Christmas Joy!

Christmas morning was a magical one! I just wanted to share this quick video, of Chandler opening his Hobby Horse. It was one of the best reactions I've ever seen. Pure joy!

And here are some pictures. . . the stockings, my crown of spoons the boys made (we just finished reading "the Tale of Desperaux" and then took them to the movie), the Wii. . . it was all so fun! I love Christmas morning!

10th Anniversary

I am ashamed to say this post is a week and a half late. . . but, it's Christmas time. People warned us about this! Christmas anniversary's are always harder to celebrate! But, we love it. We have taken a family picture every year since we were married (minus our 2nd anniversary). Here is a little slide show tribute. . . Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

In with the new!

Only 4 months after I wrote this. . .

and after a week of hurty, swollen gums, and a very loose tooth, and a boy who doesn't like to wiggle it. . .

Wii assisted us a bit for the extraction. . .

After a momentary yelp. . . we were back to Lego Star Wars.

It's out. The toothfairy owes big time for a tooth that was loose for 4 months, don't you think?

Merry Christmas

Gordon's family is all here and we are in full celebratory swing. Hope Santa comes to your house tonight and may your Christmas be as white as ours!

The Ice Age

This is what usually happens when it snows in Oregon. . . and then rains. And then freezes. No more snow play for us. It would be painful!

ANOTHER snow day. . .

I am reaching the end of my tolerance for snow. Mostly because unlike other snowy places we've lived, Oregon completely shuts down for an inch. You should hear what people say about a storm like today (almost 8 inches!) Not only have my kids been out of school for a whole week, but now church is canceled, a birthday party for Aidan's friend, caroling at the old folks home, and the ward party. All down the drain. For frost on the road. Well, until today. Today has been REAL snow. Gordon even said, "real Alaska snow." A phrase I have never heard him use to describe anywhere but Alaska.

I have enjoyed it, and taking the kids to the park to ski today was fun. But I'm getting really tired of all the cancel, cancel, cancel. We are starting to feel a little cabin fever. We've been out on the roads every day and they are very driveable. Oh well. . . another hot chocolate and cookie day tomorrow!

Miss Piggy (tails)

My cute niece Carolyn spent three days with us while mommy was at the hospital having baby brother. One of these days Keren will blog about it and you will all know what she named him and how big he was! (no pressure, Horners! :)

Anyway. . .

Carolyn is super cute. She has (had?) but one flaw, and that flaw, is that she would not allow anything to be put in her bouncing curls. No barrettes, piggy tails, nothin'. And you all know how I feel about little girly bows and such now. . .

While she was here, she saw my growing collection of bows. She said she wanted to wear some so I told her she could wear which ever ones she wanted, but she had to let me put in pig tails first. And low and behold, she picked out her bows, and then we did pig tails, and she left them in all day. I was SHOCKED. I've tried to bribe her into letting me play with her hair before, to no avail. Out it would come two minutes later.

The next day she asked for bows again, and I obliged. . . encouraging this most excellent behavior. This morning, I let her pick out some ribbon and buttons and we made a set just for her. She seems to really enjoy them, and I've got to say I think Miss Piggy is mighty cute.

I wonder if this behavior will continue, or if she'll go back to her "wild and free" days once she is home with her parents. I'm curious to see what happens. . . Here she is waiting for her daddy to come pick her up. She stared out the window for 20 minutes!

Party of 5

That's what it's been for us this week! Keren is at the hospital welcoming their newest little edition, so we've had our little Carolyn for the past two days. She's the same age as Chandler, so it's kind of like I suddenly have 2 year old twins, which isn't too bad, so far. They've had a lot of fun in the snow! Here's some pictures:

the 3 Spyders

and here's Carolyn
Emilee watched the fun from the window

School is canceled AGAIN for tomorrow due to the 2 inches we are supposed to get, so we're continuing our snow party tomorrow . . . I'm ready to have the rain back!

It's a Wonderful Life!

Playing Catch up

So much to blog, so little time. Here for your viewing pleasure, is Emilee, saying "no."

And, if you're a grandparent, you'll probably want to watch this whole concert. If you're not, it's a bit long, but you might just enjoy it anyway!

Adult Onset Hyperactivity?

I have this little quirk. If I get going on a project, particularly something new I'm learning or something I'm enjoying, I get going and can't stop until I'm done. It's usually a dress, or a quilt, catching up on the scrapbooking or something. Maybe a cake. I have to do it right, and I'd prefer to do it right now. This past week, I started making bows for Emilee. They are going to be one of her presents under the tree (shhh!!! Don't tell!) I started with this pair.

They turned out so cute! So, I kept going. And before I knew it, I had all these. . .

That's normal, right? Even though my daughter has almost no hair, for her to have like, say, 25 bows for her future pigtails? It wasn't until I saw them all lined up on this ribbon that I realized how hyperactive I'd been in the bow department.

Now all we need is some hair! Her current bows are the stuck on variety! I could always attach these new ones to a headband, but still, what do you think?. . . hyperactive, or just a good mama?

It's a Marshmallow World

We woke up this morning to flurries. Then, they called church after Sacrament meeting. We Oregonians are total wimps when it comes to snow. But, we didn't complain too much! We had the whole day ahead of us for shoveling driveways (the boys love this), drinking hot chocolate, and having a nice dinner. The cold snap is supposed to last and school is of course canceled for tomorrow (yes, for 4 inches of snow). We just don't have the plows here. I'm praying for a melt by tomorrow afternoon or the kids could be getting out of school a week before I was expecting! I needed this week to finish Christmas prep! Oh well . . . Hopefully some sledding and maybe even some skiing at the park tomorrow. . . Happy snow day!

Little Miss Tiny

Who. . . me?

Yes, you, little miss. After Emilee's 9 month appointment today, I drove straight to Costco, where I purchased a giant thing of baby formula, which will now be mixed with most all her food. Then, I drove straight to Fred Meyer, and bought whole milk yogurt. You may have guessed by now, Emilee could use some fattening up. She gained a whopping. . .

1 oz

over the last two months. One. Ounce. Putting her at 14 lbs 9 ounces, and below the growth charts for weight. That little stinker! The good news is she has grown in height and head circumference and is developmentally doing just dandy. Just not much of an appetite. The doc would like to see a little chunking up, if you know what I mean. Too bad she's too little for all these Christmas cookies that seem to chunk up the rest of us!

Anyway, that's the update today. I've had quite the blogging hiatus. I hereby pledge to do better. See you later this week. . .