life {lately} ~ vol. 23: the most wonderful time of year

first, i just realized that most of these are of averie.

guess i was a little more paparazzi with her than with liam.

and second, the last two weeks have flown by.

christmas came and went, it was both joyful and triumphant.

we said good-bye to hermey and a see ya next year.

liam looked for him on christmas morning and was a little sad that he was gone.

then he realized santa had come and everything was okay.

presents were opened, merry christmas was said, eggnog lattes and mimosas were consumed.

this was of course followed with the playing of toys and the eating of turkey.

we had some sleddin' action and snow angel building.

liam hit the slopes for the first time and rob and i got a couple runs in too.

we said good-bye 2013.

and welcome 2014.

that was our last two, pretty fantastic, weeks.

 in a nut shell.

snow much fun

during our christmas holidays (two weeks for me and three for rob) we've been able to take full advantage of mountains of snow that are every where.  seriously.  we haven't had this much snow in december since 1904.  i'm so not complaining.  just means we have more snow to sled on and make snowmen with.  precisely what we've been doing.  and we've been doing it almost everyday, even when it was -20.  the kids are troopers.  we also got liam out for his first ski day yesterday.  it was a total success, kept asking to go again and again.  absolutely zero complaints of sore/cold feet.  and to top the day off, rob and i were even able to get a couple runs in.  just the two of us.  but more on our ski adventures later.  back to sledding and snow people.

liam rocked the old school gt snow racer like a champ. circa 1990's.

only reason he wanted to go inside was because "mommy i'm frozen!"  and he was.

averie got towed around the snow by her big cousin and was perfectly happy having her valet do so.

the rest of us took turns using the blue circle of death (think chevy chase in christmas vacation)

and the other various sledding choices.  

zero children or adults were harmed during the making of our snow fun.

inside for hot chocolate and beers, followed by some good 'ol hanging out by the christmas tree.

weather got warmer here just after christmas.

we tried to go sledding again but it was more like a sheet of ice. 

so we built a snowman snow angel, with her own set of antlers.

her face is a little questionable.

 kids had a blast making it and being tossed in the snow.

and really, that's the only thing that matters.

oh ya and when did averie stop looking like my baby girl?  

when did she turn into that little girl in these photos?

baby averie no more.  hello toddler-hood.

from our family to yours

we wish you and your family...

a very happy christmas

and an even merrier new year!

life {lately} ~ vol. 22: elf life

the littles have been loving hermey.

liam gets up every morning and asks "what's hermey doing?" in a super cute excited voice.

and every morning we head downstairs calling his name and looking around for him.

hermey's been getting pretty creative lately.

unfortunately some of the best things hermey's been doing weren't photoed.

that's what happens when a plague hits your house.

we were down and out with a nasty stomach virus last week.

basically we were a house of puke for five days.

it was truly awesome.

not pictured here are: snowball fight with spiderman and batman,

being harassed by a couple dinos & having tea with kermit and miss piggie.

meh.

it's been a fun few weeks, even rob got in on it this year.

i know liam's gonna miss hermey when he leaves on christmas eve.

sugar cookies

'tis the season to eat, drink and be merry.  so in keeping with that was better way to celebrate then making a ton of cookies.  some of which will be eaten, most of which will remain in our freezer until may.  these sugar cookies are one of the easiest cookies to make and are totally pre-school helper friendly.  other than the mountain of flour that ended up everywhere, liam and i had high fives all around as we bake our christmas cookies.  i think liam's favourite part about the whole cookie baking thing is decorating them.  mostly i think it's because he puts icing on the cookie and then into his mouth.  repeat.

it's almost christmas.

we're spending the next couple days tobogganing, eating, wrapping, light seeing

 and hanging out with family.

merry merry.

life {lately} ~ vol. 21

'tis the season for all things christmas.

december is my favourite month and this year's not lettin' me down.

had us some christmas cookie baking, tree decorating, and snowman snacks, 

eggnogging, wine drinking, and parties with friends.

hanging out all cozy like on snow mornings in our jammies.

and the cherry on top is averie walking around like a pro with her "cell phone" in hand.

she's beyond ridiculous, i just die.

there is so much more merriment to come.

can hardly wait until the 20th.  bring on the christmas vacation.

full of way too much food, even more eggnogging and wine drinking.

puzzle building, family hang out time and tons and tons of playing.

best. season. ever.

(may have said that before)

the elf has landed

last sunday marked the beginning of our second christmas with hermey ... our resident elf.  liam is totally into it this year.  i'm almost wishing that i had waited and started it this year instead of last.  he just didn't care as much about it.  this year is completely different.  we brought out the book the night before hermey arrived and read it with liam before bed.  when i went for snuggles he told me all about our elf and that we aren't allowed to touch him or his magic would go away.  he was very insistent on that point.  he also made sure that i well was aware that hermey would be talking to santa in the north pole every night until christmas.  god bless anyone involved with the elf idea ... just one more way to let the kids know "you know who" sees you when you are sleeping and when you're awake.  then again, not sure it's really helping all that much.  hermey is already on strike ... only a week into it.  poor liam's had a rough couple of days.  hoping next week has less meltdowns from a sleep deprived three year old.

here's a peak at what hermey's been up to this week.

so many more ideas for the rest of december.

so far i think the marshmallow roasting is my fav.

loving pinterest right now.  tons and tons of ideas!

also loving how hermey writes the letter 'e' backwards.

awesome.

life {lately} according to iphone ~ v.7

it's been a little while since i did my last iphone dump.  when i went to put them on the computer there were over seventy photos.  guess i've been using the phone camera more than the slr.  

here's the best of 'em.  more christmas i'm afraid.  

happy new year!

scenes of christmas ~ 2012

christmas this year was so much fun.  liam is at an age where he kinda' gets this christmas thing.  he understood that santa was coming to our house.  but thought he was coming over everyday.  he understood that santa = presents.  but wanted us to open all the presents everyday.  he didn't get why we went to church on christmas eve.  gramma saved the day and brought a great book with her about the christmas story.  it didn't however help "contain" him during the service.  good thing he's cute and even better that we were at the children's early service.  averie slept through the entire thing.  good girl.  after church it was off to gramma's house for some christmas eating, apple cider and good company.

and then it was christmas morning.  eggnog lattes, homemade cinnamon buns, a bit of chaos and a little overwhelmed-ness (is that a word?)  it's a lot to take in for a two and a half year old.   the mommy/daddy and santa gifts were kept to a minimum knowing that he would be spoiled by his grandparents and such.  and spoiled he was.  also, we've had rob's brother with us for christmas this year.  he's been in vietnam for the last two years building a bridge, but really lives in copenhagen.  the last time he was here was the liam's first christmas, two years ago.  to say that liam's been loving all the uncle pete time would be an understatement.  and i think averie has a new crush.  having him here has been the best part of christmas.  i always feel very blessed around this time of year.  i'm grateful for all that we have, our family, home and our health.

now for photo dump, christmas style.  and a very poor attempt at getting a family photo.  

we also decided that we would host christmas dinner this year.  maybe a little crazy, but it worked out in the end.  turkey was eaten, wine was drank and merriment was had by all.

i think i may of had more fun then the average person, putting together our christmas table.  got my craft on and made some chalkboard place cards, added some pine cones and candles.  ta-da.  

hope everyone had a happy christmas.  

and wishing a very merry new year's eve.