TOO MUCH TO TITLE

I don't even know where to begin. So much has gone on and there's so much I don't want to forget. So, without further adieu, our happenings as of late:

Notice anything different? That's right, braces! This baby girl has a mouth full of metal. She could probably set off a metal detector just driving by an airport. Kidding, Umby! :) She's had a time with what she calls the "simple machine" in the roof of her mouth, but she's a trooper! It will all be worth it, though. Operation Fix-Gap-Tooth (what she refers to as the 18-month period she'll have braces) is officially underway.

MY DAD THE TAXIDERMIST:

He's not a taxidermist by trade, but you wouldn't know it by looking at these European Mounts my dad did for Chris and me and the son of a friend.

We compared it to a mount Chris had done by a professional taxidermist, and dad's was as good if not better. Dad, thanks so very much for taking on this project. Not only are the mounts beautiful, but it makes them even more special knowing you did then for us. Knock. Knock. A new career is calling! :)

MARTHA & MY GIRLS:

A couple of weekends ago Rachel and the girls headed our way for the weekend. Friday night of that weekend Martha was a Godsend and let Chris and me have a night alone. She stayed at my parents house with all the kiddos. We didn't do much at all but that's what made it perfect. We went to dinner and were back home by 7:30. It was really nice to sit on the couch together and enjoy Y & R :) then a bath without interruption, not to mention going straight to bed and being able to sleep until about 7:30. Saturday morning I headed to mom and dad's to visit a bit. Rachel had planned on going home around lunch but I did a little arm-twisting and got them to stay Saturday night too. Mom was working so it was just me, Martha, dad and the kids. Rachel brought us a little taste of her homemade chicken and dumplings which were incredibly delicious (her first time making them). Dad commented he would like to make those for mom and surprise her with dinner some time. No time like the present, right! You should've seen the three of us in that kitchen making up two big pots of chicken and dumplings. We had a lot of fun doing it, and I must say we made some darn good dumplings! The kids always have fun together too. For the most part, they play very well together.

Grant giving Grace a ride on his four-wheeler:

Our playroom after they had a go at it:

Who cares! They had fun. And I can close the door.

And pretty much how we all felt by the end of the weekend:

HA! Sorry, Mags. I had to do it. As always, we love spending time with y'all. I'm so glad you decided to stay. Now grab your satchel and head this way this weekend! 'Til then Martha, SOTLCN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

BASEBALL:

Baseball was Chris' love until he hurt his ankle and was no longer able to play. He misses it so much, so when it was time to sign Grant up for city-league baseball and Grant wanted to play, he was all about it! It thrills my soul to think of seeing Norton on the back of a jersey on the baseball field again. Grant has started batting practice a couple of days a week, and tryouts are this weekend.

I'm sure there will be many, many more pictures to come on this topic, but here are a few of Chris working with Grant in the front yard. And of course Mac hung right in there with them.

Reid as usual did his own thing:

Run, run, run:

And one of my favorites:

This is how Chris put his and Grant's glove away last night. He would likely think it was crazy that I took a picture of it but I just loved how they looked put together like that. :)

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe we received the amount of snow we did. And being able to watch it accumulate was a lot of fun. Since we don't get to see it very often it's breathtaking to me when we do. When we woke up, though, it had not even started snowing yet. I had three little boys who were not happy campers. Finally it started and didn't stop all day. After it initially started, though, it took a while just to get a dusting. So while it looked like this

I had to find something for us to do to occupy the time. So they sat down, closed their eyes

and waited for a pre-Valentine's Day Happy.

Believe it or not, it did the trick. Thank you, Harley Davidson! It kept them busy until we were able to look out and see a blanket of snow. It was beautiful and we had so so much fun.

The front of our house:

The view from our front yard:

We loved making snow angels:

Naturally we had to make tracks in the snow:

I guess Build Ford Tough doesn't apply when there's snow. Love the teamwork though!

SNOWBALL FIGHT!

We enlisted Daddy's help to make a snowman:

He looks more like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man but...

We still loved him! And being the boys they are, they had just as much fun tearing him down a couple of days later.

A few of my faves:

VALENTINE'S DAY

What better way to spend Happy Heart Day than with your hearts! B's favorite cupcakes are red velvet so we decided to make them together.

SO serious!

We both imagine we're bakers like on Cake Boss when we do things like this. HA HA! We both WILL make it to Hoboken, NJ to visit Carlo's Bakery one day! We'll meet the family, sample everything they have, and get Buddy to make me a cake which looks like Krispy Kreme donuts topped with real Krispy Kremes.

Then Chris and the boys surprised me and B with these flowers:

Those flowers are a really big deal. Chris doesn't give flowers much. I think I've gotten flowers four other times since we've been together and three of those times were when the boys were born. I'm not complaining because he does little things in his own way that I've grown to love and really appreciate over the years. He knows I'd pick Krispy Kreme donuts over tulips any day, and he's very sweet about surprising me with those. :) Tulips are my favorite, and these were beautiful! I was very pleasantly surprised and the boys were precious bringing them in to us.

Because of the snow, Grant's class had to postpone their Valentine's party which meant I had a few more days to work on getting his class' valentines together. Once things like this are done I'm glad I did them, but it isn't necessarily something I find entertaining. Thankfully Bethany does and was glad to offer her assistance.

Bethany, you are my heart! You were my very first Valentine, and no one can ever take the place of that. Thanks for my CD! A few lines for you: Be on my low STARCH.../ Oh that was your girl? I thought I recognized her. :) LOVE it! And I've watched the video of We Are the World about 15 times since Sunday. And I think we watched it three, didn't we? Obsessed much?!? HA!

ENJOYING THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE:

I'm really working on that. I want to be thankful obviously for all the big blessings in life, but I think it's equally important to recognize, enjoy, and be grateful for the simple things as well. One of those simple pleasures this time of year is looking out our front window being able to watch the deer feed in our front yard. They're there almost every afternoon.

And no, we don't kill the deer out of our front yard. :)