Snapshot

The good news is that, so far, I have 3 posts started and waiting in the queue.  The bad news is that I hadn't finished any of them.  However, grandparents were starting to comment on the lack of posting, so I figured I would quickly finish one and get it out.  It might end up a bit scattered, but at least it has new pictures, right?  Here is a bit of a snapshot of our lives right now.

Making muffins wearing their new aprons from Aunt Darleen!

 Allie's apron is made from on of Little G's.  It makes her feel so special to wear it.  Also, I may have let Ryan think his was made from one of Little G's too...because he was very upset at the possibility that his wasn't!

The big discussion every day is about what they want to be when they grow up, how they have to prepare, etc.  Allie pretty much wants to be everything she can possibly think of...

Allie:
Basketball Player (and football, baseball, and soccer - not all at the same school though...for as many years and colleges she wants to go to, this is gonna get expensive...)
Artist (she literally spends hours every day honing her various artistic talents.  Our house is overflowing with her art...)
Farmer
Chef
Truck Driver
Ambulance Driver
Bus Driver (she got a bit stuck in driver mode)
Super Hero (conversation  about her being a super hero.  Ryan: You can't be a super hero.  You can't fly.  Me: Not all super heroes fly.  In fact, I can think of a lot that don't fly.  Allie:  Yeah.  I'll be a different kind of super hero.  Probably one that runs really fast.)  Note:  she practices being a super hero by saving bugs, and worms.  The other day our church rented a gym for the afternoon and Allie spent at least 50% of her time there rescuing lady bugs from being squashed.
Picture Taker (just like me!)
Ballerina
Dance Teacher (Lucas told her the other day that she was such a great dancer, she could probably teach a class.  She really took that to heart and keeps asking when she can start teaching.  I worry, should we ever put her in a dance class, how this will play out for her teacher...)
Pilot
Scuba Diver (For some reason, she is convinced there are no girl scuba divers and that she will be the first.  I tried to tell her otherwise, but she could not be convinced)
Astronaut (with Ryan and one of their best friends from preschool.  They are all so determined that I can actually see it happening someday...and it brings a tear to my eye to think of 3 preschool friends all grown up and blasting off into space together)
Fire Fighter
Fairy (Obviously)
Writer
In a Band (maybe the singer, maybe the drummer, maybe both!) (She and Ryan have talked about starting up a band now...he'll play guitar and piano)
Jewelry maker
In the circus (She has so many amazing tricks!)
Hunter
Mommy
Someone that Loves (My favorite)

Covered in flour, she looks the part of a chef...

Ryan tends to be a little (lot) more focused.  He knows what he wants to be and very little steers him away from that.  Except the fact that he's confident Allie will need some supervision in her life and he should maybe stick by her.

Ryan:
Astronaut (Oh, the planning for this!  He has thought through getting his college degree and then astronaut training and has his career trajectory planned...and he had me do a little research to make sure that his plan was mostly accurate!)
Race Car Driver (When he retires from being an astronaut.  Because apparently you cannot be an astronaut forever, but you are never too old to drive a race car...)
Scuba Diver (Allie's Dive Buddy) (One of our church friends is a diver and they have learned from him that you always need a dive buddy.)
Wants to be a lot of the same things as Allie...because she will need a buddy.

Trying out the new tubes!

They are back at school after the (extra long) Christmas break.  Everything there continues to go well.  Allie is drawn to anything artistic, and the stacks of art projects (of various mediums) she brings home each day are a testament to that love.  We also have 2 art stations set up at home - one in the dining room the other in the basement.
They wanted to play at the park too.

Ryan loves baking, but currently he is on a reading kick.  Just after the break he graduated from the beginners drawers to the pink shelves.  This marks a big step in the learning-to-read process.  Currently, he is reading small books with short words (Sam and cat. Sam sat on cat.  Sad cat.  Sad Sam., etc.), and he is eating it all up.  Withing days of making it to the pink shelves, he had gone through the first 4 levels (drawers?  I don't know all of the lingo).
Apparently, sledding in the snow is super fun.

Their current favorite book is "Bowser's Take Over" - written and illustrated by Daddy.
Sledding with Daddy!

One of their favorite past-times is making up stories.  I frequently hear, "Once upon a time..." and then they finish with an adventure or a story about their day.
Sledding with Mommy!

They got ice skates for Christmas and it was finally warm enough to go out and use them (we've had a lot of sub-zero temps since Christmas).  They found ice skating to be much more difficult than they anticipated.  I was surprised how well they did the first time out - spending most of the time without even holding onto us.  I was most thankful for the helmets.  I couldn't count the number of times they bounced off the ice, but each time I was thankful it wasn't the helmet and not their bare head!

I should also mention that they had knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards on under their snow gear. We were prepared for LOTS of falling!

All the safety gear also made me feel better about their safety sledding the biggest hill they've ever been down later :)

 Also, exciting update, they have grown out of their egg allergy!  We tested it this past week, and there was no reaction!  They are excited to try all of the new things that they were never able to eat before.  Turns out scrambled eggs isn't their favorite, but they are pretty excited about the prospect of french toast.  If only we hadn't scrambled all the eggs...

And that is a brief snapshot of our lives right now!  I will do my best to finish the other 2 posts sometime in the near future...or at least before starting (and not finishing) any more posts!