Nemo!

Nemo, the "blizzard of 2013" found us!  When we started hearing reports of 1-2 feet of snow we were skeptical- they do, after all, tend to hype these things up a bit.  But this snow loving family was indeed excited that Nemo lived up to all of its hype!  I would say we got somewhere between 18' and 2 feet of snow! It was a true blizzard with wind and lots of drifting and tall snow banks and we loved it.  It was a pretty great snow day!

 

Joe made blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  

It snowed pretty much the entire day and the kids had fun watching the storm. Which turned into dancing and singing about how we were getting "100 inches" of snow!:)  

We kept warm and cozy inside most of the day.  

We had a fire and played plenty of games...including animal yatzee (which has become one of my favorites).  

But the kids were getting antsy and we just knew that it was time for them to go outside! Yes...outside IN the snowstorm! The wind was whipping and the snow was flying and I figured they would stay out for a couple of minutes at most. 

 

But not our kids...I bet they were out there for almost 20 minutes!:) I am constantly impressed by their ability to tolerate the cold (did I mention that in addition to the snow and the wind that it was only 14 degrees?)!! And when they couldn't stand the cold anymore they came in for some hot cocoa with extra marshmallows! And after warming up with cocoa Joe and the kids snuggled in to watch some rather entertaining videos of squirrels trying to attack bird feeders (and being spun around and flung off in the process)!  

And then there was lunch and more games and "quiet time" and we watched the snow pile up.  

It was so high on our deck that it covered the kid's teeter totter and was making it's way over the grill! And snow days have to include some baking so we made our favorite chocolate chip coconut cookies! And while the cookies baked the kids watched a Tinkerbell movie and ate cookies. And before we knew it it grew dark and it was still snowing (though more lightly)! And near the end of dinner Joe got called out to go with the fire department on a search for a missing man. So while I spent the rest of the evening bathing the little ones and snuggling them in for bed Joe was out on a snowmobile in the wind and snow being the incredible guy and servant I know him to be. And that ended our snow day...until yesterday when we really got to play in the snow! Joe had the kids out for probably an hour before church and then after church, lunch, and quiet time we all headed back out again for a little sledding! Most of the time Joe had to drag them up the hill and got quite the workout.  

Every now and then we convinced them (or made them) walk up at least part of the way on their own! I will admit that it wasn't easy going (for them or this pregnant mama)because the snow was so deep!

But it was worth it for the ride!  

And when the sledding was done Lily showed me how earlier Joe had made a big snow pile for her to jump off of the deck into!

   

And this family couldn't be happier that we finally have a good amount of snow to play in!

My Guy

Joe isn't a big fan of having his picture taken (especially without the kids) and he's not really a big fan of me posting pictures of him either.  But I snapped this one the other day when I was working with my new lighting system and I couldn't help but share it because I think he's just so darn handsome.  We celebrated our 10th anniversary last month and I can honestly say that marrying this man was one of the best choices I could ever have made!

Lights!

The weekend after Valentines Day I have my biggest photography job yet!  I'll be photographing the father/daughter dance that our local rec center is hosting!  I'll be doing around 100 sets of father/daughter portraits over two nights.  Quite honestly I've wondered if I've gotten myself a little in over my head time-wise and given my very low energy right now...but it's a commitment I made and will follow through on.  The dances are in the evening in a dance hall with little to no natural light so I've had to learn some new lighting techniques.  I'm excited and nervous for this challenge!  Recently I was playing around with part of my new lighting set up and snapped these pics of the kids.  It might look like there was a lot of light coming in from the window, but the room was actually pretty dark so it was good practice!

Our Own Skating Rink!

In January Joe made us our very own little ice skating rink in the backyard! He was hoping to make it bigger, but we weren't sure how well it would work and didn't want to spend a lot of money on the bigger tarp. Instead we spent $20 on a large clear plastic tarp and Joe made us this great little rink!  

The rink turned out great and the kids have spent many hours out there having a blast. Lily even learned how to skate without the trainer Joe made her last year! She has been doing great...still a few spills here and there (as you'll see) but she just gets back up and keeps on skating! Eli doesn't have skates yet, but she still loves sliding on the ice and he's pretty great at shooting with the hockey stick! I hope that we can make this a yearly tradition!  

And I guess that brother and sister love means a little laugh every now and then when the other takes a spill!  

Thankfully hugs and more fun always follows!

17 Week Baby Bump!

Here's a glimpse of our growing babe! I'll be 17 weeks along tomorrow so I thought it was time to finally get a picture! This was my first day in maternity clothes and they do show off the bump a little more than my baggy fleece!:) Some great bright back lighting and a really soft focus are making me look a little more "glowing" than I feel!:) I was just beginning to feel the slightest bit better when I came down with a cold and am back to feeling crummy and exhausted...but it's giving me hope that I'm starting to enter a little easier stage of this pregnancy!