Merry Christmas!!

So this is a day late, but Merry Christmas Everyone! It was definitely a new christmas experience this year, being away from family and friends. Needless to say, there was plenty of love under that tree and the kids... once again... blessed beyond our imagination. There are still toys strung out everywhere. Duplos all over the floor, train tracks, a bizillion cars, even our dining room table has a lovely electric car racetrack for a centerpiece. So thank you everyone for making our christmas special, even thousands of miles away. The video is a christmas treat for everyone that we found to be spectacular. The house is located in Milton which is the next town up from us. They ran the light show from 6p-10p and also had barrels where they were collecting canned foods for a good cause. They played three songs that ran on a track through their fm transmitter and at the end they would mention the barrels for canned goods. Hope you all enjoy it as much as we did! Peace!

Got SNOW?

Well, if you don't... we DO!! There was a moment when I actually thought it was never going to snow. Even after our first snow fall, we had no snow for a week, and I thought that would be the end. But then it happened. It snowed. And it has not stopped. It snows, literally, every other day. I think a lot of the people who live here are about to cry because they shovel snow EVERY other day, and they are sick of shoveling. Sucks for them. :) One of the great things about living in an apartment and having lots of boys around, is I will probably never have to shovel snow... ever.
The sun decided to grace us with it's presence today, so I took lots of pictures of the town, and all the piles of snow. As you can see, or kind of, there is lots and lots of snow in the mall parking lot. Yup, that would be a Kohls behind that tower of snow. What makes today so beautiful is all the ice. Yeah, driving in it sucks, but all the trees are just glistening. They are covered with ice, and as the sun melts the ice, it refreezes, (that would be cuz it's only 25 degrees out) and makes little icicles on the branches. And in the sunlight they glisten and sparkle, like crystals. So look at the trees, carefully. It's much better in person, but since you are too afraid of the cold, that would be your loss. Speaking of the cold, it really isn't that bad. Yeah, it is 25 degrees, or will be at around 2pm, but it doesn't feel as bad as I thought it would, especially when the sun is out. At night, its different, especially with the wind chill, but on days like this, you have to get out and enjoy as much sunshine as you can get, because tomorrow.... yuppers.... it will be snowing!

Winter Wonderland

We have now officially entered the month of December, and with that... a whole lotta SNOW. We went from a very nice and warm fall... or what they call an "indian summer" to Winter. Our first snow fall was on the eve of Thanksgiving. Since then we receive 6 inches on Saturday and are getting 5 more or around there, tonight. I can finally hear the snow plows out now. However, despite the extreme cold and snow, we still like to have fun. Jon took us sledding. The kids had a blast, even though Jon did run the tube over some branches and popped it :( We still need to get a slick bottom sled, but we are still beginners at the whole snow thing. Another thing we did recently, was go to a tree farm and cut down our own christmas tree. It was lots of fun, even though the tree fell on top of Matthew. They had Santa Claus there, and tons of fudge.. even a reindeer. Right now it is snowing and 27 degrees .

Happy Turkey Day!

Our thanksgiving holiday started off with the building of a gingerbread house.. that wasn't really a house, but a train. I thought Matthew would have more fun with it since he loves trains, cars, motorcycles, anything with wheels. We had been expecting snow, but did not realize how much it had all the sudden started to pour snow. It was awesome I went out in my pajamas and took some pictures. You would think I have never seen snow in my life. The next morning we got up early and went out and played in it. The streets were covered in ice, which was a little scary at first, but once we got the hang of it, it wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, the ground is still warm, so some of the snow melted today. The only good thing, is tomorrow I can continue my marathon training. Weather at the moment is partly cloudy, with some flurries and a bitter 27 degrees. The low tonite is supposed to be 16, so we still have a way to go. :) Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Put me in the Zoo

Earlier this week, we were blessed to have a visitor, so we decided to go to the Madison Zoo. Now for those of you who don't know this zoo is absolutely FREE. Yup, its awesome! It isn't the World Famous San Diego Zoo, it is much smaller, but there are no crowds, no huge hills to climb, just a zoo with plenty of animals to see. As a matter of fact it was so cold the day we went that we parked right in front and there was only one other family there. I know it looks like a beautiful, sunny day in the photos but dont let the blue skies fool you, if it was raining, it would be snowing. It was that C O L D. Current temp now, a nice, warm 55 degrees. Unfortunately, the warmth is only going to last today and by the end of the week the highs won't even break 40.

Halloweenie

I just want to take a moment to thank you all who voted for the kids costumes. I (rachelle) thought it was a great idea, but I needed to convince Jon. However, he wasn't convinced soon enough and by the time I got the "ok" finding Raeden a Robin costume was very difficult. So bummed. . . . I also decided to find Matthew's old lion costume only hours from showtime and panicked when I realized it was no where to be found! So Raeden ended up being a G.I. Joe. He was cute, kinda reminded me of my bro.. just with more facial hair. (sorry Josh)
We went to the Janesville Athletic Club, which is basically like a 24 Hour Fitness, except the Basketball courts were converted to a Fall Festival area where they had tons of games and even a Nascar Jumper. Matthew loved it. He cheated at most of the games, but he is still young. It was cute to watch him walk right up to the holes and drop the balls or bean bag sacks in. They also had a story time where they told the story of Zacheus the tax collector. It was fun and we were all thankful that we could enjoy the festivites indoors, since it was cold outside. And now that the weather is getting colder Im going to post current weather conditions every time I post, just as an fyi. :) The weather actually hasn't been that bad. All the pretty leaves are gone now...well most of them. The ones that are left look dead so they might as well be gone. The past week we hit about the mid 50's during the day... most of the time, and high 20's to low 30's at night. Not too bad. However next week is supposed to be "seasonable cold" as they say, with high's in the low 40's and low's in the 20's. Ay yay yay . . . and we are supposed to have some snow flurries on tues, so Ill be posting another update soon! Current weather conditons: 46 degrees, sunny and windy...and it is about 1pm in the afternoon.

The Enchanted Forest.

One great thing about Janesville, is that there are so many community events. The park down the street from us has a public toddler pool that is free and open during the summer, and for Halloween, they had an Enchanted Forest. It only cost 3 bux per kid and the adults were free. There was also a bunch of hay for the kids to play in while we waited to be escorted through the enchanted forest. We walked through a forest and along the way we were able to meet characters from fairy tales like Little Miss Muffet, Cinderella, the Muffin Man, and the Headless Horseman (and yes he really was on a horse!)!! But Our FAVORITE was the Three Little Pigs! Despite how cold it was, it was tons of fun.