Playing in the snow

A little over a week ago I decided to take MaKena outside to play in the snow. The weather was nice and I was tired of being stuck in the house. So we bundled up and head out. We started to shovel the driveway but I got tired of doing that so I decided to grab the sleds. I tried to put MaKena in one of them and pull her around but she wasn’t having any of it. So I walked over to the snow pile that’s at the edge of our lot and climbed up in and slid down on one of the sleds. She thought that looked fun so I grabbed her and walked up the snow pile and we slid down together. She had a lot of fun. Then I showed her how to make a snow angel in the snow. She thought that was fun. But of course I didn’t have the camera outside until later so I didn’t get any pictures of this! Lane ventured out to play with us and shovel/snow blow the drive way. MaKena had so much fun that I didn’t think I was going to get her inside for lunch! Hopefully the weather cooperates and we can play outside again. Hopefully next Jacob will be with us!

MaKena helping daddy by shoveling!
She's such a big helper!

She was trying to climb up the snow along the sidewalk.

I love this picture. She is standing on the sidewalk and I'm standing out in the street. That's how high the snow is in our yard! Almost as high as her!

She LOVED playing in the snow!

Daddy and MaKena

Mommy and MaKena

One of mommy's little helpers

MaKena loves to play in the water when I’m doing the dishes. One night I asked Jacob to help dry the dishes for me so he pulled a chair up and was drying. A few minutes later MaKena said I help mommy and she grab a chair and started pushing it towards the sink. I was almost done so I let her play in the water for a little while. She had a blast. And the best part, she didn’t even make a mess! So the other night when she was coloring (post below!) I was doing the dishes. She eventually got tired of coloring and the next thing I knew she was pushing the chair over and saying “I help.” I couldn’t say no to that cute little voice so I let her splash around in the water. I just hope she still wants to “help” when she gets bigger!!

Playing with the bubbles!

She loves to stir the bubbles with a spoon.

She's really having fun!!

I managed to get her to look up so I could take a picture of her!

Coloring like a big girl!

The other night MaKena and I were home alone. I was trying to get the dishes done and she really needed some of my attention. So I decided to see if she wanted to color so I could finish doing what I was doing. When I asked her if she wanted to color she said yes about 10 times and ran to her room to open her closet. So I got out one of her new coloring books and crayons she got for Christmas and let her go town. She was in 7th heaven. She was being so good so I grabbed the camera and took some cute pictures. She was so proud of herself and every now and then she’d say “look it mommy.” From time to time I’d hear her say the color of the crayon she was using too. It was very cute. She’s learning her colors, numbers and ABCs. I’m just amazed at how much she has learned the last couple months.

MaKena sitting at the counter coloring in her Dora coloring book.
She's really getting into it!

I love this picture!! Check out her pony tail!

I think she was trying to get all the crayons in one hand!

Reading is fun!

Lately MaKena has been asking us to read to her a lot more. She’s always loved her books but when we’d sit down and read to her she would only sit with us for a few minutes and then she was up and on to something new. Now she’ll pick out a book and sit on our lap and listen to the entire book. When we get done reading she’ll take the book and read it herself. She usually says “I read mommy.” One night last week Jacob asked her if she wanted him to read his library book to her. She said yes so I thought it would be a good time to take some cute pictures of the two of them. She just loves her brother Jacob. If I say my Jacob she corrects me very quickly by saying “no mommy, my Jacob.” She’s also starting to get very sad when Jacob leaves. Many times when I have to drop him off at his dad’s and MaKena is in the car she cries after he gets out of the car. She says “my Jacob” and it just breaks my heart. She really loves her big brother and I love watching them play together. We are blessed!

Jacob reading his book to MaKena. She was really getting into the book!
Aren't they cute?!

One night last week I was lying in bed reading my book and Jacob decided to join me. Well, not too long after Jacob crawled in bed MaKena grabbed one of her books and joined us.

Fun videos of Little Miss MaKena

Last week I got the camera out and took some videos of MaKena. She was being so cute I couldn't resist. In the video above I asked her to sing to her baby. So she started to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The end of the video is hilarious. What a character!

This is a video of MaKena trying to do this little piggy or as she calls it piggy market on her toes.

Mommy doing piggy market on MaKena's toes. I think she'd sit and let me do this all night! I love listening to her giggle.

Goofy Girl!

About a week ago I was down stairs watching TV and MaKena came down saying “mommy help.” When I turned to look at her I about died laughing. Somehow she managed to get one of Lane’s old cell phones stuck in her hair. So of course instead of helping her get it out right away I ran to get the camera so I could get some pictures. I did help her get the phone out of her hair once I was done giggling and taking pictures. I have no clue how she got it stuck in her hair and I’m sure it won’t be the last thing she gets stuck in her hair either. What a goofy girl!!

I still laugh looking at this picture.

Vikings vs Cowboys

When the Vikings hosted the Cowboys in January, I was fortunate enough to go to the game. It was my first Vikings game and I was thrilled. Jason had 4 tickets from work and he was planning on taking Uncle Tom and his buddy Jeff so I decided to see if I could tag along. And I was excited when he said yes!! For those of you who don’t know, Uncle Tom is a huge Cowboys fan and he dislikes the Vikings! The ride down was pretty tame. There were a few jabs here and there from both sides!! Once we got to the game, the talk was no longer tame!! And of course we had a few Cowboys fans sitting behind us so Tom was in good company! We had great seats – 14 rows up on the 5 yard line. I was in 7th heaven!! The first Vikings touchdown was right in front of us. It was great. Thankfully the Vikings played well and won the game. I have a feeling it would have been an extremely long ride home if the game would have turned out differently. Tom took the loss a lot better than the 3 of us would have taken it if Dallas would have pulled off a win! Jason made sure to play some Cowboys music when we made it back to the car except I think he hit the wrong button because he ended up playing the Vikings song! It was a great game!

A view from our seats.
The scoreboard before the game.

Pregame warm-up

Tony Romo (I took this one for Uncle Tom!)

Getting ready for the Vikings to take the field.

Here they come!

The coin toss

Visiting with Grandma Vivian and Uncle Tom

The weekend of January 16th Grandma Vivian and Uncle Tom came to town to visit. They weren’t able to make it at Christmas time because of the weather so we celebrated Christmas with them in January. It was so good to see them. Christmas seemed weird this year because they weren’t able to make it. Mom decided we should try to get a picture of Grandma Vivian with the 5 great grandchildren. It’s always a chore to try and get the kids to look at the camera especially when you have 3 two year olds! But we managed to get a couple of good ones! Those two year olds have a mind of their own!! We had a blast visiting with Uncle Tom and Grandma Vivian and we look forward to seeing them again!

Karisa, Jacob, Great Grandma Vivian, Emma, Mallorie and MaKena
Karisa, Jacob, Great Grandma Vivian, Emma, Mallorie and MaKena. I think the kids were tired of having their pictures taken. The next ones didn't turn out very well!! Karisa, Jacob MaKena, Grandma Kathy, Mallorie and Emma.

See what I mean!! They were done!

Grandma Kathy with her two oldest grandchildren - Jacob and Mallorie. (Emma standing behind)

Grandma Kathy with Emma. And Makena sitting behind them.

Uncle Tom, Grandma Vivian and Mom

Lane tried to lay down on the floor to watch the football game but then the kids decided it was play time so they all crawled on his back and he tried to knock them off! The kids loved this!!

I love Emma's face. She was having a blast trying to say on Uncle Lane's back!

At first MaKena didn't like sharing her daddy but then she decided to join in! Jacob helped keep the little girls on Lane's back.

Jacob giving Emma a piggy back ride. MaKena wanted one too!