Hitting The Not-So-Sloping Slopes!

We are back from a few days in Whistler, where the kids got to try out their new skis! One day at Ski School turned out to be over $300 a day for two kids, so they were stuck with some second-rate instruction from Mom and Dad.
Liam had surprisingly good balance and managed a few 10 second glides down hills without holding onto us...and he didn't (always) fall! Sarah was a little more like a sack of potatoes on skis, but for a first try she did great! They are both eager to get back to the slopes, so I guess we'll count this a success. Take that, Ski School!

Hanging Out

Yes, I know it's weird. But he was making an elf trap. It all makes sense now, right?

Jail Time

Liam is really into everything to do with Police: tickets, jails, fingerprinting. His favorite are his Police Legos...here he built a jail complete with parking garage for the police vehicles - and a helicopter pad to boot!


That's a Superhero Pyjama Cape he's wearing. Great for taking a fly around the living room when you need a break from all the building.

Advent

When you're a little kid, nothing tastes better than cheap chocolate first thing in the morning! (Come to think of it, I still kind of like it, too!)

The Face of an Angel...

....you simply wouldn't believe the wrath this girl is capable of.
But that's for another day....

Close....But Not Too Close

We held this years' first attempt at Santa pictures yesterday. It usually takes a couple of tries to get past the jitters, and it looks like this year will be no exception.
Here is Liam listing off his Christmas requests (walkie talkies are topping his list this year) while Sarah considers the beard from afar, and musters up some confidence.


Nope, that's as far as she goes. Here is the best of our 2011 photos "with" Santa (Round I):

Bring On The Snow!

We are back from a weekend spent playing in very fresh, very deep, very powdery snow at Mt Baker. We threw snowballs, we threw fits (ok, only Sarah did that) and we threw kids into soft (did I mention deep?) snowbanks. Matt and I haven't slid down snowy hillsides in many years and I'm pretty sure we had more fun than the kids. (Hooray for slippery snowpants!)

So Cute, It's Scary!

These two rocked Halloween. Seriously.
They practiced all day. It sounded something like this....

Sarah marches up the stairs. Loudly. At the top she shouts "Ta Da!" Liam says "You want some candy? Okay. Do you want sweet candy, salty candy, sour candy, or tuna?"

Not sure how tuna got on the menu, but they were getting the idea.
At lunch time, I put Sarah's plate in front of her and she squealed "Tinker Food!!!" She was in character and ready to go before noon.
We headed outside to take a few pictures "in character" before nightfall.....

Tinkerbell gets a police escort...


You see a twig, she sees a magic wand....


Better watch out for this guy!....


Uh-oh, looks like Tinkerbell is headed for the slammer.....


But she pulls out the charm....


All is well in Pixie Hollow....



So when the trick-or-treating hour finally arrived, we were more than prepared. Oops, forgot one important thing!:


They ran door to door shouting "Trick or Treat!" and winning smiles and candy at each one. They (usually) remembered their "Thank-you's". Sarah's little legs were moving as fast as they could and she never once asked for help. Liam should be a little bit taller this morning from all the stretching he did to reach the doorbells.
Matt and I just went along for the ride, in awe of how big the kids seem....how little help they needed, and how much they "got" the idea of Halloween. Just last year Sarah was a confused little lamb, being carried everywhere and heading home early to sleep in her crib. And only a short while before that a certain little turtle kept toppling face-first while I tried to take his photo!
They made a good Trick-or-Treating team.....and yes, there was a temporary candy free-for-all. A one-night-only event that I will surely pay for today....

Now....bring on CHRISTMAS!!!

Yet Another Pants-less Picture...

....but it was all for a good cause!

Q: How Do You Fix a Broken Jack-O-Lantern?

A: With a pumpkin patch! (The kids think this is uproariously funny.)

Carving in progress....yes, we're a little late on this. Finished product to be posted when they get all the guts out. At the rate they're going, I think they'll finish up in 2013.

"All You Need Is Faith, Trust, And a Little Pixie Dust"

We have a semi-sick Policeman here this Halloween, but that didn't stop Tinkerbell from dancing her wings off at dance class this morning. (As we headed out the door she shouted to Matt, "Goodbye, Tinker-Daddy!")




Wardrobe malfunction in progress....

And we're back!


We are taking the day off from preschool to rest up in time for Trick or Treating tonight. Hope you enjoyed this little preview of half of the cutest Halloween duo in town!

When Liam's Away, With Wheat We Will Play

The sound of a little chair scraping across the kitchen floor is a familiar one around here. When something is happening at the kitchen counter - anything at all - Sarah wants a close-up view. Grating cheese, slicing an apple, peeling potatoes, cracking an egg...putting a piece of bread in the toaster...you get the idea. The point is, Sarah is very interested in all things cooking, and spends a lot of her day dragging a chair around!
Yesterday afternoon Liam had a play date with Nan to bake some gluten free buns. With Mr. Sneezy out of the house it was the perfect opportunity to let the flour fly and get Sarah involved baking "wheat cookies" (known to the rest of the world as just "chocolate chip"). I'm not sure if it was because the two of them weren't fighting over pouring and stirring, or if it's just that gluten free cookies are exponentially more stressful to bake (they kind of are), but this was a really fun baking experience. And as Sarah is demonstrating here, we didn't even burn the bottoms!

Cookie goggles...

Finally Fall

Fall got a pretty wet start this year, but over the last week we've finally been able to enjoy some bright, crisp days. We saw a short break in our scheduled activities this morning, so we dashed outside to jump in some crunchy leaves!


And play hide-and-seek...


Yes, this shot is just as posed as you think it is...


Daddy drove by on his way to work, so the kids crossed the street for a kiss....


And then we hopped on one foot for a while. Just because. We're crazy like that.


I tried to recreate one of my favorite pictures of the two kids, but by this point they were a bit bored...

I couldn't get them both on board...


And then the sillies set in...

It got goofier and goofier...

...until I promised them pancakes for lunch if they would give me just one nice smile.


They do like pancakes.

I.T.

I've never been terribly interested in technology. I use it. And when it works, I'm happy. When it doesn't....I lose interest. Fortunately I've always been surrounded by people who "get" how technology works behind it's glossy shell and can "set up," "fix," "recover," and (big admission coming here), "install updates" when necessary. Thanks Matt and Mike! :)
But is there a "best before" date on keeping up with the latest tech advances? I'm not taking any chances, so I'm raising a small IT department. They are confident. They are efficient. They have taught me more ipad shortcuts than I care to admit here. And they do it all while looking oh-so-cute in jammies and pigtails. Here are my new hires:


*Edit: Yes, I know that's an iPhone, not an iPad!

Searching For Shells

Nope, not seashells. Rifle shells.* I love this photo of Sarah and Nan...


...what I don't love is the sound of brass shells clinking in the dryer, more than a month later! The kids must have scooped a hundred of them into their pockets!
* If you're wondering why....just.....why....(???) we had an opportunity to try out the Olympic biathlon shooting range on a recent trip to Whistler. No, the kids were not anywhere near the line of fire. And yes, we were all pretty good shots! :)

Big Cow

Sarah: "You like my big cow, Mom?"
Me: "Sure do, Sarah."
Sarah: "Yeah? Thank you, Mom."

I'll file this one under "Unexpected Exchanges With The Kids".

Home Remedies

What do you do when you're under the weather?
Sarah finds herself a cozy stair to curl up on....


Liam develops an elaborate recipe turned business start-up that includes apple, orange and lemon juice, dehydrating machines and sharp knives. It'll all cost you $3. I did record a video of him detailing his cure, but the boy is long-winded. I don't think blogger can handle that kind of video. :)
Long story short, the kids picked up some kind of bug the first week of school. We're snuggling, drinkling lots of tepid honey/lemon water, watching movies and burning the midnight oil when Liam's cough starts raging at night time. And laundry. Lots and lots of laundry.
Next year I think we'll just skip the first week of school!

Tiny Tutu's

Imagine you're in a room full of adorable two year old girls. They're all wearing pink and purple tutus and parading around like little birds just hatched from an egg. They're chirping "tweet, tweet!" and flapping their arms and smiling and giggling and feeling oh-so-pretty.
Are you going to barf?
This was the scenario I found myself in this morning at Sarah's first ballet class. And because I'm her Mom and have been envisioning this moment from the instant we heard "it's a girl!" I couldn't stop grinning. Even though I knew the cuteness factor bordered on revolting.
So without further adieu, here she is! Our little ballerina....



That tummy! Those chubby fingers! The pigtails! Oh! Oh! Oh! I can't take it!!!!


Each girl had a little square mat to stand on. When Sarah saw them she shouted "Look Mom! iPads!" No, we do not typically dance on our iPad....


Ballerinas get itchy, too...


Sigh....


Learning some foot work (they call this one "rainbow")...

Plie...


Making a "pizza"...


Little birds hatching out of their shells....


Tickling toes....


Tickling the stars....


Her favorite part was whenever they got to run around in circles and "dance" to the music - especially when the silk scarves were involved! But I would say she loved the whole experience, from the outfit, to the teacher (who she knew from a summer program), to the dancing, and especially to having an audience.


And speaking of the audience...here is her biggest fan! Whenever Sarah would dance by us, Liam would chant "Go, Sarah, Go!" Not your typical ballet cheer, but it was nice to see him being so supportive.


I think I'm going to like Mondays. :)