Winter

I have been very neglectful of this blog as of late. So many things have happened since the last post. Thanksgiving, Christmas a new Year, surgery with my Mom here to help out for the 6 week recovery time. In this time we have had so much snow and the kids have had a blast playing in it. Well, Kate and Dan love being in it. Tyler ends up with migraines if he stays out in brightness too much so he tends to stay inside.

Here are MANY photographs taken in the last month to make up for my bad blogginess.

The First wave of snow.

Ty ventured out for a short time.

Winter sunset.

Snow Cave that dad made after our driveway was plowed.

The next snow storm.

My blizzard expeditionists!

Striking out on her own.

Sharing provisions with his "best friend"

Does this remind anyone else of the Grinch cartoon?

Penguin style.

Love how blue the sky is in this.

A short.....

...rough, ride...

But apparently worth it!

Still to come......... the Olympics 2010. Held in Robesonia PA.

Propeller Head

Our creative boy is at it again. Danny is so funny with the things he dreams up. Today it is a propeller hat. It even works! He attached an erector set piece to a spinning device that is operated buy a simple circuit from their Snap Circuits kit. Flip the switch and -Wahlah! (Is there a correct spelling for that?)

More Winter Pics

They say that feeding time is the best time to see the animals at the zoo. It seems to be a good time to capture the elusive creature I spoke about in my last post. As you can see, he was so busy eating he never even tried to dodge my camera!
The best place to sled on our property is behind the house. It's a short but steep enough hill that starts by our oak tree and ends on our driveway. So unless Dad plows, it's a great ride. The only problem is, sometimes they go so fast I'm afraid they are going to go over the edge and into the woods on the other side of the driveway. I had to show them how to aim their sleds and to bail out if they are getting too close.

Sammy on the edge.

Catching snowflakes.

Danny really wanted to learn how to ice skate. When everything iced over he knew he would finally have a chance. Undaunted by my skepticism, he grabbed the 1 pair of skates that we have, (I'm not even sure where they came from) went out on the driveway and within minutes he was up and skating. He used the trash can for stability at first, but set that asside fairly quickly.
The best (and worst) part is that this part of the driveway is on the North side of the house and is always in the shade so it takes a lot longer to melt. Danny was excited to have his own private skating rink for 3 or more days. I am thankful for traction control on my van!

Winter Pictures

If you know me, you know that I like to take pictures. I take lots of pictures! So even when I was too busy to blog, I still had my camera within reach to grab some pictures along the way. Just thought I'd share a "few" from the last month.
The picture above I call "Christmas Snow" If you can, click on it to enlarge it and you will see why. You really can't tell with it the standard size, but full size you can see rainbow sparkles in the snow.

This is Christmas day. Kate on her new bike.

(Above) Kate often finds herself in the position of having to model for me as I try out new lighting techniques.

Dan and Kate fogging up the windows and making drawings.

No mother of the year award here. I was so busy trying to get the settings right on my camera that I didn't even notice that she wasn't wearing gloves! Can you see how red her hands are?

Danny helping Dad bring in the firewood.

Yes, Tyler is still a part of our family, he just doesn't like to get his picture taken. Just wait though, I was able to get a few of this magnificently elusive creature.

Father-Son bake off part 2- the competition!

TheBake off was Sunday night. Our boys hard work paid off with 3 ribbons! Ty received a 1st for presentation and 2nd for taste. Danny received 2nd for taste in his category. Tyler made the "fire Log" You can see the 1 picture of Danny holding a marshmallow over the "fire". Rick was able to hot glue a stick that he positioned just right on the plate so that the marshmallow could be "roasting" over the log during the competition. Danny made a "no-bake cheese cake" They tried to make it look like a cheese wheel and then put the 2 mice in feasting on the cheese. The little hedge hog wasn't ours but I thought he was cute so I included him. Hedgie won 1st place for presentation in his category.

Father-Son Bake Off part 1 baking day

This weekend marked the annual Cub Scout Father-son bake off. My boys worked very hard all afternoon on Saturday to make their delicious creations! They had a wonderful time with their Dad. How fun it was to watch Dad make not only 1 dessert but 2 so that they each had an entry in the contest. They even cleaned up the mess-most of it anyway!
Thanks Rick for taking the time to do this with the boys.