Winter Playtime

We missed having a White Christmas by just 1 day! It started snowing Tuesday evening and Wednesday we woke up to quite a bit of snow. There is a school behind our house with several great sledding hills. Both kids love to sled and play in the snow so we headed there right after breakfast. That's Avery on one of her many runs.Thursday after Christmas we headed to a snow tubing park near our local ski resort. We all had great fun tubing and followed it up with warm drinks inside the lodge. Avery (and maybe Carson) will start ski lessons next weekend. Tim loves skiing and cannot wait til the kids can join him on the double black diamonds! I am even thinking of taking it up again. These hills are just nothing like what I skied in the east. They easiest slopes here are like the black diamonds in the east, so you can understand why I am hesitant!

Christmas Day

You should have seen Carson's face when he opened this gift....... it's a Nerf longshot gun that Tim just had to buy him. Carson was SO excited- he and Daddy had a great time playing and so far haven't broken anything.
Avery is finally getting into Barbies and enjoys driving them places- the pool, the mall, etc. This year she got a new 4WD so 4 of them can travel together.
Memaw, PopDaddy & Great-Grandma came over for Christmas dinner. Here's Memaw with both kids, and that helicopter that Santa brought.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we went to church and then to Memaw & PopDaddy's house for dinner and presents. Great-Grandma Kristina joined us as well. She's doing fairly well for 98!
Before bed we put out cookies and milk for Santa. The kids were full of energy in anticipation of his arrival, but we managed to convince them to go to bed. Carson even played in his room Christmas morning for an hour before he woke up Mom & Dad!

Visit with Santa

The kids were excited to see Santa at the mall again this year. Avery asked for a Hannah Montana doll that sings and Carson asked for a helicopter with army men.

Making Gingerbread Men

Tomorrow is Avery's last day of school and they are having a Christmas Party. Avery wanted to make Gingerbread Men and so it became a family project tonight! Tim did the icing and Avery and I decorated them with M&M's, Carson wanted to decorate but he spent most of the time eating the M&M's so we had to remove him from decorating duty!
The kids were very excited with how they came out, and even more excited to eat them!

Oh, Christmas Tree

Last year I had enough of the real thing and broke down and bought a fake tree. It doesn't really smell like a tree should, but it sure is easier to take care of! The kids helped me decorate it and had a great time asking where each ornament came from. I have quite a few from my childhood that bring back great memories of decorating the tree with my Mom.

Winter is here! Time for sledding!

We had our first significant snowfall last week and the kids couldn't wait to get out in it! They went sledding at the school behind our house which has great hills. Unfortunately it warmed up a bit and the snow has now melted. The average snowfall here is 40 inches a year, so there should be plenty more this season.

Carson's 4th Birthday

Carson turned 4 with a Batman birthday party. He got lots of great boy gifts: dinosaurs, matchbox cars, and Batman toys! We went to a local pizza playland with Carson's friends & their siblings and celebrated with pizza, cake, and plenty of fun. Another year of birthdays are done!

Avery's 6th Birthday

Avery turned 6 with a 'paint your own pottery' birthday party. The girls (and 2 boys) had a great time and Avery painted a jewelry box. Hard to believe my firstborn is now 6! Where does the time go?

Thanksgiving in the Country

We spent Thanksgiving at Gram and Papa's this year. The kids had a great time with their cousins and enjoyed riding horses. It was a cold day for horseback riding but the kids didn't seem to mind!