Looks Like...

someone had a growth spurt. The boys were playing trains this morning when I noticed that J look noticeable taller than W. I first noticed how much higher his shoulders were when they were both in their jammies. Wow. J has averaged and inch taller than W for pretty much all of their well baby appointments but the first. Then W catches up. But this is the biggest difference I have noticed in awhile. BTW, they were not happy to have to leave a "train situation" to pose for this picture.

The Boys' Room

It has taken us a whopping 10 months to get the boys' room finished. It is never really completely "finished" though is it?

We haven't done a lot in their room because they are simply rough-and-tumble-jump-off-the-furniture-swing-pictures-off-the-wall-hang-on-the-drapes-crash-into-walls-kind of boys.

So we have taken wee steps...painting, hanging drapes, then adding a bookshelf, then hanging a picture or two, then some more, and then adding some decorative items just to see how it goes. I don't know how long those oars will last so I figured I would get a picture before they possibly get broken or something. It's not fancy or anything...but fun. And much better than what they had! And no more painted swatches all over the wall!

Jets and Santa

The base had a holiday family day today...TONS of people...I didn't even know that many people were stationed at the base!

The highlight...Santa arriving for a visit in an F-15.

J trying to ignore Lana because he doesn't want to miss Santa:

I was really impressed...you can tell they have someone who continually runs the program--they had lots of activities and crafts. The boys loved it. And were especially wanting to see Santa and tell him (for the second day in a row) their one Christmas wish:

"A remote control train."

Both of them want the same thing.

I was just impressed that they willingly went to Santa both times.

Yesterday:

Today:

With the snow on the hills I thought the jets looked really cool on the runway.

J and W did all the activities. I loved how a lot of the activities mimicked two very popular pastimes here in town. Hunting:

And fishing:

And of course, you can't really call it a "party" unless someone is making animals or swords out of balloons:

Kill it W:

And thank you Klepto for taking some family photos by the jet.

And finally, Geoff got the boys to do a "hero shot" on the ladder by putting a hand on their hip.

Hope you are enjoying your holidays!

Oh Christmas Tree

We were so excited to cut our own Christmas tree this year. And a little anxious to do it I guess. So anxious that we followed the K family into the great white wilderness:

The boys fell asleep on the way there we drove so far :)

We trekked through thick snow.

Through very tall trees:

Towing five children and a saw on two sleds:

All smiles at the start of our trip:

Into a blizzard (OK maybe not a blizzard but it started snowing really hard after our hour-long hike up the hill) And the result? We only got ONE tree. The K family far and away gave us an early Christmas gift. They got the permits, drove us to the spot with good trees, trudged through the woods with us, helped cut down the tree, drove the tree back in their truck and Joe even helped Geoff carry the tree into our house. Thanks J thanks C.

And the result for them? No tree. Geoff was going to go back out with Joe later to help him get a tree but it snowed even more in the following few days. They ended up getting a tree from a local store just like big city folk.

Our tree? Is gigantic. Fantastic. Smells incredible. Cost a whopping $5. I was speechless though when the tree came barreling through our front door. Our double front door. Trees just always look smaller in the forest don't they? Folks, our entrance isn't tiny but this tree makes it so:

Yes, it is still covered in snow:

And here it is the room...after trmming from the top...Geoff said the span of the tree was 9 feet around. All I could think was that tree actually makes our enormous fireplace look small! Ididn't think we would find anything that could do that!

We are so enjoying our first real tree!

Thanksgiving Recipes

I wanted to post this awhile ago but have been having trouble with loading images on blogger. Anyone else experiencing this? I tried a few new recipes for Thanksgiving. The keepers...

Mashed sweet potatoes with shallots (Cooking Light):

Cranberry Sauce (Williams and Sonoma)--the biggest hit...very yummy. Geoff actually thought it was too sweet and that it tasted like dessert...so will probably cut the sugar a little next time.

And last but not least...another Cooking Light recipe...a Pear Streusel Pie...tasted like apple pie almost...I even used a spelt crust and thought it was really good.

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving recipe? I would love to hear about it.

Bear's First Sled Ride

So we were sledding in the back yard last weekend and I wanted to see Bear on a sled. I thought she would love it. Don't all dogs love to sled?

Here is Bear-unassuming.

C'mon Bear. Good Bear. It will be fun.

Stay Bear. Good girl. Just stay.

Sucka...I am out of here!

And you, you just stood there and watched. (this is how Bear takes out her frustration...she gets in this "challenge" stance and frequently then tries to wrestle with Katy although Katy is innocent in most cases when she does this.)

Geoff gave up. I asked and asked him to try again and he said "No, it is not fun for me. It is not fun for Bear."

But then...

You back? Change your mind?

OK. I try.

Here we gooo...

It is hard to tell in the picture but Bear is just staying frozen on the sled while Katy joyfully chased them down the slope.

W enjoying sledding in the meantime...

Time to move to a bigger hill



I think Katy and Bear prefer to chase the sled instead of ride...

And later that day...is it a sheep?

No. Just Bear.