What a month!  We are living in Wisconsin now.  Greg started working at UMB Funds in Milwaukee.  Audrey is enrolled at Plat Elementary School and loves her 4K class.  I like the wooded rolling hills where my parents live and the genuine friendliness of the locals.  We are staying with Mom and Pop until we work out where to live and find a house.  Colin and Audrey seem to have adjusted quickly.  It helps when there are so many familiar faces each day.  We're only about 15 minutes from their cousins and we share a house with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Joe and Great Grandma.  Four generations under one roof!  Family is such a blessing.

After washing Colin and Audrey in the bath last week I left them to play for a while.  A dripping, naked Colin found me in the kitchen a few minutes later.  He was unhappy and mumbling.  I walked him back to the bathroom and found this

I don't know if it was a big sister dare or just little boy curiosity but I can't for the life of me figure out why he chomped straight through the entire soap bar.  I'd think that after one taste he'd give up.  He didn't.  And there wasn't much soap left in the tub so I believe he chewed and swallowed quite a bit of it.  I know we are safe for a while because when he saw the soap bar the following day a terrible look came over his face and I thought he might loose his breakfast.

I like to feed the birds.  The kids and I enjoy eating our breakfast and watching them on the back porch.  We pick out the brave ones and the timid ones.  Some don't mind eating on the ground, others prefer the feeder.  It's a very entertaining way to pass the time.  I went on the National Geographic site this week and printed some illustrations of birds in our area with the idea that the kids could identify them, learn their names and keep a tally of the birds we see.  Yesterday, Colin spotted a cardinal.  I asked him which bird it was.  He went to the wall of bird pictures and said, "It's this red one with the party hat!"

Illinois finally has some snow!  We took Audrey and Colin sledding for the first time last weekend.  I briefed them in the car on the only important rule of sledding - "If you sled down the hill you must walk back up the hill."  They seemed to understand that.  I imagined that Greg and I would take turns going with them but once we arrived on top of the hill Greg put the two of them in the sled and gave it a push.  Their fearful screams immediately turned to joyful hollers and they stood at the bottom of the hill with big smiles on their faces.  

I had to issue a couple more rules before the trip was over.  "Bring the sled back with you!" and "Keep your hands and feet inside the sled until the sled stops!"  Once our noses and cheeks were sufficiently numbed we headed home for Mexican hot chocolate.  It was a fun day.