Christmas Princess...

We are having a more traditional Christmas dinner today so Zoey decided to but on her best Christmas duds. We couldn't resist posting a few (ok a bunch) of the pictures. In case you haven't noticed it is really difficult to get her to smile once the camera is out. We managed to get on a roll this morning with the smiles so we went a bit crazy with the photo shoot.

Merry Christmas!!

One of the best things about Christmas is spending time with the family. We are very fortunate that our families are so easy to work with around the holidays. We've spent the last six years trying to make sure that we see everyone during each major holiday so this year we decided to have our first Christmas at home by ourselves. While we will see all the grandparents during the holiday season (weather permitting) we spent Christmas day at home. Thank you all for being so understanding...we love you all!

We woke up to a fresh blanket of snow...only to thankfully see it melt away before noon (still a white Christmas). Zoey opened presents for the first time only to end up pushing around an empty clothes basket as soon as there was a break in the action. If only Christmas shopping would always be this easy.

Thank you to everyone for being so flexible with Christmas plans. We can't wait to see all of you soon (assuming that it stops snowing before March)!

Here is Zoey checking out one of her many new books!

Dad spent a considerable amount of time building things with Zoey's new blocks. Zoey loved playing King Kong and was sure to knock any sculpture down before it was very tall.

While it was a bit disappointing that Zoey got a duck for Christmas (I have to admit it is a cool toy) I was proud to see her choking the crap out of it when she thought we weren't looking. Go Beavs!

Shouts of joy as Zoey scoots around on the new toy that grandpa Scott got for her!

Here is Zoey trying to hijack Mom's new slippers and also taking her new broom for a test drive! I hope she learns to use the broom and the lawn mower soon!


Taking piano lessons from Grandpa Scott on Christmas Eve.

Vacation started early!!

I do get two and a half weeks for Christmas vacation so I can't complain about having to work but....it was sure nice getting the call for the third time this week that there would be no school because of snow!!

We headed out again to play in the snow!

Zoey was still unsure about the whole snow thing.

Almost but not quite making a snow angel.

If you look carefully in the picture on the right you can see the moon. I took that one this morning at about 8:30.












Our house




















Sometimes Eryn and Zoey come to visit me at school.















While she didn't cry, she did NOT want to be on Santa's lap!

Dreaming of a snow day...

Well, it turns out the meteorologist wasn't as liquored up as we thought. The snow actually arrived this morning! It was 41 degrees here yesterday and the sun was out....I almost decided to mow the lawn.
The phone rang at 5a.m and we got the good news....NO SCHOOL! The ground was covered in 4-5 inches of snow and it was COLD! As Zoey prepared to head out to fight the elements she was wondering how many of the layers were actually necessary. It may have been 21 degrees this morning but we were not going to miss the first opportunity to play in the snow!

"Do I really have to wear this dad? All the kids are going to make fun of me!"

"Hmmm...these pants are pretty cool."

"I can't put my arms down!"

"I hope dad remembered to put the chains on this bad boy!"

The girls.

The fam.

"Hmmm...where should I face plant next?"

"Can't.....get.....up!"

"Here I am helping grandpa start a fire on Thanksgiving. It's a good thing we weren't counting on the fire for any heat. It must have taken Grandpa and Uncle Mike at least an hour to get the darn thing started!"

"I also got to visit my little cousin Brody over Thanksgiving. He is a nice little guy but he has a lot to learn."