december's second week

So, last Sunday was our big snow storm. It went all day monday, too. The schools were closed for 2 days and that was kind of fun. We mostly just stayed inside and kept warm. We did venture out Monday afternoon to go to the doctor. Sarah and the baby were not well and I was getting concerned. The baby even had a rash. Sarah had been having a lot of earaches, too. I would here her saying, "Stop. Stop it." over and over again. Then I'd find her with her hand over her ear. Well, the doctor said that the baby was fine, just had a cold. That Ben and Sarah had infections and virus'. So we got them on amoxicillyn. Ben's better, but Sarah still has the nose and cough. It's been a week and I might take her back in. The baby has not gotten better either. He has goop coming out of every orifice! And the sleeping! Well, that better go in a separate post!

Watching the snow fall sunday night.

On Tuesday afternoon the kids invited themselves over to our neighbor's house. The baby and I walked them over there. We were pretty frozen by the time we got back. The next few days the temperatures were in the negatives. And Ben was back in school. He really enjoyed staying in at recess, surprisingly. In fact, by Friday, I had to tell him he had to go out for at least on recess. Even today he told me he would just go out for one, but I told him it wouldn't be cold enough to justify staying in. He likes the leapster 2 they have in the classroom that he gets to play with.

Going down the street to get to our neighbors.

We've gradually replaced windows in our house, but the ones on the back porch are still really old ones. On the freezing days I noticed the ice on them and thought of the old days when I'm sure that was standard. I've been really grateful for all the conveniences we have like gloves and boots, double layer coats, insulation in the walls 4-wheel drive and even cell phones to know my husband is safe.

We had pogonip for a few days, too.

And the icicles.

Sarah wanted me to paint her nails one day. So, we did red for Christmas time and added little stickers. Hers were half gone by the end of the day. I painted mine red, too, and wanted to french tip white on them, but only got one done. I just don't have as much time for pampering as I would enjoy. But, it was a fun thing to do together. We also made cookies at her insistence. She often asks to bake something with me.

Thursday night was Ben's class Christmas concert. We got there 15 minutes early and picked our seats. By the time it started the room was packed, with families standing all around the auditorium. They did the performance at the High School stage. It was for the 1-3 grades. After Ben's class sang their songs we left so that others could have our seats. He did well, sang all the songs, and no misbehavin'! I didn't get any pictures. We video'd it and I ended up with 2 kids on my lap. We were glad to get out early. Sarah and the baby weren't feeling too well and it was still early enough that Ben and I could go to my mom's Community Choir concert. He got kind of bored, though, and we just had to count down the songs til it was over. He was most anxious for the treats they had. It was only an hour, but it must have seemed like forever for him, and for Kannon who called at the end to see when I'd be home!

My mom and dad stopped by on Friday to visit and see our tree. We decided Joshua is very much elf-like and tried to get some good pictures of him. I know this is only half his face, but still adorable!

Ben brought home a t-shirt and sunglasses on Friday. He had wanted to win them by participating in a fundraiser at the beginning of the school year. His grandma was determined to help him win. So, we were glad when he finally got his "prize". The glasses have lights on them. He put these on as soon as he got home and wore the glasses almost all night!

Kannon and I got a babysitter for Friday night so that we could finish up our Christmas shopping. We left about 5:30 to go to Reno. We met up with my parents, who were also in Reno, and had dinner at Carl's Jr. Then we stopped at Toys R Us and Target. By the time we left Target, there was already 1/2 an inch of snow on the ground. Coming home was harried. I sat in the back with the baby who fussed for almost an hour, which is how long it took us to go 25 miles! The roads were completely covered and driving in the snow was very blizzard-like. I was a complete stress-mess. From Fernley home it wasn't bad at all.

We did our ginger bread houses on Saturday, although I made them with graham crackers this year. I read about using burnt sugar as a glue and it worked really well. I hate the royal icing, however. It's always so messy to work with. I'm glad they are done now and that we are continuing this tradition even if I don't like it so much. The kids do. They even ate some of their houses that night! And Sarah has been begging me to eat mine and share it with her!

(If you look at Ben's teeth, you can see how the front 2 are kind of odd. Over the past few months his mouth has kind of spread out and those 2 front teeth have protuded. Instead of being at a 90 degree angle they are more of a 45 degree angle. He's been afraid to pull them, they are loose, and I didn't want to hurt him. People kept saying he'd lost a tooth because of the gap between the front teeth and the next ones over. On Sunday I discovered his new tooth already coming in behind his baby tooth! Last night he finally let me yank it for him. Yay! I'll post a picture soon. The other one isn't quite ready yet. And he found another loose one on the bottom. Now he and the baby can sing, "all I want for christmas is my two front teeth!")

One other thing we had planned for saturday was a movie with popcorn. We rented UP and popped popcorn on the stove. Kannon's aunt and uncle gave us a kit to make real movie popcorn. I got it too salty. We'll try again another time since we have a few more movie nights planned this month.

After church on Sunday I stayed, with the baby, for choir. When I got home I found this in my backyard! It made me smile. I know, I know, it was Sunday - but we just didn't have the chance any other time and it was starting to melt. It's our snow family.

Complete with coal eyes and carrot nose!

We spent Sunday evening at my parents house visiting and playing. I put the baby under the tree for a bit and he loved playing with this branch. I remembered that when I was a kid we would lay under the tree and look at it from that view. We had a great tree skirt that we'd spend hours talking about. It had 4 elves painted on by my grandma, and we each "owned" one of them. Mine was the one with brown hair, brown eyes, and a pink and blue dress. The skirt has since worn out, but my mom took it apart and repurposed it as a runner. I have plans to make one just like it in crosstitch. When I have the time - ha!

And for those of you who are thinking, "she complains about not having time for anything - how is she getting this blog done?" - Just know that I have given up my shower for the day while the baby is sleeping. So, today might not be a good one for a drop-in visit! =)