Snowshoes

This is how far the boys got on the igloo before it collapsed under the melting snow, and by the next day you could see the grass. We took off yesterday for Mt. Baker so the kids could try out their new snowshoes. It was a fun day, once we got over the arguing over wrong turns and best places to hike (but it was all done with love and stuff. Whatever, my road would have gotten us there faster.)

Here we are on the right road.

Olivia, Henry, and Jack are waiting for Grace to figure out how to walk. They're way ahead of us on the trail.
She finally masters it, but lasts about 10 minutes before Dad plopped her in the sled and kept on trekking.

The Shoecracker Ballet

There was a little bartering by the boys against wearing ties, and as you can see, they won.

The orchestra pit

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I am bloated from too much food and champagne, but in a good way. The kids had a very happy Christmas, despite five packages not making it through the snow and ice. When (if?) they finally do arrive, I'm probably just going to stick them in a closet for awhile. I mean, does any of us need Grace to have a real Hannah Montana microphone? Christmas Eve rocked with a trip over to America to see PNB's The Nutcracker. Everyone loved it.

Well, Jack did say, "It didn't suck as much as I thought it would", but I'm pretty sure that meant he loved it.

Here we are on the ferry.

We had to walk through a little snow and slush to get to the theater.

We arrived early, so we walked to the Seattle Center so the kids could operate the Christmas train. Don't they look so cute?

Mitch scored fab front row seats, which was great, because you could see a LOT of detail. In fact, I felt the seats shaking every time the male ballet dancers came out from Henry trying to stifle his giggles.

Snowbound

We're sitting here waiting for the next big storm. It's below freezing outside and the kids have deemed it too cold to play out there, except for briefly yesterday when their brother trapped them in the chicken yard, as you can see below. Don't worry, I washed their snowsuits in 130 degree water. I also let them paint ornaments with acrylic, non-washable paint, AND glitter glue. I know! But the glitter is trapped in the glue, see, and it can't spread like an unstoppable disease when it's trapped in the glue. Also, notice that my girls haven't gotten dressed or combed their hair in three days. Mother of the year!
So, we've stocked up on batteries and booze in anticipation of losing power (high winds expected). I also let the kids make Christmas cookies without any of my control-freak interventions. 'Tis the season and hohoho and all that. I just gave them each a ball of dough and a rolling pin and threw a pile of cookie cutters out. And yes, I have four rolling pins. Kitchen gadgets are one of my many sicknesses. There are no updates on the igloo, since the only progress made has been of the dog pissing all over the entry way. It's too cold-the snow doesn't stick.


Dear Santa, these cookies can be yours for the price of a small belt (this photo is blurry because I was shaking, trying to keep from reacting to the kids spraying frosting and sprinkles all over the kitchen).

White

Since I snapped this at 8am, we've gotten five more inches. Everyone stayed home today and worked on building an igloo. This is layer one. I'll update as it gets higher, or Mitch and Jack kill each other, which ever comes first.

Catching snowflakes. Perhaps Seamus loves the snow most of all:

List of my dorkitude. Part 1.

Anyone who doesn't have an adolescent at home should really run right out and get one. Having one is more fun that sliding down a rusty razor into a pool of battery acid. Here is a small sampling of the reasons I am a big dork in the eyes of an adolescent:

1. I listen to Christmas music in December

2. I use punctuation when texting, not to mention that I JUST learned to text after my adolescent figured out what was wrong with my cell phone.

3. I don't abbreviate when texting.

4. I'm always asking where he's going, and saying hello to his friends. Parents should not be seen or heard.

5. I think wearing a coat when it's 20 degrees outside is a good idea.

6. I tidy up when people are coming to visit. Don't I want them to know the "real me"?

7. I have lame music on my lame mp3 player.

8. I made my adolescent sit on Santa's lap for a picture this year.

This is not a comprehensive list. In fact, in looking it over, I think there's a lot of room for improvement. I hope to quadruple this list by the time my adolescent returns to school in January.

At last!

Snow day.

Bah Humbug, but in a good way. Really.

Dear friends and family. Look at the calendar! It's December 11. Now, look up to the top of your screen. There's your Chrismas card from us this year. What do you mean, that's the card we used last year? Haven't you heard? Recycling is the new black. We're just doing our part. Oh, I suppose I could have made some fabulous and quirky Christmas card over the past two weeks while we were busy installing floors. The truth is, I was far to busy sitting in a corner, banging my head against the wall and wiping drool on my sleeve. Also, I bought two premade gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate this year. I know! No slaving away for two days in the kitchen, cutting Mitch's blueprints out of gingerbread dough, melting candies into stained glass windows. I'm cutting back on things I don't think the kids really care about in favor of actually spending time hanging out with them.

SERENITY NOW!

The goose is getting fat

Look! It's our very own toy soldier. Jack was in the big Christmas parade on Saturday, marching with the high school band. I know he's not in high school, but he's a warm body, and in Coupeville, that's pretty much all you need. Also, when I said "big" Christmas parade, I meant it lasted about 20 minutes, but a good time was had by all, thanks to copious amounts of candy being passed out.

We also got our tree this weekend. Doesn't it look like a wholesome family outing? Picture the opinions of five, um, opinionated people and one sullen adolescent all trying to agree on which tree was "the one". Henry wanted it to be huge, Grace wanted to to be pretty, Olivia wanted it to not be touching any other trees, Mitch wanted it to be architecturally relevant (my words, but that's what I think he meant when describing his opinion of a good tree), and I wanted it to not be a Douglas fir so I wouldn't be vacuuming up needles every day. Jack was cold and wanted to go home, because he's way too cool to wear a real coat. In the end, we got a lovely noble fir, and went home to watch Mitch tinker with our ancient, but architecturally relevant tree stand long enough for the tree to actually fall over on my head. Under the threat of divorce, he finally conceded and bought a new, ugly but sturdy tree stand. Happy Holidays, baby.

All that glitters

Henry's second grade teacher informed me today that she usually only gets the glitter out once a year. Today was my volunteer day. Guess what I got to be in charge of?