Dreading and Sledding

More Sledding
On Sunday, the 13th the fam decided to go sledding again, but this time up on our cousin’s property. Reesie went to Grandma Lauri’s and Grandpa Wayne’s for some one on one alone (read: spoiled) time while we hit the hill for a few hours. Sledding was fun for us although Henry wondered out loud many times why Reesie couldn't be there with us. In the end, he decided on his own that she was to scared to sled.

Henners got a kick out of riding up the hill on a snowmobile for valet service with Uncle Jake and Derrek. Towards the bottom of the hill it got slow enough that when we would sled down with him, we could jump off and let him continue alone. He thought that was pretty cool. He kept saying that he was like Cody from Surf’s Up (CG Animated movies about a penguin that surfs). Henry’s sled is reminiscent of a surf board so, to borrow a term, he was pretty stoked.

Most of the time I hiked up and down the hill to get a little bit of a work out. Toward the end of the day, Uncle Derrek took us up to the top in the Snow Cat. Henry was beside himself with happiness. He called it a snow tractor snd he grinned the whole way up the hill. To give you an idea of how big the hill we climbed and subsequently sled down was – the final run took us 7 minutes to get to the bottom of the hill!!


Losin’It
Okay, I’m doing it and making it official by writing about it and sending it into internet space for people to read. I’m going to try to lose a little holiday weight (circa 1999) (finally) and get healthier this year. My writing this down will hopefully keep me honest and focused! I’ve been doing my cardio and light weights and eating healthier so we’ll see how this goes. A guy at work even introduced me to this kale shake that I make for the mornings. It sounds dreadful, but I have to say, it’s actually quite good. I even find myself craving them. Jeremy drinks them sometimes too! The shake consists of an apple, a banana, water, ice, kale leaves, spinach leaves and fresh mint. I won’t lie, it’s kind of chunky and bright green, but it’s so good for you and keeps me full until (and kind of during) lunch!

Back to Work
Monday I started back to work again. Bummer. So far, my first week was delightful, though. The marketing staff was so happy to be back together that we ate lunch out 3 days during the week! Yikes! I must blame myself for the third day out though. I arrived at work at 8:00 am craving Indian food and demanding that our staff go out with me. Luckily, they did and I didn’t have to go it alone.

I definitely forgot how working three days outside the home makes my two days at home just fly by! Other observations about work?

The fluorescent lights at work are giving me a headache.
Everyone walks really fast at work.
My eyes need to be retrained for the computer monitor.
I’m not used to hearing long, intense conversations…all at once.
I missed all my friends dearly and am so happy to see them again.
I’ve forgotten almost all useful knowledge about how to be quick at my job.I actually kind of missed my job. Wow! Who saw that coming?

2007 is Dunzo

New Years
Wow, that seems like ages ago, doesn’t it? I’ll give you all the sweet and low down in a shortened version. We ate. We played games. We went sledding. We watched football. We ate again. Whew! I have to say, I don’t really like New Years all that much. It signals the end of the holiday season and that, my friends, blows. We usually try to plan some fun activities for the latter half of the winter like sledding and snowshoeing and ski trips to keep our spirits up.

I've posted proof of our funtivities on New Years Eve and New Years Day below. On "the eve" we went sledding with our neighbors (Henry's girlfriend is Michelle). It was so nice and warm. Reese hung out at the bottom of the hill with us while the boys played. That evening we played games (Henry and I cheated...typical).


Uncle Donald
I’ve been trying to keep track as best I can of all the funny things Henners has been saying lately. His little vocabulary is growing so rapidly and it’s fun to keep track of his progress. So everyone, I bring you insights into Henry’s vocabulary….

Uncle Donald = Old Mac Donald as in “Old Mac Donald had a farm…”
“You mean at me?” = Can be used two ways. 1) Rough translation, “Are you mad at me?” or 2) “You’re mean to me”
Gock-toll-tee = Guacamole
Jerfer = Jennifer
Jermee = Jeremy
Quarter = Porter, his best friend at school
Cressen = Preston, his other friend at school
Ballyball = any sport played with a ball with the exception of football
Crash-‘em = Football
My pewter = Computer
Mad ass car = Madagascar the movie
Pacrik = Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants
Fizzy juice = Orange soda
Baff = Bath
Moosum = Museum
Guck = Duck

Wardrobe Malfunction
There really isn't a story here. I just like to snap pictures of the kids with their shirts on their heads. I have a bunch of Henners when he was small. They look so cute and innocent. Here's the latest of Reese's "wardrobe malfunctions".

Christmas Came.....Fast!

Christmas Eve

On Monday, the four of us finished up some last minute business. Henry went to visit Grandma Granny in Morgan for a few hours while Dad tried hunting Elk one last time. (The snow proved too much and he couldn't get very far up on the mountain even with the 4-wheeler) Reese and I did some last minute shopping for the guys. Later, the family pieced on small sandwitches, chips and dip and other finger foods. Of course we watched A Christmas Story on television since it started in on its continuous loop that evening. Henners was particularly struck by two scenes in the movie: 1) When he saw Ralphie sitting in the bathroom with a bar of soap in his mouth, Henry shouted, "Oh, no! Ralphie has naughty behavior!", and 2) When he saw the scene of Ralphie and his family driving back from picking out a Christmas tree and they sing Jingle Bells and conclude the song with a raspberry noise at the end. Henry instantly fell in love with that version of the song and sang it that way nearly all night long.

Reggie Came to Our House

Every year, one of Santa's elve's named Reggie comes to see us and delivers a package of new pajamas for the whole family. Reggie showed up around 5:00 pm on Christmas Eve and rang our doorbell. Henry was so excited to see who was at our door. At first he thought it might be Santa. But when he opened the door, he only found one package addressed to our family. He ripped into the paper and had it torn apart quickly. Then he looked up at us and said, "It's a box!" He then went on about his business playing with his dart gun. Jeremy and I had to explain that he needed to also open the box (a concept lost on him at this point). He opened it up and found spankin' new pj's for the entire family!

Off to Bed

Reese retired fairly early on Christmas Eve, around 6:30. She was all about her warm bottle and some beauty rest. Henry followed about an hour later. But before that, he spent most of his time jumping into our bean bag and shouting "To Infinity, and Beyond!". Before he went to bed, we layed out Henry's favorite cookies for Santa and some milk. He was not too happy about the thought of Santa eating his cookies during the night. I showed Henry that I left a few for him to enjoy the next day. We looked at the Christmas tree and stockings before we headed up to bed. I asked Henry one last time what he wanted for Christmas, and he gave me the same answer he gave me all month long, "I want presents". Good boy.

We Started at 4:00 am, How 'Bout You?

Yep, folks, I think I was feeling a little too cocky about the early bed times of Reesie and Henry. First, Reesie woke up at 2:00 am because she was hungry. Then Henry woke up at 4:00 am because he wasn't tired and needed, or so he claimed, to watch Night at the Museum. Reesie woke up at 4:30 for a little cuddling then zonked out for a few more hours. Luckily, Henry didn't remember it was Christmas morning, so we just treated it like any other morning and let him lounge in bed with some chocolate milk.

Around 5:00 am Grandma Jo and Grandpa Brent arrived. Bless their hearts, they traveled 40 minutes through heavy snow to see their grandchildren open presents on Christmas morning! Henry was so excited and asked them if he was going to their house. We then explained that Santa had come in the middle of the night to bring presents to him and Reese while they were sleeping. Henry then noticed that Santa had eaten the cookies we left for him and drank the milk too! He shouted, "Santa ate the cookies! Santa ate the cookies!" We ran downstairs with him to see the presents under the tree. Henry continued to state to my parents "I want to go to your house", after every present that he opened. But pretty soon, he would get distracted by what new present Santa had brought him. The rest is a blur..... here are the before pictures....

...and here are the after pictures...

Spoiled, but Not Rotten
Can I just tell you how spoiled little Reesie and Henry were on Christmas? I won't list everything, because it's much too much and far too long, but I have absolutely no idea where everything will fit in our house!

After we opened presents in the morning we had a big breakfast. Reesie must have smelled the bacon, 'cause that's when she finally woke up! I say finally, but in reality it was 8:00 am, right on schedule for her.

We spent the late afternoon and evening and Grandma Lauri's and Grandpa Wayne's house. The kids played with all their cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents. We had a delicious prime rib dinner and Grandpa's world famous potato salad and opened even more gifts.

The gifts from Santa and others recap:

Reesie:
Main Gifts: Bookcase / future doll house, books, cabbage patch dolls, clothes, more clothes, stuffed animals, glow worm, little bongo drums, Mini Star activity set, stuffed animals, piggy banks, Munchin music box, handmade quilt, and so much more.
Favorite Toy: As of press time, she loves her glow worm, her stuffed bear with lights inside that changes color and her Mini Star activity set the best.
Favorite Memory: Mine is watching Henners pet her head and wish her a Merry Christmas without even asking him to.

Henry:
Main Gifts: Dinosaurs, Robots, A robot-dinosaur, stuffed animals, books, drum set, 2 huge remote control cars, hero dress up set, spiderman action figures, spiderman shoes, lots and lots of playdough, clothes and an acoustical guitar.
Favorite Toy: As of press time, hard to tell. He loves the drums and the guitar, but constantly plays with both remote control cars and has them battle it out. Once in a while he throws the robo-reptile in the mix with the cars just for fun. Also covets his sister's Mini Star activity set.
Note: Jeremy and I get such a crack out of the hero dress up kit. It has a policema, fireman, cowboy and pirate costume for him to play with. Jeremy calls it "Henry's Village People Starter Kit". Also, Henry enjoys just wearing the sunglasses around the house and doing his best Velma impersonation from Scooby-Doo by tossing his glasses on the floor and exclaiming, "Oh, no! I've lost my glasses!" When he finds them he says, "There, that's better. Let's solve a mystery!"
Favorite Memory: When I asked him, he said that Santa eating his cookies was his favorite and then he sang Jingle Bells to me.

Jen:
Main Gifts: Huge Humidifier (oh yeah, baby!), Dirt Devil Cone vaccuumm in white, facial gift certificate, 30 Rock & The Office DVDs, gift cards, money and coat.
Favorite Toy: Henry's robo-reptile, (What can I say, it sits, it eats it acts like a little dog)
Favorite Memory: Peeking in at both kids and watching them sleep on Christmas morning knowing that this was the last year in a long time that both of them would be in bed early and stay asleep through the night on Christmas Eve.

Jeremy:
Main Gifts: Gift Certificates, more gift certificates, leather football, money, clothes, hats, candy and other misc items.
Favorite Toy: His new i-phone he picked out just 2 days before Christmas and Henry's remote control Hummer.
Favorite Memory: Knowing that we had all the batteries we needed to get through Christmas and watching the kids with their toys.

Good Jeans Day

The day after Christmas, I dressed Reese up in her first pair of jeans! I was so excited that we even staged a photo shoot! Jeremy kind of scratched his head as to why the jeans were such a monumental milestone in her life. Reese and I just laughed. It must be a chick thing that he doesn't understand. By the way, she looked lovely in her jeans!