This boot was made for walkin'...

New Englanders are very confusing.  I swear - in the summer?  It's too hot and humid.  In the winter?  It's too cold and snowy.  But, then?  When you don't get snow?  "Where's the snow?  I am getting really annoyed that it hasn't snowed yet."  You can't win around here...until this weekend.

Not only did we get our first snow fall of the season, but we got a lot of it!  I think that we probably ended up with well over a foot at our house.  It was pretty crazy going from nearly 50 one day and then a foot of snow the next.  Needless to say, the kids were thrilled.  Well, Avery was. Alex was still trying to figure out if he was thrilled or annoyed that he is still a bit too short to really walk through that much snow. 

Not to mention, he isn't a huge fan of all of the gear it requires - the boots are too small, the mittens are too big, the scarf goes up to high on his face, etc., etc., etc. But, once he got out there? He enjoyed it.Josh bought both kids snow shovels when he was out and about, so they had a blast helping dad shovel.

 

And, in case you haven't noticed yet, no new seasonal adventure would be complete without Alex wearing pink.  As with everything else, Josh and I were not prepared for the snow, so Al had nothing that fit him - except for Avery's old pink snow pants.  So, pink it was! 

Avery actually had nothing that fit as well, but Josh was actually able to find her snow pants at Walmart that morning (they did not have any boy snow pants left). Prior to that? I tried to convince her that the 3T's would work just fine. However, as it turns out, when you try to put pants that are too small on someone? They give that person a never-ending wedgy (or grundy, as I like to call them). Ah - that brings me back to my good ol' college days when I forced my poor friend Amy to wear the pumpkin costume that was made for a 12 year old - as it turns out, a 12 year old pumpkin costumer will also give the 21 year old wearing it a wedgy. But, I digress. Point being, Avery wasn't a big fan of having snow pants up her butt, so we held out on our outdoor activities until Daddy arrived with the new pants...


And, just as I was getting excited about (gasp!!!) getting out of the house to enjoy the outdoors??  I realized that I still have this *&W#$#$%'ing boot on my foot.  And, this (#$%$#%'ing boot?  It isn't closed toed, which clearly wasn't going to work in the snow.  But, I'll be damned if I was going to miss out on a fun activity with the kids, so my solution?  This...

And, I was still kind of nervous about hurting my foot on the uneven snow, so not only did I have the bag?  But, I also brought my crutches along...

I'm sure my neighbors thought I was crazy.  And, if they didn't see me?  I'm sure they were wondering what peg-legged creature had been traipsing through our yard - crutches make pretty amusing tracks in the snow.

Anyway - Alex had enough of the snow after about 30 mins, but I'm glad that I had this ingenious thought because Avery and I had a great time.  She made a bunch of snow angels..

and then realized that sliding down a slide that is covered in snow is really fun and fast, so we did that for a good 45 mins.



   

Overall, bag and all, it was a great day...

Damn! My ass is smokin' hot!

So, a few weeks ago, when Avery was on Christmas break, Josh's mom was watching her during the day.  To make things easier, we switched cars so that she could have the car with the car seats.  I was perfectly fine with this switch, as it resulted in an upgrade for me from an Acura (don't get me wrong, I do LOVE my car) to a BMW X3, which is pretty fun to drive....until it nearly starts on fire.  I was driving home from work one night and decided to put on the seat warmers.  About a minute later, I smell burning.  Having no idea what it was, but assuming it may have something to do with the seat warmer, as I had just turned it on, I turned it off.  And, sure enough the smell went away.  At the time, I thought it was pretty crazy that the seat warmer was obviously getting hot enough to the point where it would smell, but didn't really think much of it...until I noticed THIS the next morning!!!!

The seat warmer burned a freaking hole in the seat of Josh's parents' car!!!!  Can you believe that?  I mean, had I not realized that it was that, it could have started on fire!  And, what's worse????  It burned a hole in my favorite coat!  So, now I'm walking around with freaking feathers falling out everywhere. 

Needless to say, I've requested a new coat from the BMW dealership.  Not sure if the request will be granted or not, but I figure it is the least they can do for nearly starting my ass on fire. 

Oh, and you didn't really think that I would really be bragging to the world about having a smokin' hot ass, did you? Trust me, after 6 weeks on crutches (i.e., limited exercise)?????  That is FAR from the truth....

A girl after my own heart...

Every Monday is library day at Avery's school.  So, the teacher takes the entire class over to the library and they get to pick out a book to bring back to the classroom to read.  So, last night, Avery tells me:

"Mom, today, at the library, I almost checked out a book about the 2 kings who tried to kill Jesus when he was an adult."  (mind you, she goes to a catholic school)

Me - "Oh really?"  Not really knowing a) what the heck she was talking about and b) how to react to the idea of someone killing Jesus.

Avery - "Yeah, but then.....I decided to get Fancy Nancy instead.

HA!

I mean, I can't tell you how many times this conversation has taken place between Josh and I except instead  of the 2 kings killing Jesus, insert some ridiculously boring book about WWII and instead of Fancy Nancy, insert People Magazine.

I love it.

Holiday Recap

Ah - yet again - another post long overdue.  Hopefully now that we are all back in our "normal" routines, the posts should be more frequent (aka, shorter). 

Overall, our holiday was great - still not without sick kids and a lot of running around - but, great nonetheless.

 In keeping with traditions, the holiday season started with brunch with Santa at the Point Club.  This was my first outing post surgery, so it felt great to get out! 

However, in NOT keeping with traditions...this year?  Avery sat on Santa's lap!  This is huge, people.  Clearly, she has finally realized that this guy is the one who will bring her presents, so it would be to her advantage to sit on his lap and to tell him what she wants. 

Al?  Not so much...

When not running away from or talking to Santa, the club had a station set up where they could decorate cookies and make wreaths...

A few days after that, also keeping with tradition, Grammy and I took Avery to Tea at a mansion nearby

 Still liking Santa...

A few days after that, Avery had her Christmas play at school. They did the Little Drummer Boy - as you can see, Avery was an angel.  Although, I'm not sure the other parents thought she was such an angel when she a) reminded another angel that she needed to be holding her hands in the prayer position by looking at her and whispering her name loud enough for everyone to hear and then showing her what she was supposed to be doing and then b) doing the same thing to another classmate who was one of the lambs and was supposed to be "keeping time" by pawing at the ground.  He forgot to do that, so Avery (in front of everyone) quickly reminded him in the same fashion she reminded the angel.  That's my girl!  The apple doesn't fall from the tree.  Further supporting that apple theory - she was the only one who actually sang the entire Little Drummer boy song.  The song was playing on a CD as the kids reenacted the scene, so I don't think that it was really part of the plan for any of them to sing along, but Avery did - loud and proud!  It was pretty cute. 

A few days later, Opa and Grandma came into town.  As with every Opa/Grandma visit, the kids were bouncing off the walls as soon as they walked through the door..."Opa!  Watch this!"  " Grandma!  Look at this!"  It is always quite a welcome...

That night, Alex didn't sleep at all and was clearly not feeling well, so I took him to the doctor on Friday morning - yep!  Double Ear Infection.  Sick Kid #1.  At least we caught it and were able to give him antibiotics in time for Christmas...

 The next couple of days were spent wrapping gifts and getting the house ready for Christmas.  We had dinner at Josh's parents' house on Christmas Eve.  Here they are prior to going over there (aren't Alex's pants cute?  If you will notice, there are little bears (with red scarves around their necks) on them.  Although, there was an ongoing battle over whether they were cats, bears, dogs, etc., but whatever.  They were pretty cute)...

Then, that night,  we had to set out carrots and water (8 glasses to be exact) and a bell (wrapped) for the reindeer and of course, cookies and milk for Santa...

Christmas morning was great.  First of all, the kids were up late the night before, but both managed to wake up at 6 am and then...wait for it...fall back asleep until 8 AM!  Josh and I were up before they were!  I figure, this is probably the last year that this will happen.  Avery has now completely caught on to the entire present opening phenomenon.  And, Alex isn't far behind I'm sure.  I don't have many picture of the present opening, as most of it was a video.  In general, Avery would exclaim, "Just what I wanted!!!!!" after nearly every present that she opened (regardless of whether she had really asked for it or not) and Alex was perfectly content playing with the first present that he opened (a garbage truck) for a good 30 mins...until he realized that there were a lot more and then it was, "Can I open more?" after each gift.  We'll work on his manners next year...

 Christmas night, we hosted dinner.  It was a bit of a challenge while on crutches, but Mom and Dad were a huge help - thank god they were there!  McDonald's would have been on the menu had they not have been!

The day after Christmas, we relaxed and recuperated - I think that we all needed it!  The following day, we ventured out and went to Newport.  As it turns out, walking around town is one of those things that you kind of take for granted and something that you can't do very easily while on crutches!  So, we actually had to rent a wheel chair for me!  I don't have a picture of this, but will send one along once I get it from my parents.  My father was having all sorts of fun pushing me around on this thing.  I nearly flew out of it a number of times upon hitting various holes or lifts in the road.  Anyway...while there, we saw this giant gingerbread house that was made of all real candy, frosting, etc., which was pretty cool.   The kids were clearly done with pictures at this point...

 And, now, onto Sick Kid #2!  We got home from Newport and Avery was complaining about her stomach hurting, so just as I went over to comfort her on the couch, she decided to share this with me by throwing up the pasta that she had had for lunch ALL OVER ME. I'm not kidding- I was seriously covered in puke.  And, so was the carpeting that we had just had professionally cleaned 2 weeks earlier.  And, so was my boot - the boot that I have to wear for 6 weeks and that covers my foot that can't get wet.  So, my dad being the lucky guy who he is was given the job of blow drying said boot after it was all washed off.  Thanks, Pops!  Mom got the job of giving Avery a bath who was a) totally freaking out about puking and b) was also covered in puke, so I think that my Dad got the better end of the deal.

Avery recovered after about 24 hours and we all managed to avoid getting whatever she had, which was pretty unbelievable, as we all shared a water bottle earlier that day.  Opa and Grandma stayed home with her the following day, as I had to go to work.  And, they left to go home the following morning.  It was a great trip with them - the kids love having them around, as do Josh and I. 

Last weekend, in order to do something just a bit different on New Year's Eve night, we made a bunch of appetizers and had a "picnic" in the living room while watching the movie, Cars.  The kids thought it was all sorts of fun being able to sit on the ground and eat.  Although, Alex paid attention to the movie for all of 10 mins and soon after that, Avery started complaining that we always watch boy shows and why weren't we watching a girls show?  Can't win. 

There you have it - a recap of the Holland holiday season!  Here's hoping 2012 will be a puke-free, ear infection-free and crutch-free year!