Snow Day!!!

After the freezing rain everything was covered in ice and it was so beautiful

Stunning





Ridley was shivering as our house was in the 50's so I put her winter coat on and covered her up with Oliver's blanket and sleeping bag!

The dogs had a great time frolicking in the street.

Brrrrrr.

I love all their little faces in this picture!

Look at the upper right hand corner of this picture...John & Jerry were throwing huge snow balls at them as they passed.

Uh-oh...look out Uncle John!

Payback time!!!

Berkeley kept making snow balls that weighed almost as much as she does.

Finley tasting snow for the first time!

Gracie fell in exhaustion after so much playing!

These 2 aren't tired yet...another round Dad!!!

Well, we had our first snow of the season last weekend and boy, did it do a number on us. It started out beautiful over the weekend and we didn't mind when it continued on Monday since the kids were off of school for the Martin Luther King holiday. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday every school in the state (except one) was closed due to bad roads. So, Tom was going to go into work a couple hours late to let the snow plows work their magic. He decided that since he was home he would fire up an old John Deere tractor that runs (after about 3 jumps), but no longer mows. So, he tied up an old tube to the back of the John Deere and took the kids on a wild ride up and down the street. As you can see by their little faces they absolutely loved it. Gracie came out and took a spin as well and then a snow ball fight broke out! Jerry came as all the kids were on the tube and I think he didn't want to ruin the moment by going into the office so we let the dogs run free to chase the tractor and play in the snow. They ended up doing most of their work from home that day and the kids had a blast. They came in to rest for a little while and warm up and then round 2 began after Finley went down for her nap.

The news kept mentioning that we were supposed to get freezing rain on Wed night and I kept hoping they were wrong. They weren't. We lost power sometime Wed night and Thursday morning the house was freezing so we headed over to Jer's house for the afternoon to stay warm hoping our power would be restored soon. We lost hope as we watched the news and found out over 100,000 people were without power and all the runways at the airport were closed except one. So around lunch time the boys came back to Jer's for lunch and right in the middle of making lunch his power went out. Long story short, we have been without power for 5 days and just got it back on tonight around 5:00. Verl was kind enough to let us borrow the generator from the restaurant so we had a little bit of light and could watch movies. Our next door neighbor rewired our furnace and ran it through the generator so we could get some heat! We are so thankful!!! We are leaving for Hawaii on Wed. That's right, not tomorrow, but the next day so I am thankful we have power so I can get started on my mountain of laundry. I have never been so excited to do laundry in my whole life. Tom put on his last clean socks & underwear this morning. Wow, going through that sure makes me thankful for all of the modern day conveniences that we have. It's so easy to take it for granted & forget how good we have it until we lose it!

Cute!

Sweet Girls

The day after Christmas Berkeley & Finley laid down on the couch together and Berk covered them up with a new super soft blanket so they were all warm and cuddly. Finley had her new cat and she was happy to share it with sister as they rested together. Then they started laughing and being goofy as soon as the camera made it's appearance. I am so glad they are good little friends. Berkeley is incredibly sweet with Fin and Fin just adores her big sister. I am excited for them to share a room so that bond just gets stronger and stronger. Sisters are so special and I'm glad my girls will get to experience that!

Christmas Day 2011

Finley was excited for Christmas morning!

Berkeley got all kinds of new horse paraphernalia and she was delighted!

Oliver has wanted one of these bouncy balls for a looong time!

Waiting to start presents!

Oliver was very patient while he waited his turn

Mason was all dressed up for Christmas...on his top half he was a chef and on his bottom half he was a plumber :)

Oh boy! A brand new doll!!!

Finley hopped right up on Hudson's lap to cuddle with him while he watched the game and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about that!

The big kids enjoyed a game of poker after dinner

The little kids enjoyed a movie after dinner

Finley LOVES her cousin Gracie!

More cuddling! Hudson - I have a feeling you're going to have to get used to all the girls wanting to cuddle with you. It's part of being so adorable :)

On Christmas morning (Sunday) Oliver woke up at 7:18 and Tom ushered him back to bed for a few minutes longer. At 7:28 he made his way back into our room along with Berkeley and they laid quietly in bed with us for another 15 minutes. Finally, when we thought they could no longer stand it, we went downstairs and discovered our tree full of presents!!! They were so sweet and thought we should wait for Finley to wake up to begin opening. While we waited, we opened/assembled all the gifts from Christmas Eve that never got put together and played with at Chris & Laura's house. Finley didn't wake up till 9:00 and we were so proud of them for waiting nearly 2 hours without ever once bugging us or begging to start opening presents. The highlights from Santa were: a basketball and hoop for Oliver to practice on, a rocking horse for Berkeley and a baby doll for Finley. After we quickly got everything cleaned up, kids dressed and car packed we headed over to Verl & Sherri's house at 10:30 for brunch.

As soon as we got there and got the kids in the door we realized we forgot all the presents. Tom thought I had packed them and I thought he had packed them so I ran back home to retrieve them! When brunch was over and we were all settled we began opening presents! The kids got all kinds of fun new things and played with their cousins. Andy & Andrea came up from California so the kids were thrilled to play with Blake & Mason. After presents we went to visit Grandma Sam and then ran home to nap all the kids. We woke them up at 5:00 and were back on the road to be back at Verl & Sherri's house for dinner by 5:30. After a delicious meal the boys played poker while the gals visited and the kids played and watched a movie. At 9:30 we came home, brushed & flossed the kids and collapsed!!!

Oliver woke up with a terrible cough & cold on Tuesday morning so we laid low and did absolutely nothing for the next few days. The following Friday we drove to the ranch in Yelm (one of Sherri's brother's has a friend with a huge "cabin" that we all stay at every New Years) and arrived there around 6:00. I ended up laying down with Finley because she wouldn't sleep in the pack-n-play since we were in a new house full of "strangers". It was a miserable night. She was awake the whole entire night and so were we. I don't know how people sleep with their kids. It is absolutely miserable!!! Every time I looked at her her eyes were wide open, but at least she layed in bed the whole night. She laid sideways and every time we tried to turn her straight she'd move back so Tom and I had the very edges of the bed. The next morning she had one of the most terrible colds she has ever had. Tom finally took her for a car ride to put her to sleep and by the time he reached the end of the driveway she was out. We left after dinner that night and when we got home we brushed & flossed everyone and again fell completely exhausted into bed. We are so exciting that we were in bed by 10:30 on New Year's Eve!!! Finley ended up sleeping for 16 hours straight and woke up the next afternoon a complete wreck. Her cold was horrendous and her eyes were practically swollen shut and her nose was like a faucet that never stopped running. Just yesterday she got some of her "perk" back and her nose is finally starting to dry up. Now it's just all in her chest. Berk went back to school today and we are all glad to be back on a routine. Having kids and doing everything for Christmas sure does make me thankful for all the years my parents did it. Parents always have a way of making everything look and seem so effortless, but boy, is it taxing!!! Loads of fun, but utterly exhausting!!! I would normally say I can't wait to do it all again next year, but that wouldn't be entirely true. I am going to savor the next 11 months of relative "calm" until the craziness starts all over again :)