Oops.

We knew the soda upstairs was getting slushy. We knew that it was getting quite cold at night. We knew what happens when soda freezes. And yet, we did nothing. Not until I was feeding the girls breakfast and it sounded like a person or a large animal was in our garage. I grabbed my phone, had the police on speed dial, took a deep breath and opened the door. Nothing. Then the light bulb went on. The soda. Upstairs. Exploded.

Here is my lovely Vanna White displaying the shredded can. After it dawned on me what had happened, I went up to the loft and took the police off speed dial just in case I accidentally hit the send button and had to explain that I'm not smart enough to remove my soda from sub-zero temperatures. It was messy and I was scared to go up there in case more soda decided to evacuate it's container.

The good news. Frozen soda is pretty easy to clean up with a broom and dustpan. Even off a ceiling! Yes, the soda has been moved to a non-freezing area of the house. I'd like to say this will never happen again, but I may be lying.

Snowy Days.

Tons of snow this year! Some years we wait until close to Christmas for snow. Not this year. Blizzard after blizzard, and usually on weekends. It has ruined many a plan, but I'd rather be warm and alive than....well you know.

Our huge pine trees look so beeeeyooootiful draped in snow!

Here's the backyard. The snow got so deep after a few more of these that it covered these chairs!

Erin's first snow angel.

Blizzard number...well number after the first one anyway. Ridiculous amounts of snow!

Whoever sent the backhoe to dig us out, I love you. It also made a bonafide sledding hill right in our front yard. All that snow had to go somewhere.

Erin got tired of trying to drag a sled up there and get on it before it took off without her. We bought a new sled this year that we could use with Izzy. Problem is that it got buried in one of the blizzards and we haven't been able to find it.

And after she made it top she decided the most fun could be had by rolling down. The first time I caught it out of the corner of my eye I gasped and panicked before I realized that she did it on purpose. Silly girl!

My Little Girl Loves Dragons.

I found the face-painting book at Target awhile ago on clearance. Target clearance, I LOVE Target clearance! It has professional grade face-paint in it as well as a really nice brush. The book gives you lots of ideas and things to paint and takes you step by step through the design.

Obviously you don't have to just paint faces. I had been promising Erin that we would do some painting and she chose the dragon. Not the fairy, or the cute panda, or a butterfly. A dragon. As you can see she is thrilled with her dragon and the fire coming out of it's mouth.

Erin is a fascinating blend of girly and tough. She loves dresses. She loves shoes. She loves make-up. She also loves dragons, and tigers, and play fighting. Any imaginative play always turns into fighting. She doesn't go ga-ga over babies, but toy swords definitely! I love this about her!

Family Christmas Picture.

It is always interesting and challenging to get some good family pictures for our Christmas card. The age of our children makes it difficult too.

Erin does much better now at four and a half, but if she is crabby then forget it.

This is the best one I got of them together. The light was terrible as well. Our house even with all the big windows doesn't have the best light for picture taking.

Izzy was going a little crazy. She LOVES having her picture taken!

Such a wiggle butt!

What on earth Scott is trying to do here is beyond me. When I got up to go look at the picture I showed it to him and we laughed so hard about it. He doesn't remember trying to look like that. What a weirdo.

Hold still!

Flash, everything looked washed out. Have to make sure that Izzy doesn't dive off the chair.

This is the best one we got so it went on the card. No need for perfection, good enough is good enough. Plus if the photo session is too long everyone ends up very crabby. Lets keep photos fun!

Christmas Time

Growing up decorating the tree was always a really fun event. We would get everything out, dim the lights, put on some Christmas music, have some hot cider, and decorate.

We haven't reached a caliber where it is a relaxing experience yet just because of the girls' age. It's still more damage control.

This little one doesn't know the difference between decorations and toys yet. Throughout the Christmas season the decorations have slowly migrated toward the top of the tree.

Erin doing her goofy dance. She is such a fun and silly girl!

Cheese!

Good job Izzy, now lets leave it there.

Daddy supervising from his chair and snuggling with his girls.

That looks like a great spot Erin.

Merry Christmas!