Oats and spokes

Our family volunteered at our local food bank to help pack food to be distributed.  We packaged up hundreds of pounds of bulk oats into smaller bags and then boxed the bags (not just the 4 of us! There were about 30 people volunteering with us!)  Here the boys are taking a snack break from all the hard work. Notice the boxes behind them...one of their jobs was to write 'oats' on the boxes!

 We have been having crazy weather the last couple of months...some of our driest months in the middle of winter!?  And then late snow and flooding.  A couple of weeks ago we tried to go for a hike at one of our favorite board walks...but as you can see the sidewalk to get to the boardwalk was totally flooded! It was partly cloudy and a bit sunny as we started to shimmy along the fence to get to the entrance of the boardwalk. But just as we got to the end of the fence a HUGE dark cloud opened up on us and it started to hail and rain! We quickly all turned around and shimmied as fast as we could back to dry ground! So much for the hike!!

 

Back in December the boys started riding their bike with no training wheels.  Now they are riding bigger bikes burning rubber!

They are such speedy bikers now that Mom has to ride her bike to keep up with them!

They LOVE (especially Dylan) to ride off of paved paths and love to ride at this open public barn. It's nice that it is covered and doesn't get too muddy!!

Fun times in February!

Wow.  Where did February go!?  We did a lot and had fun...but it went so fast!!

Mom and Dad have been getting spoiled, on weekend mornings these days...the boys have been getting up, will get dressed and then will close the door to Mom and Dad's bedroom.  Then they come out to the kitchen and make their own breakfast! 

A few clean dishes from the dishwasher, a little High Fiber Cereal and milk and they are happy boys!

This month we were also very excited to get the big boy beds that Grandpa made!

We painted their room and made space for the two new big beds!  Grandpa really knows how to make our boys happy!!  And we got so much extra storage space...12 drawers on each bed frame!!  Yea Grandpa!!

The boys were almost as excited about their reading lamps as getting new beds!

This month we had quite a few nice days...including this one where we went for a hike with some friends.  All the kids had so much fun at this tiny creek and bridge...

...that we ended up staying at this spot for about an hour!  The kids were moving rocks, making dams, and sending anything that floated down the rapids.  The simple joys are the most rewarding!

The boys are really enjoying chapter books these days...it means longer reading sessions!

Mom and Dad got to get dressed up to attend the Corvallis Montessori's annual auction dinner.

Dylan is taking these pictures...not bad!  The boys got to go to their own party at the school while Mom and Dad were at the fancy dinner...pizza and movies for the boys!  Cole saw that Mom and Dad were getting dressed up and said that he wanted to look pretty too!  So he went to his closet and put on a short sleeve button up shirt and then a long sleeve button up shirt over that.  He was desperately trying to find his clip on tie...but alas it couldn't be found.

Dylan asked where the rest of my dress was (the sleeve), and said if I just lifted up that side of the dress the waist would be even too.  I told him that it was supposed to be off the shoulder and have a off center waist.  He just gave me a look like that was crazy!

Cole took this shot of Mom, Dad and Dylan!

Notice the Elvis tie!

It was fun to have an opportunity to get dressed up and raise money for the boys school!

It is sunny here in the winter...sometimes!

This is a self portrait of Cole.