Poor William

My son really should live in a warm climate. Or at least have a mother who enjoys being outside in the cold, wet winter months.

For the last couple of weeks, every time we drive by the turn to the park where we spend countless hours in the warm weather, William points and screams "park! park!" And every day he makes me hold him up to the back door or to a large window that overlooks our yard. He looks sadly out at his swing set and asks me "pay? ouside? bagyad?" in the sweetest, most hopeful voice. I'm just not all that interested in being outside in single digit or teen temperatures, so we've been an indoor family all month.

William's luck changed yesterday, however, when Steve offhandedly asked him if he wanted to go shovel. William screamed "yes!" and ran as fast as his little feet could carry him to find his coat, boots, and hat.

Pure joy, using the new shovel Santa brought:



And then Sissy came outside, and thanks to the hard, icy snow, they were able to sled down the tiniest of inclines in our yard:

How cute are my snow babies???

It's a good thing at least one parent in this family isn't a wimp. :)

Drivin' That Train

We have officially become a Thomas family. As you can see, the little man is enthralled. And what better way to plays "tanes!" than by sitting on top of the train table Daddy built you for Christmas?



As I was snapping these photos this morning, I also learned that my son has developed a "picture face" complete with shouting "cheese!" Not sure where he learned that.

Wanna see it close up?

Nice, right?

Christmas Wrap Up

Here's one thing I know to be true about myself: if I don't edit pictures within a day or two of taking them, I lose my mojo and can't get motivated. Every time I've thought about looking through the hundreds of pictures I took during our 2-week trip to Chicago, I've just felt overwhelmed. Plus, I'm just tired of the holidays, aren't you? However, at the (not very polite) insistence of my mom and sister, I managed to look through the pictures and edit a few. So here they are, a few of the highlights of Christmas in Chicago, 2009.

We went to American Girl (this is literally the only picture on my camera that includes me):



We celebrated Penny's 1st Birthday:



We decorated cookies and did lots of fun projects:



We spent lots of time with the cousins (in matching jammies!):

Hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours! Thanks to our amazing families for hosting, feeding, and entertaining us in such gracious style for 2 weeks!

Preschool Sing Along!

All four classes of Caroline's preschool gathered yesterday for a holiday sing-along. It was an extremely highly anticipated event at our house, and just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. As you can imagine, it was a mommy paparazzi gone totally wild, so it was a bit difficult getting any decent shots, but here's what I did get.

Caroline's buddy Cate is in the other 3-year-old class, and they were beyond thrilled to be together for a morning.

After the sing-along, we joined a bunch of Caroline's friends and their families for a pizza outing. It is so sweet to see her interacting with her buddies - they've really become a close bunch. Last night we moms had a holiday cocktail party of our own. Steve and I are extremely grateful that we ended up at such a warm family-like preschool. It will be a great place for the Clarks to spend 4 years!

Santa Brunch

We had a really fun Santa Brunch with friends this morning. Here's our crew, all dressed up in their holiday finest!


William is NOT Santa's biggest fan:



My Christmas Cuties!

Whatever On Wednesday

1. I am enjoying 30 minutes of quiet while Caroline is at Lunch Bunch and William is napping. Heaven.

2. This little man spent 45 minutes in his high chair eating bowl after bowl of applesauce and then another 45 minutes later in the morning eating frozen blueberries.

3. Did I mention he no longer believes in wearing bibs?

4. Based on #2, guess what I have spent most of my day doing? I'll give you a hint: I called Steve and told him I'd reached my maximum daily quota of diaper changes. TMI?

5. Raise your hand if the bottom half of your Christmas tree has been stripped of ornaments, at least 2 of said ornaments are broken, and you have more pine needles on the floor than on the tree itself. It just makes me smile, though, since William is overjoyed by the tree.

6. I have most of my Christmas cards in the mail, most of my shopping done, and I think I've made my last trip to the post office. Next up: holiday baking.

7. I've been reading a lot lately while William naps and Caroline has her tv time. Any recommendations for a great book? I prefer fiction.

8. The Angel Gabriel(la) is still all the rage at our house. Caroline had her princess posse over Monday afternoon, and she got the girls in on her act. They were running around, each dressed in one of Steve's white t-shirts, playing angels and Mary. And then they started celebrating Hanukkah - still in character. It was hilarious. It got even more hilarious when they decided to be reindeer. The girls stripped down to their panties and started running around singing Jingle Bells. Who knew you had to be naked to be a reindeer?

9. 10 more days until we head home to Chicago - yippee!

Sorry - Too Busy to Blog!

UPDATED AGAIN: As I (Mary) was sitting in the barn receiving gifts (mostly nail polish - who knew Mary was a spa girl?) from the Angel, I tried to convince her that the best gifts of all were cuddles. The Angel replied that the only way I was getting cuddles was to pay her one piece of money. And if I didn't, she'd go to Heaven and tell God!!! Oh, she cracks me up. In other nativity story news, William has been demoted from Jesus to a Wise Man.

UPDATED: We are having major problems getting Baby Jesus to cooperate as the Angel swaddles him, feeds him bottles, and puts him down for his naps. Wasn't he supposed to be a mild infant? Running through the house shouting "Jesus" and pulling ornaments off the tree isn't what I imagined. . .

The Angel Gabriel(la) needs me (Mary) at Jesus's baby shower. Did you get your invitation?

I heart Sunday School. :)

Horrible picture, I know, but my neglected blog has been mocking me for days!