Too Much Free Time

This is a house just down the road, and we drive by it every morning on the way to school. Conner and Cayden look for it every day, and are amazed, as I am sure most people are.  Yes, this guy built a wall/castle of snow in front of his house, complete with a door to get down his front walk and Christmas lights.  The wall of snow is slightly taller than his house.  He apparently has way too much time on his hands.

25 Random Things About Me

For those on Facebook, you've seen this. For those not on Facebook, I just thought I'd share. Oh, and I think you should join facebook! Yes, it can be addicting, but doesn't have to be, and it is so fun to catch up with friends.

1. I LOVE running my toes (and fingers) through sand....so much so, that a friend once brought me back some sand from her vacation as a gift.
2. Prior to child #3 I couldn't go to bed without cleaning up the play room, now I cannot clean the play room without going to bed first.
3. I was terrified to move to the snow, but now I actually love it - as long as I have my down jacket, warm boots, and can park in the garage.
4. I cannot stand air blowing directly at me - I hate fans.
5. I will never own a mini-van. I think driving my parents 1980's Toyota van in high school is the reason for this.....
6. I attended three different schools and still finished college in 4 1/2 years.
7. The first car I ever bought was a standard transmission, and I had NEVER driven a stick shift before. The salesman taught me how to drive it in the Berkeley hills. He must have been really desperate!
8. I love, love, love ice cream!
9. I get horribly sick when pregnant, and lose weight for the first 4 months.
10. I don't watch very much TV, but cannot miss LOST and Grey's
11. Our three children were all born in different cities, and we did not live in any of them.
12. I do not want pets, I already have too many things to do, and messes to clean up.
13. I love clean windows, shoveled sidewalks (in the snow, of course), organized closets, empty laundry baskets, and crossing things off my to do list. (I have actually added things to my "to do" list that I had already accomplished, just so I could cross off more items.)
14. My mom paid me on a few occasions to clean and organize her pantry.
15. I paid for college waiting tables.
16. I was born in Berkeley and graduated from UC Berkeley
17. My first job after graduating from UC Berkeley paid less than the job I had waiting tables while attending UC Berkeley. (but who wants to wait tables for ever?)
18. Scary movies really freak me out, and I still remember not sleeping for weeks after I (age 10??) watched the Shining at the Jeffers' house while my parents were on a cruise.
19. I do not like to shop at places like Ross and Marshall's because I get a headache looking through the thousands of unorganized items. I know, I am missing a lot of good deals.
20. I LOVE chocolate & peanut butter, but it needs to be in the correct proportions.
21. I love to scrapbook, and I even teach classes. (I've been known to dress my kids up so that their pictures will match the scrapbook paper - okay, this was for a class I was teaching on matching colors in your photo to your layout...but still, OCD)
22. I do not like carpet in bathrooms and eating areas, and for the life of me, cannot understand why anyone would ever do such a thing. (Hence, our new hardwood in the dining room!)
23. I never graduated from junior high. Yep, that's right! Just dropped out, went to work, and then enrolled in high school the following year. Still not sure how we got away with that one.
24. I love staying at home with my children, and wouldn't trade it for anything - I feel lucky that I am able to do so! I love them so much, even when they make me crazy sometimes.
25. I love my husband, and think he is the best husband & dad in the whole world!

Finally!!

Allison will be 10 months old in a couple days, and she is finally sleeping through the night.  (I know, ridiculous....and, yes, I have been jealous while so many of you are posting how well your babies are sleeping at 2 and 3 months!)  I was nervous to even say it out loud for fear it would stop, but it has been almost a week, and she is doing great!  I know we will still have a few bad nights here and there, but at least we are well on our way.  Hallelujah!!! 

Two Jammies

For some reason, Cayden insists on wearing two pairs of pj's.  I promise we have our heat on.  I think it started last week when he couldn't decide which of his two favorite pj's to wear - so he put on both and has done it every night since.  Tonight, Keir caught him on video.

The end of the video was cut short, but Cayden says. "I'm cozy!" as he poses for the camera.

Wintersköl

We attended the annual Wintersköl celebration in Aspen last week with the Enloe family, and even though I am not really sure what Wintersköl is, it was a lot of fun.  I asked several people, read the newspaper, googled it, and all I can find is that it is a celebration of winter. (Sounds like Aspen needed another excuse to have a big party!)  Anyway, there was an ice/snow sculpting competition, and fireworks. The kids all had a blast playing in the snow.

Fireworks over Aspen.

Cayden sliding/falling down the hill with the big kids.

Allie and Jorie had the best seats.

Second place sculpture.

First place sculpture.

The things kids do to get out of bed

Cayden  is not usually as tired as Conner when it comes time to go to bed, which results in Cayden getting up ten times to use the bathroom, get a drink, etc.  Well, last night he really upped his game.  I guess he thought that if he had to go to the doctor, he would be able to stay up really late??  Cayden came strolling out of his room, with his finger up his nose saying, "it's stuck!"  At first we thought he was just goofing off referring to his finger being stuck in his nose.  We sent him back to bed.  He came out again and said, "I cannot get it out."  So, we looked in his nose, deep in his nose, and sure enough there was something stuck up his nose.  Unfortunately, it was too far to just grab.  I got the tweezers out and went to work.  I ended up pulling out four pieces of kleenex he had shoved up so far you could hardly see them.  Then we took away all tissue and toilet paper, and sent him back to bed.  Silly boy!

Happy Birthday Conner!

I cannot believe Conner is 5 years old!  Although his first year (or two) was very difficult and seemed to go by very slowly, due to hundreds of doctor appointments, surgeries, feeding tubes, a helmet, etc., I really cannot believe it has been five years.  There were many days I had just accepted the fact that Conner may never eat, and would be tube fed the rest of his life. Despite his struggles, we could see his bright happy personality he still has today.  He is such a happy boy, and does not think anything about him is different from the other kids.  He thinks he is lucky to have "super ears" to the point Cayden is a bit jealous, and told someone last week that his super ears were just inside his head.  Conner regularly tells Keir and I that he loves us, and thanks us for the small things like making dinner, taking him to school, and doing the laundry, so he can wear his favorite clothes.  It sometimes brings tears when Conner comes up to me after dinner and says, "thanks for dinner mom, it was yummy!"  Not only because he is such a sweet, thoughtful boy, but because at one point, he would not eat anything, and would cry at the sight of a bottle or food.  Conner now eats more than Cayden, and sometimes gives Keir a run for his money.  This year, Conner requested to have a Curious George birthday party, which is exactly what he wanted/had last year.  When I asked if he wanted to do something different, he simply told me that he liked George, and wanted another George cake.  He invited his entire preschool class (including his teacher, who he adores), and a couple good neighbors. We had a great time.  At the end of the night he said several times, "that was a really fun party, thanks mom & dad!"

Allie helping dad put up some balloons.

The Curious George cake.

The bounce house set up in Allie's room. (because our yard is covered in snow, and it is maybe 20 degrees outside.)

Keir covering Conner's mouth so he does not blow the candles out before we are done singing - he was so excited, and could hardly wait!

Waiting for cake.

He had lots of help opening presents.

Lexi hiding in the gift bag.

One of his favorite presents, a Spiderman bag.

We love you Conner!  Happy Birthday!