Snow, snow and more snow

Just like many others, we got snow. Lots of it. About 20ish inches. It started off as fun but lots of hard work to just walk in it. Jeremy worked on the driveway several times. Carter and Luke walk and walked, tried to sled but it was too deep. But it made for some good forts.

The dog had a wonderful time jumping through the snow.

At the end of the day everyone was completely wiped out. And we have days to enjoy it...everything is closed and canceled.

Luke making a joyful noise

Luke had his preschool Christmas show and party.

OH how he loves to sing...you can hear him over most of the children (not always on key but with some serious passion)...what can I say he is just a loud kid!

He really gets into some of the songs. Enjoy!

Luke making a joyful noise from Carrie Jenkins on Vimeo.

We just got the cool Flip video (with more memory since I cannot seem to pull things off our cameras) and love it!

Birthday Star

Luke finally had his 5th birthday party.

He choose to have it at Chuck E Cheese.

Luke had a blast. This year he decided the invite list, now that he had his friends. He was thrilled to have them there to play.

Chuck E Cheese gave him a medal and a blow up crown. He has being wearing them since we left the place.

Carter and Luke racked up some serious tickets and combined them for a big prize.

And Brayden was there taking it all in.

Christmas in Waterford

You cannot get much more quaint than a snowy day in the little village of Waterford. The local people host a small sale in the Old Mill with a visit from Santa Claus.

Carter, Luke and I went down to the Old Mill for a bit. Carter and Luke whispered to Santa (who Luke declared was not the real Santa, "He is just a guy in there.") their Christmas wishes. Then we wandered around the floors of the Old Mill looking at all of the local things and chatting with people.

I love the little village of Waterford.

Find a Tree

Snow was in the forcast for our area. It started about 7:00 a.m. and it was coming down...that did not stop us from heading out to a local farm to cut down a Christmas tree. And was probably the best time we have ever had cutting down a tree and what an adventure!













We played in the snow...lots of good snow.


















Some where during it all we found a tree, drug it back and had some hot cider and popcorn.

We headed home to play in the snow. The dog was in on the action. We have some good hills at our house. Carter and Luke went flying down the hills, stop at the bottom to eat snow and then back to the top to build a snowman.
By the end of the day, we had a Christmas tree, 5 cold & wet people, two snowmen, a wet dog, about 6 inches of snow and countless memories.

Luke is 5

Oh my, Luke Riley is five!

He has been so excited to turn five.

Luke is a boy who loves life, he is always having fun...always, unless he is sleeping or really tired. He is a thrill seeker, always up for an adventure. He wakes up talking and does not stop until his head hits the pillow. He little voice, wonderful stories and random information always has us laughing. Carter tells him he sound like Theodore from Alvin and the Chipmunks.

For his birthday, Jeremy took him out to eat while Carter and I did up his room with lots of new things...superhero things, new bedding, tin superhero signs, new superhero toys, etc. He was so excited when he saw it that he squealed with delight!

Thanksgiving weekend fun

We headed to Grandpa and Grandma Jenkins (Jeremy's grandparents) for Thanksgiving dinner. Carter and Luke had a blast playing in the basement...they came up with red faces and sweaty heads...they had fun. We all had a wonderful dinner.















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A couple of days later we celebrated Grandma Sommerfeld's (Jeremy's other grandmother) 91st birthday.

The Mayflower

Luke has been learning about Thanksgiving at preschool. At random times he comes up with random bits of information that he learned. We were talking about what to eat for dinner. His little mind lead us to a discussion about the Mayflower...a big ship that brought the "pilmans" to the Indians and they ate corn. His hat with feathers he made a school has been worn around the house more often than not, he is really excited about it.

Make a room

The parents were invited in to the class this week to help the students create their room. Carter and I had fun searching the house for materials best to make his room the night before. He and Luke searched every toy box and closet for ideas. Then they found some foam blocks.

The time in the classroom, Carter was very serious about making his look just like his room. All the way down to the globe on his table and large stuffed animals.

Dinner over a fire

We made dinner over a campfire in the back yard on Tuesday night, trying to soak in the last bit of warm weather. It was a nutritious meal of hot dogs, bratwurst and smores. A few bratwurst, hot dogs and marshmallows were lost in the fire but we had back ups.

Montana

Jeremy just returned from him hunting trip to Montana.

While the trip wasn't quite what they expected (not really seeing the elk they were looking for), for the most part everyone had a good time. They were hiking in this everyday.

Jeremy came home with a mule deer.

The end of the season

Carter had his last football game on Friday. It was a chilling 35 degrees for the game at Fireman's Field under the lights.


Carter enjoyed his first football season.

What to do

When Jeremy is out of town, the boys get antsy. I do too. I was cleaning out a draw in the kitchen and came across a bag full of Chuck E Cheese tokens. Idea! Take the boys (we have only been a few times when others have invited us). It could be fun.

So we went. A brought along one of Carter's friends.

The favorites where the little kids flight simulator type things, races and whatever could give them the most tickets.



















Luke has some fabulous skee ball form.

Halloween the Waterford way

Halloween in Waterford is a treat! We do not trick or treat in our neighborhoods...all the people of Waterford go down to the little historic village of Waterford. The Waterford elementary school collects candy to hand out to the homes of those who live the village, each grade decorates a house with a theme amongst all of the other houses and the kiddos come and have fun. It is like our own little Sleepy Hollow. There is nothing like trick or treating in Waterford.

The theme this year was books made into movies. The houses that are decorated are more like a movie set than anything else. It is magical.
K - Charlotte Web with a farmer, animals, farming truck all to decorate the house
1st - Where the Wild Things Are with Max, his bed, a real boat, larger than life wild things
2nd - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with giant candy all over the place, fun music and lights
3rd - Chronicles of Narnia with all the magic of Narnia
4th - Harry Potter with giant spider, spooky shadows, lots and lots of things that looked straight out of Hogwarts.
5th - Journey to the Center of the Earth with smoke and it scared Luke a bit.

Carter and Luke dressed up as Batman and Joker. Luke was the cutest Batman...every time we went up and said trick or treat, the person would put the candy in his bag and his eyes would light up, followed with a big thank you! It was such a thrill for him. Carter was more than excited to spray his hair green.

The pumpkins that we carved were dropped off at the elementary school and taken down to the village for decoration. Carter and Luke thought it was pretty cool to find their pumpkins!