Sledding Fun

The boys were up and out playing in the snow very early the morning after the "big snow". It ended up being a very warm day, so the snow didn't last long....gotta get out there when the playing is still good!!!

One Snowy Night

First snow of the season and the boys couldn't wait to get out there!! At 7pm, Alex couldn't handle it any longer, so he went out (decked out in his pj's and just a hoodie). After watching Alex through the window for about 2 minutes, Hunter had to join him. He wore his pj's too...but at least decided on a hat, gloves, and coat. After an hour filled with running through the snow, snowball fights, snow-angels, snowman building, snowman tackling, and general snow fun, I was able to get them to come inside only by offering some hot-cocoa.
Next time, they'll be wearing actual winter clothing! I honestly thought they'd only be outside for about 5 minutes!! Although, it obviously didn't phase them!!!

Ripley's Aquarium

During our visit to see YiaYia and Fonder this January we took a day-trip to Gatlinburg to visit the aquarium. The boys loved seeing all of the weird fish! Alex was even able to touch the stingrays!
What a fun day!!!

Merry Christmas 2010

Hunter's gift to Mommy and Daddy, an ornament that he made in school with his picture on it. This is not the best picture, but he was so proud of this! He hung it on the tree right away!!

The boys opening our family gift...a soda maker! So much fun!!
Great idea, Daddy!

Alex and his favorite gift...an iPod nano!

Merry Christmas!!!

Gingerbread Men

This year we decided to decorate giant gingerbread men instead of a gingerbread house. It was a fun afternoon activity that kept the boys busy for about 30 minutes. Thirty minutes of peace! I'll take it!!


Alex really took a lot of time to decorate his gingerbread man just right.

Hunter wanted me to do the icing for him while he ate his candy toppings.

How does it taste? According to Alex, horrible. He said that he thought they were just for decoration, not to be actually eaten.

Hunter disagreed. He thought it was delicious and would have eaten the entire cookie in one sitting if I had let him.
That boy loves his sugar!

Sledding

We got a whopping 4 inches a few days before winter break was supposed to start, which of course cancelled school for the last two remaining school days. Long vacation for the kids -- yay! Long vacation at home with the kids for mommy -- not as much yay!
We did take advantage of our new sleds, snowpants, and snowboots.
Thanks goodness for the steep driveway and yard!

Christmas Card Photo-Shoot

This was the winning shot....

And here are some of the out-takes.....

Super Bowl Sunday

Enjoying the game together, with "Tipsy" (the Tootsie-Roll pillow he won from Chuck E Cheese...he saved his tickets for more than 2 YEARS to get enough tickets - 2000!!! He loves that thing!)

He's of the belief that Super Bowl Sunday means junk-food. Obviously, we let him believe this!

Yeah, right! If you believe this really happened, then you don't know Frank very well!!
(Actually, he does enjoy a Snickers ONCE in a while, but not this day - not to mention that I think Alex would have had a fit if Frank really did take a bite of his precious candy bar!!!)

"The Hill"

There is a decent-sized hill a few miles from our house that is dubbed by people around here as "The Hill". We have a fairly good hill at our house, but it goes straight into the road, so it isn't necessarily the safest place to sled (especially if I'm not out to watch Alex). "The Hill" is flat for a long time at the bottom so you can go pretty far. We had a blast there! We don't own a sled, so we brought the lid of a storage tub. That worked ok, but was definitely a bumpy ride! It sure is a workout though, especially for me since Hunter can't make it up the hill on his own, which means I get the honor of carryinghim up (and remember, I don't own snow boots so climbing up a hill made out of basically ice in sneakers is already incredibly difficult without the added weight and general wet-noodleness of Hunter). We went twice this past snow-storm and we are psyched to go again NEXT year (Do you hear that, Snow? We aren't interested in any more of you THIS year!)

Snow (Again???)

ANOTHER snow storm in Virginia this weekend...close to 15 inches! The boys are, of course, thrilled! Next year mommy is going to wisen up and buy snow gear. Not having boots or snowpants is not fun and only adds to the ridiculous amount of time it takes to get ready to go outside. Plus, we NEED some sleds...luckily we have awesome neighbors that share with us, but it would be so much better if we had our own! The boys love the snow and we love to watch them having so much fun - because thankfully it doesn't happen often!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no more snow this winter -- my boys may love it but it is definitely NOT my favorite!

Alex hit the snow hard on his last time down the hill. Needless to say, we went inside after this!

We decided to try sledding in the street this time - it is a much longer run (although not nearly as fast as our hill). Luckily not many people driving today!

Let it snow!

The boys were THRILLED (especially Alex) to wake up to over a foot of snow this morning! Of course they had to get right out there and play, so we bundled up the best we could (you know we don't own any actual snow clothes...if I bought th

em I know it would never snow!).
Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Hunter had his first sled ride down our GREAT sledding hill, and Alex was a pro since he got to try it out last year! We really should invest in some sleds!! Luckily we have some great neighbors who let us borrow theirs!
The roads are horrible, but luckily we have no where to go, so we are just keeping warm in the house with some snow-play thrown in for good measure!
Maybe we'll even have snow for Christmas this year!!

Snow in Virginia!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

But the fire is so delightful!

All I Want For Christmas...

The boys were psyched to see Santa this year to tell him their Christmas lists.

Alex: "Bakugan and Star Wars people"
Hunter: "Three presents" (nothing really in particular, but the number is always the same....3)

We'll see if Santa comes through... I have a feeling he will!

Snowy Snow Day!!!

We had the first REAL snow in Virginia that I can remember. It was probably a good 10+ inches, so of course school was canceled. Alex couldn't wait to get outside and play. Hunter was also just as excited to go outside, but once out, decided it wasn't so great after all. He went down the neighbor's driveway once on the saucer and HATED it. After that, he just stood inside the garage and pouted. Alex had a great time though. Our yard quickly became the best sledding spot in the neighborhood. We probably had about 20 kids at one point. It was so fun! Alex played outside for almost 2 hours. He was nearly frozen when he came in, but it wasn't an hour later when he was asking to go out again. It was great to see him having such a blast!

Hunter's Snowman

We went to a friend's house yesterday to make this snowman craft. Hunter LOVED it! He picked out all of the pom-poms for the eyes, mouth, and buttons on his own. Mommy put the glue in the right place and Hunter glued on all of the bits and pieces. He did such a great job! He was so proud of the finished product! He carried the "baby snowman" (apparently the snowman's new name) around all day and then took him to bed at night. Mommy sang both of them night-night songs and tucked them both in to bed. In the morning, Hunter was a little upset that baby snowman's arms had fallen off in the night, but luckily Mommy made him good as new. Hunter loves his new home-made friend!

Christmas Morning

Alex's favorite gift was his new Nintendo DS!

Although, Alex's Bakugan's definitely came in a close second!

And Hunter's favorite gift was his new Diego bike!