F150

I've been waiting to post this until I finally felt at peace about this purchase. We bought a truck! Derrick has been excited from the beginning. At first I felt sick about it and cried. After a little time, I accepted it and started liking it. It has 6 seats and we plan on using it as our family car. We are excited about the convenience for scouting, getting large objects to our house and being safe when driving in the snow. Caleb loves it, and so does Brynn actually. I think it will be a good car.

Sledding!

We went to Derrick's work part on Friday which was at Soldier's Hollow, a sledding place that pulls you up the hill and the hill is a long, fast ride down. Brynn was too small for that part but they had a little hill she loved. She kept saying, "Sledding," meaning, she wanted to go down again.
Caleb and Derrick went up together first. Derrick said when they got to the top, after being pulled up, Caleb said he wanted to go again. He thought being pulled up was the ride. I can see that because at the end you do get to go over a small, twisty hill and that part would be really fun for a 3 year old. Derrick and I took turns going with Caleb. At first we would pull Caleb around but then he wanted to pull his own tube. He loved it and has been asking in his prayers that he will get to go again.
After sledding we went to the downstairs of the lodge where Derrick's company, Lucid Chart, had dinner and gave out humorous awards. Derrick got the"Smartest Domo Employee," meaning, Lucid Chart got Domo's smartest employee.

One of Brynn's favorite songs is "Rock-a-by Baby." I tried to get her to sing it. The first attempt she was a little unwilling but this video makes me laugh so hard, I have to share it:

Here is when she warmed up to performing:

Caleb sets up his train tracks almost everyday. One of the things Derrick will do with Caleb when they he gets home from work is play trains with him.

One day we went outside to play. This was the first time I put gloves on Brynn (because they are finally starting to fit). She loved the gloves and the only thing she wanted to do was stick her finger in the snow and eat it. Her checks were so red by the time we came back inside:

 Stories:

• I was sick Monday afternoon to Tuesday night with a fever and aches all over my body. On Monday I was laying on the couch and I said to the kids, "Mommy needs to get some medicine." Brynn went right over to her diaper changing area, picked up her Desitin and brought it to me saying, "Here Mommy. Medicine." So sweet!
• Just as I was getting better from the fever, I started getting a runny nose. It kept getting worse through Friday. On Friday my nose was constantly running on both sides. It was awful, normally one side of my nose gets blocked and the other is fine but I was blocked on both sides. Anyways, I was blowing my nose and Caleb excitedly told me, "That sounded like a helicopter!"
• Caleb loved Valentines Day because of all the candy. He smiled so much after he came home from Pre-school with a lot of candy. The funny thing was that pre-school was on Wednesday so he thought that was the actual V-Day. At night I explained how it was really the next day.

Random

I forgot to post this video last week. Right when we got home from the circus Brynn gave Caleb a hug, wouldn't let go and started walking him around. I grabbed the camera as fast as I could and luckily I caught the end of it!

Brynn loves dancing just like her momma. I love that she has a moving-to-music gene just like me!

Tonight the kids were in the extra bedroom after a bath and Caleb asked me to take a picture of him. I know he just wanted to show off his silliness. And of course whenever Caleb wants to be silly, Brynn does too.

Stories:

• When Caleb was at pre-school Brynn came up to me and asked where he was. I told her he was at pre-school. She asked for Daddy. I told her he was at work. Then I said in a happy voice, "But Brynn you still have me to play with!" Her response, "Funny Mommy." I guess I don't count as fun company.
• I do reading lessons with Caleb while Brynn is napping. One day he read the word "mat." I asked him if he knew what a mat was. He said, "It's a boy." We don't even know if he knows any Matts but he was right, it was the name of a boy.

The Circus

Lynne and I took the kids to the circus for the first time. Caleb had no idea what a circus was. When we first got there the floor was open and you could ride the ponies, elephants or camels, all for an extra fee of course. So, we skipped it. As we were walking to our seats Caleb starts telling me, "I want to play." He kept getting more and more upset until he was in full out tears. He thought a circus was an interactive place. He had no idea it was a show. He refused to come up to his seat and was just crying at the bottom of the bleachers. A little boy came up to him and gave him a sucker, didn't help. I finally had to pick him up and carry him. When the show started the music was super loud and Caleb held his hands over his ears the whole time. He was upset until the first clown act was on. He thought it was funny and was more relaxed.
At intermission I said to the kids, "Do you want to run up and down the bleachers?" They both looked really excited and said yes. I think that was their favorite part.

For the second act I bought Caleb some popcorn and I think they turned the volume down and the kids really enjoyed it. I was glad it ended well after not being what Caleb was hoping for. The show was a little dull to me but I thought it was cool that the kids got to see tigers, elephants, a camel, zebra, dogs and ponies. And it was really good to just get out of the house during this cold winter.