Guess what we have...

...more snow! And it's still snowing as I type! This is crazy! Today they actually closed WSU! But since Than is in crunch time (he HAS to be done by spring, which actually means mid April) he is still there doing surgery. So I get to brave the elements this evening and go pick him up. He said he'd walk home, uh NO! He's in Wagner, and we live on the outskirts of Pullman. No way am I going to let him walk. So knowing that I'd be going to get him later, I decided I should shovel some, so it's not an insane amount to shovel later, even though it's still snowing. So here are some pics of our "Winter (Non)Wonderland." I feel for those of you in Spokane (Sarah G, Shannon B, Kim B), you have more then we do!

This is our back pourch, that I trugded through thigh high (yes, my thighs, not the kids) snow to get a pic. The snow from blowing is almost up to the window above our sink in the kitchen.

This is right our our front door, and you can see how deep it is after I shoveled. Our poor bird house!

Our trench to the car. My mound of shoveling is almost as high as the Subaru!
My mound behind the Subaru. I'm gonna have to dig it out before tomorrow night prior to me going to work!

One trench to the right for me to get in, and one to the left so the kids can get in. You can see how much snow was on the vinnie man (what Garrick initially called it, and it stuck) on the roof. To the right and behind the vinnie man, you can see the mound made by the guy that plows the road. It is taller then our car, and is a matter of inches from our drive way. He better watch where he plows next, or we will be blocked in!

Chillin'

Trestin, Garrick, and Aleksia chillin' watching a movie seeing as the snow outside is too deep for them to play in. Plus the fact that Trestin is sick, but feeling alittle more chipper by this picture.

We got this swing set/slide from our good friends the Highams prior to them leaving Pullman for the "Real World" and Trestin is loving the swing. Aside from taking a nose dive (literally) on it the first time, he has learned how to climb in it safely and turn and then sit. So he'll just chill there for a while. But it really makes his day if you swing him alittle!

The Dentist

The kids went to the dentist for the first time yesterday. Or should I say Garrick did. Aleksia was nervous, then as Garricks turn progressed, she got more scared, and by the time it was her turn she was hiding in the corner with her hand over her mouth. Not even willing to let the dentist look in her mouth to count her teeth! The weird thing is the dentist is in our ward! Sits 2-3 seats behind us in church, his youngest is in her Sunbeams class, and he teaches primary! So she's seen him. Maybe the mask is scarry, I don't know. But Garrick did great! Let her clean his teeth, "It tickled Mom!" he said after. Then as we where getting our coats on, Aleksia says, "Are we going to the dentist now?"

Mom: "Honey, we are at the dentist, we are going home now."

Aleksia: "NO! THIS IS NOT THE DENTIST!"

Chuckling from the office staff and people in the waiting room.

Mom: "Then where are we Aleksia?"

Aleksia: "I don't know, but not the dentist!"

So some lady cleaned Garrick's teeth, then not the dentist came in and looked at them and counted them. Crazy lady!

Nice and clean!

Aleksia's new do

As requested (by Janene), here is a picture of Aleksia's new do after Saturday's haircuts. She likes it, and it is less tanglly (if that's a word, less tangles) and curlier. She likes to "floof it" with the curls. It is pretty cute, and I think we might keep it this short for a while, until she decides she wants something different.

She is such a little "poser" for the camera sometimes!

Curly que!

Miss Ambitious!

On Saturday, I was Miss Ambitious! After making breakfast (something other then cereal, as you read in the previous post), cleaning the kitchen & family area, getting a small nap (I had to work that night), I decided to give hair cuts. Garrick, Trestin, and Aleksia. Than missed out because he was ice fishing with some friends. Garrick is easy, it's just a buzz (gotta love those boys!), Aleksia got about 3 inches off so her hair is alittle below her shoulders, and it was to be Trestin's first haircut. I set up the tripod with the video camera, and gave the digital to Garrick to take some pictures, cause remember, Than is gone, and of course I want to document it! The first and the last pictures I took, but Garrick took the rest. There were several decent ones, and several with heads chopped off. All in all both boys did good!

Prehair cut. He didn't need one REAL bad, but thought, "What the heck, let's just do it!" I think he's working on MORE teeth. His nose is a faucet!

Trestin didn't quiet know what to think, but all in all he tolerated it pretty good. Luckily it's just a buzz, and it's pretty hard to mess that up!

The only thing is he didn't hold still very good. Don't look at my messy kitchen, this was before I cleaned it!

What a handsome boy! He doesn't look alot different, but he does looks alittle more blond now. Still with a few hints of orange at times.

Grandpa Fisher's Grandson

My Dad LOVES whip cream. We tease him, that he likes alittle pie with his whip cream. Well for breakfast on Saturday we made waffles with berries and whip cream. Trestin was an instant fan! I'd squirt some on to a spoon (which he doesn't know how to use very well yet, but learning), and was in heaven!

"I want that Mom!"

"Mmmm!"

Kinda messy, but loving every minute of it!

One happy kid with a whip cream mustache!

Why have we never come here before?

We have lived in Pullman for 7 years, and heard about the Palouse Discovery Science Center, but never gone until today. And it was totally awesome! The kids loved it! I soo would have bought a membership and gone alot if I had known it was that cool. But seeing as we may be leaving with in the year, it might not be worth it. We went with the Gotfredson's (Maren, Kody, Jack, and Weston), who we do preschool with. Here are some of our pictures:

Trestin liked to climb up, stare at the "Baby", then do a nose dive off. Then do it again. Weston liked the view from the ground (seen in the mirror). Trestin is 3 days younger then Trestin, and is running circles around Trestin, who still won't walk. Oh well.

Once Jack found the dinosaur dig in the lentils (fitting isn't it, we are a major grower of lentils and have the Lentil Festival every year), it was hard to pull him away. Aleksia really liked it too. She's showing you "the dinosaur head."

I DO NOT do snakes. So sorry the picture is blurry, but I was standing about 100 ft away! I made sure they sanitized their hands twice before touching me. When asked what their favorite part of the day was, they both replied, "Petting the snake!" Yuck!!!

Weston and Trestin playing on the domed mirrors having a ball.

Kody and Garrick making a tube tunnel for the balls, the did a pretty good job at figuring it out (with alot of trial and error, and running to get the ball 'cause it didn't work).

Jealous of Janene Kay!

We took Than to school this morning, being a holiday the buses weren't running, and our van said it was 2 degrees! Yup, 2 degrees! In the 7 years we have been here, this is the most snow in one winter, and it's not over yet! It just keeps snowing more and more and more! I am tired of the snow and cold! So right now I am jealous of Janene Kay in sunny warm Florida, and those others of you that are warmer then 2 degrees! Mean while those of us in the Pullman and Spokane area (Sarah Goodey and Shannon Banks) FREEZE! I am scared to see what our Avista bill is going to be, seeing as a lot of our windows have bad drafts. So we are piling on the clothes, while inside of our house!

Happy 1st Birthday Trestin!

I can't believe my little baby is one! Last night after getting him to sleep, I didn't want to put him in bed, cause I knew that in the morning he'd be one, and I felt like I could postpone it some how. The time has flown by (it seems the more kids one has, the faster it flies). He is getting such a little personality! He's not walking yet (like all his friends his age), but that's ok! He says "Mom", "Adad" (dad), "Ith" (ritz, his second favorite right under chocolate), "Ah un" (all done), and starting to say "Uh oh." He can sign more, eat, all done, and milk. Here are some pics from today.

He likes to play with the kids' Leap Frog. He'll push the button to play the ABC's then bop up and down dancing with a HUGE grin on his face. He knows the letters go in it, but he's putting the wrong set of letter in.

After lunch he's trying to play peek-a-boo, one handed, the little cheater.

He loves to help Mom do the dishes!

Eating out for his birthday at Chinese, his favorite thing was the fruit. Go figure.

Unwrapping gifts. Even after Christmas, he still hasn't gotten the hang of it, but luckily Aleksia was itching to help him!

Fisher Price Little People Dinosaur Toy

Star shaped cakes for his birthday cake. Mom frosted, then everyone got to choose their sprinkles.

"Happy Birthday to you..."

Yummy! He didn't waste much time in digging in.

"Uh un" - All done he signs

Getting squeaky clean in the tub after eating his birthday cake!

Snow, snow, and MORE snow!

So it snowed, AGAIN, and we got about 5 inches of snow last night. But with the drifts, some of it was up to my shins. Which was up to Aleksia's knees to mid thigh, so needles to say she had a hard time walking through it. So with Trestin down for a nap, I set out to shovel the driveway (one down fall of nonappartment living, but still worth it) and the kids played a bit.

This is our bird feeder, and you can tell how much snow we got. But with the wind, some blew off, so in reality we had more then this!

FINALLY got it shoveled. It made some nice mounds for the kids to play on. The one behind the subaru (you can't see it) was Aleksia's "castle."

The guy that plowed the street left a big mound behind our house...so after I finished shoveling, we tried to sled down it!

Ready. . . Set . . . GO!

It worked pretty good, and the kids had a blast. The mound wasn't very compacted, and I fell through to my upper thighs acouple times (in pj pants of course, I don't have snow pants, but now I'll be getting some on clearance after winter is over!).

More Huston Kids

My little "Ariel" in a Snow White dress, singing "Ahhh, ahhh" just like Ariel

Garrick "reading" to Trestin one of Trestin's books from G&G Roberts for Christmas

The kids LOVE to help cook, whether I want their help or not. He's slicing olives for Taco Soup.

Huston Kids

G&G Fisher gave them dominoes (half the regular set), so when M&D play Mexican Train (unfortunately not for a long time), they can have their own set to play with. They caught on to the rules really quick, and I was too busy to play with them at the time, so they decided to play anyways, and played buy the rules amazingly enough!

Aleksia putting a domino on her train.

Trestin LOVES ritz crackers. He lets us know he wants more by pointing to it...

...then when he gets one, he gets a HUGE grin like, "Hee,hee. I got a cracker!"

He's engaged...

For those of you that know Cameron, my younger brother, is engaged! He proposed to Nicole (pictured on the previous entry) on New Years Day. What a way to start the year! Date and location haven't been figured out yet. We are excited! Now I won't be the only one married on my side of the family.