Snow Days!

We had two rounds of snow which ended up getting the kids and I FOUR days off of school.  It was awesome!  I have never seen so much snow around here! 

Some fun things we did over the break: 






Sledding at a park with a hill made just for sledding I think.  It is about the only place to go in Wichita if you want to go down a big hill!  I made the kids stay on the less steep side so it wasn't terribly busy for us.  The steep part was PACKED!




Joel's girlfriend Bethany got us tickets to a KU game-thank you Bethany!  Lyla stayed with Gp Doug and Gm Brenda while Lincoln, Matt, and I went to the game.  She was very excited to go to Gp and Gm's and could care less about missing the game!



KU game



AWESOME SEATS!





We were the second row up. Lincoln has his back turned here, and Matt is standing next to his friend Josh.



Making snow ice cream.  I had never done this before but a couple of my friends posted they had done it on facebook so I tried it.  Lyla said she liked everything but the snow!  I guess she didn't like the ice chunks.  When it all melted together she liked it.  Lincoln liked his with chocolate syrup.



This was alot of work for this pregnant mama.  I have to say I did not get much help from these two, although the younger one at least gave it some effort...   Good thing I like playing in the snow as much as they do!







When Matt got off work we had a snow fight.  It took him 15 min. to build his wall vs. my 2 hours.  Lincoln told me later that "next time he wanted to use Daddy's "fort" because his was bigger and worked better."






Painting









Lincoln's 1st basketball game

Lincoln is on a team with mostly older kids this year, one boy Lincoln told me, almost in awe, is SEVEN years old.  He seems to enjoy playing for the most part, although he has said several times that he is "not very good at scoring."  During the game, it was obvious he knew they were losing and did not like it when the other team scored.  He would jump up with his hands in the air when his team scored, or put his head down and hunch his shoulders down when the other team scored.  Afterwards I asked him if it was hard to keep track of who he was guarding and he said, "no, well not the first guy." I said why, and he said, "because I was WAY faster then him."  I was a little worried he was going to feel bad since it is pretty obvious he is one of the least experienced on the team. Guess that won't be a problem!

Christmas programs and Christmas

Decorating cookies

Lyla sure looked cute standing up and singing at her preschool program, but I am pretty sure she didn't open her mouth once to sing the entire time!  The most action I saw out of her was when she raised her finger up during one of the songs (one of the actions) and turned and looked at us and smiled...one time.  She was pretty somber looking all the rest of the time.  Still pretty adorable if you ask me.

Grandpa Doug, Grandma Brenda, and Grandma Pam with Lyla after her program.  She is holding a plate she made for us with her handprint on it. 

I didn't get to go to Lincoln's program, but I was told he was a real singer for his entire program.  He told me himself that he "was the loudest," and after watching it on video, I realized this was not too far from the truth!   He sung his little heart out the entire time, as well as some of his classmates.  It was pretty obvious there was some major competition going on to see who could sing the loudest! I didn't post a video clip b/c it was recorded with our video camera, and is a pain to convert to put on the blog. 

Lincoln and his teacher

Schroeder Christmas/cousins

 Yea for snow in NE!  We had a beautiful day to play in the snow.  Matt's dad pulled the sleds with the truck, and it was alot of fun watching everyone take a turn.

Lyla is much more of a trooper about being out in the snow then Lincoln is, so I had to coax him a little to come out and give this a try.  He liked it once he did it, but still didn't last outside very long!

Tofteland Christmas-Grandpa and Grandma and Cousins

This is all we could come up with back home in KS for a snowman.  It was hard to make the snow stick with all the leaves in between! Lyla had the idea to put ears on it and make it a "snow puppy," and she was pretty taken with it after that.  She kept petting it and giving it side hugs. It was pretty cute. She is really into her suffed animal puppies right now-won't go to sleep without what she calls "little puppy."

Singing in church

The kids sang in church last Sunday.  They sang for all 3 services, and this first time that I got on tape was definitely Lyla's best.  The other two times I don't think she sang at all, and the 3rd time she spent most the time staring at the kid's around her. Lincoln is on the top riser to the farthest left, and Lyla is on the right on the second riser.                                                                                                                                                                                        

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at mom and dad's this year.  Nate and Ang went to Florida for their 10th anniversary, so it was mom and dad, our family, and Caleb, Abby, and Ethan.  I had fun feeding Ethan in the high chair and carrying him around.  Ang, I think we spoiled him a little- sorry!  We just couldn't let that cutie cry!  Uncle Matt tried to watch him in the basement a couple times, but each time he wouldn't stand for it.  Guess him and Uncle Matt will need some more bonding time.:)

Beautiful Nails!

Grandma and Ethan

Matt teaching Lincoln and Caleb settlers. They did pretty well with this, and stuck with it the whole game.

Contemplating the next move

Black Friday shopping with mommy!  We went around 9 Friday morning and spent most the morning at Kohls.  This is at the mall standing in front of Santa

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween

Lyla seemed to like the tricycles quite a bit this year. Lincoln was not interested in them at all.  I was thinking this was about our third year of going to the pumpkin patch, and the first time that we could did not have to help anyone on anything. I think last year I was still pushing Lyla on the tricycle, and helping her go down the slide.  This year she insisted on doing everything by herself, even the slide. It's a pretty big slide, even walking up to it is tricky because you have to walk up a big hill to get to it.  She wanted to walk up to it by herself and go down by herself.   After she got turned upside down going down one time, she told me she wanted to go with her next time.

Jumping

You can't see his expression but he looked pretty terrified.  First year doing this by himself.

success

Lincoln's consistent favorite from year to year.  That kid loves mazes so a live one is  right up his ally.  Lyla and I  opted out when he wanted to do it again...

racing down the slide

riding out to the pumpkin patch

Almost to the 4 ft mark.  I have noticed at 4 ft a whole new world opens up. You can go down the slide at the Y, and lots of amusement park rides require you to be at least 4 ft

painting pumpkins

Batman and a Cat!

I dressed up as Dorothy that day at school.  I randomly found the costume at a garage last last summer.  Most of the kids at school knew who I was but alot of the younger ones were guessing Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

tunnels, friends, and soccer

One day we walked to the park by our house and found a guy and his kids digging gigantic  holes/tunnels.  Lincoln found this beyond fabulous, and it is now a favorite activity.  The kids have always liked playing in the sand a little, but nothing like how they like it now!  

Matt's college friends get together about once a year. This time the wives and kids came and we all met up at one of their houses.  It was alot of fun seeing everyone, and neat to see the kids play together.  If you know this group of guys, it is not hard to tell which kids are theirs!

Lincoln's last game of the season.  He told me right after the game that he wants to play again next year!

Matt did a great job coaching again.