This winter in Kansas has been a little disappointing, but we sort of expected it to be compared to what we are used to in Utah. Up until a couple of days ago, the only snow we saw was back in December and there was actually more ice involved in that storm than snow. The snow amounted to just a dusting really, but the ice made the roads really dangerous. I even ended up in the ditch after I dropped Miles off at daycare and fell on my bottom in the parking lot of Miles' daycare. What a lovely morning! It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get to work that morning too. Ugh!
Last Sunday we were all playing in the front yard soaking in some sun while a friend of the family installed new handrails on mom's front porch. The phrase "it is so nice out here" came out of pretty much everyone's mouth that day.
Fast forward about three days and we were getting dumped on! I've never seen so much snow in Kansas in my entire life. Utah, yes. Kansas, no. In fact, we almost reached the old record that was set in the 1960s. The record was like 15 some odd inches and Wichita got somewhere around 14 inches of snow. I'm not sure how much we got here in Halstead. It wasn't quite as much as Wichita, but pretty close. It's pretty cool if you ask me. The problem with getting that much snow in Kansas though is that the state doesn't have the resources to deal with it. Schools were cancelled for two days and the roads still remain snow packed. That part is what boggles my mind because the roads would definitely be clear by now in Utah.
With all of the getting mom's house ready to be sold activities that we've done around here, our snow gear ended up in our storage shed in another town. I debated whether or not I wanted to take Miles out in the snow Wednesday night because I didn't have any snow pants or snow boots, but I sucked it up and took him out. Heck, if you only get one significant snowfall each year you better darn well enjoy it! Thankfully we still had Miles' snow gear here so he could play and not freeze to death!
Wednesday morning (wanted a picture of the for sale sign)
Watching with wonder
Our little ornery man
He loves eating the snow! He kept telling me it was his food and then started calling it dinner.
Eating our attempt at a snowman - it was too powdery
One happy little boy
I taught him how to make snow angels, but he kept calling them snowmen
He had to get his tractor involved in digging in the snow
We ended up with only an inch or two by the end of the day on Wednesday, but the weathermen were saying the biggest part of the storm was coming through overnight. This is what we woke up to Thursday...
The back yard
Dave had to shovel a path for Buddy
The beginning of his day of shoveling
Dave is sore today!
School was cancelled again today. It's been so nice having Dave at home. Miles really has enjoyed having dad around. Dave is supposed to go in to Wichita tonight for the varsity basketball game, but based on the road conditions that still exist, we aren't quite sure if he'll make it. The sun is shining today though so maybe a lot of it will melt away before he needs to leave. I'm hoping after Miles wakes up from nap we can figure out how to go sledding on the dike without an official sled.
I've neglected this blog again because we've been so busy getting my mom's house ready to be put on the market. Early in January I encouraged her to call a realtor to offer us suggestions on what projects we should start/finish around here before selling it. I was secretly hoping she'd come in and just say we should sell it "as is" because it is an older home, etc., but she didn't say that and gave us a list of things to do. She said that it was best to finish projects we had started because it is hard for potential buyers to imagine what things might look like. She also mentioned that there was a Parade of Homes scheduled for the end of January that we should try and shoot for as our listing date. With Dave coaching basketball, I highly doubted we'd get all the projects done in time...and I ended up being right. We didn't officially get mom's house listed until Tuesday, February 19th (just a couple of days ago). But it is still in time for the busy spring season of house buying! Crossing our fingers we can get this house sold...quickly.
- A little background info. for those of you unaware - We moved in to my mom's house last summer when we moved to Kansas. My mom hasn't been living here full-time for quite some time so she offered it to us rent free (yippee). All she asked was that we finish up some projects so that she could eventually sell it. Her house is paid for, but the taxes and insurance on it are costing her too much and she'd rather not have the responsibility anymore.
Among getting the house ready we've been busy living life. I've gone back to typing (medical transcription) part-time and am enjoying the flexible schedule. Miles went back to his preschool class that he started last August (All God's Children). It is two mornings a week for 2 1/2 hours. He loves the break from mom and the opportunity he has to play with other kids his age and learn new things. Dave's life has been consumed by basketball. He is busy with it six days a week with either a game (sometimes twice a week) or practice. Tonight was supposed to be the last freshman game, but because of snow it was postponed until tomorrow and now schools have been cancelled for tomorrow so they decided to cancel the freshman game entirely and just hold the varsity game tomorrow evening. He isn't officially done coaching until the state playoffs happen for the varsity team which is the 6th, 8th, and 9th of March. I'm glad he's had this opportunity, but man am I looking forward to the beginning of March!
Spring break is around the corner and we're all looking forward to some much needed R&R!
Miles LOVES to go to Dad's b-ball practices!
Living/dining room before carpet
Living/dining room after carpet
Half bath before (forgot to get a real before pic) - Dave tore out an old sink and cabinet before I remembered to take a picture
Installing bead board - not so easy in such a small space
Half bath after - I think it looks SO good!
The main bath had two entrances so we closed off one entrance and added a HUGE linen closet - so nice to have!
In the kitchen Dave finished hanging the bead board at the top of the walls, hung the shelves for the dishes, and did some texturing on the walls where we were going to put tile but changed our minds
Miles' Valentine's Day party at school
Trying mom's fruit dip that I made for the party
Miles' Valentine's
Checking out his goodies
And a couple of random pictures of our cutie to end this long post...
Trying on Dad's hat
Miles loves Tinkerbell and is always asking where his wings are so Grandma bought him some wings. Ha! He ran around for hours trying to fly. Just so you know, Dave does NOT approve of this at all. Ha ha!
I'm not so good at keeping Miles' baby book updated, but I've done a pretty good job at documenting his little life on our blog. I haven't written a post specifically about Miles and what he is up to lately though so I figured it was time.
He is saying some of the cutest things these days! One day he came running into the kitchen where I was and was very excited but sort of had a scared look on his face as well. He told me that he had found a "jump-hopper" in my room and asked that I follow him. I followed him into my room only to find a decapitated cricket on the floor. I think his curiosity led to him playing with it a bit until the little cricket lost its life.
When Dave got his "new-to-him" car, Miles was very interested in checking it out. Grandma was the one who brought the car over to us so she took Miles out to explore the Buick. He got in the car and decided quickly that it was gross (it is an old car with different smells, etc.). He then combined gross and Buick (or so we think) and started calling it "Dad's Guey Car!" He continues to call it the guey car. Too cute!
On Disney Junior they have a new show called "Sofia The First." It is about a princess named Sofia. Miles LOVES this new show and LOVES "Princess Fofields!" It took me a while to figure out what he was trying to say.
Miles is still a very active little boy. By the end of the day I'm completely exhausted from trying to keep up with him. I wish I had even half of the energy he has! He loves to sing and often sings along with tunes on his favorite shows. He loves all things boys, but also loves a few girly things like Tinkerbell and Princess Sofia. For a while after Christmas he thought he needed Tinkerbell wings. He loves to be outside. I'm so thankful for the swing set grandma got him for his birthday last fall. The weather has been so nice here lately that we've been able to enjoy some time playing in the backyard. He continues to love watching TV. He has been a huge fan of the TV his entire life. It is probably unhealthy for him to watch as much TV as he does, but it gives me a break and an opportunity to get things done. He still takes naps and sleeps for about two hours every afternoon. He is very sensitive to a lack of sleep and his naps are still very vital for his happiness each day.
A few of his more challenging behaviors include his orneriness towards our dog, Buddy. We have to tell him over and over again that he should be nice to Buddy. He also is going through a phase where he'll just walk by and hit myself or Dave. We are working on being nice to Mom and Dad as well! Staying in bed overnight has been a challenge as well, but we implemented a few ideas that were given to me over Facebook and we have made some huge progress!
We are so thankful for this little guy and all that he teaches us daily. He is an amazing boy and we are so lucky to have him in our family! I'm so excited to see how his life unfolds.
For those of you who don't know yet, I quit my full-time job back in December. I was only there for three months, but it was the roughest three months! I wasn't happy with the work situation, but I so desperately wanted it to work because Miles seemed to really be thriving at WSU's daycare facility and we needed the money. I hated to change Miles' routine again. After thinking and talking things through with Dave and after an "incident" that happened right before I left for Christmas break, I decided to quit over Christmas break and not return. It has been about 3 1/2 weeks since my last day and boy have those 3 1/2 weeks been nice!
Miles and I are enjoying spending more time together although I think he does miss his friends and teachers at WSU occasionally. Mom isn't quite as exciting as a room full of three-year-olds!
We do still need for me to work though so I contacted my old boss who I used to do medical transcription for. He didn't have any immediate openings, but asked me to contact him again towards the end of January. I got an email this morning saying they just had a position open up and would love for me to come back. They need me to start training immediately (I'll be working on a different account than I did last time) so in the next couple of days they will get my computer all set up again and I'll be back in business!
Hopefully Miles won't object too much to mommy working from home again!
Dave and I really struggled with deciding on what to get Miles for Christmas this year. In fact, we took back a couple of things we had bought before Christmas but couldn't settle on. He is a very loved little boy and has a million and one toys. He was in need of some clothes, but family helped us out in that department with their gifts to him. We ended up at Wal-Mart Christmas Eve Day and just bought stuff out of desperation and ended up taking some of it back too! Ha!
For Christmas Eve we spent the evening with Dave's brother, Zach, and his family. Their little girl, Lily, is about six months younger than Miles. They both really like each other and play well together. It was fun celebrating with them! Tammy and I both had the same idea and gave Christmas PJs as the Christmas Eve gift. I think that is a tradition for a lot of families!
Miles & his PJs
Lily loved the pockets on her new PJs!
Dave reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Miles in his PJs
We tried to put the kids in the same bed together that night. They both fell asleep instantly because they were both exhausted but that didn't last the whole night. Miles woke up and turned the light on in Lily's room so Lily ended up moving in to Zach & Tammy's room to finish out the night. Miles did not get much sleep the rest of the night. He was up and down all night. Christmas morning came and the adults were all a little grumpy because we were all so tired!
Christmas morning - Lily's cute curls didn't survive the rough night
He was so anxious to open presents
Looking in his stocking
We couldn't find him a big Buzz like he wanted so we got the next best thing! Ha!
He didn't really play with this much so we took it back and he picked out a "Tractor Tippin'" toy from the movie Cars instead
At his daycare's Christmas program he asked Santa for a trash truck and Santa delivered
Lily got a BIG doll house
Zach was the only adult who wanted his picture taken!
Playing together - notice Miles has his trash truck IN the doll house
He LOVES trash trucks
After presents were opened Miles and Lily didn't play together as well as they had been. They both became possessive of their new toys which is to be expected I guess. Their lack of sleep started to kick in as well.
Later Christmas morning we drove up to Dayton, Idaho to see Dave's dad. It was good to see him and Miles enjoyed showing Grandpa his new toys. We then went back to Zach and Tammy's house and cooked ourselves a nice little Christmas dinner. It was yummy! Zach, Tammy, and Lily had gone over to Tammy's parent's house so we had their house all to ourselves. Miles seemed to relax a little and we all vegged in front of the TV for a while. It was a nice day.
That evening Lily and Miles entertained us and boy were they a hoot. I was laughing so hard I was crying! Those two are so cute together!
Watch out boys! Lily has some moves!
The best part of this video is at the 12 second mark
Our original plan was to leave the day after Christmas to head home, but a snow storm rolled in and changed our plans a bit. Dave needed to get back for basketball practice but because of the storm he was able to get his practices covered. We decided to stay a few extra days spending time with family while we waited for the road conditions to improve. We were even able to spend a night with Dan, Tonya, and their kids in their new empty house after they got back from their trip to see Tonya's family for Christmas. It was nice to get a little more time with them.
With mom's help, Miles took this photo of Aidan & Tonya
Our trip home wasn't as easy as we had hoped, but we made it home safely. We did have to get a hotel in Colby, Kansas because we got a late start heading out and then were slowed down by bad roads in Wyoming. Miles travels so well and is pretty content to just watch movies. It makes trips like that so much less stressful!
We had a wonderful Christmas vacation and were so glad we got to see some friends and family! Thank you to everyone for making our trip fantastic. We love and miss you all!
Due to Dave and I both coming from split families, we get to celebrate big holidays like Christmas several different times. Miles really seemed to enjoy celebrating Christmas a few different times. We aren't even done celebrating Christmas yet either. Oh boy!
Miles really got in to opening presents this year. He understood that the faster the wrapping paper came off, the faster he would get to see what was inside. He'd open a present, admire it for a bit, and then move on to the next one. He was always ready for more! We had to work with him some this year on being thankful for what he got. We also tried to teach him about the true meaning of Christmas and that it is Jesus' birthday, but I'm not entirely sure that sunk in this year. Maybe next year?
We took down the Christmas tree today and Miles kept asking why we were taking it down. After answering him several times with "Christmas is over" he finally came up to us and said, "Christmas is over." He didn't sound too happy by that though. Dave jokingly said that the next holiday we will celebrate is Dave's birthday. Now Miles is all excited and ready for Dave's birthday. Ha! I had to point out that Valentine's Day is actually the next big holiday. Can't let Dave forget that one!
Christmas at Great Grandpa & Grandma's
He is in constant motion always
He got new trucks and also a cute outfit!
We decided to spend Christmas in Utah this year. I was really missing Utah and wanted to go visit. While out there we were able to check on our townhouse and also have an enjoyable evening with our old neighbors. In addition to that we got to spend some time with some of Dave's family. It was a very nice trip. We were delayed in coming home by a couple of days though due to snowstorms, but it was nice to be able to spend more time out there.
Miles wanted a picture by the horses
We went out to eat at Tucanos with our old neighbors. We had a wonderful evening spending time with them!
Baby Ian on the carousel
They enjoyed riding the carousel at the Provo Beach Resort
Dave's brother, Dan, who has been living in Alaska for the last 11 years moved to Logan, UT over the Christmas holiday. Dan and his family arrived in Logan the Sunday evening before Christmas. They only had a little bit of time Monday morning before they were on the road again for St. George to surprise her family for Christmas. We took full advantage of them being close and all showed up Monday morning to spend some time with them. Good thing they bought a big house and none of their furniture had been delivered yet because the six children and eight adults that were there had a great morning playing/roughhousing in their house.
The two littlest having fun with their dads and uncles
