pictures, pictures and more pictures

Life is back to normal today, and the 4th bedroom has been turned back into the office. Little E left yesterday, so life with a one year old and three year old seems less busy and a little quieter. I have many pictures in this blog, and they all basically show that we are enjoying the lovely Iowa winter once again, and anxious to keep turning the calendar in hopes of Spring.

Once in awhile I let Lake skip his nap to get some much needed outdoor time. This particular day was right after the ice storm. According to Lake it was beautiful, in case any of you thought differently.
He was glad to see his snow fort made it through the ice storm.
Amazed he could touch the neighbor's branches, but was puzzled that they covered the walking path of the sidewalk.

Our poor tree...as you can see it took a hit during the ice storm last year, and we have several more branches to cut down this Spring.

Nothing can stop a three year old from riding his bike. I can honestly say Lake has mastered the skill of riding a bike with training wheels all during the winter months.

Now that Harper is a year old, the shock of finding out that "he or she" was a girl, it has now completely sunk in and I am thoroughly enjoying the differences between Lake and Harper. One obvious difference is hair. Her hair is growing out, and can be unruly at times. I have a drawer full of barrettes, bows and clips and I am slowly learning what to do with hair that is misplaced 90% of the day. Harper woke up from her nap yesterday, and this is what her "beautiful" blond hair looked like. I often wonder what she does during a two hour nap to produce this:

The new cozy coupe has many miles on it already and it hasn't even left the basement and made it's way outside yet. I just hope it doesn't find it's way down Hemlock Hill with either of my children in it when it does make its way outside this Spring.

Busted...with a mouth full of marshmallows!

She is in her own world a majority of the time.

Maybe a gymnast in our future??

We called her the toast thief. After she got done with her meal, she would be caught eating off of Little E's tray.

Lake loved to help, and insisted on feeding the bottle to Little E all by himself this particular morning.

Look familiar? Lake did the same thing when he was this age, hence my unorganized drawer.

During these long winter months we get creative in the evenings filling the time between supper, bath and bedtime. A game of ring around the rosy is always a hit.

She is now brave enough to climb and can be found in the strangest places.

We are anxiously preparing for our trip to Florida in March with Josh's family. The kids were so excited when we bought swimming suits for the beach, even though Harper has no clue what the beach is, she put on a good show in her suit.

The thought of potty training another child seems daunting, and I can't believe it is right around the corner. Harper found the potty chair the other day, and Lake showed her how to use it. She is fascinated and very attentive when Lake goes to the bathroom that I sometimes worry she will try and mimic him exactly. But, she was very content to "sit" and read books with Daddy and Lake. And no, we have had no success and will probably not have any success for awhile, unless by accident, but this has become routine for Harper before bath time.