White out

Of course the day we decide to run all around town is the day we get a blizzard.  I can't complain too much.  Our last two winters have had little to no snow.  We now have at least 8 inches.  I see lots of sledding and snow men in our future!

7

Our girl turned 7 today.  She acts much more like a teen than a 7 year old so this birthday didn't seem to catch us as off guard as some of the others have in the past.

Shes still sassy and spunky.  She tells it like it is all the time.  She doesn't take any garbage from her brothers, but she still has a soft side and loves to be praised and appreciated.  Ben and aunt Corrie are two of her favorite people.  However, she still talks about how cool aunt Marie is because she bought Ellie ice cream two months ago when we were visiting them on vacation. 
She's taken on some new challenges over the past few months and is doing amazing.  Her reading has dramatically improved over the past two months although she doesn't think its necessary to practice if its not during school hours.  She still loves pink, but tells us her favorite color is now blue.  I think thats only because Bens favorite color is blue.  Sophia the First is still a favorite show.  She prefers vanilla to chocolate and is still our healthiest and most adventurous eater.  She still wants to wear a dress any chance she gets and loves to play make up with her friend. She loves her baby dolls still considers Charlie her baby.  She loves to help us cook and prefers to be outside, as long as someone is out with her.  Shes fiercely independent, as long as someone is near by to keep her company.  She's definitely one of a kind!

Ellie picked donuts for breakfast today, flank steak for lunch and pizza for dinner.  We made cake with blue frosting and Ellie frosted it on her own.  She got some fun gifts and has some ice skating in her near future. 

White Christmas

We had a white Christmas for the first time in a quite a few years.  We ended up with 4 or 5 inches and the kids are thrilled.

We had our typical Christmas Eve: church, A Christmas Story and The Night Before Christmas read by Jon.  Once the kids were upstairs, the adults watched White Christmas and enjoyed some quiet. 

We had a quiet Christmas at home.  The kids got some really cool stuff including a trip to Disney!  We aren't going until next year, but at least they'll have time to save up some money for those overpriced souvenirs! 

We're excited to have Jon home for a while and we're looking forward to a birthday on Friday!  Its going to be a good end to 2017.

Santa time

War time

Ben just taught Zach how to play chess.  I think he was sick of Zach beating him at checkers!

Snow

We finally have a decent amount of snow.  After playing outside the only thing to do is relax by the fire with your dog.

Cookie Day

Cookie day 2017 was a huge success!

Christmas concert

The boys had their co-ops Christmas concert tonight.  Ben was very excited to get dressed up and sing for us.  Sam and Zach didn't even flinch when they walked into a room full of people.  They all did awesome and had a great night.

Family time

I'm over you Catch -22

It took 25ish years, but I've finally read Joseph Hellers Catch-22.  I picked up the book a couple times in high school, but I could never make it past the first few chapters.  It was weird, kind of boring and I just couldn't keep all the characters straight.  Just before our vacation in October, I saw it in the library.  It was the 50th anniversary edition.  Its a classic so it has to be good, right?  Maybe I wasn't mature enough to appreciate it in high school.  I picked it up and was determined to read it...all of it.  After almost 2 months, I have finally finished it.  Thats two months, I'll never get back.  Its ridiculous, backwards and in many ways, juvenile.  Reading reviews of the book from veterans praising Heller for his accurate portrayal of military life makes me even more annoyed.  If that is (was) an accurate portrayal of our military, how have we not been taken over by pretty much any other country on the planet?  A few times I had hopes that I was turning a corner and was on the up swing, but it would go right back to the childish conversations I'd grown accustomed to reading.  Reading descriptions of the book, made me want to like it.  I tried really hard to lighten up and see the humorous side, but when the end of the book turned our "hero" into a coward, I was let down yet again.  I'm glad to have finally finished the book after all this time, but I'm more than ready to move on to something that doesn't make me want to throw it across the room every time I pick it up!

Resting

It was a busy holiday weekend!

Chores

I love it when they think chores are fun!

Tree day

As always, tree day was just as popular as Thanksgiving.  I don't think they put any ornaments on the sides or back of the tree.  Every single ornament we own seems to be clustered on the front, and its awesome!

Thanksgiving

We've been counting down the days until Thanksgiving.  We stuck with our traditions of watching the parade, cinnamon rolls for breakfast and checking out all the black Friday deals.  It was a long wait for turkey, but it was so worth it.  Jons turkey gets better each year.  We enjoyed relaxing with Jons family and the kids were excited to end the night lighting up the house.  We're ready to start the Christmas craziness.

Legos

Sam put together a complex "car" in his Lego robotics class and then put a motor on it. 

Next!

Ellie decided TKD wasn't for her, but Zach was more than willing to take her place.  Check out that white belt!

#3

She lost her third tooth last night, but it wins 1st place for most awful loss!  Thank goodness for Jon because loose teeth are super gross!

The boys

Snow

Thank goodness we have her to help us shovel!

Recorder time!

Blue Belt Test

No worries, its supposed to look like that!

Trick or treat

Our gang.

The whole gang!

Hockey

Ellie and Zach went to their first hockey game this weekend.  They had a blast. 

I was surprised that Ellie loved the fights as much as we do. 

1 week

7 days into the new routine and we're all surviving.

A little more vacation

Since we were at Great Wolf Lodge for Sams actual birthday, we wanted to make sure we did something fun on Zachs birthday.  We headed up to Marblehead for rock climbing which is always a favorite. 

After, we headed to the animal safari to feed the giraffes... and a few other animals too.

Zach was in heaven.  He fed a few and got up close to all of them.  Jon didn't get slobbered on this time so he was just as happy as Zach.

We headed home for cookies and presents and an early bed time.

Vacation cont.

We left family and headed to Great Wolf Lodge to officially celebrate 2 birthdays. 

We got a cabin with bunk beds and the kids thought they were the coolest things ever!

Zach can now swim underwater and Ellie has finally let go of her nose when she swims underwater.  They all loved the water slides and thought it was one of the coolest places they've ever been.

Sam turned 9 and Zach is now 6.  I've been looking at baby pictures of the boys recently and I can't believe how fast the past few years have gone.  Fortunately they both love their mom and are willing to continue to snuggle, give hugs and kisses and hold hands.  That makes them getting older somewhat bearable!

More vacation

We spent a few days seeing the Charlotte sights, hanging out with a couple of crazy boys and enjoying some down time.

Zachary lost his first tooth while we were gone.  Its been trying to come out for 2 weeks.  He was so relieved.

We also celebrated birthdays with really good cake and presents.