winter fun

Cupcake and I are flying solo today, and she requested that I sew her a skirt. She never chooses to wear skirts, so I thought what the heck? Maybe a new mommy-made skirt will inspire her. SO here's the super quick, super comfy, super easy skirt. And then we went outside in the balmy sunshine and made snowmen.

Here's the big guy with his accessories thanks to friend Laura in GA.

And here a few older pics that have yet to be shared.

Seldding in the yard with Grampy Dude on Xmas Eve.
Zippy in character as someone inspired by something he saw; I can't remember what it was but it was hilarious at the time.

And Zippy again decked out for some serious riding at the mountain.

Snowstorm!

J working hard to shovel a path to the front door. Here are Zippy and The Spark standing in the front yard. Yep, standing.

It's always a bummer for a ski/snowboard resort when they get feet and feet of fresh powder and than can't open the lifts due to high winds. There were two lifts running in the morning, kids blowing sideways across the mountain, shingles flying off various buildings at the base, and everything called off by about 1pm. Fun driving too! But we LOVE the snow. The kids are so excited to dig and play in it. Oh, and the boys found our mailbox in the snowddrift before the plow guy flattened it completely.

Christmas (early!) morning

As you can see, Cupcake was none too pleased to be awakened at 6:30 by four extremely exuberant siblings. She would have rather slept another two hours and then dealt with the presents. The others had ripped through their stocking offerings, made the grow-a-pair-of-socks-in-water in the bathroom sinks, and come loudly bouncing into our room at the designated "no earlier than" hour of 6:30 a.m. #1 very pleased with new sweatshirt from Aunt C & Uncle J, new comfy pants, and new cozy slippers.

The one thing he asked Santa to bring. Rock on Zippy!

A backpack for her baby JuJu from Aunt C & Uncle J was a huge hit.

Ahhh...her first big kid video game and she was completely absorbed. Even willingly missed #1's first go 'round with his new cotton candy machine.

More later because Santa brought all of us girls matching jammies that we will be wearing tonight, so a photo is certainly necessary.

holiday vacation so far

Spent the day at the mountain yesterday with the three Bigs. The Spark made a lot of improvement on her snowboard and we were cruising down a nice long green trail by the end of the day with only one or two little butt checks, no real wipe outs. And the best part: she was enjoying herself on her snowboard. The boys found the head coach of the snowboard program and hiked the mini park with him and had a blast. And my favorite part: they came down to meet me at the designated time, on time, with smiles on their faces. So it was a good day for all of us. Now the Littles are off of school too and tonight is the town Xmas party where Santa always makes an appearance with a gift for each child. I think even Cupcake might be willing to wear a dress!

And Cupcake is FOUR!

Cupcake was a busy girl today on her fourth birthday. Started the day with a run on her snowboard and then tried out one of the new itty bitty Burton boards that the seasonal program guy lent us- perfect for beginners and absolutely TINY. Then she switched to her skis and made several long runs, even tried and did great on a long, blue trail today. And then what she'd been waiting for all day was a trip to the ice rink. Unfortunately the indoor rink at the mountain had no free skate after the lifts closed so we had to try the outdoor rink right near home which she was less psyched about. Plus everyone was really wiped out after a busy weekend. So we came home and had chicken noodle soup as Cupcake requested for her birthday dinner. And a skate cake.


Ahhh, her very own roll of paper so she can stop snagging all of my printer paper every time she wants to paint or draw.

She's trying out new fake smiles and hasn't quite gotten it right yet.

The other kids worked on making ice cream in the ice cream ball while Cupcake opened presents. It didn't distract Princess Eee quite as well as we'd hoped, and she still had a jealous meltdown and stomped off for a bit because watching Cupcake open cool gifts is just too hard for her.

The ice skate cake. She only ate the candy cane blades. Never one for cake, but the rest of the fam loved it.

The treats for school tomorrow:

And tomorrow she will take these brownie-cookies with ladybugs to all of her school mates and teachers. The three bigs are off for vacation already, so I'll get to spend some quality time doing big kid things for the next three days 'til the littles are on vacation too.

Snowboarding & Santa's Village

Here's a shot of Zippy a few weeks ago at the mountain with his best snowboarding buddy. It was a mini-competition day and these two caught some freebies at the awards, hence the cool shades and giant T's.


And today I took The Spark and Cupcake to Santa's Village to meet up with The Spark's BFF who moved away. They had really been missing each other and talked on the phone for about 45 minutes mid-week. I'll try to get the picture of the two of them on this ride off my cellphone next time I'm in a zone with reception. This one I sent to myself before entering the dead zone, so here are my two girls on the candy cane ride. The Spark really likes her snowboard instructor at the mountain and only skipped today in order to spend it with her BFF. The two of them were so giddy to be together they just hugged and laughed the entire time. Good thing the whole Santa's Village park is outside, so their squeals did not need to be quieted for anything.

Tomorrow is Cupcake's birthday, and all of us will be heading to the mountain together. She snowboarded with J both days last weekend, but says that tomorrow she will ski instead because "me fall down LOT" on her snowboard.

The Trimming