Post-Christmas Tradition

After Christmas, we took a little trip that is turning into a tradition.  We got away to the mountains, and Jeff rented a very rustic cabin for us.  Last year when we did this, there was very little snow.  This year, there was enough for us to take a short drive and find some for snowshoeing.  (Have I mentioned that I'm anxious for this drought to be over?)  All of us have snowshoes now!  Snowshoeing is really fun, even for awkward, non-athletic people like me…but it's more fun if the temps are warmer.  It was super cold during this trip, and we didn't deal with it well, especially the youngers.  The pictures don't show the wailing or whining.  (You're welcome!)

We've mostly forgotten the wails and mostly remembered how fun it was.

Last year, the little, rustic cabin we rented had no TV, so we were totally unplugged.  It was wonderful.   This year, that cabin was not available, so we ended up in one that was a little larger, a little farther from the lake, a little less expensive, and it also had a TV and VCR.  The VCR was stocked with old Disney movies that our kids hadn't seen.  They haven't seen very many, really, but now they've seen Bambi, Aladdin, and 101 Dalmatians.  And now "twitterpated" is a part of our family's vocabulary.  Jonathan thinks romantic stuff is WEIRD, but he at least has a fitting term for it now.

We had to park quite a distance from the cabin, and we didn't realize, at first, that we should bring everyone's gloves, scarves, etc., into the cabin to be with us at all times.  It was SO cold and SO windy!!!  Anyway, you'll notice that the kids are wearing an assortment of gloves - or socks, as the case may be - in these pictures.  Jeff took each of them outside individually to experience the beauty of the snow, because it did snow on us one morning!  Here are the pictures he took with Grace.

And with Benjamin.  Yes, Jen, that's the scarf you gave me!

And Jonathan.  He always loves to climb the rocks when we come here.

Since it was so bitterly cold outside, we had a lot of time to do indoors things…like read…and snuggle…and enjoy Christmas/birthday gifts.  Here's a pom-pom pet Benjamin (and I) made that he got for his birthday.  He made three of them and named them all Luke, just like his Bitty Twin.

Jonathan brought his origami paper, but he found a couple of origami books on the cabin's shelf, so he learned to make a couple new things.

A modified version of Scrabble.

 Our view from the cabin.  I'm not sure how long it had been there…but if you saw the kitchen, you'd know it had been a LONG time.  We were thankful our pipes didn't freeze.  The people in the cabin below us didn't leave their water running overnight, and they woke up the next morning with frozen pipes and no water.  

We cooked 2/3 of the time and ate out 1/3 of the time.  Here's one place where we ate.  It was…OK.  Oh, and since these are showing up last, these must be the pictures from Jeff's phone.  I'm not going to re-order them - you can use your imagination.

The air was very clear except when it was snowing, so we didn't see any dramatic sunsets, but God's creation was still gorgeous.

I think this is my favorite picture.  One evening, we went into town because we had promised the kids hot chocolate.  With wind chill, the temperature was three degrees.  The kids voluntarily huddled to try and stay warm.

But, we enjoyed our hot chocolate.

We had a great time.  And I love our milder climate at home!!!

A Few More Christmastimey Pictures

These pictures seem to be in no particular order, but they are from Christmas and the surrounding days.

It's good to have a close-in-age sibling who shares your sense of humor and ideas of what is fun.

Benjamin got this "drilling game," as he calls it, for early Christmas when we celebrated as a family on the 6th.  If his speech therapist, teacher, and physical therapist could see him now, they'd love this activity…and be thrilled at how far he's come.

He wanted help with the "Baby Jesus Map."  I guess that is pretty much what this is, right?

She really doesn't like to read to adults, but her expressive voice when she is reading to her stuffed animals behind a closed bedroom door is amazing.  Truly, I've never heard anything like it in someone her age.  I can't get her to do it with people.  So, it was a fun and rare moment to see her reading (quietly) to Jeff.

They enjoyed their watercolors from their stockings.  And she liked her new ballet duds, too.

Of course, Jonathan had to dive into a book right away.

There's no picture, but we enjoyed baked french toast for breakfast on Christmas Day, and Jeff made a scrumptious seafood chowder for our Christmas dinner.

Benjamin loved his Play-Doh Fun Factory from faraway family…and so did his siblings.  You can see why he calls it his stapler.

We gave a couple of little gifts to Benjamin's "teachers" in the kids' area at the gym.  He wrote their names on the bags when I told him what letters to write.  The teachers are Rubi and Angie if you can't tell.  He always wants to do a lower-case "a."

Jonathan's card for his teacher included origami directions and divisibility tests.  I mean, who wouldn't want that in their Christmas card, right?

Teaching Grace how to make a paper chain was one of my better parenting moves.

I love how a new Lego let suddenly puts them on the same team.  Grace got Cloud Cuckoo Land at our early family Christmas, so she's very happy to have UniKitty, her favorite character.

Benjamin's 4th Birthday

My baby is four.  Of course, we did lots of celebrating on the Legoland trip, but we still woke him up on his real birthday with the birthday song in his room and gifts from family and friends at the breakfast table.  I should note that he asked me - before his birthday but after we got back from our trip  - "Can we go to Legoland for MY birthday?!"  Um, Benjamin, we DID go to Legoland for your birthday.  And mine.  And Jonathan's.  After we got that misunderstanding cleared up, he felt much better.  Here he is enjoying his gifts.

Of course, Grace wanted to read Benjamin's new book, and we told her she could read it IF she read it to her brother.  So, she did.

Benjamin had been wanting a balloon - the fancy mylar kind - and so I had promised him that we could go to the dollar store and pick one out on his birthday.  We did that, but little did I know that they would be out of the design he wanted, and he was devastated.  So, I was sorry that I took him and kicking myself that I was raising a spoiled child.  Sigh.  

Later, at the grocery store, he was asking about his birthday cake.  I reminded him how we had celebrated without parties and cakes this year, and how Jonathan and I had not had cakes for our birthdays.  He was incredulous.  "But HOW can we celebrate my birthday without a birthday cake!?" he said.  So, we decided he could pick a tiny cheesecake from the store's refrigerated section and we would share it as a family.  He was thrilled.  And we enjoyed eating his tiny cheesecake.

I love these pictures - I couldn't choose just one.

My mom came over later to wish him a happy birthday - the next day, I think - and he opened his presents from her - sticker mosaics and a Lite Brite, both of which he loves.  (For those of you grownup types, you should know that they have greatly improved on the Lite Brite of our childhood.  This new one is more suitable for little kids, and the holes poked by the pegs close themselves up after each use.)

Huge thanks to everybody who helped Benjamin to have such a happy birthday.  I can't believe he's four!