Gingerbread in January

You can't beat a Williams-Sonoma gingerbread mix on clearance for $6, so we suited up for some delicious cookie-making.

The handsome baker - Nicholas is in charge of dumping things into the bowl and setting his trusty timer

Putting some muscle into patting the dough into disks bound for a few days in the fridge...

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

Nicholas stopped in the middle of rolling and said - "Mama, look! It's that place we were talking about...with the weather!" (the total blank look on my face made him continue) "You know, where Grandma and Grandpa went!" Aaah. Australia. We had talked about how it's summer there when it's winter here. And yes, Tom's parents had gone there last year. And yes, I suppose the dough is the general shape of Australia. Sort of??

Cutting the shapes is Nicholas' favorite part. Unfortunately we didn't have enough dough to use every cutter in the house...which would have been his preference.

Bats and football players and letters, oh my!

He had no problem enjoying the fruits of his labors!

Love and Marriage

Dinner Conversation: (classic Nicholas with the out of the blue topic)


Nicholas - When is Charlotte going to get married?
Mama - When she's an adult.
Daddy - Nicholas, when are you going to get married?
N - When I'm an adult.
D - Who do you think you'll marry?
N - I'll marry Mama.
M - Problem, babe. I'm already married to Daddy
N - Who can I marry?
M - You can marry any girl who wants to marry you.
D - (under his breath) Unless you move to California
N - OK, I'll marry Charlotte.
M - Hmmm. There's a rule that you can't marry your sister.
D - Is there anyone at your school that you'd like to marry?
N - No. Not really.
M - Maybe when you're an adult.
N - Yea, maybe.

Charlotte's First Ice Cream Cone - The Video

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Of Course She Does...

Charlotte's 15 month immunizations had been rescheduled (twice) this month due to her various sicknesses. We were set to do them this afternoon with the tech in our pediatrician's office, but I really wanted the doctor to take a listen to Charlotte before we did them. Charlotte hasn't been able to shake this cold and I just wanted her to be well before we shot her full of stuff. So we rescheduled for this morning when our doctor was available to take a peek. Dr Kung pulled out the stethoscope, listened to Charlotte breathing...and told me she has pneumonia. Pulled out the ear-thing...and told me she has an ear infection in her right ear. So we're on 10 days of antibiotics and have rescheduled the shots again. I guess we had to sneak in another illness or two before we hit February!

On a happier front, I decided to take the kids out to lunch after the doctor's appointment. We went to a BBQ place that the doctor suggested...which happens to have a self-serve soft-serve machine for dessert.

It was Charlotte's first ice cream cone:

It was not Nicholas'! :

Snow Day #2 - Let it Snow!

We woke up to about 6 inches this morning, and school was called off. Another snow day for us! Tom had to shovel the driveway (obviously), so we had a little family snow time before he had to get to the office.

I clearly have to lead with this one. Are you kidding me with this getup?

Nicholas did his part "shoveling" with a garden trowel

Then he gave up and played!

Charlotte seemed to think the snow was pretty fun

We did a few turns around the driveway on the sled.

FYI - Pink golf balls show up in the snow...but they do tend to sink just like white ones

Looking so cute in her brother's old snow suit. But with adorable fur-lined pink boots!

Nicholas in Dec, 2005. Just a few weeks younger than Charlotte is now.

After snow time (at least for the girls), we had a family breakfast of pumpkin pancakes and bacon. What a way to start the day!

Snow Day #1

Music class was cancelled due to snow today, so we made the most of the lack of activities and stayed in PJs all day!

Nicholas taught Charlotte one of his favorite tricks with his pretend kitchen:

Where's Charlotte?

Boo!

Couch cuddles

7

Teeth that is. I know new ones are coming any day, so I was checking her this afternoon...and nothing. Top or bottom. Then I touched something and realized....she has a molar! Since I haven't really been looking in that area, I have no idea when it came in. She now has the front four on top, the front two on bottom...and then a bottom molar. Go figure!

This is what she does when you ask to see her teeth. She's oh so enamored with her tongue right now.