Sleeping Beauty

I posted this picture of a sleeping Brahm in a previous post.  Since then, I have caught him napping in more strange places and/or strange positions.

In the family room.

In the kitchen.

On the steps.

My favorite- on the table. 
I will write more about his black eye in another blog entry.

(Post) Christmas Vacation

McCall, Idaho

Brahm taking in the scenery while riding in the car.

Ava dozing off with her doll, Mandy, in hand.

Room with a view.

Tubing in -2 degree temperatures.

Smokejumper Station

Killer icicles.

Gold Fork Hot Springs.

Simon swimming in the dead of winter.

Brahm enjoying his hydrotherapy treatment.

104 degree water.  14 degree weather.

Pizza and card playing at night.

While out driving one night, we immediately pulled over to take a picture of this 50 ft. beauty.

After Christmas, our family decided to take a last minute trip to McCall, Idaho.  We spent three days and two nights vacationing in this Winter Wonderland.  Our drive up was a little treacherous due to a lot of falling snow, but we arrived to our motel safe and sound.  In preparation for our trip, we made a list of activities that we wanted to take part in that included: tubing at the Activity Barn, watching the torch parade and firework show at Brundage Mountain, eating at the Pancake House, and swimming at Gold Fork Hot Springs.  We unfortunately missed the torch parade and firework show due to a car accident that clogged up the winding, narrow road that leads to Brundage Resort.  But, we were able to add something new to our activity list the very next day!  On our way back from the Hot Springs, Jess pulled too far over to the right to accommodate oncoming traffic.  Our front right tire got caught in the three feet of snow that had been plowed to the edge of the road.  Jess frantically tried to pull the car out, but our minivan was dragged into the snow bank.  Many kind people stopped to help us.  One woman noticed that we had children in our vehicle and gave us tangerines, carrots, and apples to hold the kids over until help came.  The tow man who rescued us told Jess that he had never seen so much snow fall in such a short period of time since he had lived in the surrounding area of McCall. 

Besides this little fiasco, we had a lovely time playing together and making memories as a family.  Our motel had an indoor heated pool and hot tub that the kids warmed up in after tubing in -2 degree temperatures. We enjoyed larger-than-life pancakes and great take-out pizza at local eateries. We laughed about the communal dressing rooms located inside a yurt at Gold Fork Hot Springs.  And, our motel room included a view!  The icicles that hung from and weighed down the electrical cord outside our window gave me great anxiety. 

Our drive home from McCall was full of breathtaking views of a world covered in white.  We have already decided to spend our Christmas of 2011 in McCall. 

On a side note, I chopped off all of my hair.  Yippee!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Ava's preschool toilet paper tube nativity.

The gingerbread train assembled by Daddy and kids.

Gramee Rosenthal's hand-knitted stockings that hung by the chimney with care.



Brown paper packages tied up with strings.

Christmas cards galore.

Nicholas posed with our poinsettia.

Christmas Eve.... the calm before the storm.

Christmas morning.

Brahm riding his new bike in the kitchen.

Simon assembling his hexbug habitat.

Nicholas trying out his new walker.

Ava and Simon on the "jump"-oline.

The Christmas of 2010 came and went with the blink of an eye.  My children wrote and mailed off their letters to Santa very early on in the season.  They were excited to receive cards back from Mr. Claus and his elves (thanks to my amazing mail carrier!).  Simon asked for piano music and a scooter.  Ava asked for a doll and a hexbug.  Brahm asked for a hexbug as well.  I love my children.  Such simple requests.  Thank goodness they don't watch normal TV programming inundated with commercials for the newest and greatest toys.  Instead, they solely watch PBS- no ads whatsoever. 

As I was preparing the Christmas Eve dinner, I reminded Jess that he needed to change his casual clothes to something nicer.  My husband gives me grief every year during Thanksgiving and Christmas, because I make him and my children dress up for dinner.  I don't know what the big deal is.  Dressing up two times out of the year for a special dinner doesn't seem unreasonable to me.  And, it doesn't bother my kids either.  But, it annoys my husband.  So, Jess talked me into starting a new tradition.  Instead of dressing up, we decided to wear our Christmas pajamas to dinner.  Everyone was happily on board with this.  

After the kids went to bed, I had a few more presents to wrap and stockings to fill.  I had to be tricky this year and wrap Santa's gifts with different paper than that used on the gifts that Mommy and Daddy were giving to the kids (the kids questioned this in the past).  I decided to use brown paper which is actually very hard to wrap with, because it is so thick and sturdy and won't stay taped.  Of all the gifts that I bought this year, I loved the stocking stuffers the best: pistachios, oranges, piano music, books, hexbugs, and wooden whistles/harmonica.

We shared our Christmas morning with Gramee and Grandpa Rosenthal via Skype.  They were able to watch the kids open all of their presents in the comfort of their home in Las Vegas.  We spent all of Christmas day in our pajamas watching movies, playing games, devouring yummy Christmas treats, and napping.  For dinner, I used the ham bone from the previous night's meal to make split pea soup. 

As a child, the end of Christmas was so depressing.  There was nothing to look forward to.  But as an adult and mother, I look forward to life calming down and children going back to school.  And, I tend to eat far more healthy when there aren't plates and bags of Christmas treats tempting me at every turn. :)

Snow Day

The Monday after Thanksgiving break, we received a message on our answering machine at 6:00 am notifying all students in the school district of a snow day.  Simon couldn't have been more thrilled, and I was pretty excited too. 

Of course, all of my children's gloves and mittens were missing.  I hadn't bought Simon snow boots yet for the winter season.  So, my children ended up wearing a hodge-podge of whatever I could find. 



Ava and Simon rolling down a snow hill in our front yard.

My backyard neighbors built a larger-than-life snow man.  It took a couple of weeks for Mr. Frosty to finally melt. 

My kids spent a good portion of the day playing outside.  By the time they came in, everything was soaked.  A jump in the tub followed by hot cocoa was a welcomed relief!

Christmas Break Sneak Peak

Because my SLR is film fed, I do not yet have my Christmas pictures developed-- hence, the "sneak peak."  I did manage to take a handful of photos with our point-and-shoot camera, though.  This is one of my favorites- Jess and Nicholas bathing in the 104 degree natural hot spring water in 14 degree weather.  Notice the snow piled up on the edge of the pool.  The water was wonderful!  Getting out was miserable! 

More pictures and stories to come (including our real life rescue from being trapped in our minivan in the snowy wilderness).

Brahm's antics

Our house faces north, which means that our driveway is constantly shaded and icy in the winter.  My kids absolutely love slipping and sliding on our sloped driveway.  I, on the other hand, am paranoid that one of them will end up in the E.R. or at the dentist with a knocked-out tooth from falling. 

I found my children playing on the ice two nights ago.  To my surprise, Brahm wasn't even wearing his jacket.  And, the shoes that he chose to put on were my heels!  The sight of him in a short sleeve T-shirt in 30 degree weather sliding in my heels was hilarious. 

What would I do without my Brahm?

  

Swimming lessons

Tonight was a sad night for me.  It was Simon's last swimming lesson.  Ava will be continuing on.  Both Simon and Ava have been taking lessons since last winter.  And, both have improved tremendously.  Simon can swim on his own in the pool now.  Ava is almost at that level.  Now we have soccer or baseball or whatever Simon wants to pursue to look forward to.    

Simon and Ava underwater

photos courtesy of Flow Aquatics