New Year

This will be our fifth New Year's Day in Kansas since moving here in 2005. A little retrospective...


On January 1, 2006, we took our little Squash (then 2.5) on a hike at Shawnee Mission Park. Weather was fantastic:



January 1, 2007, we had a three-week-old baby Noodle, so we stayed in and watched the Eagles game:




We actually rang in January 1, 2008, on a shuttle bus at the airport. Our flight home from California arrived reeeeally late on December 31, and I remember listening to the countdown, exhausted, while lugging the two kids and all our stuff back to the car. The next day is a little bit of a blur, but I took this picture of Squash (4.5) and Noodle (1) in the basement on 1-1-08:



And last year, January 1, 2009, we let our little chefs (5.5 and 2) make their own pizzas for a special New Year's lunch, after Squash stayed up for the first time the night before until midnight (actually, 12:37, but who's counting?). We were one sleepy crew that day:




This year...?? Pictures to come. This much we know - it will be our last New Year's as a family of four!

White Christmas

We dreamt of it...and got it. Our first white Christmas in Kansas. It is perfect. It started snowing late on the 24th, snowed all night, and mid-day on the 25th, this is the scene out my bedroom window (I'm not going out in it to take a picture; do I look crazy? Wind chill is below zero!). It's been a blissfully peaceful day so far.

Here are my happy, happy kids this morning:

Noodle got "a sweeper and diapers for her baby." Just like she told Santa she wanted. Last night, she tried to convince us that she had also told him that she wanted a pink dinosaur. A sneaky one, that Noodle. Alas, the sleigh was already packed.

Squash's favorite present was the 2008 Stratomatic Baseball game. It replaces his vintage 1988 version that Dad had been letting him play. He has the Phillies World Champion team now, and is so excited to memorize all their stats.

Merry Christmas to all, from snowy, snowy Kansas.

Snow Day!!

It SNOWED!!! On Noodle's birthday!!! Only a couple inches, and now we are paying for it in the form of single-digit temperatures, but still! It SNOWED!!!

The kids went sledding down the driveway for about 10 minutes, which was all their tender little faces could take, then came in and had cocoa. Perfect way to kick off winter here in Kansas. Here's hoping for many more snow days...with nice warm ones mixed in so that I don't have to drive on icy roads.