I love rocks!!!!

So the other day, we had a ray of sunshine, before the nasty inversion hit and you couldn't see the sky here. Cole was sick of being inside, so we threw on his coat and went outside. There was no snow to shovel with his plastic rake, (which he loves to pretend to shovel because that is what his hero daddy does,) and the ground has melted to the point where you could actually see our rocks in front of our driveway. So Cole began the meticulous process of picking out just the perfect rock and then throwing them in the snow. I do not know the requirements of perfect, but in a small pile, he would search until he found "the one" and then find the perfect spot in the piles of snow and throw them as far as he could in his Christmas Storyish jacket (so they went at least a foot away) and then would begin the process yet again.

Now you might be wondering why do I love rocks? Because for at least 45 minutes, as Cole absorbed himself in throwing rocks, the world was right again. We have tried to protect him from our stress, but we have not been perfect. We have tried to protect him from the tears and strain and frustrations we are feeling, but again, we are not perfect. Kevin getting laid off has taken a huge toll on our family, but for those few minutes, when he had rocks to throw, Cole's world was a perfect place, we were at peace, and happy! And that is why I now love rocks as well!

New Silly Pictures

Thank you Aunt Stacey for the washable Crayons for the bathtub! Mom and Dad love it too. Ha, ha! Cole has found a new artistic side. He could care less about coloring any other time, but thanks to these crayons that actually really do wash easily, he is tapping into his inner artist. Luckily he doesn't like to color anywhere else or on any other walls!!!

Cole loves to dump his blocks out and use this as his "hat."

He does peek sometimes!

He seems to like this "hat" better, since he can see through it and all, but he still thinks he is hiding and we can't see him. He is so silly.

The debate is still on about who Cole looks like the most, me or Kevin? Isn't he just so stinking cute though!!

A Day in the Snow

It started out a beautiful and cold morning. It was time to shovel our driveway yet again. Cole loves to come help. He has decided that rake is his snow shovel and he is going to be out helping mom and dad whenever they shovel, so it was a full family outing!

He insists on having his beenie just over his eyeballs, no higher. He liked to wear his hat that way during the summer. Unfortunately, the beenie slips a little easier than his hat did!


We walked to Bryce's house (around the corner) to see if we could get in on the fun, we heard he had a tube and the four wheeler.

We weren't sure if Cole would love this, but once he saw his cousin's do it...the smile says it all. (Kyla is on the left, Hunter is in the middle, and Cole is on the right)

Hunter is on the left, Cole on the right. We bundled good, the temperature was somewhere in the 20's.

Dad even took a turn with Cole, Bryce threw them both off the tube at one point, didn't bother Cole a bit, he got right back on.

Dad and Cole took a turn driving.

Sheila rode with Cole for a bit, but it was way funner having Bryce try to throw her off while riding on her own.

In fact, Bryce was trying so hard to throw Sheila off, he had to let go of one side of the handle bars and off slipped Cole from the four wheeler! He got right back on with a big smile on his face.

By the end, Kyla was freezing,...

Hunter was cold and sad because he too had gotten thrown off the tube by Kevin.

Grandma said we played too rough, but we all had a GREAT time in the snow!

THE END!!!!