The Holidays

Wow, did we ever get snow here in Oregon. The newspaper today said that we got over 18 inches of snow. We haven't had that much snow in a December since 1950. There was a lot of snow. We both grew up in the midwest, so snow to us is fun. We both learned to drive in the snow. There are a few additional obstacles here in Oregon to contend with though. Plows - what plows? Rumor has it we have four, but I never saw one. I heard they plowed the highways only. Snow in the roads - have you ever tried to drive a vehicle over mounds of snow in the road - it's not pretty. Cars don't go. Ruts - oh heavens, ruts in the road. Your car can't get out of the deep ruts. I looked at Matt in the car one day and said it looked like the Disneyland ride out here - everyone driving in the ruts. We tried not to drive in the ruts. Manhole covers - down 6 inches in the road - sometimes more. Try dodging all of those! Ice - lots of ice. Hard to get the car up the hill or started from stops. One word to solve many of these issues - Chains! You definately need chains to get around here in Oregon. We still have snow today. It's melting, but there is lots of it to melt. We will miss the snow. It's just so pretty to look at.

This is our front yard. It's covered in snow. Hopefully the plants will make it.

This is the table in our backyard. This is all new snow.

This is our backyard. This picture was taken just after we got the freezing rain. Keep in mind we get another 8 or so inches of snow after this picutre was taken.

The boys outside one evening as the snow is coming down.Hanukkah started on December 21st. The boys helped to recite the prayers. Well, they tried :) This year Hanukkah overlaps with Christmas again. It's kind of odd to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas on the same day.

The boys are trying to read thru the hebrew to recite the prayers.

My boys - the first night of Hanukkah.

The third night of Hanukkah. I realized that I should take pictures when it's Michael's turn to light the candles.

It's Christmas Eve and the boys have gotten the plate of goodies ready for Santa and the reindeer.

Evan opens a gift - it's Bakugon. He really wanted this!

Michael opens a Bionicle Lego toy that was on his list.

The boys love their new spygear ATV 360 car. We could just feel the brotherly love.

It's snowing again!!!

It's really really snowing! We're supposed to get 9-12 inches of snow by the time this storm is all over. We're also supposed to get hours of freezing rain on top of the snow. The snow is very pretty. It's been snowing since 8am this morning. I like the snow :)

Day Five of No School

Yesterday we had high hopes for school today. Unfortunately it got cold out last night. The roads were wet, we got some snow, and it all froze into a huge mess. So, at 4:40am this morning, they called school for the final time before Christmas Break officially starts. It just wasn't safe for the kids to get to school. Michael figured out that they would be off for 23 days. That seems like a long time. By about noon today, the roads were all melted. It got warmer than the weather people said it would - no suprise there.

We stopped at Kohl's this morning to get Michael a new pair of boots. He needed a bigger size. Can you believe he's wearing a size 8 in Mens shoes/boots? He and I now can wear the same shoes - scary! We found a pair that fit him - they had lots to choose from even after our recent bout of snow. Everything else is hard to find - chains for your car, studs for your shoes, mittens and hats, scarves, etc. The boys are enjoying being at home. They're playing with legos and bionicles as well as reading. Michael is re-reading the Artemis Fowl series - he just loves them. Evan is reading a bunch of Berenstain Bears books. He's just informed me that he has a loose tooth.

Here's a special shout out to our friends and family still living in the midwest getting hit hard with snow right now. Enjoy the snow, go play in it. It's pretty and you can build so many things with snow - snowmen, snow forts, snow caves, angels, etc. You can go sledding. You can go skiing or snowboarding. You can go tubing. If you don't enjoy it, move someplace warmer. You'll get less snow :)

It's Day Four of No School

Will it ever end? It's the fourth day of no school and they truly could have had school today. There were snow flurries this morning, no sticking snow, no freezing roads, but lots of slush and mush that went away during the day - there truly could have been school!

This morning when I looked out the window at the falling and melting snow, I thought of the poem that Michael made props for and recited in third grade. It's a Shel Silverstein poem - one of my favorite poets.

Snow Ball

I made myself a snow ball as perfect as could be
I thought I'd keep it as a pet and let it sleep with me
I made it some pajamas and a pillow for it's head
Then, last night it ran away
But first -- it wet the bed.

We drove Matt to work again today, just in case the roads decided to freeze on up later since the weathermen are calling for another blast of arctic air to roll on thru. I'm getting doubtful of their ability to actually predict the weather lately. They were right on with the first storm, but way off on this last one that rolled thru. The boys and I stopped to pick up some ingredients on the way home to make some Snowball cookies.

Here are the snowball cookies that we made. The boys had a great time using my food chopper to chop up the candy canes and the nuts.

Evan and Michael spent some of this afternoon watching one of their favorite Christmas movies. Michael will watch this movie all year round. He was so excited when I told him he could watch it today!

This is what they watched. Home Alone and Home Alone 2 are favorites in our house.

Tomorrow (Friday) is my scrapbooking night. I'm very much looking forward to getting out of the house without the kids and spending some fun time with other adults. We have such a great time every month. These ladies are a blast! On Saturday, we are making donuts with Grandma Judy. This has become a family tradition that the boys look forward to every year. I'm sure there will be pictures to share :)

It's kind of like the movie "Groundhogs Day"

I'm sure you've seen the movie Groundhog's Day where a weatherman played by Bill Murray wakes up to relive Groundhog's Day over and over. This is what I feel like. It's day three of no school for the kiddos. In two days, they officially start winter break. They are out enjoying the newly falling snow. It's supposed to snow up to 3 inches, change to freezing rain, change to rain, freeze on the ground as it changes back to snow and then another 1-2 inches of snow overnight. Should be interesting around town tomorrow if we do get freezing rain. I drove Matt to work again today. Enjoy the couple of pictures of the boys in the snow.

No School Again Today!

It's day two of no school due to icy road conditions. It's still bitterly cold here - 13 degrees this morning. The weathermen are saying the cold snap should end by Monday. We haven't had this much cold in more than 10 years! Tomorrow they are calling for snow and freezing rain. Gee - that should be fun. The boys were overjoyed to hear that there was no school again today. It was nice that they announced it early yesterday - by 4:45pm. Michael spent the night at a friends house. Evan and I went to pick Matt up at work since we drove him in the morning. His car is just not built for this weather. No offense to those mid-west folks, but this is a great reminder as to why we don't live there anymore!

The boys spent more time outside yesterday. They quickly got used to the cold. They went sledding and build snow ramps. The bitter cold wind and thus windchills drove us (the moms) to call "uncle" earlier than the kids. Brrr!

So...how to spend the day. I've already washed my floors - yuck! They were sooo dirty from the kids mushy boots and snow gear. I've finished one of Matt's boy scout projects, sent out some more Christmas cards, done some laundry, put away dishes, and it's only 10:45am. We're definately going to do something today - maybe a movie, bowling, an indoor play place, something with a bunch of friends...we just have to decide what.

No School Today

The kiddos are home from school today. The windchill is about 4 degrees and the roads - especially the side roads - are covered in ice. I drove Matt to work today after he put the chains on the tires of my van. Driving with chains on feels quite wierd. But it's nice to not feel stuck! The boys are bundling up to go outside again. They lasted about 10 minutes last time. We'll see how long they last this time. The weathermen are calling for more snow on Wednesday - Thursday. There is another big storm coming in on Sunday. We'll still be below freezing then so we'll see what the storms brings us.

It snowed and is still snowing!!

Well, the weathermen finally got it right! It did in fact start snowing this morning. It is still snowing 8 hours later. It's cold (23 degrees at 4pm) and getting colder by the hour. It's supposed to get down to 18 degrees tonight. It's wet outside and freezing as it gets colder. This may pose a problem for school tomorrow - we'll have to wait and see.

The boys had an exciting time out in the snow this morning. They had to go right out as it started snowing. If they'd have waited longer, there would be much much more snow to play in. Here are some pictures that I took earlier today.

Michael and Evan are out in the snow just after it started snowing.

It's getting cold and Evan has had his fill of the snow for a while.

Michael tried to build a snow wall, but quickly found out that he didn't yet have enough snow.

We went over to the Elks Lodge across the street and used their big hill to sled down. The boys had a great time!

Down down the hill the boys go....

Evan biffs it off the sled - not once, not twice, but three times :)

Michael on the other hand biffs it more than three times. He's enjoying his time on the hill.

Michael comes down the hill on the sled.

See -he came rolling off the sled yet again. He's having a great time as evidenced by his laughing!

Evan goes sledding down the hill. He actually enjoyed himself this year - in the past he's not liked sledding.

Here he comes again....

Sledding involves lots of pulling the sleds back up the hill - tiring work!

Snow??

Winter will officially be arriving in Oregon this weekend. Until now we've had moderate temperatures and it's actually been quite nice out. This weekend we're supposed to be getting a blast of artic air coming down from Canada. The weather forecasters can't agree on whether there will be preciptation coming with the cold or not. The kids would like to have snow - at least for one day. That's about as long as it lasts here in Oregon.

Our weekend

We had a busy weekend. On Saturday morning, the boys participated in the Scouting for Food Service project. They along with 16 other cub scouts went door to door picking up food for the Oregon Food Bank. It was a very cold morning for this event - a chilly 30 degrees. It warmed up nicely later on in the day. The boys collected a truckload of food.

Michael, Mo, and Matthew collecting a bag of food left out for them.

Jarod and Evan both with bags of canned food for the Oregon Food Bank.

Most of the boys stayed for donuts, cookies, and hot chocolate after the food collection. Some had to leave.

After the food drive, we had plans with my mom and dad and sister and her kids to go to get our Christmas trees. We tried someplace new this year - Christmas Mountain. The road getting to the place was very curvy, but we all made it. This tree farm was wonderful. They had tons of trees - most of them nobles, but that's what we wanted. They had maps telling you where to get off the wagon for various sized trees. They picked up your tree after you cut it down and took it back to the entrance for you. They shook the trees and baled them for you. We walked around the tree farm a bit and then took the wagon the rest of the way around. The view was breathtaking!

Michael and Evan at the Christmas tree farm.

We found our tree after searching for the perfect one. Grandpa Tony and dad help to hold back the branches. Michael decided he wanted to help cut down the tree this year. He sawed for a bit and then passed along his saw.

Evan took his turn at sawing down the tree. He took a couple of passes and then turned his saw over to Matt.

Our family (minus my mom who is taking the picture) at the tree farm.

Pam packed Emma around the tree farm in a backpack. The fresh air and blue sky just tuckered her out. She took a nice nap.

Riding the wagon back to the entrance to get our tree. Grandpa Tony, Michael, Evan, Owen, and Grandma Judy.

That evening we put up the tree. We didn't have time to decorate it, so that waited until the next morning. Evan spent some time going thru his tub of ornaments reminiscing about where or who he got each one from. It was so cute to see him show such an interest in the ornaments. While decorating the tree, Michael found his Monopoloy ornament and announced it was his favorite one. His Grandma Judy and Grandpa Tony gave him that one. We spent some fun time together decorating the family room. There was one casualty during the day however. Our kitty, Milly, decided she wanted to walk across the fireplace mantel. She knocked off our stocking holder onto the tile of the fireplace surround below. One of the tiles cracked badly. It will need to be replaced. Matt wants to upgrade the tile to a more natural stone. It's a good thing he's taken the two weeks off around Christmas and New Years - now he has a project.

Evan decorating the tree. The boys are just getting started.

Michael takes his turn putting ornaments on the tree.

Every year we take a family picture for our Hallmark family ornament. Here is one of the best pictures that we took yesterday.

WinterHawks Game

We went to see a Winterhawks game with the cub scouts. Hockey is a fun sport to watch. We all had a great time despite the loss of the Winterhawks.

The game was held at the Rose Garden Arena - home of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Michael and Evan enjoyed a hotdog before the game.

Some of the scouts sit before the game starts. There were a lot of empty seats in our section.

The announcers introduce the starting players for each team. The Portland Winterhawks played Seattle.

We enjoyed watching the game. For a while the Winterhawks lead by 2.

Michael enjoys the fun blowup noise-maker cheer sticks.

Evan also enjoyed playing with them. The idea is to bang them together to make "cheer noises" for the team. Now, when you put two boys next to each other with "sticks," they are inclined to wack each other with them. And this is just what they did.

Evan sits with Tom-a-hawk. He is the mascot for the Winterhawks. Michael declined the invitation to sit with him for a picture.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. I took a lot of pictures as you will see below. It was a nice relaxing day spent with family and friends. Enjoy the pictures!

Michael and Evan at Grandma Judy's. They are sharing Grandpa Tony's chair. He's in Wisconsin. He's deer hunting.

Aunt Pam holds Emma who eats a cracker. She's almost 9 months old now.

Michael and Grandma Sue. Michael has grown - he's now almost as tall as Grandma Sue. His feet are definately bigger than Grandma Sue's.

Emma sits on the floor in Grandma Judy's kitchen.

Michael and Emma.

Emma pulls herself up to standing on anything she can hold onto. She's holding onto the back of Pam's leg.

Evan and Grandma Sue.

All of Grandma Judy and Grandpa Tony's grandkids. Owen 4yrs, Evan 7 3/4 yrs, Emma 9 mos, and Michael 10 1/2 yrs.

We decided this year to put together a puzzle. It has 750 pieces. The puzzle is a box of chocolates. We spent the afternoon working on the puzzle. Everyone helped.

Evan watches the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

It's time to butter the rolls before they go in the oven. Michael and Evan volunteer to do this.

Michael, Grandma Judy, and Evan.

Ahh, the turkey is done. It's golden brown, crispy and juicy! Grandma Judy is a good cook!

Michael and Grandma Sue unstuff the bird. Michael likes stuffing!

Evan is ready to eat his turkey day dinner. He's having turkey, mashed potatoes, corn and rolls. Oh, and don't forget the bubbly apple juice. Yum!

Michael with his turkey dinner. He's having turkey, stuffing, a roll, corn, and orange jello. And of course lots of bubbly apple juice.

Grandma Sue and Matt ready to start their dinner.

Grandma Judy ready to eat. What, no wine this year??

Tim thinks it's best to feed Pam :)

Owen likes to say "cheese" anytime the camera is pointed at him. He is having fishsticks with his bite of turkey and yummy orange jello. But no bubbly apple juice - what's up with that?

After dinner is over, Matt shows Michael how to carve the turkey. They are carving up the leftover side of the breast. Matt carved the other side for dinner. Michael does a nice job.

Michael works on our puzzle. We manage to finish it just after it gets dark.

Here is the puzzle crew and our finished puzzle!

Since I took almost all of the pictures today, I wasn't in more than one or two. So, I picked up the puzzle and Matt so kindly took my picture with it to show I worked on it too. Amazing that it held together so nicely!