Towada Winter Festival

 So the Towada Winter Festival was definitely no Sapporo Festival, but it was only an hour and a half away and was something fun to go do on Presidents Day.  Things usually get going at night with lights and music, but we decided since the sun was out we would go check things out during the day.  And it was a good thing too, cause somehow we got there and realized Bryce's coat didn't make it into the car.  Luckily I had everything else and some extra pair of clothes so he had on about 4 different layers of shirts, I think it worked.

 Chase and Bryce were having a blast sledding.  Chase kept going over and over again.  They had made two sled hills, a baby one and a bigger one, with snow steps leading up to them which made it easier to get to the top.  I think Chase liked that over our hills at home.

 Chase is super competitive right now.  Everything is a race and here they hit the snowbank and the first thing out of Chase's mouth to Cole is "I win".

 Bryce was going down the bunny hill by himself.

 The only snow sculpture.  Sapporo had about 100 of these this size.  But they are so cool.  Don't know how they do this, but it is very cool.

 The boys!

 The boys and I in front of one of the several igloos they made.  This one was a church igloo.

 Sledding down the bigger hill.

 Last shot of the day usually ends up like this.  I am always pushing for one more shot, and in turn I get Chase eating snow and Bryce was wanting to go.

 I didn't take these pictures, but this was what we were seeing on our drive up to the festival through Oirase Gorge.  Most of the waterfalls were completely frozen.  These shots must have been taken at night, during the day the frozen icicles have a bluish green color to them that are so pretty.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

The boys and I had a good Valentines day.  Valentines pancakes and strawberry shakes for breakfast, then Chase went to Ms. Yuri's preschool, then to the Weasels Den to play soccer and do some slides, then Valentines pasta for lunch, open up Valentines gifts, and then Roast Chicken, mashed potatoes, and asparagus for dinner.  Then Cole and I watched the Bachelor and enjoyed some Chocolate Chip Cookies and IceCream.  It was a good food day.  And I am loving my 3 boys.

Kawaii(Cow wa ee) translation cute.  The Japanese are constantly telling me this about Bryce.  They love the American babies, but their babies are adorable too.

My cutie pie watching either Elmo, Blues Clues, or Thomas.  His 3 favorite shows.  He only watches for about 5 minutes or so sitting down, but they look so cute when they are watching t.v. like a big person.

Beautiful Roses from my Lobster.

Chase is 3 1/2 and Bryce is 13 1/2 Months

Chase loves to play "I am going to get you" with Bryce.  Bryce just loves it.  Chase will follow behind Bryce and say I am going to get you over and over again and then will give Bryce a gentle squeeze while Bryce just cracks up.  It is really cute.

Big hug although Bryce looks like he might be giving Chase a small little nibble which Bryce is known for.

This is a daily occurrence at our house right now.  The boys are playing soccer up and down the hall.  It gets good energy out during these long winter months and they both are getting really fast and good.  

 

Chase wanted to pose here for a picture so he could look at it after I took a picture of him.  I can't believe Chase is 3 1/2.  He has grown up so much lately.  His vocabulary is growing each day and he seems like he loves to learn.  He loves to play the opposite game while we are in the car and he knows all the sounds the letters make in the alphabet.  I just had to make a "All about Me" Book for Chase for Ms. Yuri's Preschool class.  It turned out really cute.  The book was mostly about Chase's favorite things which are ice cream, chocolate, pb&j, loves to run and play soccer and go to Weasel's Den(indoor playground we have here), he loves to play trains and read books.  And he loves puppy dogs and wants to be either a Fireman or a Doctor when he grows up and he loves the color blue.  

Bryce is 13 1/2 months and he is getting so big.  He is just the cutest thing ever and boy does he love books.  He is always walking around with a Elmo or Thomas book and brings it to you to read to him.  He uses a fork and spoon by himself.  I don't trust him with a bowl on his tray yet, but he is doing a really good job.  Just wish he would get over his dairy allergy.  Bryce loves to laugh and lately he has been squinting his eyes and hold out his hands when he wants something he can't have or gets mad.  It is really funny and he will do it while he is walking too.  Bryce loves his toys and his brothers toys especially toys that he can stick something into and push a button for a rocket to pop out.  And he is really good at making car, plane, and rocket noises.  He says mom and "ooh ooh ooh" when he gets excited, but that is about it for now.  Chicken nuggets and french fries are probably his favorite thing to eat, with pasta, rice, raisins, and pretzels following close behind.  

Joy School Valentines Fun

 Last week I had Joy School at my house so we had a lot of fun getting ready for Valentines.  The kids decorated their Valentines bags and then they had fun decorating some Valentines cupcakes pictured below.  Chase also had fun getting his Lightning McQueen cards ready to pass out to his friends and enjoyed decorating cards for his grandparents and dad.  Chase can now write his name all by himself.  The S is sometimes a struggle for him, but he always wants to do it all by himself.

 

Chase helping me set up our Joy School program.  He gets so excited for his friends to come over.  Most days Chase will ask me who is coming over to play today mommy, cause he loves having friends over and going to friends houses to play.  But he also loves mommy time when Bryce is asleep and we get to play and work on our workbooks together.

The kids had fun sledding last Monday and falling down in the snow.  

Woke up to 19 inches of fresh snow

This past Thursday we woke up to 19 inches of snow that accumulated over 24 hours.  So School was canceled and Cole had a late start for work.  Chase had fun climbing the plowed snow from our street and  sliding down, and Bryce was trying his best not too slip and fall on the snow.

 This time the swings were completely covered with snow.

 This was weird to see snow on our covered deck that never has snow on it.  Apparently our friends posted that it looked like a true blizzard outside that night with swirling wind and snow.  We didn't hear a thing but it must have been happening.

 Our neighbors helped us shovel our driveway, after Cole helped to shovel theirs.  It was a team effort, and it was a good thing none of us had huge driveways.  Cole got a good workout in that morning, and I was able to help a little after I put Bryce down for a nap.  Chase helped too and was able to use it as his act of kindness for the day that we have been working on doing as a family each day.  

Smart Start Basketball

Chase, the B-Baller.  Smart Start Basketball started up a week ago, and Chase is having a lot of fun and is already improving.  Although we are working on trying to teach him not to bend over when he is dribbling.

The team.  Chase has his same soccer coach for basketball which is really great, because he is really nice and great with the kids.

 Nice shot Chase.  Slam dunk.

Scrimmaging.  Cole and I were peeing our pants.  It was a little bit chaotic at first, but the kids were catching on after a few minutes or so. Chase has a little bit of a competitive edge to him.  He was fun to watch, and even scored a couple of times, although one time was in the other teams basket.  But he did a nice little dribble down the court before he shot it.  Too funny.

Bryce loves coming to his brothers sporting practices.  He has a blast.  He plays soccer and likes throwing the ball.  And he loves these cones that he stacks over and over again.

Cheering Chase on!  Clap, Clap!