Spring Fever

Spring is in the air. The past few days have been beautiful and in the sixties here in Columbus. We've been trying to make the most of it by playing outside as much as we can before reality hits us again with another snowstorm reminding us that it is still only March.
Last fall, Buckeye Village finished it's new scarlet and gray playground. The kids think it beats the broken, rotted, old, bee-infested equipment circa 1970 that used to be in it's place!Don't think that they always get along this well. 95% of the time they are pestering each other!

Sadie and her tongue:

Sadie and Gymnastics

Sadie is in the 2-3 year old class (the last class that they can do with mom) at Wendy's Gymnastics. Her teacher is Ms. Ginny and Sadie is in LOVE with her. She will do anything that Ms. Ginny asks her to do. Most of these pictures are from the warm-ups as it's hard for me to take pictures when I'm supposed to be helping Sadie! But, you can tell that she's doing an awesome job following along. The girl has no fear so she's willing to try just about anything. On a side note: I love Wendy's Gym. Their whole thing is to promote self-esteem, not to be the best gymnast in the world. They're all about trying your best and loving your self. You gotta love that.
Balancing on one leg:Windshield wipers while trying to do a v-sit:Putting jelly in her hair:Stepping over blocks on the balance beam:Rocking back and forth:I missed getting pictures of her on the trapeze and the trampoline. Maybe next time... The quarter is ending and I asked her if she would rather do music or gymnastics and she chose gymnastics.

Adventure Recreation Center

There are a lot of perks because Dennis is a student. Free perks! Free perks that are just down the road from house. Score! The ARC is a bring-the-outdoors-in rec center complete with two soccer fields, 4 basketball courts and a climbing wall. Did I mention that it is free? Well, I guess it is included in tuition and fees which has somehow added up to the price of a nice house. So forget that. It's expensive. Anyways, we went early this morning for a little running around time.Sadie played a little frisbee, but mostly she just ran around, acted silly, spun in circles, and made grass angels while repeating the phrase, "I am a princess."The kids had a go at the climbing wall. It is not rigged up for small kids so once they got up above our heads they had a hard time reaching the hand/feet holds. But, they had fun anyways. Here's Eli all harnessed up and ready to go.Climbing up:
Sort of repelling down:Sadie getting a little boost:Swinging down was her favorite part. She kept saying, "I want to do it again."Mom and Dad even got in on the action. Look I made it!Dad too!

Like Mother Like Daughter

Sadie sleeping on the bench in the kitchen 20 minutes after refusing a nap:

Apparently sleeping on hard benches is genetic, because here I am in 1978 at age 2:

Interactive Reading with Eli

Dad wanted to read... Eli wanted to wrestle:

Ohio Hockey

The Ohio State hockey team is not-so good. But, the band... well, they can do script Ohio on ice:They really might be "The Best Damn Band In the Land"!

Yet Another Trip to Hocking Hills

No matter the season, it's always fun to go to Hocking Hills. It was fifty degrees last weekend so Dennis and the kids decided to meet up with some good friends to check out what the waterfalls look like mid-winter. (I was meeting a good friend for dinner and getting a haircut, so I missed out!)
Here is Eli with his friend, Charlie.

I don't have any idea who those people are, but it gives you a good idea of the size of the ice stalagmite.Eli and Sadie's friend, Max, checking out the ice up-close. Apparently is was really really slippery and Sadie could hardly walk on the path because of it. It looks so cool. I wish I could have been there.

Dancing in the Kitchen at 6:30am

Rattlesnake Eating a Acorn

I want you all to know that much to my chagrin Eli hates arts and crafts. He almost never does the art project at school and I can't get him to pick up a paintbrush at home. Though lately he's been showing some interest in writing and drawing. Here is his work "Rattlesnake Eating a Acorn" notice that the snake does indeed have rattles. I think the red line is a worm...

We were playing restaurant today and Eli took my order. Any guesses what I ordered?
That's potatoes, fried chicken and milk!! He's definitely showing interest in writing letters and is getting their sounds down pretty good, though he still has a ways to go. His favorite letter to write is an "i" because he loves the dot and he writes "Eli" over everything!

The Latest Sadieism

Sadie was dressing herself and put her shirt on backwards. "Sadie," I said, "the buttons are supposed to go in the front, not the back." She looked at me, turned around and while walking backwards said, "I'll just walk this way then."

Snow Time

Country Girl at Heart

Eli and Sadie got a bunch of dress-up clothes for Christmas. This little "milk-maid" dress is one of Sadie's favorite because it has a high "twirl rating" which is very important when you're two. Here she is watching the Inaugural Parade and playing along with the numerous marching bands. Just so Eli doesn't feel left out:

January Slowness

It turns out that we don't do much in January. We've been doing something everyday, but nothing out of the ordinary or anything that is particularly note-worthy or picture-worthy as would be the case here. So, these will have to do to hold you over until the next exciting adventure!

What Happens When Sadie Dresses Herself

Christmas At the Zemans

On Christmas Day after a feast and some sledding at Grandma and Grandpa Sperle's we made the journey back to Fargo to spend the rest of Christmas Day with the other Grandparents. Traditions run very deep at this house. We MUST make sure every dish is washed and that the house is spotless before we start opening presents. Then, we must take pictures, which can be humorous and frustrating, but nonetheless, it must be accomplished. I have ZERO pictures of Eli opening any gifts. And it's not that he didn't have any, he had plenty, believe me. But, he was so busy. He opened his presents so quickly and was off passing out gifts to everyone and putting paper in the trash and passing out cookies and making sure that the dog was ok and just being all around Mr. Event Coordinator that I didn't have a chance to get a picture of any of it.
Sadie, on the other hand, opened her presents so slowly and enjoyed each present as if it were the best present on Earth that she was still opening presents long after everyone else had finished. First, Sadie got the "precious jewels" and promptly put them on. Then, Sadie got the guitar. She patiently waited for me to get it out of the box (for those of you with kids, you know that this can be a long process of untwisting twist-ties and unscrewing screws, and breaking through un-breakable plastic), then started to play... Santa, by the way, pulled through and brought her the skunk slippers that she requested.Later, still with her "precious jewels" and guitar, she can be seen wearing her new LLBean backpack with her name embroidered on it, and her new sock monkey (though, notice "monkey" is still getting some love as not to get jealous). It was such a joy watching the kids this Christmas, they had a blast and loved every moment (except for the tantrum Eli threw when we made him wear a sweater to church--oh the agony!) of family togetherness, Christmas Preparations, Christmas goodies and the overall spirit of Christmas. The start of a new Christmas tradition? Eli, Sadie and Grandma slept under the Christmas tree that night in their brand-new inflatable sleeping bags. I didn't think they would sleep there all night, but they did. I don't know who had more fun, the kids or grandma? Just look at grandma's smile and I think grandma was pretty happy.

Christmas At the Sperles

The trek to ND was rather uneventful. We managed to miss all of the major storms so traveling was a breeze. The kids handled the car ride with nary a problem, thank goodness for the portable DVD player. However, it was cold. Very cold. When we arrived in Bemidji we kept commenting that it just "sounds cold" as the tires of the car have a way of crunching over the frozen snow. Dennis' mom kept telling us how warm it was when it was minus 9, which yes, was 20 degrees warmer than earlier in the day, but 9 below is still not warm. We got used to the cold rather quick though, because after awhile we were commenting on how warm it felt when it was only 14 degrees. There was also a ton of snow. It was a record breaking snowfall for December. The ditches were full, the sidewalks were covered and the snow mountains were starting to form in the parking lots.

I can tell that I've been in ND too long when all I do is talk about the weather. I'll move on to talking about family.

Eli and Sadie love going to the farm. Grandma Sperle has everything. Seriously. She has the original Cat In the Hat and all of the original Barenstein Bears Books, plus, about 3,000 games. AND all the cookies, candy and chocolate milk that a kid could want! There are lots of cousins and aunts and uncles to do lots of spoiling.
Grandma Sperle and Sadie:
Sadie trying on her stockings.With Auntie Mic:Some of the family... That's Ashley helping Sadie with the camera and Carl playing cars with Eli. Carl is 18 years older than Eli, but I think he enjoyed the cars as much as Eli.