Ho! Ho! Ho! and Ha! Ha! Ha!

Well it is our third snow storm in seven days...perfect driving conditions for Santa's sleigh and reindeers! Church was cancelled and I had images of us all snuggled down watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate. All of this did happen but after the chocolate came the whine and the lack of physical outlet blues. At this point nothing sounds good to them and they are determined about the oddest things. For example, they wanted to go outside and watch the snow but they didn't want to put on pants or shoes. Hmmm....alright then I, at my wits end, wrap all three in blankets and throw them out on the deck. I must say it was quite a hit! Colin especially had a great time and couldn't stop giggling so I ran inside and got the camera. After I looked at them I sighed and wished this could have been my Christmas photo of 2008, minus the chocolate around their mouths of course.

Glancing over the the deck I saw what I thought would be a cute picture to show my family of the snow storm. After we all came back in, I went back outside to take a quick photo. I thought they were watching me from the family room window where I had left them.

Only that wasn't exactly where they were. I hear some laughing and turn around to see Connor and Colin running after me....

In only a hat, a t-shirt, and their underwear. Ho! Ho! Ho! and Ha! Ha! Ha! to me....warm baths and chili and we were back to being warm and snuggly watching the Nick Toon Christmas Marathon. At least until the next adventure.

Winter Wonderland

December 17th and the snow finally hit! Now it feels like Christmas! I woke Brian up by singing "Let it snow!" but I don't think Brian cared for the wake up call. Let's pretend that it was because he isn't a morning person and not because of my "beautiful" singing voice. The kids immediately went outside to play and help Brian shovel the driveway. And yes, these pictures were shot between 8AM to 9AM.

I laughed when the boys started to make snow angels because it seemed less like angels and more like A Christmas Story reenactment. Kaya is not quite as good at shoveling as she is at eating snow but she puts in a really cute effort.

Colin has finally put down his shovel and is on his way to explore the cool white stuff.

Connor was loving every part of the snow! He shoveled, he made snow balls, he ran, he made snow angels! The kid was a whirling mass of white powder. He didn't stop smiling!

My favorite picture of the morning. Colin was really putting his back into it! This wasn't play to him but serious business, helping Dad. I am sure Brian appreciated all the help!

The first lost tooth

It finally happened....Connor lost his first tooth and took his first step towards growing up. Sigh. As far as losing it goes, there was not much excitement. He simply took a bite out of his bologna sandwich and pulled out a tooth. With all the anticipation I thought he would be a little let down but he was quite pleased with the lack of pain. He skipped around our kitchen and looked in the mirror around two dozen times. It was a lot of fun! For once, Connor was actually very excited to take a picture! Note to Holly-all it takes is a a lost tooth! Who knew?

The tooth fairy came and as Connor put it, "Now I'm cool and rich!" Two silver half dollars and he is on his way to becoming Bill Gates.

The Great Ice Storm of 08

It happened one Friday night at 10:30PM. A loud bang, a flash of light and all the electricty went out for over one million people. After that it all just felt like the opening of The Day After Tomorrow. The wind literally howled and the sound of snapping and falling trees surrounded us. Connor woke up and spent from 3 o'clock until 7 o'clock running from room to room making sure nobody was dead, (those are his words). Several trees fell around us and we didn't know if any had hit our house because it was too dark to tell. Finally the sun rose and we all went to the windows to check the damage. Very surprisingly, none of the trees actually hit our house. We had three trees fall and too many to count large limbs now littered our yard but things were still standing. When Brian and our neighbors went out to check out the long drive way they found that several more trees were down and we were trapped. Even during the day all the trees around our house were moaning and cracking so after a few stressed out minutes of the kids eating ice of the trees, I scooted them back inside. It just sounded like a large pine tree could still come down at any minute. Once the men cleared enough of the trees out we drove to Donna's where her sister Di, who lived in NH, was also seeking refuge. Oh what a night! We all wished we would have brought camera's. We had so much fun staying up laughing and just cozy and comfortable. Colin kept everyone entertained with his gas passing talents until midnight. Zack and Derek were there and the boys all camped out in Donna's living room. I don't know if my words can do it justice but it was fun. (Even Jim with his now nine toes was in good cheer!) Brian is cutting down the fallen apple tree which was iced together with our birch. We are hoping that we won't lose the birch who was taken down by his love for the apple tree. It seriously looked like some death embrace between two trees. Romantic and sad.

The following are just some pics I took so you can see the amount of ice that covered everything.

On the 6th Day of Christmas

Is that you Santa Clause?

This Saturday Steve came up for an early Christmas celebration. The kids were pretty excited and I hope with the idea of seeing Grampie instead of just being excited to get some presents early. The minute we got there the kids were all out the door ready to play and the grown ups were in the kitchen enjoying the laughter outside. Kaya had just woken up and was a little grumpy but my two future babysitters tried everything they could to get her happy. Brooke gaver Kaya one of her baby dolls and that did the trick. Below is Jaxi's idea for a pic: Scott and Sue have a pool and the boys were very curious and wanted to "touch" the ice. Here they are waiting for Scott to open the gate and let them explore. Just a side note: there was a bug swimming under the ice which everyone thought was cool--even the grown ups.We thought we could delay the opening of presents until after dinner but they were just all so excited and curious! So we caved in, but with one stipulation-a group picture. Anything for presents.

Here's Grampie playing Santa Clause. It gave me a flashback of my own childhood and Grandpa Roberts passing out the presents on Christmas Eve. Somethings are just universal and timeless.

I think Colin likes it!

I think two is when kids actually start understanding and enjoying Christmas. It's just in their faces.

The robert's tongue?

I guess sometimes you need some leverage to open it just right.

Connor has it down to a science!

And after the presents were all opened, the toys were quickly put to the test and fun ensued.

The Hess trucks are always a super hit! Today, Connor and Colin are still playing with theirs. They love them!

A touch of Thanksgiving

So Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I get my family for a holiday that doesn't require a flight into Columbus and a three hour drive with three kids that puts the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles to shame. (Did they have emergency poopy stops? I think not!) Mary braved two young children, an early pregnancy and an odd looking dog which I personally didn't get to witness, just to make my Thanksgiving special. Thanks Mary! I was so excited but after a day of Colin and Isaac crossing swords and watching Twilight, (if you are planning to see this movie, skip it. Buy $1.00 Tootsie roll sticks instead.) I sent her sadly back to Mark's family. As I think back on the memories of the visit there really aren't much highlights, unless you consider Mary crashed out in hormonal exhaustion on my couch a highlight, but there is at least one thing that made us both laugh. And here it is: Sam, who seems to be quite accident prone, has already learned the amazing abilities of sunglasses.

Kaya decided to join in on the sunglasses craze but I am not sure she wanted anything more than to be told that she was cute. She likes that a lot but really who doesn't?

Ah yes, Sam is quite adorable but I think we can see here that there is quite a bit of Isaac's mischieve in his eyes, minus the sunglasses.

Once again Mary, thanks! The late turkey and even later Cherry pie can't dampen the joy of your visit. Happy Thanksgiving to all..............and on to Christmas!

And so Colin turns Four

Well it was one for the books. How in the world can a day of presents and chocolate cake not go perfectly? If I could unravel the mind of a particular four year old I would be able to tell you but I can't. Colin cried the whole party. Except for the lighting of the candles and the eating of the cake, he was quite miserable. This may not be so bad really but Colin has a way of making sure everyone knows he is displeased. This way is vocal and intense and I believe directly inheritated by his Grandma Barker. (See picture 3) But regardless of his mood, he still turned four. All candles were blown and birthday wishes were made. (He wished he would get all the Star War toys in the whole world and he is well on his way!) I teased Brian by telling him that he must have overheard him complaining about turning 40 and thought he was saying 4.....maybe he thought his life was ending or something.

I think the RSVP's will be a lot smaller next year unless the chocolate cake gave all the other kids short term memory loss. A mother can only hope. Of course this particular mother is still recovering and is praying that in ten years this will be a memory that makes me smile fondly. Thank goodness growing older has some benefits!

Just for Fun

Because they are..............................

A day with Miss Jenn

I take Connor, Colin and Kaya on adventure walks all the time. We stop and look at trees and try and see if they remind us of things...today we found a stump that looked like it had angel wings on it, very cool. But a day with Miss Jenn is a day learning how to survive an adventure walk. First they brought with them water, I guess in case they were out for more than the hour they were or got lost somehow, and Connor brought a backpack filled with spare clothes and other necessaties...ie, toys and books. But to make it a typical day with Miss Jenn they build a lean-to. It was beautiful and Connor pleaded with us to have a sleep over in it. This is of course the second part to their outdoor play since last week they built a bridge to walk over the swampy part behind our yard. Of course she's there for me too, since I brought my adventure necessity, my camera, and helped me take pictures. At first this went really well......

But then Colin started to mimic Miss Jenn. Now I believe her when she says that she was doing rabbit ears behind me...but that's not exactly Colin's impression. Could this look any more like Elaine on Seinfield doing her devil impression?

Then Kaya joins in and hers looks even less like rabbit ears. It must be like the telephone game, where each one gets further and further from the original message.

But the old tried and true way to get kids to sit still for a picture...candy. I love the way Connor and Colin have this silent communication. Only what are they communicating exactly? Maybe I should be worried? One, two, three...let's go kick mommy in the knee? Or more likely, you distract Miss Jenn and I'll run off with the candy. At least that is what I would have been planning at their age.

And for the five minutes after Colin got his pants wet and Connor sprained his ankle and Kaya threw her hat back at me, we had some fun and some laughs. And some candy of course...it is Halloween. Oh and behind them is the lean-to. It was pretty awesome!

Happy Halloween

It has now become a tradition. Every year, Brian and I are surprised at the door by trick or treaters and always by the first and largest group of kids and parents, since they are trying to get all the candy in before the rain begins. And every year my "chosen" costume seems to be me right out of the shower in my bathrobe. I must dress up every year as the scary stressed out Mom. At least it isn't a large green army coat but it is close. Every year Brian is the frantic Dad running around looking for candy to give the first group before he has to run out to Target to get more. Superhero stressed Mom in her bathrobe saves the day with her private stash of the "good stuff". At the Saumsiegle house, we don't just dress up for the festivities, we give a show! The part that really makes it a classic is that in preparation to NOT have this happen again for the third year in a row, I go online to check and see when Haverhill's trick or treat night will be. I google, I click on the calender and I tell Brian and Donna that it will be the 28th. Are you sure, they ask me? It's in the middle of the week". I look again at the calender and say, "well that's what it says." Only after the first rush of trick or treaters have gone and Brian has returned from Target with way too much candy. (Must be the stress) Does he press the point of the wrong date. I, with all the righteous anger a person falsely accused coursing through my body, bring back up the website which clearly shows the 28th as the trick or treat night. There! Take that! I silently say to Brian. Luckily I didn't say it out loud because Brian turns to me and says, "You didn't notice that this was for 2006 and not 2008?" Oh the horror! It must be Halloween. Colin and Connor both decided to be Storm Troopers. It took me until the second to the last house to get Colin to stop crying about the cold. This is the kid that says in 40 degree weather that he can deal with the cold in just a t-shirt and underwear.

Connor, the one with the red bag chosen because he thought it would hold more candy, didn't want to wait for me to take a picture and got very, very impatient with Brian, Colin, and Kaya because he was missing the trick or treating. I told him that it was fine, we still had an hour but he was convinced that people would be like his parents and not have candy so the other kids would get it all. I think we are scarring him and I start to feel bad but then I remember that this is our job as parents. Second reference to Mom's green army coat here.

Unlike the boys, Kaya was raring to go! She didn't really care about the candy or the costume. She just wanted to get out of the house and outside at night. It made her feel very cool and she was the only thing that made the night enjoyable. She is a comedian. There isn't anything about her that doesn't make me smile.

Here's the Saumsiegle Trick or Treaters. Yes, I did desperately want Kaya to go as Princess Leia. But Brian made me get her the Elmo costume because that's what Kaya wanted to be. But just imaging the picture with Kaya in a Leia costume. Not to be...I am foiled all around. That's OK, I'll just make sure that I save my bathroom costume for their teenage years.

Happy Halloween! Hope yours if filled with less tricks and more treats!