Science Fair, Basketball & Just Hanging

Winter weather keeps us indoors so we haven't been up to a great deal of exciting things of late.  But as the weather warms, we have more to share....

With big sister's help, Caz tries to walk in Mommy's boots...

As is typical, the little tornado wore someone out...

Caz has mastered climbing in and out of these chairs and has graduated to climbing up on to the table and playing with the chandelier.  I try and try to deter him, but in this moment I'm trying another strategy.  I thought if I could teach him to sit in the chair, maybe that would keep him off the table and away from my chandelier.  But it only worked for this brief moment, enough for a picture, and now I'm back to trying to keep my eyes on him 24/7.

 Mari Cagle and Nate elected to participate in the Science Fair at school this year.  They did a project together making batteries from potatoes, limes and oranges to power a calculator.  I was proud of their work and especially with how well they explained it to friends and parents at the fair.

MC finished another basketball season last weekend.  There were some ups and downs through the season, but she really had a great time.  Warming up....She's on the right, one of the number 46s.

 The rest of the pictures are kind of dark.  Gym lighting isn't the best.  I'd like to blame it on my camera in an effort to talk my way in to a new one, but it's probably more due to user error.  :)

Caz is rarely still, so the other day when I realized it had been quiet for a few moments, I started to panic.  But much to my relief, the munchkin had climbed in to the chair and was chillin' watching his favorite Backyardigans.  He doesn't really watch entire episodes, but does stop to listen and most of the time, dance along with the music.

We're starting to see hints of some warmer weather, so hopefully I'll be inspired to take more pictures as we're enjoying the much missed outdoors.  Hugs to all!!

SNOW!

We had quite the snow storm last weekend with over 12" dropping within 12 hours!  The kiddos were a little disappointed it fell on a weekend such that there were no snow days, but they enjoyed it nonetheless.  Mari Cagle especially loved the white stuff; one afternoon she stayed out almost 2 hours.  It was quite beautiful freshly fallen, especially as it coated the trees so prettily.  The downside....we lost a tree that snapped under the weight of all the pretty snow.  Thankfully, it snapped in between our house and the neighbors so no big damage.  Whew! :)

 This was first thing Saturday morning.  By afternoon, another 4 -5 inches had fallen.

 You can see it's still coming down while the kids were out playing.

The snow was so deep it was up to the kids knees.  They had a hard time walking in it and made some pretty deep snow angels.

MC just liked falling in to it as it was still soft and fluffy.

Caz had to enjoy the snow from the window as we don't have water proof clothes for him.  Not to mention, he would have sunk up to his chin in the snow.  But he did enjoy the snow balls that Nate threw at him and one day he'll really appreciate that he was behind the sliding glass door. :)  We also made a couple snowballs for him which he ate.  Since he has such an affinity for ice, these tasty treats were right up his alley.

With the help of the neighbors, MC made a pretty impressive snowman.

Thankfully the roads are pretty much all clear now, but it will probably take a while for all the snow to completely melt.  And while we 'enjoyed' this frigid weather, we understand it was a comfortable 70 degrees back home!!!!

Christmas Back Home

We were very excited to get back home for Christmas this year!  In addition to the wonderful Christmas season, we also welcomed two new members to the family; we were thrilled to get to meet Eva and Charlie.  And sweet Maggie May was baptized.  It was a great time that left us longing for our next visit.

 We were excited to enjoy the warmer weather, and upon Caz's first trip outside to do so, he got this honker of a bonk on his little noggin!  I wish I could say this was the first and last bump like this, but it is neither.  Boys will be boys!

Ready to open some presents at Grammy & PopPop's...

And none of the kiddos were disappointed.  They all got more than what they could have wished.  Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled. :) The funnest to watch open gifts this year was Payton.  She opened every gift with the magic and wonderment of a three year old.  She adored all her gifts so genuinely, and it was so much fun watching her prance around in all of her Rapunzel gear.  I wish I had gotten a good picture of her, but here's MC with her much-loved drawing and writing materials.

Santa visited us at Nana & Pa's house this year...

MC's face sure lights up when she spots an American Girl box.

Nate was confused as Santa played a trick on him letting him open the Xbox game before the Xbox.

And now it all makes sense....

Caz was very intrigued with Maggie.  He liked her toys and even shared his finger with her so she could chew on it. :)  Caz isn't sweet and gentle with anything, so it was refreshing to watch him interact with her.  She seemed to enjoy him too.

Enjoying their spoils...

We went back to Grammy & PopPop's to spend time with Aunt Kristen, Uncle Rob, Hudson and Evangeline.  Caz had to check out the walker for old times sake...

He was very curious and excited to play with Evangeline.

MC had expressed interest in playing the flute, and Aunt Kristen was kind enough to bring her first flute and give her a few beginning lessons...

Such a sweet group...

Still more gifts to open.  Caz was a little more curious this last time, but still showed little patience to wait and see what was inside. I'm sure he'll make much progress come next year.

These are just a few snapshots of the wonderful time we had back home.  But there were many more that I didn't catch on film.  Two I regret the most are the bowling outing with the Tyre family (not one single pictures of the bowling fun or those handsome boys that have grown so much!!!) and Maggie May's baptism.  I even remembered my camera for the baptism, but never got the chance to use it as I was chasing Caz, the wild man, around.  Maybe I'll have better luck next visit. :)