Snow day...the real deal!

Well, I think we've had our last winter hurrah. We woke up to about 5 inches of snow this morning. The kids, dressed in their hodgepodge of snow clothes, ran out first thing. They went sledding, made snow angels, and shoveled the driveway. Fun morning!

Pinewood Derby

Our ward recently had a Pinewood Derby activity. Nathan and Jared created a Batmobile for the competition. As goes the tradition, Jared was more excited than Nathan about the whole thing. Jared was thrilled that it actually made it down the length of the track.

When I turn my back...

Rachel strikes! Her mission in life is to torment her baby brother. I must say "Leave your brother alone" about a million times throughout the day. I was vacuuming and couldn't hear the cries of help from Matthew. When I walked in his room, I found him buried alive. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied, "He wanted a toy." Well, he certainly got one!

3 Going on 13

Happy birthday to Rachel! It was a "girls just wanna have fun" day for Rachel and me. We had a great day at the Children's Museum and enjoyed a gourmet meal (kid style) at McDonald's. The video clip proves that no one likes to get older...

Merry Christmas

Plunging into the gifts...

Giving thanks...

Sleeping on the job

After visiting Santa, Nathan was inspired to stay on the "nice" list, so he created a leaf raking company called "The Friendly Raking Guy." I called the home phone from Jared's cell phone and hired him to rake the leaves in our front yard. He started the job with a zeal that only a 6 year old with a HUGE rake would have. After about 20 minutes, I looked outside and saw this...

Santa strikes again...

We thought we'd be smart by getting there before the doors opened, but apparently everyone had the same thought and we found ourselves in a scene from "The Christmas Story." Like Ralphie, Nathan couldn't wait to get to the front of the line. I had been coaching Rachel the entire morning and whispered bribes in her ear while we waited in line, "Mommy just wants a good picture, so if you don't cry, you'll get a treat," "Santa is so nice, just smile for the picture," etc. We had high hopes of no tears this year but alas, Santa struck again!

Matthew's first visit with Santa. He wasn't impressed.

Happier times while we waited 45 minutes in line.