And the Winter Lingers...

Lest you think that winter has ceased its grip...it's 3 degrees outside. Last night it was -1. The sun is shining this morning, but it is so deceptive because you go out expecting to bask in the rays and you literally lose your breath and run back inside.

We took the kids snowshoeing on Saturday. We went expecting to get some fresh air and sunshine and by the time we got to the Sink Hollow trail it was almost a blizzard. It snowed so hard on the way up the trail that you couldn't even see our tracks on the way down. We still had a great time. The kids were so good. Jack ran the last half mile back to the truck. He kept telling me while he was in the backpack that, "his knees were really hurting him because he couldn't get them bent enough to really get some exercise." I made him ride most of the way because I was more nervous that he would poop out and become a heavy crying piece of cargo. The kid is a real trooper.

Did I mention that the Miners crashed our party? It was fun to go with them.

I love this hat. I must have a thousand pictures of him in it, but I can't help myself!
Jack wouldn't look at the camera. aauugh! Below: happy Miners with a sad, cold Sierra.

Skiing: Round Two

Dear Kids,

You really should be grateful every day that you have your dad to look out for you. There are times (see below), when I have been known to just walk away. I just don't have the patience for your 'gummy worm' legs. I want to leave you in the truck when you start to cry for no apparent reason--but not your dad. Your dad is an amazing man. He was built with an incredible amount of patience. And because of him, you will someday be incredibly gifted skiers. If it were up to me you would still be locked in the truck in the parking lot of the resort.
Notice the incredible amount of effort Jack is exerting to assist in this recovery. He also hasn't any hands shoved down in those gloves so when you go to grab his hand you just get a fist full of frustration.
Took this picture approximately 4.6 seconds after the first.

Finally, off again. I wish that you could see the sweat glistening on Jeff's brow. We must have been asked a thousand times, "How old are those kids?" Hey, WE are THOSE people who put babies on skis. We did have a good laugh about Jack. The dude isn't even 36 inches tall! Well, he might be with that big brain bucket he's got on that head! I was cracking up when he skied through a big bunch of rollers on a cat track. He told me, "wow, mom, I went on the bumps on the goat hill!"
My Valentine's babes on the lift. The kids call it "the swing."

My favorite ski partner.

The Year of the Tiger

2010: The Year of the Tiger

We celebrated the Chinese New Year in a wonderful fashion. Jeff cooked a fabulous meal. The kids had a great time growling and chasing each other around with their tiger masks.

This Lo Mein was fantastic. I am not a fan of noodles, but this was very good. Yeah, for a wonderful dad (and for America's Test Kitchen)! This recipe has a little bit of heat and I really liked it so much more than the stuff you get served in most restaurants.
Jeff's specialty is dumplings and potstickers. The kids call them "big noodles." I'm hoping that he is making them for dinner again tonight (hint. hint.)
Jack sampling the vegetarian dumpling.
Hey, I've said it before, Chinese kids love noodles!

Making Snowmen

Jack had been begging to build a snowman. He is one happy boy!

Lunch Break

It's a What?

Lachlan has been learning her shapes.

The two most difficult for her to name are hexagon and pentagon. She has a hard time counting the sides and generally tends to 'over count.'

Jeff was quizzing her one morning when she simply stated, "Dad, this is a rectagon."

It's pretty much how I feel about math, too.

Official Report: No Actual Beavers at Beaver Mountain

We finally got brave enough to take the kids skiing. It's a risky thing to take them for the first time. You want them to love it. For one, you love it. And if they don't love it too, you'll never get to go...and you've been waiting until just the perfect moment so that you'll have a chance for success. This picture of Lachlan in front of the ski office may be my favorite picture of the year. She is so happy to have her pink skis and white boots.
I wanted to get a picture of Jack in front of the lodge, but he had to slide on his coat down the hill. His ski boots were very slippery and he thought it was wonderful. He skated down that hill. I thought he was going to get a fat lip before we even got the stupid skis on him. I was so happy to see this smile on him. He whined on the way up the canyon because Quote: "I don't want to go to Beaver Mountain. I want to go to Dinosaur Mountain and see real-live dinosaurs. I don't want to go see any beavers!"

Dear Jack, some day these words will haunt you. And your dad and I will laugh as hard then as we are now. Love, Mom
Dear Marge & Ted, I hope that you make a million dollars at your resort this year. I hope that you find a diamond ring in your coat pocket. I hope whichever one of you it was that decided to install the 'Magic Carpet' on the bunny hill lives forever in perfect health. My gosh, this is the best thing that ever happened to your little resort. It's just a little piece of Deer Valley--and oh, how I love it. P.S. My chiropractor also thanks you.
Dear Self, for the love, could you please lift your head up off of your neck when your picture is being taken?? And that hat isn't doing you any favors either...

And they skied. I don't know why I was so surprised--but I really was--they just took off! After an hour, Lachlan was racing Sierra down the hill. Jack kept yelling at Jeff that they needed to go faster. I had to put my skis on just to keep up with them on the hill. It was a wonderful night. Jack had to be hauled off the hill, kicking and screaming, because he didn't want to leave. He wanted to ski. He wanted to ride the carpet. He wanted to stay on the Beaver's Mountain!

I've included some ski footage from the first couple of runs (when I could still walk down the hill, rather than run to keep up). You can see that Jack just wants me to get out of the way so that he can barrel down the hill--don't worry, we have helmets. They're already packed in the ski bags for next weekend.

Jack's Third Birthday

Jack turned three in January. He is so excited to be a big boy. He has been waiting for his birthday since the day after Christmas and Lachlan has been his biggest birthday fan. They were really cute planning all of the things that they were going to do for his birthday. We started the week with some bowling. The kids love bowling. They pump their fists and cheer for each other. It's so fun--except when Jack is a sore loser. Eh, he's three and it shows occasionally. He's got his "I'm going to fake cry" look in this picture (which is exactly why I'm posting it). I see that look at least 10 times a day. I had some great video of some fake crying, but I accidentally erased it. I'm not devastated though, because I know that I can recapture the exact thing...

We took Jack to the Living Planet Aquarium. He loved sitting on this frog. He shoved his sister and another little girl out of the way just so that he could sit on it alone. He really wanted to go see "real live dinosaurs"--we've tried to explain that they are extinct, dead, long gone, but he just says, "I show you!" Then, he will bring in a library book full of pictures of dinosaurs and he will "show you that they are alive and well, eating grass, laying eggs, etc." It is a lost cause and I have resorted to telling him that they just live "really far away"--hey, you win some you lose some.
I told him that he could touch a sting ray. He said that he really wanted to touch a whale or a shark or a fish. I told him that he could touch a sting ray. It took him a while to get brave enough to do it (they are a bit slimy feeling). He loved it. Lachlan, not so much.
He was glad to see that Nemo was living at the 'quarium'.

But not as excited as Lachlan was to "see Nemo's dad" I took this picture as she was just realizing that "Nemo's dad is right here, right in this water!"
We had some special cupcakes at Nanny's house. Jack had been looking forward to this since last September (at Lachlan's party)--he was thrilled to see Spiderman cupcakes! He also got his most prized possession--his DRAGONS! Oh, the blessed day. He kept wondering why Santa never brought his dragons for Christmas--when you're older Jack you'll realize that Santa has to save something for your birthday that is just a few weeks later!
I made him a dragon cake. I was really nervous. I can't believe that it turned out well enough to not be something of nightmares! He loved that cake. Lachlan just wanted to "eat a wing". No cake just "eat a wing"--it was pretty funny. We had some cousins over for a birthday party. Cole and Aidan gave him some dinosaurs. He immediately named the Brontosaurus "Don...of the Dinosaurs"--it's after his favorite Ice Age movie (that he has watched 10 million times). We laugh so hard when we hear him talking to "Don...(he actually pauses) of the Dinosaurs".

Jack ate so much pizza and cake at his party that he went to bed with a stomachache. He told me when I was putting him to bed, "Mom, I eat too much of dinner."

A week after his birthday he started wearing his big boy underwear. He calls them his "boy panties" He has done so well. He is totally potty trained and he loves to ask if I am "so proud of him for going on the toy-eht." He also calls his belly-button his "buddy bellen"--and it is so cute when he says it. I ask him about it at least twice a day. He wants to do everything by himself and that's a little hard to get used to...

Happy Birthday to our Big Boy.

Come, Little Donkey, Come

Lachlan sings.

All. the. time.

People tell me that she is gifted.

We have not failed to see the value of such a gift. In fact, we think that it is wonderful. We've been very encouraging and try to teach her words to different songs. She literally spends hours every day listening to her "radio"--it's a compilation of preschool and WeeSing songs burned to various CDs.

There are times, however, when my brain needs a rest. I don't have music on the brain 24/7--she does. I know that I get cynical looks at the grocery store, library, salon, church, McDonalds, county fairs, (continue to insert various locations around the world)...because I am always saying, "Lachlan, stop singing. Mommy's had enough. If you can't stop you need to wait in the car." Hey, naysayers, I heard all of the previous verses to "99 bottles of beer on the wall" on the 20-minute car ride to this location--send your judgments elsewhere!!

Still don't believe me? Here's a little something that I've titled, "Every day at lunch." She usually sings while I pray and drink something strong and have a chaser of pills.

I AM encouraging, but generally medicated.

Just setting the record straight.

Wait Until Ellen Sees This...

Okay, so I know that we're sooo over Christmas, but I just couldn't help it.

I taught them this song to sing at various holiday events. It was the first song I remember learning for Christmas when I was a kid.

All I wish is that I had them saying at the first of the tape, "I AM the next American Idol." That would have been priceless--especially since it is only a matter of time until Lachlan packs up her Hello Kitty radio and gets on a Greyhound for L.A.