Kramers Kongregate!

It's been Kramer-Kraziness this week with all of Anton's brothers and their families visiting. As the Kramer boys say: "Good fun!"

Peeking over the couch at the gifts still to be opened.

Dessert is the best part.

A multi-kid gift... Can they each find theirs?

And inside was.... matching jammies!!! (Don't worry, Jack's was a boy-version.)

We also celebrated Leah's 2nd birthday.

3 oldest girls with Great Nana

Ho Ho Ho Christmas Day 2008

Christmas day was busy busy busy. We had a few moments at home for the kids to relish in what Santa brought them. Then it was off to Grandma Hazel's for pancakes and gifts, followed by tea at Nana Josie's and gifts there as well. (We didn't have our usual Christmas dinner at Nana's due to the weather.)

The BEFORE picture. (I mentioned that Santa might really like a mountain dew with his cookie. He has to stay awake a long time to deliver all those gifts, you know. Unfortunately Monica opted for the traditional milk instead.)

And AFTER!

Monica got the trampoline that she's been asking for. Now all we have to do is figure out where to store it.

Jack got a Little Einstein toddler laptop with games. He's really too young for the games, but he likes to push the buttons and hear the music. At least now he will stop trying to play with his sister's princess laptop.

At Grandma's the kids were excited to pass out gifts and open them.
"Which one next, Auntie Terri?"

Jack got the Little Einstein rocket ship from us. He really liked it, although Monica ended up playing with it most of the day.

How many dads and uncles does it take to assemble a car carrier?

"More bubbles Auntie Tina!"

Ho Ho Ho Christmas Eve 2008

We never miss Copstead Christmas, this year held at Anton's parents.

It's always a blast, and this year was full of little feet padding around the new hardwood floors... the kids were so excited for Christmas!

Family portrait

Yuck, not so sure he likes pickled herring (I have to agree)

Kids everywhere!

All lined up on the couch

Watching a video before bed

A Day Together in the Snow

The snow just keeps a-comin'. I have never seen this much snow in our neighborhood. It snowed all day yesterday and most of last night. And it's not supposed to warm up enough to rain until Christmas eve. Sigh.

But we are making the most of it. It was nice to have all four of us home today. We took the kids for a walk in the snow. Monica saw some kids throwing snowballs and was determined that we should have a family snowball fight. She began collecting snowballs, but we diverted her with a plan to build a snowman instead.

A few views of our snow-covered house and cars:

Our Lady of the Snow:

Monica has recently discovered the games online at playhousedisney.com. She and Jack have been occupied with that most of the afternoon.

Just glancing outside I notice that Mr. Snowman is starting to recline a little.

Note the UW snow hat. Go Dawgs!

We're supposed to have some family and friends over tonight to celebrate my birthday, so we're hoping the roads are clear enough for them to all make it safely. I'm also hoping that my favorite Thai restaurant is open so that they can supply us with take-out!

A Day Alone in the Snow

I am getting quite tired of snow. I'm ready for clear streets so I can go runnnig or at least jump in the car whenever I want to go somewhere. Yesterday Anton went to the Seahawks game. (They WON, isn't that amazing???) I was very happy for him to get out of the house to do something fun with friends, however being cooped up in the house with the kids all day alone brought my stir-craziness to new levels.

At age 5, Monica is very good at quietly entertaining herself. Here she is spending at least 30 minutes completing a book of Christmas dot-to-dot pictures:

Jack on the other hand has another idea of how to keep himself busy. Here he is unloading the game cupboard:

I took them outside for a while. A thin layer of ice had formed in between the two days' snow which made it very hard for Jack to walk. He quickly got frustrated and wanted me to take him inside. Monica, however, wanted me to stay out with her and build snow castles.

When Anton finally arrived home he entertained the kids by showing them the Seahawks program and baking cookies with them.

OK, enough snow... let's get back to rainy Seattle please!

Filling the Hours

The weather forecast (again) calls for snow tonight plus a torrent of wind that may leave many people without power. So, like everyone else in south King county, I headed to Southcenter today to finish my last minute Christmas shopping. I was also in great need of a coffee and a break from the 4 walls of this house where I've been cooped up since Tuesday. So down to the mall I went. It's quite interesting to watch Seattleites maneuver snow. Half of the people put chains on their tires and drive 5 mph in an overreaction to the weather. The other half seems to be in denial that we have any snow at all and barrell along at 5 OVER the speed limit. Between the crazy drivers, the long lines at the stores, and the crazy guy on the corner in front of Barnes and Noble wearing a "Trust Jesus" neon t-shirt screaming about the apocalypse... it was quite an entertaining day. The Starbucks mocha made it all worth it though. :)

In other news, here are some ways we have been passing the time at home with all the snow (in addition to the raging party we threw last night).

"Little Boy Blue" and his big sister have been having a ball sledding every day

Abrocadabra: Fairy Monica turning Jack into a mountain dew can (so she says)

Building a fort with Dad

Game Exchange 08

You can always tell how good a party is by how many times you run the dishwasher.

If you run it a lot it probably means that people had fun, ate a lot, and stayed a long time.

Last night we ran a record 4 loads of dishes. Wow!

Needless to say, we had a fabulous Game Exchange Party!

The boys, toasting the evening!

It was a pasta bar for dinner, Christmas cookies for dessert

The kids loved to help open the games

Our first game was a men-versus-women type of game, so of course before we started we had to see who could strike the best manly/feminine poses.

May the best (wo)man win!

Finally, a REAL snow day

Yesterday we had no school, but easily could have. The paranoid weather reporters were making it sound like an armageddon of snow was on the way, so JFK and St. Francis closed school. Kentridge was 2 hours late. Now, I'm never one to complain about a snow day, but had I not been terrorized into thinking a terrential storm was approaching, I might have actually taken the kids out to do some things rather than be trapped with them alone in the house all day.

Anyway, last night starting about midnight the storm of the century that was predicted finally hit and it has been a white-out ever since. As a result we are ALL home today enjoying a cozy day inside, as well as an hour for Monica and Anton to join the sledding extravaganza going on outside with all of the neighbors.

Earlier this morning, Mr. Penguin decided to hibernate.

So excited to go sledding with Dad!

Chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate for lunch.

Once inside, Monica said, "This has been the funnest day ever!"

Dere Jesus

Monica made Jesus a birthday card for Christmas. Here is what it looks like:

Note the woman in mourning next to a pool of blood and a spear through his body on the cross. Cheerful birthday wishes, huh?

She's still preoccupied... 1985!

What better way to kill some time on a snow day than to turn your daughter into an 80s rock star. It started because Monica wanted her toenails painted. So we "played salon" by soaking our feet in the bathtub followed by me giving her a pedicure. She chose a silver and blue combination... very retro. So then I decided to complete the look by whipping out my old crimper from the 80s. Remember those? Lookin' good, Monica!

Santa

Despite the bitter cold, we braved downtown with the Martins tonight or our annual visit to Santa at Macy's. We also stopped at the window train and then had dinner at Thai Ginger in Pacific Place. Miraculously, Jack did not cry on Santa's lap. He looked a little concerned at first, but pretty soon was smiling and telling Santa that he is "Two!" He didn't actually smile for the photo, but there were no tears. This brings our count of non-crying Santa pictures to 2 out of 6. I guess 33% isn't too bad.