Our dear friend, Annalese, sent the kids a Valentine's package this week. Thanks Annalese! We LOVE it. Bella got a really great baby faces book, featuring children from all over the world.
Asher got a tool-belt! He loves it and asked if he could even wear it to bed. :-) He also asked if he could use it to help daddy with projects. Definitely.
...in his jammies.
Bella got a great tea set for Christmas this year. The kids and I enjoyed an apple cider tea party this week. They were naturals - probably because they were born in British Columbia - but I feel I can send them to England with confidence now.
A few weeks ago, Grand Rapids, MI got hit with an actual blizzard. It was fun. Bella isn't so keen on walking in deep snow but other than that, the kids loved it. When I told Asher a blizzard was coming, he kept looking out the window and saying "where's the wizard, mommy?"
The kids helped me bake cookies.
Asher has participated in this quite a bit but this was Bella's first time. She did great!
Licking the beaters is always the best part.
You might think she should use an apron. Well, she got the cutest homemade apron ever for Christmas and won't wear it. So there.
OK, Biggar's. This one's for you. The Galloway's (remember Sonya?!) live on a lake and check out this hockey rink that they have. There have been two hockey games a week on it for the past month - every Friday and Sunday afternoon. Friday is the high school crowd and Sunday, a bunch of families come over and the little kids hang out and sled, play, and eat snacks on the side. The rink is beautiful and I've learned through this experience that it's a lot of hard work to maintain an outdoor hockey rink! Carson, my nephew, Scott, and Spence have put many man hours into keeping the surface smooth. They've probably put as many man hours (maybe more) working on it as they have playing on it.
This was the kids' first time decorating a Christmas tree. They loved it and were quite good at it. The fun thing was that mom said it was the first time she'd had little kids help decorate since we (her kids) were little. She likes it much better with little helpers. :)
This is one of my all time favourites.
Meet Muck and Wendy. (Bob the Builder character names, of course) Muck is orange and belongs to Asher. Wendy is kind of pink and belongs to Bella. The Galloway's gave them to us and they've become a part of our little family. 
They were entranced by the camera flash. I can't imagine that's very good for them (I only did it twice!) but it made for this great shot of them looking at the camera?!
Well, we've waited a long time for this but finally Bella has enough hair for pigtails! Woo Hoo!
Cousin Jordan (my nephew) came up with this great project for us. Making bird feeders. And it was so fun!! You cover a pine cone with peanut butter, roll it in bird seed and then hang it outside. The kids were really good at it - they actually made the bird feeders themselves. As opposed to one of those projects where the kids participate 10% and mom does the rest. 
