It's dark and our splashed water turns to ice on the deck. We are nice and toasty warm in our 103 degree water. 
It is about 31 degrees and a little breezy, so steam is rolling off of the surface of the water and off of the kids' bodies when they stand up. The tub quickly cools to 101 but we are warm enough to stay awhile. Who knew this could be fun when it's freezing?
Our houseguests sit in shock while watching the first quarter of the Nebraska-Colorado football game. This is a huge rivalry, for those of you who do not know. Nebraska did NOT impress anyone during the first quarter. We dressed "Seth" in my Nebraska sweatshirt and there he is being a wall flower.
Seth watches the game with Mom, who cannot believe what she is watching on ABC--Colorado is kicking our rear ends in this first quarter. 
Then, suddenly, the tide turns and everyone thinks we're gonna be #1...well...maybe we're too far from #1, but we could at least win the game. "Seth" is over by the fireplace.
In case you didn't believe it, there it is: Colorado 31, NEBRASKA 40. Eat that, Buffs.
Feed him a blueberry kolache for dessert.
Let him pose with his sister and unborn nephew.
Our brother-in-law Roger was glad to let Seth sit with him and watch football.
Grandpa said that there was room on the couch for him. 
Jake and Eli even played football with him!
Band Aid, the one-time rock group, that is. They released a song called Do They Know It's Christmas? In the original version, they're referring to Ethiopians, who were experiencing widespread famine at the time. Now I definitely respect what they were doing; they were trying to raise money for impoverished people in Ethiopia and I am grateful that they did.
Jeremy's extended family has great holiday traditions. Both sets of his grandparents farmed but his maternal grandparents left their farm in his family, partly to his uncle who stayed on the farm and continues to work the land. Although his grandparents are gone, his uncle welcomes us out to the farm. His mom's family is very large; she is one of 13 and so Jeremy has that many aunts and uncles plus their spouses and roughly 35 first cousins. 
It's amazing! There are several family gatherings throughout the year in different places, but Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve take place at the farm. Aunts, uncles, and cousins and their children all squeeze into the small farmhouse and it's great! Madeleine initially expressed dismay when she realized that we were going to the farm. Why? "Because I can't ever find you in the rooms!" That's how full it is (she always has a good time, especially when the kids head outside after the meal).
Jeremy's dad still comes out to the farm to help during harvest.
On Sunday, we all came out to the farm for Thanksgiving supper. There was turkey, ham, homemade noodles, kolaches, veggies, stuffing, homemade gravy, the most delicious homemade pickles, and a table full of dessert. An aside: for you non-Czech people, I mentioned kolaches separate from dessert on purpose. Kolaches are a great side dish, you might call them a dinner roll, maybe you have one instead of a salad and then have another for your entree...do you see a pattern here? (Cheers, Dad!)
We had our meal and the kids went outside. Uncle Emil had a calf that they were very interested in. I think the cats got smart and went into hiding. There were buckets of corn spilled here and there and even ears of it on the ground around the combine that they were picking up and stripping.
Only on a farm will you see a seven year old girl with a doll in one arm and an ear of dried corn in the other! This young lady is our niece Delphina. There were other little girls running around with one doll and one ear of corn, too. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
Isaiah gets up close and personal with the calf. 
Since he had just gotten up close and personal with the calf, he thought that these deer might need some petting. I laughed hard when I realized that he thought that they were real! 
This is Noah in mid-throw: oh, for the joy of tossing corn in the air!
Isaiah was nervous when we first got to the farm. I think he was overwhelmed by the amount of people. They all remember him, but he doesn't yet remember them. That's the top picture--him clinging to Grandma in the kitchen. This picture is of him with his Great-aunt Chrissy. He had warmed up by the end of the day and went to her legs and hugged them to be picked up.
Yep. That's my kids in a dogpile on the living room floor.
Noah eats a cookie while watching Jeremy hold Morgan who is making a face while sitting beside Madeleine who is happily sipping on her "zoo" cup.
Go visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook!
It was about 45 degrees yesterday and I thought that we needed some fresh air. We packed up and went to the nature center for a hike. The kids enjoyed it; there were buffalo, elk, geese, and ducks. We picked up McDonalds--a real treat--on the way home and took good naps. I'll miss the sunshine when it disappears again tomorrow! 
I'll clarify for the non-Nebraskans: Bison do not freely roam our Nebraska plains. It's neat to be able to go to a reserve and see them roaming the pastures, though!
By the time we walked away from the pond, Isaiah was saying, "Dut! Dut!" for duck. It is nice to hear him talking; he uses more words every day. The edges of the ponds were very thin layers of ice. It's supposed to freeze again tonight.
Maddie grabbed the coat without the hood, so I zipped my hood off and put it on her like a bonnet. She was happy and so cute.
Maddie and Noah were playing with their Happy Meal boxes. I think we got more playtime with the boxes than with the actual toys that were included in the meals!
There is one bonus to having a sick toddler: you get to spend more time with your pre-schooler while the toddler is taking an extra nap! Noah had his Geomags out downstairs and I went down and built with him. He pointed to a picture on the box and said he wanted to make a tornado (a blanket term for anything that spins). We tried and failed BUT then I constructed this little structure to hold a spinning triangle. The triangle dangles from the middle and spins. Noah enjoys manipulating it with the other magnets. It is super cool!
Some of you are stopping by and wondering, "what's up with all of the THINKING?" Well, when it's icky outside and there's not much to take pictures of, moms resort to thinking about things and then we post them on our blogs. Brace yourself, though...I'm working on yet another thinking entry for tomorrow!
Jeremy bowls in a sitting position at a friend's birthday party.
Noah works the computer in the grocery store inside of the Children's Museum.
He loved pushing this little kid-sized cart around and putting groceries into it.
Here, he plays in the water section.
Noah and Isaiah drive a State Trooper Car.
Madeleine took this picture of Sophie and Eli with Morgan.
Madeleine took this picture of me.
Morgan took this picture of Sophie and eli with Madeleine.
Eli and Madeleine cuddle.
Grandma reads Noah's new book to him. After this, she patiently put together dinosaur puzzles from a book that they gave him for his birthday. 
