starving artist

We went to a special reception at the mall this Saturday to celebrate our own resident starving artist, Eve (starving because we refused to buy ice cream for her at the mall. We already had a pie at home!)

The district picks a handful of pieces from each school to display at the mall for a week. We were very proud Eve's subtle Crayola/paintwash creation was chosen! She was incredibly pleased and it was fun to make a big deal out of her success.

Eve posing next to her tortured windswept winter landscape (lower left.) It is titled "Winter Landscape"

The reception consisted of some local entertainment - a few 2nd graders wearing wings dancing with ribbon wands - and a speech by the mayor of Medford. I whispered to Jared that I felt like we were on an episode of Parks and Rec. Jared whispered back that he felt like we were in Stars Hollow. That's Medford for you!

o'er the hills we went

We have managed to squeeeze in two sledding trips this year, despite living in a snowless city. It is kind of a drive to get to any kind of decent snow, but it is so worth it to have the kids think we are superparents for feeding them jellybeans and hot cocoa and taking them sledding.


The first time was on New Year's Eve and I failed to capture any of it on my camera. We went to a great area with really well-groomed runs and the kids had a fantastic time. Well, Sam did a few runs and decided the car was warmer and drier. But Eve and Eleanor were maniacs and we had to drag them back to the car in order to get out of the treacherous mountain roads before dark. When we got home, we changed out of all our snow gear directly into our jammies, feasted on our usual New Year's Eve dinner of bazillions of appetizers, and stayed up late playing games, doing a jigsaw puzzle, and watching "How To Train Your Dragon." Till midnight. It was one long day - good, but very long.



Last Monday, Jared had the day off so we decided to claim Rockstar Parent status one more time this winter - we took the kids to breakfast at our favorite little diner and then headed to the mountains. We tried out a different spot this time that was a little less well-groomed and a little more Into the Wild. It was very remote. Pretty much very steep hills with snow on them and cliffs at the bottom (we lost a sled once. Jared kindly retrieved it. I'm sure he would have done the same for a child.) Not the same sledapalooza as the first time, but the kids still managed to have fun - they did some runs, built a snowman, Sam ate fistfuls of snow.


The hills were so steep and the snow was so deep - I fell in up to my hip several times... okay, so that's not really that deep considering this is me we are talking about - that it took monumental effort just to attempt more than a few runs. We were all very exhausted when we got home. A movie night was about all we were up to, but that did lock in our Parents of the Year award. Well, at least for that day...

See how ungroomed? In a few steps, Jared will disappear into a crevasse.

Eve's snowman. He was a labor of love. His little twig arms fell off right as we were about to leave and I had to freeze my already frostbitten tush off in the wet snow trying to reapply them.

Jared and Nora about to launch.

christmas in january

I have really not wanted to blog. For two months! I would think about it for a few minutes but there was always something I wanted to do - or had to do - more. I made a lot of Christmas gifts and decorations this year and, for the first time in a long time, I was really enjoying sewing and crafting again. So that took up some time. I read a lot. I did a bunch of stuff with the kids, especially over the break. I watched a lot of movies and Gilmore Girls. I did church stuff. I was swamped, I tell you!

So this morning, I felt that little guilty nudge in the back of my head again - "You should post on your blog!" - and I finally decided to do it. My parents are the main reason I began this blog, so they could keep up with our family and kids while they are on their mission. But they come home in a short six months (hooray!) and I want to keep up my blogging motivation.

Thinking of my loyal readers, I decided I wouldn't punish you with a Newbery blitz (though I promise it will come!) and decided to just post pics of Christmas. It was a pretty great Christmas this year. They kids are such a fun age for the holidays! We watched Christmas movies, went sledding, made gingerbread houses, saw The Nutcracker, even stayed up till midnight on New Year's...well, not so much Sam. Sadly, I took very few pictures of all this alleged fun! So here are a few shots, that will hopefully capture some of the magic:

Nora's Christmas recital. It was hard to get any good shots, but it was adorable. After the recital, we sent the boys home and stayed for older classes' performance of The Nutcracker. So much fun - I love doing stuff "just us girls."

I love the look on the girls' faces. Sam is eating one of the Santa cookies. Eve is clearly disgusted with him. But who can blame him? It looked delicious!

Much better...except Sam is still chewing. Oh well. (Hey, I made those jammmies! Well, the pants.)

Sam's train table. It was love at first sight! A big thank you to my brother's family for kindly passing it on when my nephew was done with it. It is definitely receiving much love and tender care.

A terrible picture, but I had to put it in. All Eve wanted for Christmas - seriously, all - was a new bike helmet. When pressed for anything else, she would say,"Um.... a really, really nice bike helmet?" So here is Eve, perfectly content, with her new helmet. She did get a few other things, I should add.

Nora, displaying her new hat and scarf, lovingly knitted by my aunt...

...and her new fancy tutu, lovingly sewed by my sister. This tutu is the main reason why she wants to keep taking dance. She just can't take her eyes off her beautiful self in those wall-to-wall mirrors when she is wearing this gorgeous thing!

Ah, good to be back. Coming up next, our sledding trip...or maybe I will let you think that and then I will spring all those Newberies on you! Ha, ha!