Snow Fun!

We had a TON of snow this winter in case you hadn't heard...or weren't nearby to witness it first hand. These were too fun not to include...even though it was a couple of months ago now!! Day late and a dollar short...story of my life ;-). The first group are from the Poconos, then from our house during one or two of the MANY snow storms we had!!!

Here, the kids are doing the Apache dance atop the boat docks they pull up out of the lake in the winter.
Down by the icy lake...all of them walked out onto the frozen solid lake, but not me! Not a chance! Someone's gotta run for help if someone falls in! ha! No chance, really, it's strong enough for snowmobiles to drive across, but I'm just a big chicken.
Sledding...well, trying to. OOPS! Watch out for that big rock!

My sweetie

Even sweeter with a Lizzie on top!

Jake sledding down the snow-covered beach onto the small lake

Lizzie walking out onto the frozen lake, eating chunks of snow and ice as she went

What? You don't expect me to let the kids have all the fun, do you? The heavier we are, the faster we go and the further out onto the ice we slide! Nothing like a little healthy competition!!!

Back home, Jon lifting his giant snowball to make the snowman

Do you see that HUGE pile of snow behind Liz? Yup, Andy and I shovelled it all...our driveway seems very big when it's covered with two feet of snow!!!

Kimmy and Don's Blizzard Wedding

You all thought I was on the ball with the haircut photos, but really, that was back in February...right before Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Don's blizzard wedding, February 6th. Yup, they chose February so that it would be nice and chilly, since they both hate to be hot...well, they got that...and 27 or so inches of snow!!! There were some moments that it was a bit upsetting to them, considering many people couldn't make it to the wedding and/or reception, but we tried to make the most of it. And it turned out to be a BLAST! For example, who else can say they played backyard football the night before their wedding in two feet of snow? And, seriously, the Phillies Phanatic at the reception? Does it get any cooler than that? Here are some pictures of the joyous occassion. Congratulations, Kimmy and Don. May you have a lifetime of joyful, laughter-filled moments like this together.

Lizzie's First Hair Cut

The End Result...pretty close to how it looked before, just a little freshened up and shaped a little better

Chewing on the dino smock...she thought the boys would like that one, too!

My stylist, Katherine, cut Lizzie's hair and said it might have been the best first hair cut she's ever done! Lizzie was so good in the chair! She just sat there, very still for the most part and let Katherine do her thing.

Christmas...a little late

I know, I know, worst blogger ever. But that's okay. Better late than never, right? That's what I keep telling myself, anyway. I'm too busy making memories to actually have time to record them ;-). So, my goal was to get the Christmas photos posted before Jon's birthday. If you've seen the news, or live in the northeast, you've no doubt heard about the massive, record-breaking snowfalls, yes, snowfallS, as in more than one...more than one blizzard, as a matter of fact. We've spent hours shoveling the driveway on more than one occassion and now Jake has had off from school all week long, so I have plenty of time to get caught up...at least the Christmas ones, anyway!!! We're not going anywhere for awhile.

As we did last year, we drove up to Woodstown on Christmas Eve to have dinner and attend the candlelight service at the church Andy and I got married in (Mommom and Popsy's church). Then, we all drove back down to our house and brought along GG and Wonderful Ed, Mommom and Popsy, and Aunt Kimmy. Jake read to us from the Bible about Jesus' birth.

Andy read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Lizzie listened happily with Mommom

Then Popsy Claus came to visit!!! Lizzie was obviously happier sitting on Mommom's lap, even though she looked at "Santa" and said, "That's Popsy right there!"

We all slept soundly in our happy and crowded house. At the top of the page, you'll see the kids wait at the top of the steps for the okay to come down on Christmas morning. They all donned their Mickey Mouse pjs that we bought for them down in Disney World. I found a pair for myself later, but searched everywhere for Andy and had no luck. So, I bought him plain ones and put a nice embroidered Mickey Mouse sticker on his chest. A little "ghetto" as he and Kimmy said, but hey, at least we all matched, right? ;-).

Lizzie received all things Mickey!!! Here, Andy and Liz are reading a Mickey book and finding all the hidden objects and characters. She was actually pretty good at it!

Jake with a big smile...missing a front tooth!!!

Each of the kids got a little tooth fairy pillow; Jon's using his on Aunt Kimmy as an actual pillow. Hey, I guess that's legal, right, since he has all his teeth?

Lizzie showing Wonderful Ed and GG her Lego Mickey Mouse Clubhouse set

This was the funniest part Christmas morning...every item of clothing Lizzie got (almost all of it Minnie Mouse) she wanted to put on...here is the result

Jake only asked for a fire house for Christmas, so this is what he got. He was thrilled!

Jake bought Jon two little cars at his school's holiday shop. Jon loved them, said, "Oh thank you, Jake!" and gave his big brother a big hug. I love Christmas!

Jake wanted to buy something for Andy and I at the holiday shop, too, but we asked him to make us something instead. He spent hours in the basement drawing and coloring, from memory, a giant map of Disney World. It was awesome...and a great "thank you" for taking him!!!

Jon also was busy making things...a ton of ornaments at school! Plus, he made a calendar and on every month, his teachers painted the kids hands to make their handprints into pictures related to that month...like two red prints together to make a heart for February and Valentine's Day, a green one for a Christmas tree that the kids decorated with starts, sequins, etc, for December. It was awesome! This is a sand dollar snowman.

Jake reading some of the jokes from the new joke book Aunt Deb and Uncle Chuck gave him

After spending the morning at our house, we headed up to my folks house for more fun. Here's Kaycee, enjoying the kids opening their gifts.

And my dad...what a treat!

Lizzie Lou sporting her fancy Minnie Mouse jacket

All the cousins: Gab, Darnel, Nat, Jake, Jon, Liz and David

Gabrielle and Lizzie

Then to the Merkle's for dinner and more fun. Jon stole Muncle Don's Eagles Santa hat

We stayed at Merkles that night and then started the trek home the day after Christmas. But, we wanted to stop in to visit with Grammy first. We enjoyed visiting with her and she was tickled to see us.

Lizzie in her new Minnie Mouse pjs (yes, all things Minnie, let me tell ya!!), "feeding" Minnie Mouse her breakfast. I had just called the kids to the table for breakfast and Liz put Minnie in the extra booster seat to feed her, too. She also "changes" Minnie's diapers. It's too cute.

The boys putting together Jon's magnetic roller coaster...so cool!

Jon showing off some cool moves in his new sweatsuit (thanks, Aunt Cheryl!!!)

And little Miss Ponytail sporting her awesome Addidas sweatsuit that Uncle Rob picked out for her. Too stinkin' cute!

Jake enjoying his new marble run toy. Lizzie loves it too because she can reach the top holes to drop the marbles in. Fun!

And the favorite toy of Christmas...Aunt Kimmy and Muncle Don gave Jon a K'nex roller coaster! He ran right over and gave them big hugs, he was so excited!

It took days to put it together, but isn't it awesome?

If you look closely, you can see the car running on the track and a little Jonny face watching in amazement. So cool!

Obviously, from the pictures, you can tell we had a great Christmas. We got to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior with so many of the people we love and the people who love us. How blessed are we?