By a better photographer:

Here are a few glimpses Wilmore in winter time. I'm gonna miss it here.

travel

We made it to Chicago and back last weekend. Oddly enough we drove far enough north to miss all the snow that hit Kentucky and south while we were gone. It was COLD though. I think it got all the way up to 20 degrees about the time we were leaving town....

We got to visit our friends Josh and Candace McCallister, and their wonderful kiddos Jedidiah and Lilia. We got to stay in the guest apartment at Reba Place - so nice. Morgan and Jedi played together really well (until that inevitable point in preschool-dom when sharing becomes unthinkable). Poor Lilia got a little sickly while we were there, but Athan Bear held out and made it home with no sniffles or fever or cough. I was a bit nervous about getting the Bear out that much in winter. He's been so healthy this season, and looks like the trip didn't change that at all. Yeah! :) Ryan and I got to spend not-nearly-enough-but-good time with our dear friends. It may be the last time for a while, as it is slightly more difficult to pop up to Chicago for a weekend when you live in Texas. Sigh...

Then, on the way home, we stopped at the Children's Museum in Cincinnati. Wow. So fun. All interactive learning activities for the kids to play with. We really had fun. Morgan, of course, met new friends around every corner, then proceeded to enjoy whichever attraction with said new friend. Athan was a real champ. He drug his little walker all over that museum. He stood for almost an hour and played in the water. He crawled and climbed and smiled until, of course, the last 10 minutes, when he melted down into the most literal kicking-and-screaming fit either of my children have ever managed. But before you judge, just look how tired he was:

Yes, that's lunch lingering in his hand. Morgan was zonked, too:

yes, really...

Tonight, I learned to knit! After I did this much I just took it apart and gave the supplies back to my gracious teacher, Sarah. But it was out on a limb for me to even try. :) Who knows - maybe there are home-made scarves from me in your future... :)

I don't do this much

But in echo of my friend Sarah's blog post, check out this thoughtful post on differently-abled persons. Then watch the video.

fun family randomness

Ryan is taking a Mentored Ministry class this semester. As the title indicates, it is a class for being mentored by those already in ministry. Ryan gets to work with Sean at Communality in Lexington, and the kids and I will be attending several of the events there with him. It will be fun to learn from them and worship with them this spring.

Amberly now uses this site for printing a weekly organizer. It's free, recyclable, and pocket-size. Plus, each week I get to pick a new cover (using the "image" option). This week: luggage, since we're traveling this weekend. :)

Morgan's response to Athan's first steps (forgot to post this with the other video):

Athan has transformed the act of cuddling into an athletic event. Almost nightly, he crawls in bed with us, and proceeds to try to be in constant contact with both Mom and Dad at all times. The closer the better, especially if we can be cheek-to-cheek. It's much cuter now, as a fun kid story in the daylight, than it is at 4 a.m.

another Morgan moment

"Mom, Athan and I are a band! We're called the Significant Singers!"

Yes, really, she said "significant."

among the favorite activities of late: letters

The story about the above pic goes like this: When I came into the bathroom, Morgan spoke with great urgency. "Mom, don't worry. I know "cat" is wrong, but we don't have a letter C any more because Athan bit it and it broke, so I used a K because it makes the same sound and we don't have a C any more and I put it backwards because it is the wrong one anyway. Ok, Mom? Don't worry."
"Ok, Morgan. No problem. Not worried. Good spelling."
"Thanks."

The bottom one started out to be "Mom" and ended up being "Mooooo." Not sure what I think about that.

frozen!

The temp stayed below freezing for almost 2 solid weeks around here. It's nothing compared to the ice storm of last year, but still SUPER cold. It's funny that "sunny and in the lower 40s" feels balmy after 2 weeks of teens and 20s. The kids and Blue enjoyed the winter-y weather just fine, I think: