The Rest of 2010

First of all ... SNOW!!!

Our grassy snowman was so heavy he fell over not long after this photo. We didn't even get a chance to name him ...

The snow day got Calvin's seal of approval, with a wink and a thumb's-up.

I filled some spray bottles with colored water and we painted the backyard until the kids got too cold.

Later, we found Gromit cozied up and ready for a long winter's nap. Would any other cat let their kids do stuff like this to them?

We celebrated St. Nicholas Day, as is our tradition. The kids woke up to find their stockings filled, and a gingerbread boy and girl waiting for them at the table.

Charlotte also got invited to go roller skating with our neighborhood friend. She'd never been on a playdate quite like that, so I tagged along for moral support and to snap a few photos.

The other mom and I did the YMCA, leaving my 5-year-old daughter completely embarrassed. I feel a little bad for how much I'll probably humiliate her in 8 - 10 years (and I won't even have to dance in order to do it!).

The kids were a big help making Christmas treats.

Christmas itself was a bit of a happy blur, and the very few photos I took turned out ... well, they didn't really turn out at all. We spent Christmas Eve with Robert's family, then drove back so we could wake up to Christmas morning at our own house (and we actually all slept in a little! Yay!). Then we hosted Christmas dinner for my family after all the flurries of wrapping paper and kids getting super spoiled by aunts and uncles and grandparents. After that, we celebrated my mom's birthday, then my brother's birthday, and had such a rockin' New Year with friends that we didn't come home until after breakfast the next morning.

Whew!

We then welcomed Bird E. Bird (mostly known as just Birdy) to our growing menagerie. Birdy has been a fixture at Robert's parents house ever since he was found in one of their trees about 13 years ago (?) Our house is equipped with plenty of noise and kid antics for him to enjoy from his perch high in the corner of our playroom. And we've been enjoying his chirps and funny bird ways, too.


Finally, a couple of things I made this last week. The first is a storyboard made from poster board, clear contact paper and packing tape, to help the kids reinforce storytelling and "beginning, middle and end". The second are a gaggle of cupcakes for Charlotte's class, to celebrate her half-birthday (since she has a summer birthday). I took the idea from Hello, Cupcake! ... and while they're not as good as the photo in the book, I still think they're pretty cute! And definitely delicious (I used the frosting recipe in the back of the book that uses Marshmallow Fluff).