Skiing

Pace and I got a sitter for Charlie and took Hannah and Will skiing this weekend. We all had a blast! Hannah and William took to the slopes like fish to water. Hannah said she is hooked. I could kick myself for not getting video of them - especially Will, who by the end of the day, was going down the bunny hill by himself! I did, however, get a few photos...

HANNAH

This blog hasn't really given appropriate attention to our oldest, Hannah, who (as a normal 4th grader) spends a good amount of her time at school, doing homework, or practicing. She is growing to be such a sweet young lady (not a far departure from the sweet young girl she was a short while ago). I was sick a few days last week & don't know that I would have gotten through it without Hannah. She was so quick and happy to help. She also has a gift with the boys: Hannah can play "teacher" and the boys fall right into line and all play happily together for an hour! She is a great sister, daughter, and young person.

Valentine's Day Cookies

We sent out packages of cookies to some friends and family this year. Below are pictures of Will being silly with a cookie cutters (which we didn't end up using). He was helping me with the first batch while Charlie was sleeping and Hannah was at school. Will is an expert mixer and cookie sugarererer-er. He asked to have pictures taken like this, so I thought it should be posted.

Red-Shouldered Hawk

The hawk you see in this picture swooped down and attacked a pigeon sitting on our fence. It was crazy! You can see the mess of feathers behind the hawk. I have posted the least disgusting of the photos taken as well as a video Hannah took once the Hawk flew into a nearby tree. (Our neighbor Alexis is the other little girl you hear in the video). I was slightly creeped out being that close to an attack (and in our own backyeard), but Pace and the kids were totally into it!

One Man Band

Here is Charlie showing off his skills on the harmonica. He walks around the house doing this. As you can see it is cute for about thirty seconds (maybe less), but he is so proud of himself you just can't stop him.

Playing Hockey

This video gives you an idea of how we spend a good portion of our cooler weather afternoons (while Hannah is doing her homework). Our front room is virtually empty and has been converted into the kids' hockey room. Warning: This video is long - about three minutes.

HALLOWEEN

Trick-or-treating begins promptly at 3 pm in these parts! We didn't actually get out of the house until 4pm, however. After going around our block William told everyone "That's enough candy for me" and decided to ride in the stroller. Our block was closed off so the kids could run around. At 6pm pizzas were delivered for the kids & the adults on the block enjoyed a potluck dinner with variety of soups & chili's. It was a fun evening... Below you will see:

Will as Spiderman (without the mask because it "smells bad" - also when Will puts on the mask he turns "mean" and tries to tackle everyone.)

Hannah as a Disco Girl (but she probably could pass for a Disco Young Woman...)

Charlie as a Lion (we found out on Halloween that Charlie likes candy, which will hopefully help put on the pounds)

Our neighbors: Alexis as Batgirl and Isaac as a Skunk