Sneaky picture

I caught Soren using his new headlamp to read books in his room. This was a great moment.

Odin's third and final fifth birthday!

Odin wanted to have a party with his friends, so we planned it after the new year once everyone was back from the holiday break. He chose to do it at the Jungle Gym, where he takes classes. 

 Soren watched the older kids ride the zip line and drop the ball in the goal...and this is his first attempt! Go Soren!

Odin rocking the zip line

Happy Schwab boys.

Family Photos

Nonna and Poppa and the boys.

The Schwabs with Nonna and Poppa

Frederick Meijer Gardens

 Pretty birds

 I love this photo. The mischievous boys.

 Soren is trying to do what he learned in the previous panel.

 The train at the gardens.

Odin and Soren thought the name of this sculpture was hilarious.

It is "Mad mom."

 Sitting down with Frederick and Lena Meijer. For those that don't live in Grand Rapids, MI, Frederick just passed away at the age of 91.

 Soren wouldn't sit on Fred's lap.

 Cute face, pretty sky.

 Odin at the base of the horse.

Real Snow! It was new for MI, too!

The snow was perfect for soft snowballs, but rolling up a snowman proved difficult. We accomplished this little guy with much labor.

New Years Day.

My grandmother, Charlotte is seeing her 89th year!
And Boppa is entering his 94th year. Congrats!

The boys enjoyed coloring on the heated floors in the new addition to Nonna and Poppa's house. I enjoyed taking pictures of them.

Here Soren is actually writing on the rug with pencil. Who knew that an eraser works on wool carpets, too!

Poppa gets in the mix.

Odin turns 5 again...in Michigan

Homemade cupcakes by Nonna. Yum!

Post cupcake bath in the BIG tub!

We miss seeing these in the Pacific Northwest. My parents had at least 5 pair at their feeders.

Odin turns 5!

Odin entered into our world 5 years ago and we started our blog for that special occasion. We were lucky to celebrate Odin's birthday 3 times this holiday season because we had one at home on his real day, once at Nonna and Poppa's house, and we had a little friend party in January. Why didn't we do it 5 times?

Here is the kick-off...blueberry pancakes fiver style.

Odin chose crab for his birthday meal. Ian made a tasty shrimp pasta dish. It was a great night! He received the air swimmer shark balloon from Granddad Schwab. It was HUGE hit!

Christmas Morning in WA

Christmas morning started early for me...in fact, I never really went to bed Christmas Eve. I was fortunate to stay up and deliver 3 babies. These exciting events delayed my arrival at home until around 10am. I had some tasty "boozy baked french toast" and I parked in the bean bag and Odin played Santa. It was a great morning.

I am reading to Soren "I love you stinky face," a fantastic book about unconditional love no matter what monster they are...it resonates with our family. Thanks Catalina!

Odin is proudly wearing his new head lamp from Uncle Dan, Aunt Danielle, Olivia and baby Harlow(yes, new niece born Dec 30...another girl!)

Our new hero is Captain America! Both the boys enjoy this shield as it protects and shoots foam discs!

Now that I have this fantastic vest that zips me up like a sleeping bag...naptime with Soren. We both knocked out for 3 hours while Ian made a delicious lamb roast for dinner. We ate and then I went back to bed. Merry Christmas!

And this is why the power flickered out twice at our house on Christmas day.

And this is why the power of the force is strong in our house every day.