The holiday re-cap

Hazel made sure that all of the ornaments stayed on the tree...
The making of the ginormous candy train...do you see any train under there?
Poppy hiking in her newly acquired dress (made by grandma Edge) she wore it for four days straight!
The annual Christmas day 5k (we missed it last year due to the pinata accident). Hazel won the youngest participant award...Oscar ran the whole thing! I belive this is his first semi-official 5k. It was fun.
Aunt Rosie and her new boots!
O man working with his new Dremel tool...right up this boys alley. I laugh every time I see him in his safety glasses. He has now begun to wear a face mask too. He dosen't like the styrofoam going up his nose.
Poppy and the beutiful dress. The heaband was made by Aunt Emily.
This my friends was my gift from Rick and the kids...a dinner bell. I think this will be a present talked about for many years!

I'm sad to see the holidays go but grateful for the routines that the new year brings. Last year was really good to us. I'm looking forward to another. I think this was a landmark year for me as a mom. I am learning new ways of prioritizing our life and am finding comfort in simplicity. I'm learning that (as a neighbor recently told me) when raising kids "the days are long, but the years are short." I like being a mom. I really love it. I'm grateful that Rick works so hard so that I can be home with the kids. Because more than ever, I'm realizing that once they hit school years, things start moving much too quickly! Life is good!!!

Skiing...Family Style

We asked the kids if they would rather go skiing as a family for a few days, rather than get a big Christmas present. They were unanimous, and us parents were quite pleased with their decision.

(Poppy wanted a knife full of cream cheese with her breakfast...Oscar was showing his disgust)
We opted for Silver Mountain in Kellogg, ID with a handy little resort at the bottom of the Gondola that takes you to the top of the mountain. The condo was delightful with the added benefit of an indoor water-park. It was pretty sweet!
Especially because we had Auntie Rosa to accompany us...(aka our nanny) It was really nice having her to take care of Hazel while Rick and I spent some time on the slopes with Oscar and Poppy. It was also a bonus that she could keep an eye on the Popster when she earned a good break on her first day. We all enjoyed her company! Thanks Rosie for coming with us!
Oscar took to the skis like a pro. Although, I inadvertently took him on a lift that may or may not have been a good idea. Needless to say, he and I made it down...it may have involved some tears, prayers and a good deal of coaxing that his mother did indeed KNOW where we were on the map. Yes Oscar, one day when you read this you will laugh.
Hazel hung out with Rosie in the lodge...she liked being bundled up in her suit.
Poppy was very happy about her hot chocolate on the gondola.
Here is Rick Oscar and Poppy on the magic carpet.
Does this look like the face of a girl who is having fun?
I love this picture...click on it so you can see the humor in it. Oscar was taking his lunch break( yes, Cheetos were the lunch of choice)Hazel liked the gondola too...it took about 30 minutes to go up or down. It was pretty relaxing though.

Rosie hanging out on the gondola...
Poppy's little spill and Oscar's snowplow...
Daddy and Miss P stayed together most of the time.
Oscar and me moments before loosing my favorite sunglasses off the lift. Ok maybe nit but it was sometime before I lost them...
I think they enjoyed the gift and will remember it much longer than a gift that could come in a package.

Progression of the shiner...

Day 4- Today we are getting better, more yellows and greens have appeared. Gravity also seems to be working on pulling the blue-green bruise and swelling down my face. I now have a bruise on the right side of my mouth. It has been really cool to see how may pretty colors have come out of the bruise. It keeps changing and the kids love to see what the new colors are each day.
I am their current physical science model. I suppose it's great to be good for something!

You wouldn't believe how many times I had to repeat my story at church today...glad to see that so many care, but tired of telling the story.

Day 4-I think I didn't get a photo on Friday (Day3) so here is Saturday's Pic.

Day 2- Christmas walk...Wow! I look really homely...

Day 1- Christmas-eve (sometime post-trauma)

Christmas Day

Christmas Day walk. I tried to get my kids to look at the same time, and smile, and this is what I get. I think they get this cooperative behavior from their father.
Poppy is loving her new set of "silkies" sent by grandma Edge. She loves putting on multiple layers and using them for all sorts of baby/toy things.
Oscar has been going crazy over his new science kits, cars and of course anything that Poppy received. I even have a great video of him dancing with her new ballerina doll. ( I was trying to post it and am having trouble. Maybe later I will figure it out.

Oscar also wanted to try out dad's new puzzle. He is the versatile gift kid. Anything that is new, must be explored!
Poppy received her first scooter. The only down side is that she won't really get to use it until spring. In the meantime she makes the rounds about the house.
Overall we had a fun filled Christmas that was very laid back.
The kids are loving their loot and I am about ready to pack up all of the Christmas stuff. Yesterday I loved it. Today I feel crowded. Tomorrow may be the end of Christmas at our house.

Shiny-er Christmas-eve Party

Edge Family 2nd Annual Christmas Eve Party

The Edge Family 2nd annual Mexican Christmas-eve party had a new addition this year. We like to call him Frosty. We spent the past week making him. The kids helped with the paper-mache and the painting. Little did we know he would be the bang of the party.(Notice that the "broom" in Poppy's hand has a blue handle...)

After a tasty Mexican dinner (short the heavily anticipated veggie tamales, due to Patty's kitchen miscalculating orders) we gathered around the living room for a bit of Pinata fun.
Soon it was Oscar's turn, and just as I snapped this photo (notice the missing broom handle) I was smacked in the nose with the handle.
To be honest, I truly had no idea what hit me. All I knew was there was a sudden gush of blood and I ran to the bathroom. Who knew just how much one's nose can bleed? After the considerate care of my house guests (which I really never got to see off properly) I spent the rest of the evening with a bowl, ice pack and tissues.
I didn't get to to wrap the gifts I was planning on, nor did I get to snuggle up to my spouse to play Santy-clause...nope, I was on the couch avoiding the blood going down my throat.
No need to fear, Ricky pulled off the whole Christmas story, putting kids to bed, played Santy clause, all while I watched/sat on the side lines.
Today...here is the shiner. It is getting better, but man it really hit me hard.
Oscar felt so bad and was crying. He even brought me Frosty's lower abdomen full of candy as a peace offering (that is, after he stashed a bag of his favorite pieces in his room). I felt pretty bad for him.
It did however take me back to his own shiner incident and made me remember just how bad I felt when he pulled the dresser on himself.
I'm sure this will be a Christmas party to remember. My friend Laurel who was there called today and said "We had a great time, until I was suddenly cleaning blood off your carpet." She also joked that this was a nice "Mormon" Christmas party (sans alcohol) and wondered if I could imagine what it would be like if there were alcohol involved???? It was also her husband Jeremy, who moments before we began the whole pinata process, joked that we should be video tapping it because someone always gets hurt...hahaaaa very funny!

Now the only problem is Rick not feeling like an abusive husband when we go out in public...

Next post will be our Christmas-day re-cap...

Christmas Preparations...

Well, we've got it, snow, that is. Not only so we have snow, but sub-arctic temps to go along with it. The kids don't seem to mind. They still find the snow an adventure.
Poppy received a sled ride to and from getting Oscar from school the other day. On the way home all of the "bigger" kids wanted to pull. Here is Spencer George (who by the way loves Poppy) pulling her along.
She also loves to climb up on the counter to play with our nativity set. I love this set but parents beware...it is the playmobile set and all of the pieces of each character come off...that means that their hair beards, halo, turban, etc... Wonderful for play yes, but horrible for a mom who tries to keep track of them.
Our solution has been to place it ont he kitchen counter. Not as many pieces get lost in the couch and around the living room. One time Poppy put a couple of wise men in the bookcase for safe keeping. It was a few days before we discovered them again.
Oscar had his Christmas party at his class. This is their lovely graham cracker house village. It was so pretty.
Oscar's teacher this year is wonderful! He adores her and she has certainly earned it. We stayed a little after school so she could open her gift. It wasn't the main gift. All of the parents pitched in ogether to get her a digital camera. She was still in analog world. She cried when she opened it. It was wonderful!

Now with school out, both kids at home, and a TON of candy around...I'm finding myself constantly battling the picking on each other. They can't seem to get enough of it.
Today was a no-junk food day, that is until Family Home evening and then they each only had one cookie.
I currently have the threat out that if they keep fighting...all candy (including the candy train they keep sneaking into) will go into the garbage. I"m just waiting for my breaking point to actually enforce it. I'm close...we shall see.

(Update...The train went into the trash. Followed by Oscar telling me that we (me and Rick) want to make this the worst Christmas ever... Yeah, too bad for poor decision making. One day he will forgive us. Oh, that's right, I think he already has!)

Look'n like Christmas...

(Our last veggies from the garden)
What? A bountiful garden harvest doesn't sound like Christmas to you???

This year our last harvest made it a bit longer with the cold frame. The carrots were amazing!!! I have never tasted a sweeter carrot. I think the frost may have done them some good.

Hello, merry little tree from our front yard...My, you look grand in our front living room. You now get the grand exit from our front yard as our Christmas tree.
You shouldn't feel bad, considering your life was sentenced this past summer, and then spared for this grand exit. And boy, don't you look pretty...

Here are a few of the trimmings we have been working on...Feather ball ornaments. The kiddies spent the better part of an hour gluing all sorts of feathers to these paper-mache balls...so cute!
Each of the kids made a nest for their birds. Can you tell who's bird is who's?
These two love to pretend they are birds and build nests out of all sorts of things. It was fun to see how much care went into each of their nests.

Yesterday, they both created a Christmas masterpiece for me to hang. I LOVE them. It was great to give them their own canvas ans to watch them go crazy...especially Oscar! I can't help but love all of his art projects lately. He is at the stage where he finally is getting it and the results are great!
Next, although it is hard to tell...is our gingerbread train we decorated tonight.
What you don't see it? Just try deciphering the candy heap and you will discover a cute little engine, four train cars and a caboose. If you want to make one of your own here is the sight where I found the recipe and the templates.
We made these a couple of years ago with the Workman family and Betina made this great discovery, when you are printing the templates off, if you choose the two-pages-per-page option it scales the train down a bit. The original is pretty large. This half size seemed to be just about perfect. With the extra dough we made two extra train cars.

We've also had our first snow. We went from mid 30's with no snow to freezing temps with 6-8 inches. The kiddos are loving it!

Poppy is loving the snow this year (as evidenced by her sassy face), which gives me great hope that one day she will want to ski.

She doesn't even mind getting it in her face, that is until she goes down the sled hill face first and gets a little too much...She decided she had had enough of the cold and wanted to go home.

Oscar man (AKA snow boy) doesn't seem to notice the cold. First thing the last two mornings at 6:30am he is out in his winter-wear shoveling the drive.

We are in full Christmas mode, music, lights, decorations and a few more Christmas projects to go...we hope to make a snowman pinata tomorrow! I love Christmas!!!

Now, I just need to pass my glucose test tomorrow morning (having eaten a ton of candy during train building this evening)...we shall see, wish me luck!