Year: 2009

		Last Wednesday while it was snowing, we took the tykes outside to play. This was only Carter's second real time in the snow. Last year we took her outside once, but she was still too little to really enjoy it much. We tried to do a little sledding on the slope behind our shed. For such a little hill, it was actually a pretty good run. Sean especially enjoyed it - every time we went down, he wanted to go faster and further the next time. While we were back there, I though I spotted a good hill or two in our back woods that might be worth further investigation. I love Sean's pose in that bottom right-hand photo - he looks like some kind of Kung-Fu master.

Here are a pair of pics of Carter's Christmas. I love the sunglasses - she looks like a movie star in them. She's been wearing them everywhere ever since she opened them. Sometimes she also talks on her new little toy cellphone at the same time. In the second shot, she's wearing a pair of butterfly wings that light up. She can't get enough of those, either. She loves to play dress-up. Next year we will have to pick up even more surplus Halloween costumes after the holiday.

Between the ice storm, vacation, and working from home a few days, Sean and I have been able to spend a lot of time together. As much as I hated the complete disruption of our lives the last few weeks, I can't really complain about all of the time Sean and I have been able to connect. Lori took this photo yesterday. I was zonked on the couch, and Sean was curled right up into me playing Sonic the Hedgehog on his Gameboy. He probably stayed there for almost an hour. We've had a lot of moments like this lately, and it warms my heart just looking at the pictures.

During the ice storm, we were out of our house for about 12 days, all told. We spent the majority of that time at my folks' condo up in the mountains. It was Lori, the kids, the dogs, and I, plus my parents, their two dogs, and their two cats. Everyone was trying real hard to make the best of it, but it was a pretty stressful arangement - especially with Christmas looming. So we were all worn a little thin. At one point, I accidentally walked in on Lori crying in the second bedroom, just overwhelmed by it all. So I'm trying to console her, but it was Sean who finally got her to smile. He was headed to the bathroom, and heard his mom crying. So he came in, wrapped his arms around her legs in a great big hug, and said, "Don't cry Mommy, it's ok. There aren't any monsters in here."