Snow Day

On Friday, Rory and Aven enjoyed a day at home with Mommy and five inches of snow.
The kids enjoyed their time outside with each other.
Aven enjoyed it so much that she didn't want to come inside."Snow!" she cried."Down. Sky." she whispered.

At home in January

With the memories of Christmas fading and our trip to San Antonio behind us, we find ourselves enjoying the quiet days of January. Fires in the fireplace. Art projects with kids. Excursions to big indoor spaces fit for energetic kids. Lots of videos.

Here are two videos that capture our lives at this moment:

• Aven practicing her animal sounds at the dinner table
• Rory and Aven playing while it snows outside
  

Tower of Power

Rory laid down the gauntlet: "I want to build a block tower that goes all the way to the ceiling!" Her father was dubious: "Honey, I don't know if we have enough blocks." "But Daddy," Rory said, "You can do anything, right?" So we did. We constructed a tower that reached all the way to the ceiling above. And Daddy can still do anything.

San Antonio

These are the six great- grand- daughters of Dorothy Katz, who passed away last week. She would have delighted in seeing them play together...
...in her shrubbery? What are they doing hiding in the plant beds?
Ahhh, that explains it. "Chucky Cheese", the backyard monster, was out chasing the girls.
Here, Pops has captured his prey.
Here, Rory is taught a new card game by her second cousins.
Meanwhile, Aven (our little art historian) was roaming Dorothy's home, admiring her extensive collections ...
... of animals. Dogs. Sheep. And ...
... Rams! Lots of fun.
More candid shots of the cousins, from biggest to smallest. Although the lone boy cousin is missing.
There Sam is. He just needed a better excuse to pose for a picture. The Zoo Train!
Aven takes a spin on the carousel with Nonna.
A candid shot of Nonna and Pops.
Rory "entertains" her Mommy's first cousins, while ...
... Aven finds her new parents. Seriously, we've never seen Aven take to someone other than her Mommy as comfortably as Aven took to her cousin Hannah.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a plate of tater tots! God's gift to girls and boys.
As we have the last several years, we celebrated New Year's Eve with our "wine and cheese" friends. This year, Dahlia hosted.
At the "stroke of midnight" (approximately 8:30 ET), we counted down to the new year and popped our poppers.
Mommy and Rory clinked their glasses.
Oh, boy, we're going to have to watch this one! They grow up so quickly ...

On the Fifth Day of Christmas

Thanks to Uncle Allen's generous offer to babysit the kids, Tim, Sarah, Sydney, and Nonna enjoyed a night on the town ... including a pint at a British pub.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas

The thawing snow left just enough room for Rory to made her very first attempt at riding a bike! She was a natural.

On the Third Day of Christmas

Elmo (and everyone else in the house) perhaps had too good of a time on the first two days of Christmas, and so on the third day, they rested and recovered.

On the Second Day of Christmas

These lucky girls had a whole second day on which to open gifts; this time, from their Nonna, Pops, and Aunt Sydney!
While Rory examines her new scrapbook, Aven snuggles her new puppy.
Rory liked her new knit hat.
Aven liked her new bongo drums ...
... although Pops enjoyed playing those bongo drums almost as much!
"Hmmm, a set of my own drums could never come in a package this small."
Perhaps the best gift of all was time spent with family!
Hugs come a close second.

On the First Day of Christmas

The stockings were hung with the greatest of care! A picture of the calm before the storm ...
On Christmas morning, my little ladies waited patiently at the top of the stairs until Daddy had called them down.
Yes, Santa had arrived!
And, look! Santa had left Rory and Aven a note. (Aven was only interested in getting her hands on the unfinished cookies!)

While we were going to wait till our family arrived before we opened most of the gifts ...

... Mommy let the kids open their stockings right away.

Then, one by one, Tim's family arrived across the early morning. Aven was especially excited to see ...

... Wrigley the Reindeer!

When everyone arrived, it was time to tear into the gifts!

Among the many benefits of family: plenty of help assembling gifts (including 50 new blocks for Aven).

Aven was taken by her new baby doll, and ...

... her new reading chair! She new exactly what to do with it, grabbing a book and snuggling in.

Rory's big gift from Santa was a bike, named Rosebud.

And since Aven needed some wheels of her own, Santa delivered a wagon for her riding pleasure.

The kids enjoyed a ride around the house in the new wagon ...

... and Rory took a break from the action to learn how to play her new game with Daddy.

After intermission, the grown-ups opened up their presents.

Aven got into the action by giving a "high five" to Alex when she opened her gift ...

... and a little sugar to Mommy when she opened her gift.

Aunt Jenny liked her new boots!

Rory actually did a pretty good job of savoring each of her gifts as they were opened ...

... As did Aven, although in a slightly different way.

How often have you seen Snow White riding around a house on a bike named Rosebud?

Later in the day, we celebrated with a Christmas brunch (and a few mimosas).

Much, much, much later in the day, Daddy finished assembling Rory's K'nex roller coaster!