Snow!

Since we live south enough to see snow very infrequently it is an extra special treat. 
My blood has thinned sufficiently so that snow is novel for about the first hour I see it.  After that, it can go away. 
But this didn't stop us from having a good time (or putting the kids to work) in it. 

Post Christmas Wrap Up

Christmas is done. 

A lovely one it was. 
Our church had mass at the Fire Hall, which was very nice.  We tracked Santa on NORAD and the kids put themselves to bed on Christmas Eve to make sure they didn't miss the Big Guy's visit.  Grammy and Grampy and Auntie Chrissy also came for the holiday.  The atmosphere was ratcheted up from our baseline level of chaos and we really appreciated having family with us for the Holiday.  I think they had fun, too AND very much appreciated returning to the normalcy of their lives.  
Now that it's all over, my motivation has seem to evaporate as well.  I did something to rectify that by running with my Dad this morning - snow and all.  My blood has certainly thinned, even if we DO live only a stone's throw from the Mason Dixon Line.  But it was good to get out.  My ankles are protesting from the strain of navigating through the snow banks.  He was nice and toned down a bit - a nice 4.2 miles in 42 minutes.  Still on track for May and to hit 10 miles in March.  =-)

Here are some random pictures from Christmas.  The boys got 'pit polish' in their stockings and were very excited.  

 Sam and Caroline were inseparable from their dolls.  Nate was inseparable from his new toothbrush.

 Here is what we left for Santa on Christmas Eve.  Caroline thought he would appreciate some Natty Boh. 

 Santa brought some new legos.  They were supposed to be for the kids...I wonder who he really brought them for...

 Nate wore his Captain America hat and fireman wellies most of the morning...and actually most of the time since.  =-)

 Auntie Chrissy got some snuggle time with Benjamin. 

 We played out in the snow.  We built a snowman but it got Destructi-Nated before we could get a picture. 

The kids are working on their "Thank You" notes and are doing well with them.  They need a lot less encouragement now than they used to, which is a welcome change.  They've also asked a lot more questions and put a lot more thought into the real meaning of the season, which makes us very happy. 
Yet again, we are overwhelmed by everyone's generosity.
 Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Pageant

Last night we had a dance party to honor Sam's birthday.  Of course, being the hostess-with-the-mostest, I took not a single picture of the festivities. 
We had a lot of fun and Sam made out like a bandit, even though we asked people to NOT bring presents.  His favorite gift so far has been a Triceratops Pillow Pet that has been rarely out his grasp since opening.  By far the funniest moment of the night was when Sam opened the dinosaur pillow.  "Oh, I love it SO much!  I think I'll call him 'Horny'!" 
There were more than a couple adults present that almost wet themselves because they were laughing so hard. 
And, try as we may to change that dinosaur's name, nothing will deter these kids from calling that dino "Horny". 
I can't wait for the call from the teacher when he tells his class he got Horny for his birthday...I think I might send her a quick e-mail.  Just in case. 

Today was the Christmas Pageant.  It was a distraction away from the news that pervades my thoughts and sleep and made me hug my urchins a bit tighter the past few days. 
All went well.  It was significantly less eventful than last year. 

We had two angels and, though the odds were 2:1 in favor, they did not try to knock each other upside the head with their star wands. 

Oh - and here's our lovely angel with one less tooth than she had yesterday.  The Tooth Fairy made yet another visit to our house last night.  We sure are keeping that Fairy busy.  The good news is that now all of Caroline's front teeth are gone and she has no more loose ones.  I don't think she'll be toothless very long - we can already see the new teeth growing in. 

Happy Birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday to Sam!
From this:

To this:

In FIVE short years. 
We love Sammy-lammy-ding-dong! 

More Adventures in SamLand

So Sam was given an assignment at school where he brought home a little gingerbread man to decorate. 
He could decorate him any way he wanted. 
We sat and talked and Sam decided his gingerbread man should be wearing overalls. 
No problem - I showed him different fabrics and he picked one out and we made the overalls. 
Sam then made the little man shoes out of ribbon and I used some thread for laces. 
Then Sam said the gingerbread fellow had to have blonde hair like him. 
Again - no problem - just a little glitter glue. 
Sam decided GM needed a face and drew it - nice and smiley.  =-)
Then things started to get interesting...
"Mama, I think my gingerbread man plays baseball."  Okay - let's give him a glove. 
Cut, paste, color and done. 
"Mama, my man needs some more decorations on his overalls."  Alright - draw what you want to decorate and then we can paste it to his overalls.  There is some kind of trilobite-ish dinosaur named Sam proudly displayed on his overalls. 
"Mama, my man needs a pet.  He wants a pet dimetradon."
Oy vey. 

So here he is - Sam the happy, blonde haired, overall wearing, sneaker toting, trilobite loving Gingerbread Man and his pet dimetrodon named Sail. 

Christmas Letter 2012

So Caroline wrote a letter to Santa with her requests. 
I think she's the only Gentile kid to ever ask for a dreidel for Christmas!
I hope Santa is listening. 

Wow.

 I just don't get how fast our kids are growing.  I see them everyday, so the change is subtle. 
Sometimes, though, the change just smacks me over the head.
Like this:

 They're getting so big. 
So quickly.  Too quickly. 

But I look at these pictures and  I understand why I'm so tired.  =-)  They may be cute but these not-so-little-anymore urchins run Mama ragged!

Overtime for the Tooth Fairy

Wow.  What a day.  =-)
The tooth fairy will be coming to the house not for one, but TWO teeth tonight. 
The best part is that they came out easy, without the freak-out fuss that we had with the first. 
This was the scene this morning:

"Yup, CJ.  It's really ready to come out."

"Just a little more wiggling and I think I got it..."

TIME OUT for a Nate photo-bomb. 

"Got it!"

"They're not ever going to recognize me at school tomorrow!  I am the luckiest girl in the world!"

But then as the day went on, we realized that the two front teeth must have been anchoring each other because the top left tooth was now simply hanging. 
Then came this scene:

"I think I got it!"

"Now I'm REALLY the luckiest girl in the world!"

Her lisp is adorable and she's expecting extra compensation from the Tooth Fairy because "I'm so special.  Nobody loses their TWO front teeth in ONE day!"  We'll see if the Fairy is up to the task...

Things are starting to tick up here for the Holidays.  We need to get two angel outfits done for the pageant, Sam's party planned, gifts made for teachers/neighbors, other gifts wrapped and ready to go, and get the house decorated with pictures/stuff so it doesn't look like we just moved in - along with the regular house/kids tasks.  Thinking about it is a bit overwhelming, thought I know it's totally do-able if we put our minds to it and manage time wisely.