Our Sunday

Today was even prettier than yesterday. So, because it seems I'm on a video making kick, here is a very short clip of our fun afternoon after church. They both cried when it was time to go in to have dinner and bathe up. 

Spring please come!!

 

Our Saturday

I never thought I was much of a wuss when it came to snow and cold, but it turns out I am.  I'm blaming the kids.  It's such a pain to take them out.  Get all bundled up for the 1 minute walk to the car.  Just to take it all off to get them buckled in their car seats.  Then repeat those two steps when we get where we are going. Call me lazy, but I don't care.  I'm done with this winter. The snow was beautiful when it first got here.  The kids loved crawling around in it. Then it just turned into a heavy wet, slippery, icy mess. Not to mention I have this little guy who's new to walking and wants to go out every chance he gets. So Spring could not come soon enough in my opinion!

But today.... Oh TODAY! It was perfect.  Just what my soul needed.  We had sun. Sun I say! Hardly any snow is left and we only needed light jackets. I had to get out and let that golden sun soak into me.  So we hit up the zoo! (Along with everyone else in Philly.)  Apparently everyone else was feeling the same way because it was the busiest that I've ever seen it.

It was so energizing.  The kids loved it. They, unfortunately, were ready to go home for naps much sooner than I was. But, nonetheless, it was amazing.

Here's a little short video of our morning. Enjoy!

December in Our Little Corner of the World...

Even though the beautiful fall came and went we were so excited for December to roll around. Christmas is all the more fun with kiddos around. This year we decided to head out to the West Coast to spend the holidays with family. I'll be honest, I wasn't very sure about having Christmas across the country. But it turned out so wonderful. The kiddos and I stayed over there just shy of one month and Joseph was there for two weeks in the middle. So much driving and visiting and spending time with missed family and friends. Who can complain about that?

The littles and I left on the 16th of December so we kept our Christmas decorations to a minimum. I didn't want to come home in the middle of January and not only have to unpack, but put away all our Christmas decorations. We decided that we still needed to get some sort of tree for the littles. So we went to the same Christmas tree lot as we did last year and found the most perfect little tree I've ever seen. The kiddos loved walking through the rows and rows of trees playing peek-a-boo.

It was so perfect for us. We don't have very much room in our living room anyway so the size was perfect. Plus I wrapped that thing in lights within 10 minutes and let Amelia do the rest. She took a full 2 hours making that thing just right. Then when she was done she proudly stated, "There. Santa is going to love it."

See, isn't it cute?

I've stated before that dinner is a nightly fail for me as a mother. It seems that every night, that is the time they are the neediest, fussiest, whiniest. EVERY NIGHT. I really try to be a patient mother, but this is the hardest time of the day for me. They have to be right there under my feet, pulling, tugging, fighting. Ugh. Well this particular night they were right there with me while I was preparing dinner, but they were quite and playing together. They had pulled out a few cans and were stacking them. Well by the time I was done fixing dinner this was the end result of my kitchen. Was it worth the peace and quiet? Luckily my littles are typically good little helpers and they helped me put everything away before we ate. 

One Sunday we came out of church to this. We got slammed. It did make for beautiful scene though.

Meet Snow our "snowmother".

James' first time in the snow. He really loved it. Just crawled around everywhere. I was freezing and ready to go in long before these two were.

I know this picture has a blue tint (and I'm too tired to go fix it), but I just love it. He really enjoyed himself out in that snow.

He was like The Christmas Story child. He couldn't quite stay sitting up in all his gear.

One day when James was down for a nap. Amelia and I had a little Mommy-Daughter date on the front porch. We sat and sang songs and sipped our hot cocoa. She's been really into dates with Mommy. She's always asking me to go on a date with her.

Sometimes when we are out running errands or something Amelia will say lets go see my Dad so we make sure to go visit this good looking guy at his office. My man.

Gingerbread house making. James just did gingerbread house eating.

My days with these two are hilarious. Can't help but love them.

Mommy and Amelia went on a fabulous girls day to the Nutcracker. She had been looking forward to it for weeks. She was just in awe with every part of it. She was dying to talk to Clara and had to have a picture with them. In fact we got the picture first and then started to walk away and she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I just got to scared and didn't say anything to Clara." So we talked about being brave and went to try it again. She ran right up and yelled, "Hi!"

When we walked out the snow was back so we took a little time to dance and play in it.

The night before we headed to Nevada we went to Longwood Gardens to see the lights. I honestly didn't expect it to be as beautiful as it was. It was freezing! Yet the kids were bundled and didn't complain once. James just kept saying, "Wow." 

I'm trying a lot harder to get in more pictures. Not only with the kids, but with my love. So here you go!

The next morning, bright and early, we were headed "home." I was super nervous about flying with these two. We only had two seats for the three of us. James is at the fit throwing stage so I was hoping that the person that was going to have to sit next to us would not have to experience that. We were lucky enough to get one of the very few extra seats they had. It was such a blessing! They were such great passengers. The last 45 minutes was probably the hardest for James. He kept saying, "All done. All done. All done." But that is when I pulled out my secret stash of licorice and it quieted him right up.

Don't you want to kiss those sweet fishy lips? Funny story. So Amelia found out that James can do fishy lips and she cannot. So practically the entire plane ride was me trying to teach her to do it. By the time we landed she had some pretty good fishy lips going on. Sibling rivalry, already begun.

My kids are blessed with some amazing grandparents. Here is Amelia learning to driving a tractor with Grandpa. He was letting her steer all on her own and she thought it was incredible.

The daily egg gatherers gang.

So James has never shown much interest in any one thing, but the first day we were there we went to one of Preston's basketball games. He sat there calmly the entire time. He would point, then clap, then blow kisses. He was so interested in it. Then when Preston came out at the end he just looked Preston up and down in his uniform. Then dove into his arms. We were lucky enough to go to a few games while there. It was so wonderful to be home and feeling the Lincoln love. I've forgotten how much I love it there.  

We were there for about 5 days before Joseph got there on Saturday morning. Amelia wasn't quite acting herself that day and I thought maybe I should take her into see a doctor, but then I put it off. Joseph and I were on our way to drop the kids off so we could go to a Christmas party when she told me it hurts when she swallows. So we stopped and I looked in her throat. Poor thing. It looked terrible. I made Joseph go onto the Christmas party without me and I took Amelia to an urgent care. After several hours of waiting we came out with the diagnosis of Scarlet fever. I couldn't believe it. All I could think was that Christmas was in a few short days and even if she starts feeling better I was certain James was going to get it. Having sick kiddos while on vacation is terrible. So plans changed and we went onto Panaca a few days early in hopes to not infect Joseph's entire family and just infect mine. :) We were there until Christmas Eve when we drove back to Henderson to be with Joseph's family. At that point Amelia was feeling tons better and James wasn't showing any signs of anything. We were just keeping our fingers crossed.

The littles in their Christmas Eve jammies.

Christmas morning!!

James loved his doggy pillow, but was most excited about the few suckers found in his stocking.

Amelia was just delighted with everything!

We traveled this road a lot during our trip

It's a good thing we have pretty good little travelers.

Played a little racquetball with my fam.

Watching Papa's train.

The Annual Robbins Ice Fishing Trip.

This was the first ice fishing that Amelia really remembers. She thought it was just awesome. I think James enjoyed himself too. Papa and Nessie pulled them all around the ice on sleds and Amelia even caught her very first fish! She was so patient waiting for it. The first time she got one, but then it got off and took her bait. So we got it back in there and she waiting patiently until she said, "Dad. I think I've got one! My pole is moving!" And sure enough. She had one.

After we left Panaca we went to Brianhead to join Joseph's family at Stephanie's cabin. I know I didn't take that many pictures, but I can't find any of the ones I did take. So maybe if I find them I'll post them. But it was a lot of fun there. Joseph, me, and Amelia went tubing along with some other family members. It was a blast. We also did a lot of game playing, which Joseph and I miss tremendously. When we lived in Utah we played games all the time, but there are only so many two player games you can play without getting sick of it. So we loved playing some group games again.

That pretty much wraps up our December. It was fun, magical, and went by way too fast.

November in our little corner of the world...

November was a SUPER busy month for us. We had LOTS of visitors, LOTS to celebrate, and LOTS to be thankful for.

We kicked off the month by attending the Delaware original -- Punkin' Chunkin'. {Or in Amelia's words, Punkim' Chunkin'}

It was awesome! It's a competition where people enter to catapult pumpkins across a giant field. There are lots of different categories: human power, catapult, air cannon, etc. There were all kinds of people! It's a whole weekend event and people camp out and tailgate all weekend. We only spent one morning there, but now that we know, next year we will be better prepared to enjoy more of the weekend.

Of course they had all kinds of fair food. We had been eating super healthy prior just in an anticipation for this trip.

Our friends, the Robinsons have moved to lower Delaware (where this event was held). So we loved getting to meet them there.

Fall is honestly amazing here. Last year we got cheated because of the hurricane. Just when everything was getting vibrant it got wiped out. So this year I was just taking it all in. We enjoyed it so much, but fall is never long enough. 

   

Oh Autumn. How I miss you. There is nothing enjoyable about this freezing cold snowy January.

I just love this picture. My kids LOVE Costco. In fact, Amelia was so happy when she learned that Nevada has a Costco too. She said, "Just in case we need to go." My two happy littles.

 Like I said, we had lots of visitors this month! All the girls in Joseph's family came and stayed with us for a few days. We packed a lot into just a few short days. But in my opinion the whole visit was great! 

The first day we went to Philadelphia. Independence Hall, Liberty bell, and Shake Shack.

 

James in the Independence Hall window.

Fall in Philly is just gorgeous.

Little Miss was all pumped to have so many people around.

Liberty Bell

Chrystal and Amelia in Downtown Philly.

Independence Hall

After Philedelphia we took them to one of our favorite farms, Brecknock Orchard for some apple picking. It was quite chilly, but so beautiful. 

The last of those vibrant pumpkins.

The next few days we spent all around the Amish farms. 

James loved the endless samples of Amish jams and jellies. He was such a Mama's boy when they were here. I couldn't get too far without some fussing. But he did kind of warm up to everyone by the end.

We did lots of shopping for two days so when we got home and unloaded everything it was like Christmas morning. Bags flying, papers tearing, and piles of goods building. They were all such good sports to stay with us. I mean 8 adults and 2 kids in a small, 2 bedroom apartment can get a bit cramped. But it worked and everyone seemed happy!

The last thing we did before taking them to the airport was a quick trip to Longwood Gardens. They loved it.

Amelia just adored having everyone here so after we dropped them off at the airport I looked in the rearview mirror and she was silently crying. I asked what was wrong and she said, "I'm just so sad that everyone is going back to Nevada." As much as I've loved living here, the hard thing has been seeing my little ones miss our families.

We spent the rest of that evening wrestling on our half flat air mattress. These kids are lucky to have a Daddy who loves to play with them.

We had just enough time to wash up the sheets and towels before our next set of visitors showed up! 

My mom, dad, and Preston all came to visit. When they knocked on the door Amelia opened it up just screaming and bouncing like a little spring. She didn't stop bouncing for 5 minutes, honestly. She was so stinking excited. I was worried that James wasn't going to be to friendly to them because he just gotten me back to himself, but he was so great with them! As soon as they got here my dad had dropped to his knees and was giving Horsey-back rides. The kids were in heaven. 

This was after we hit up The Central Market in Lancaster, PA.

Checking out the chickens on an Amish farm and getting our jammin' and jellyin' on at Kitchen Kettle. Ain't nothing like that Amish jam. (By now we were getting super tight with the Amish.)

Amelia loved this little rocking chair because it was exactly like Grandma Junes, but just her size! She also thought this little playhouse was awesome.

On Saturday we drove to NYC. Dad and Preston had never been there. First stop was the temple. The Manhattan temple is incredible to me. Just right there on such a busy street then you walk in and it's so calm and serene. The building is also a chapel so the boys found a few minutes to shoot a few hoops in the gym.

Took a nice stroll through Central Park.

A little subway riding.

It's so great to have the men around when in the city. They can do all the dirty work of hauling the strollers up and down the stairs. It's a lot of work!

After a long day we were all a little tuckered.

We spent our Sunday playing at the park and enjoying the sun. We also just drove around Wilmington to show them more of the area. 

The last day they had with us we took kind of a spontaneous trip to lower Delaware to visit the beaches.

I just assumed we would check them out for a minute then move on to our next activity, but the kids were loving it so much and everyone just rolled up there pants and started playing. It was such fun!

This little girl was not sure about the whole thing. Before we even got there she wasn't keen on the idea. She hates to get dirty and doesn't like sand at all. She never has.

Here I am trying to talk Amelia into just trying to touch the water or sand with her hand. Just once was all I was asking and she refused.

 James, on the other hand, wasn't opposed to the idea at all. He just wanted to walk everywhere.

Pretty soon I saw Preston over there talking to Amelia. Next thing I knew he was running with her in to the water. I thought she was crying because she was screaming, but no. She was squealing with delight! She was so proud of herself for being so brave.

There was no stopping her after that. She would do anything. Here she is building a sand castle and looking for seashells with Papa

Her and Preston were buds this trip. Wherever he was she wasn't far behind. Here they are holding up the Horseshoe Crab shells that they found.

It was the perfect beach day!

Just realized I never said anything about Amelia's goggles. Ha ha ha ha. She got those in the summer when we would go swimming, but she now wears them as sunglasses. People always get a laugh seeing her sport those things all day long.

After that we got back just in time to go to Longwood Gardens to see the train display with Papa.

Once all our family left it was almost boring at home :) So we decided to get out and go to the Children's Museum. Amelia was rowing one of their boats when one of the oars came down and smacked her in the eye. Poor girl got her first shiner.

Then we spent the next few days preparing for the big birthday extravaganza weekend! Three days in a row: James' birthday, Thanksgiving, and Joseph's birthday. We all came down with a little head cold and I was just hoping that James wouldn't be miserable on his big day.

The night before Mr. Reds big day. Turning the big 1!

Poor guy still wasn't feeling all that great so we kept things pretty relaxed. 

The Birthday Boy got to experience his first Slurpee with his lunch! 

I think he loved it.

He also got his first juice box with dinner. He seemed pretty pleased.

Big Sister was SO excited about Mr. Red's big day. She'd been anticipating this for weeks.

(Please excuse the make-up less face of mine. It was one of those days.)

The next morning we got busy with our Thanksgiving meal. We kept it pretty simple because it was just the four us, but it was mighty delicious.

We ate fairly early so that we could take the kiddos to a movie. We told Amelia we were going to see a movie about turkeys (Free Range). But when we got there we decided to see Frozen and didn't tell her. When the movie started Joseph told her what it was and she shouted, "Mom! It's Frozen! We get to watch Frozen!" We loved it. Especially the music. 

The next morning was Joseph's big day.

The big 2-9. His Golden Birthday!

He woke to our ceiling covered with gold balloons, pictures, and letters from friends and family.

He chose to go to NYC for the day. We drove to New Jersey then took the train into the city. James LOVED the train. He was so amazed by it.

Grand Central Station had a train show going on. It was awesome. They had a mini NYC with trains going all around and through it. The kids just thought it was so great.

Believe me, I know this is gross. My child crawling across the ground in Grand Central Station. He's just at this age where he wants to go. He doesn't want to be held, but he doesn't walk. I had him in the stroller and he had worked himself until he was just about out of the straps. So I took him out, but he just continued the screaming and squirming. He desperately wanted to get down. I tried to let him stand so I could hold his hands and walk with him. He flipped. I fought with him trying all of these things, one after another, for about 15 minutes before I just gave up. We were in a corridor of the station where no one else was so I let him down. I cringed the entire time, but he was instantly happy as can be. I let him crawl for about 5 minutes then put him back in the stroller and he was happy as a clam. So we sanitized extremely well and went on our way. Stubborn little man. He gets it from his Dad. 

The city during the holidays is magical. I was too busy taking it all in to take any good pictures, but here are a few.

I think Joseph enjoyed his day.

Golly I love my boys.

Once we got home I sat down and took a much needed deep breathe and put my feet up.

Phew! I told you our November was crazy busy!