Rounding out the year with Rocko

It snowed! The Albuqeurque-ians that I ran into during the day seemed to be shocked and confused by "all the whiteness"...I was more concerned about getting outside before it all melted. Which it did about an hour after these pictures were taken.

The putting green next to our apartment building provided a convenient placement for snowmen.

Ben was more interested in figuring out what the heck the snow was and what he was supposed to do with it.

He finally decided on eating it.

Until he got brain freeze. Then he quit putting it in his mouth and played instead.

Megan engineered the snowman's hat, and hence his name, Rocko, was born.

Hooray for Rocko the Snowman!

Well, that was fun and all, but Chris thought he could do a bit better. He recruited not only our kids, but also some kids who happened to be on a walk with their parents.

Turned out pretty good, don't ya think?

Notice that most of the snow in the immediate vicinity is gone--that was all in the snowman. Definitely not in Utah if this much snow makes everyone freak out. Reminds me of snow in Washington.

Anyway, Happy New Year!

December Leftovers

Aside from Christmas--which was completely fabulous--this has been a rough week. Eventually I'll write about what happened this week, but for today I'm going to post funny stuff instead. Which tonight translates into all the random pictures from December that have yet to be posted.

I don't know what she was talking about, but it was obviously very important and very exciting. You can tell by how wide her mouth is opened, how wide her eyes are opened...and her hands are fully engaged.

Ben also seemed to be engaged. He often finds Jane quite entertaining.

Megan, on the other hand, didn't appear to care a bit about whatever Jane was saying right then.

I was shocked and dismayed one particular afternoon when I looked up from unpacking a box and found myself greeted with this sight.

Don't worry--it was a marker. He managed to rip the guts out (haha--did you catch that pun?) of a red marker and tried to eat it. He thought it was gross. I thought it was natural consequences.

Megan found a new friend. She goes for the tall, silent type.

Sucker, anyone?

Jane has asked over and over and over again to play with various boxes as they've been emptied. Over our three weeks in this apartment, the kids have worked their way through several empty boxes of varying size. Apparently the choices this day were running a little low, but Jane and Ben still took advantage of what was there.

I hope you are all having a delightful weekend and have many grand adventures planned for New Years' Eve!

Good Times, Good Times

I'm feeling a bit homesick tonight after Christmas and all, so I decided now would be a good time to post the pictures from our going away party that my mom hosted for us the day before we left town. We miss you all!

Minimal Commentary Required

Two years in a row, our kids have slept in on Christmas Day. Go figure.

After I woke them up at 8:00, our festivities commenced.

m&ms and sprite for breakfast, followed by an apple that she wouldn't eat, followed by any other candy she could put her hands on...she threw up a few hours later

29 degrees outside, felt like 16 with the wind chill...he was really cold and really upset by the time we came back in the house

missing family today--good thing they're coming to visit in two weeks!!