Odds and Ends

It always takes me a few days to recover after a visit with family, as my last two posts have documented, but I do eventually recover and remember to enjoy this life God has blessed us with! The last couple days we've had some fun moments, and here are some photos to prove it. :O)

"I have to go potty!" is something I usually always hear once the boys are fully clothed in all their snow gear. In this photo, we were still inside and Cole is taking off down the hall with snow pants pulled down. Frequently we are out in the snow and... let's just say that I'm so glad they're boys!! Whenever we have to use the snow as our receptacle, Kaden proclaims, "Yellow snow!! Colson loves yellow!"

Before the temperature dropped to 7 degrees (that's what it said today as we ran to Menards), we got outside to enjoy the snow some more. On New Years, Kylee and I did some hiking in the forest, while the boys played on the slides. One thing the kids enjoy in the winter is sucking on icicles!

One morning we spent making 'Thank Yous' for all the generous Christmas and birthday gifts the kids received.

The boys really missed their big sister today when she returned to school. They had a lot of fun together when she got home!

This was so precious to me! Right before naps, I pulled out the vacuum to use when the kids were in bed. Colson grabbed the little vacuum and wanted to help. I told him I would wait until he was awake, so he placed his little vacuum next to mine. When he did wake up, he was quick to see if I'd waited for him, and then he and Daddy ended up vacuuming together.

And there's Jimmy and me... he's such a wonderful husband.

And a few sweet and silly moments:

I was running out the door on a quick errand and, upon meeting resistance from the kids, I told them I would be real fast. Colson looked at me and said, "No, Mommy, don't go really fast. I not want you to go bonk in the snow. I want you to drive slowly so you will be safe, OK?"

Kylee, who thought it was strange my name used to be Berglund, was discussing with me the process of getting married and taking the husband's name. "Well," she said, "If I want to marry Connor, then I will be a Ratzlaff, but if Logan, or anyone else, wants to marry me, then they have to be a Root!" (Connor and Logan Ratzlaff are Ky's first cousins)

Colson asked me at dinner if he could be Jesus. I told him no, but that someday he could ask Jesus into his heart, to which he responded, "I already did!" Hmmmm. "You did?" I asked, obviously surprised. "Yeah, I asked him if I could be an angel, and he said, 'Yes!' So now I am an angel!"

The kids were playing and Kylee told Kaden he was being mean. "No, I not mean!" He retorted, "God made me in amazing way!"

Colson and I were reading Ecclesiastes and he had to get up to go potty. "Mommy, you pause the Bible for me please?" He asked.

Kylee has been wanting a large, moving, noise making pony at Target for awhile and loves visiting it when we're shopping there. Tonight when she was leaving to run errands with Daddy, she asked if she could get the pony. I told her it was too expensive and we were not going to spend the money on it and, also, that we need to be content with what we have. She seemed fine with that and when they returned later she disappeared upstairs for a bit. When she came down she had a $20 and a $1 bill from her piggy bank. "Here, Mom and Dad, I want to give this money to you, in case you run out. I want to share this with you and maybe Daddy can buy something for his work with it." When we resisted, she insisted. Eventually we were able to convince her to keep her money and use it to save up for something bigger she might want, or use it to help others. We'll have to wait and see what happens, though we were touched by her generous heart.

Today Kaden looked at me and told me we had no friends. I assured him we had many wonderful friends to which he said, "No, Mommy, Daddy left (for work) and Grammy and Poppy and Nana and Papa left and now we have no friends. I miss them."

Being the big sister, Kylee can sometimes be a little bossy. Until recently it really hasn't bothered the boys much. That is certainly changing. As Kylee was telling Colson what to do, he pointed at her and said sternly, "No, Ky Ky, only Mommy and Daddy can deal with me!"