let it snow, let it snow, let it STOP!!

I can't believe how much snow we got these last couple of weeks! I now know why kids are always so much more excited about the snow...for little people with no responsibilities, obligations or businesses it means no school, building snowmen, sledding with friends and drinking hot chocolate like it's water! It even brings out the little kid in me but after a couple of days I'm back to being that boring mom who just wants to be able to drive herself to Starbucks for a coffee without the fear of sliding into a ditch! Anyway, it was good times...sledding down the hills at Grandma's,sucking on icicles like they were cigars and even sliding across the frozen pond! It is for sure a December we won't forget...

A Season of Giving

All day yesterday and today I kept telling Jamie it just doesn't feel like Christmas. I think mostly because of the weather...and things just came too fast this year! With the girls missing their last week of school before break they didn't have their Christmas parties at school, we still have their friends gifts sitting under the tree and because they were home I didn't get all the fun festive stuff done that I would have liked. Not to mention that we only have one car that works in the snow which meant whenever Jamie left to work or drive all his employees to work I was stuck at home (and yes I mean "stuck"!). The snow is fun...but only for a couple of days. The girls are old enough that they can easily bundle up and go out to play but that means that little brother has to follow and it literally takes more time to get him dressed than it does for him to play...just too cold for little hands that the mittens won't stay on! We also missed out on a few of the traditions...the church Christmas pageant was canceled, we didn't do our annual driving the streets to look at lights because of the snow and ice and there was no Children's Mass on Christmas Eve and we moved Christmas Eve to our house because no one could make it up the hill to my parents. I think it was a mix of all those little things that we missed that just made Christmas seem a little "off" this year. On the bright side...we adopted a family this year instead of drawing names within our family. All of Jamie's family as well as all of my family chipped in and we gave a family a wonderful Christmas. We got to go deliver the gifts to them out in Troutdale yesterday and meet the parents and cute 4 year old little girl named Sierra. It was important to me that the girls got to meet who we had helped, and especially since they used some of their piggy bank money to buy a toy for Sierra. It's a tough concept for kids as young as ours but we are doing our best to instill that "it's better to give than receive"...someday they will see but for now we will cherish watching their little faces light up just as much as Sierra's when they open presents from Santa and grandparents and aunts and uncles! Although we took it easy this year the girls got some cute clothes, High School musical barbies, their own girlie MP3 players and the big gift was a karaoke singing machine (thanks to Grandma and Papa Jamie and I will have a headache for the next few years!). All of you that know our girls can only imagine their excitement! Ellie especially has all the moves of a 14 year old pop star and not a shy bone in her body! Lily is still a little unsure but when they do a duet she lets loose! Jalen started his own tool collection as well as some fun cars and of course balls of all kind! So although it wasn't typical it was still a very merry Christmas that started with all the kids climbing in our bed where we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and making some more great memories with family...and it was a white Christmas to top it off!

A Thanksgiving to be thankful for!

We are always reminded this time of year how truly blessed we are...mostly for our wonderful family and friends! We had Thanksgiving with the Foelker side of the family on Monday this year because Lacey and her family were leaving for Hawaii. Then we celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday with the Snooks. We are so lucky to have so many of our great-grandparents to share these special times with. Ellie had a class project that required her to interview everyone in her family so we all learned a few things that we didn't already know. Ellie couldn't believe that Papa Ben had 5 brothers and sisters, Papa Bill flew solo in an airplane, and Grandma Elsa made a date over the phone with a boy named Bill thinking it was Grandpa but it was the wrong Bill that came to pick her up...she had called the wrong boy! It is always fun to talk about how life was when they were growing up. The day after Thanksgiving Papa Bill and Grandma Elsa took the kids shoe shopping and bought both the girls some Ugg boots and a beautiful Christmas dress. The girls even tried on the dresses and modeled them like Lacey and I used to do! Papa Bill kept saying, "I don't think there are many great-grandparents that get to do this"...and I agree...one of the many reasons we are so blessed!

Playing in the rain...

This is going to be a long winter! Jalen's favorite thing to do is play outside and now that the rains are here it's causing quite a problem in our house. So usually in the afternoon when he can't take another minute of being inside we head out to do what boys do best...get wet, messy and muddy! The only problem is he is too little to send out by himself to play...so you know what that means...I also have to brave the weather (and Mommy's do not like the rain half as much as little boys!) I dress him up with his raincoat, a hat and his rainboots (or sometimes he insists on his snow boots) and we walk around the yard picking up leaves, splashing in puddles, going down wet slides and swinging golf clubs and baseball bats at everything BUT balls! Most of the time by the time we are done some of his clothes if not all are off because he doesn't like wet clothes (I didn't think boys were supposed to mind things like that) and the boots are always off...he does like the feel of his feet sinking into the mud and grass. I guess I could have saved the money I spent on boots and coats but then what kind of mom would I look like when we were out in public? Regardless of how your child "likes" things there are sometimes where it is more important for us Mommy's to look good!

Lots and lots of treats...

I think the girls had more sweets before they were even out of school...and they hadn't even started trick or treating yet! It started with Lily's class party at 8:00 this morning, then went on to Ellie's at 10:00 and between donuts, cookies and candy they were wired! We met over at Nana and Papa's to do our trick or treating and Auntie Kim helped the girls get into costume. Ellie was a punk pirate and Lily was Dorothy (even though she's never seen the whole movie!) but I think the red shoes were the selling factor for her! Jalen was supposed to be a lion but he HATED the costume. He doesn't like things on his head and the costume had a hood with the mane attached and he wanted nothing to do with that. He lasted a whole 2 minutes before we decided it wasn't worth the hysterical crying and took it off. He still followed the girls to trick or treat but when he got to the bowl of candy he would put the old candy in the bowl before taking a new one...I guess that's his way of sharing! It was a fun night, but as with all holidays glad the chaos is over!

Pumpkin Patch

Some could call it a rut be we prefer to call it a tradition. We have gone to the same pumpkin patch now for 7 years despite the fact that the last two years most of the pumpkins were either green or had rotten polka dots all over them. It has the cool train and the small animals you can pet and of course the hay stack with the dark maze inside so really who cares about the pumpkins...at least according to the kids. Jalen actually had more fun pushing the wheelbarrow and trying to unscrew the tires than he did picking out pumpkins. We went on a Monday and we practically had the place to ourselves with the exception of one family. And it was sunny...cold but sunny! The days of the cute posed picture in the wheelbarrow or amongst the pumpkins is over for awhile...Jalen will not sit still for even a second. When we put him in the wheelbarrow with the girls all her tried to do the whole time was throw the pumpkins out. We each picked a pumpkin according to our size so Daddy got the biggest, then mine and so on. Lily picked a green one...I mean ALL green...dark green... which fits her little independent personality perfectly. We decided to paint them this year instead of carving them (Mommy HATES carving - but they loved the idea so I don't feel bad!) So we left with 5 little pumpkins, a grape crush soda (which you can only justify at places like the pumpkin patch!), some kettle corn and the next night had some pretty cute painted pumpkins on the porch!

Soccer Rocks!

...at least according to the girls! This is the first year they have played and they are both loving it! We finally found a sport that Lily likes (unlike softball...she only liked batting and picking flowers in the outfield). She has her dad's competitive spirit and there is nothing she likes better than pushing and bumping and kicking to get that ball away from the other girls! Her first game she scored 5 of the six goals...she has not learned the concept of passing yet (or if she has she chooses not to use it) so everytime she gets the ball she runs it down the entire field to score! Ellie is also enjoying it...although she seems to have more of my personality - she plays against lots of her friends from school and doesn't want to "take" the ball from her friends. I think she enjoys the social aspect of it more at this stage. Of course the part that Jamie and I love is the cold rainy EARLY mornings that we drag the whole family out of bed to stand and watch. And there is no bundling up with a hot coffee, blanket, and umbrella in that nice soft fold up chair that all the other parents have...oh no we have to chase around Jalen who thinks he can be part of the game too and runs onto the field every chance he gets or steals the balls from the boys playing next to us...or finds some big hill that he could roll down right into the busy parking lot. The joys of parenting! Go girls go!!