Dyin to Get Outside

Yesterday while Charlotte napped Kate and I walked next door to the neighborhood retention pond to throw pine cones in the water and bask in the short glimpses of sunshine.

"aaa puh"

"Apple" is one of about 5 words that Charlotte says. (it sounds more like "aaa puh") She babbles tons of unintelligible words, but there are a handful that she uses correctly and consistently. She can say: da da, ma ma, na na (for no no), baw (aka ball, used for balls, balloons, & ornaments), bkk (book), baa (bath), and her favorite, aaa puh

SNOW!!

"Oh my wert, this is unbelievable!" Liky Kate and the rest of us were thrilled to wake up to 4 1/2 in of snow in our backyard. It was a beautiful morning.

This is the back (above) and side (below) of our house

Precious Charlotte

I love Charlotte's outfit, it was everthing warm that she had all mixed together. She was actually the only one of us who had proper mittens. Parks was using gardening gloves.

Above was Parks' first attempt at a snow man. The base, on the left, got so big that it was too heavy to keep rolling. The mid section, on the right, got too heavy to put on top of the base. Poor Parks just started over and the result was great.

About 30 min after I took this picture the wind blew the man down. His arms fell upward so he looks funny laying in our yard with his arms up in distress.

Artemenko Boys

Our friends, Will & Ben came over to play yesterday and we loved it. Ben and Charlotte are a lot alike - sweet, goofy, mostly content. But Will and LK couldn't be more different. Will is focused and smart, likes to read and tell stories about sharks and dinosaurs. We all know LK is a wiggly, talkative girlie-girl. But, they are buddies. Kate LOVES Will and I think Will is starting to show some affection. They decided they were getting married - the bridal attire (complete with veil) was completely LK's idea (like that's hard to believe). I'm not sure what to say about it. So far it's harmless. And look at beautiful Ben, asleep on the couch amid the chaos.

My Ballerina