Laundry "Helper"

Holden is at a very fun/tiring age (15 months now. wow.) when he is absolutely in to everything he can find. I mean that figuratively - the little busy body- and literally. If he can climb into or onto something, he will.

And laundry baskets are a current favorite.

I took some photos of him "helping" me fold clothes the other day.

It's really no wonder it takes me forever to get things done around here.... :)

Into the basket he goes!

Trying on Daddy's t-shirt :)

And Mommy's sports bra. Ha. Goober.

And what could be better than sitting in the laundry
basket and trying on the clothes?

Sitting in the basket, trying on the clothes, and playing legos.

Can you imagine how fast he unfolds clothes? Ah... the help.

Stinker♥

Daddy's Little Drummer

For anyone who doesn't know: Jared plays the drums. Very well, in my opinion. And last week he was finally able to set up his drum set for the first time in over a year. (He never set it up while we were living in the duplex... a bit too noisy. haha)

And not only did Jared have lots of fun finally being able to practice at home once again, but we discovered that Holden also really likes to sit on Daddy's lap and bang around.

Holden having fun banging on things? What a surprise... :)

My Drumming Boys

Happy Daddy

Daddy was trying to help Holden, but Holden wanted none of that...

Look at that tongue! Such concentration :)

pooped from his "jam" session♥

Our Winter Wonderland

If you live anywhere around here, I'm sure you've already seen enough of this to last you until Spring. (Ah, Spring.... please come soon....) But Holden's Aunt Megan - who's all the way down in warm, mild Florida - seems to be having some trouble believing just how much snow we really got up here.

So, Meg, these are for you :)

snowing, snowing, snowing....
and there's a flower garden buried in there somewhere on the left....

Indiana walking down the sidewalk. snow piled up along the sides.

at least someone is enjoying all this snow.... :)

standing in it/climbing in it

you can see how tall the mounds along the walk are here.
Jared is such a good husband. Shovels every time it snows.

it's like a tunnel. haha.

my lower half. standing in the yard. in snow up to my knees.

the bird bath.

big bush in the front of our house. this bush comes up to my waist.

another bush by the lamp post. Jared hit some of the snow off last
night with a shovel and it's still covered.

More for the Cookie Monster!

Grandma Himes gave us a big bag of Valentine's Day M&Ms.... so I baked again! This time it was oatmeal peanut butter cookies with M&Ms. And they were wonderful - such a good recipe - soft and chewy.... mmm.....

And, of course, Holden loved them.

Hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day♥

What's in there, Holden? haha
He loves to watch things in the oven.

Face pressed against the glass waiting for the cookies.

Mmmmmm :)

Finally got his cookie

Too bad cookies aren't good for you....

....because gosh do they make for a happy little boy :)

And when his got too small, he helped himself to a new big one!
Stinker.

Fell asleep on the couch all by himself with a belly full of cookies♥

Pillow Fort!

One of Holden's new favorite things to do is play in the couch pillows. Every day he asks me to put him "up" on the couch at least five times throughout the day- so he can bury himself and hide in the pillows. (So as you may have guessed, my couch frequently looks a mess...) And he just squeals and giggles the whole time. He's such a goof.

Peek-A-Boo!

King of the Pillows!

he just loves it.....

stinker.

we even try to hide under pillows on the ground sometimes....

and if not hiding under, bouncing on the pillows is the next best thing!








so easily entertained :)

happy guy♥

Nothing says "I love you" like heart-shaped cookies

I love baking. And since we were in the middle of moving all during the Christmas season, I didn't really get a chance to bake nearly as much as I would have liked to. So I made some Valentine's Day cut-out cookies.

And no one enjoyed that more than Holden :)

cookies♥

look at that ornery little grin...

such a sweetie

our little Valentine♥

"The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination." - Ward Elliot Hour

I know that all the snow and ice can be such a dangerous burden. But sometimes, if you have a chance to just pause and really look, I think it can also be extremely beautiful.

Lately, I can't get over how pretty all the trees have looked. Just covered in snow.

And I'm not usually a fan of too many snow/nature photos. But all the trees just looked so pretty this morning - their branches all all formed into snow-covered icicles. I just had to take some pictures....

a soft and snowy world, wrapped in serene stillness

enveloped in powdery silence, draped in clean white

silent monuments of time – great trees – swaying and dancing
through storms, steadfastly enduring the icy frost. now fully
covered, yet still they stand. a living strength.

stark and graceful branches, sparkling icicles in morning light,
twisted and reaching ever skyward

a shining silver sun in a cold blue sky. twinkling, crystal covered
branches. a silent and beautiful reminder of God’s awesome Creation.

a gift so often overlooked.

"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing." - Mother Teresa

Our gift♥

Boots!

Holden got some really cute little green alligator rubber boots for Christmas. And of course, they are a bit big, so he can wear them for more than a week :)

But we tried to put them on one day to play outside in the snow, and he cried the whole time they were on his feet. He didn't feel steady so he wouldn't try to walk in them = tears.

Since then, we've been looking at them and playing with them a lot, to help get used to them. And then Mommy got herself some rubber boots (sidenote: I can't wait for gardening season :) ) and Holden got to watch Mommy wear her boots and then put Holden's boots on him..... and he's doing much better!

A week or so ago, when we were blessed with a few days that weren't so bitterly cold, we even went for a couple little walks outside in our boots! And he did great :)

The Boots!

Both wearing our cool rubber boots and going for a
walk around the yard... lazy Saturdays are the best♥

Feeling steady..... not afraid to stand/walk all by himself now!

There he goes!!

Such a big boy :)