The view out my back window

We had a beautiful sunrise the other morning. I love the view out our back windows. So grateful for this beautiful world we live in.

Public vs. Private?

I'm thinking of making this blog private. I've been going back and forth on this ever since I started a blog. Mostly, I use this blog as our family's journal and a place to put all the zillions of photos I like to take. So, it really is for me. And probably boring to everyone else. But...since it is on the Internet and available to everyone, that can be a little scary. I'm not even sure who all reads it. Sometimes, I don't put everything on I want to for that reason. So, I'm thinking of going private. Anyone want to weigh in? Is there a good reason I should keep it public?

Movies

We decided to sign up for netflix tonight. The convenience of having movies delivered to our house seemed like a great idea. It seems like there are always movies I am wanting to see. Except for when we went to fill our queue, we couldn't think of six movies we wanted to watch. Pathetic. The kids had some they wanted to see, but we could only think of a one or two for us.

So, does anyone have any good movie recommendations?

What is in your queue?

What good movies have you seen recently?

Great Wolf Lodge

We had a fun two days at Great Wolf Lodge over Christmas Vacation.

We spent lots of time playing in the waterpark.

The kids had a great time playing together

and relaxing together.


It was a great break after the craziness of the holidays.


This little guy turned 4 months old while we were there. He and I mostly hung out together on the side of the pool and relaxed. It was so great not having to be anywhere at any particular time (except storytime in the lobby at 8:00) No schedule is what a good vacation is all about. At least this time around.

When the kids weren't in the waterpark, they were doing Magiquest.

This is a fun adventure played with magic wands and items placed all around the hotel. They ran all around in search of their clues. They were truly worn out when we left from all the physical activity.

It was a magical place at Christmas.

They had a snowstorm in the lobby every night. Kate thought this was the coolest thing ever. She even got to meet Great Wolf Lodge's own reindeer, Rowdy. We actually had to stay and go to story time again the second night so Kate could get her picture with Rowdy (I forgot the camera the first night). It was a great mini-vacation!

Christmas Vacation

We had a great Christmas vacation! We kept busy with some of the activities we do each year, including making paper placemats on Christmas Eve day (to use for breakfast on Christmas morning),

making gingerbread houses (we did our own and these clever ones at the library),

acting out the Christmas story on Christmas Eve (Kate was a fantastic angel and took her part very seriously),

making our ice cream in a bag on New Year's Eve (shown below in my fantastic Goodwill parfait glasses that I am in love with) and having a penny hunt on New Year's Day (see last year's post here if you want more of description of our New Year's traditions),
and going to the Nutcracker (The Pacific Northwest Ballet's version of the Nutcracker is the best one we've seen. The sets are all designed by Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are, and they are truly amazing. It was a wonderful show!)

We also did some fun extras like go to the top of the Space Needle with our friends the Huillets (the sky was amazingly clear and beautiful for Seattle, and the views were spectacular!),

and spend a couple of days at Great Wolf Lodge. (Too many pictures of that to post here--that will have to be my next post). It was a great break from the crazy schedule of school, activities, sports, making lunches and rushing around. It was so nice to be able to sleep in and spend time together as a family. Usually I am ready for the kids to go back to school after a few weeks off, but not this time. I loved having them all home with me and living life at a slower pace. (Of course, I am writing this a week after the fact, when the memory of the fighting has faded and only the nostalgia of fun times remains...) But anyway, thank goodness for much needed vacations!

Christmas

We had a great Christmas! Santa was good to us this year.
Here are the kids coming down the stairs to see what Santa brought!

Kate loves her new doll, Emily.

This picture cracks me up! Who knew Ben would get so excited over a chocolate Santa?

I think William's froggy hat is about the cutest thing ever.

New slippers!

We spent the rest of the day playing in the wrapping paper (William), cooking (me and Grandma), putting together the trampoline (David and Ben)
and building Legos (Sarah and Rachel). It was a great day!