sculptors were packing on snow that had been shaved off in attempt to save their designs.  Hopefully the weather cooperated for them to complete their designs.

New Years Eve

We headed down to Kris and Tom's on Monday morning to ring in the new year with them. The evening was fun but relaxing. We picked up pizza's for dinner and watched a few movies for the New Year! Cooper and Brewer had a blast playing their cousins Gabby and Sophie. Happy New Year to everyone!

Prairie Dells

On Sunday, we went over to Prairie Dells Park to check out the winter view.  We have not been there since Brewer was a baby.  In fact, the last pictures we have of us there, Brewer is in the backpack carrier.

This is the view from up top.  The water was rushing quickly down river, over and under the ice that was floating.  The views was beautiful, especially after the fresh snow fall that we had the night before.

Then we found the path heading down to the river's edge.  We didn't go down that far when we were here the last time, because the path was over grown.  This time, the path was clear with the snow. 

Down below we could finally see the bluffs that had heard were there.  They reminded us of the dells.

The boys did a great job with the hiking trail.  The snow made it a little slippery on the rocks, but they managed very well.  Down by the river, we found a small birds nest that had been abandoned.

"Snow" Much Fun

Saturday morning, the boys were quick to get outside.  Randy gathered up all of his ice fishing gear, the boys found their winter gear, and they all head to the ice.

Brewer sat down looking for the water that he once jumped into to.  It wasn't too long from this point that he was out walking around on the ice and snow.

Randy set up the portable ice shanty.  Out on the ice and far away, it didn't look too big...

But once inside, we found it was big enough to have a party inside.  The boys all fit comfortably and they were able to catch a few small lake perch.  However, nothing larger than the lake perch grab the

hook.

Cooper was excited to find the ice to slide on.  He even trekked up the hill to get the shovel to work on the unending task of shoveling snow. 



Last & First Time Up North



We decided to ring in the New Year, Up North at the cabin.  The boys were very excited to finally see some snow so they could go sledding.  Randy was hoping for ice to fish on, and I was hoping for some time to read a book that was not a text book!



The first wish came true ...snow!  There was plenty of snow for us all to play in.  So much, that we had to park at the top of the driveway and carry everything in.  Thankfully we had the ice fishing sled, so we (Randy) only had to make a couple of trips up and down.  The boys were quick to grab their sleds and make their sledding runs! 

Randy's wish came true as well.  He had to drill quickly before the sun went down to get water for the toliet and found that we had 6-9 inches of ice.  The lake was beautiful that night, and the wind was low, so the boys went down to share a beer/juice box, while I settled us in for the weekend.
And yes, even my wish came true...I was able to read a book!

2013 - Happy New Year

I know I said this last year, but this time I am going to hold myself to it.  I am going to update this blog so that everyone can stay up to date with the happenings of our family.  As of January 18th, I will no longer have an excuse not to do this.  So in all due respect, here is what our family has been up to this past year....
Brewer turned 4 and had a Darth Vader birthday party.  He is infatuated with the bad guys for some odd reason, but still continues to love all aspects around him.  He loves to be outside climbing, riding his bike, swimming, playing with his brother and friends, and seeing how he can find trouble.  He's a character - always having a comment or expression to go with what is happening.  In fact, if you ask him, he would say..."love that little stinker!"
Cooper turned 7 this summer and found a love for the water.  Every chance he had he was asking to go swimming.  He also had a chance to go to Boy Scout Camp this past summer with his troop and had a blast!  Cooper is in the second grade and has found a love of reading and writing.  We are thankful that his first grade teacher, Mrs. Laudonio, asked him to wrap around into second grade with her for her last year of teaching.  Together they have clicked and inspire one another to better themselves.  This past spring, Cooper played coach pitch baseball, but is looking ahead to playing flag football this next year.
I am finishing up with the Teaching Certification program at Carthage, and am in the process of completing my second quarter of student teaching.  This past summer, I was able to grow a little garden, and am hoping to make a few changes to making it better this next summer.
Randy has been slowly getting back into his fishing this past year.  He is looking forward to the fishing trip in 2013 with the guys.  Randy found his coaching niche with Cooper's coach pitch baseball team, and found that the reactions from the parents was very positive.  Randy also co-lead Cooper's Scout pack, and is in his second year with the Wolves.
2012 was a great year for us, but we are looking forward to what 2013 has in store for us!  Happy New Year!