Wednesday, February 16, 2011

I'd like to say I have a good reason for not posting for over two months... but, really, blaming the holidays and the post-holiday slump is so played out. And it isn't like I haven't had some really great material for blog posts, and plenty of photos to accompany them. It's just that when the idea hits, it's nowhere near a good time to post. And by the end of most evenings at my house, the last thing I find myself wanting is to sit at the computer and thrill all eight followers with the funny things that happened that day. (And I'm sure calling out eight followers is strectching things at this point.)

Here's the nutshell version of the past 8-10 weeks:

Ahem. Thanksgiving came and went without much drama or fanfare... I think. We prepped for Christmas and had loads of fun at James & Jenny's one evening, where the kids got their Betty Crocker on, decorating cookies and making Christmas "trees" out of inverted sugar cones, green frosting and a variety of candies.


Closer to the Big Day, we embarked on our annual trek to Pokagon State Park for an evening of toboganning. The weather couldn't have cooperated more, and we had a great time hurtling down an ice-covered run at speeds in the 30mph range. Two days later, we once again packed up the family cars (since we don't all fit in the van), and headed north to Michigan -- Boyne Mtn., to be exact, for a few days of skiing and snowboarding. We even had passes to the on-site waterpark, which we visited Tuesday night. This is when Jack found himself with an early Christmas present, after whacking his head on a cross-bar as he entered a water slide -- six tidy stitches in the middle of his forehead, courtesy of the Northern Michigan Regional Hospital.



I think I may have clinched the Mother of the Year award on our final night, when I took Jack, Charlie and Sam to return their snowboards and boots -- realizing I had forgotten to bring their regular snow boots. The boys had to walk across the resort, to the parking lot in... socks. This? They found HI-LARIOUS. Of course, we had to stop for a hot cocoa at Kilwin's candy shop, just to ensure the maximum number of people fell witness to my awesome forgetfulness.


Christmas was a lovely time, and we had a blast watching Bobby open gifts. Or, rather, open a gift and enjoy playing for a while, before we all but insisted he open another. In the time since the holidays, we have been dumped on with snow and ice, passed a pesky fever virus around to each other and froze ourselves silly with sub-zero temperatures. Good times, my friends. Good. Times. Oh, and also? I managed to get out of Girl Scout cookie selling season, keeping my total number of boxes under double-digits. Quite a feat, when you have a good friend who is not only the mom of an adorable, eight-year-old Brownie, but a master "enabler."

I also recently learned to knit. Currently working on a scarf (which Sam has already claimed for his own) that is, admittedly, full of flaws -- but also brimming with love. I have always wanted to learn to knit, and I am so excited to actually be making something. And it's recognizable.

I think that covers most of the high points of the recent weeks. I still have a boat-load of photos to share, so I will work on a "Photo Album" of sorts to share a few more tidbits of our crazy life.