Hanging Out

We spent a few extra days with Pa-paw and Ma-maw since I was meeting with my high school girlfriends on Monday for lunch.  We try to get together each year around Christmas to visit and eat at our favorite place, The Cow Palace!  I had been unable to make it the last couple times due to various reasons, but luckily it worked out this year!  Of course, I have no pictures from our lunch gathering...but I do have some more pictures of hanging out at Pa-paw and Ma-maw's house!

The kiddos got this cool bowling game, so we HAD to open it and give it a try.

It's got an electronic scoreboard and allows 2 players to bowl 6 frames.  It also has a ball return!  Needless to say, they love it!

Julianne hanging out with Ma-maw

Daddy helped Pa-paw and Aunt Lisa outside by trimming some of the dead tree limbs in the front yard.

Dallas helped by pulling all the cut limbs back to the burn pile!

Until next time...

Sunny Sunday...

and still no Buckwheat! Sorry to be disappointing all of you by not sharing any new news. We are trying to be patient, but it is becoming harder and harder. Here's the latest picture...

Week 41

In other news for today: Doug and I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at church sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Doug is a member, so he also got to help serve while I sat and visited! We had pancakes, sausage, ham, and eggs. It was super delicious! After church, we took the boys for a walk. Although the sunshine was pretty deceiving (the wind was still chilly), it was still nice to get outside and move.

Tonight was also our night to bowl. Our partners didn't make it this weekend and the team we were bowling against was also missing a person; therefore, it went very fast! I was pretty satisfied with my scores (especially being over 9 months pregnant!). I hit my average for 2 of the 3 games. Doug says it is bad that I'm bowling better/more consistent than him.

Lastly, the deer have started to appear more often around the house. We went about a week and a half without seeing them (which is pretty unusual). I guess they are enjoying the sunshine we have been having. I snapped a few pictures from the kitchen window...yes, they were that close to the house!

Until next time...

It's a Stay at Home Sunday

Yep...we didn't get to go anywhere today. The reason: we were drifted in! We tried going to church this morning, but each way we tried to go, the road was drifted shut. There was one spot that we thought we might be able to get through, but decided not to try since it was about -25 wind chill out. It would be really bad to be stuck in those temps. When we got back to the house, we thought the maintainer would be through at some point and we would be able to go to church in Williamsburg (it begins at 10:30 a.m.). Only, the maintainer never came through. We even watched a few "brave" people get stuck in the same spot we got caught in earlier in the week.

Today was also our bowling Sunday. We decided, with our teammates (who live in Newton - an hour drive away), that it was best not to go. I don't know if we'll make it up either. It was a big hassle the last time we missed a night.

So, what did we do with our time at home? We sat down and finally decided on baby names! Yes, I said names because we have to be prepared with both boy and girl names. Please, don't ask for the names because we want it to be a surprise. You will all find out soon enough!

We also finished unpacking the tractors! We have been working on this for over a week. It started with putting up shelves around the top of the room. We then put up the 1/16th scale tractors. Realizing we needed some lower shelves, we put up some more yesterday, and unpacked the 1/64th scale today. The tractors are officially unpacked, but not completely finished because they still need to be spaced. I think that Bob, Doug's dad, is going to bring some more of the tractors that are still in Indiana this coming weekend when they come for a visit. Then, we will be able to finish the display!

That wraps up our day...

...until next time!

Winter Weather Survival

Well, I did survive the weekend! We got a lot of ice on Saturday, and it then melted through the night. Of course, the temperatures dropped on Sunday and everything refroze. Luckily, all the ice was off the power lines and trees, so they didn't fall. I decided to skip church on Sunday when I almost fell on the porch taking the dogs out. I had no clue what the roads were like, but I also didn't want to find out. The grater came by the house late Sunday morning, and I decided it was safe to go to our bowling league. I haven't been since the end of October! The roads were just fine and I had no problems. I had a decent 1st game (a 133 score), but my 2nd and 3rd weren't so hot (a 106 and a 104). Oh, well. We still beat the other team!

Monday, I was suppose to sub in Marengo, but all the schools around here ended up closing after having a delay. I worked most of the day on my medical transcription class...it was nice to get a good amount done! I was going to go watch Mitchell's Christmas program last night, but with school canceled, the program was canceled. Instead, I went to Jeremy & Laura's house for supper. It was a great time, and I even brought some left overs home. The boys were all wound up from not having gone to school!

We are suppose to get more snow today...later this afternoon and into the evening. By the looks of the radar, I don't think we will actually get that much here...but you never know!

Until next time...

And if you are wondering...I haven't seen the roofer since last Wednesday! I hope there isn't too much damage from the ice.

Busy Times

Wow! The weekend went fast!

Saturday, we did get to sleep in for a while until the boys decided they were ready to get up and play. It was such a beautiful day! The wind was light and the sun was out...something we haven't had around here for a while. We washed and waxed Big Red (the pick-up) and then decided to get the Oliver out for a spin around the "block". We had our friends, Jeremy and Laura, over with their two boys. Mitchell and Justin LOVE to ride on the tractor with Doug! Here are a few shots that I was able to capture.

Doug and Justin - I'm not sure who is having more fun

Mitchell driving (with Doug controlling the brakes)!

Sunday morning, Doug and I took off for Peoria, IL to meet my parents. We had a wonderful breakfast with them, and were able to just sit and visit for a couple hours. Doug and I then had to head back to make it to bowling by 4 o'clock. We made it in plenty of time.

I was only able to bowl 2 out of the 3 games because I had a meeting for Church Religious Ed. Classes. Although...I did make my 2nd game memorable before heading out. I bowled a 177...my best ever!

Well...I'm out of here to catch some Z's.

Until next time...

Colts Win!

We are ... as probably most of you are ... big Colts fans. Unfortunately, living in Iowa, we don't always get to see the games. Luckily today...Fox decided to carry the late game instead of the early game. Regrettably today...we started our bowling league. (The 4 o'clock league, the game started at 3 o'clock here.) We decided to tape the game and watch it after we bowled. The only thing we were afraid of was that the bowling alley would be showing the game...but they weren't.

Needless to say, we were very satisfied with the end result - of the Colts game and our bowling!

Here is a quick shot of the boys enjoying the game...they also love it when the Colts are on TV!

For those of you that haven't really met our boys...
that's Fred on the couch, and Charlie on the floor.

In case you were curious: Doug set his average at 137, and I set mine at 122. We're not sure if we beat the other team...we were missing our 2 teammates, they were missing one of theirs, and we didn't know what the handicap was set at. It was still fun!