So it has been a while!

It appears that I haven't updated the blog since November. That means no pics of Gavin's birthday or Christmas. Since most of you have seen those on Facebook, I'll skip to something a little more current.

We've been incredibly busy lately, with homeschooling two active kids, working and generally keeping up with things. That and we had the snowstorm of the century, followed by a record-setting 100 degree change in temperature in one week's time. At one point just last week, it was colder here than it was in the South Pole and we had nearly two feet of snow on the ground. Today's high is around 75. Crazy.

In any case, since Oklahoma has very little in the way of massive snow-moving equipment, we spent much of the time housebound. For most of the time, Michael couldn't even get to work, though he did work from home for a few days. When the temps weren't in the negatives, we took the kids out to play in the snow. Thank goodness Santa had the foresight to give them sleds for Christmas! I'm not sure how he knew we'd be able to use them this year. Many years there just isn't enough snow. That obviously wasn't a problem this time around. We did worry a bit that we'd lose Gavin in a snowdrift though.

These photos range from mid January to last week.


We got a light dusting of snow around the 10th. The boys were desperate to sled, despite the fact that we had more mud than snow. It was messy but fun.



Not too long after that, we got hit with the first big blast. Just about everything was closed. There was so much snow that we were able to pull the kids down the street on their sleds.




And of course, Mother Nature decided that wasn't enough, so we got another massive snowfall. We had so much snow in the back yard that we couldn't see the edge of the deck.


Yes, we really did have 2 feet of snow on the ground. Gwydion also discovered the hard way that snow in the pants is very, very cold.

Gavin climbed a snowy mountain.

And crawled through a snowy tunnel.

We also spent a few afternoons at the park at the end of ours street, sledding down the hill. Note the incredibly bright sunshine. All this snow happened in short cloudy periods- perhaps two days at a time. The rest of the time it was miserably cold and windy but very, very sunny.


Now of course, it is feeling more like spring. The boys have played outside almost every day this week, most of the time without jackets. They even wanted to turn the sprinkler on! I'll try to get some good pics of them enjoying the beautiful weather and get another post up soon.

What a busy, busy month! (lots of pics)

As if life with 2 kids could be anything but, right? We started out with a visit to Thomas the Tank engine, as you've probably seen in a previous post. But that's not all! These kids keep me going: pear harvesting, chick petting, generally goofing off and of course, Halloween!

This photo falls under the 'generally goofing off" category. I was working and the boys came into the office to show off Gavin's "rock star" costume. Fabulous!


We harvested an incredible amount of pears from a neighbor's tree. We had 4 groups picking pears and there were still more than we could possibly use.

Gwydion found the perfect pear.

Gavin helped too!
Break time!

And then it was back to Grandma's house for playtime.

And a visit with the new chicks.

Gavin got some snuggle time with Grandma.

We were also lucky enough to have a short visit with Papa Rick. I don't have a lot of pictures because the boys were too busy running in circles. I could barely get them to sit still for this one!

And... another goof off pic. Michael got the boys a DDR mat, in anticipation of a long, cold winter of homeschooling. Watching them try it out was hilarious.

Toward the end of the month, I realized that we hadn't yet bought pumpkins, so off we went. Gwydion found a pumpkin drum.

Of course, both boys picked out pumpkins very quickly.

I tried to get them to sit still for a nice pic...

...but they really wanted to run circles around the hay bales.

and visit the scarecrow.

There were also sorts of animals to pet. Goats, sheep, alpacas, and even some oxen.

And ponies to ride. Gavin sang a song about riding a horse the whole time.

On the way home, we had ice cream. In Grandma's car!

At home, Papa helped with the carving. The boys insisted that the insides were too gooey and the needed gloves.

They both look a little grossed out, don't they?

But in the end the sticky mess was worthwhile.

Trick-or-treat!

Day Out with Thomas

Last weekend was our annual family vacation to see Thomas the Tank Engine in Oklahoma City. Sure it is only 2 hours away, but the boys love it. We stay in a hotel for a night, which they love almost as much as they love seeing Thomas. And of course we eat out for every meal which is also quite a treat. Here are a few pics of the happy little guys. The event is held at the Oklahoma Railway Museum, so there are several old steam and diesel engines on the premises, as well as other types of cars.

Gavin and Gwydion were so excited to get inside that they could barely stand still for this pic.

They both very much enjoy playing trains.

And here they are finally getting to meet Thomas. Gavin was too busy staring to turn around for the picture.
This is their favorite engine aside from Thomas. It is one of the oldest engines in Oklahoma, built in the late 1800s. Gavin loves anything with gears or wheels and was rather disappointed that he couldn't make the big wheels turn.



There's also a caboose from late 1800s, which you can see below. The staff at the museum is working to restore it.



And finally, here's a picture of Gwydion, posing with the statue of an engineer.

September, school, and more!

Wow it has been a busy few months! I've been neglectful of this blog, I'm afraid. We've had a wonderful summer with lots of swimming, trips to the zoo, bike rides, etc. Oh and we got a video camera, which Michael was supposed to use to take videos of the kids. Gwydion has taken it over though, and records endless play sessions with trains, cars, and even his own music videos.


Without a doubt, this is our favorite thing to do at the zoo. Who needs animals when there are trains to ride?

The playground is a close second, of course.

We've also had loads of fun with Legos, of which both boys are very fond.

And even a little brotherly snuggle time.

There is even snuggle time on the computer! I'm so glad they're finally starting to get along.

We've also had birthday parties with water balloons....

and indoor playgrounds...

and of course, pizza!

We've also started school at home. Gwydion loves it and he's learning so much!