Snow Day

It's not icy in MY garage! These cars are ready to go!

Let's watch Pocahontas for the hundreth time. Oh look, they fall in love and live happily ever after AGAIN!

It's a snow day here in Tukwila, sort of... Anton and Monica went to their schools, but JFK was closed. You would think I could get a lot done, but no... Jack was on a destructive mission today which kept me on my toes, and the Martin boys came over too. I did chat with several friends on the phone, does that count as getting things done?

Splish Splash

We took advantage of our new membership to the Seattle Aquarium (thanks to Nanie and Grandpa Kramer) with a visit after church today. Monica loved EVERYTHING, but especially enjoyed the seahorses, ocotpus, otters, and of course the touch tanks. Jack was mesmerized by the current tank filled with jelly fish. We hope to make many more visits in the near future.

Stinky Boys Ski Weekend

I am turning over the keyboard to Anton tonight, to regale you with the details of today's ski trip at St. Helens with Tim, Scott, Rob, Anthony, Chris and Greg. I'm sure the name I have given this outing speaks for itself...Minivan to the Mountains!!! (pre-stink)

Five skiers woke
at 5(ish) AM
to meet 2 more
who woke at four.
Met at the OakTree
for coffee and rolls.
Then drove to the hills
to put on our skis and poles.

Hey everybody, its snowing! These white flakes fell from the sky all day long. (Notice there are no panoramic views of St. Helens or surrounding peaks on this blog post.) We had a great time out on the southern slopes of the mountain. I won't put any embarrasing crash pictures up on the web. Just this last one:

Yes! We did it!

Old Nave

Monica got three card games for Christmas from Amy and Mike: Crazy Eights, Go Fish, and Old Maid or "Old Nave" as she sometimes calls it. They are all Princess version of course. She LOVES to play cards and wants to play all the time. She particulary enjoys Old Nave with Dad and I after Jack goes to bed (since the game requires 3 players) but gets so upset when she gets the old maid that Anton and I have to slyly make sure she doesn't end up with it. This, hoewever, is quite easy because Monica plays opened handed with her cards out on the table because she can't hold them in her hand very well. She hasn't quite noticed yet that we can see her cards.

It's in the genes

I am totally convinced of the difference between boys and girls.
One of Jack's favorite activities is "chair tipping." This involves pushing over all of the chairs in the playroom, picking them back up, and doing it all over again. He thinks this is hilarious. While I love my son, I can't help but think of one of my favorite mantras: Boys are Dumb. ("Gee, I think I'll knock something down over and over again.") My students do this with objects in class as well: books, notecards etc. Even more interesting is that Monica never did such things as a toddler. She was more interested in books and "real" toys. She can't understand Jack's fascination with the chairs. Similarly, my female students often roll their eyes at the boys actions in class. The boys think their games are as hilarious as Jack does.

I HATE vegetables!

Mom makes me eat these awful carrots. I try everything to stop her: bat away the spoon, spit them out, smear them on my face, and CRY! I don't know why she thinks they're so important 'cause I never see her eating them!!!

Gunn Girls

It was Jan/Feb birthdays and treats at Nana Josie's today. I was going to bring Jack , but he was still having his nap when it was time to leave so he stayed home. He must have known subconsciously that it was an all-girls event and thought "If I just fake being asleep maybe I can stay here with Dad!"

We had a good visit, and Monica caught some zzzz's on the way home.

Pears, pears, and more pears

Jack loves pears. There's not even a close second when it comes to his favorite fruit. He probably eats an entire can of them every other day. This means we go through a flat of pears from Costco every week and that's assuming Monica hasn't had any. We might as well grow our own orchard at this rate.

And while I'm on the topic of snacks, Monica came home from preschool today with a creative treat. Her class is studying hibernation, so they each took a dixie cup, put in a few gummy bears and covered them with chocolate cookie crumbles (to look like dirt.) This afternoon she had fun eating her way to finding them. Another part of the unit at school was for each child to leave a stuffed bear in class for a week to hibernate. Monica had one of hers all picked out, but then got cold feet in the end (big shock) and at the last minute decided she'd rather leave one of Jack's bears in her classroom instead. (It's moments like these that I realize how much conflict we're going to have when Jack actually knows what's going on and can verbalize it!) But even after all this, according to her teacher NONE of the kids were willing to leave their precious bears to hibernate in class so the activity didn't work in the end after all! Sorry, bears, no rest for you this winter!

Precious moments

Here are a few cute ones from this weekend...




Is this how you sit in one of these?


Dino Nuggets... YUM!

Where's the fire?

Loyal friends and fans.

Sweet dreams, Little Man.

Still believin'!!!!

Maybe next year, kiddo!

GO HAWKS!

Forever the cynic.

Forever the optimist.



Forever the football junkies.

Go Seahawks!

Sweet Dreams, Little Miss

Monica fell asleep on the couch this afternoon. So cute and so rare.

Anton will be flying solo tonight as I am back to my Tuesday night classes at Seattle U. Sigh.

Old Man Pants

You would cry too if your pants were hiked up this high!

Will you marry me?

Later... feuding lovers and little brother pause the toy war for an Elmo and Cheerios break.

Ah, the Sears Man.... maybe NOW I will have a working dryer that doesn't leave me deaf. Unfortunately Sears Man didn't have the right parts in his pretty blue truck, so we have to wait another week. Mom, pretty please can I come home this weekend and do my laundry???

Cinder the Cross-eyed Cat

"Oh, Dad. Love me!!!!"

"Don't you dare take my picture!"

"But aren't I beautiful?"

Happy Friday

With Anton back at work, the kids and I hung out at home today for the most part. We did hit some post-holiday shopping this morning (coffee first of course, then Old Navy, Aaron Bros frames, Michael's, and Ross). But this afternoon was very quiet... except of course for the dryer which is STILL squeaking horribly! The kids haven't lost interest in their Christmas toys yet, so we've had lots of time with Monica's expanded Polly collection and Jack's assortment of cars and trucks. I am also TRYING to get a grip on the house. Today with "help" from Monica we swamped out Jack's room: put some toys away for later in the closet and gathered a bag of clothes to pass on to Tyler.
We had Jill's "Oshel Family Famous Lasagna" tonight (made with sausage-- yum!) and now Anton and I are watching the UW/WSU women's bball game. We should be killing them, but unfortunately it is tied at the end of the first half. If we could get a freakin' offense going and the occasional rebound, it might help. C'mon Dawgs, let's go!!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

As I'm writing this I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. I just returned from an awesome girls overnight that felt like such a getaway I hardly recognize the laundry pile and dishes to wash at my own home.... feels like I was gone for a week! But no, it was actually less than 24 hours that Katie, Jill, and I kidnapped Annette for a birthday getaway at the Alexis hotel downtown. Annette turned 21 (+19) and we celebrated in style with dinner at Beppo's and a VERY late night of snacks, PJs, and girl talk. It was just the respite we each needed and a much deserved birthday treat for Annette.

Meanwhile Anton started back at work and the kids spent the night at my mom's (thank you Nana!) Next week I will be 'hitting the ground running' returning to work, SU classes, kids' schedules for preschool etc all at once. Now is probably not a good time to try to kick my caffeine habit!

Pizza and Pajamas... welcome '2008!

It was quite a bash at our place New year's eve. It was pizza and pajamas, and everyone... except Kristine :(... dressed to impress with cows, Poohs, snowflakes, polar bears, and even Seahawks printed jammies! Jill won the prize for best PJ's with her cow pants and fuzzy bathrobe. We made homemade pizzas, hence the sign on the door: "MO & JACK'S PIZZA SHACK." We also had an assortment of other food items that start with "P."

Hilarity ensued when we played the game Dicecapades which had us running, arm wrestling, drawing, and answering trivia for over 3 hours. The Martins' made a cameo appearance at 10pm and we had a record 4 rooms filled with sleeping kids.

Each person made one resolution and one prediction for 2008, which ranged in everything from workout regimens to kids' milestones to the presidential election.

If I put Anton's and mine on the blog maybe they are more likely to be fulfilled, but probably not.

Anton's resolution: spend more time with his brothers

Anton's prediction: Obama will get the democratic nomination for president

My resolution: to eat healthier (details vague on purpose)

My prediction: Jenny will get engaged before '08 is over

So Happy New Year everyone! As my sister-in-law Mia would say, "Have fun, and when you're done doing that, have some more fun!"