February in Iowa

This post is not for the faint of heart. It has 82 pictures. Love or leave it:)

 She looks so big here! Please stop growing!

 Peter did basketball for the first time and rocked it! Here he is displaying his masterful bounce pass.

 A cheerleader to us all, at whatever we're doing. The other night at dinner, we handed Molly a toy, which she promptly dropped. Lucy shouted "Yay, you're so good at letting go of that!" Jill and I had a good laugh. Love this Lucy Girl.

 More skills. 

 You can't see him behind the other kids, but that's his ball going in the basket.

 "Doing a defense," as he says.

 It was a little frustrating because during scrimmages, he would always dribble, giving the other players a chance to snatch it away. Then they'd run all around the court, not dribbling at all and not getting called for it. Oh well. We'll just have to practice dribbling more so no one can get it away from him.

 See that group over by the other board? That's my family. I had walked around the rink with Molly to some benches while Kevin took the other three out on the ice. Oh, and none of them had ever been ice skating before. I couldn't get a hold of myself, I was laughing so hard. I know that's awful! But they just keep trying to get up and falling back down. Writing it out like this really makes me sound heartless...

 Peter just looks like a little dad holding her. 

 Admiring their skates

 Jillian had the most success and I think it was due to the good attitude she had about it. She kept saying "I am falling a little bit but I'm still really good at this." Haha, she's awesome. 

 The letter S we made with our playschool friends.

 Cherin introduced me to the world of forcing bulbs indoors and it was so fun! Here they are, our first ever Paperwhite flowers.

 See those lights in our neighbors' yard? Those are usually about 1 1/2 feet off the ground.

 Obligatory deck shot

 This sweet boy loves to make his baby sister laugh, and hates to hear her cry. He'll go to great lengths to help cheer her up. 

 She refuses a paci but often pops these two fingers in her mouth. 

 My blood pressure starts to rise just looking at this photo. This was one of those days when I just HAD to finish the project I hadn't done for way too long because something else always had to be attended to. Then the world crashed in and everyone went nuts all at the same time. That's why Lu's on the kitchen table (In her bathing suit) and I don't care. 

 She's so, so patient. 

 But even she has her limits. 

 I sometimes feel cooped up on a Saturday afternoon, especially if we've been inside all week, and need some adventure. I suggested a movie but Kevin came up with this free option for us. We called it the Gertschi Olympics. There was curling (with Bocci balls and food coloring on the driveway), jumping into a huge pile of snow from the porch railing (points awarded for noise level, the louder the better, and originality) and a figure eight race pulling someone on the sled around the pine trees in back.  

 Just something magical about a pine tree with snow on it. 

 Some snow mobilers on the path that's right behind our house.

 This picture makes me laugh because it's a funny angle and it reminds me of a National Geographic shot of someone from some remote tribe. 

 Our little Valentine

 Emily came to town and offered to babysit for us on Valentine's Day, which happened to be a Friday night. We decided to go to dinner with her instead that night and then go cross-country skiing the next afternoon for our date. I'm so glad we did! We've been wanting to go but hadn't made the effort to rent the skis and find a sitter. The weather was perfect! The snow was coming down pretty steadily and the trail we went on around Lake Macbride was SO peaceful! I only took my camera phone and then it died, which I think Kevin was actually happy about. I was kicking myself though because it was absolutely gorgeous in the woods. Next time! 

 My sweet oldest. This is her dutiful smile, almost always willing to comply and always a good sport. Love this girl. Peter and Lucy didn't want to come out but she knew I REALLY wanted someone to come out with me, so she did. The light is so gorgeous at this time of night! 

 Gotta document these crazy neighbor dogs, Maggie and Rory, for the kids. 

 I don't know. I just wish she was more expressive:)

 Man, I look old compared to her flawless skin. But, really, wouldn't it be sad if I'd been on earth 24 years longer than she had and had nothing to show for it? Trying to embrace my aging. Because with it comes wisdom, eventually, if we have the eyes to see, and other good things.

 And then Kev got home and got stuck trying to get up the embankment at the end of our driveway. A friendly volunteer fireman from down the way helped dig out our car. 

 MJ has been a stinker of a sleeper the last few days. She got shots this week and now her schedule is all messed up. Usually if I put her down drowsy, she'll fall asleep but not this week. Immediately after I've laid her down, her eyes pop wide open and she's upset. Several times I've tried to let her cry it out and each time she's won. And also each time, after I've gotten her out of bed and she stops crying right away, she pops her little tongue out. I think it's sort of a victory move. 

 Love these little sister friends! So often L will be doing something to calm M down and I think it's too much, like patting her stomach roughly or jumping on the couch right next to her when she's screaming. I always think it's less than calming, but it does seem to calm her. I guess that's how a fourth child is comforted? 

 One more evening playing in the snow. Isn't it beautiful?! Love this piece of earth behind our house.