Snow Men

The kids had been patiently waiting, for quite some time now. Snow was in the forecast, how much would it be? Could we play in it? Would it cover the grass? All the very important details of the winter weather that was headed our way. We awoke the next morning to a couple of inches, and you would have thought Christmas had come early the kids were so excited!! They promptly ran into our room yelling about "ALL the SNOW outside!!" Even Brody took to yelling "No! No!" - his version of the "snow" chant.

Maddingly had to head off to school that day, so she was unable to partake in the snow festivities of that day :o( But we have had more snow and she has since led many an expedition of snow-suit clad children through the frozen tundra that is our back yard, and even over to the church parking lot, where there are snow "mountains" to be conquered. Her and Kavan make quite a pair when they are out walking together. I haven't gotten any shots of that yet, as it was too cold for this momma outside, but I will try to get some soon. For now I leave you with the joys of that first snow: bundling up in our freshly unpacked snow gear, brand new snow boots, cozy hats and mittens, the first taste of snow, the rosy cheeks, the first snow angel of the year, the red noses, the unwrapping and unlayering...and of course: warming up with a nice mug of hot cocoa!!

My Precious Snow Baby. Brody truly has a new love affair going with this fluffy white stuff. He adores eating it and would stay out in it all day if I were inclined to let him. ;-)

This little trooper wanted to ride his bike in it...seriously.

The staging of this picture can be credited to the elated young man on the right. He instisted on cheering for the hot cocoa for all of the pictures I took, and his little brother was only too happy to oblige him.

The new poster child for Swiss Miss. He'll be on boxes nationwide soon...

Hope you and your family are enjoying the weather as much as we are. Of course now it's a bit TOO cold out, lol. We are supposed to have a high of exactly 4 degrees today, and a low of -6. Wind chill advisory at -30, so we're leaving the snow to the squirrels for a while. :O)

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Cassandra

I'm in way over my head already...

I'm in BIG trouble. Yup. Big trouble. Today Maddie (6 years old) asked me, whilst I was reading her a book from school, "Why did Jesus choose to die for us on the cross if he could have chosen NOT to do it? I mean, why would he do that? I know God wanted Him to, but Jesus didn't have to, but He did anyway. Why did He do that?" Okay, not too tough right? So we start talking. Then she brings out the big guns. "Mom, how was Jesus down here with us, but He was God, but God was still in heaven? How is there 1 God, but Jesus was here and God was up there?" Um, right. Note to self: Come up with good ways to teach the Trinity to a 6 year old. The apple analogy (peel, fruit, core - 3 parts, one apple) did alright, but I think she's still confused. But hey, that's a right of passage for all good Lutheran's right? If this is her at 6, I shudder to think what we'll be talking about at 12. Better go brush up on my catechism.

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Cassandra

The Sweetest Home

Hmmm, what could we be working on today Brody??

The Gingerbread Project: 3 small children and 2 adults tackle the building of a Gingerbread House, candy pieces and all. Let's observe.

Initial building of the structure begins. Mom makes the frosting and Dad handles the construction. Children act as the laborers, dutifully keeping pieces of the house at the ready.

Here we have a picture taken by Kavan of the bare bones gingerbread house. Time to get the candy bling on there. Piping courtesy of Mom.

Frosting of the roof and "yard" courtesy of Dad. Time to dive on in kids! Brody took his job VERY seriously.

These two were more detailed in their decorating, and Maddingly was set on creating patterns on each part she worked on. I must say, she did a lovely patterned grass yard. :O)

Worker bees still going at it. Carefully assessing the needs of each side of the house, windows, doors, etc.

Proud of their work. :O)

Maddie made Gingerbread people at Kindergarten, and kindly donated them to our project. She informed us all that SHE was the large girl, and the two little men were Kavan and Brody. Kavan is pictured here at the front door, waiting to be let in apparently.

Whilst Brody and Maddie are enjoying the weather out in the back garden. Some one should really let Kavan know that he needs to walk around to the back of the house, otherwise he ain't gettin' in.

Well, there you have it, our very first family Gingerbread Project. It was certainly interesting, and I do believe more candy made in onto the house than into the children, but who can know for sure? Broderick gave up on decorating about half way through and just fell to eating whatever remnants were falling on the floor. These kids act like they never get any sweets in this house! Oh wait, they don't. :O) Oh well, it's Christmas right? It's snowing here again today, so we will have snow pictures for you all soon! We had a snow a couple of weeks ago that the boys enjoyed, so hopefully this one sticks around long enough for Maddie to play in as well. God's blessings on your week, and may your home be as sweet as this one, put together by the family members that make it so very special!

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Cassandra

Two Birthdays Down...

Okay, this should finally be the last of the "catch-up" posts. I promise. :O) As many of you know, November is quite the month around here, with two birthdays and Thanksgiving we keep pretty busy! We were blessed to be able to celebrate Kavanaugh and Maddingly's birthdays with MANY friends and family this year. Grandma Sally and Grandpa Paul were there, along with those "Crazy" grandparents from Kansas, and we even had Grandma and Grandpa McMurray here for the weekend from Missouri!! To top it all off, we were able to visit with my brother and sister, whom we haven't seen in QUITE a while. It was so nice to see Travis now that he is safely home from Afghanistan! He is now stationed back in North Carolina, and we miss him already.

We are so grateful for all of the generous gifts given to the children, it was amazing and SO FUN! But most of all we are so thankful for the time spent in sweet fellowship with our family, thanks so much to all of you for coming down to our neck of the woods for our little celebration. Here are some pictures from our day! (Unfortunately, I recorded most of the weekend with my camcorder, which I love dearly, but I have not yet mastered the art of posting videos on this blog just yet. I will work on that so you all can see the family gathering and the opening of the presents!)

The Best Part Of Baking A Cake...

Thanks so much MOM for decorating the cakes, AGAIN! :O)

I baked two round cakes for Kavan's Race Track, and then cut out the middles to make Maddie's own personal "Princess Cake". Two for the price of one and everyone was happy!

Once again, time to measure up. This is the first year we were able to compare the kids' heights, since we didn't start until Maddie was 4. And yes, Kavan is a bit taller than she was at his age. It will be fun to see how Brody measures up to Kavan's 2-year mark this January.

Yes, she actually grew!! A whole 2 and a half inches! ;) She's gonna be a tall one like her mother, I'm just sure of it...

I'm always so amazed at how quickly a year can go by. To think that my baby girl is now 6 completely blows my mind!! She's a big Kindergartener now, and we sure are proud of and thankful for her. She brings a lot of life and spunk into our home, and we couldn't imagine it without her. And Kavan has now left his toddler years behind and is an official "school kid", hitting that 4 year mark before we knew what was happening! His face has changed so much in the last year, no traces of that little baby anymore, just a handsome young man with a big heart. He keeps us on our toes, but he also rewards us with the sweetest cuddles and hugs. It's amazing to think that a year ago his language was still hard to understand, now a days he catches me off guard all the time with the funny grown-up things he says. It's such a marvelous wonder to watch them grow, learn and love with each other. God is so good.

Thanks for stopping by the blog again, it's nice to share the blessings of our home with our friends and family. We are now looking forward to another birthday in January, and hopefully a "birth" day, sometime in between! Up next we'll be posting about some more "seasonal" activities, so check back soon!

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The Splitty Family

A Side Note

I just wanted to explain some of the new little features we have placed on the blog for those of you who don't frequent the bloggy world very often. On our sidebar down the right side of the screen there is a music player. You can pause this player, or you can pick which song you want to listen to by clicking on it. The first song that plays each time right now is a song by Faith Hill from her latest Christmas Album, the lyrics are fabulous and the melody is almost haunting, I hope you enjoy it. And yes, it's about Baby Jesus...not my baby. :O) Further down the sidebar we have been keeping a fmaily calendar for anyone needing to know birthdays, events or dr. appointments. Let us know if we need to add anything! At the VERY BOTTOM of the blog is a "baby ticker". This is a little bar calendar that counts down the days to this next baby's due date, telling you how many days are left and how baby is developing. It's pretty neat! I think that just about covers all the new bells and whistles around here for now. Drop us a line sometime to let us know how you are doing!

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The Splitty Family

A Cut Above

Ahhh, The First Hair Cut. Truly a right of passage for any young toddler. Broderick did a wonderful job of sitting still and enduring the tickle of the clippers. He didn't even move when he had finally had enough and began to cry. (Hey, a 22-month old only has SO much patience for safari aprons and strange ladies touching his head...) The silent tears streamed down his face, the pouty lips quivered, but he never flinched. What a warrior. In the end he looked oh so dapper! We'll update you in two more years when he gets his second hair cut...Gotta love red-heads.

The highlight of the trip was pretending to be a spaceman...in the hair dryers of course. :O)

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Cassandra