first snow play of the season

It snowed today! First time of the season that it has snowed enough to play in. The kids and dogs went out this afternoon and enjoyed it. You can see Jack is growing up.

It is amazing how much more tan Jack looks in the snow. It is mostly because his hair gets darker when wet, but also because we're seeing him next to the stark white snow. Here is a c picture I took last week to compare:

What a cutie!

jack london

At the moment we are on our way home from a quick weekend in Champaign where we saw a few friends and picked up the newest addition to our family. Meet Jack London. He is 9 weeks old today and is a cream golden retriever. I can't wait until he meets Hartison tomorrow!

happy spring!

Happy first day of spring! I know I saidI would put some pictures up here of our trip to Disney World, and I do have some nice ones, but at the moment they are stuck on the camera. We can't seem to find the USB cable, but when we do (or when we buy another) I will get some pictures up here.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. We've had some nicer weather lately. Hope it lasts!

OK, this first one is actually from the last day of February when we got some snow.

Last week I took the kids to the village for some ice cream and to feed the ducks on the canal:

We've been having fun this week playing in the yard with Harrison:

florida!

Having a fun time on our Florida winter vacation. We flew into Orlando Sunday evening and drove down to Hobe Sound to spend a couple of nice days with Grandma Mar. Now we are driving back to Orlando to spend a few days at Disney.

district swim meet

Since September Kestrel has been swimming with the Sharks, the swim team for our local Y. February 7th was the District meet. Kestrel swam in 3 events: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 50 backstroke. Her team won and are the District Champions!

Swim team is now over for Kestrel for the season. She's looking forward to having time for other activities. Once the weather warms up she is going to start horseback riding again.



Kestrel is 2nd from the bottom in the navy suit.



Great job Kestrel!

some pics from the last couple of months

Happy New Year!

Some winter pics (for our holiday card):

Kestrel on her way to the bus one morning in the fall (our house in the background):

In the Butterfly Garden at the Strong Museum of Play (Veteran's Day):

Kestrel at one of the swim meets early in the season (late October):

halloween 2009

Here are Kestrel and Cooper last night before going out Trick-or-Treating. Kestrel was a cave girl, and Cooper was Anakin from Star Wars the Clone Wars. Kestrel thought up exactly how she wanted her costume, and I made it. It was chilly and windy (the pumpkins wouldn't stay lit). Paul stayed home to hand out candy while I took the kids out. They lasted a little over half an hour before they got too cold and wanted to come home.

The boot covers

Counting out their stash when they got home.

cooper turns 7

Cooper's 7th birthday was Wednesday. We had a little family celebration. Out to dinner, Cooper's choice, at Buffalo Wild Wings. Then cake, ice cream and presents at home. His favorite presents were new Wii games from Granny, his own digital camera from Grammy and Papou, and a new DS game from Kestrel. Lucky kid!

kids start a new school

School started Sept. 8th. For the first time Kestrel and Cooper are taking a bus to school. They are settling in to school well, enjoying the bus and making new friends. A few pictures from their first day:

Kestrel when she just got off the bus after school the first day. Her bus came a few minutes early that first day, so I didn't have time for a picture before school. Kestrel and Cooper take different buses.

Cooper after he got off the bus.

Cooper watching his bus come down the street before school. He was getting tired of me taking his picture!

In front of our house before we headed to the bus stop (which was 3 houses away, but now the bus driver will stop in front of our house).