Marquette ~ outside

We did get some chances to go for walks, play at parks and hike to the top of Sugarloaf.

Marquette! ~ Children's Museum

The weekend of March 12th we went up to Marquette to visit Matt and Amy. Saturday the weather was not great for outdoor activities - it was chilly and there was a constant soaking mist - so we spent the day between the children's museum and the library.

Maya's new napping spot

As the weather moved closer to spring we started using the Chariot more and more again for long walks. Maya is getting use to playing and sleeping in there ~ I'm glad she seems to like it as that bodes well for more long walks and bike rides ahead.

Stars upon thars

For Dr. Suess' birthday Alex was suppose to choose his favorite Suess story and dress as a character. He chose "The Sneetches" as his favorite. He didn't have any plain yellow shirts so we did the best we could.

Loose ends

I had a few projects sitting around that I finished up (finally) last month.
The mosaic I started with my sister in law last Labor Day weekend! I had all the tiles in place but had not taken the time to grout it and finish it off. The center row of tiles is a deep purple color - it doesn't really show up in the pic. It now hangs over our staircase in the kitchen.
The felted coasters were started in November I think. They were knitted and felted but I had not needle felted the designs on yet. Those were mailed off to a friend.

The end of February.....

Sledding, playing in the yard, hockey game.......we had some winter fun the last few weeks of February. Good thing too because spring came quickly!

Problems, problems

I have been having a terrible time getting my photos to upload at the library. I don't know if it was their connection or the jump drive I was trying to use to transfer the photos or what. One day I got some to upload and then blogger dumped my whole post and started giving errors so I just gave up.
We are in Green Bay this week visiting and I am working on trying to get caught up!

Hot chocolate face (plus the bonus black eye)

Snow

We lost a lot of our snow the end of last month. We had a relatively thin layer of really crunchy stuff for a while...not real great for playing outside. But we've been getting out here and there. Maya loves to swing so much....which is possible in the winter but not easy when it comes to trying to get that little puffy jacket-ed, snow pant covered, big snowboot body back out of the swing!
Alex had started on a snow fort before the thaw but I think we have to just start over at this point. We do have more snow now, got some fresh this week so maybe that should be our job for the weekend!

Ahoy Matey's!

Maya likes wearing Alex's old pirate costume from the year he was 3. This also shows the beginning of her shiner she got from falling face first into the train table. It got more colorful over the next few days.

Snowshoe hike at nature center

Festival of Trains

New Year's Eve pics

Time to catch up

Sorry we've been so slow with any updates. After the holidays it took us all a little while to get back into our regular routines. Alex had a hard time adjusting to going back to school every day and it took a toll on all of us I think. It took about 10 days-2 weeks and now he is totally thriving. He got his first progress report the end of January and is doing very well in all areas, plus I have heard rumors that he is even goofing off a bit and getting in some minor trouble which we think is great because it shows he is comfortable there and fitting in just fine :)
Maya has been growing a lot lately and with that has come some clumsiness resulting in a lot of falls and her first black eye. Her other big news is that she is OUT OF DIAPERS! She asked for princess big girl underwear the last week of January. We bought a package and she really took the idea of learning about the potty seriously. Within a week she was keeping them dry all day, part way into the next week she was wearing them all day, every day even on car trips and errands. Now she is sleeping in them at nap time and is trying really hard to keep her diapers dry at night so she can sleep in her underwear. She realized right away the underwear are far more comfortable than her big bulky diapers!
I haven't been taking too many pictures. Alex and I went on a guided snowshoe hike at the nature center at the beginning of Jan. and I have some pics from that and then a few random ones from around the house but that's it. I will post them in the next few posts and hope for a more photogenic month this month!

the quiet

Christmas night Ben and I had to drive back to Traverse City so I could make it to work at noon on saturday. Alex and Maya spent the night with Matt and Amy in Green Bay and then they all went back north to Rhinelander on saturday. Mom and Dad are driving over here with the kids today (tuesday). So that means we've been kid free here sat, sun, mon and most of today. At first it was a little exciting. Now it's pretty quiet and lonely! We'll be so happy to have them home today!

New London!

It's so much fun to watch all the cousins of all ages play together. Alex looks forward to air hockey for months!
Maya and Annalea were both really into the rocking horse and did a good job of taking turns.
Maya really gravitated towards Uncle Paul and cousin Mike this year.