Snow Day Dec 2010

Yesterday it snowed all day long, and we ended up with about 3 inches. Then last night we had near blizzard conditions, and the temperature dropped significantly. Schools were, of course, closed because they seem to close if there is a heavy frost on the ground...

The roads were wet, but not icy this morning, so I was able to go out and get Hannah some snow boots. When I bought Elijah's last week, I convinced myself that Hannah's were probably still big enough. They weren't. I bought the last pair of pink snow boots that Walmart had. Thankfully, they were the right size!


It was 13 degrees with a windchill of -6 (or so) when the kids went out to play, so I set the timer for 20 minutes. They made it about 15 minutes before Leah peed her pants (I forgot the cardinal rule of going potty BEFORE putting on snow pants...) and the other two were too cold to stay out any longer.


After coming in, Elijah remembered that last year after playing in the snow I made them popcorn, so we needed some today too. I think they were happy to be inside! But at least they got a chance to play in the first real snowfall of winter (it snowed a bit last week, but it was completely melted before noon).

Santa Comes Early to our House

Before I get to the Santa bit, I had to share this picture of Trent. He jumped into the basket as I was sorting laundry, and he was perfectly happy to have me pile dirty clothes on top of him... Oh, the life of a cat!


I knitted a hat, mittens, and scarf for Hannah's Build-a-Bear cheetah, Grace

Now on to Santa. Since we spend Christmas in OKC, it is helpful if Santa can come to our house a little early. This year I decided the last weekend before our trip would be the best time. So, I called up Ol' St. Nick and made arrangements (my mom used to do this all the time, so I knew it would fly with Santa AND the kids).


Santa left a Fisher-Price nativity set and the extended sets as well.


The Wise Men


The manger scene


The inn at Bethleham (which looks suprisingly EMPTY to me...)


The kids were hankering for a run for their Zhu-zhu pets (battery operated hamsters).








And of course Santa fill the kids' stockings (which I never figured out where to hang this year...).


Leah dancing to the musical ornament that Santa brought for me.


Hannah, Elijah, and Trent enjoy the Zhu-zhu pets (Treat REALLY enjoys them!)

Merry Christmas!

The 2nd Night of Hanukkah 2010

These are the infamous Squinkies I posted about on Facebook. They are tiny rubber animals/babies/people/furniture that come in a plastic bubble and can be dispensed from a gumball machine.


Hannah shows a Squinky.


This is my non-traditional sufganiyot. They were YUMMY!


I failed to get any more pictures this year...

Hanukkah 2010 - The First Night

It was a pretty crazy evening where Pete didn't get home until right at dinner time and then had to leave almost immediately after. So, I didn't get all the traditional pictures... However, the kids and I did make sufganiya for dessert (ours were made with refrigerated biscuit dough, so nothing fancy!). No pictures of those either, though I imagine they will make another appearance later in the week, especially since Leah wants a chocolate version...


I did manage to get a picture of the kids with the candles before they were totally burned out. Their gifts tonight were Pillow Pets. They have been going crazy for these things since this summer... I finally caved. They DO love them.


Hannah got a panda bear.


Elijah got a puppy.


Leah got a unicorn.

A while back I had the ol' "So, which Pillow Pet do you like the best?" conversation with the kids, so I knew which ones they wanted... Everyone ended up happy with their pet.


The kids' favorite Hanukkah thing is to play with the Little People Hanukkah set that my friend Barb got Hannah for her 1st birthday. I only get it out during Hanukkah, so they are always really excited to play with it.

A bit of November

Trent finally decided that Hannah was calm enough to nap on... and Hannah was VERY happy about that. She's always wanted a lap cat.


I made Leah a couple of tulle skirts (which she now refuses to wear)


She certainly likes to ham it up for the camera!

I think this tutu turned out really cute... now if I could just convince her to wear it (it's itchy)


She loves all things girly, so I thought I was doing her a favor... but apparently, I was wrong.


We put the Christmas tree up today!


It is sparsely decorated with unbreakable decorations because Trent likes the tree just a little TOO much, even with cat repellant sprayed on it.


Elijah, of all people, posed for the camera.

... and again!


No surprise about this one posing though...


Miss Hannah with her stuffed leopard, Grace


My favorite Christmas tree ornament. My babysitter gave this to me in 1978 or so (vintage, you know)

Fall 2010 School Pictures

Hannah



Hannah's Class




Elijah


Elijah's Class




Leah


Leah's class

Halloween 2010

This year the girls were black cats and Elijah was Anakin Skywalker... I had him talked into being a ghost for a couple of days, but then he insisted on Star Wars.


He certainly made a cute Anakin.


Leah is learning to pose for pictures... what a ham.


Trent has discovered the gerbils, and would really like to let them out to play... or eat.


Hannah made a vampire mask this year at school with the vacu-forming machine, and I find it quite scary!

Hannah's Baptism

In our church, children are not baptized until they are 8 years old. Hannah's baptism took place the day after her birthday.








Here we are with Hannah in her little white jumpsuit.


Our dear friend Michael Stanfill baptized Hannah (and thankfully got it done with just one dunk... which wasn't the case with another person baptized the same day)




Hannah got the traditional leather bound scriptures with her name embossed on it.


I found a cute necklace with an 8 and a girl in a white dress, and a pink CTR (choose the right) ring for her


The Primary presidency gave Hannah a CTR towel to help her remember her baptism... It's her favorite towel :)