Ice? No problem.

"There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."
-John Ruski

The first ice storm of the year hit this weekend and it made for a fun experience for the kids.  When Ashlyn came downstairs on Friday she was excited when she saw all the white in the neighborhood.  She was disappointed when she learned that it was ice and not snow, but she got over it.  The kids played with icicles and Ashlyn ventured out several times after bundling up.  James did it once but that was enough for him, he felt causing trouble indoors was more fun.

Gymnastics was closed this weekend, but that didn’t stop Ashlyn from practicing.  James even got in on the mix and Ashlyn did her best to teach him how to do a front roll.  He didn’t succeed when we took the pictures, but eventually he did one on his own.

We braved the roads on Saturday to go to Grandma and Grandpa Wolfe’s to decorate cookies.  We’re traveling to Freeport next weekend and the girls wanted to help get the cookies ready.  After some brief instruction by Grandma, Ashlyn and Heidi jumped right in.  James, I’m proud to say, went straight for the power tools and may have even turned one on if it had been plugged in.  We quickly removed him and gave him more age appropriate toys.

James would have done bad things with the icing, so he played while the girls decorated.  He’s a sneaky one, our little James, and when the coast was clear he moved a stool into the kitchen and tried to sneak a cookie.  Busted.

We’re a nerdy house, there’s no denying that.  So when we needed something to fill some time, why not turn to something that’s fun AND educational?  Of course, I’m speaking of the Merriam-Webster word of the year:  science.  Ashlyn learned that yeast comes alive when combined with warm water.  When given sugar to eat, the yeast makes gas, which fills a balloon.  She thought the idea of yeast farting was gross, but she was very excited about the balloon inflating.  Science!

Of course, even being stuck indoors isn’t such a bad thing when you have great kids.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes.
Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.”
― Erma Bombeck

We were fortunate to have two Thanksgiving meals again this year, starting at Nina and Papa’s house on Wednesday.  The whole family was there, and it was great to see everyone together.  The kids played, adults ate, and Nina cried when trying to say how thankful she was that we were together.  All in all, it was a great meal and it was a perfect way to start the Thanksgiving holiday.

We took a day off from Thanksgiving meals on Thursday to put out the decorations and decorate the Christmas tree.  Ashlyn has a lot of fun hanging the decorations, and James only broke two in the process (when he wasn’t busy throwing ornament stuffing everywhere).

The second Thanksgiving meal was on Friday, and Ashlyn was happy to help Grandma make whipped cream for the pies.  A time honored tradition is to give the helping kid the beater with the cream still on it, and Ashlyn was more than obliged to participate.  She even gave James a few tastes, but only a few.

After a great meal, it was nap time for everyone, including the kids, Mom, and Grandpa.  Just kidding about the kids of course.  Ashlyn played with James for a bit and then went off to make a pretend Thanksgiving dinner with toys.  James, being James, proceeded to empty the kitchen cabinets.  And then he did something that both surprised us and us both nervous.  If you look at the picture on the bottom right below, you’ll notice a pepper grinder on the counter above the chair.  You’ll notice a rolling chair that James moved from across the room so that he could climb up and get the pepper grinder.  You will also notice a stepstool at the foot of the chair, so that James could climb onto the chair and then get the pepper grinder.  The ingenuity and planning is interesting for a 16 month old, and it’s making us second guess our home preparedness for James.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I’m off to move breakable things up another level, or maybe to a storage locker miles away from the house.  That seems safer.

Winter has arrived…

"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."
-Albert Camus

Ashlyn is many things to James:  sister, teacher, rule enforcer, and friend.  Sometimes she plays the role of entertainer.  This week she played the role by performing aerial stunts in the loft.  Luckily this was one of the few times that James didn’t try to immediately emulate her, but he definitely enjoyed the show.

Eager to return the favor the following morning, James dragged a guitar out and proceed to “play” it.  The cats did not come out from under the bed until later in the afternoon.

Winter came to Texas this week, and with it came winter clothes.  When Ashlyn wanted to help put on the foam covers for the faucets outside, Mom put her in a large coat and I handed her the wrench.  I tried to shout instructions through the window (it was really, really cold) but eventually I had to go outside to help.  James still won’t wear hats, so the only thing we can put on his head to keep his ears warm is the Yoda hat from Halloween.  I don’t care, I think it’s awesome.

When stuck indoors, the beauty of having small children is that you don’t need fancy toys or gadgets.  Anything can become a game, even feet.  The children were amused, but Mom was sore the next day.

Saturday was an exciting day for Ashlyn.  Nina picked her up and took her to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Musical at Bass Performance Hall.  By all accounts it was a great show.  Ashlyn’s favorite part was when the Grinch  made inappropriate noises out of his posterior region.  After the show, Papa and cousin Ben came over to play with the kids.  All slept well afterwards.