Pre Christmas Cheer

Now that it is only a few hours till New Years, I thought I'd finally get my act together to post the Christmas pics.

The first two pics are on the first of December, where the kids opened the first door of their Advent Calendar. Quinn knows the whole process - one door a day, and each door has a piece of chocolate behind it...but Emily was a bit skeptical at first.
Everything was fine after she found out that there was chocolate behind the door (and that she could have chocolate for breakfast). Since the kids had to get dressed and ready for breakfast before they could open a door (and get their chocolate), Christmas was a very efficient month getting the kiddoes ready.

This December was the coldest on record for over 40 years, and we've had tons of snow...which allowed us to bring home our Christmas tree via sled. Quinn helped to keep the tree on the sled.

Emily did a great job not breaking ornaments ... ahem ... helping us decorate the tree.

Quinn's Christmas pose.

We took about 40 pics to get this one together, where both of them were more or less smiling.

I would title this one 'Redneck Christmas'.

...more pics to follow...I just need to catch up from all of the Christmas cheer!

Hope that you and your families had a wonderful and peaceful Christmas together with your friends and loved ones.

Sledding

It's been really cold here since winter, and we've got quite a bit of snow...which lends itself to sledding. On Wednesday when Quinn asked if I could take him and Emily to Kindergarten / Daycare via our sled, I found a lame excuse to buy me some time.
On Thursday, I was out of excuses, so I took off my suit, put on my hiking boots, bundled up, and pulled the kids to Kindergarten / daycare via our sled. I felt like a horse. Quinn loved it; Emily didn't like the the cold wind on her face.

Notice the position of Emily's gloves.

After Kindergarten, Quinn, Eva, Emily, and our friend Anne went sledding at our Obi Hill. Quinn wanted to sled all himself. Notice how he is now big enough to go 'no hands'. I'm sure Eva was freaking out.

It's not a huge hill, but the kids love it...and it is only a 5 minute walk from our house.

As long as there is snow on the ground, our weekends will be filled with sledding, cold red cheeks, and hot chocolate!

Thanksgiving 2010

Nina and Eva's parents came down for Thanksgiving this year...which we celebrated last Saturday. While I was slaving in the kitchen, the girls tooks the kids to a forest park. Eva's dad provided emotional support and re-upholstered our chairs (which were looking rather shabby after almost 4 years of kiddoes...)
There was this huge teeter totter (Wippe) that looked more like a bridge.

Everyone came back ice cold.

Emily treats her gloves like her socks...she always tries to take them off. Seems like it is almost impossible to get gloves or mittens for kids that will fit over their coat and stay on...

Emily is taking after her big bro...and likes to read. She is starting to grab books and shows that she wants to sit on our laps and have us read to her...

Our little girl all hussied up for Thanksgiving dinner. When we told Quinn that we were getting 'all hussied up', he said he didn't have a dress (I guess he thinks that 'hussied up' means wearing a dress). I think Eva told him that he could get 'hussied up' without wearing a dress...and I told him he could wear a skirt if he were Scottish. As usual, no one understood my joke.

Family pic I.

...the Goulds...

...me and my 22lb farm raised fresh turkey.

...which gave us leftovers for a week...one of the best part of Thanksgiving dinner!

First Snow

Last week, we had our first snow of the winter. Not much...and rather wet, but Quinn was super excited when we told him when he woke up that it had snowed.
He raced to the window, got ready relatively quickly (ate breakfast and brushed his teeth), and asked if he could play in the snow.

The parent in me thought...well, no. The child that remains in me knows that I did the exact same thing when I was younger.

Quinn loves jumping in the snow piles ... and just horsing around in the snow. And, I have to struggle with keeping my parenting 'devil' quiet. After all, the clothes will just dry out.