A little catch-up

I really am completely out of the habit of writing here. This is a bad thing if someone's life was depending on it or if I had some life-changing information to provide. But alas....the main reason I have for keeping up this blog at all is to record those everyday happenings in my little area of the world. I like to look back at pictures of my kids and remember sweet and crazy times. I realize that I have become a little more private with my thoughts and feelings and posting them here for the world to see makes me feel a little "exposed". We'll see, its probably just a phase I'll get over soon!
So now its catch-up time.
Hiking has definitely become a passion for our little family and we try to find time to go whenever we can. Our latest hike took us to a nature preserve pretty close to our home. We weren't sure whether or not to go because Jonah had hurt his foot and literally could not walk. We were desperate for the woods and nature so we took the all-terrain stroller and decided that we would stick to the paved trails. After walking the one paved trail in a matter of minutes we decided to attempt the regular trails. All was well until we had to head back up the mountain and ran into many built-in steps that the stroller could not navigate. I put Jonah on my shoulders and David carried the stroller on his back. I'm sure it would have been a great picture of us but I was a little preoccupied with an extra 35 lbs on my shoulders so you'll have to use your imagination!

We also enjoyed a nice hike a couple of weekends ago in "our own backyard". A green space that backs up to our neighborhood:

Well, that's it for now....school, laundry, dishes are all calling!

The next day...It's here, part deux

Ethan kept saying:"It's a winter wonderland!

We had been waiting and waiting...

and the snow finally arrived!

We're jumping for joy...

for Christmas!

Christmas Traditions pt. 2

I can't tell you how many times I have walked past the Gingerbread house kits at the grocery store and thought how much I would love to buy one to put together with the kids. For one reason or another I never do.....that is, until this year! We had such a fun time together decorating our little house that I have decided it will be a Christmas tradition from now on! We may even make our own from scratch one day when we are pro's, but for now the "kit" method worked well for us. I did have to make more icing because we kept eating it, and we did have to use legos at one point to hold up each side of the roof ( I guess we should have used a little more icing on the roof and a little less on our tongues!), but hey, that's what memories are made of! So, here are the first pictures of many more memories to come over the years:

Christmas traditions

Ever since I can remember my mom has baked a very special Christmas cake to celebrate the holiday. If I described this cake to you most of you would probably not want to partake in its yummy goodness...this is, after all, a giant fruitcake.
I've realized after being an American for 21 years that most Americans have a general dislike, and maybe even a serious hatred, for the poor fruitcake. Just remember, that this is a homemade fruitcake and should not be compared to the little briquettes that make their way to various homes during the holidays.
Mom usually makes one large cake for the whole family and we share it throughout December and January whenever we visit. This year Mom made each family their own little cake and had the kids over to decorate. I decided that this definitely needs to become a tradition for our family! Here are some pictures from our fun cake time:

Bumblebee!

The release of the movie Transformers was a dream-come-true for my dearest hubby. He owned many of these toys as a child ( as did I) and actually let out an audible *gasp* when the first previews started airing for the movie. The magic has spread to the other males in our home, and even though the little men will not be seeing the movie they are quite in love with the characters. After we rented and watched the movie we decided on sections of the movie to let the boys watch: mostly all of the interesting "transforming" scenes. Bumblebee has become a favorite and I spend way too much time in my day trying to transform mini-versions of these complex toys.

The other day the kids and I made a stop at Wal-Mart. We finished up our shopping and as we headed for the car, we were stopped dead in our tracks by an amazing scene. Parked right next to us was Bumblebee himself! The kids started screaming and jumping up-and-down. I have to admit I was kind of excited too! Since I always carry my camera for those "must-have picture moments" I whipped it out and had the chickadees pose in front of their favorite robot: (yes, I know...for all of you Transformer buffs, this is not the real car that played Bumblebee, but a Mustang painted the correct colors works for us!) And no , I did not realize that Ethan was leaning up against this very nice, does not belong to us, vehicle!