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!