Snow Art!

On Monday, I decided to try out a cool trick I saw in a magazine; frozen bubbles!
You are suppose to be able to blow bubbles in temperatures below freezing and the bubbles will freeze.
But, when I went outside to see if it would actually work, the bubbles just floated away. =(
So, we decided to do bubble art. All you have to do is put food coloring in a bottle of bubbles and then blow the bubbles onto paper. When the bubbles pop, there are splatters of color on the paper. Since my kids eventually spill, and it stains, I usually only do this outside. I looked at all of that white snow we still have and thought it would be a perfect "canvas".
So, we headed outside to blow bubbles. (Thanks Aunt Diana & Uncle Sam for the bubbles!!)

Lily did not last long. She did it a few times and then said she was too cold. She sat inside the warm house and watched us.

The boys had a lot of fun splattering color all over the snow. (We used blue, red, and purple.)

They did spill some, but that actually worked out because it just made the snow more colorful!

Then I noticed this:

and this:

Frozen bubbles!!!

They were so amazing!! They just sat on the snow!

When you touched one, they wouldn't really pop. They just kind of broke.

Here is a popped one on the snow and then Zach trying to hold a popped one.

It looks like broken glass.

The boys had fun looking for the frozen bubbles.

Since our snow is still out there (and probably will continue to be out there since it is SO COLD!!!), we still have our art work!!

"Helpful" Lily

The other night Lily was eating ice cream.
We told her to tell us when she was done and we would clean her up.
She knew that we would probably use a wet wipe to clean her up.
So, instead of calling us, she decided to help us out by getting "one" herself.
We heard her yelling in the hallway, 'I just got one! I just got one!"
This is what we saw when we walked in there:

She was very proud of how "helpful" she was.

Two year-olds are so helpful......

I am throwing this picture in because I think it is SO funny.

She dressed herself up like this. She said she was a "crazy pirate".

Then she said she was funny.

Definitely takes after her brothers in the silliness department. =)

More Snow Pictures

The last snow we got was a wet snow. Perfect for building snowmen!
Lily was not feeling well, so I stayed inside with her while the boys went in the backyard to play.
Zach came inside to get stuff for the snowman he had built.
It is the first snowman that he has ever built all by himself!!!

I think he did a pretty good job!

He was very proud of himself.

Riley also made something......

He called it an ice cream snow cone. It actually looked like ice cream on a cone too.

He said it was strawberry flavored and wanted me to taste it.

I passed. =)

He is such an imaginative little boy. =)

Happy 2010!!

Riley got to go to his first New Year's Eve party last night!!
He partied it up with his cousin Alyssa (who is the same age).
They graciously let Alyssa's younger brother, Johnny, party with them. =)
(Thanks Mary for the picture!)

While Riley was having a great time over at Mary's and staying up till midnight, we had a little party of our own with Zach & Lily.

We bought noise makers (regretting that one now....) and party poppers.

Then as a special treat the kids got to drink sparkling grape juice from champagne glasses.

Then they got to eat junk food while watching a movie.

If you noticed, I did trade Lily's champagne glass for a kid's cup.

Zach liked drinking out of the "fancy glass" and loved the way the juice bubbled and tickled.

This is what Jeff was doing......

preparing the meat he is smoking today for our New Year's Day party we are having with family.

He does a great job smoking meat! It is YUMMY!!

He did have to get up at four this morning though to start it.

This picture is NOT at four.....it is more like 9:00. =)

And it is COLD!!!

Zach stayed up until 11:00 (he thinks he stayed up till midnight). We let him watch the ball drop in New York and he popped some more poppers and Jeff & I drank real champagne.

I thought Jeff was going to go to bed then since he had to get up so early, but we did stay up until midnight, which was a good thing since Riley called us to wish us a Happy New Year!! He sounded so tired, but he also sounded like he was having a great time!! His highlight? He got to drink juice!! He kept telling Jeff & I that he got to drink juice. =) Such a funny boy.

I hope you all had a good New Year's Eve and have a great 2010!!

Sledding and Snowballs

It snowed on Christmas Eve, but we didn't actually go play in it until Sunday....3 days later.
The boys were SO excited. We had been telling them for days that they could play in it, but everyday was either way too cold or way too busy with Christmas events.
Finally by Sunday it was not as cold and we were not busy.
We usually take the kids to the park by us, but the little ditch right down the street actually had more snow in it, so that's where we headed.
The boys jumped right on their sleds.

Lily went with Jeff.

She went down a few more times with both Jeff & I, and then said, "I'm done!"

Here she is walking in the snow (which she thought was funny) and her idea of a snow angel.

Riley had a lot of fun sledding!!

Zach went sledding, made snow angels, and threw snowballs. He was definitely trying to get everything into one outing. =)

Here are all of the kids throwing snowballs at Jeff....

he even stood still for Lily & Riley. Such a good sport. ;-)

We got even more snow last night, just as the old snow was finally melting.

So, the boys are off to the backyard to play in it again!!

Christmas

It looks like Santa's Workshop exploded in our Family room.....and I am not in the least bit interested in cleaning it up yet. Santa (and grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, Godparents.....) were all very generous to the kids this year. They are very lucky to have so many people who love them!!

They started this free for all of gifts on Christmas morning when they woke up (early) to see what Santa had brought them.

Here they all are sitting contently with what they were given......

....and here they all are (5 minutes later) playing with something their sibling was given..... =)

After breakfast (candy), it was time to open presents from each other.

Then we headed off to my parent's house for more presents and a yummy dinner.

The kids got to play with their many gifts that night, and then it was off to Jeff's parents house the next morning for even more yummy food and gifts.

My camera battery died at Jeff's parents house, so sadly, I have no pictures of that, and it is usually mass chaos at my parent's house with the 30-some people who are there, so I did not get too many pictures there either. =(

We recuperated yesterday and the kids are in full playing mode today.

No one should be bored around here for at least a few more days..... =)

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and spent lots of time with loved ones!!!

Christmas Eve Pictures

Every Christmas Eve, we get our "Christmas clothes" on, and take pictures in front of the Christmas tree before going to Christmas Eve Mass.

And I had to throw this one in too, because it cracked me up. =)