What do you do when it is 0 degrees outside?

It was WAY too cold to go outside or leave the house today. So, we stayed in our jammies all day and put together puzzles that Santa had brought us but we hadn't gotten to yet.
First came Elizabeth's HUGE Hello Kitty puzzle which was really hard for having only 46 pieces. All the white pieces with portions of black lines were giving Mommy a hard time. Elizabeth did great at sorting the colors and helping with the skirt, bow and camera, but the rest was left to Mom.
And then Patrick and Mommy attacked his new Transformer puzzle. He was super serious and not walking away until it was done. He was also really excited about the Transformer figure that the puzzle came with. We had a great strategy, edges first and then the middle.....divided by colors. Doesn't Patrick look so proud?

Where's Lizzy???

Here I am......stretching out Mommy's favorite hat! Aren't I a cutie??

Future Profession??

Grandpa and Linda came over for cocktails after the SU game. Elizabeth was relentless about getting into Linda's purse.

Sunshine and Snow

In an effort to tire everyone out so they would sleep late on Sunday and let Dad watch the game in peace we headed out to enjoy the snow and sunshine today. Mom was definitely the most excited. After some coaxing and showing off my sledding skills I eventually got the kids into riding down the hill on the tube with me.
Elizabeth was content to play in the snow, talking to herself and eating snow.

Rusty was excited that the snow has melted enough that he can uncover sticks. I am surprised he didn't puke later on because he ate so many.
Patrick was the most into throwing snowballs at Rusty.....who then eats them up. It is quite comical.

Hockey Day Two

Today we had our second day of hockey "practice"......learn to skate really. Pat was excited to go and eager to get on the ice. He actually got to go out on the ice 20 minutes before his class started, so he spent 80 minutes on the ice. He only took two quick breaks....both to great his spectators: Grandpa, Uncle Dan and Aunt Jaime.
Here's our cutie stopping for a rare quick second before zooming off.

I love the concentration face.

Patrick is great when the Coach calls all the kids together to explain the next activity. He listens carefully.....or at least doesn't move.....and then does just what Coach said.

Elizabeth has a hard time of passing the time......we all probably wont go next week. We were able to kill about 10 minutes making silly faces.

Homework

Patrick had "homework" in his backpack today and was very excited to sit at the table and complete it. It was a reading activity all about winter.
I pointed out where his name goes and away he went. I was expecting to just see Pat, but he wrote out the whole thing.

Mama's Home......With Gifts!!

First thing we had to do as soon as mom walked in the door from her girls weekend in the Bahamas was give out gifts! Elizabeth got a straw purse with Hello Kitty and her name on it, a flower necklace made from shells, a flower woven straw basket, and a walking turtle! She really loved all her new treasures.
Mom brought Pat a walking turtle.....you pull the string like a yo-yo and the turtle walks around, a shark's tooth necklace, and a lion made from leather. She also brought home a bunch of different Bahamian money for Patrick to compare to the money in his piggy bank. He really liked all the fish and sea-shells on the Bahamian money.

HOCKEY!

Patrick had his first day of hockey practice while I was out of town, so Brian made sure he got it on video so Pat could show me when I came home. He did really great, skating the whole time, listening to directions, and fully participating. Now if this would only transfer to swimming lessons.

PPLLEEAASSEE!

Elizabeth BEGGING for a treat from the candy bucket after she finished her dinner. It was really cute........disturbing, but awful cute.

Happy Birthday Megan!!!

Today we went to the Zoo to celebrate Megan's 5th birthday. What a great party! The kids loved it......and for more reasons that it being at our favorite place around!All of the kids got a great Safari hat and an animal mask to color. Pat was very intense during the whole process. He loved talking to the two guys who were running the party....being that Pat is an animal expert.
Elizabeth loved the coloring......but I think she loved sitting with all the older girls more.
Before lunch there was an animal demonstration. Here are all the party goers, at least the kids, posing with Cally......the California King Snake that Daniel, the most impressive 12 year old I have ever met, taught us all about.
After a zoo lunch of chicken nuggets and fries it was time for some Safari Bingo. I am surprised Pat didn't smuggle away any of the Bingo "chips". He was loving that they were different animal shapes.......although did have a bit of an OCD issue when he realized that the chips didn't correspond to the animal on the card that was being called. He got over it though.
Elizabeth was GREAT at SCREAMING BINGO! Must have been all the practice.
Cake time - there were two!! Ice cream and regular......regular with PINK frosting. Elizabeth loved it.

After cake it was time for a pinata.
I think everyone thought it was the kind that you pull the string instead of hit. However, I think it was the kind you hit, just with streamers. So, it never opened. No one really seemed to care......particularly when Uncle Will just broke it in half and spread the prizes out on the floor.
Elizabeth was a great helper and watcher during present time. She really was the only kid that hung in there for the whole time. Pat was long gone dragging Daddy and Uncle Rich around the zoo. After presents Liz and I caught up with them. It was a really fun party.

Too, Two Cute

As much as it kills me that the dog was lounging on our bed.....near our pillows no less, Rusty and Elizabeth sure do make a cute pair don't they??Elizabeth has become quite bold in asserting herself when Rusty does something wrong, like stealing the Goldfish crackers that she dumps on the floor. But, she has also become really good at rewarding him and telling him what a good boy he is.
She loves to feed Rusty and help take care of him. It's really sweet.
And Rusty is such a good sport for letting Elizabeth climb all over him :)

A Snowy Helper

Tonight we finally deemed it not too cold or too windy for Patrick to go out and help Daddy snowblow. He has been begging to do it. So, we got him all bundles up and off he went.We were pretty impressed that he stayed out the whole time that Daddy was outside.
Patrick certainly put the new snow shovel that Santa brought to good use. Daddy was showing him the right way to shovel, so that the driveway stays neat, they way he likes it :)
There's the boys, right before they come in for hot soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Don't you just love the pink mittens?? We left Pat's mittens at Sara's. He has a pair of gloves but prefers to wear mittens, so he wore Sissy's!

Ciochi Fun

Brian and Mark went out to watch all the New Year's Bowl games tonight so we headed to Ciochi's to hang out with Sarah Jane and Will.The kids haven't played together in a while. They all played so nicely. The girls and boys all mixed together. No pair went off by themselves at all. Ciochi and I were actually able to relax and talk.
Tonight we exchanged Christmas presents. Patrick was, of course, thrilled with his new Batman helicopter. He took it to bed later that night.
Elizabeth was excited for her new Cabbage Patch baby.
After jammies were on it was time to pretend to be monkeys! Patrick and Sarah were the ones that scream really loud over and over at the zoo. It was great.
Ciochi moved her livingroom all around to make a great movie theater so the kids could watch a great movie......Arthur. Not the old Dudley Moore one, a kid one. They loved it.
Fast forward 20 years........belly up to the bar??? They are Louer's after all.