Silhouettes

Finally before Christmas, I attempted silhouettes of the boys. I had seen them everywhere and really wanted to try it. I was surprised how easy it was. I also did one of Ben that I gave to my Sister and Brother-in-law for Christmas. They are a little rough around the edges, but I think you can tell who is who. Can you?*

Coincidentally over Christmas, my sister and I were going through old photos at my mom's house. We came across this silhouette done of her when she was a teenager at Disneyland. The quintessential 50's girl.

* top is Aidan, bottom is Conner

Hang in there baby!

Charlie and Lola have fallen into the habit of making mad dashes out the front door every time we open it. At first this was OK because they didn't go far and were easy to catch. Now they dash across the street and straight up into the trees. Charlie makes it down fine. But, Lola hasn't quite gotten the knack yet. She climbs high, out of ladder reach, then walks out to the end of the branch, meowing to get down. As she tries to turn around and come back, she ends up swinging underneath first holding on by all fours, then by the front two paws. She looks just like that classic poster from the seventies. Of course, there is a lot of excitement and screaming from the kids and moms on the street. I usually manage to get under her and break her fall (as do some branches). So far she doesn't seem hurt. Hopefully, she's learned her lesson.

We really do love our little dust-mop.

Introducing the Conner and Aidan Rock Band...

On Sunday, we were invited to a rock concert. They introduced themselves and informed the audience that cameras and phones were not allowed (pirated photos). Then they played for our listening pleasure, a rock version of Jingle Bells. During rehearsals, there were more original rock songs. But, I guess they decided to keep it simple in front of a real audience.

Smoothie Face

This is sick Aidan. No, the purple and red spots all over his face are not part of his sickness. He just has a cold and cough. The spots are the result of turning his glass upside down to try and drink a too thick smoothie. The whole thing plopped right down covering his whole face. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper. He was even more unhappy when Mommy couldn't stop laughing. He would have been even more unhappy if I said what I was thinking at the time, "Sweetie, can you hold it right there while I grab the camera?" Luckily, the good mommy in me kicked in and I wiped his face, stifled my giggling, and comforted him. Then I gave him a new smoothie. This time with a straw.

The undoing

Yesterday was a mellow rainy day. Finally took the Christmas decor down. Aidan was sick and our neighbors were away so it was quieter than usual. We took advantage of the quiet to read, watch tv, complete puzzles and basically just hang out.

Of course, we still had these sweeties to deal with...

Happy New Year!

We had a surprisingly nice New Year's Eve. Our neighbor lit some fireworks in the middle of the road. All the surrounding neighbors came out to enjoy it. It was a lovely impromptu party.

The Kids loved it.

More Snow (for real this time)

Our Christmas celebrations continued the day after Christmas at Gram's and Grandpa H's. They had snow on Christmas day and luckily it was cold enough that it was still there when we arrived. It was patchy but enough for the kids to play in but not enough to be troublesome.

As always, it was a relaxing, cozy visit. The boys got new robes for there birthday's which they were very happy to show off.





The beautiful view from Gram's.



Happy boys in the snow...

This one is Cousin Ben.