The Simple Life

Warm sun

Late winter day

A little walk for a little boy

Um...

Is this a face only a mother could love?

Horses, Knights, and Princesses

 I am amazed at my kids' imagination sometimes.  They are great improvisers... they wanted to play "knights and princesses" but we don't really have knights and princesses, so they made do with what we did have.  Our dogs all became "horses,"  the bears were the "knights," and the Dora dolls were of course the "princesses." 

Baby... It's COLD Outside!

We haven't seen snow for over a month.  And, even then it was only a couple inches that lasted for a few days tops.

I was beginning to think we were still in Oklahoma with the weather we had.  I'm talking 50+ degree weather.  In fact, we went to the park one day because it was so warm and Andrew got 6 stitches in his chin.

Well, winter seems to have finally found its way here.  It has been snowing slowly but steadily for about 36 hours and our high today was 14 degrees.  I have no idea how much snow we have, but it has drifted right outside our front door and is perfect for the kids to jump in and play.  They are completely in love with the snow.  (Aside from the fact that they need better gloves and their fingers are freezing off).

 You almost couldn't get bigger smiles on these kids' faces!

Play Nice

Emma and Andrew have a tendency to push each other's buttons frequently.  They both like to push buttons, but they don't like their buttons pushed.  Imagine that!

But, there are days (like today) when they play perfectly together.  

Today it's because of the temple. 

See that pink castle on the left of the picture?

That's their "temple."

Andrew keeps saying, "Hurry Emma!  It's time for the Daddy to marry his HONEY in the temple!"

So, then all the puppies and Little People and Super Heroes rush to the castle and watch the Daddy marry his honey.

I have a smile (1) because they are having fun together, (2) because Andrew calls girls "honeys" sometimes, and (3) because he understands he should get married in the temple.

I just had to call Dennis and tell him about it while he was at work.

Mock New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve this year, we were all asleep (including Dennis and I) by 8:00 pm.  Don't judge me... it was a long week of post-Christmas/Emma's birthday/hosting parties at our house.

So the night before New Year's, we had most of Dennis's family down to our house to watch the Iowa Bowl Game.  It was a sad, pathetic showing by the Hawkeyes, so we won't go further into that.

But, the kids had a great time camping out together and watching Mulan. 

Every time we get together with the Hunger family I think of what a huge blessing it is to live here so that our kids can grow up close to their cousins.

And then you blink...

And she's FIVE!

Emma is five years old.

The birthday girl had fun watching her Littlest Pet Shop cake come to life.  

She was the only one allowed in the kitchen during the construction. 
She got to pass her time waiting for birthday presents by playing with all the new Christmas presents from two days ago. 

Grandma & Grandpa Hunger came to her party and she was a happy girl.

 

• Emma is still a sweet, sweet girl.
• She loves giving people hugs.  It doesn't matter who they are, she just knows everybody needs a hug once in a while.
• When we meet someone new, she introduces herself and all the rest of the kids.  She's very outgoing.
• She thinks she is Jared's mother.  She wants to hold his hand when he walks, dust him off when he falls...
• She shares really well.  While opening her birthday presents, she kept saying, "Sarah, you can play this with me!"
• She likes to sing primary songs and her favorite ones are "I Love to See the Temple" and "Scripture Power."
• She loves going to school and wished she got to go with Sarah.
• She has a mischievous laugh that I know means trouble when I hear it.  It means she is teasing someone.  With all her sweetness, at least she's got spunk too! 
• Given a choice between meat and some other food item, she will choose meat... with a side of meat.
• Our family could never be complete without Emma.