Snow and Sledding

(Say the title to the tune of Married with Children).  Okay, now that that is stuck in your head, I really do think that a proper snow fall and sledding go hand in hand.

We had a couple inches of snow fall at my parents home and they have the perfect property for sledding.  They have in the back of the house a hill that goes from a gradual slope to a pretty steep slope down which is perfect for wanting to go really fast and see who can slide the farthest into the open field behind their home and then take 15 minutes to walk back up to the top to do it all over again.  Then on the side of the home a bunny hill that slopes down away from the house that was perfect Mikey wanting to sled by himself without me worring if he'll stop on his own and then in the front of the house another slightly steep hill that has a short drop off, pefect for wanting to go fast and a short distance.  We took advantage of it all.  Lots of sledding and pulling the kids in a sled.

 You know how every once in a while you have a moment with the kids where time feels like it stops and you remember every detail, where you were, what the weather was like, what the time was, what you were wearing, etc.  I had a moment like that with Mikey watching him go sledding by himself for the very first time.  We taught him to scooch on the sled to make it go, so with him on the sled by himself I was a few feet in front of him, running backwards like crazy to make sure 1) I'd catch him and 2) I wanted his sled ride to be as long as possible; well watching his face light up was like pure heaven.  His eyes sparkled and twinkled, his smile got bigger and bigger and I swear it reached his ears and his laugh/giggle got louder and louder.  It was amazing.  Mikey was in his element and would stay out all day if we had remembered to pack proper sledding gear.  Luckily my parents had us all covered except for boots.

 Katie liked sledding but only if she was behind Mikey.  You put her in the front part of the sled and she protested.  We definitely got a workout sledding with the kids almost daily.  The snow stayed for nearly two weeks as parts of the yard didn't see much sunlight and so the melting was slow!

We also made snow angles and even a little snowman once the fluffy white snow melted just enough to stick together.

So good at shoveling.

Katie checking out Papa's motorcycle.

Hi!

Fighting over the pink shovel.  Wish we had 2.

In front of Nana and Papa's home.

He even shoveled the road.

Time to go sledding.

Putting his gloves back on about a million times.

She's happy to sled too!

Bailey loves the snow!

The slope on the side of the house.

Mikey riding on the back of the sled, in the back of the house.

Bryan and Jamie.



I absoultely love Mikey's face here.  This was his expression pretty much all day! 

I had fun too!

Getting in my workout!

 

Katie face plant in the snow. I probably look horrible taking this pic. instead of rushing to her, but she was like this for a second before Jamie scooped her up.

Not too happy after that.

Building a snowman.

Christmas 2012

I love having young kids, especially around Christmas.  There is just something so magical about the season when you share it with young kids.  Mikey was super into Christmas this year.  I was pleasantly surprised that the kids left my parent's tree alone for the most part.  There was some interest and touching of low lying ornaments, mostly from Katie, but unlike the year before the tree wasn't completely redocorated by little fingers and hands.

 

Of course the kids received way to may presents for our over generous family!  I'm still trying to find places in our apartment to put things.  I may have to figure out a better organization system for 2013!

Mikey loved the morning.  He loved opening up every present and opening up a fair amount for Katie too.  He'd open one and would want to open another immediately. Mikey liked handing out the presents to everyone too. Katie was interested in the first hour of opening gifts but after that she was happy to play with what she already received.

Waking up to a white Christmas is always lovely.

Everyone's stocking stuffers.

So happy and busy on Christmas morning.  Katie feeding her baby doll and Mikey getting ready to shot a nurf gun.

Can never get a pic. with just the two of them smiling and looking at the camera....I refuse to give up!

Christmas morning.

Bailey decided to join us for this pic.

Little mischievous, rearranging presents.

So excited to get a tool kit and a real tool bag.

Katie loved her Nemo.  It's her favorite movie she requests almost daily.

Mikey and his doodle pad.

Hugs with Aunt Jamie.

Getting silly.

Mikey hanging with the guys.



 

Delicious surf and turf Christmas dinner.

She couldn't move. 

Being so silly in Uncle Matts big shoes.

 

Christmas Eve 2012

We drove down to PA this year to stay at my parents for 8 days around Christmas and had a great time.  I love having all of my family so close!  Christmas Eve was done a little differently this year in that we did not go to 5pm mass.  It is easily the most crowded mass of the year and having two kids to entertain for 30 to 45 minutes before mass even begins is not easy let alone keep them entertained and well behaved for another hour and all around dinner time makes it nearly impossible.  So we had some family time at my parents before making the trek to my Aunt Bev and Uncle Andrew's home for their annual Christmas Eve party.  It started snowing pretty heavily on the trip to their place...a 35 minute drive turned into 1 hour.  But once we were there we had so much fun!

A huge dinner, gifts to open and lots of space to run around a play, music playing, a fire to gaze into and a tree to touch was how we spent most of our evening....oh almost forgot the stairs.  The kids loved climbing up and sliding down the steps.  We don't have stairs at home so this was a huge hit for the kids.

Katie and Joey.  He was so cute in his elf costume.  He's catching up to Katie fast.  Although he was born over a month early and is 7 1/2 months younger than Katie he weighs almost as much as her.  You might just throw out your back picking him up if you don't have a strong core.  He's solid! Don't say I didn't warn you!!

Joey with Great Grandma.

Santa's helper. 

Katie opening up gifts from Erica, Steve and Joey.

This is what Mikey received from Joey.

Aunt Erica with the babies.



Family pic. with the grandparents and GG. Just missing Bryan to complete the grandkids to date.

Playing under the tree at Bev and Andrews.

Silly Katie.



He liked the manger.  Notice anything unusual??

Ummm..Mikey I don't think Mary, Joseph and the 3 Kings want to admire you tractor.  That spot is for Baby Jesus.



Love their setup for Christmas with the blue and white tree this year for Ashley's graduation from Penn State, the mantle and the fire crackling.

These two were so cute together!  I promise they weren't hurting each other.

In their PJ's ready for the drive home.