We had a rockin party last night.

(please ignore the messy house and the grape juice and spaghetti mustaches on their cute little faces...they were having fun)
We celebrated the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States… Barak Obama. The boys were pretty excited. We had to blow up balloons, wear party hats (did you know they don’t make specific party hats for this occasion) so we wore some “mater” hats and blew noise makers. They loved it! We talked about why this day is such a big deal, what the president does, what the white house is like and the Obama girls and how their lives will be different for at least the next 4 years. It has been fun to see the excitement of the country about this new journey and for Cam to just start to understand the significance of all this. Pretty historic! Pretty amazing! We are so not political people but it is neat to see this and how so many people have dreamed of this day.

As we sat around the office today watching the inauguration there were a few hard core republicans but they still thought it was so cool to see this.

When we went through adoption training a few years ago and had some of our classes on mixed raced we knew it was a “big thing”. I did not understand it until Obama was running for president on how “big” of an issue it really is. I can not believe some of the things I have heard. I understand the hole slamming each party but when you start slamming who is running because the color of their skin it is heartbreaking. I could never imagine having to deal with that everyday.

My Big Guy

Oh WOW! Darc was digging through some pictures last night and found these pictures of Cameron. I remember that but it is so strange to see him so little, he is now 6.5. Thanks Darc for scrapping that page quick.

Brrrrrrrrrrr

Is it summer yet? After last week I think I have had enough. School was two hours late 3 days last week and closed completely once. What you see below is "actual" temperature, with the wind we were 45-50 below 0.

Darn Swans

Here are those darn swans that did not want their picture taken... How dare they swim away from me. lol

Fish

Keaton LOVES fish! Every time we are in a store that has fish we have to go stop and take a look at them. Last week I had a co-worker that had a pet fish on her desk and she had mentioned she was looking for a home for the little guy. I thought that would be perfect for Keaton. So I brought him home and both the boys have are having a blast with him. They will watch him for hours and fight over who gets to feed him. I think this will be one lucky fish if he survives the two of them :o) Thanks Amanda for “Mable”

Just A Stump

Nothing special, just a stump. We were out for a drive and I was trying to take some pictures of some swans that would not swim where I wanted them to... darn birds (are swan birds?) any who... I took a picture of a stump. You will get to see my uncooperative swan shots here in the next few days.

Ring, Ring

EDIT: WOW what a day, I got called last night for a NILMDTS session (35 week old baby girl). It was a very long day and I feel so much for this family, please keep them in your prayers.

The boys wanted to play telephone. They found some cans and some string and set some up some phones. Boys who needs toys if you have string and cans?

Marion

This year we got the privilege to attend Christmas Eve service with Darcy’s grandma Marion. Marion is 83 year old and just recently moved to the area into an assisted living facility. As Marion has been getting older she sure enjoys telling stories of when she was younger. I think Darcy has learned so much about when Marion was little than she ever knew before. We really enjoy getting to spend more time with her now that she is a little closer.

Another One of Cam’s Inventions

Cameron got this really cool “5 connector” for Christmas (I am surprised not every 6 year old wants one). But anyways Cam wanted his very own circuit box in his room. So last night before bed that little guy is up there cutting this card board box apart. He was so excited and could not wait to finish his project. One of the first things he said to me is “I can’t wait to show Corey” Corey is one of our friends who is an electrician so him and Cam get along pretty well. Next step Cam wants to do is to be able to put a lock on it so his brother can not turn his “stuff” off. What are you going to do next Cam?

Oh an the "3" with the line through it means no 3 pronged extension cords.

Play-Doh

Hours of endless fun! The boys wanted to play Play-Doh this morning. I thought it would last a few min. They ended up playing with it for quite a while. Man I forgot how messy that stuff is to clean up.

Keaton Singing "Frosty The Snowman"

This is Keaton's version of "Frosty The Snowman"!

Ahhh how cute!

We went to go check on the boys before we went to bed and I found Keaton like this. He always has to read his own book before bed.

This Kid....

If any of you know Cameron, he is the boy that asks for extension cords and garden hoses for Christmas. Well he has to know how everything works and when it is broke it NEEDS to be fixed, he would much rather play with tools and cords than toys. In Camerons first grade class they had a pencil sharpener that was broke and he hounded the teacher as to why it was broke. She sent the sharpener home with Cam over Christmas break to see if he could fix it. I think it was fixed in the first hour he was home. He brought it back to school and surprise the teacher by getting it all setup and ready to go for the start of school after the break. Yesterday I walked in the door and Cam was there with another one in his had. "I think a gear is broke on this one" he says. So last night we spent some time working on this one, I think it has seen its better days. We tried our best and have it somewhat working. I am so curious on what he is going to be when he grows up. His fascination with electricity, cords and hoses is just amazing.

The Snowman

We finally had to put our inflatable (that we said we would never have) away. We pulled it into the laundry room to let all the snow and ice melt off but the inflatable was too large to inflate in there so we pulled it out to the studio. I did not realize how big that thing was. The boys ran and danced (yes it plays music, the neighbors have to hate us) for a good hour when it was drying off. They are already planning for next year of what they can do with it.



Here is a video clip, the quality is poor but I just had to grab what I could well they were being goofy

Savings!

Look at those savings, see what coupons can do! We were long over due on some grocery shopping so Darcy did a TON of coupon clipping and planning. She headed off to Super 1 and ended up saving $91.97 in coupons! Even though we spent a lot it we were still able to save, a lot of the items was buy one get one free but it is all stuff we use.

Being Goofy

We wanted to get some good pics of the boys with Santa hats on (I should have used more than one light). What does Keaton do when he first sits down? He decides to be Sponge Bob! What goofy kids. Well here are some shots of the boys and the dog!

Oh and you can not forget the family dog Libby.

Rockers

My little “Rockers”. Today we were playing around in the studio and the boys grabbed their tinker toys and made a mic stand. I had them move it in front of the backdrop and they jammed for a bit.

My Little Cowboys

Here are my two little cowboys, they came out of their rooms wearing this. You never know what they are going to do next. As they get older we are realizing how fast they are growing up and that we need to cherish very one of these "cute" moments :o)

Stockings By The Fire

We wanted to capture a really cool picture with stockings hung by the fire. Man I think we took a few hundred shots and I am happy with what we got but I had something else in mind of what it would turn out like. I also realized we missing a few names on most of those stockings :o)