Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Yup. It's snowing alright. It started snowing while I was at the doctor's office today. As I pulled into our driveway, a car turned onto our street, lost control and totally hit my neighbor's parked car. It was at that point that we decided we should probably stay in for the night. As soon as I walked in the door, the boys started in, "Can we play in the snow? Can we go outside?" Happy to run off some of their energy we bundled up and headed out. They had an absolute blast! I finally went inside and stood at the sliding door and watched them because I was freezing! It was only when I spotted a stray boot in the yard that I knew shoeless Thomas needed to come in. They were happy to oblige as long as we make Frosty tomorrow. :)

Smart Kids Or Too Much TV????

Josh just looked at me, "Mommy, where are my sharp teeth?" I pointed to his sharp teeth. "These are my canines?" I definitely did not teach him that. Cute though.

Do These People Not Know Me?

Seriously, ok not seriously, but still. A website I get a regular e-mail from sent me a weekly menu. I usually get some great stuff. This one, obviously they don't know me at all. Here is the menu for the week:
Monday: Alpine Sausage and Cabbage Sauté
Tuesday: Salsa Chicken, Italian-Style
Wednesday: Onion Chopped Steak and Gravy
Thursday: Chicken Stroganoff
Friday: Caribbean Chicken Sauté with Steamed Zucchini

*Yeah, I won't eat even one thing off that list. Yuck. Guess I'll have to wait for the next e-mail. It better have plain noodles with Parmesan cheese.

Sick Week

Apparently we just decided that this week would be sick week. I started feeling awful on Saturday afternoon. The boys quickly followed on Sunday. And Dan kept pace coming down with it Monday. Basically it's just a fever for a couple days and then an awful head cold. Dan, with his lightning quick recoveries, is fine. The boys and I are still coping. We have been fever-free, but continue to have runny noses, sore throats, and just a yucky feeling. I went to the doctor today because my ear was about to explode. I'm hoping the boys don't follow. This is my first ear infection ever, and (knock on wood) the boys have never had one. We'll just keep hydrating!

No pictures for now. We have more recovering to do first!

What A Rotten Week

It has just been a rotten week. I think the babies are growing, which means I'm not only expanding but exhausted as well. The boys have refused naps every single day, making for a mean mommy by the time daddy gets home. Instead of focusing on the grumpiness, here are some fun things we've done this week:

*We rode bikes to the library (meaning the boys rode bikes and then got tired about halfway home)
*We watched Christmas movies
*We made special home-made gifts to attach to Christmas presents (this included painting with acrylic paint which by the way does NOT come off seat cushions or the carpet very easily)
*We raked leaves outside and cleaned up the front yard
*We made gingerbread houses with our friends
*I introduced the boys to the world of Lite Brite. Ok, maybe I enjoyed it a little more, but it was fun!
*We watched a backhoe unload in front of the house. This might not mean much to the anyone else, but we spent nearly an hour watching the guys get it unloaded and move it around. It was a definite highlight of the day!

Enjoy the pictures from this week. My Christmas present arrived in the mail today, so I can finally give Jenn her camera back now that I have my own!

Santa Pictures and Family Fun

As is the holiday tradition, this morning we met the Domrese side of the family and did a family photo with Santa. They started this back in the 1970's and we've continued the tradition with the whole family. The boys, while they sat very nicely, gave the cheesiest smiles. Oh well!

My family arrived shortly after as we've carried the tradition into my family as well. My brother and his family are in town visiting from Seattle so it was the perfect timing. This picture is only with the cousins. It is SOOOOO difficult getting 8 kids ages 5 and under to take a picture and all look at the camera. I can only imagine next year will be a nightmare with 10 kids. :) Again, cheesy smiles, but cute with all the cousins. You can definitely tell who belongs to whom!

We went to Mobius briefly afterwards to run off some steam and then ran home for a rest time...meaning mommy took a 2 hour nap while the boys played with daddy. Thanks Dan! We then went out to my brother's house for dinner and visiting while all the cousins ran around together. I imagine my mom, dad, and grandma thought their houses were pretty quiet after this experience. :) Like the day wasn't long enough we managed to stop by Dan's uncle house where it is "Game Night." This happens on a regular basis where all available cousins, aunts, uncles, etc gather for games. It's such a great family bonding experience. The boys and I stayed for a bit and watched a game of Trivial Pursuit and Liar's Dice before leaving daddy and heading home for bed. I'm pretty sure I'm more tired than the boys at this point, but I hear their movie ending, so it's off to bed we all go!
Joshua, Thomas (red plaid shirts)
Taylor (black dress w/ red dots), Sawyer (Santa's lap), Jamison (far right red shirt)----belong to my brother Eric
Macey (front left, white shirt), Natalie (Santa's lap), Abby (white shirt on right)----belong to my brother Adam

Raptor Reef

We started the day off on the wrong foot. After a long Thanksgiving Day, both boys were ready to stay in bed and watch movies all day. The good news is that we were getting out of bed for a birthday party at Raptor Reef. This is a favorite for the boys. It's an indoor water park with water slides, a wave pool, hot tub, and more. After we finally got them in the car, they seemed to realize that life would once again be ok.

Raptor Reef was a real blast. I, of course, didn't do too much except follow the boys around and watch from the sidelines. I did the wave pool a few times with the boys, but Dan did most of the running around. Joshua enjoyed seeing how far he could walk in the wave pool even if his head was not above water. Thomas did the water slides over and over and over again. Thanks for inviting us. Happy birthday Harry!

Afterwards, we managed to have well-behaved kids during a 1:30 PM lunch at Tomato Street. Not only is this invading rest/nap time, but they'd been so active we were sure we'd see meltdowns. They did great, but only managed about 4 minutes in the car before crashing.

The ride home was definitely quiet...and enjoyable! It's been a great family day! The boys are all currently sleeping in our bed. It's snowing like crazy outside. If it's light enough when the boys wake up, we'll go for a walk and enjoy the fresh snow.