More Winter Home Videos

See Raye Videos Here

I figured out I need a converter program to make uploading my videos easier. Anyone have a favorite? Right now I'm considering purchasing WinXPro. Apparently I have more than one YouTube channel!?! The link to the other YouTube Chanel is above and I think you can get to the other videos there too.

I haven't posted much in the way of pictures lately, because I have not taken any! :) What have we been up to? Homeschooling with Kyle. Fun! He's really engaging and motivated. Right now he is reading and loving a collection of diaries from a boy that witnessed the Wright Brothers journey to aviation. The title is "Race to the Sky".
Stella is now potty trained! It miraculously happened overnight, or so it seems. We have long been "training" her for the toilet, but a couple of weeks ago it just "clicked" for her. She loves her pink undies and chants (while stomping) "undies! undies!". Some of her favorite words lately are: Undies, Other, Capitol...pronounced CaahhPeeeTol, bowl! (for food), Aaaaple Ju (for our honey dew concoction or apple juice), Tea, Me, Mine, No (complete with eye roll!), Reeeeeveeey, Kyle, Poppy, Mommy, Snoooowwww, Cold, Hotty (said when she doesn't want to wear clothes...which is frequently, and when food or drink is to hot), Fire (we recently hooked up the wood burning stove again), Book, I (her word for writing/drawing), and Hawaii. She will pack up her purse with her babies, and then turn to me and say "Bye!" and I will say "Oh, bye, where are you going?" to which she answers either "Capitol" or "Hawai'i."
Reeve and Kyle have taken to calling her the "little vixen" because she is frequently, in Reeve's words, "wrecking havoc." Needless to say she does keep me very busy these days!
I have been busy packing and cleaning. 35 boxes packed so far. How did we get so. much. stuff?!?

This week we're planning on an Ice Cave hike with homeschoolers and the kind friends who will be leasing our home. Hopefully I can take some neat pictures of that adventure!

Figuring out the videos

Wow, does it really take that long to upload videos to youtube?? It took nearly 2 hours to upload a 1.5 minute video...what am I doing wrong?? I have some more learning to do.

Keep in mind these videos were an experiment to see if/how we could actually video with our new camera. I promise we will get better!

Uploading a Movie

Just trying this out...it's Super Bowl Sunday and we just got back from a nice walk outside. I took some video with our camera for the first time...just testing out how it uploads.

Please, please, please ignore my annoying voice :) When I ask Stella to say hello to me she says "hey baby"...hard to hear if you don't know her. She says "hey baby" a lot!

I took 3 short videos. It's taking a looonnng time to upload. Earlier today we were trying to figure out how to watch the Super Bowl online for free. I guess we'll find out in a little bit if we actually can.

**UPDATE** Okay I finally figured out that it was easier for me to upload to Youtube, then put the link in the blog. This post will have one video, but as I type I'm uploading the other two videos to Youtube. While in Youtube I discovered a video I was trying to create waaaayyyy back in October for Kyle's 8th birthday. It's 8 years of Kyle in pictures...

We couldn't figure out a good way to stream the Super Bowl live from the internet, so Tom took the boys to the Hooterbowl in Hustler (about a 4 mile drive down the hill). They had a great time and Kyle and Reeve got to bowl and watch the Packers win the Super Bowl.


Here are the pictures from the walk we had before the game...a much warmer day than today. Do you realize it is -25F with a windchill of -34F as I type...right now!!!! Reeve just happened to leave his Science homework on the bus yesterday, soooo normally our neighbors who teach at his school pick him up in our driveway. Well, Reeve INSISTED that he HAD to ride the bus this morning to get his homework...just HAD to be THE coldest morning of the year for him to wait outside for the bus at 6:50 this morning.

We love our mile walk...and I just found out that walking for a mile at least 3 times a week has been shown to increase the hippocampus, which helps to increase long-term memory :)

Stella & Reeve

Stella really, really, really wanted to brush Reeve's hair when he got out of the shower...

Notice how Kyle is in bed with his head covered :) He's reading "The Finn Family Moomintroll"...second book in the Moomintroll series that both boys are loving right now.

Reeve is soooooo very patient...the ideal older brother.

Apples, pizza, and books in bed...seems to be a common theme these days!

I think he wants more...

Reading in Bed, Sledding, Plowing after the Storm

We're all fine after yesterday's massive blizzard. I took pictures of the house just now, and so I blogged about them on our "house" blog. We had mainly blowing and drifting snow. Nothing like a good winter storm to get you reading in bed...snuggle comic time with Reeve.

Some *city* creation by Reeve...

This past Sunday was a beautiful day for sledding and meeting the new family that will move into our home in June.

Snow day for Reeve, so we're enjoying all being together reading, and soon to be sledding :)

Mt. Bohemia Snowboard Trip

We had an incredible weekend :) Met some really nice folks and we accepted an offer on our home. Sweet :)
Now are you ready for some wintry snowboard pics?

Above, Reeve and Kyle breaking the ice with Wiley and pulling out their conversation books...the Guinness Book of World Records...anyone who has hung around us recently has probably been shown these books!

The SunnyRaye Astro pulling up to Cabin #3 at Mt. Bohemia

Wiley carrying in the food. These guys didn't go without food! They even made some of Tom's Ghoulash for some hungry bare chested Minnesotan college kids that only had a dozen eggs to eat.

Above Reeve & Wiley on the chair lift. Below Kyle (white helmet) and Reeve coming down the hill...remember you can click on the pics to make them larger.

Reeve

Kyle

Reeve

Reeve on the chair lift

Kyle on the chair lift

Kyle going through the woods. They call this extreme snowboarding...not for beginners. Other boarders there were impressed with the boys. One day the chair lift operator told Reeve that he got in the most runs of anyone there that day...that was the day Reeve did not eat lunch. Reeve really didn't want to leave. He said he would have been happy there all winter just snowboarding everyday...ski bum :)

Kyle had just as much fun. He carries around a map of the hill and pulls it out every once and awhile to share with me which trails he went on, and which ones were his favorite.

Lac La Belle in the distance. (if you go to the link...make sure to scroll out and find the lake, just south of the ski hill you can see the lake...if you zoom in you can see the cabins that the boys stayed in). They said they could board down the hill right to the front door of their cabin.

Lake Superior in the distance

Kyle

Happy boys in the cabin...note all the wet socks hanging up to dry!

Reeve

Kyle

Tom

Reeve