Mom's away

Almost 2 years ago to the day, Lynn was in Seattle and I had to take 21 month old Claire to go see Santa. I brought Nick our neighbor along with me to take photos. If you have forgotten about that adventure you can read about it here.

Fast forward two years and Lynn is in Seattle again this weekend and I am taking 45 month old Claire and 22 month old Laura to visit Santa. This time I brought Magen, whom Mrs. Claus mistook for my wife (I am old enough to be Magen's dad, a young dad albeit). Let's back up 5 hours.

I put the girls to bed for an early nap (11:30am), thinking I would give them a bath after they woke up, rather than prior to nap time. A good decision on my part, because when I got Laura from her crib (2:30pm), she had pooped on just about everything in the crib. Everything went into the washer and Laura and Claire went into the tub. Just as I was finishing up their baths, Magen came by and helped dry and dress them. Ok, she dried and dressed them while I got ready myself. Now, here is the part in which I really needed Magen - the girls' hair. She made up their hair while I continued to get ready to go. A few photos in front of our tree and off we went to visit Santa at the local YMCA.

Claire's visit was great, but Laura's was predictable and she initially wanted nothing to do with Santa. Claire told Santa she wanted a camera for Christmas and Santa looked at me and asked if she was 4 years old. Nope, only 3. Anyway, as Claire was wrapping up her visit, Laura said she was hungry and we gave her some goldfish crackers. Then we told her to share with Santa. Laura walked over to Santa and gave him some goldfish and before you knew it, they were best friends. Indeed, it is better to give than receive.

Photos from today's adventure can be seen here. Thanks Magen, you rock!

Ok, maybe I'm biased...

a little, but we have to the two cutest, sweetest kids. Here they are at the children's museum of Atlanta at Taylor Docka's birthday party. You will recall the Dockas are our friends we met while we were in Italy. The girls had a blast at the museum, getting to try a bunch of things like milking a "cow", fishing, watching a play, eating pizza and cupcakes. It's amazing to sit back and watch their young minds at work.

I've already accepted that unless there is no another adult present, Laura wants nothing to do with me. I am sure this will change. When it's just the two of us she wants me to color with her, or read books to her. Unlike her sister, she has not taken to watching movies on mom's iPad. Her favorite app on her iPod is Tom the talking cat. Maybe it is because they both love milk.

Lynn commented at dinner tonight that Laura is truly bilingual as she uses both English and Spanish words when speaking, without realizing it. For example, "I want leche". But she knows that both milk and leche are the same thing. Maybe that's why Laura is so tall for her age, because of all the milk she drinks. Too bad she barely weighs 20 lbs. She will still be in a car seat when she is 13.

And there is no doubt that she is right handed as evident in one of these videos.





Claire continues on her own, without any pressure or prompting from us, to prepare for the first grade. She loves to write and spell. "How do you spell 'croutons'?". She's recently started to distinguish between upper and lower case letters. Tonight she wrote out the grocery list for us.

Claire's soccer season ended last Saturday. I am going to start working with her so that she gets in the midddle of things instead of watching from a distance. She says she wants to play again next season, so hopefully her cleats will still fit.

Halloween has come and gone and so has the candy. Grammy and Grampy minded the candy dish at home (there were a lot of candy wrappers lying around our front porch), while Lynn, Magen and I took the girls out. Fortunately, they have forgotten about the candy. Grammy and Grampy visited for a week on their annual mirgration southward to Florida. Knowing the value of having time with grandkids, Lynn and I made sure they had plenty of that. I think they were more tired when they were leaving, than when they arrived. Lynn and the kids are going to visit them in December before the Christmas break.

Well, I can't think of anything else that's happened, but I am sure Lynn will add to this posting or create her own after she reads this one. Hasta la proxima vez!

HALLOWEEN!

More details to come, but here are some more pictures for now.

Fun with Magen

My children are so lucky. They have amazing people in their lives who love them so much. Magen, one of our amazing ones, came by tonight to watch the girls. They were having so much fun with her. We know Claire already loves Magen (they are best friends, you know) and now Laura just adores her, too. They read lots of books and made funny faces with each other. Anyway, I was able to capture some special moments of Laura with Magen tonight. Of course, Claire wanted in on the action, too so you will see some sweet silly time between Claire and Laura. Sisters. So sweet.

Magen also shot some adorable video of Claire talking about her boyfriend, Christopher. Christopher is the son of good friends of ours in Canada. Claire was quite taken with him this summer during our trip to Kamloops. She remembers him quite well. See the video as she tells Magen all about it. Even though we know Christopher and his family well, I don't think Mark is going to relax his "no dating before 30" rule.

Juicy and Delicious

That was our day yesterday spent with the Dockas (Beth, PJ, Taylor, Will and Chandler). We had a great time picking apples, playing and having dinner. Of course, the Brunello makes everything that much sweeter! Enjoy more pictures from the day.

Reading

The girls continue to get along swimmingly. Tonight, Claire took time out of her busy schedule to read to Laura. Laura even helped out when Claire got stuck. Check it out.



Laura even sang a song for us.



This weekend we are going apple picking with our friends, the Dockas, whom we met in Italy 2 years ago. You can also see them in the January 2011 posting when we spent the weekend in the mountains with them.

Here are some photos from today as well.

Futbol

Today was Claire's first soccer game. The kids started out with a 30 minute practice where they learned to dribble and shoot. After the practice, chaos ensued. Each team fielded 5 players and almost everyone ran after the ball, except Claire, who ran around a lot, but largely avoided everyone. She really wanted nothing to do with the scrum. But the coach kept her in for the whole game as there were 3-4 of Claire's teammates who simply cried on the sideline for the whole game.

Lynn and Laura were great cheerleaders, encouraging Claire. Laura even got into the spirit by running around on the sidelines. She was a hoot. Claire got knocked over a couple of times and cried, but after I told her to suck it up and get back out there (plus a few words of positive reinforcement from mom), she did. She even kicked the ball once! I expect her to become much more involved in the game as the season progresses. Overall, she enjoyed herself and both Laura and Claire are looking forward to next weekend's game. You can see some video of the game below (she's #3 on the blue team) (click here to see the wide screen version), plus some photos here. Both our angels slept well in the afternoon.

New Videos

I have posted some new photos of the girls here . They are a couple of characters. Laura had her first all out major temper tantrum this afternoon. She was lying on the floor kicking and screaming and crying. It was all I could to keep from laughing. Unfortunately, Lynn wouldn't let me record a video of it. But I do have these videos to share with you. Enjoy.

Here is photo from Wes and Laura's wedding in July that we attended. Remember, the one in which Lynn had to go buy a new dress, just hours before the wedding? She looks pretty good.

This past weekend we took the kids on a picnic to a local park. Of course it was 95F and there were probably only 3 other people at the park. So the girls had the run of the park. We kicked the soccer ball around in preparation for Claire's first soccer game next Saturday. The combination of the heat, impending nap time and a full belly was too much for us, as the girls had enough after 10 minutes.

Check back after Saturday's game to see some pictures of Claire playing soccer.

All is well at 126 Generals Pl

Last week we took Laura (and Claire) to her 18 month check-up. Claire was so concerned that Laura was going to get a shot. While we were waiting in the waiting area, Laura was running around having fun, but as soon as we went to room to see the nurse and doctor, she froze up. Well, she is in the 95th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight, meaning she is tall, skinny and delicious like a beverage from starbucks.

Laura's vocabulary has continued to explode over the last 2 weeks. Lynn and I probably read 10 books to her everyday. I bet she knows about 100 words (between English and Spanish) Next to mastering potty training, the development stage Laura is at is probably my favorite thus far. Luzma is working on the potty training. And the stairs. She's figured them out (at least the up part) and insists on going up without any help.

And our girls play so nicely together. Claire is an incredible big sister, always sharing with Laura (especially after we tell her to share). I took them to the bounce house today and they played together the whole time. We are so blessed.

Going home...

or should I say, went home? to catch up on last 6 week, here's a recap. Our 5 hour flight to Seattle combined with Laura's crankiness, was making us consider driving home. Poor thing was in discomfort with her leg in a cast and ears that couldn't pressurize. It was a miserable flight. After spending the night at Andy and Keely's in Seattle, we drove to Kamloops. What was normally a 5.5 hour drive took nearly 8. We started to reconsider our reconsideration of driving home to Atlanta.

But the flight and drive were worth it as we all finally met Theo. He is beautiful. Here is a photo of Theo I stole from my brother's blog (which is updated more regualrly than ours - give them a few years). You can read his blog here. You forget how small and precious babies are, until they poop and you need to change the diaper. Anyway, the girls enjoyed spending time with their new cousin. Laura was still in her cast and she crawled around saying "baby" while pointing to Theo. We also spent time with our cousins Sam and Alex Gurney, though they are a few years older than the girls. We also had fun with her friends Sue, Mike and their son Christopher (we went to New Brunswick with them 5 years ago for a vacation).

Our week at home was full of activities with Uncle Paul, Auntie Taya, Theo and Lola. We rode a train, went to the BC Wildlife Park, ate lots of food, and played together in the park. We want to thank everyone back home for an awesome visit and We are hoping everyone comes to our house for Christmas! Here are some photos from our trip home.

Once we returned home (the flight was much better this time around), Laura got her cast removed much to our relief.

Next we were off to Maine for 10 days with Grammy and Grampy. Surprisingly, we had lobster only once while we were there. Even more surprising, Claire loved the beach. Yes, it only took 4 trips to Maine, but Claire finally played in the sand and water. We built sand castles together and walked along the beach. Of course, for Laura, the sand and water were no big deal. The hardest part of the trip was the time the sun rose (around 4:30am), which is when the girls would get up - meaning one of us would get up too.

We also went to the carnival at Old Orchard Beach , Claire rode on many of the rides, some even by herself. Poor Laura was only big enough to ride the carousel with one of us holding her. You can see more of our excellent adventure here. We are toying with the idea of taking Claire back to visit Mickey in November since she enjoyed the carnival so much.

Well, that was our last six weeks. The girls are happy to have Luzma back, as she is them. School starts tomorrow for us. We keep you posted.

ps. do you remember where you were 34 years ago today when you found out? I do.

Sorry for the lack of posts

We had a great trip to Kamloops, British Columbia (and Seattle, WA!) and to Portland, Maine. I (Lynn) promise to update the blog with stories and pictures in the next week. I do have a small matter to attend to first (my tenure & promotion portfolio) but I promise after that to have a weekly update for you. The girls are growing and changing so fast. They are sweet and funny and completely different! Can't wait to share both of their adventures with all of you.
Lots of Love,
The Patterson clan

Cast off...

Last Thursday Laura got her hot pink cast off. Boy did she cry when they were cutting the cast. Truthfully, I am not sure who is more glad it is off, Laura or us. That evening we glad her a bath - the first one in a month. She loved the tub and stayed in it for a long time. She does have

to wear a removable boot during the day for the next week and then that should be it. She is able to "walk" around, though she certainly favors her left leg (it's important to note which leg, because years ago Rooster broke his leg and we paid $1000 to have it fixed and to this day we can't remember which leg).

This weekend Lynn and I had a short get away to Athens, GA to attend the wedding of a friend. We had a small mishap with Lynn's toiletry bag, in which something inside leaked on to her dress and the colors started to run. So, with the wedding only 2 hours away, Lynn went to the store and purchased a new dress ($35) and also got me a matching tie ($16), which several people commented that we coordinated well. Magen watched the kids for us and we stayed in Athens for the night. This our first get away in a long time.

Tomorrow, we are flying to Portland, ME to spend the week with Grammy and Grampy for our annual trip to Maine. Claire already has her itinerary planned out, which includes riding the carousel, bumper cars and the beach. If you recall, she has a sand phobia, but hopefully her playing in her sandbox will help overcome this fear. The last time Laura was in Maine she wasn't even crawling. The Dr. said she doesn't need to wear the boot on the beach, so we'll see how she fares too.

Coming up shortly, the blog posting on our awesome trip to Seattle and Kamloops.

Hot pink cast

Ok, by now I am sure everyone knows that Laura broke her leg last week. She got her foot caught between mom's leg and the slide on the way down. Of course, Lynn feels bad. The doctor said Laura will recover fully in 3 months and Lynn will in 3 years. She has to wear her cast for 4 weeks, which means no swimming for her when we are in Canada next week. She has been such a trooper. She does get a little frustrated because she is no longer as mobile as she used to be. She can get from A to B by rolling over and over. It's funny to watch. I know one day we will look back and smile at this photo. She is just so delicious.

Claire went to her first movie tonight in a theater. Magen took her to see Cars 2. She had a great time. She is growing up before our eyes, but she is still daddy's girl, at least in my eyes. And she has been extraordinarily helpful with Laura, giving her toys to play with. They are good friends now and will continue to be later in life. We are blessed.

More videos

Laura is soooo delicious! Her personality comes out more and more each day. She is making up for the first 5 months. In the last 2 weeks, her vocabulary has easily doubled and her memory is simply amazing. You tell her what something is, and ask her the next day, and she knows. Luzma says Laura understands both English and Spanish without any problems. We just want to squeeze her. Here is a video of her taken a couple of days ago.




Claire is taking after her mother. Hard headed. When her mind is set on something you need to summon the gods of distraction to get her mind on to something else. Last night Lynn hosted a Mary Kay fundraiser at the house for the mango tree foundation. I came home towards the end of it (like I was going to hang around for 20 women all trying on make-up) and someone had given Claire a makeover. I need to find a photo of it. Anyway, here is a video of a nightly event in our house when Claire puts on her PJs.

Birthdays and Career Aspirations...

My beautiful wife turned 40 yesterday. There were no parties or pictures. Only 5 of us (including Magen) to have some cake, which had to have candles so Claire could blow them out. In all fairness Claire did sing Happy Birthday to Lynn. Lynn did get a replacement iPod touch for her birthday and a card the girls made. And a long dinner at a Japanese restaurant, with horrible service. At least the company was wonderful. It is hard to believe that Lynn was 23 when I first met her. We are blessed.

Laura's vocabulary is starting to grow and she repeats more words that we say. She is so delicious. Her personality is very strong, as she can be quite stubborn and independent, and when she doesn't get her way, frustrated. She still hits and bites. I guess we need to be more diligent in that department. You can see new photos of Laura here.

We are however, much more diligent with Claire and her habit of getting out of bed after we put her to bed for the night. On a typical night she will get out of bed 4-5 times within 30 minutes of her going to bed. "Mom, I got to tell you something" is the standard excuse. Now, we tell her (and follow through with it) that we are taking a plush animal out of her bed everytime she gets up. This tactic has cut the getting out of bed to once an evening. Anyway, here is Claire working in my office

She did say the other day that she wanted to be a dancer when she grows up. And based on this video, we are enrolling her in dance class come August.

We try to skype with Paul, Taya and Theo as often as we can. It's becoming a challenge to get the girls to skype for more than 4-5 minutes, before they are on to something else. But they are both super interested in Theo. He has changed a lot in his 4 weeks of life. Here is a photo of him my brother took. You can read about their adventure here.

Just another sunday

Since my last posting, my brother and Taya had a beautiful baby boy, Theo Denis. We can't wait to meet him in person in July when we travel to the west coast. Click on the above link to follow my brother's blog about parenthood. We've been skyping with Paul, Taya and Theo about every other day and it's interesting to see parenthood through their eyes.

This weekend we were busy around the house. We (I) planted flowering bushes, we for Mother's day. The girls stayed out of the way for the most part and played nicely in the sandbox, although Claire did help with the watering. They both needed baths afterward. And in the afternoon, Claire helped water most of the bushes in the front yard. She is such a good kid.

This Sunday marked the start of something new for Claire and me, as we are going to have breakfast together (just the two of us) every weekend - or at least try to. Mom had Claire in a dress and I took her to IHOP. She was the best dressed in the whole restaurant. And I had a coupon. After discussing the weather and current events in the middle east, we got down to brass tacks, what we were we going to do after our nap this afternoon.

Turns out we didn't do too much as someone (not me) slept until 4pm. Oh well, there is always next weekend. Until then, here are a few photos from this weekend.

Like father, like daughter

So, sleep has been a popular topic around our house these days. I am sure you all know how much Mark loves to sleep. Well, it is definitely echoed and noticed in our house. Two sweet examples:
This morning, Claire, Laura and I were playing while Mark was at church. Just before 9am, suddenly Laura comes over to me, whines, gives me a hug and then walks over to the stairs and looks at me. I walk over and she starts crawling up the stairs, walks to her room, I change her and she goes down for a nap. Like clockwork! Love it!!
The other night, Claire and I were reading the Dr. Seuss book, Maybe you should fly a jet, maybe you should be a vet. As we are going through each page, she would tell me what she wanted to be. When she got to this page, she said, "That's what daddy wants to be!" I will let you guess which one she chose. I just about fell off the bed laughing.
Anyway, all is great in our household. Laura is learning words daily. She's got book, ball, bird, baby, mommy, dada, and foot down pat. Of course, that is in addition to what's that and who's that. She is developing quite the personality, too. As everyone who meets her agrees, she is a mini-mark - both looks and personality. She is very serious, but also very mischievous - a total tease. She loves Claire and Claire loves her. Actually, Claire gets very upset if she doesn't get to kiss her before she takes a nap/goes to bed.
We also have pictures from Claire and Mark's work together planting my mother's day roses and gardenias and also from their special outing this morning for breakfast. Will post those to Mark's picasa account later.
Hope you are all well-rested!
Lynn

Happy Mother's day

Lynn celebrated her fourth Mother's day with a photo shoot with the girls. As you can see, someone was not cooperating. Anway, we culled 250 photos down to these. The day started off great, as Nick, Curt and I came up with a great plan while we were golfing on Saturday. We were going to cook breakfast for our wives. Mimosas, eggs, bacon, has browns, fruit, and french toast. It was cholesterol heaven. After breakfast we all went to Kristi's work where she has a gym for kids to do exercises. The kids had a ball. There were 6 adults and 5 kids.

During the past week we were treated to Grammy and Grampy visiting us on their annual migration north. The girls sure enjoyed having their grandparents visit. They went to the bounce house, the park, and Claire got her hair cut. I am not sure who was more tired at the end oftheir visit.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the girls first cousin. Auntie Taya and Uncle Paul are expecting any day now. The baby (sex unknown) was actually due 3 days ago. We applied for Laura's passport last week, as we are heading to Canada to mean the new family member in July.

Finally, here are some other photos from Luzma that she has taken of the girls.

Our kids say the darnest things...

The girls continue to bring such joy to our lives. Laura is starting to mimic many gestures she sees and words she hears. From "What's that?" to barking like Kayla, she is a hoot. And she is super mobile now, walking out of our sight when ever possible. She seems to be drawn to the stairs like iron filings to a magnet. To the right is a photo Luzma took at her house. Maybe she will have Laura potty trained before she is 2.

Claire is the pee-pee on the potty champion. Accidents are becomeing increasingly rare. At times it seemed like this day would never come. She has taken to saying the funniest things. The other night I was rocking Laura just before her bed time and Claire comes in the room and announces that she has to check her email. Or reminds me that I need to charge her iphone (yes she has one) over night so she can watch Caillou in the morning. She has really taken to her baby sister in a protective way - unless Laura is playing with something Claire wants. Laura will be the rough and tumble one. It is only a matter of a few weeks when the girls will have their first and only first cousin, as my brother and Taya are expecting soon. We are taking the girls to Canada in the summer to meet their new cousin. Speaking of which, I need to get Laura a passport, pronto!

Look Who's Starting to Walk

The next American Idol

In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

you get the drift...

Guess who's 3?

On Saturday we had a birthday party for our big girl. There were about 13 kids and even more parents at the bounce house (like we want to clean up our house after a party). Sufficed to say both girls had a great time. Luzma and Nikki came and while they were not required to watch Laura, they did and we love them (regardless). Anyway, Claire hauled off a ton of toys - we don't need anymore toys. Photos of the day can be seen here. On Sunday we tried 4 way skyping with Grammy/Grampy, uncle Paul/aunt Taya, Lola, and uncle Larry. The experiment was only moderately successful as at times various people were dropped.

Today Claire had her 3 year doctor's appointment. 38" (74%) and 30lbs (43%). So like her little sister and mom, she is tall and skinny. Not surprising considering how little she eats. Potty training continues to go quite well. We are not quite at the stage where we can leave the house without a diaper for her. But she sees it as a game and likes it when we are excited for her. Note to self: buy more jelly beans.

Unfrotunately I am in Washington, DC for a couple of days, so I will miss my girls, as you do no doubt.

Not much new...

Since the last post, Laura has started standing on her own, even taking a couple of steps, but is not quite ready to start walking regularly. Her first words are "What's that?" as she points to something. She is such a darling. She loves to snuggle with mom, and big sister can always be counted on to get Laura laughing.

Laura continues to eat like a horse, easily eating twice as much as Claire. Her 1 year stats are: height 30.5" (84%), 18.9 lbs (16%) and 16% for head size. So basically she is tall and skinny. We had her first year photos done this week, I will post them when we get them. We had to go twice, because someone didn't nap the first time and was miserable.

Claire continues to develop and grow. She is going to be a great role model for Laura. FINALLY, she is starting to use the potty. No accidents in the last two days. She is also starting to come out of her shell and is interacting more with kids in the neighborhood. On Saturday we are having Claire's birthday party at the bounce house. It is all she can talk about, "and don't forget my birthday cake"! There will be about 10 of her friends there as well. I'll post photos from that event as well.

Claire is becoming fluent in Spanish, according to our wonderful nanny. Luzma says she only speaks Spanish to Claire and Claire responds in Spanish. When we speak to her in Spanish, Claire barks like a dog, woof, woof. I didn't think our accents were that bad.

I've started using a CPAP machine, like my mom, and my brother will soon join us. Admittedly I am less tired during the day, but there is one annoying side-effect. I wake up every morning feeling like the Michelin Man, completely bloated with air. 30 minutes of blurbing and passing gas, and blaming Claire, I am back to normal. "Claire did you just fart?", [Claire laughing] "No Daddy, that was you" .

Well, I will try to get back on track with the posting.

updates...

Yes, it has been a while since the last posting. Life has been hectic, so here is an update. While it is still some time until hurricane season officially starts (May 1), tropical storm Laura is in full force. She is crawling like nobody's business. And fast too. You can't turn you back on her, which I did for about 30 seconds last weekend and found her on the third step, working her way to the top. My heart stopped for a moment, then I remembered she grabs light bulbs from the night light while they are on and doesn't wince. While she has mastered crawling, she is starting to prefer assisted walking, grabbing on to my fingers and walking. I give her two weeks and she will start taking a couple of steps on her own. Next monday my little valentine turns 1 year. Hard to believe. Uncle Larry is coming for a visit this weekend to help us celebrate.

Claire continues to grow and push boundaries. Fortunately (the threat of) time-out is still an effective deterent. This morning Lynn, Laura and I were having breakfast and Claire gets out of bed and comes down the stairs and says good morning. She is not allowed to get out of bed on her own, nor come down the stairs on her own. Stinker. Her understanding of Spanish increases each day with Luzma, who speaks mainly Spanish to her. I am so jealous.

Lynn and Kim spent last weekend in NYC for a girls weekend. I had my own version of girl's weekend at home. I am lucky they are pretty good kids. Here is a short video of them playing.

Cabin Fever

Well, we survived 4 snow days, in which work was closed, Admittedly Lynn and I were going a little crazy. Luzma finally came on Friday and the girls were excited to see her. She took them to her house, where they spent the day playing and painting.

On Friday, Lynn had Lasik surgery. After a 2 hour wait in the waiting room, Lynn said the actual procedure took less than 40 seconds. But she now has 20/20 vision without any corrective lenses! On saturday she went back for a check up and the doctor said everything looks great. In the afternoon we headed up to Blue Ridge, GA to a cabin with some friends, Beth and PJ (and kids 4 and 2yrs). Claire had fun, as did Laura. Claire the Taylor and Will wanted to have a sleep over, but that quickly didn't work out and we ended up separating the kids so they could get some sleep.

All in all, it was a fun time. Even my beautiful younger daughter had fun. Check Laura out and the rest of the gang here.

Snow day #2!!!

Today was snow day #2 and Claire was eager to build that snowman. Although it had warmed up, the snow wasn't cooperating. There was a 0.5 inch layer of ice on top of the snow, so we couldn't roll snowballs to make a proper snow man. Nevertheless we played outside while mom shoveled the driveway and Laura watched from the sidelines. Needless to say it didn't take long for Laura to get bored.

I took Laura in for lunch and mom and Claire went next door to go sledding with Billy and Bill. They had a great time. After the girls went down for a nap, Magen and her dad stopped by with some groceries for us. We haven't left the neighborhood since last Friday and we were running out of milk for Claire.

Immediately following Claire's (and my) afternoon nap (hey, it's a snow day) Claire wanted to go sledding with Billy. Billy couldn't join us so Claire and I spent 30 minutes on our neighbor's trampoline. The picture on the left is from yesterday and you can see the results of this sled run here. There were no injuries.

Tomorrow is snow day #3 and admittedly Lynn and I are looking forward to school opening, which may be next Monday

Snow day!!!!

Last night we received about 4-5 inches of snow. Claire and I were excited because in the morning we headed outside to make a gigantic snowman - much larger than the one we made on Christmas. Unfortunately, it was the wrong kind of snow. It didn't pack very well and was too fluffy.

After Claire's (and my) afternoon nap, we went back outside in hopes that the snow composition had changed. But it still wasn't the right type for making a snowman. We saw about 6 neighbors tobogganning down the cul-de-sac and we gave it a try. After two runs, Claire had enough and wanted to go on our neighbor's trampoline. By now there were about 15 people outside and one neighbor started a fire pit and a few others brought beer. Even Lynn and Laura joined in. We brought the girls inside after an hour or so to avoid frost bite, but all in all we had a good time.

Tomorrow has also been declared a snow day. Maybe Claire and I will get to make that snowman after all.

It was only a matter of time...

Check out what our younger daughter can now do.

Swiper's range has increased. I guess we will be kid proofing the house this weekend.

In other news, we came home yesterday to Claire excitedly proclaiming, "I went pee pee on the potty!" Yes, our awesome nanny, Luzma, has started toilet training Claire. I can't wait until we have only one child in diapers.