The Holiday Shuffle (including new video)

The Holiday Shuffle is well underway, be it going to the YMCA to sing Christmas Carols, or taking off soon for Grandma Laurie's - and then Grandma Linda's - in Michigan. The photo above shows just how to get 3 and 4 year-olds from point A to point B without getting one lost or hit by a car! They were walking over from Preschool to sing their big Christmas Carol Concert at the lobby of the YMCA, and you simply HAVE to see the video of it (the video can also be found at right, but here is a bigger version). Not exactly Carnegie Hall quality, but very cute nonetheless:
Another part of the Holiday Shuffle: Driving up to Ohio to see Grandpa just before - and back from after - a big snowstorm struck the area. The fun part was getting to enjoy the snow during the stay itself. Uncle Joel led the children in this creative arts endeavor... later when asked the highlight of his day, Evan replied, "making the snow spiral!"
Looking forward to the final chapter of the holidays, in Michigan for a week of family fun (leaving tomorrow, staying with Grandma Laurie then Grandma Linda). I don't think the kids realize how spoiled they are about to become... and now, we leave you with a glimpse of the Christmas Village that sits in our living room. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Happy Holidays... Couple Cute Things

Just a quick couple of neat pictures for you. Above are Christmas trees Autumn and Evan made in Preschool yesterday. Their teacher wrote down 10 things that they said they love on the heart ornaments, and they used their hand prints to make the tree. Click on the pic for a larger view, some of the things they said are quite cute (Evan's on left, Autumn's on right)!

Autumn and Evan also recently went to a kids concert at the local library, which landed their pic in the local weekly newspaper (as usual, complete with incorrect spelling of our last name), see below:

Happy holidays, hope all is well with you!
-Mark, Marisa, Autumn, and Evan

Winter Arrives in WV

The kids are home sick, hanging out with Daddy instead of pre-school. We need them to get healthy (they've been coughing seemingly for weeks), and yet, we just received our first light snow accumulation of the season. What a conundrum. OH! and it's that perfect wet packing snow! That decided it for us...

While outside, Autumn and Evan met a new neighbor kid who looked very sad and afraid. He is kinda short, his eyes don't match, and wears a funny looking orange plastic hat. They decided to take the new kid under their wing, to make him feel more welcome. It was hard to get that frown off his face, but after some time, the warmth that Autumn and Evan showed him justed melted his heart... and the rest of him, I'm afraid.

A few quotable notables:

Daddy: "Autumn, are you eating snow?"
Autumn: "No..."
Daddy: "How does it taste?"
Autumn: "Good!"

Mom: "I want to show you your advent calendar."
Autumn: "Is it a Dora one?" Evan" "Is it a Spiderman one?"

Evan: "Don't go to sleep, Daddy, because I have SO many questions." (while trying to get him to go to bed)

Autumn: "I'm going to KEEP this Daddy... this silly, cool Daddy."

Well, Marisa just got home from her work to take over the kids... now I have to go to my work. Somehow, we have been able to sort out the kids sick time. We've only used one day of family sick leave so far this season. :)

-Mark