We're Here...

 We are in our new home.   Here is my dining room right now.  We are in the midst of moving mess but glad to be here.

Yesterday we moved.  My parents moved early in the morning out of this house and into their new home and once the truck was empty everyone came to our house and it was our turn. 

 Here is Mark taking down the book shelves. 

And below are the kids looking at the moving truck.

 As the guys were moving all our things the kids got to play in the backyard for the last time...sniff, sniff.  We have spent hundreds of hours out here.

More to come....once we unpack. 

Bed Time

 Bed time around our house is fun.  We gather as a family in the kids room and sing. This is a time of family worship.  Then we spend time praying and then it's time for bed.  Mark and I have really come to enjoy this time with our children.  The kids really look forward to it too. We love to hear the sweet little prayers that Lulu and Levi say.  It's always interesting to hear what is on their hearts for that day.

Friends from Alaska

 Last night we had some friends from Alaska come for a visit.

It was a late visit but very fun, so much fun that they left around 3am. 

It was a great visit and went too fast.

Levi Talking on the Phone

Here is Levi talking to my mom on the phone. I love his facial expressions, he's so serious. The first thing he asks her is "why your Christmas tree not up?"  

We're Moving!

We are very excited to say we are moving. 

We bought this house back in Sept. 2005 and it's been a great little home for us.  We won't be selling our house just renting it out.  And we will be moving 7 blocks away into my parents house!  This is the house I grew up in.  My parents have been wanting to downsize and move for a while now.  Next weekend they are moving to a house they own about 20 min away. Mark and I are very excited because we will have so much more room, about double the amount.  Now that Mark is working from home and we are getting ready to homeschool, a bit more space will be very nice. 

Here is a picture of our new home. 

Click HERE to see my mom's post about moving.

Nap Time

 Ila May took a nap like normal today.  But this time I had her sleep looking at the beautiful snow.  I was thinking how beautiful it has been out with all our snow and how much I enjoy just staring out the windows at it so I thought she might like it. 

 Notice the icicles at the top of the window on the left?  Just beautiful.  It's frozen around here.  There's a layer of ice sitting on top of about 4 or 5 inches of snow and then another inch of snow on top of the ice.  It's been fun to play in.  We made some ice sculptures today.

My dad

 Yesterday we walked in the snow over to my parents house.  Levi was all tuckered out and Papa's lap was a good place to take a nap. 

My dad is the best Grandpa ever.  He spoils them just enough but still respects the way Mark and I parent.  My dad has been our biggest supporter (along with my mom) in how we put God first in our life and how we are letting the Lord plan the size of our family.  My parents have told us many times that the biggest regret they have is that they didn't have more children. 

My dad owned his own business while we were growing up and again is right there cheering Mark on while Mark is in the beginning of building his business.  My dad has the biggest heart and gives to his family and sacrifices for all of us.  I love you daddy and thank you for all your love and support.

Love Kimmy

More Snow Pics...

 Hope you're not tired of our snow yet?  We sure love it!!

Today my mom came over to play in the snow with us. 

 Ila made it out today in the snow for a bit.

 She seemed to enjoy being outside.  But she enjoys most things.  I can't really think of anything Ila doesn't like.  As long as she is around all of us she's happy. 

 Then my mom took the kids for a ride around the block on the sled.

 They went again and this time Levi helped pull Lulu.

As I'm typing this the snow is falling even more.  It's that very fine powder snow.  It's so dry and fine.  It was really hard to pack the snow today.  Normally our snow is wet and slushy.  And it looks like we are going to be getting more!!  Can you say NO SCHOOL for my mom!!

Snow Ice Cream

 Since we had snow, we made snow ice cream.  I have never made this or had it.  But I had two cans of sweetened condensed milk and remember reading about snow ice cream.  My recipe is from Paula Deen.

I doubled the recipe and it made a ton, so I froze the rest for later.....I just tried some and it's still good!

8 cups snow

1 - 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 t. vanilla extract

I poured the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in first then put my snow in.  Unlike the directions that say pour the milk and vanilla over the snow. 

 I probably used about 20 cups of snow.  The less snow the sweeter it will be.  But it was really sweet so I added more snow.

 Then I poured in some of our cold coffee from the morning and made it coffee snow ice cream.  YUMMY!  It was really good and seemed a lot like coffee ice cream.

 The kids LOVED it.

Mark enjoyed it too.  He's not a sweets kind of guy but sure enjoyed this.  We enjoyed this treat after we had our freezer cheeseburgers.  The cheese burger were very tasty.  This is our second Sunday having them.  My freezer meals have been such a blessing. 

More Snow!!!!!!

 Today we got more snow!!  We are so excited around here for snow.  We went to church and there was just about an inch or so and when we stepped out there was about this amount and it keeps coming!

 We got the sled out. 

 Doesn't the beetle look a little sad all covered in snow?  Driving a VW in the snow is fun since the engine is in the back. 

 We had a lesson in what kind of snow we can eat. HA!  Snow is so refreshing after running around and getting hot in all the snow gear.

Here is a video of Mark pulling me on the sled!  It was so fun.  Ila was napping so she missed the fun.

Flash Back - Snow Day

 Here is a picture of Mark holding Lulu back in Dec. 2007 for her first snow. Lulu was almost 8 months in that picture (the same age as Ila). 

Here is Mark holding Lulu today in the snow in the same spot!  Yes, I staged it but it's cute to see.

Playing in the Snow

 Today we had a very light dusting of snow.  It was still enough to play in though.  Today while Levi and Ila were taking their afternoon nap Lulu came up and told me "Mommy, I prayed that God would let us go out and play in the snow after naps."  After I talked to her a bit about her sweet little prayer I found out she was excited that the snow didn't melt while Levi and Ila were napping.  God allowed the snow to stay so they could go play after naps.  We love answered prayers!!  

 Here is Lulu's snow man she worked very hard on.

 Levi loved sitting in the snow and watching Lulu run around. 

 Here is the snow family Lulu and Mark made.

 This is what Ila May did while everyone was playing out in the snow.  I also wanted to show off her hair.  I usually have a bow in it so her cute little poof on top never shows.