Home...

There's no real way to describe the peaceful feeling I get when I go back home. Breaths feel deeper there...the air is definitely sweeter. And you can't feel stressed when you wake up to mornings like this...

Those true eyes...

Too pure and too honest in aught to disguise

The sweet soul shining through them.

~ Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton

Busy, Busy!

We spent the weekend up north hanging out, playing outside, snowshoeing, and sleeping through the night (Good job, Maxwell!). Liam played outside for hours on Saturday and wore himself right out! Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Sarah and Cousin Jay are always willing to play, so everyone is always quite busy! Aaron and I even got to take a walk in the beautiful weather with no children in tow! We couldn't go far since Aaron's back is still not 100%, but it was great to be out. I also took a photography/snowshoeing excursion which I'll post shots from later this week. The boys and I are heading back up there this weekend for a longer stay, so I'm looking forward to that as well.

Max thinks Grandpa Richie is a pretty funny guy!

And Grandma Karen was impressed with his new standing skills!

He was too busy to eat most of the time...

But allowed himself to be fed as long as he could see the entire room while he ate.

Max went crazy crawling all over the place and getting into everything.

All with a little mischievous smile, of course!

Hi Mom!

One of Liam's many laps around the yard with Grandpa Howie!

Clown Wars

Liam thinks that Star Wars: The Clone Wars is called
Star Wars: The Clown Wars.

That is all.

Brought to you by the letter...

Liam loves to have books read to him. He is becoming very interested in letters and letter sounds lately, and really amazes me with his understanding already. He can tell you what letter a word starts with (as long as it's not something tough like an "X" or "W"!) and then think of other words that start with the same letter! I'm not sure when I started reading, but Aaron could read pretty complicated books in kindergarten, so I think that's where Liam gets it! I'm excited for him to learn; I know how much I loved to read as a kid (and still do) and I hope he loves it, too.

It's so much fun to see both Liam and Max literally learning something new every day!

*Side Note: He also loves Ni-Hao Ki-lan and just said, "I can count to three in Chinese! Want to hear me? Yi, Er, San!"

Standing Tall...

And...Max is standing! He just learned how to pull himself up on things and he thinks he is so cool! He gets to a standing position and then holds on with only one hand. He will then look around to see who might be watching him and smile that cute little mischievous smile! He takes a few steps while holding onto something, but hasn't braved a walk with no hands just yet. He usually stands up, grabs whatever it is you've put "out of his reach" and then plops down on his butt happily!

Liam started walking just after his first birthday, but I think Max might beat him on this milestone! We'll see.

Liam is growing up right along with his brother!

Aaron posted this yesterday:

Tonight, Liam told me that he was getting really tall, and he measured himself against me, back-to-back. He didn't quite reach my waist, and he was a little depressed. I told him not to worry, he'd get there soon enough. Not too soon. Please.

Sisters Weekend

I traversed the state this weekend to visit my sister Sarah in Menomonie. We had a great time! Sarah wanted me to see this place called the Devil's Punchbowl, which is off in the woods not far from her dorm.

It's a deep depression where natural spring water filters through limestone to create these amazing ice flows in the winter:

The punchbowl is in the middle of a forest, so tree roots reach down the sheer face of the rock to the soil below...

This was a fun little side trip between hanging out, drinking Lux vintage wine, soaking in the hot tub, and just having a great, relaxing time. Love ya, Sis!