Pudge's favorite puzzle

One of the presents that Pudge received from Santa this Christmas was a puzzle with endangered animals which he is obsessed with. He loves to put it together multiple times a week. Once he has it together, he tells us things about the different animals and sometimes gets his animal figurines and plays with them on the puzzle. Today he wanted a picture of himself with the animals.

He's such a sweetheart and loves every animal. He can't wait until we are able to have a few of our own although that won't be until we move onto our own land. The kids have already been talking about which animals they plan to have and what they want to name them. 

Cabela's and Hiking

We spent Saturday morning at what is probably Papa and the kids' favorite store... Cabela's. Papa had a list of a few items that we needed to get and the kids love checking out the animals.

They each ended up buying something. Little Bear bought a fire starter/whistle, Pudge bought a compass, and Pequeño bought a smaller (keychain size) compass/whistle. Pudge was so excited to give the cashier his money and made sure that they knew that he was paying for his very own compass. 

After a quick lunch, bathroom break, and adding some of our purchased water and snacks to our hiking bags, we started hiking on part of the Appalachian Trail. We started at the Port Clinton entrance which is close to Cabela's. Knowing that the initial ascent was going to be steep, Pequeño started on my back and since I'm also 25 weeks pregnant I wore my heart rate monitor which we used as a guide for when to slow down/take a breather/water break a few times on the way up. 

The kids favorite snack this trip was Peanut Butter Clif Bars. We'll definitely buy them again. They were a great eat as you go snack and they were big enough that we would often split one bar between kids. 

Kindergarten Registration

Pudge had his Kindergarten registration this afternoon. He had been nervous about going to "the big school" all morning but was fine once he got there. As soon as we walked in, someone said "Oh, this must be another Rinker! He looks just like his brother!" which made him smile. He immediately answered with "Yes and we have even more brothers. There's even one in Mommy's belly!". So he happily continued to talk about our family with the woman who came to show him around the school and take him to the kindergarten class while I (and Pequeño) went through the various stations to fill out all of the registration paperwork and turn in those that we had brought. When we finished, we went to the classroom that Pudge was in and found that both of Little Bear's Kindergarten and 1st Grade teachers were in the room so I talked to them for a few minutes while he cleaned up the station that he was in and picked out a book to bring home. They both said that it was like night and day between Little Bear and Pudge's personalities. Where Little Bear is very quiet, reserved, and hesitant in new situations, Pudge is very outgoing, eager to join the group, and was immediately comfortable in the classroom. He left asking when he "gets to" go back for school which is great.

Class of 2029... Wow.

Little Bear's latest Lego fun

Pregnancy Update and Baby Cuatro is a...

20 Weeks pregnancy update

Gender: BOY!
That's right... we will be adding a fourth son to the family! We're all really excited and can't wait to meet him in June!

Baby Bump: 

Total weight gain/loss?  Lost 18lbs during 1st trimester, gained 4 since then

Maternity clothes? I have been wearing what bigger shirts I have left from during my weightloss and plan to go shopping for maternity clothes next week. My prepregnancy pants currently fit but are getting snug at the waist.

Sleep? I've been exhausted by bedtime for the past week or so. Papa has been taking over and letting me nap during the day on his days off. On the days that he isn't home, I've been falling asleep soon after putting the kids to bed.

Best moment this week? Getting to see Baby Cuatro at the anatomy scan as a family. We scheduled the appointment as early in the day as we could so that Little Bear could go without missing school. The kids were all so excited to get to be at the ultrasound. 

Symptoms? I'm still nauseaus throughout the day but haven't actually thrown up for a few days. I've been feeling much better in general over the past few weeks. 

Food cravings? Red meat, tacos, cheese

Food aversions? Chicken. The smell and thought of it makes me gag. 

Labor signs? Nope. 

Belly button in or out? In

What I miss? Indoor rock climbing, wine at book club

What I'm looking forward to? Shopping for baby. We donated or sold much of our baby items when we thought that we weren't going to be able to have another baby so we need to get some of the basics again. 

Making Valentines 2016

The kids have spent the last few days making the valentines that they picked for their classmates this year. I'm so proud that they decided to make them again this year. Little Bear chose tic-tac-toe cards and m&m's to use as game pieces. Pudge has wanted to make his cards using the heart from the cheerios box (we made similar ones a few years ago) so we have been collecting the hearts for a few months.

 For their valentine boxes, they were told to decorate shoe-boxes. Both decided to make crocodiles and used things from the craft closet to make them. They turned out really cute!

Blizzard 2016 ❄️

The kids were so excited all week because they had heard that we would be getting snow this weekend. Early in the week, I checked to make sure that we were prepared and didn't think much of it. (*some perks of meal prepping,storing bulk items, and being married to an always prepared former military person is that we are generally prepared for any storm or natural disaster as far as food/first aid items/"bug out" items/van is fully stocked in case of being stranded). It wasn't until yesterday after seeing more weather predictions that I started to think "Ok, maybe this is going to be a few day thing and not just a quick storm"... So last night we filled the gas tanks, made sure all of the blankets were cleaned and dried, and grabbed a few treats for the kids if we ended up being stuck inside for a few days.

Last night, Papa had to work night shift and said that he didn't think he'd have a problem coming home in the morning. When I went to bed, there was no snow outside. A little before 6 am, I was woken up by the kids excitedly yelling that it was snowing❄️. For the next few hours they begged to go outside and kept checking how much we were getting. Around 7:30, Papa sent me a text message saying that he was WALKING home (He had his ski gear and other snow and safety items packed in his car)... He made it safely after his usual 5 minute drive took him a little over an hour and a half to make it home.

At 11 am, we checked outside an saw that be user it was so windy our yard and driveway was covered in piles but grass could be seen on our neighbors hill. Our back deck was almost empty so I cleared it off. At 2 pm, the kids were finally able to go play outside and we realized that the only place that they could safely play was on the deck which had been covered again. At that time, we had received about 23" of snow!

The kids played outside for about 20 minutes and then came in to warm up with some homemade hot chocolate and chicken noodle soup.

 The yard

 Front door

 And it continued to snow ❄️❄️❄️❄️
Papa had to go back to work again overnight so he bundled up and hiked his way back. He made it there safely and FaceTimed us as soon as he got to the parking lot to let us know that he was ok.

 5:30pm:
(Can you see the corner of the fence in the top picture? Almost covered thanks to the snow drifts!)

It's currently still snowing and The Weather Channel is predicting up to another 10" so I foresee us being home for a while! Our roads still haven't been plowed and we don't know yet if Papa will be required to sleep at work tomorrow in the day (between his shifts). 

The kids are still checking the windows for how much snow we have every hour or so and are always surprised! However, none of them have wanted to go back outside. So, we purchased Snow White (and extras) on VUDU and are having a movie night on the big couch while we wait for our pizza to bake and we'll air pop some popcorn before bed. 

UPDATE:

We ended up with 30 inches of snow!

 Sunday, Papa and the kids played outside for a while before he had to sleep for that night's work. They had a ton of fun making forts for snowball fights!