Thanksgiving

We have a tradition of usually visiting Ken's mom in Sunriver for Thanksgiving. In the past we have sometimes had snow so the kids were really hoping for snow. It had snowed a few weeks before and there was a little bit of snow remaining on the sides of the street. 

 The kids had to use the snow to throw snowballs at dad.

 Have I mentioned how hard it is to get a picture of this kiddo. He is always moving.

Ken got this shot of our little guy. Yes he is wearing pink boots and a purple hat. 

That is called hand me downs and we couldn't find his in the chaos of trying to get him outside.

My sweet first born boy.

Grandma Susan had this hat and we loved it for Midge since she has the most gorgeous brown eyes.

Here's Little Miss Sunshine who refused to wear gloves. 

I swear she thinks she is in the islands half the time.

Right when we sat down to have have Thanksgiving dinner it started

 to snow and the kids were so excited.

The next day we got to take the kids to Mavericks. 

 Have I mentioned that this kid is a nut.

 Pure joy!

 The kids were thrilled that they got to sit in the outdoor hot tub.

 How much do you want to bet that this is going to be Huck in a few years!

 Our older two were having a diving contest. Is it just me or do they suddenly look older? Every once in a while I get a glimps of what these two are going to look like and act like. They are amazing kids.

Later that night we took the kids to the lodge for the illumination ceremony. We had not been there for 4 years and we were hoping it hadn't gotten to big. We knew we were in trouble when we couldn't even park in the lot, but had to get bused in. There were hundreds of people there and it got a little crazy. Before Santa arrived they had the kids look up into the sky to try and see him land.

When Santa arrived the kids could barely see him over the crowds. Luckily they parted the crowd right by us and we got to see them walk by. Little Miss couldn't contain her excitement she jumped out in front of Santa and gave him a huge hug.

The night was really cold so we decided to take the kids home and make some carmel apples, pop some popcorn, enjoy the fire and watch some movies. 

Family Attempts at a Photo

When I was a kid every year we took a family photograph. I know there was a lot of grumbling, but I really like looking back at those photographs now. I think it is telling that a lot of the pictures locations got closer and closer to home (ie. the backyard) over the years. I also know that we always joke that the things going on behind the scenes are always more telling then the final picture. We have tried to keep the family tradition going with a yearly family picture. True to form it is still difficult to take a great pictures, and often the behind the scenes stuff is the craziest part. (Let's just say you would not have wanted to see me a few minutes before we loaded in the car when I screamed at my complaining children, "Just in the car so we can take the stupid family picture so one day you will appreciate it") 

When you see the final picture you won't understand the effort and work that went in to it. Like for example the fact that Ken had to keep slipping Huck M&M's to be happy during the photographs.

Or that we had to convince Midge that her in a tree while the rest of the family was on the ground was not exactly the family picture we were thinking of. In the end though isn't family about compromise, which is why the kids are in the tree and Ken and I are on the ground.

Or there was this lovely picture where we tried to convince Huck to hold Little Miss's hand...

 but he didn't want to. Run, boy, run.

Of course you don't get to see any of the funny stuff like me clicking the timer button, running back to the family, while jumping at just the right moment over a pile of dog poop...until I forgot to jump. 

Yep fun times. Isn't that what family is all about...missing the crap until it surprises you and you run right through it, only to find that your family is waiting on the other side...to laugh at you.

 Shouldn't that be a Hallmark card or something.

You don't get to see the final photo yet. That will come later, but at least we can end on this note. 

Preschool

You know how you get those thoughts into your head and then it doesn't quite work out the way you thought it would. So I had preschool the morning after Halloween, and I thought it would be fun to have the kids wear their costumes from the night before and have a silly celebration. I envisioned fun games, silly crafts and lots of fun. The reality was tired grumpy kids who were on the down side of a sugar crash the worst of whom was my daughter who was not going to get back into that "stupid" costume despite how much I begged and pleaded. At some point everyone of the kids was crying...and no I am not ashamed to admit I wanted to shed a few tears too. From these pictures you would have thought we were having a great time despite all of the above.

 The cuties in their Halloween costumes (ignore Miss Stubborn)

 Playing pin the face on the pumpkin.

 Posing with our monster cupcakes.