what happened to 75 degrees and sunny.....?

Saturday and Sunday we played outside in shorts and t-shirts. I accomplished a lot of raking (trying to get things cleaned up before the snow hit) and Pat installed a new gutter on the front of the house so all that snow/rain wouldn't be draining into our foundation. I'm so thankful we had such a beautiful weekend to work and play outside. The kids helped pick up sticks and rocks and also had lots of fun playing together.

Monday winter returned and we now have 8 inches of snow on the ground! It's not time to pack away those winter hats and gloves just yet.

We had fun outside in the snow (kids never tire of snow -- and neither does Pat for that matter) -- we had snowball fights; we built a snowman, we bundled up Sophia and let her experience the snow; and the big kids painted the snow with squirt bottles filled with colored water. Thank goodness for Family Dollar -- $3 well spent! (And thank you Christy (our neighbor in Connecticut) for this great idea!)(a close-up of the painted snow)

11 months

Time for another update on Sophia - it seems like just a few days ago I was posting her 10 month update -- I was a little behind in giving that update. Yesterday she turned 11 months -- I can't believe it's only one month until she's a year! This year has really gone fast!!

I attempted to take a few pictures yesterday to capture her 11 month birthday -- but she tried escaping from me again! She really wanted to get outside to see what her big brothers and sister were up to in the snow.
I did manage to get a few pictures....
Her latest record on steps taken is 9! She did this yesterday for Daddy. She gets so excited when she starts to walk -- she makes a sniffle noise and waves her arms up and down. It's pretty cute.(sorry the top of her head is cut off -- Hannah was playing photographer as I was holding out my hands to get her to walk to me)

She loves to give kisses -- she was kissing her Valentine's Day dog right before I took this picture of her. When she kisses she makes the "mmmmmmaaaa" sound but doesn't smack her lips. It's pretty cute!
She is adored by her big sister!
She has started saying "all done" when she's finished eating and "night-night" when I lay her down for naps and at night. She loves to play ball and is also saying ball and roll.
What a lovable little girl God has given us!

St. Patty's Day

Here are some highlights from St. Patty's Day at our house....

Decked out in Green
Fun Lepruchan Hats (Luke and Hannah made them at story time at the library)
Shamrock Cut-out cookies
A Green-Faced Baby
Yummy Corned Beef and Cabbage
Happy St. Patrick's Day

Buddies

Pat and I were just discussing the other night how thankful we are that our kids are good buddies with each other (it has made our transitions over the past year a lot smoother!) Recently Hannah and Luke have done quite a bit together. And Jacob has spent quite a bit of time reading to Sophia. But the neat thing about their relationships with each other so far -- is that they don't seem to play favorites or exclude one another. It just seems to happen pretty naturally that they spend time with different siblings -- and they find different things to do together -- read, wrestle, craft projects, ride bikes, play basketball, eat snacks, etc. I hope these friendships continue to blossom and develop with time.

Sophia's 10 month report

I have teeth! (four to be exact -- two on top and two on bottom) I love to crunch graham crackers with my teeth!

I can stand!

Sophia loves to practice standing and has even taken a few steps (she may be our earliest walker). Her older siblings are very encouraging and they love to watch her accomplish new things. We sing "Be Strong in the Lord" when she stands on her own and she smiles with her big, wide toothy grin.
I sampled dirt today
I decided it's yucky
Luckily Mommy had my Klean Kanteen bottle nearby to wash down the bad taste :)
(We just bought these stainless steel sippy cups -- No more bad plastic-tasting milk!)

And I don't like to cooperate for photos with Mommy (Hannah tried so hard to get a good picture of us together After 5 tries this was our best shot! -- first a truck went by, then Luke started running circles around us, then she heard some sirens, then she saw a shiny stone to crawl after and then another car went by -- this girl doesn't miss a beat! )
Here she is checking out the shiny stone

This lack of cooperation for photos runs in the family.....