SNOW DAZE

School and work were cancelled on Thursday and then again on Friday due to the snow storm. It has been fun.  

Luckily we knew that school was cancelled for Friday before going to bed on Thursday night - this meant that we could sleep in.  There is something so fun about an extra, unexpected day of getting to sleep in!!

There has been enough snow that we can sled down the driveway.  The first problem we had to tackle on Thursday was that we could not locate the sleds.  Calls to dad revealed they must be in the attic in the garage.  I tried to climb on the car to get to the attic, but then the car hood began to give way, and I began to slip and almost fell.  Deciding this was not a safe choice I found another solution:

 

K & A with sleds! 

What's that you say those are garbage bags? 

They are actually redneck sleds and I am quite proud of my ingenuity!!! 

The girls had a blast.

We did venture off the hill at about 3:00 to get to Fed Ex - I had stayed up until 1:00AM and had all the packages ready to ship so I was going to be damn sure they went out on Thursday.  The packages should be to everyone by Tuesday evening.  On the way home we stopped at K-Mart - I hate K-Mart but it was the only store that we pass coming home from Fed Ex. We bought a sled and the very last snow saucer. There was a run on sleds - there was only about 5-6 more sleds and a very rude lady was hogging all the sleds to look them over to be sure she had the best sled.  She was also having trouble deciding on purple or orange - so overwhelming!! The minute she put down a purple sled - I grabbed it!!

The girls had fun on the new sled and saucer.  On Friday the girls were using the new sleds, then A came to me and said - where is my sled from yesterday?  She wanted to use the plastic bag again.  What a nut!!!

We are now baking cookies for dad - he gets home tonight at 7PM.  We are making the peanut butter with chocolate kiss cookies - using a new recipe so we will see how it turns out.

More snow predicted for Saturday so T won't miss out on the sledding and can supervise the drive way and street sledding course that drives our neighbor nuts!!!

Birthday, Santa, Tree, Recital

Sooooo much happening I can't keep up.

Birthday -

A turns 8 - we celebrate for a solid week.

I think we can move on to Christmas now!

Santa - we waited 3 hours in line at Nordstrom - some people think this is crazy. I think it is kind of fun! Free cookies and cider as well as watching all the families - some have been doing this for 30 years, some have just started. There was a baby 1 week old getting his first picture with Santa. Brought us back to the days of A's first Christmas -she was so small back then - and so quiet!!

A wants a calico kitten (real one). Santa says he does not do real animals as it is too dangerous. (Whew - Santa even says no to a kitten - poor kid)

K wants world peace and a flat screen TV for her room. Santa said, "Big order, I will see what I can do". I reiterate - flat screen TV for the family is a good idea!

3 hours is a long time!

Tree TIME

(T really isn't stoned - just overwhelmed with Christmas decorations!)

3 trees - I gave in - K and A each get their own "pencil" pre-lit tree for their ornaments. They each decorated their tree with their ornaments, just how they wanted. Both trees are a bit heavy with ornaments on the bottom. (Agreement that the trees and ornaments go with them when they move out!!)

T and I stuck with a traditional "real" tree for the upstairs and our ornaments.

We decided to stay in Kent to buy one and stumbled upon a lot selling trees. The proceeds from the tree sales will go to help fix up an old abandoned building to become a shower and laundromat facility for the homeless.

And now for the RECITAL!

and the movie version-

Thanksgiving day traditions

A little late - but wanted to share our Thanksgiving memory for this year.

I think we officially have a Thanksgiving tradition - on Thanksgiving Day for the last 4 years we have slept late and then stayed in our pajamas all day.  I have officially declared this a pajama day for the the last 2 years. The 2 years before it was an accident that we neglected to get dressed. So now that it is 4 years - I am going to call it a tradition.

 

This year when I said dinner will be ready in 20 minutes - A comes to me and says "Do I have to wear my pajamas still?"  I am disappointed, but I tell her this is America and she can get dressed if she wants to, she does not have to stay in her pajamas. She says, "I am sick of my pajamas" - this from the child that I have to nag to get dressed and to constantly explain that we must wear clothes when we go out.  A proceeds to go in her room, dress in her velour skirt, knit shirt, and fancy new shoes - yes that is the driving force - new fancy shoes - it makes sense now.  Or perhaps she is a rebel and non-conformist. In reality probably a bit of both.

 

For our feast, we take the best from both sides of the family. We get out the china, the good silverware, and the crystal - and enjoy dinner in our pajamas. We start with grace, then fruit cocktail with rainbow sherbert, followed by turkey, cracker stuffing, fresh cranberries, green beans, heat and serve rolls, gravy and mashed potatoes.  We then take a rest and follow it with chocolate pudding cake - yum.

And now - we are ready for the holiday frenzy to begin.

Swimming to the Sun

Now that we are in the rainy season and the eve of the chaos holiday season is upon us- it was a welcome sight when A brought home the below - reminding me of our wonderful, relaxing vacation with  a few sunny days!  (For those of you who can't see the image - you know who you are Aunt L-click on the image and it will open in a bigger window)

Also some recent wisdom imparted by A - If a lobster was born the same day as Aunt K it would be dead - lobsters only live to be 50.  I am glad Aunt K is not a lobster!