Iowa Oasis!

We woke up Thursday and the temperature was -7, since Clark didn't have a class in the morning we decided to take a trip to Hawaii! We enjoyed the warm humid sunshine, the free flying birds, the exotic foilage, bright orange fish, waterfall and fragrant flowers! It was refreshing for the soul to see things alive and growing!

Alright, so it wasn't quite Hawaii, but the Botanical Center downtown was still a really nice escape for a couple hours!

Ethan literally frolicked through the gardens! At one point he went into a group of people, started spinning circles all the while giggling and shrieking with glee! Apparently he is sick of being couped up indoors as much as I am.

Clark got a pretty good workout keeping up with Ethan!

I loved seeing the icicles and snow out the window, but at the same time being warm and still feeling like I was outside.

The Story of Redlocks and the 5 Bears

It was Teddy Bear day at our library Wee-Read this past Wednesday. Ethan was loving the big bear puppet, dancing with his teddy bear, listening to the story and singing the songs.
Then the teacher pulled out a giant furry glove that had 5 little felt bears attached to each finger with velcro. She started singing, "there were 5 in the bed and little one said roll over...they all rolled over and one fell out, 4 bears in the bed...etc." Everytime a bear fell out of the bed she would take the bear off her finger and smash it onto the floor and yell, "boom!"
I noticed Ethan wasn't doing the actions he was just staring at the bears and at the teacher. When we got down to one bear left I looked over at him and his little lip was quivering and his eyes were filling with tears. I tried to quickly reassure him that the bears were okay and he just burst into tears saying, "oh no, oh no."
All the other moms started giggling and the teacher felt so bad, she kept saying, "Ethan, look, the bears are okay," and she put them all back on the glove. Who would have thought that song could be so traumatizing!
Our sensitive little guy that never cries or cares when we leave had a soft spot in his heart for the poor little smashed bears!

I just love my sensitive little bear!

Happy International Pancake Day!

We celebrated with free pancakes for dinner from IHOP!

Ethan was pretty happy to handle his own short stack this year with strawberry syrup! I was pretty happy not to have to cook dinner! Thanks IHOP!

Breaking Records in Iowa!

Tonight I joined thousands of other volunteers in Des Moines to help package meals for Haiti. There is an organization here called "Meals from the Heartland," they use products that are farmed here in Iowa to feed the hungry in many nations. Right now the focus is on Haiti. This week long project originally had enough donations to package 300,000 meal kits (each one feeds a family of 6) but after donations came in this week they now have enough for 2 million kits!
As a volunteer I worked with my group in an assembly line to assemble the meal kits that include rice, soy protein, dried vegetables, and a powdered vitamin supplement. Then we sealed the bags and packaged them into boxes ready to be sent to Haiti. It was really neat to see so many people coming together to help.

Iowa has also moved up to number 4 for the snowiest winters on record beating the 1981 record of 52.9 inches. We are so glad we are here for the record breaking...if only we get 20 more inches this winter we will set the new record...keeping our fingers crossed. We also broke the record for having 75 consecutive days with at least a 4 inch snow depth this year.
And the amazing thing about Iowans is that recently they were ranked the number 5 state with happy satisfied people...I bet they drop down a couple of spots after this winter!

Bitter Beer Face?

Ethan's newest expression that cracks us up!

We just can't get enough of this little guy -

We are loving all of the new words he uses, my current favorite is mehack (music). I love that he is trying to put words together to make sentences like "Eee-eee momma kees" (Give me a kiss mom).

I love how he lights up when his Dad gets home from school and runs screaming to the door to greet him. I love how after nursery today he came to find me in the primary room and yelled, "momma," as he gave my leg a big bear hug!

We love how he yells "I did it, I did it" in a high pitched voice when he accomplishes something.

I love how he snuggles in the morning and at night drinking his milk.

We love watching him get situated and comfy on his giant fleece pillows so we can read him stories.

I love how he gets little projects going with his toys, I usually don't know what exactly he is trying to accomplish but he sticks to it until the job is done.

I love how he shares his food with his stuffed animals and makes eating noises for them.

I think every age and stage has been the BEST, but this one really is so great!

Gala la la la!

Every year Clark's school hosts a Winter Gala! It is such a fun night with a live band, fancy decorations, yummy desserts, and everyone dressed up. My dilemma this year was finding something suitable to wear being 6 months pregnant!
Luckily I had a trip to Boise in Jan. and my mom took me shopping! She reminded me that although I currently feel like a frumpster I am still young and can still be hip to the jive! I loved the sassy dress and the shoes that made me almost as tall as Clark. Really, how can a person feel frumpy while wearing leopard skin?

(Don't you love our coordinating outfits?)

We had so much fun going to dinner with our friends, eating way too much at the chocolate fountain, dancing to the rockin' live band, and losing our voices trying to carrying on conversations with our friends while the live band was playing!

(A serious conversation during the band's break).

Most of our group!

Great Friends!

Such a fun date! I loved it!

A Big Red Guest at Family Home Evening

For F.H.E. tonight we took Ethan to the library to meet Clifford the big red dog (or Wiward) as Ethan calls him.

The random Iowa Public Television guy in a purple T-shirt and yellow cape entertained the kids with some Clifford books and then the big red dog made his big appearance!

Ethan watching for Clifford.

Ethan couldn't wait to meet him, he escaped from us and ran up to see the dog, stepping on all of the other patient children sitting nicely on the floor! Yes, that is his little red head by Clifford's belly.

After another story the kids got to line up to meet Clifford. The line was pretty long so we did a few puzzles with Ethan waiting for our turn. All of a sudden Ethan yelled, "Wiward," sure enough a very wobbly Clifford was being led away from the kids and being held up by 2 librarians. Poor Clifford overheated and about passed out! After getting a drink of water, taking a little break, and moving to a less claustrophobic area of the library - he was ready to meet and greet again. When the librarian informed all of us that Clifford just needed a drink, Clark and I wondered exactly what kind of drink poor Clifford needed!

Ethan literally running up to meet Clifford!

Giving him a big hug. The funniest part was that Ethan just stood there with his arms open wide waiting for Clifford to pick him up for a hug. So Clifford just sat there with his arms open wide, after a long akward moment Clark helped Ethan give a hug.

Ethan was told to stand by Clifford for the picture, and he did...poor Clifford about fell off his stool! We decided Clifford probably doesn't get paid enough!