snow day....

we got several more inches of snow today, and the whole family got to play in it! otto enjoyed some rides on the sled, and despite his look of disgust in the photo, he actually seemed to enjoy being outside and kept trying to crawl in the snow. joe and greta stayed out a bit longer than otto and i....they did some sledding, built a tiny snowman and had a fun time! the snow is beautiful and it was fun to see our neighbors having fun in it as well. pictured below are our neighbors patrick and emily and their son tom....

staying warm

here's greta, keeping herself and her "friends" warm on the heating vent. the friends include baby jesus, mary, joseph, 2 yo gabba gabba figures, and a sippy cup lid.
this is not a new trick, as she did the same thing last year. guess this drafty old house is a little too chilly for our girl.....

otto tries to climb learning tower

otto is now pulling himself up to stand....today he pulled himself up with the learning tower. check out these pictures and video of otto, holding on for dear life and loving every minute of it. my favorite is his 'alfalfa' hair in the video!

go green

snow!

this was the first snowfall of the season that we were able to go out and enjoy. after otto went down for a nap this morning, greta and i got all bundled up and headed out. she was very intrigued by the snowpants she was wearing. (we love hand-me-downs from those ford girls!) she also was SURE that she wanted to take her mittens off, until she did and tried to play in the snow with her bare hands. we didn't last long, but it was fun!

lego maniac

"santa" thought legos would be a perfect gift for greta for christmas. "santa's helper" wasn't so sure. last night, i had to apologize to "santa" and agree with him that legos were probably the best gift we could have given. there is nonstop lego building going on in our house, and has been since christmas morning. as i write this, greta is building a train car, narrating the whole adventure as she goes.

happy new year!

left to right: hannah, otto, cassie, ellie, greta, jacob

while joe and i were in new orleans for the sugar bowl, greta and otto spent a few days at grandma and grandpa hansbauers. they were there for four nights, and on new year's eve were joined for the night by the ford cousins. yes, you read that right. joe's parents had a spend the night with ALL SIX OF THEIR GRANDKIDS on new year's eve. the celebrations included a bubble baths, chocolate cake, and lots of noisemakers. sounds fun!! we are so very thankful to joe's parents for taking such good care of our kids while we were gone....