Tuesday 17 March 2015

Roof Trouble

We've had a lot of trouble this winter with our roof leaking because of ice damns that built up from all the snow. Poor Matt did everything he could think of to try to fix the problem including taking a day off work so that he could spend it up on our roof chopping ice with an axe and shoveling snow. He was even up there in the middle of the night once trying to stop leaks! When he was just about to the end of his ideas and energy, Seth and Rachel took a day off work and came down to help out. Their visit was such a huge blessing to both of us, and they spoiled us rotten!! Matt and Seth spent most of the day clearing snow off the roof and breaking up ice damns where they needed to, and Rachel and I were able to visit and watch our little boys play together. Rachel even brought lunch for us, so that I didn't need to worry about fixing a meal for everyone. It was a very productive day physically and emotionally, and we appreciated their kindness SO much!!

Here is what our roof looked like even after Matt, with some help from Jay, had put in hours of work on several different days. 

Our back deck had not been shoveled off all winter long, and with the extra snow that the guys shoveled off from the roof, I was afraid our deck might collapse. As you can see, the piles were up above the deck railing!  After they were done with the roof, Matt and Seth tackled shoveling it off, and by the end of the afternoon, the deck was snow free. I'm sure this is the tallest Seth has felt in years! :-)

Before Seth and Rachel had to go home, we were able to go out for supper with them. They introduced us to the Longhorn Steakhouse which serves DELICIOUS food!!! Brett and Tyler got to sit together and had so much fun drinking out of straws for the first time.

We are so thankful as well, for all of the time and effort Matt's parents have put into our roof this winter. They have spent more than one afternoon at our house shoveling snow and ice off our roof. I'm sure we'd still be dealing with leaks, if they had not helped us out. We didn't get pictures of all their hard labor, but we still appreciate it more than words can say!!

Monday 16 March 2015

Snow Pics

Right about now I'm very much ready for warm, sunshiny, spring days, but it doesn't look like that's in the immediate future for this part of the country, so I thought I'd share some pics that we've taken over the course of this extremely snowy winter of Brett playing outside.
 The first snow storm of the season hit November 2nd, and it was a big one! We got dumped with snow, and were without power for almost a whole week. We were very thankful that the generator Matt ordered had arrived just a couple of days before! After we got our power back and the snow had melted a little, we took Brett outside to play. He was really too little to play in the snow last year, so this was actually his first time out in it. He loved everything about it except for all of the bulky snow gear that made it hard for him to walk and move around. He soon got the hang of it though, and now he loves getting his snowsuit and boots on to go outdoors.













The snow had just gotten deeper and deeper throughout the course of this winter. It's been a lot of work for everyone, but I have enjoyed watching Brett as he's discovered and learned all about playing in the snow.





We got Brett a sled for Christmas, but he is a bit scared of it right now, so sliding down the huge banks around our house is not an option right now. He mostly just likes wandering around poking at the snow here and there, and discovering the great outdoors all blanketed in white.












Brett's favorite thing to do when we got outside is to inspect Daddy's tractor. He would spend hours brushing all the snow off it, and making sure it is in perfect condition if I would stay outside that long with him.





Friday 6 March 2015

Finger painting with Winkie

We've certainly had our share of storms and snow days this winter! It seems like we would barely get cleaned up from one storm before another one would bury us again!! Most stormy days Daddy still had to go to work, but one storm was so bad that his work got cancelled that day! In the three years he's worked there, that's the only time that Darlings has been closed because of a storm. Since it was a special snow day with Daddy home, we decided to do something extra fun with Brett during the blizzard (or lizard as he called it). I made him some finger paints out of sweetened condensed milk and food coloring, and we helped him paint some "masterpieces." :-)
Daddy was our photographer and captured the pictures below to show you just how much fun Brett had while painting.

 A little boy patiently waiting while Mommy mixes up the paint. Clothes were not even an option for this activity since we knew that it would get messy!

 I opted to make our own finger paints, because I was afraid he would try to eat it, and I wanted it to be something that actually was not harmful to him in case that happened.

 He got the hang of it very quickly, and surprisingly did not put his hands in his mouth once.


He would use one color, and then would point at which color he wanted to use next. 

We tried to make hand prints, but that wasn't half as much fun as just making an abstract painting.



As you can see, the paint didn't strictly stay on the paper. Rubbing it on arms and  in his hair was just as much fun! We didn't mind though, because he was having such a blast, and we were prepared to dunk him into the tubby as soon as he was done.



 The artist could only manage four masterpieces, before his creativity ran out.

We had a very sticky, colorful, happy little boy when he was done!