Snowy Chelan Trip

Looks gorgeous doesn't it? All the snowy hills with the lake down below.
We were blessed to spend New Years with my side of the family in Chelan a few weeks ago.

I have a ton of pictures, mostly of outside frivolity in the sunshine but I also have to tell about Josiah and the snow. We know already that at age 2 and 3/4 he doesn't enjoy the sensation of sand touching any parts of  his body like what might occur at the beach. Swinging on a swing? Not an option for him. Slides? Nope.The resulting wet clothes of a drippy sippy? Complete disruption of his day. And horror of horrors, having to walk bare foot in the house on a kitchen floor not yet swept? Tearful howls of "Deh is a pees ob WICE on my TOE, Mommy!!!"
We now know without a doubt that snow and slippery surfaces are on his Do Not Attempt list as well. Quite a bit of our fun outside time was spent patiently instructing him that he didn't have to like the snow or the sledding or the "swippewy" ground but that crying about it was unacceptable. I think Grandad had the most success by making Josiah repeat nonsensical phrases like "One Two Buckle My Shoe" while giving him a very unwanted ride in a snow tube. Not sure how that helped the little guy but we'll know who to go to in the summer when every child of ours but Jo is ready for some beach time.

Now for the pictures:

Go Michael! How amazing to be able to walk right out the door and sled for hours!

Daniel sleds past the Wampa caves he built in the snow.

 

Mercy and James get ready for a ride... Unlike Jo, James loved every thing about the snow. He rolled in it, tried to eat it, and begged for more sledding.

Here we have Daddy pushing Daniel, Grandad and Michael, Andrew (standing up), Heather, James and Mercy all ready to race down the driveway.

James spends a little time practicing his walking inside. Much easier without all that snow gear.

Grammy and Daniel cross-country skiing up and down the road

This picture of Daniel reminds me of me. Plus he's wearing my hat. Might be part of it.

It was a bit chilly outside when we headed up for our snow tube adventure.

Up they go! Bob, Mercy, Michael and Daniel head up to check out this tubing hill.

Mercy even went, all by herself!! I was impressed.

Grammy and Grandad entertain the little boys with rides in the snow tubes at the bottom of the run

And here's Josiah quietly repeating "Giddyup Horsey" and other comforting phrases while Grandad helps him acclimate to the snow and the "swippewee-ness".

Strangely, after barely holding it together while on the icy ground with me, Josiah found complete heaven in this pile of hay at the bottom of the tube run. He and Mercy spent 30 minutes chasing eachother and throwing hay all over me and themselves while the bigger boys took a few tube runs with Uncle Josh. 

And that wraps up another long string of Chelan pictures. Thanks Mom and Dad! We had a great time!!

"Tomorrow is CHRISTMAS!!!"

All the excited little people are tucked into bed after what I think was a pretty successful day of  w a i t i n g patiently.

We celebrate most of the big-deal-to-kids Christmas stuff on Christmas Day so, while I really treasure the peace that can settle in on Christmas Eve, our kids tend to get a bit antsy. It's understandable.

To remedy that we took a walk/bike ride before lunch and set each of the kids up with a good helping of Alone Time when we returned. (A walk/bike ride for us includes Daniel and Michael on big kid two-wheelers, Mercy on a red trike and a stroller to accomodate James and possibly Josiah. Jo opted for running along side us most of this walk. I think his run is hilarious. At 2.5 years, he does something funny with his arms while he runs so that he looks like he's trying to take off into the sky. Oh and Bob pushes the stroller while I waddle.)

A restful naptime for the littlest ones and then we headed out to deliver a few plates of cookies to our neighbors. And we discussed many times why it's okay to give such yummy cookies away. Some children were disturbed to see their favorites leaving the house. They'll get it, in time, right?

After a dinner of pizza and our last advent celebration, we surprised the kids with their new jammies from Grammy and loaded them up in the car for a Christmas Light tour.

And like I said above, they are now all in bed*.

Daniel in Army Tanks, Josiah in Dinosaurs, Mercy in Butterflies, Michael in Spiders and James in Space Men

An impromptu dance of Ring o' Round the Rosie

Some of our traditions have changed as our family has grown. We've traded a Roast Beast for homemade pizzas, exchanged a big extended family event for a quieter "just us" day, and we don't attend a church that has a late night Christmas Eve service like the candlelight one I loved as a child.

None of that has changed the beauty and the peace of this day for me. Some of those new traditions have blessed us with a more restful day. We've got to be rested for tomorrow, the BIG ONE!
I love Christmas Eve!


*I let Daniel know that waking everyone up at 2am to tell them that it might be morning was not part of the plan for tonight. (This has happened, and not even on Christmas.) Michael asked for an approximate time that we might be getting up. 7am was my answer.

Warrior! Knights! A One Act Play

 Written by Daniel and Michael

Performed by Daniel, Michael, Daddy, Mercy, Josiah and Mommy

(

(Intro on piano by Michael)

Narrator 1: "This is the story of how Baron Edward overpowered King Richard the Lionheart."

(Be to the Ba2 bas1): "We must kill Richard, he is a threat to us barons."

(Ba2): "Yes."

(Mercy nods)

Meanwhile: (KrL to Co): "I will challenge him."

The Challenge

(Krl goes to castle of Be): "I challenge you!"

Be: "I accept."

Na: But King Richard thought and wondered if he had made a good choice. (Note: in battle field)

The Battle

(Be and KrL circle)

Be: "Prepare for death!!"

KrL: "I'm not so sure."

Be: "Hi! Barons! (Barons attack)

The Surrender

KrL: "I surrender."

Be: "Then come with me. Come on, lads!"

Ya!

The End

Snacks

Bravo!

Christmastime

Hot chocolate friends

Cozy James

 

 

Cozy Josiah and Mercy

The Christmas Tree Hunt

Michael's bow

Josiah

I think it was a little bright.

Watching the tree shaking machine... and hot chocolate.

Christmastime with family

James by the Christmas tree, 15 mos.

Mercy and Grammy build together.

Michael and Grandad

Sweet readers at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Cookie Bake Day 2010

Josiah and Grandma decorate

Daniel and Michael make Uncle Tommy cookies

Stories with Grandma

And one more for now...

Mercy, the Christmas Pageant Sheep

More to come soon... Merry Christmas!

How to play Star Wars with your baby brother

More Fall Recap

 So... many of you know this already but there's a reason I've been laying low for most of the fall season. I spent the better part (or worse, depending on how you look at it) of September and October on that couch right there, working on our newest edition. Yay! He or she will hopefully join us at the beginning of May 2011.

 While the fall really has been a blur of days for me, the kids have continued on with their exciting post-worthy lives.

  For example, James taught us all why we don't store the open boxes of cereal on the lower shelves of the pantry anymore.

The little guy also enjoyed his first birthday, a day he shares with my mom. Happy Birthday James and Grammy!

It is not unpleasant to be entertained by space traveling children while you rest on the couch.

I love that all of these Halloween costumes came directly from the dress-up bins. No prep or sewing required!

Daniel celebrated his 8th birthday with a family Redwall birthday party and an ice cream cake. He really didn't think he was going to get an ice cream cake.

 And finally, we were blessed to celebrate Thanksgiving with some special people, including but not limited to my Grandma Irene, shown here with Grandad and James.

I'm feeling much more functional these days. 

And for that I'm so very thankful!