Tahoe

We just got back from our 3 day trip to Lake Tahoe. It's beautiful and only 4 hours away.



We got all geared up for an exciting 15 minutes of sledding.



The kids mostly just wanted to throw chunks of snow at daddy. Daddy must have gotten a little annoyed at all 3 of us doing this, because he chunked a good one at my face in retaliation leaving a nice, little scab over my eye.

Olivia did take a break from throwing snow and got adventurous enough to climb a hill. She's the pink spot in the top left corner.



Noah was a little more timid and wouldn't go up any hills without me carrying him, which didn't last long. He's getting heavy! Here is about as far as he made it without me. The boys are trying to figure out where Olivia is going.



And Olivia did get to try something new on our trip, ice skating! I was bummed to have to miss it as it fell around Noah's naptime, and I don't think he would have been much into it. As it was, she only made it around the rink once before a tramatic fall, but I heard it was a great one time around! She even braved a bit here and there without holding daddy's hand or the side of the rink. It does take a 5-year-old quite a bit of time to get around the rink once. Here she is showing off her new sport.



It was a fun trip, we don't get to experience the snow very often. Olivia loved it and whined about staying at the snow the whole way home. Fortunately we had one last stop at the Sacramento Train Musuem to lighten up the trip home.

Off to the snow

We're off to Tahoe tomorrow. Sounds so posh, but really it's more like using a free house when we can and scronging up as many used snow clothes as possible. Thanks to craigslist, today I bought snow bibs/overalls for Noah and I, and boots for Noah and Olivia for a total of $52. We'll be the most out of style people on the slopes, but I don't think we'll be out there more than 15 minutes, so it's ok. We're definately not braving skiing, just some sledding.

Olivia is as excited as a 5-year-old can possibly be. I think it's second to getting to see grandma in her list of exciting moments. If we ever get to go to the snow with grandma she'd be ecstatic. She's been talking about it non-stop and counting the days. She doesn't even mind missing share time next week in school.

So, I'll be back in a few days hopefully with some lovely pictures of the kids playing in the snow. Either that, or a lot of them wet and cold and crying and then warm with hot cocoa in front of the fireplace.

Crafts to hold my crafts

I made this mini-quilt to hold my knitting needles. For the front I made 4 pinwheel blocks, my favorite block, on point, with batik fabric for the background. I love batiks.



Here is the back with most of my knitting needles in it, and even a few crochet ones. From sizes 000 to sizes 15!



Here it is rolled up so I can take them anyway (like Tahoe tomorrow) easily organized and ready to whip out and knit. I'm a party animal.



And to prove I actually do use them to knit occasionally, here is Olivia wearing her capelet I made her, with the infamous pink kool-aid dyed wool. (She's got the smile-like-I-don't-want-to-smile down to a T.)

Share time

Each week Olivia gets to bring something to school to share. There is a theme each week, like "something that makes noise," or "something red." You don't have to follow the theme, but it's fun to think of something each week that fits.

This week's theme was "something with writing on it." We racked our brains for something with writing that would be fun to share about. More like, I tried to think of something with writing that she could share something unique about, and she went around picking up toys and saying "this has writing" about the brand name on the bottom.

Finally I thought her toy elephant from the circus that says "The Greatest Show on Earth" would be perfect. She sleeps with the thing often. Not long before school she dressed him up for the special event in Ariel's Little Mermaid costume. Very handsome, huh?

My goofball

Just cuz I had to post a cute pic of him too.

Toy Show-off

This is the most set-up my kids would leave these toys, so I had to document it. Of course, it was demolished less than 5 minutes later, but still. We set up the best train track we could with what we have and assembled the lincon log farm set for scenery. I should have taken the "after" picture too.

More cheapy craft stuff

Check out this awesome deal I found today. A 65% angora (rabbit hair) 35% nylon sweater for $3.75 at Salvation Army. I'm unraveling it for the yarn to appease my recent knitting urge. Before tearing it up...




A bit of the sleeve... (Unfortuately, I'm not having much luck getting it unraveled in one long piece.)



And after soaking it how I'm getting it to dry a little more straight...



I'm hoping to make a lovely, lacy, cozy, cuddly scarf with it.

Trader Joe's 1% milk

Is all milk this bubbly? I had no idea.

Olivia, the artist

We thought this was a pretty good drawing of a train that Olivia did. She's using Noah's new dinosaur MagnaDoodle. She got a Barbie one for Christmas, but it's not nearly as popular.

What we've all been waiting for

It's avacado season! We had our first ripe avacado from our tree the other day, and let me tell ya, it was good. Mush it up with a little salsa (the best salsa comes in the refridgerator area of the store, I've found) and enjoy.



We're trying out the "blue corn" chips. Not bad.

A Land Before Time

A conversation between Olivia and Daddy recently...

Olivia: Daddy, did you ever ride on dinosaurs?
Daddy: No, dinosaurs lived a long time ago.
Olivia: Well, Daddy, did you ever ride on dinosaurs when you were little?

Poor Travis, getting to be such an old man. He turns 150 million years old this summer.

Gaurd your coffee cups

Here is what you will find if you leave your coffee cup unattended in our house. Thanks goodness it was empty.



I don't have proof, but I'm guessing it was the work of a certain 2-year-old I know. Here is another piece of evidence I found that confirms my theory. A plastic screwdriver shoved into our heating unit.



Here is how high up it was. I'm guessing he stood on the stool and reached as high up as he could get it.