Ski On

A bit of a warm day skiing but any day skiing is a good day. 

Methow

We ventured to the mountain house joined by friends and Auntie Laurla.  The trip was skiing, laughing, reading, sledding, laughing, games and repeat.  Henry and Laurla both had their first time skiing.


Elizabeth spent at least 45 minutes reading every afternoon after her outdoor adventures.  It was super cute when she cuddled up with Jakob, her friend from daycare days. 


We are now reading Charlotte's Web together and next on the docket is Little House on the Prairie.  So fun to read books I loved as a child.

We built a snow kitchen/house which will be fun to add to as we head out there every few weeks.  The Connolly's built a sledding hill/luge that was terrifying.  Elizabeth spent three days getting up the nerve to finally go down.  Luckily she had fun and was not injured.

I was a bit worried about keeping everyone warm as the temperatures dipped to 4 degrees but with enough layers we all managed to be out for hours at a time.  Hot chocolate was needed for sure and the working sauna in the house was a JOY.

Put strap on skis on Henry.  At first he was quite unsure but then just loved it.  Basically he saw his sister take off and was NOT going to be left behind.  We were holding his hand for a while and then he just toke off saying 'no touch I do it by myself'.

Sometimes he has the usual 2yo melt downs.  He can have some epic fits and most annoyingly believes that no one should sleep past 5 am. 

Then he gives his adorable side ways look of love and you can forgive the daily 5am wake ups.

Auntie Laurla did the luge the most and loved it.  Not sure she would say the same thing about skiing but she was a trooper trying it all.  We miss her so much already.  Henry woke this morning asking about her and then went to the guest room looking for her. 

Happy Season of Lights

 Happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice or whatever you celebrate.  Let there be celebrations!  May your New Year be as silly as these kiddos.

Backpacking this summer

http://youtu.be/Sic9E7jKxS8

Here is a video from the Dad and daughter backpacking trip.  I have not been backpacking since kids.  YIKES.  I am determined to go backpacking this next summer.  Car camping is nice but just not the same.  Fingers crossed I can get HK out of diapers. 

Some photos and some stories and some thoughts

 This little man lives for his trains.  He will venture downstairs and I'll hear 'LIGHT ON.  Mooommmaaa LIGHT ON' and then silence for quite some time followed by another 'LIGHT ON'.  Sometimes he doesn't even call though and will just play down there in the semi dark depending on the time of day.  He is happy to be with his trains even in the dark.

 Elizabeth is super into tag games.  The rules are hard to follow since she constantly changes the rules with the addition of new bases or removal of ones that I'm running towards.  She will get on a base as I tag her and declare 'CLEARLY mom, I mean clearly I was on the base'.

And sometimes you have a scratch

 She has had a few more bumps in the road will her little friends.  I saw a friend tell her that she couldn't play with them, she went off and played with another kiddo and was pretty resilient about the whole thing.  Talking about it later I told her she did the right thing and found a sweet friend who was happy to have her to play with.  She then asked 'but how can I make the other girls be nice to me and play with me'.  Ugh.  Kindness finds kindness I keep telling her.  Can't make anyone do anything but can only control how you react so do so with kindness. 

 This holiday season I found myself very reflective about my little Jewish family.  We don't do Christmas or Santa Claus and exclusively celebrate the Jewish holidays.  A decision I fully embrace and find that I don't miss Christmas despite having such great childhood memories of the thrill of Santa.   Elizabeth also doesn't seem to miss or want for us to do it different which is nice considering most around us celebrate Santa.

 Over dinner the other night she starts belly laughing and can barely tell the story she is laughing so hard.   'In music class Gabriel said he didn't know what a Menorah is and the rest of the class didn't either.  Then they also said they didn't know about the Jewish language Hebrew.'  She says all this while in tears laughing basically saying what fools these kids are.  HA!  She then said that her and Lilly (another Jewish kiddo) explained it all to them.  So wish I was there for this conversation but glad she is happy to know and share about herself.
 I just finished reading a book that is peripherally about the WWII and that holocaust which has made me even more reflective.  It is a wonder to me that someone could hate my kids because they are of Jewish heritage.  It is not something I fear but more simply aware of.  I do know that the fear is real and more of a  daily struggle for so many other parents.  People hate for color and religion and ethnic tribe and political affiliation and nationality and so much more.  Kindness finds kindness I hope.

 Elizabeth and Henry at a school party.  She is shushing him.

Vancouver Holiday Party

We went to Vancouver for the annual JRS Holiday Party.  Stayed for just a night which was a bit short but we needed some down time at home.  In the past two weeks we have only eaten ONE meal at home at our house with just us. 
It was fun, there was swimming, there were cocktails and my dress shows were forgotten at home.  So I wore RED CLOGS to the swanky party.  Some people mentioned that they thought my shoes were 'cute'.  Meaning they thought this was my fashion choice.  Oh well.... shoes matched our color theme for the photo above!

And we bought a cabin

 We have dreamed of this for years and even almost made it happen prior to Henry's conception.  We looked back then because if I couldn't have a second baby then I was going to have a second home in the mountains.  I got my second baby and happily gave up the dream of a mountain house.

 Then we talked to friends this summer and stumbled upon a steal of a deal.  Almost everything we wanted.  Views, space enough for friends to come, land, access from the house to biking, hiking, a lake for swimming and skiing and friends to buy it with thus making it affordable.

 This weekend was our first trip out there and we explored our little plot of land and cleaned a bit and rejoiced that the previous owners left ALL of the furniture.

We found a zip line and a rustic fort and hung up a swing.

Jeff attached a slide to the fort.

 It is not for the faint of heart as it is more like a rocket launcher.

I want to remember how this home became ours.  Well at least 1/3 of what the bank doesn't own is ours.  How Elizabeth cried after we first saw it because she thought we were moving out there permanently and she loves her Seattle home.  And then how after this weekend at the cabin she cried because she didn't want to leave.  I want to remember exploring with the Connolly kids along the lakes edge and finding frozen critters and a turtle under the ice.  I want to remember that both my kids slept past 7am which is a minor miracle and proof that fresh mountain air is good for the soul.  I also want to remember that walking Elizabeth to school this morning we saw 2 bald eagles.  TWO.  I love that our home is Seattle and in the Methow Valley.