Peek-a-boo

While doing dishes a few nights ago, Kyle caught my eye from his position at the coffee table. So we played a little Peek-a-boo game across the house which at the time he was deliberatly playing. It was so funny. (Totally reminded me of our first nephew Jake who played this game when he was really little too!) These were my attempts to recreate the moment...and he wasn't as into our game but was cute nonetheless.

Where's Kyle?


babbles too.

I don't want to eat lunch today

...you'd think coming home from church at 2 pm with young boys that they'd be super hungry and ready to chow down...

But on our way home...Ryan says, "I don't want to eat lunch today, I just want to play legos."
And play he did!























After about an hour, I convinced him to eat some yogurt...but then it was right back to his play.
























Sean was on board with no lunch for a few minutes...
but wised up when he saw my left-over enchiladas:)

He's loving his legos. And I couldn't resist his cuteness and serious play in his Church clothes.
And he ate great at dinner!

These are a few of my favorite {winter} things...

Things that make me happy...



My booties:) Seriously, if it's cold I am wearing these! It's not frigid now...but last week when it was really cold...my toes were ice unless I had these on.





I got these ones in my stocking!








I L-O-V-E this hot chocolate. Sorry but Swiss Miss just doesn't cut it. This stuff it great hot chocolate - of course, I never follow the directions and Scott says I make it too chocolaty...is there such a thing?










I don't have peach freezer jam this year...but this stuff in the morning with a piece of toast topped with peach freezer jam is an awesome breakfast...my roommates and I used to do that. Ahh - I miss you Sam and Kris!

If I ever go visit Kris...in good old St. Johns, AZ...she'd make it for me with homemade bread...mmm...and my husband and boys could go have a cowboy experience! And we could be good exercise buddies...Hi Kris! Miss you!

Now there's this little guy who definitely makes my favorite list...but he's holding the other thing I'm talking about. This cute little wooden rattle. (not necessarily winterish...but I've been liking it)























A sweet old man at my Grandma's rest home gave it to us a while back. He's given us lots of presents. One day he gave my kids some cool model cars that were toys, but not your standard Matchbox or Hot Wheels. Within a day, my kids had literally stripped off any side mirrors, bumpers, or even the wheels (meaning the silvery rims). Anyhow, luckily the next trip when he found us he gave us wooden toys that were indestructible.

It makes the most pleasant click-clacking sounds!










Other wintry favorites include:
*Scott making a fire in the fireplace
*Clam chowder in a Sourdough bread bowl (preferably Bread from Boudin or clam chowder from Monterey).
*snuggling in a toasty warm blanket
*sledding with my kids
*skiing with Mr. Motley (rare occurance during these child bearing years)
*homemade Chicken Pot Pie for dinner

Kyle's crawling advancements

This is some of his crawling today. Still not a pro but workin on it!

This one is short and not a great example of his crawling, but a great example of his pike that he often does as he preps for a crawl...and I haven't gotten it in a regular picture and he's doing it less and less...so this may be my only proof of his funny pike position.

Steel Trap

One day, I forget what Sean was eating...but he was loving it and said so seriously,


"This is so good, I wish my mouth was bigger!"


Obviously my next thought was that he was a natural born comic and was hilarious! So I laugh and tell him how funny that was...when Ryan says,
"Mom! It's from Kung Fu Panda!"

Alright, well he's still hilarious and it's now one of his favorite things to say...every meal.

Both my boys remember lines from movies completely independently...I remember Ryan coming out with a Toy Story line when he was little and being flabergasted wondering how on earth he would remember a line and say it randomly...at such an age(it was his first movie we let him watch)!

Totally inherited that one from their dad, as he's got a steel trap in his brain for lines or scenes from movies. Of course there are the usuals from Clue, Back to the Future or Bugsy Malone but it's the lines he'll pull out from movies we've only seen once and years ago at that. One of his many talents that I love. He always makes me smile and laugh.

Ain't he so handsome too?

p.s. just last night he quoted Shirley Temple from The Little Princess. Talented and super diverse.

I've always said I married a Renaissance man!

Calaveras Big Trees in the snow!

You know when something is so amazingly beautiful...you just can't stop taking pictures? ...or in my case asking my sister if she'd gotten that spot or this spot yet? (as my camera's mem. card was FULL! oops.) Thanks Syd! (beware...we took hundreds of pictures and I included my most of my faves).

We took a day trip over to Calaveras Big Trees State Park (closer than the Giant Sequoia National Park). We knew it'd be cold but had no idea it'd be a winter wonderland! Luckily I threw in the kids snow boots! Unfortunately I didn't bring their snow pants and they ended up with very wet pants - but my mom purposefully left their pajama pants on under their real pants for warmth...good thing cause it kept them a little more dry. The boys could not stay out of the snow from the moment they got out of the van! By the end, Ryan didn't care one bit that he was practically an ice cube...Sean enjoyed the view from Grandpa's shoulders or mom's piggy back on the last 1/6th of the trail because his pants were wet and heavy and he didn't like walking in them.

The moss-snow factor looked neat.

We had so much fun exploring the trees in the snow! And though my parents and sister live where it snows during the winter, it was different and magical for them too...there's a difference between snow in your neighborhood and snow in the middle of a forest. Magic!

This is the underside of a tree that fell...where the roots broke off.

Interestingly enough, while the trees can live for thousands of years, they do have shallow roots and are a brittle wood. Therefore, some fall and when they do, they usually will break in chunks.

The reddish tint to the Giant Sequoia bark with the snow was beautiful!

Yes, my dad has a neon orange hunting cap on...we have no idea where we got it, but it was in my warm clothes stash and so I threw it in, just in case. It helped.

The famous stump...totally covered in snow, makes it less impressive. Without snow, Ryan would be several feet off the ground.

The stairway was mashed down snow and pretty slick...so the boys slid down on their bums. Sean left a blue streak from his dark blue jeans.

Here is Ryan and his "ice pick."
I'm pretty sure all boys search for good sticks anytime, and especially on hikes. I know mine have found many over the years...but this is my favorite. This one was so perfect in the snow. He was such a boy scout as he used it to clear the trees numbered plaques of ice and snow.

Ahhh...bundled baby. An angel in his baby bunting and backpack!

Ever seen The Christmas Story when Ralphy and his brother are so bundled up in their snow clothes they can't move? That was Kyle... luckily he didn't have to move.

Over the river and through the woods...

Sisters by the "Sisters" trees.

Syd sunk into snow...she's actually taller than me.

This winter wonderland was even more spectacular because there was snow everywhere and the sun was shining. The contrasts of the blue sky, white snow and green and reddish brown bark from the trees was stunning.

Unforgettable.

Dance, Dance, Dance!

As mentioned in my Christmas post, Ryan had a dance performance at his school...each class learned and performed a number.

Anyhow, here is Ryan twirling his partner Lauren like a champ.



At the end, the staff performed Thriller. That was really funny, especially since some teachers got way into painting their faces all zombie like...while Ryan's sweet teacher opted for no scariness. She was so cute doing the dance... twitching her shoulder on cue, trying not to smile - since they were supposed to be zombies!

Here is his encore performance.