Sledding

I have a bunch more pictures of Charlotte than anyone.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised as she was the child that loved sledding the MOST.  I hate I don't have pictures of any of the adults except Michael.

It was funny to try to cobble together appropriate clothing for everyone to wear.  Mom and I did got get everyone a pair of gloves before the snow hit.  My sister and cousin found snow boots for three of the kids.  Rehm had a pair of my dad's old high tops.  I think all six of us had on pretty much every piece of clothing we brought with us.

All three of the girls had on tights, leggings, and jeans topped with two shirts, a fleece jacket and their big jacket.  This was more about trying to keep them dry than warm.  Rehm had on at least two pairs of pants.  He complained about it when getting dressed but I didn't hear a single complaint once getting outside.  I had on two pairs of paints and rubber boots.  But it was nice to end the day with dry feet. 

I'm so glad Charlotte decided to go sledding.  She was a bit nervous about doing such a physical activity after having to go get glued the night before.  We assured her it would be fine and she wouldn't re-injure herself.  Finally, we told her to at least go and if after going down the hill once she still wanted to go home and take it easy would would take her.  After going down the hill once she had completely forgotten her head.

Ruby and Eliza Claire enjoyed sledding but got cold and done first.  By  the time we left they were hungry, cold, wet and DONE.

It was one of the best days of sledding I've ever had.  It was so much fun to share such a special day with my family.  And it was so much fun to end the day sledding with my MOM!  It only took 37 years to see it but it was worth the wait. Hate we don't have photographic proof.

I've got so many pictures the rest will come in additional posts.

Hay Ride

While in NC visiting for the holidays my kids asked their Papa for their traditional hayride.  Eliza Claire was quick to point out that there was not actually any hay on the hayride this time and she was not happy about it. 

We went down behind my grandmother's house to the original house on her property that has always been know as "The Old House." It has been vacant since before I was born.  I remember as a child getting to go inside and look around.  It was one of my favorite things to do.  It is no longer in good enough shape for that which is sad as I would have loved to see my kids reaction to it.  The house has been added on to at least a couple of times and the original house is a log cabin. No one in my family has lived in the house since before my grandmother was born (1922) and the house she lives in now was built - I believe her house was built in 1908 but I'm not sure.  The Old House was a rental property until the 60s I believe.  If I remember correctly they quit renting it after the tenants caused a fire in one of the tobacco barns.
 

I tried to get a group picture of all the grandkids for my mom.  I didn't have good luck.  Here are some of the attempts.

Preschool Christmas Show

The pictures from the actual show didn't turn out that great but here are a couple of the girls in the awesome shirts they made at school for the show.  Each class had a different themed shirt and each one used either hand and/or foot prints.  They were very creative and adorable.

After performing we had cake for baby Jesus.  I'm not sure why Eliza Claire decided to drink water like a puppy dog or why I decided to record it on film.  If you watch the slide show with a fast picture refresh it is pretty funny.  Too bad I didn't video it instead.  Oh, well.

I'm a Winner

Literally!  I entered the weekly LENS photo contest over at Home Is Where You Start From this week and was one of the two winners.  Totally made my morning.  Thanks Jenny for hosting and getting me to look at my photos more closely.  All the photos were great. 

Christmas Pictures

These are the photos I should have had already taken when it was time to design the Christmas card this year.  But of course, I hadn't.  These were all taken on Sunday, December 12.  The kids were all in a choir performance that day and thus properly dressed.

Can you tell she likes her friend Lincoln?

Love Eliza Claire's little smirk in the background

Not a great picture of Eliza Claire but I needed one of the dress as I love the dress

 

I'm not sure if I've been good this year or not

OK, now that I think about it, I've been good!

 

Maniacs in the house!

Christmas Day: The Evening Edition

After a fun day of opening presents and building snowmen it was time to go to my cousin's house for our large family celebration.  Charlotte was sitting in an office chair at the kitchen table waiting patiently for us to get everything together to leave.  The chair rolled out from under her and she whacked her head on the edge of the table.

I was not in the room.  When I got in the room my dad was holding her and my sister had a towel on her head.  I could not get to her and that was not OK.  Michael says I went a bit "mama bear." All I remember is saying loudly, "Give me my girl!" multiple times until someone finally put her in my arms.  Once I had my girl I was OK.  I could deal at that point but I needed my hands on my girl.

We decided that the cut was deep enough that it needed to be looked at.  Of course it was Christmas day and snowing.  Our only option was to take her to the Emergency Room.  She was not happy with that plan.  But once she calmed down she came around to it.  She did not want anyone near her but her Mom and Dad.  And didn't want to let anyone see her head.

In the waiting room

Waiting to be glued

 We really weren't at the hospital long.  The doctor decided it only needed gluing.  So a quick swipe of the glue and we were on our way. All told we left my parents at 5ish and were back at the party by 7:30ish.


We even made it back in time for present opening at the family gathering.

By the next day Charlotte had mostly forgotten the excitement of the day before.  I'm sure the eight inches of snow and sledding had a bit to do with that.

The next morning showing off her glue

My poor Charlotte is always the one that gets hurt or sick on holidays and misses out on some of the fun. 

Her glue finally came off on January 9.  Over two weeks after it was applied.  She definitely has a scar but I think with time it will be very hard to see.

Jenn

CHristmas Day: The Afternoon Edition

We spent Christmas morning and afternoon opening presents with my parents, sister and her family and playing in the snow that started mid-morning. 

It snowed most of the day and the kids had a blast rolling around in the snow, having snowball fights and trying to build snowmen.  They came in cold, tired and soaked!

Eliza in the foreground and Charlotte in the back

Rehm in the navy coat, Ruby holding snow and Zander in the red.

Eliza Claire with her snow man.  He is kind of hard to see.

Eliza Claire was a dedicated snowman maker.

Bottom and middle of a giant snowman that never got finished.  These two pieces did get stacked and took over a week to completely melt.

Cousins having fun