Cookies and Snow

We got about a foot of snow this week. The boys had a good time "helping" Greg shovel - which means that they shovel for about 30 seconds and then play.

Sweet little face.

Ryan especially loves the snow. He spent a lot of time outside yesterday creating a sledding path and then swinging and sliding on his playset.

We also made gingerbread cookies this week. I really wasn't up to making and decorating Christmas cookies this year - but these were pretty easy and the boys liked decorating their own cookies.

Santa Claus 2011

Ryan and Luke are so excited about Christmas this year. Luke asked Santa for a stuffed animal snake (not sure why) and Ryan asked for a remote-controlled robot. Nana also made the boys advent calendars. They are designed to hold one Hershey's kiss per day. On the morning of Dec. 4, Ryan woke up early and ate his 20 remaining kisses for breakfast. The next day I discovered that he had eaten 7 of Luke's kisses, as well. Looking at this picture above really shows me how much they have grown up in the past year - I don't think they will fit on Santa's lap next year. Here are the Santa pictures from the last few years.

Waiting patiently for Santa. Actually, Greg waited patiently for Santa while the boys and I hung out at the Lego store.

We also went on our annual neighborhood hay ride a few weeks ago. It was really cold.

Poor Santa had already spent 3 hours on the hay ride before we got there - he looks really cold and tired at this point. It had snowed a lot the day before and I think it was only around 15 degrees that evening.

We stayed bundled up and warmed ourselves up afterwards with hot chocolate.


Lastly, a video of Ryan making his gingerbread house. He did a lot more eating than making. He has to be one of the most sweet-obsessed boys ever. I can understand that - I snuck a lot of candy and sugar when I was a kid, but I turned out ok.

November in Review

Busy month with little to no time to post. So here is a brief review.




The boys had their first science project at school. They had to determine how big their alligators would grow in water or in water with another substance. Ryan's alligator was in sugar water and Luke's was in apple juice. After 7 days, the apple juice had a thick layer of mold on top - it was very disgusting. Part of the project was forming a hypothesis, graphing the size of their alligators each day, and writing about the outcome. Ultimately, the alligator in water grows bigger than the alligator in another substance.


Ryan was Star of the Week during Thanksgiving. He got make a poster and then bring his class bear home with the bear's journal. Scruffy had an eventful week. He got to eat Thanksgiving dinner with us, ride the train downtown, and see the Lion King.

Me and the boys, plus Nana, Grandad, Uncle Todd, Aunt Conny, Jacob and Olivia went to see The Lion King the day after Thanksgiving. We had great seats and the boys loved it. We even got to take a picture with young Simba and Nala afterwards.

My whole family came this year for Thanksgiving and it was really great to have everyone together. The plan on Sunday was to go snow tubing in the mountains, but Ryan woke up in the middle of the night sick, so he and I stayed home while everyone else headed up. From what all the kids said, they had a blast.

Lastly, Nana made Gingerbread houses with all of the kids. They loved it and Conny and I loved that we didn't have to do ourselves.

Overall, November was a good, but busy month. Greg was gone almost every week, so the boys and I were in our normal strict schedule required survival mode. Thanksgiving was great, but exhausting (mainly because we all get sick at the end of the week). We're looking forward to having Christmas break and hanging out around the house.