Daniel's first time in the snow

Earlier in the season, I pondered getting Daniel some BLUE winter gear, but decided he probably wouldn't be out in the snow this year. But when the snow kept falling and I had to shovel yesterday so Frank could even get into the drive way after work, I had a problem on my hands. Daniel was awake and Abby really wanted to come play in the snow while I was out. He wouldn't be going down for sleep again until after dark that evening. So, what do you think I did? I found Abby's older pink snow pants and boots, pink mind you, and put them on him with his camo coat. I couldn't find Abby's older pink mittens, so we used two pair of socks on his hands. Heck, he didn't know the difference. How did Daniel like it? Not his favorite moment in life. Once I got everything on him, Abby and myself, we headed out into the snow. It was then that I realized a wonderful neighbor next door came by and snow blowed the whole driveway and the walk up to the door. It was still snowing, so would have to go over it again later, but not quite yet. So, I got the sled out of the shed and took the kids for a ride down the hill in the back yard. Daniel couldn't really sit up too well when I was pulling the sled, so he was leaning back on Abby as the snow kept falling in his face. He didn't like that, so he wiped his face with his snow covered glove. Boy, was he mad about that. I grabbed some dry tissue and wiped his face.
All and all, he kind of liked the sled ride down the hill, but he only went twice. It took longer to get him all ready to get in the snow, than he actually spent in it. I think next time Frank will just have to park his car in the road and dig himself out, if the nice neighbor doesn't come help again.

Preschool Fun

I wanted to share one of our preschool activities from this week. You know any one can go to the store and buy a gringer bread house kit. But not everyone can take gram crackers and frosting and makes a manger for baby Jesus. It could be harder than you think, or at least for a our four year old preschoolers. It is even harder when the four year old is FREAKING OUT that "it is starting to FFFAAAALLL!" Abby and her manger.

Bronson didn't care nearly as much about his manger as he did the frosting.
It was all about the frosting for him.

Let it snow, let it snow, let is snow..

Sam the Snowman This is Abby and mommy's own snowman. We made it this morning. Abby put in the arms and the nose, then picked out the mouth and the eyes. We used only things from outside for our friendly snowmand named Sam. Abby is crazy about him.

What is Abby up to?

This is Abby and Bronson in our little preschool. They are playing with snow on the kitchen table. They had so much fun.

This is Abby smiling for Frank as she playing with her friend's toy that got left at our house.


Abby has a great imagination. This is a mat turned into a bridge and she is riding her blanket horse over the bridge.

Oh, how cute.

A few rare moments of Daniel holding still. This is how Daniel folds his arms for prayers. He reminds us to bless our food when we forget by placing his fists under his chin. Too cute.
This is a picture Abby took on our way to Plain City for Thanksgiving dinner. I am just grateful that he is sleeping better these days and in the car sometimes. We have come a long way. When he was a few months old and for many more months we only dream he would ever sleep normal. He keeps us way busier than Abby did with his messes and all, but he makes a laugh too. We love this little guy.

One funny dude

Too cool, Daniel.

Who is that boy? He is a baby of many faces.

Daniel on camera

Daniel has finally been walking like a normal toddler for a while now. I personally forgot to get it on camera, but Abby did get it filmed one day when she got a hold of the camera on her own.

He gets in some pretty tight spaces.

On the home front with Daniel Aiello..... This is a look of concern he is giving me as I take the picture.

What a mean mommy, getting the camera instead of helping him right away. Our video clips on the camera haven't been very reliable lately, so I took a still shot of Daniel eating applesauce with a spoon. I was pretty impressed he knew how to do it on his own.

I am not sure where to begin

I am expecting someone to show up, tear our house down and install a trailer. Now, if I could just get Kristin to wear spandex...

Happy Halloween

Our little lady bug and our crazy monkey who would not hold still.

We are worried that the more he walks, the more messes he will make.

One step forward, two steps back

Makin' us proud!

Some parents give birth to future leaders, captains of industry, or people who contribute to the advancement of society. I am hoping this image is merely the precursor to genius. But we are not off to a great start. Scarfing peanut butter when mom wasn't around. Note the wrong end of the knife was used.
This is one of the many Abby self shots that mysteriously appeared in our camera.
This was supposed to be a picture of Abby. Need more be said?

Sliding Daniel

Daniel decided to get on the slide for the first time by himself today, and he went down without any coaching. I had to pull out the camera and wait for him to do it again. I thought he was climbing the slotted ladder in the back by himself. It turns out, there was a stool back there. Our little guy is getting bigger everyday. He is now fourteen months old this last week.

We have a compost off the side of the back deck, right behind Daniel here. I dumped 3 large bags of wheat flour that had expired into the compost, and, wow! Did it make a mess of the deck. Daniel is crawling around in it here. Abby wanted me to take a picture of her dirty leg too. Boy was that fun to clean up!! Not!

We love Bob

Our neighborhood grandparents, Bob and Carol, took some pictures this week. This is Bob with Daniel, Kiah, Abby and me in his driveway from one of our visits.
This is Daniel walking. Carol just had to get a picture. It took a long time watching him with the camera, but she got it. Daniel wanted to show me the plastic vent cover that he found, but it was hard to crawl with, so he had to stand up so he could bring it to me. In general, walking just isn't efficient enough for him. Frank is afraid he is lazy, but I think he sees no reason to walk if it takes longer than his crawling.
I had to deliver some hand outs for church this week, and Bob thought it would be fun to get a shot of us all loaded up with the bike trailer.

Daniel walking

In a rare moment of lucidity, Daniel focuses his mind and proves to the world why humans are the dominate species!

Just another week

We survived yet another week with the kids. After being awake for only an hour, I had some strong doubts that we would all make it through the day. Some how I pulled through without taking anyone's head off in the process. Even my husband's. This is Daniel trying to get out of the chair again. This time he stopped before his head could get stuck resulting in the usual panic moment. He was all the way into the cupboard when I got the camera out. He was so far in I could have shut the door on him, if it hadn't been for the pile of rice cooker pieces that he pulled out first.
Abby fell alseep under the window and on top of the diaper basket while I was working out at about 10 am. I guess she was a little behind on sleep or something.
This is a typical morning for us. Abby is in her pajamas, pink cooking apron, and dance costume pieces on her arms for a little flare, while making pancakes with me. Daniel is in the pantry right behind doing his best to get into everything his hands can touch. All before 8 am.
I found Kiah today playing with a couple of her baby dolls, all snuggled into a chair. She was so pleased at her arrangement.

Daniel playing peek-a-boo

We love this one. It is a movie of Daniel playing peek-a-boo at dinner. He loves to have all of our attention at once. And he is tired and hyper here, so he is laughing pretty hard.

A day with Daniel

For those of you that have never had a boy, let me tell you what it is like. And for those of you who haven't had a boy for a while, you will smile knowing your turn is done. This is Daniel, who got away from me after his bath before I could get his diaper on, which is usually a fight each diaper change. In about 5 seconds he went into our bedroom, climbed up the back of this chair and straight on to our bed.
You will notice there is a theme for Daniel, he loves to climb, the higher the better for him. I try to hide the stools and close the bathroom door. He loves to climb on the toilet and get into the cupboards above. This is a picture of him making his own stool out of drawers. If he does it right, he can climb on top of the kitchen counter. That is scarey because the stove is in the middle of the counter, it is electrical with hot coils.
Daniel has the ability to climb on top of the table in a couple of seconds. Though, I think I have him trained now to stop before he gets on the table. We are still working on him not climbing the back of the chair.

More good times with Daniel.

Daniel continuously climbs up these bars. Sometimes up three levels.
Daniel was trying to get down from the chair that he climbed on. He was very stuck.
He loves to climb over these books to get to the back of the bookcase to push those books from the back. What a mess.
Daniel playing peek-a-boo with messy cooked oatmeal all over his hands. The fun part, of course, is that he can usually see through his fingers.
Daniel climbing again, and into my clean laundry. Nice!

A very pleasing moment

This is Abby's first tithing envelope. She ripped one of my nice pillowcases when she was playing inside of it(king sized). Since this was not the first time I told her not to play in it, I decided she had to buy me a new one, and earn it herself. She earned the $6, and then some. This is her tithing of $.70 for her to give her Daddy(the second counceler in the bishopric) on Sunday. She is pleased only because we made a big deal about it, but pleased none the less.

This is a video of Abby doing her "cool dance" as she calls it. It isn't the best one she has ever done, but we still had to post it.

Oh, so validated!!!

I am a mother of a few frustrations, and a very big one was validated this weekend. Last night, Frank and I got the rare chance to go out with some friends. My mom and Amy(sister), watched the kids for us. After a few enjoyable hours, we came back to my mom's house for the kids. When Amy saw us, the first thing that came out of her mouth was a question much like this, "Kristin, I have a question for you. Do you just clean all day long or just do two big cleanings and pick ups a day?" I was little confused by the question, so she explained something to the effect that Daniel just goes from one thing, pulling everything out and making a mess and on to the next, without any brakes. Amy said she couldn't imagine trying to keep up with that all day, everyday. I FELT SO VALIDATED! Even my mother, who had seven kids, also says I have my hands full. That helps me feel like I am not crazy when I can't get anything done. Oh, and Amy has some funny pictures I will post when she uploads them for all to see from that night.
This week I was reading something in the living room. The last I knew Daniel was playing with Abby, Kiah, Jeordin, and Tylan down the hall. But then I heard Daniel making a noise as he was hitting something. Could that be Daniel hitting the top of the stove? But how? I come into the kitchen and this is what I see...... How did this little monkey get here?
I come around the counter, and on the floor are the two stools that Abby and Kiah left from putting the silverware away. Daniel opened the second drawer, climbed on the stool and then climbed into the drawer and figured out how to stand on the edge of that drawer. He had great balance on there. He was so pleased with himself, and very happy to be able to see so much.
Later in the day, I came walking down the hall to the sight of Daniel sitting on the the table. He had used a stool to climb on the the green chair, which he has gotten up there without it before, but continued up to the table and was playing with the napkin bowl. He was having so much fun. This is a small glipse of my day with Daniel.

Having fun with Kiah

We are having so much fun with Kiah at our house during the week. Abby's job of putting away the silverware isn't so "boring" as Abby puts it, when Kiah is there to help. Kiah loves to clean and help, and Abby loves to teach her how to do things and say "good job, Kiah!"
Wednesday was a wet morning on the back deck. Daniel is dirty and wet for the deck, and Abby and Kiah are hanging upside down, and oh, so pleased with themselves. It was a fun morning for the kids, and there were definately baths after all of the fun.

Life is a little busy, but fun.

This is Daniel with our neighborhood grandpa, Bob.

Daniel loves to move the controller stick around.
I recently started tending my good friend, Jenn's, daughter all day and her boys after school for a couple of hours Monday-Thursday. This is Abby and Kiah in our own little preschool playing with the play dough they helped make.
Abby was not home for this picture. She was at Bronson's house for her neighborhood 4 yr old preschool. So, Kiah and I did preschool just for her today. She is looking more than pleased with herself here. She just said her first prayer, with my help, for the opening of our little preschool. Yeah, Kiah!! Oh, and she was in her "car seat" as she calls it.

Pics of "Frankie"

This is Frank wrestling with both kids on our bed. It is Abby's favorite daddy-time activity.

Abby took this picture.


Clinton Curry in the Florida Keys(we don't know why he is still there) has requested a picture of "Frankie" as they call him. So, here you go, Clinton. Any other requrests?