Snowshoeing!

Some friends of ours rented a Forest Service cabin in the mountains and invited us up there to spend the day. So we took them up on it! It was a lovely, sunny day, but cold. Something like 6 degrees when we got there, and 2 when we left.

On the way, we saw this bull moose. He stopped and looked at us when I called out, "Hey, Bullwinkle!"

Here is Heidi, Josie, Emma and Bella. Heidi had Emma help pull her and Josie up the hill. Bella hung around amusing herself with angering Emma. A 1 1/2 year old Emma and a 10 year old Bella, both dominant females...did they ever snarl and growl at each other!

Here we are, Annisia, Michael, Quinn, Audra, and Ray, at the top of the hill. Not a mountain, but a fair hill. Jonathan was a trooper! He stomped his way right up that hill. He thought snowshoeing was fun. On the way down, he tried running, which can be done, yes, but a little difficult for a young'un. He kept falling down, face first! He'd lay there and laugh. (which I enjoyed!) One time, he fell right into a patch of powder, and got a face full of snow! He just giggled! I'm glad he had a good first experience on snowshoes. The video below is taken just after Daddy cinched him in and I got the camera out. See, he's a natural!

Office work vs. skiing

Michael didn't really have much trouble deciding where to be, in the office or skiing, but it looks like Jonathan had a little office work to get done.


Michael has been home since the 21st. So the kids and I are getting some quality time with Daddy! We went up to the ski area and sledded one day...Daddy had been there skiing with Uncle Bret for a couple of hours already. It was a cold one, so we did a little sledding then came home. Jonathan is really fascinated with the whole skiing thing. I think we're going to take him up this year and put some skis on him. I think he'll be a natural. The video below is him wearing Daddy's ski boots. He goes into our bedroom, turns around and comes "down the hill". He is really an imaginative little man. Enjoy!

It's Christmas time!

We were to Michael's parents for Christmas Day. We had a wonderful lunch of prime rib and all the trimmings. Here are some recovering after lunch...


"What?! I'm not opening anything." Annisia was pretty fascinated by all the gifts. We do a gift exchange in M's family. Always a fun time...

M's niece Jami enjoying a little time with Annisia.

Jonathan and Annisia love all the attention they get!


Watching Uncle Jon open the first gift. Papa couldn't wait for Jon to open his gift...it was a remote controlled Spider Man helicopter! Man, the guys and kids had a blast with that!

One tuckered out girl, and Annisia was tired too! (ha!)

Jonathan loves playing with Uncle Bret. I have no idea what is going on here...but they sure look like they are enjoying it!

Daddy and Annisia sacked out in the back bedroom at Grandma's. Don't they look sweet?!


It was so fun watching these two...and hearing all the background talk. "What kind of pie do you want?" There were some yummy choices...chocolate cream, angel lemon, pecan...wish you could have been here.

We have a Visitor!

Aunty Leilani is here for a week. Guess what she "gets" to do a lot of? Yep! Reading! Both to herself and to the kids. Yay! She's even said she'll babysit some so I can get some things done. Double Yay!

Sleigh Rides and Sleds!

We went to Michael's parent's ranch a few weeks ago (YES, I know, I am still trying to get up to date!) for sledding and a sleigh ride. Not a whole lot of snow on the ground, but a fun time with great weather!
This is Jonathan and Papa around the bonfire while Michael is waxing the bottom of the toboggan. He wanted to go really fast...(it never really did though, according to those who used it!)
Annisia wears blue well too, doesn't she? The little hot pink furry scarf from Aunty Janice girlies it up a bit. She loves being out in the snow. And she loves sledding. She just giggles the faster they go, and never minds the bumps...they just mean she gets to catch some air! Watch out snowboarders! She's gonna take the slopes!

Papa and Jami in the sleigh. Jami, Michael's niece, is driving.

Jami driving Thunder giving Annisia and I a sleigh ride. He is a gorgeous horse.

Michael and Annisia coming down the hill. "More, Daddy, more!"

Fun in the Snow

Jonathan and Annisia don't care how cold it is...the week these pics were taken, the temps didn't get above about 20 degrees. But, nearly every day before lunch and after naps, we were outside in the snow all bundled up. It's a good thing Jonathan knows when he has to go potty...not once did I get him bundled up only to hear him say, "I have to go potty!" Good boy! He really likes playing with his loader. He had to tow his trike because it got stuck in the snow in the driveway. We found a tow rope, and pretended to be Daisy, the horse in the Usborne Farmyard series of books. We pulled his trike to the front of his loader, loaded it up into the bucket, hauled it to the deck and dumped it! Whew! What a good days' work! Annisia just watches us doing all of this, including Mommy whinnying like a horse, and pushing Jonathan in the loader (because he can't pedal it in the snow), and stoically continues to brave the cold while nearly unable to move because of the bundling!

A couple Saturdays ago, we went over to Michael's parents place to sled. Like I said, it was quite cold that week. I think it was 12 degrees this day...at noon. The kids loved the sledding. Here Daddy is taking them up the hill. Then he got on and held Annisia in his lap while they barreled down the hill. The kids giggle and want more!


You can tell it has been years since I have sledded! What a wimp! Annisia loved it! Watch it again and listen for her giggle near the end...right after we go through the little dip.

Playing some tunes!

Jonathan and Annisia like to play the piano. This was a Sunday morning a few weeks ago. It's nice they do this while we're getting ready, instead of spreading all their toys out on the floor!

Home for Thanksgiving

We went home to my Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving. We had some bad roads to begin with, but they got better. The kids did great! We got Jonathan a really neat tray thing that buckles around his middle. It was super! He could play with his Bob the Builder Legos, read a book, do a puzzle, eat a snack. We also got him a pillow to hold up his head when he napped. Another great purchase! Recommended for all parents of toddlers. Annisia, well, Annisia was happy if she had a different toy every 5-10 minutes, or a book, or a snack in her hand.

When we got home to Mom and Dad's, the kids had to run off some steam. Annisia discovered all the stuffed animals G'ma and G'pa had, and promptly loaded them all up on G'pa! She did that daily, I think! We had a good time, but every night was too late. It's hard on vacation to keep your schedules, isn't it? Michael had a good time pheasant hunting with my dad and brother Alan. They went out nearly every morning and several late afternoons. Unfortunately, the pheasants they saw and hunted liked to hide out in sloughs! So those sneaky creatures would pop their heads up, the guys would take a shot, and never see the silly thing again. Some of the sloughs they were traipsing through had cattails as tall as the men! Ah, the joys of hunting! I got to see my oldest sis for 2 of the days we were home. That was fun 'cause she likes to spoil the kiddos and I like to watch! T'giving day was good with family, all the traditional food including lefse, and laughter.

My brother, Lowell, came home T'giving evening. Annisia thought he was the cat's meow! At one point, we had dinner set on the table and were going to let Lowell go through first. Michael went to get Annisia from Lowell's arms and she turned away! Tucked her little head into Lowell's neck and refused Daddy! Now, we haven't seen Lowell since last C'Mas, when she was 5 months old, so we all were quite impressed, and Uncle Lowell's heart melted! He wanted to take her home, until we reminded him about diapers, naps, not sleeping all night every night...you know, all the fun parenting stuff! Jonathan thought Uncle Yo (which is how he says it...can't say his "L"s) was pretty fun too. Watch the video at the bottom of the post...Uncle Lowell was pretty popular!

My nephew, Anthony, played so nicely with Jonathan. They were over nearly every day and we enjoyed it. Anthony would chase Jonathan around until he giggled uncontrollably! What fun!

My niece, Cassie, loved holding Annisia. She's at the age where babies are really fun. She also had fun with Jonathan. Of course, he is so bossy ;-)...they always had to play tractors and dinosaurs!






The temps hovered around 15-25 degrees every day. So the kids played outsided some. Here, they were enjoying some rides on Cassie's electric four wheeler. Jonathan loved it, and Annisia held on!

Then it was story time.

On Sunday, following meeting, where I got to see an aunt, uncle, cousin and her family, we all went out to lunch. Then we got on the road for home...an 11 hour drive.

ROAR!

What we mommy's have to endure!
I think I actually got knocked over!


And Annisia is in the background...can you just hear her thinking, "There he goes, that silly boy. I think I'll just have a seat here on his Pooh truck. Yup! I think I will."

I'm still here...

OK, OK, so I am still here. Things just got busy, busy. How do parents of more than 2 kids get anything done? That is the biggest question on my mind nearly every day. Since my last post, we have survived Halloween, Thanksgiving and several days of snow. Here is a look at some events since I last posted...


Jonathan still just loves his backhoe loader. It is used for everything; digging dirt, scooping snow, towing a variety of vehicles, planting trees, and giving Annisia a "ride to Uncle Bret's house"!

Jonathan is potty trained! Big YAYS! Here he is on potty training day running away from me in his big boy underwear! We did the Toilet Training in a Day method...sort of. He trained the dolly, got the major kudo treatment every time he went potty in the toilet, and still has accidents. Sometimes he's just too lazy. Yesterday, he wet his pants right beside the toilet. When asked why, he said, "I just didn't want to pull my pants down." ???WHAT???

These are the kids Halloween outfits...Bob the Builder (or Jonathan the Builder, as he demanded to be called!) and my little ladybug. (Year of the Pig? I think not...in our house it's the Year of the Ladybug!)
We were encouraged by a friend to go to the nursing home with the kids to trick or treat. It was nice, a chance to wear their costumes a little and cheer up some old folks.

Daddy with his ladybug.

This is what you get when you give the kids a bath, let your 3 year old convince you spikes would be fun to do with his wet hair, and then let him sleep on them! Yikes! He's still pretty cute, isn't he?!