Luke

Luke has really been enjoying going to preschool. (yay!!)And Caroline and I have really been enjoying our time to really "dig in" and get things accomplished while we are alone. :) We sure love our little Lukey, but it is much easier to get through our lessons in a one-on-one situation. :)

(I give LOTS of credit to all those moms out there who homeschool all of their children at once. . . I don't know how they do it.)

Since Luke's preschool is in Wheaton, Caroline and I have been picking a different spot each day to "have school". We load up her backpack with all of the lesson materials and we have a lot of fun. Today, we went to the Wheaton Public Library, which I think is going to be the best spot for us.

My alone time with Caroline has been a blessing and knowing that Luke is having fun with little friends is also a blessing!!

Favorites on Fridays . . . Like Oprah's "O" List, But Not Really

Favorite Fast Food Breakfast: Jamba Juice's Steel Cut Oatmeal with Blackberries and Blueberries

Have you tried this?? Oh . . . . soooo good! Don't look at the sugar content or the amount of carbs . .. just enjoy this hot cup of bliss . . . seriously. It has a brown sugar crumble on the top that makes it taste like blackberry cobbler. Can't think of a better way to start the day. I'm going to try to make a healthier version of the topping.

God's Paintings

Have you ever really looked closely at frost?? How beautiful!! It has been sooo cold here the past few weeks, so there has been more frost on our windows than usual. The other day, I decided to really take a close look at the frost and I was truly amazed at the intricate details. Each window upstairs had a different design. The kids and I had fun trying to find words to describe each pattern. (wispy, feathery, spiral, etc.)

Thank you, Lord, for creating such beautiful "pictures" for us to enjoy.

Dad, does this mean we have too much humidity in our house?? This picture was taken before the humidifier was put in. :)

Luke's First Day of Preschool

We were originally going to wait until next year to enroll Luke in a preschool, but we decided that he needs to be in one sooner than that. He needs to be around other kids having FUN! :) I called the preschool that Caroline went to, and they welcomed Luke with open arms today. Luke loved it!!

Caroline liked showing him around.
We were pleased to see that Sally the Turtle was still there. :) Luke hopes to be the one to bring her home over Easter break. (we did that when Caroline was in preschool)

It was such a blessing to me that Luke had such a good day!!

Sledding with Cousins

OK . . . so here are a few pictures of the zillion that I took last week when we were up in Wisconsin visiting my brother's family. We had so much fun outside in the snow!! They live on a LOT of land, so we had many places to sled right in their backyard.

Go Holly!!

What a cutie . . . Dawson.

Uncle Steve

I couldn't get this picture to go the right way, but I kinda like it this way . . . looks like cutie Dawson is pushing his truck down a STEEEEP hill! ;)
Hey SOX fan

Hello!!

Peek-a-boo!!

Who's that guy?!? Could it be little Luke??

There goes Auntie Becca . . . in a truck . . . with a vacuum!!? (she was going to get the "cabin" in the woods all ready for us to warm up in after sledding)

Caroline and Houston ready to go down the hill

These two are having waaaay too much fun!!

Oh look! I decided to give it a try! It was super fun!! (way faster than I had anticipated, actually)

Warming up in the cabin in the woods. I was thankful for all of those warm bodies to keep me cozy.

Awwww . . .

Here comes Auntie Becca!!

We had a great time with the Eckstroms!! Our time together was a blessing!! ;)

Hangin' Out With the Cousins

Last week, we had the opportunity to go to Wisconsin and "hang out" with my brother's kids (Houston, Holly, and Dawson). We had a terrific time!!

Of course, I took a zillion pictures, but I am too tired to post them tonight . . . I need to prepare a Sunday School lesson and clean up the house tonight . . . the pictures will have to wait until tomorrow. :)

What a blessing it was to spend time with cousins!!

Downtown

Last week we went downtown Chicago to see the Christmas decorations before they took them all down. Here we are in front of Macy's big tree. Luke was not in the mood for pictures . . . that's OK.

Looking at Macy's beautifully decorated windows.

While we were downtown, we decided to go eat at Gino's East. (you know . . . the pizza place where you get to write your name all over the walls?) We had to park a million miles away and walk in below zero degree weather and wait in line a thousand hours to just get in the place, but it was worth it!!!! :)

Luke was still not in the "cheese" mood except for the cheese on his pizza! ;) That's OK.

He wrote his name in a hard to reach spot that Auntie Becca had told us about. (They went there last summer) You can see his "U".

We found Houston's name on a bench. (Auntie Becca told us where that was, too.)

John and I left our graffiti on the post in the back by the elevator. :)

We lifted Caroline up so she could write her name on the bottom of an "R" in the word "carryout". Another Caroline had written her name on the other "R". :)

Jake wrote his name right where Auntie Becca told us Holly's name was. It was behind glass so it is a little hard to see.

OK . . . now this is just too much . . . we never asked where Steve or Rebecca wrote their names . . . the whole time we were at Gino's (which was a LONG time!!) I was sitting across from my Dad and I did not notice my brother's name on the bench right across from me until I looked at this picture on the computer!! (if you look very closely, you will see "Steve Eckstrom" right to the left of my Dad's ear.) small world. . .what are the odds of us sitting at the exact same bench?? (and why didn't I notice it when we were there??)