Christmas

Christmas! The excitement leading up to it was almost too much to handle, but they made it! Of course a plate of cookies was left for the big man. Zane left a note too, it says: "The 9 carrots are for the reindeer. P.S. The ninth is for Rudolf if he is guiding the sleigh tonight otherwise you can eat it instead.... (continue)

 ...or save it for Rudolf.

 Matching jammies with her bear.

 Santa came!!

 We told the kids not to wake us up before 6am and under no circumstances were they allowed to go downstairs before us. Haha! Wishful thinking. The hall light went on at 5:10 and Mason and I tortured them until 5:30 when we got up. They did stay upstairs at least. Then is was GO TIME!

 After all the presents were opened, it was time to sort though again and get into it. Hannah is playing with princesses, trolls, care bears, and shopkins while decorating a bag for a new little puppy. Zane is creating Qixel art while eating a cookie and periodically taking a break to play with Nerf guns and Batman Legos.

 Oma (Judy) quilted an amazing blanket for Zane in a Star Wars theme. The photo does not do it justice at all!!

Since it was 60 degrees out, Zane wanted to try out his new heel skates. They clip onto the backs of his shoes...pretty neat! He was a little rocky at first (rightfully so) but got better quickly. 

 Hannah went out for moral support.

 Return to Batman Legos.

Gem excavation. She has to work to get them out. So far she has excavated 2 out of 6 I think. Her focus has taken me by surprise :)

 Surrounded by fluff and loving it!

 Two very happy kiddos.

 The day after trip to the park for more practice.

 Getting it!

Before Christmas they each had a playdate with school friends. Hannah's was at a gymnastics class (she has a candy cane in her mouth).

Zane's was at a place called Going Bonkers where he and his buddy climbed though the maze endlessly.

Sister got in on the action too. I hadn't anticipated going into the maze, but the floor made her nervous so I got a workout too!

Zane's School Play + Santa Pics

There was a residual ice day on Monday so no school for Zane. He made a sweet Nerf fort in the morning.

 

I saw a video about making these neat bead ornaments and thought we'd try it out. We picked out the pony beads of our choice, put them inside metal cookie cutters, and then melted them in the oven. I learned several lessons:

1) Kids don't think of picking out their colored beads as a fun planning step, but rather a great annoyance that takes forever. 

2) Crafting by myself is relaxing.

3) Always read directions all the way though. Finding out that you have to turn all the beads face up before going in the oven was a great annoyance to me (it was lunch time and I was getting fussy). 

4) The smell of melting plastic can quickly be addressed by a vent fan and scented candle.

5) Metallic looking pony beads don't melt the same as the regular plastic ones and end up looking like sliced black olives. 

6) I love having hand made ornaments on our tree.

 Cookie time complete with red face from spending time outside. They prefer the moose cookies...it could have something to do with their gargantuan size, but I can't be certain. Hannah is holding one that she decorated herself!

Zane just passed his belt test at Taekwondo! He is now and Orange Decided belt.

 Luckily, there was school on Tuesday so the first graders could put on their Cinderella play! Zane was a mouse and was in one of the opening scenes doing a little dance number :)

Peace Ninja strikes again.

 Zane's letter to Santa was carefully set out so it could float away to the North Pole in the night.

We also went to see Santa! He was visiting Bass Pro and had a very fun set up.

After the photos we stayed for activities. While Hannah bopped around to coloring, Lincoln Logs, Charlie Brown movie, and the ball pit, Zane stayed put at the shooting range. He was getting really good by the end! He was also doing a very good job of sharing when other kids came up to try.

 Just to be on the safe side, he penned another letter to Santa and put it in the mailbox. It says Mega Nerfgun, Brainsaw Nerfgun, Nintendo 3DS, Star Wars Lego Set, and Rogue 1 Nerfgun.

 Hannah's list included Shopkins, Sophia the First set, and pony set (because there was one right next to her on the shelf).

Freezing Rain

Columbia is in the midst of some wintry weather! The freezing rain started as Hannah and I were coming back from a playdate at 11am on Friday. The van skidded a little on the way home and I thought "uh oh." We ate lunch and were getting ready to take her to school at 11:45 for her last day before winter break and the class Christmas party.  One of the teachers called minutes before we were  leaving and said they were canceling class because reports of icy roads and delays were already coming in. She was very sad to miss the party and not say goodbye to her friends, but hot coco and cookies fixed the situation a smidgen. 

The conditions continued to worsen and I suspected that Zane's bus would be late. He normally gets home around 4 but when he wasn't home by 5, I started to worry. I was listening to the radio reports saying how bad it was out there and how some kids were stranded at school, still waiting for buses. I couldn't get through to the school or the transportation department and was a bit of a hot mess when I called Mason to tell him that I didn't know where our boy was. Luckily, Mason got through to the school and found out that Zane was in fact on the bus and on his way home but we could expect him to be about 2 hours late due to the slow, safe pace the bus had to travel to navigate the ice and accidents. While Z was slowly making his way home, I was a nervous wreck while pacing the house, looking out each window to see different vantage points, watching cars slide if they were going down the street and spin their tires if they were going up. All I could do was wait and it was terrible. I was thinking that even if I did get a call to come pick him up from somewhere that I wouldn't be able to due to the conditions and because I had Hannah with me and didn't want to put her in danger either! At 6:15 the waiting came to an end when Zane knocked on the front window - with no bus in sight!! Dennis, the driver, had tried to make it to our house but the stranded cars had forced him to go a different route. He couldn't come down the hill for fear of getting stuck, so he loaned Zane a flashlight (because it was pitch black at this point) and sent him the 2 blocks home and told him to flash the light at him when he made it safely. Dennis had tried to call me but Zane had mixed up my phone number...we're working on fixing that immediately. It was an enormous relief to have my boy home!!! Zane said the only reason they made it was because Dennis makes good choices. I will be giving Dennis a huge hug the next time I see him (not Monday though because they already cancelled school).

Saturday we didn't go ANYWHERE. People were still being advised to stay off the roads and that's exactly what we did. The kids enjoyed ice skating on the back deck and miraculously no one broke any bones!

 The plan had always been to make cookies this weekend and we had everything we needed already. First up, gingerbread. I also made fudge but it didn't warrant photos.

 No surface left unsprinkled (Zane's).

 No surface left uniced (Hannah's).

 Present shaking is aways a fun activity.

 Sunday (today) was bitter cold. When the kids went outside to sled in the little bit of snow we got last night it was -2. I believe it reached 5 today. Mason took our two out and accumulated 2 other neighbor boys!

 Inside to warm up with hot coco, followed by a Nerf battle.

 Once the neighbors left, it was sugar cookie time. The kids were very diligent about mixing up the colors for the icing.

 Finished products and an over sugared 7 year old :)