All-day Snow Day

We were headed out for a Christmas party this morning, but the ominous snow report kept us grounded to Lafayette. The kids headed out sledding first thing this morning. (Watch out for trees!) The sledding at 9 this morning kept dragging up leaves in it's wake.
Now, four hours later, it is still snowing and snowing hard. It has not stopped for nearly eight hours. I know your supposed to hate snow, being trapped in, and all of that, but I do love the first days of it. It's just clean and pretty. My stark woods now look shiny and new.

Ava and Ike Turn 6!

Goodness, such a big year for my babies. Can you believe they're 6? They had a great birthday. We had buttery theater popcorn and watch Squeakuel for lunch. They choose pancakes with M&M's and sprinkles for dinner. We followed that up with a sensible Reese's brownie cupcake and chocolate ice cream. All of this following the week of Christmas cookies and goodies. I feel like eating spinach for a week. I probably won't, but that's just how I feel right now.

American Girls and American Guns

It was a nice, quiet Christmas around the house. The kids didn't even wake up until around 8:00. Granted we didn't put them to bed on Christmas Eve until around 10:30. By the time we got back from service (which was candlelit the whole time and my children should not have been allowed to hold small, wax dripping flame-sticks for over an hour) and watched a Christmas movie it was late.

Claire got the American Girl Emily Bennett. She's from England. I know, I know . . . a foreign American Girl, but she comes to live with Molly's family during World War II.
Paige recieved Molly. Are you seeing a theme here? I wonder if they talked about this before hand? She is the 1940's AG and is super cute with her little glasses.
Ava (ignore the frightened pic -- I think it was a pose of excitement, but came out scary) has a dolly that looks just like here. She named her Rose. Rose has red hair and even has little, hazel eyes.












Now that we just plugged through three dolls, aahhhh, the gun. Not only does this gun rapid fire, but it hold 35 nerf bullets. The hours that will be sent shooting sisters and their pretty dolls are just unimaginable. Everyone spent most of the day get sneak attack shots in the butt yesterday.



Hope you and yours had a very, merry Christmas!

Christmas Crafts

I just love all the crafts that come home this time of year. Our tree is chock-full of kooky little homemade ornaments. There are tons of glitter trails all over from various projects. December backpacks always deliver such joyous goodies for mommies.

Ike and Ava were surprised by their "buddies" at school with reindeer food. All kindergartners are paired up with a third grader (not a sibling, which would be funny to have my twinnies all buddied up). The third grader comes in to help on certain busy days for the teacher -- crafts, special snacks, etc. The older kids learn responsibility, and the teacher is ever so thankful for the extra hands.

Paige and Claire are studying Christmas around the world. They were so jazzed about these wreath hats, because American Girl Kirstin also wears one. Oh, the love of American Girl right now! Our copy of the wish list catalog is completely in shreds from hours of staring and dreaming.

Hamby House

Here is our house (as requested). It's easier to take pictures right now, because there are big trees in the front that cover and shade it. I wouldn't dream of cutting them down because even in the summer, it stays cool. It is a pretty house, but truly the backyard is the reason we bought here. Behind here is two and half acres of woods. The kids have blazed a trail . There are two large ravines full of giant rocks and logs to climb on. Sometimes we see deer and raccoons. We always see turkey vultures (a huge bird native to this area). The kids spent so much time out there in warm weather. They came in hot, dirty, and thirsty but full of tales of their adventures. A club house is on their Daddy-do list for spring. They have begun "drafting" up their ideas and passing them along. They dream of a tire swing that will swoop out over the ravine. I dream of send them out in bubble wrap and a helmet.

Finally . . .

I hate to even say this, but it's finally cold around here. It just hasn't even seemed like November, let alone December without a bit of frost in the morning. Last night it was chilly enough to watch TV under blankies. I sneakily took this pic to show how crafty and evil my children can be. I had told them NOT to let the dog sit on our new furniture. Technically, according to Paige (a.k.a. Ringleader-of-all-naughty), he is not sitting on the couch. To quote, "There's a layer of kids and quilts between Brom and the couch."

Christmas Spirit

Brant's mom gave us a good kick start in the holiday spirit. She devised a countdown game to get us all thinking. Each gift we unwrap is a Christmas song title. Some are hard, some even the kids can get. This has been one of my favorite so far. Can you guess it? It's "O Holy Night". There's been a few tricky ones that sent us to the internet googling words to find a song title. Each day has the kids anticipating what Grandma will come up with next.
Another holiday spirit booster -- mailing Santa letters. I think this is the last year of all four believing. The older two are already playing it cool about the big, red guy. I've quashed a lot of questions with the simple theory of if-you-don't-believe-you-don't-recieve. This seems to be spark their enthusiasm in the magic pretty quickly. I know I can't keep their ideas simple forever, but why can't they just purely believe for a few more years that a fat man jumps down the chimney of his own volition to bring them whatever their heart desires in exchange for a few, measley cookies. Is that so wrong?