How low can he go?

Yesterday we woke up to SNOW!!!

...and there was no school.

There was snow, then rain, then snow again.

It made for some heavy, wet snow removal.

It also made good packing snow,

which meant a snowman appeared!

 He was sad when the kids went inside.

 As the day wore on, the snowman started

leaning.

We wondered if he would make it through the night...

...and he did!

The kids all laughed as they passed by the leaning snowman on their way to school.

Now we're all wondering

just how low he can go?

sisters

Friendly Winter

metal mouth: GONE.

 Almost three years ago this little girl

got her braces on.

This morning, she got them off.

Her teeth are out of jail!

...Hoo boy...

Now I'm sort of considering putting HER in jail until she's about 27.

It's not so bad, I've heard...

three square meals a day,

educational training,

...and NO boys.

It was not lost on me today that the moments I enjoyed most were watching my kids laugh.
I enjoyed watching my son sneak peas under the lettuce in the salad of my daughter who loathes them.  The rest of them waited in patient conversation for the moment that they were discovered.
I enjoyed watching a sister induce perma-grin on her younger brother.
I enjoyed watching some kitchen dancing.
I maybe even enjoyed watching two girls illegally bounce a ball around the family room together, giggling, where I threatened that they stop before something breaks.
I especially enjoyed the ukelele-strumming Enrique who laid on the family room floor and spun in circles while he picked through Bob Dylan's version of Hallelujah.
It's the little stuff, really.

Still Cleaning Up

On New Year's Eve our theme was cops and robbers.  The kids and I had fun decorating the house for the party.  If I had known about the post party body count (due to party-induced germ-sharing) ahead of time, I would have just asked all 40 attendees to find a spot on the floor to lie down so that we could make a physical note of the suffering that was to come.  From the intel I've been able to gather, almost half of the party-goers came down with a grueling case of the stomach bug.  Five long days later, we're still picking each other up.  The only thoughts I've had about entertaining are along the lines of NEVER hosting a large party gathering again.  I have Holiday Party PTSD.  For reals.  Just the mental image of the buffet brings on the gag reflex.  I've become the hand-washing militant, and snack-eating police. 

 ("Get your germy hands out of that pretzel bag and pour yourself a bowl!") 

I swear my stomach is still gurgling.

What a party MESS.

Welcome Welcome 2013!

There's no better way to bid the old year adieu and welcome in the new one than with a houseful of friends and family

(and a jolly good midnight run around the house barefoot in the snow).

 Farewell 2012 and a GRAND welcome to 2013.

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR to you.