The Mistress on Skis

Rob has found a new love of winter, now that his favorite gal is on skiis.   Yes - that little red and white bird that flew in and landed in the center of the frozen lake is actually MY HUSBAND.    The world up north here is filled with lakes, which means he can land his little plane just about anywhere he pleases!  Even in the dead of winter....  Watch out, all you ice fishermen!  You're getting company!

 

ADDENDUM:  Rob just read this post and said "I don't know if you should be calling my plane 'the mistress' anymore.  She's not GOING anywhere... there's nothing temporary about her."  Which means we have formally entered into a polygamous relationship, this plane and I.  Her new moniker shall be "Wifey #2".   You may be younger, faster, and more exciting, honey, but you don't fit inside the house, so I'm one up on you!

Reagan's First Time on Skiis

Reagan's first attempt cross-country skiing went better than I expected!  She'd ski, fall, and... instead of the whine I KNEW was coming... would get back up and tell herself "don't get mad!  Practice practice practice!"  Wow!  Good job, Little Miss!

Resuming Ballet

We took the month of December off from ballet, devoting ourselves instead to  holiday preparations and general joy-making.  Today, Reagan resumed ballet.  For the first half of the session, she did nothing but stand there and fidget with her tutu.  Great.   The second half, though, after an encouraging word from her mother, the little girl danced and danced.  She's still got it!

Afterwards, we hit the annual Cubscout Pinewood Derby.  The Ahos didn't place at all this year, but all three kids enjoyed themselves none-the-less!  Don't believe the look on those boys' faces.  They had fun. 

Snow Day!

I suppose a more appropriate title would be "freezing cold day", because it really wasn't the snow that kept us all home from work and school.  It was those below-zero temps and windchills that did us all in.  A cold front hit on Monday, but school wasn't cancelled, and neither was work.  I had EVERY SINGLE KID on my caseload cancel.  Yes.  Every. Single. One.  And the temperature inside our clinic struggled to reach 61 degrees, despite my cranking the heat as high as it would go.  My car got stuck in the parking lot, I almost hit a deer on the way home, and visibility on the roads was near zilcho.  Honestly - should just have stayed at home.   So, Tuesday, we did.

 In order to have a somewhat productive day at home, I made charts for the boys first thing in the morning. These charts demanded tasks such as "play with legos" and "sit by the fire and read a book". Honestly. I have to schedule these things, because left to themselves, the only thing they will think of for entertainment is "play the Wii".   The charts worked like a charm, and we had a fabulous day, where life just STOPPED - no piano lessons, no meetings, no school, no work, no NOTHIN'.  Just staying home and enjoying each other.  I loved it!!!

 

Colby, tickling the ivories.

 

Quinn and Colby with their Lego creation.

 

Reagan, playing nurse-maid to Morgan.  It MUST'VE been dang cold, because Morgan hates being inside.  She allowed herself to be carried in to the house, and tolerated the doting attention of little girl all day.

 

Budding Picasso at work.

 

Making peanut butter chococolate chip/butterscotch chip cookies!

 

The face of frigidity.  COOOOOOOLLLLD.

  

Dad and Reagan in the Sky

A Piano Recital

Here's the Dynamic Duo, performing for the masses!  Good job, little men!

Reagan's Five Minutes of Fame

Thanks to a watchful neighbor, as we don't subscribe to the newspaper, we discovered that our daughter is famous!  Reagan's performance at her first winter preschool program (yes, the one her mother MISSED) was immortalized in the Daily Mining Gazette.  Check it out!

 

Apparently, I've heard rumors that Quinn was in the newspaper this past week as well, although I haven't seen it, and he has no recollection of anyone taking his picture.  HMMMM.  We may have to subscribe, just to see our kids' picture on a regular basis. 

Beautiful Winter's Day

Not much snow so far this winter, but lots and lots of cold and sun.  Makes for PERFECT ice skating!  Our neighbor's pond has frozen over to a perfect glaze, and they have generously offered it for our use whenever we want!  Our own personal ice-rink.  How awesome is that???  The boys invited some friends over and we skated to our little heart's content.  Reagan and I tooled around together, and we skated for almost two hours.  If only we had more days like this during the winter, we MIGHT be able to survive it without going all stir crazy!!

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

Our Christmas break has been LAZY.  I think the boys have showered once, and changed their clothes a total of maybe 3 times the entire 10 days.  We've had several "pajama days", including Christmas day itself, where, even though we LEFT THE HOUSE to visit Uncle Carly in the nursing home, all three of my kids stayed in PJ's.  The Wii Santa brought has been used to the point of gluttony - but that will all change now that 2013 has arrived, and life is returning back to routine. 

New Year's Eve was spent at home, watching movies, eating pizza and chocolate chip cookies, and playing the aforementioned Wii.  The majority of us (which included nephew Andy) made it to the midnight mark.  Unfortunately, Reagan made it to well AFTER the midnight mark.  GO TO SLEEP, CHILD! 

New Year's Day, after I got home from work, we went to see a movie and then to dinner.  At dinner, we discussed our resolutions for the New Year.  Here's what we came up with:

Daddy: "My resolution is the same as it is every year.  You know what that is."  No, no I don't.  But he obviously didn't want to divulge any further than that, so we let it slide.

Mommy: "My resolution is to go through the mismatched sock bin and find all the matches.  If a sock doesn't have a match, I resolve to BURN THE REST OF THEM."  Socks.  The BANE of my existence.

Quinn: "I resolve to play the Wii every day."  Uhhhhh,  that does not enrich your life or make you a better person in any way, shape or form, little man.

Colby: "I resolve to master all the levels on Mario Brothers.  THAT makes me a better person, because I'm showing determination."  HHMPH.

Reagan: "I solve to live with unicorns on the other side of the rainbow.  And beautiful ponies and horses." 

So there you have it.  Aho goals, 2013.  Let the New Year begin!