Hello February!

Oh Hello February!  Where did you come from?
While January felt like a long month, I still can't believe it is already over and we are now solidly into the new year.
And this new year means lots of new things for our family.  We have really started to settle into out new home.  We have even painted an accent wall and hung window treatments!  I believe that having some color on the wall (even if it is only one) means we are officially no longer HGTV posers.

Arthur and I are having a great time as we "dream" of what we can do this house.  Lucky for me, Arthur is great at figuring out how to make these dreams reality.  So get ready for some home improvement segments in this little blog!  And I can already see the boys getting into it too.  I love the idea of them learning to work with their hands as we make this house our home. 

But even though there are lots of style and decor changes I would like to make (No, leaf print linoleum would not have been my first choice for a kitchen floor...or my second), it is amazing to me how quickly this house and this place feel like home.  While I know that much of this comes from the cute boys (both big and small) that our in it, I also must give credit to our new friends.
Our families have just clicked and I feel so blessed to have them in our lives. Friends become like family in this military life, and I am so grateful to have found such this special family, especially with our first deployment approaching. 

A new year also means another year older for me.  But it is hard to begrudge getting older when I feel like life is only getting sweeter with time.  I am so content with where I am...and where we are as a family, that I can't help but be excited for the future. I mean really, how can you be mad about one more candle on your birthday cake (or extra lines around your eyes) when "Happy Birthday" is sung by four of the world's cutest little voices (thank you Dakota, Aslynn, Jake and James)?

And you get to eat ice cream cake brought to a play date by a beautiful (and very pregnant) new friend.  Not to mention that the snow begins to lightly fall practically on cue when the kids started to sing.  All I could think was, "It is going to be a great year!"

As for the boys, the new year means lots more growing, learning, and craziness!

James' has recently turned into a beaver and loves to gnaw on wood.  Let's just say that the drawers on the brand new craft table has looked better...and today he went after a newly restored WWII footlocker (Arthur is not thrilled).  Since he does the same thing with velcro, I am going with teething troubles rather than a really awkward case of pica.  Let's hope he can outgrow it before his first date. :-)

But when he isn't chewing on the furniture, he is quite amazing.  You can just see is little mind working as he maneuvers wooden shapes into the correct spot, or carefully places a block on top of another.

He has started to really enjoy puzzles and books...I think his favorite it probably Brown Bear Brown Bear, but he can get a little over zealous with his page turning.

He also gets pretty into picking up toys.  I am not complaining, but it does look a little silly when a baby starts carefully putting his toys away (often when his older brother is still playing with them).

He loves music, especially if it has a banjo or a fiddle in it.  He just starts rockin' out.  My favorite is when he starts perfectly keeping time to the music...it already seems so effortless.

Jake is doing great too.  He is already looking forward to his 4th B-day (it breaks my heart a little just to type it :)).  He is just as particular as ever.  When asked how old he is, he will say, "I use to be 3 1/2 but now I am 3 3/4."

You could read to him for hours and he wouldn't complain...we have moved onto chapter books or as we like to call them "close your eyes" books.  He loves fairytale and thought Ramona the Pest was pretty wonderful, but was completely horrified when I directed the word "pest" at him one day.

He is every artistic and creative.  When he builds or paints I realize how inhibited and imaginative his thinking is.  It almost makes me nervous because I don't want to restrict where it will go, so I am learning to back off and let him explore. 

When imagination and real life come a little too close

Jake had a two week obsession with Mazes 

A child's mind is a magical place full of unlimited potential...I am humbled by the weight of the responsibility, but feel even more strongly that homeschooling is the best for us. 

"This is how cowboys ride their bikes!" - Jake

So bring it on 2012, we are ready!  We are excited for walls we will paint (both on accident and on purpose), the music that will fill our home (Jake starts violin this month), the games that will be played, lessons we will learn and the memories we will make.  We know that their will be some bumps in our road and some difficult times ahead, but we'll do our best to love and laugh through it all.