My Summer List

It always seems to happen right around this time of year for me. The snow is piled high outside my window, I haven't seen green trees, grass, or flowers in months, it is so cold that I have to wear socks ;), and I just can't take it anymore. I start counting the days until summer. I start planning out what my garden will look like and what new flowers I want to try this year. I start to look back at old pictures of summer. Yes, I have extreme spring/summer fever, and I want the winter to end. I hear that we are supposed to reach a high temperature of 39 degrees this weekend, and I hope it melts the snow in vast quantities. While my husband is wishing for one more big snowfall so he can ride the snowmobile again, I am dreaming of sandy beaches and long days spent outside with the kids.

I realize that some of you are thinking that I should not wish time away. It passes too quickly, I know, and my babies are growing faster than I could have ever imagined. I suppose that is why I decided to make my summer list. I am going to try my hardest to enjoy the last few weeks of winter while dreaming about how I will enjoy my summer to the fullest. So here it is, my list of things I hope to do this summer.

1. Play outside with my kids every chance possible and enjoy every second with them to the fullest. I want to take them on picnics, camping, swimming, and lots of exploring.

2. Go to the beach. I'm hoping to take the kids on several day trips to St. Joseph where we can enjoy the sand and sun and a ride on the carousel. Maybe we will even get a chance to watch the sailboats.

3. Wake up early and enjoy the sunrise.

4. Take the time to really enjoy God's beautiful creation and take a lot of pictures.

5. Spend time watching the local farmers plant, grow, and harvest.

6. Expand my garden a bit from last year and spend a lot of time in it.

7. Run outside in the mornings and relish the fact that my kids are still small enough to take along in the jogging stroller, instead of wishing for the days when I used to be able to run alone.

8. Spend time with friends and family that I don't see often enough during the winter.

9. Plan a weekend away with my husband to celebrate our seventh anniversary. It has been years since we have actually celebrated, and I want this to be the year that we make/take the time to get away.

10. Have bonfires in the back yard and spend time stargazing.

A Few More New Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from our latest little photo shoot. I just love it when I get both kids smiling and looking. I am hoping to post again soon to let you know what we have been up to during January. Until then, have a great weekend :).

Maggie is Eighteen Months

Guess who is eighteen months old already! Can you believe it? I know I can't. How has my tiny baby gotten so big already? It is almost impossible for me to believe that a year and a half has passed since we brought Maggie home. She has become quite the sweet little darling, and we LOVE her so much.

She is getting so big and smart. Recently she has started to name almost all of her shapes, she knows two colors now (red and blue), she knows two of her letters (O and M), and she is talking in phrases. She isn't quite using full sentences yet, but she has started to put three and four word phrases together. It is adorable how she loves to do everything her big brother is doing. She loves taking care of and loving her babies. She also loves to pretend read.

My favorite thing is that she uses her manners all the time. She says thank you, excuse me, and please. I am convinced that this must just be a girl thing, but I am loving it. Here are a few fun shots of her in her tutu. :)

Christmas Celebrations

I think that this year may have been the busiest Christmas on record for us. We had six different celebrations within a week of Christmas, as well as several gatherings with friends before Christmas. We also had Bob's sister's family stay overnight after Christmas. It was busy, but also a lot of fun. More than anything I came away from Christmas this year feeling blessed and overwhelmed by the kindness of our family and friends. Thank you to everyone for all that you did!

I must tell you that there are a ton of pictures below, so prepare to be overwhelmed. You might also be interested to know that this is an extremely edited version of our celebrations. For some reason I didn't have my camera with me at several of our gatherings, but somehow I managed to take almost five hundred pictures in the month of December. I know, completely ridiculous!
Feel free to view this post in several sittings so you do not become overwhelmed :).

Checking out the perfect tree at Uncle Tom and Aunt Diane's.

Ben really enjoyed playing with this train under
Uncle Tom's tree. Cousin Michael showed him how to run
it, and it wasn't easy to pull him away from it.

Family picture with Santa.
Maggie does NOT like Santa.


Ben and Maggie on Christmas morning.
Check out that hair!!!

Maggie opening one of her favorite gifts - an Elmo.

She was sooooo excited when she saw what it was.

Ben opening one of his many gifts at Grandma's house.

Aunt Jess and Uncle Tedd

Uncle Justin and Aunt Danielle

Mom (Grandma)

Dad (Grandpa)

Here are Ben and Maggie showing off their adorable

aprons that my mom made them.

This year we got all of the Keefer girl cousins

matching tutus and hair bows. My friend

Stephanie makes them and they turned out

adorable!

Keefer grandkids (minus baby Julie)

All the Keefer grandkids with Grandpa and Grandma

Keefer.

Keefer family shot

Ben and Maggie with all of their goodies. Thank you

to everyone for the gifts. They made out like bandits.

Ben and Maggie with cousin's Will and Sara.

Talk about a fun pajama party!

Maggie and Will watching some cartoons in the morning.

Ben and Will had fun playing in Ben's room.

Ben and Sara in the toy room.

Uncle Nate and Bob took a ride on the snowmobile before

all of the snow melted.

Bob, Ben, and Maggie getting ready to take a ride.

The kids got to spend a lot of quality time with Bob

while he was off work for Christmas. Here they

are playing in the snow.

Ben even got his tractor out for a little ride in the snow.

Bob took Maggie for a sled ride.

Lost But Not Forgotten

It seems to be a trend lately that our blog often gets forgotten when life gets busy. I am learning that some things just have to be put on the back burner sometimes. Several years ago before I was a mommy, I had visions of perfection when I thought about motherhood. I thought that my house would be spotless, my kids perfectly mannered, I would make perfect healthy, balanced meals daily, and my hair would get cut and highlighted on a regular basis. For some silly reason I preached about how I would never let my kids watch television or eat McDonald's. I had some high hopes. Now that I am the mommy of two wonderful kids I have learned that the idea of perfection is just that, an idea. I still do my best, but I have learned that it is okay if the kids watch Sesame Street while I am running, and that chicken nuggets will not harm them. I am also learning how precious this time in our lives is and that I should spend more time with my kiddos and husband and less time trying to meet some standard I set for myself. All that being said, I have been missing from blog land for quite some time and I apologize to those of you who check in for new pictures of the kiddos. I have posted a few below to catch you up on October and November. Enjoy!

Here we are at the Festival of Trees. Unfortunately we

could not get Maggie to put her blankie down and Ben was

not about to cooperate and smile.

We picked out our Christmas tree at a farm near our house.

We have gone to the same farm for the past three years and really

like their selection.

The kids always love it when they get to help cook.

Here they are helping with some desserts for Thanksgiving.

Random shot of Bob reading to the kids before bed.

I decided to take some practice shots for the

Christmas card this year. Can you tell that my

kids are used to me taking their pictures.

So handsome!

Blueberry Eyes

This is another random shot, but I think it is so

adorable how both kids go to the window every morning to

wave as Bob leaves for work.

After trick or treating on Halloween we went to a

fire station with Grandma and Grandpa Keefer and

Uncle Tom and Aunt Diane. The kids got their faces

painted, played games, and took a hayride.

Ben and Maggie enjoyed visiting Grandma and Grandpa

Gaerte to trick or treat.

We realized right before we were ready to pull out

of the driveway to go trick or treating that we had

not taken any pictures of the kids in their costumes.

Ben was not happy that I postponed his fun.

Here are the kids with the Jack O' Lantern that they

helped carve. Hopefully you can see them in the dark

picture.

Maggie really enjoyed digging the goop out of the pumpkin.

Scooping out goop.

Here are the kids drawing what they think Bob should carve on

the pumpkin.