Maggie and Evan visit

Maggie and Evan came to visit and it took me until they were about to leave before I remembered to take a picture! Actually, Haley saw the camera and asked to take pictures, so the first ones are Haley-cam shots. Then you'll see a couple pictures of a spur-of-the-moment game of pickle-in-the-middle before they had to go. We really had a great time and I wish I had documented it better for all of you!

You know those souveniers:

Someone went to Hawaii and all I got was this lousy T-shirt?

Well, I'm sorry to say it, but...

Someone got a visit from Maggie and all you get are these lousy pictures.

My apologies.

Christmas

The kids and Tom and I had a beautiful Christmas here at home. The first two pictures are from Christmas Eve, the rest are from Christmas Day.

You can tell Daniel was feeling a bit... "uncooperative" on Christmas Eve and didn't want to be in pictures, or even put on jammies at bedtime. So his Christmas pictures all have him in the same dinosaur shirt and jeans. Ah, memories...

SNOW Part 3 (videos)

Daniel snowboarding



Dylan snowboarding




Haley sledding




Tom shows the kids how to flatten the snow to make a path for sledding.

SNOW Part 2

Another time that Tom took the kids out sledding and snowboarding, he found himself carrying Haley... again. :) This snow was way too deep for her!











































Here are some pictures of Sweet Caroline before she got so sick. She is resting right now after a long night of coughing.

SNOW

We had some serious SNOW. Pictures of the kids and Ranger with Tom out having some fun.

Haley and the birds

First of a few overdue posts on this blog... We have had a ton of snow here. I think the total for us was 21 inches. The kids are fascinated by it and have been enjoying all kinds of outdoor activities: sledding, snowboarding, snow ball fights, etc... But here are a few pictures of Haley and the wild birds I love to feed, as well as some of the snowfall. More to come at another time of the kids having fun outside.

Quilts for Caroline

Yesterday I got a box in the mail from my Aunt Cindy and cousin Megan. They had each made a beautiful quilt for sweet Caroline. And both of the girls received a warm, fuzzy winter set of hat and scarf. How great is that? Here are some pictures:

Haley makes banana bread (and sanity-saving flowers)

First: Here's a picture of the flowers Tom brought home the other day when I thought I was going to lose my mind. Kids up the wazoo going bonkers all over the house will do that to me every now and then... :) It was a sweet surprise.

Second: Today we had three very ripe bananas and a little extra time while Caroline was napping, so Haley and I made banana bread. Some pictures and video of that, too. Now if only I could share with you the smell of it baking in the oven!

Snow-human takes a bow

On Sunday, we went outside to have a good old snowball fight. While we were out there, we checked on the rapidly-disappearing snowman that the kids built with Tom. Things weren't exactly "looking up" for him...

The SNOW

I tried posting these pictures yesterday, but something weird kept happening with the process and I couldn't figure it out. Today has proven to be much more successful. Enjoy some pictures of Tom and the kids making a snow-human last Saturday. They had sooo much fun!

One big ball of fur...

Ranger and Eli, our dog and cat, are snuggled up together on Ranger's bed to stay warm. It's a little chilly today. We're actually expecting some snow tonight. If the kids are lucky, it might stick to the ground so we can have some fun playing in it before it vanishes!

girls at home

Today, Haley and Caroline and I were going to venture out to "town" and get some Advent candles for our Advent wreath, but instead we ended up hanging out at home. By the time everyone was fed, dressed, changed, and changed again... and fed again... Well, you get the idea. My plans have to be pretty flexible these days. But it ended up being a nice, quiet morning that all three of us enjoyed.

(Of course, no dishes have been done yet today and I haven't folded a single load of the clean wash that Tom keeps bringing up from the basement. But what the heck, laundry's overrated anyhow.)