Enjoying the Snow

A few weeks ago we went up to McCall with my parents and some of my siblings. We enjoyed playing in the snow together, but the highlight was going skiing. I got a full day of skiing with three of my siblings and my Dad. I have such great memories of skiing with my family and now I'm teaching my own kids. Natali and Mack both tried it out and loved it. The next day we were going to ice skate and feed some elk, but Mack and Natali both just wanted to ski. They keep asking when we can go again. It is so fun to watch them (check out Mack's arms - so cute)

Well while we skied the second day Greg took Andrew to see the elk. He loved it - as expected. This picture doesn't quite capture his love or all the elk surrounding the trailer, but we'll take what we can get.

While enjoying the time with my family, and reminiscing I had an epiphany. All of my winter McCall memories happened because my dad sacrificed his time and created those opportunities for us. As I skied with my kids I realized how much effort it will take to get my kids skiing. My dad taught all seven of us how to ski. He gave up his own skiing time and work time to play with us in McCall. I am so grateful that he taught me to ski, sled, snowmobile, and just love playing in snow. I'm excited to teach my own kids to take the time to enjoy the snow and make memories together. Thanks Dad!

Making Movies

A while ago my nephew Sam drew some pictures and told his mom they needed to be made into a movie. Well his amazing mom put them into a slide show and posted it on their blog. Ever since then my kids have been begging to make their own movies. I told them I have no clue how to do this, but my wonderful sister Val volunteered to help them. The kids gathered their drawings, Val donated her time and patience and here is the result. They both mention outer space but I'm not sure why since most of the pictures drawn at our house are of animals. Sam's movie was about space - maybe it inspired them.

Sabosalactarus, Vocal Excersises, and Late Night Prayers

Here are some silly moments from the last few weeks...

The other day Andrew climbed up on Greg's lap and said, "I'm a baby Sabosalactarus". I couldn't recall this dinosaur name. Andrew continued, "You're the Daddy Sabosalactarus, and you're the Mommy Sabosalactarus". He repeated this name over and over for the next hour and he said it the same every time. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but my dinosaur pronunciation skills are bad. We get dino books from the library and I make up half of the names, and I am sure I never make them up the same way twice. Hence my surprise that Andrew could repeat the name consistently. I have no clue how he came up with the name. It cracked me up.

My next story requires a little back ground. I lead our church choir so my kids hear us warm up every week. They also hear warm ups when they listen to Natali's choir practice. So the other day I was walking down the hall and heard Mack singing, "ah ah ah ah ah ah oh oh oh me ee me ee no no no". Oddly, it has happened more than once. No Hannah Montana for this kid, just give him some vocal exercises.

Thursday night, well after we put the kids down for bed, we heard little Andrew feet climbing down the stairs. I was already to tell him to disappear fast when he said, "You forgot to say prayers with me". It was so rewarding to think he actually remembered we needed to say prayers. Then last night at about 9:30 Mack came down and did the same thing, they had attempted a slumber party in Natali's room and so we had forgotten individual prayers - I say attempted because the party lasted all of 20 minutes before they were dancing and jumping off beds. Anyway we said prayers and sent him to bed, but now I'm starting to wonder if this is the newest excuse to get out of bed. I guess I better make sure we don't miss prayers.

Sleeping like a ...Tiger

For the last few months Andrew has refused to sleep in his bed. Every night he lays blankets on the floor and makes himself a bed. I have been trying to think of someway to make him sleep in his bed (I was going to make him tiger striped sheets or something for Christmas but ran out of time). Then for Christmas his Grandma Nani gave him this tiger rug. You may have seen them at Costco, it is bigger than he is and has a stuffed tiger head on it. Well that next night he laid that on the floor, used the head like a pillow and snuggled in. I have managed to move the tiger onto his bed so he now sleeps in his bed- yea! Except his diaper leaked last night and the tiger has no washing instructions....

Christmas Break Playtime

We got some good snow before Christmas and we enjoyed an afternoon building forts and making snow angels. Kate loved being pulled in the sled so we all had to take turns pulling her and she would laugh and scream with joy every minute. It was so cute.

Sadly, I slipped on the ice on our driveway right before Christmas and bruised my tailbone. So that was the end of my playing in the snow. The kids and I had so many plans that now I couldn't follow through on, but luckily Greg had a lot of time off so he and the kids had a lot of fun. I stayed home and iced my bum.

My brother, Spencer, had his wii at my mom's house so the kids had learned to "bowl". They were so excited when we suggested they try real bowling. Mack's wii skills seamed to help him to victory, but Natali was sadly disappointed that real bowling was harder than the wii.

We had a really hot day right before break ended and the snow started to melt. Up until then we hadn't been able to build a snowman because the snow wouldn't pack. After dinner Greg got everyone geared up and went to play in the snow. So we turned on the back porch lights and they played in the snow for over an hour building snowmen big and small. I was sad to miss most of the fun but it was fun to watch the kids enjoying time with each other and their dad.

Mary, Joseph, and Others

For Christmas Eve we always act out the Nativity. Well this year in addition to the usual cast we had a tiger instead of livestock and a wise man who closely resembled Cinderella (and she wouldn't let Mary hold baby Jesus). Mary gave herself a very convincing tummy and Joseph was as hansom as ever, he even made the bed for the baby himself. I love this tradition.

Gingerbread Bomb Shelters

One of our Christmas traditions is to make Gingerbread houses (or more appropriately graham cracker houses). Well it can get a little crazy trying to help everyone at the same time. So this year Greg, in an effort to simplify construction, suggested that Andrew make a bomb shelter rather than a house. Everyone else heard the idea and couldn't resist copying. So we had three bomb shelters. Comically, they all thought bomb shelters held bombs, so they put jelly bean bombs inside and hidden candy bombs all around the outside. Meanwhile, Kate devoured piles and piles of candy. We finally had to just put her to bed to make her stop eating. This picture doesn't quite capture how sticky her face was, but it does display her new picture pose when you " say cheese". Cute - huh?