Snow!

We woke up to snow on the ground this morning. Probably about an inch or so of snow, so pretty decent amount for around here. Unfortunately, the snow turned to rain around 6am, so the snow is melting, and is currently slushy mess. But Miles didn't care, he has been asking for snow for a month now and was very excited to get out to play in the snow. Of course, Quincy doesn't really know what snow is yet, as he was only about 5-6 months old last time he saw snow. So I dug out the snowpants, jackets and boots, got them bundled up and out we went, to play in the wet snow.

Quincy didn't know what to make of it at first.

He was a bit upset that something was in his car (snow).

Miles was tasting snow from all over the yard. Then Quincy had to try some.

It's pretty hard work shoveling out a back yard.

Quincy wanted to go down his slide.

With a bit of encouragement from Miles. Oops, he slipped, ended up going down face first, luckily there was a bunch of snow to slow him down.

Overall, I think Quincy liked the snow.

A few almost-traumas

ugh. Let me start from the begininng. This morning I let Miles feed the fish all by himself, and I forgot to check how much food he put in the tank. (my first mistake) A little while ago we went into the guest/play room to play and I saw that the fish tank was so dark I couldn't see anything in there. So, I get everything non-living out of the tank, get the fish into a separate bowl and start the process of cleaning the tank. Apparently it is a bad idea to leave a bowl with fish and water on the edge of the dresser in the playroom with two young children and no adult. Yep, you guessed it, I go back into the room and find the fish lying on the floor next to the bowl. Not flopping around, just lying there. Got it back into the bowl and into the partially refilled tank. Okay, the fish is swimming so no problem there. Next I put Quincy into the highchair so he can be safe and out from under my feet while I finish taking care of the fish. He is not happy at all, so I ask Miles to go try to help him feel better. (mistake #3) While in the playroom, I hear a crash and crying. Miles thought he would try to cheer up Quincy by knocking over the highchair. I arrive in the dining room to find the highchair knocked over, Quincy half in/half out and crying, and Miles trapped under the highchair, also crying. Luckily, no one was hurt, just a bit traumatized. And Miles thought the only thing he should have done differently was stand on the other side of the highchair so he didn't get hit by it.

Gingerbread house

This afternoon we made a gingerbread mess, um, I mean a gingerbread house. We took the easy way out and got a premade, prepackaged kit in a box. Mike and Miles started to put it together while I made some cookies and Quincy was still napping. It all started out so well.

Putting it together. All together and ready to decorate.

And now the decorating starts. Unfortunately the decorating started immediately after the house was put together, and no time was allowed for the house to set. (As you can see, Quincy woke up from his nap by now and watched the decorating with a keen interest in the mess unfolding in front of him.) Miles was very specific on where he wanted things put. Slowly the roof started slipping. Then the sides started leaning inwards. Then everyone lost interest. And here we have it, the 'finished' house.

library

The weather is getting colder, so it is time for us to find some warmer stuff to do. Yesterday Miles asked to go to the library, which both he and Quincy always enjoy. Miles must be growing up, because he now brings me books and actually wants me to read him several books while we are at the library. I just happened to have my camera stashed in the diaper bag, and thought to get a few quick pics of them playing in the kids section of the library.

Christmas decorating

We put up and decorated our tree yesterday. We put the tree up and the lights on the tree while the kids were taking their naps. Miles knew we were going to do that, so he was not too suprised, but still excited when he came downstairs. Quincy was just beside himself with excitement when he saw the tree. He was fascinated by lights on the tree.

They both tried to help decorate the tree.

Miles got many ornaments on the tree, variety of placement was an issue. He again wanted to cluster decorations all on the same branches.

Quincy tried to decorate, and he managed to balance a few ornaments on clusters of branches.

The boys took a break from decorating to enjoy some christmas cookies, as Rocky watched every bite.

The family band

Miles got out a guitar hero guitar the other night and asked for others to be in his band. He told Mike he could play drums on the old diaper genies, and Quincy was allowed to join as well. Here are a few short clips of the band. The only song played, over and over, is a Miles original called "oh la, la, la."

In this first clip, I tried to capture the whole band, and accidently kept cutting Quincy out.

Here in the second clip Miles has donned the pink fluffy hat, helping him truly stand out as the band leader.

And in this third and final clip Miles is done, and the focus is on Quincy as he is jamming out:

Thanksgiving

Okay, so I know I have been a bad blogger these last few weeks. Life has been busy, as happens this time of year. But here is my better late than never Thanksgiving post. We went to my in-laws in New York for the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a great time, lots of cooking, eating, visiting, playing, shopping and just a good time enjoying family.


The boys loved playing with their cousins, and I do think the feeling was somewhat mutual, at least my niece loved having a baby around to, well, baby. Here is a pic of Miles with his cousin:

And one of Austen trying to hold Miles's head still for a picture, looks a bit more like Austen has Miles in a headlock - but I'm guessing those pictures are still a few years away.

And one of Miles and Quincy cozying up to watch tv together:
And when we returned, Miles's pumpkin plant not only survived, but sprouted quite a bit more: