We haven't really done much since Christmas. The combination of living in someone else's house, middle of winter in Iowa, house hunting, and having access to very little of your belongings makes for a rather sad existence. Maybe that's a bit extreme. We have a lot of fun, the kids are happy, and we are so blessed that my parents have been willing to put up with us for so long. In the grand scheme of things we really have very little to be sad about. But still, that combination doesn't lend itself to a whole of excitement. And yet somehow this post has an abundance of pictures, so apparently I've found ourselves doing things worth documenting.
Like this cheese face.
I got a coloring book for Christmas. It really is as relaxing as they say.
The kids love to wear grandma's glasses.
We frequently have concerts. I've also been trying to practice the piano as often as I can. I'm learning to pluck out a few hymns with both hands.
Grandma and Papa have quite a supply of nerf guns which the kids are happy to use. All the time. Declan is especially unpredictable. You never know when he's finally going to pull the trigger or where it's going to go.
Kelbie and Caden introduced us old fogeys to SnapChat. I think we are too old to really get these new tech things. I mean look at that face.
It's cold. Especially for us wimps coming from Singapore. Here's Declan all bundled up for his first time out in the snow. Clearly he was thrilled about his greatly restricted movement.
A little happier about it once he was outside.
A whole lot of horsey rides happen around here. Or camel or elephant as the case may be.
And wrestling. Declan loves to say "let's wwestle!" or "let's fight!" and then stick one fist out and keep the other one close to his chest, a bit like a super hero pose if you can picture it. It's hilarious. He also will quickly lay on the ground after you start fighting him, close his eyes and say "I died". We seem to have a preoccupation with death around here.
Tatum fell asleep on the couch at the church when we were there on New Year's Eve.
We cheered on the Hawkeyes on New Years Day. Sadly, they let us down. Majorly.
Winter can be beautiful.
Stories with grandma. If you lay down you are fair game in Declan's book. He can't resist climbing on anyone who is on the ground.
I made my first banoffee pie! My friend Catherine introduced me to this deliciousness in Singapore. Mine wasn't as good as hers but still quite enjoyable.
When they can't get any adults to give a horsey ride they rely on each other. :)
We went swimming. I really need to take them more often, I don't want Tatum to forget all she learned when we had daily access to a pool.
We swam with our friends Camille, Collin and Amelia. And afterward we got to play at the library and the indoor playground for a bit.
We got to have dinner with the Lights and the Rices once. The kids had a blast together.
I took the kids to the PlayStation, an indoor play place for kids. They are a little young for it. It would have been better without Declan (sorry buddy!). Tatum loved it as long as I was with her. But dragging a reluctant Declan everywhere got quite tiresome.
Some well-timed goldfish crackers bought me a leisurely stroll through Hobby Lobby.
There is a pair of eagles that have a nest near the church. We go over regularly to try to spot them. Declan couldn't quite figure out which end of the binoculars to look through.
Lots of haircuts. Declan's hair grows really fast, but also no one has really been able to figure out how to cut it successfully. It is so thin and fine. So we just keep cutting it, trying to fix it and make it look a little better but not a lot of luck so far. We might have to resort to a buzz cut.
Cheeseballs happy to be sharing a mini frosty.
Declan transitioned to a normal bed. I didn't plan on doing that here at my parents' but we have been here a lot longer than I planned, so obviously my plans don't mean a lot. ;) He was flipping himself out of the pack n play in a way that looked like it could lead to an injury so we just did it. It was amazingly easy. (knock on wood)
Each kid gets one drawer for their clothes here which has proven to be a little tight with bulkier winter clothes. One morning we saw a little thing on the news about folding clothes. I'm sure I'm very late to this but I did it and man alive it allowed me to fit a lot more clothes in their drawers!
He kept telling me he was a bad guy. Doesn't he just strike fear in your heart? :)
I organized my mom's pantry.
Tatum played with the American Girl dolls and loved them. She posed them all on this chair with her and then asked me to take their picture.
Grandma loves to vacuum and she is making sure that love gets passed on to the next generation.
We get outside whenever we can. The kids are surprisingly happy to be out in the cold. I'm not quite as happy about it. haha
One Sunday Tatum spent the better part of the afternoon reading the ads to us, telling us exactly how much everything costs.
This boy loves his pockets.
Tatum couldn't be left out but didn't have front pockets so she made me take a picture of her backside.
Apparently my life isn't chaotic enough so I decided to potty train Declan. My parents were out of town for about a week so I took the opportunity to begin the process when there would be less distractions for him. The first three days or so did not give me a lot of hope. I was seriously questioning my decision to start and wondering if I should quit. But ever since then it has been pretty smooth sailing, hallelujah! He even picked up the nighttime stuff pretty quickly too. Whew!
Crystal gave us this kinetic sand which was the perfect potty training distraction. We were trying to hang out mostly in the kitchen those first couple of days which is the perfect place to play with sand.
We did have one accident on the carpet. I was really hoping to avoid that. But at least it was only one!
We have managed to get a lot of scripture studying in. ;) Thumbing through the scriptures actually seems to provide a lot of entertainment for these two. I wonder what it is about it.
We did Secret Valentine's with mom and dad and the Eskelsens. Tatum got these little yogurt-y drinks that she likes and was nice enough to share with Declan. Bottoms up!
We made sugar cookies for Valentine's Day and I let the kids lick the bowl.
More horse rides.
Heart shaped hair for Valentine's Day. I'm obviously an amateur haha.
We played at the mall with Camille, Collin and Amelia.
Declan loves babies!
Drawing with sidewalk chalk when there is still snow on the ground. We obviously have cabin fever.
The house hunt continues. We put an offer in on one house but ended up being outbid. At first we felt okay about it but as more time passes with no other promising prospects it's hard not to have regret about missing out on that one. Like I said, my parents have been great but it's hard to not feel like our lives are on hold. I hate that feeling. I'm sure there are things I could do to make it feel less like that, I just need to get more creative. Suffice it to say we are all surviving. We
will live to tell the tale.
