A month's worth of pictures!

Wow, it's been a month since I posted anything online!?! Everything is going great with us. Unfortunately, winter has arrived. We've spent a lot of time getting the house ready for winter. We're trying to avoid another $600 heating bill this winter! Yikes!!! Jason got all of the storm windows up...you've gotta love an old house. This week we also put up velvet curtains in the dinning room, living room and bedroom...thanks mom and dad for the early birthday present! Jason has been spending a lot of his free time sitting in a tree! LOL :) It's bow hunting season and he's hoping to get a buck with his bow this year. He's had several opportunities to kill a doe, but he's holding out for a buck. He has 3 tree stands this year, so he stays pretty busy spending time in all of them. Ellery and I have been busy doing what we always do, playing. I thought about signing the two of us up for swimming lessons, but I never got around to it. It's hard to think about getting into a swimsuit and swimming when it's so cold outside. We're still going to story time at the library every Tuesday. Ellery seems to really enjoy it. I don't think the librarian likes us very much...Ellery won't sit still and listen to her read. She runs around the library giggling and grabbing all the toys. She ALWAYS grabs something that plays music and pushes all the buttons while bouncing off the walls. Oh well...she enjoys it. Ellery and I have also been busy Christmas shopping. So far we have Ellery, Reagan, Cooper and Adyson all done...but a lot left to go. I like to get everything as early as possible, I hate last minute shopping. Thanksgiving is at my parents house this year and Christmas is in Missouri with Jason's family. The Land family is also planning a trip to the Florida Keys in February. We figured it would be the perfect time to get out of Iowa for a week! We've been looking at beach houses, but our first choice isn't available the week we want to go...so we're still looking. Ideally we'd like to stay somewhere that has a pool and is on the beach so the kids can play. I think the boys are going to spend a lot of time fishing.

Here are a bunch of photos taken over the last month.

At least one morning every weekend we make pancakes as a family. This was taken during breakfast that morning, Ellery loves bacon! Jason was trying to give her little pieces, but she insisted on him giving her the big piece to eat and left a tiny piece for her daddy.




Nordic Ellery. Her hat from last winter still fits!

Kitty kitty kitty. Ellery "the kitty" at story time the week of Halloween.

Running around during story time at the library...notice she's not sitting down listening!

Ellery's first time trick or treating! We let her go to two houses.

Trick or treating at Betty and Chuck's house. She loves to sit in this rocking chair every time we go to visit.

Reagan and Ellery playing at The Discovery Center. Reagan refused to get out of the toy cars the entire time we were there. Ellery, on the other hand, ran around the place about 10 times!

Only in Iowa! Look closely at this picture. My mom and I were leaving a McDonald's in Dubuque and looked up to see a combine, yes a combine, pulling into Hardee's. The guy pulled in, parked his combine and went in to get some lunch. It was really funny.

Ellery and Mama at the Sarah Palin rally the day before the election. We had the privilege to hear her speak twice during the election.

Ellery, aka "Joe", lounging around waiting for Sarah to arrive.

Election Day! It was a beautiful day here, so Ellery and I walked to the courthouse to vote. A poll worker was nice enough to take our picture with our ballot. It was a big day for Ellery...she voted for the first time. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone we voted for won!

I LOVE these pictures. One morning Ellery and I were being silly. She was getting up so early, because of the time change, that by mid-morning we were both giggly. Anyway, she always wants to wear her puffy vest that my parents gave her, so she had that on with her cowboy boots. These were mine and Emily's when we were little. My mom still had them, so she gave them to me for Ellery to wear. They're still a little big, so we have yet to wear them out of the house. So now she's up to 6 pairs of shoes that she gets to choose from everyday. And SHE picks what she'll wear, not mama!

She was dancing right before I took this picture, then she ripped her iPod off, so the music stopped. You can tell by the look on her face that she was up to no good!

This is one of Ellery's latest tricks. Notice she has her snow boots on inside the house! She's going to have them worn out before it even snows.

Walking around in mommy's crocs, on the wrong feet!

The other night I was working on the computer and I turned around to see Ellery "riding" Hannah. I was able to snap a quick picture before she moved.