New Year's Eve

We are staying in. Nothing new here. When you have young-ish children that is what you do, you know. If you have ever gone out with young children and either hoped they would fall asleep in a strange place (ummm... does that ever happen? Not with my kids) or kept them up way past their bedtime, you learn never to do that again! Gone for now are the going out days! But, since I haven't ever been a big fan of New Year's, I am happy to stay home. We've got some fun, yummy snack foods and maybe a movie to watch.

The thing I do like is the start of the year. Even though it is secular and I find religious holidays my very favorite, I like the feeling of starting fresh. The new-ness and the possibility. I hope you do, too. I wish you many blessings this year! Cheers and see you in 2009!

photo credit: dotw

Hockey Time

We were very fortunate to actually have both sets of grandparents at our house to celebrate Christmas this year. How special for the kids to have them all here when they both live over a thousand miles away!! We were busy both doing things and also just staying in and playing with new Christmas goodies!! I realized I didn't actually take many pictures or blog about too much either. So I just wanted to make a quick comment and also thank our parents for coming and making great memories for our children! And for the gifts too:)

One thing that we did do (and I have a picture of) was go to a minor league hockey game. Zoey has some experience with sporting events. She's gone to baseball games and hockey games quite a bit. She mostly loves to go for the fun music they play (she gets up and dances) and for the fun food she gets to eat! This night was no exception! She also prepped Max with what to expect, so as soon as we found our seats and sat down, he was asking me for a yummy snack!! As I mentioned, this was minor league, so the stadium was smaller and we were sitting pretty close to the ice. Close enough that the camera found us a few times!! You know when there is an intermission at a game and they play music and that put people's faces on the big screen? Well, it happened to Zoey!! It was so cute. And then later she stood in the aisle and danced and they got her again!!

Guitar Rockin'!!

Last Christmas, my nephew brought Guitar Hero to our house, and we all spent time during their visit playing. Zoey especially loved it, but it was a little hard for her. She would watch us play too and do all the moves of the people on the screen! Admittedly, I love it too. I never knew I had an inner desire to rock out on the guitar!! I tried to convince Ross to get it, but no dice (yet). As a perfect substitute for Zoey, now, we got her a Hannah Montana guitar for Christmas. It requires no actual game system and is a little easier, so it works well for her!! She picked it up easily and got busy rockin' and ordering Max, saying, "Max, I'll play, you dance!" He obliged...

Merry Christmas!

Well, technically it is still the Christmas season, and I recently learned also that the 12 days of Christmas actually start on Christmas Day, so I am not really late in wishing you a Merry Christmas, right??

Here is Zoey in her lovely Christmas dress before going to church on Christmas Eve:

Max got a nasty little stomach bug on the 23rd that lasted throughout Christmas Eve day, so he got to pass on dressing up and going to church!! Thankfully, it was short lived, and he was more himself by Christmas Day!

Locks of Love...

Our sweet Zoey learned about some people, like her grandma and other kids, who were growing out their hair to donate in order to make wigs for children with cancer. She immediately decided she wanted to do it too. I waited a little bit to see if she was serious and to make sure her hair was long enough. So today, she got to go to her first visit to a hair salon! She was so cute getting it washed and cut and styled! We both cut off 10+ inches of hair to donate to Locks of Love, and have new styles to show off!! Here are the before and after photos:

O Christmas Tree

We have been waiting for a mild night to go check out the huge Christmas tree at a local OUTDOOR mall! We saw it during the day right before the big tree lighting and then just never made it back because it was either too cold or raining! So after a super mild day, we decided to head out... but the wind was blowing so cold, it wasn't fun at all. We took some quick pictures and then headed indoors to the bookstore!

The tree was beautiful though. It has to be one of the bigger ones I have seen.

Here is one of Ross and the kids:



And me and the kids... they are so big now I rarely pick them up for photos! It is easier to just squat down!! Especially with both of them.


Here is one a little farther away to show how big the base of the tree was. I didn't think to actually get a picture of the whole tree!

I got a little joker on my hands...

an update to the Sock House post below...

I just found a small pile of socks in the corner of our dining room!! That is so Zoey's personality by the way... She loves to be a little sneaky and funny that way!!!

Sock House

Zoey has a tendency to leave her socks everywhere. I find them all around the house, in every room! She is not a fan of clothing, basically. Since her California living, she wants to wear short sleeves and shorts or skirts only! No long sleeves, no pants, no socks... So although she does actually dress properly for the weather here, the second she gets in the house, she changes. And for some reason, the socks end up everywhere. Just today, I went into the office and found her socks under the desk. I remarked to Ross, "Zoey is so related to you!" (He also has a tendency to leave articles of clothing in random places) We got distracted right away, so later at dinner, he asked what I meant by that. I explained what happened and Zoey just said, "Ahh, I didn't do it, the house GROWS them!"

Lucky me, we live in a house that grows socks!! It isn't quite as good as the money on a tree, but you take what you can get, I suppose!

Chopper Progress

It is getting exciting around here... or at least in a certain part of the house named, "the chopper room" or "Mantown." I feel bad sometimes for Ross because he gets excited about the latest addition to his chopper, either a new part, or a successful customization to a stock piece and I am the one he gets to share it with! I mean, I appreciate his ingenuity and have seen enough pictures of motorcycles to have an aesthetic opinion... but admittedly, I don't quite share in the excitement. I am certainly proud and amazed at his ability to do this, but...

He does get to share with other males when they are at our house, but since I am usually the one around, well, some would just say I'm lucky! Anyway... the other day Ross was actually sitting on his creation, without a seat, no less! And I got to snap some pictures.

There are others in the house who share some of his enthusiasm, and equally enjoy climbing up onto a unfinished motorcycle to pretend to ride (vrooming sound is optional)

PJ Pic

Just a cute stripey pj picture:

It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!!

I was having a hard time getting ready for Christmas... So with the snow falling, and temperatures dropping, I figured today was a good day to get out all of the decorations... The kids put their shoes out last night for St. Nicholas Day, and woke up to find tiny treats!! And this year was exciting for everyone to decorate because Max was really into it as well... They could hardly wait to put up ornaments while Ross and I were doing the lights.

Here they are eagerly waiting for Daddy to give them an ornament to put on the tree.










And Max decorating:

And Zoey:


TADAHHH!! The finished product!! Can you tell who picks out their own clothes? Can you even see camo Max? (he asks that when he wears camo!)

Furry Warmth

One bit of advice we got while living in Massachusetts was that the only way to survive a winter with kids is to pony up and buy good winter clothes and just keep getting them outside... So we are prepared. We bought the kids and me some nice, very warm, puffy coats. They are all the same brand (how snobby, right? Zoey and I even have matching ones... I couldn't resist) Ross also has the same brand of jacket, but his is not of the puffy variety. Anyway, Ross and Zoey have had theirs awhile because we were scouting sales and just bought them in preparation for winter, but mine and Max's came in the mail yesterday. So today we all had on our coats, and Ross made a comment about how nice everyone looked and how warm we all were, when Zoey says, "Hey Daddy, why don't you have a puffy coat too?" Ross says, "Oh, Daddy would sweat so much in a coat like that." Zoey replies, "Oh, yeah, because you have too much fur?"

Random Thoughts

Sometimes there are things I would like to share but just don't warrant a whole blog post to them, so I thought I would just do a "quick takes" version...

1. I mentioned to stay tuned for more interesting posts, well... there is a video that I have been trying to upload for a week, and for whatever reason, it is just not working! Very frustrating. It is a cute one of Max singing, that I thought the grandparents would particularly enjoy. Well, hopefully he will sing for you over Christmas.

2. I finally saw a success out my back window... I was sitting in the morning room, drinking some tea and looked up to see two brightly dressed orange figures shuffling along... dragging a deer behind them. I would have cried for that deer years ago, but this time I just said to myself, "finally, they have something to show for getting up before dark in the freezing cold and sitting still!"

3. And it is freezing, let me tell you! How quickly you, (maybe not you, but I) forget. I guess it is warmer than usually somewhere out west... but I can't make myself look... I just live in my own little weather world and think everyone else has the same view out their window. You gotta do whatever works, right?

4. With the move and a new house/neighborhood, I haven't gotten nearly the amount of Christmas mail/catalogues I normally do. It is good and bad... I didn't feel too bombarded by the commercialization of Christmas so early this year, which was nice! But, I usually find some present or idea for the kids this way, and this year I have nothing!! No ideas about what to get them.

5. We painted another room in our house (it is a slow process, with Ross in school and deciding on colors and stuff), but I am always amazed at how a little color on the wall really changes the feel of the house. We may have everything painted by the time we move again!!

6. Max has been saying our prayers before dinner each night and it has been so cute... He says two of the usuals, "Thank you for our food, thank you for the day" and then you see his eyes wander around the room for something new... So far we've heard, "Drinks, candles, spoons, preschool!" It is very cute.

I guess that is all. Hope your day and December are going well.