More Skiing

Here is a young moose that wandered right up to the house.  He was eating the dead plants that were still in the flower pot.  Merrilee opened the front door to try to scare him off, but he just stood there, 3 feet away and stared.  

Then his momma showed up and off they went.

Rylan with his ski instructor on St. Patricks Day.

Riding the magic carpet to the top!

Life really is good!

The grown-ups

The kids went to daycare so we could get some time on the slopes too, it was wonderful!

Off we go!

The adorable parents-to-be!  I can't wait to be an aunt!!!

Rylan and Jack

Walking with Grandma

Tied up to Jack, going for a ride.

The only house cleaner allowed to sweep in his underwear!

He'll hate me for this picture some day, but he doesn't get much cuter does he?

Nick and I took a ride on the zip line, pretty awesome!

Ski School!

We went skiing over spring break and Rylan learned to ski! ski  We weren't sure how he would do because he tends to get frustrated easily, but I think it helped that he was with a group of kids and we weren't doing the teaching.  

 They just did some playing at ski school too - here they were getting ready for a race down the bunny hill on their tummies. 

So cute!

He was such a good listener, he always did just what his teachers told him to.

Look at him go, no big deal!  I can't even begin to describe how proud I am!

Hanging out, taking a break on a swing.

Totally zonked out.

I have to get more pictures of our trip, but they are on other cameras, so be patient!

Alone Time Ever?

Even in the morning when I'm getting ready, this is what is behind me.  

Okay, they are adorable as anything and it warms a momma's heart when they both sit nice and read books, but really, I can't even dry my hair by myself?  :)

Girls Night Out

It's just Mackenzie and I for a day as Nick and Rylan headed west to the ranch this morning.  They will be back tomorrow, but I thought us girls could have a night out.

After school/daycare, we first had to pick up Ace at the groomer, as he had a much needed bath today.   We brought him home, then headed to a baby store to do a little shopping.  I love this little store because the owner is one of the most beautiful mom's ever, inside and out, and she was there today with her little lady, who I haven't seen in awhile, so it was a treat to get to visit with her a little.  Not only does this store have ADORABLE stuff, but there's a little section with toys for kids to play with, so Mackenzie was happy as a clam there as well.

We then headed to supper at a local restaurant I haven't been to in a while.  Mackenzie was the perfect child and we had a great time, just the two of us.  We got home around 7:15pm and she told me she was tired.  So we got pj's on, brushed teeth, read a book, and she snuggled right in her bed and went right to sleep.  I seriously have the most wonderful little girl ever!!!!  She is so good about going to sleep.  We usually read a couple books, tuck her in, and that's it.  She rarely ever fights bedtime, I am so blessed!  We've never really had that with Rylan.  Since he's been out of the crib, he comes up with every excuse not to go to sleep.  One night (over a year ago) he told me his hair hurt and that's why he couldn't sleep.  And that was after his arm, leg, and tummy were hurting too.

But anyhow, it was so special  to have that one on one time with her.  Often times, I feel we try to do more special little things with Rylan because we're harder on him.  He gets held to different rules because he's the older one and he should know better.  He usually has to finish all his dinner before dessert where we might be more lenient with Kenzie because you can't really reason with her yet.  So special outings are usually for him because we want him to know we love him and are proud of him when he's a good brother.  So it was nice to have that time with Mackenzie tonight, just her and I, it doesn't happen very often.

Finally!

 I finally got more space!  After trying over and over, and then the nightmare of finding an answer with google, I finally got it figured out.  Who knew I just needed to use a different browser?  Anyhow, so I'm catching up with pictures!

Here are the rest of the snow pictures.  Rylan peeking through the tunnel we made.

The face Mackenzie genuinely made as she watched Rylan jump from the snow pile, about 6 feet up. 

Riding home in the sled and Mackenzie attempting to lick the snow off Rylan's hat.  The only think she wants to do outside is eat snow, and she doesn't discriminate, she'll eat snow of any color.  Nasty!

The aftermath of being outside - I LOVE this little room!

Showing me their rosy cheeks.  Such little loveys!

They both love to help in the kitchen.  They were very good making these cupcakes, they took turns dumping ingredients in the bowl.

I absolutely love this picture - eyes closed, fully savoring every lick.  That's my girl!

Here she is doing her faces for me.

Sad

Happy

Scared

Tired

Sweet, sweet face!  I'm so lucky to be her momma!

Mackenzie also loves to help me put groceries away.  I set up the stool so she could put things on more than just the bottom shelves. 

She was trying to help Rylan with his coat. 

Two weeks ago, it was super cold and that happened to be the week that 2 coils went out in our boiler.  It was around 60 degrees in the house in the evening, and we decided it was too cold for the kids to sleep in their rooms, so we turned on the fire place and had a sleepover in our room.  We actually had to put Mackenzie to sleep in her own bed and carry her down later, because she wouldn't settle down on an air mattress.  It was a good thing we kept them in our rooms too, because the next morning, it was 54 degrees in our house - WAY too cold!  Thank goodness the parts came faster than expected and all is well again.

No More Syrup

Here's a conversation Rylan and I had in the car today after preschool.  To preface the story, Rylan has 3 little cuts/owies currently. We have been harping on him to leave them alone because he likes to pick the scab and then it never heals.  This morning when I dropped him off at school, the scab on his hand was starting to peel off so I reminded him again not to touch it and to ask the teacher for a band-aid if he needed it.  So after I picked him up from school, this is the convo we had.

Rylan: Mommy, I can't have syrup anymore.
Me: Why is that? (thinking he had done something inappropriate at school)
Rylan: It gets in your cracks and rips your owies off, and then it starts bleeding again.
Me: What?
Rylan: It sticks on your owie and then it comes off and then it will never get better.
Me: Well, you can still eat syrup, you just can't get it all over your hands.
Rylan: Well....(dramatic pause)... I get messy when I eat and I just can't keep track of all this!

Oh man, he cracks me up!


Happy Valentine's Day!  My sweetie took me out to dinner and a movie.  We saw True Grit.  It wasn't really what I was expecting, but it was good.  What a talented young actress in that one!

Snow!

Here are some pictures from playing outside the other day.  It hit 30 degrees (a major heat wave) and we were ready to play!

Rylan was the best big brother and helped Mackenzie zip up her coat.  This is one of the sweetest things I've seen him do for her!

Ready to go!

Beautiful sunset

So proud of her shovel

Trying to shovel off the road

The climber

Kenzie needed a little help getting to the top.

And now I'm mad because I have a bunch more photos to share, but Google is telling me I have no more free space.  I tried to purchase some more space but there's an error in the transaction and it's not working!  Hopefully I can get it figured out tomorrow!