Skiing, Day 2

My children are complete MANIACS and obviously take after their daddy in the snow. Just some cuteness from yesterday's ski day...








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Ski Day

Today was the big "ski day" that the boys have been counting down to. Initially, John had just planned to take P & B, but Arch couldn't stand to be left behind so I ended up going along too.

Preston and Bryton loved it. LOVED it. Archer and I watched a little, but mostly we stayed in the lodge. By the end of the lesson, Preston was taking the tow rope up and making it down the bunny hill by himself, and B wasn't much behind him. They begged to stay and ski all day, but we had to get back (probably a good thing I was along or the 3 of them might have opted to stay indefinitely).

Archer wasn't very impressed, but he seemed to really like the bathrooms...what is it with kids and public bathrooms?! I avoid them at all costs, but Archer claims to have to potty every 5 seconds just so he can use every bathroom available. Yuck.
















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And it begins...

The snow. It's waited longer than usual but now it's here and will probably stay for far too long. I miss Oregon snowfall, where the cities shut down for a light dusting of snow. Instead, I'm forced to go out in it or become a hermit. (for the record, I'd probably rather become a hermit...) I see the snow start and just feel "blah" about it, but luckily my boys have their daddy's enthusiasm for the white stuff. This afternoon my big boys played outside for almost the entire afternoon while Archie napped. They really don't get a whole lot of time to play without the youngest member of our family, and it was so nice to see them just enjoying each other and acting like FRIENDS (I guess friends still wrestle and break out in random fist fights right? They assured me that they were playing, not "real fighting.") Up next: skiing! John is planning to take the big boys skiing this weekend, so we will see how that goes. Poor Archer has to be stuck at home with me until he can appreciate it enough to justify the cost of the ski rental!


I love the look on B's face here! He had just face planted in the snow.


Quote from Preston: "Hey Mom, does it look like there is less snow outside now? Because we ate a LOT of snow!" - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Haircuts

Yesterday we took the boys to one of those "men's salons" to get haircuts. I CAN cut it at home, but I realllllllly don't enjoy it and they are much more cooperative when someone else is cutting their hair (plus I had just did a full scale house cleaning). When we got there, Archer started to feel a little left out, so he ended up getting his first real haircut. Admittedly, it was starting to get a little out of hand, and he has been called a girl more than once despite his distinctly boyish clothes. Also, he has been compared to Uncle Jesse's twins on Full House multiple times, and I remember thinking that their hair was borderline "too long" for boy hair...soooo...He got a couple inches off the back and trimmed up all around. He looks very grown up all the sudden and it's a little sad, but he definitely enjoyed his haircut and Henry Weinhard's root beer!








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#6

We celebrated Preston's 6th birthday on January 1st. I still can't believe he's six! He had a few birthday requests that were pretty easy to fulfill: 1. He wanted to decorate a gingerbread house at his party 2. He wanted to play pin the tail on the donkey 3. He wanted hamburgers and sweet potato fries 4. He wanted me to hide his presents Aaahhhh, to be six! We were able to fulfill his wishes, and he thought his birthday was pretty spectacular (might have had something to do with the multitude of small children running through the house on a complete sugar high thanks to the cake, ice cream, and gingerbread...). We ended the day at Red Robin where he had a burger and fries (changed his mind on the sweet potato fries though!) and of course had his birthday sundae which he graciously shared with his brothers. A seriously good day. As was the day 6 years (and 8 days ago) when we became parents to this amazing kid. At 6: 1. Preston loves outside stuff (fishing, camping, bike rides, etc.) 2. Loves to read. He's doing really well at independent reading and can read books like "Hop on Pop" by himself. 3. Loves building stuff (marble chute and Legos are his top choices but anything will do) 4. Loves to help and takes his job as big brother very seriously (sometimes too seriously). 5. He wants to move to a house with a bigger yard so he can have a cow. (!) 6. He's sweet. Incredibly sweet. Sometimes I am amazed that he is only six because he says things that are incredibly insightful. Searching for his presents Success! The gingerbread extravaganza Pin the tail on the donkey Dinosaur bones cake The boy and the candles - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Pause

I'm pausing all my catch-up posts (I still have the most important one left: Preston's birthday!) to brag a little about my living room. I've been sewing like crazy and I think I am finally done...until I think of another project anyway. I made the curtains, some throw pillows, and two gigantic floor cushions (the boys' favorite). I think they all turned out pretty good. They aren't perfect, but they look pretty good from a distance.


Here you can see the floor cushions (perfect size for sleeping according to B), and a little bit of the curtains to the left.


I'm so glad I decided to make floor cushions instead of buy them...they are already getting tons of use (and abuse) and I'd probably be paranoid about them getting ripped if they were expensive...plus they wouldn't be in cool IKEA fabric! These cost me about $7 each since I already had the cushion interior (extra couch cushions).

1 week later...

John and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary a week (and 1 day!) ago. I can't believe it's been 10 years. Definitely makes me feel old! The past 10 years have seriously flown by, and I kinda hope the next 10 years go a little slower or I'll be *gulp* 40 and celebrating our 20th in the blink of an eye. That's a little bit too old for me to comprehend (as was 30 and 10 years of marriage when I was 20!). Anyway...we got to celebrate our anniversary by a night away in the "big city" at a nice hotel right in downtown. My mother-in-law bravely took the boys for the night and everyone survived! I intended to get a good night's sleep and was actually asleep by about 9:30, but then I woke up about 3 hours later and couldn't go back to sleep. Argh! The story of my life. But despite my insomnia, we had a spectacular time (and so did the boys!). It was so nice to be able to go away without worrying about a nursing baby/toddler, and this was the first year I could say that since we had kids! It definitely made it a lot easier and less stressful to get away. We were able to just relax and not worry (too much) about the kids! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad