Christmas morning

 After having waited until a reasonable hour of day and after having watched our traditional Christmas morning video, it was time to go downstairs and have some fun! Doesn't baby G look excited?

 Run! Run! Who can get there first?

 While the others investigated the contents of their stockings, Baby G contemplated how best to devour the gingerbread houses the kids had left out for Santa.

 And then, much to Ninnie's dismay, the kids, having been made sufficiently happy and hungry, opted to take a break and eat breakfast before moving on to the presents under the tree. Can't be expected to work on an empty stomach! 

There and back again.

Dude, they gave me my own drink. This is Sah=weet!

Mom put goldfish in my cup. Guess I'm supposed to drink those too.

What are you looking at?

Who's tired?

We'll be home for Christmas...

Lots of firsts here! First time flying for both of the littles. And the first time we have flown with more than one child at a time! First time everyone has ever smiled this early in the morning, and the first time any of us have had to wait on a plane so they can de-ice it 3 times but have to wait anyway for the sun to come up so that the temperature would raise to -33 degrees, which is the lowest temperature they are prepared to deal with to get a plane in the air! Didn't know that was ahead of us yet at this point though - look how excited everyone is to go to Portland (except Baby G. She has no clue what's going on)!

We were a little torn about what to wear on the plane. Having to walk out our tiny airport's door and up the plane's stairs exposed us to the frigid temps, which apparently could result in frostbite in 5 minutes! So we needed some winter coverage. But who needs to bring snow wear to Portland where it was going to be a tropical 30+ degrees?! There was a possibility it was going to be 100 degrees warmer than it had been our last week in ND! Crazy.

Having to wait on a tiny plane for an hour and a half (which was how long the flight to Denver was supposed to take) got kind of old. Dude found ways to entertain himself and those around him though! Gotta love his "dinosaur voice."

But eventually we did make it (note the iconic PDX airport carpet)!! The redheads were relieved while they waited for others to relieve themselves.

And why not. If you can fit, you should probably try sitting there, right?

Now on to the eagerly awaiting grandparents on the other side of the gate! Let the festivities begin! We made it!!

Happy Halloween!

Off to school for things 1 and 2! M said the wig turned out to be a bit of a problem at recess as the wind would blow blue feathers behind her in a trail. They were pretty proud to get to wear them though!

The littles and I then headed over to Story time at the library. A can't-miss for us these days. Smile guys (why does that never work??)!

Tad windy outside. I think we'll stick to the indoor events for the rest of the day!

 The highlight of the night was to be found at DSU's "Boo"Hawks (they're the Blue Hawks) Treat Street, although this particular part was traumatizing to G. It took her at least 20 minutes to recover from being so near the giant bird who's feathers we probably stole and glued to her head. To her, he looked angry. And she was terrified. 

And this is why it was the highlight. All the candy they got from the different offices and departments was great, the game rooms were fun, but the band room? They let things 1-4 loose on their instruments in the "Instrument petting zoo." It was awesome!

The only one that got dude to break out of his serious face he'd been wearing (I think due to the over-stimulation) was the trombone. He thought that was pretty sweet. A band student blew on it and he got to move it back and forth. Everybody else really liked the drums, gong, and xylophone.

But mustn't forget the girls' karaoke at the pizzeria. Epic.

 And here we are! A rare family shot! Is it just me, or does it look like Cooper's hat was photoshopped on? It was real! And perched atop a lovely headband of cat ears :) Such a good sport.

And yes, that is an announcement posted across my growing belly. Thing 5 coming soon! Sure seems like a lot when you number them off like that :) Hilarious to watch people count them off all night long, and then read my shirt and laugh out loud. Not sure if they're laughing with us or ...

Snow Day!

I finally agreed to take the littles outside after Dude had been begging all morning. He was just so excited about the snow! Look at him! How can you resist that?

 G was much calmer about it. What is this white stuff she wanted to know.

 G: Look it's up there too! 

Dude: I know! It's hilarious!

G: What are you doing with that stuff?

G: You can eat it?! Phenomenal!

G: But then how do you get it off?!

Our first snow koala of the year! Don't ask. It was all that guy. As you can tell, G wanted no part in it.

Dude was pretty excited by the snowballs I made for him. 

After he stopped laughing out loud out of pure joy, he asked me what he should do with them. I looked around and told him to throw them at the garage. He obliged. G had to inspect his work up close.

But that only lasted so long. Something clicked and he realized he could throw them at me!

Cross Country Racing

(Back in September when people still wore shorts in Dickinson. And no winter coats.)

Little nervous to begin. Can you tell? At least she came dressed to run! Not sure where everybody else got all the orange shirts. Clearly we were out of the loop on something. But we were there!

 And they're off!

 And back again! Go M!

 Red-faced and proud of herself!

 Next age group up! Again with the nerves.

 And THEY'RE off! If I knew how to draw a cool little arrow to help you see J, I would. But since I don't, she's the one in purple shorts without a cool, I-belong-here orange shirt.

 Cutest thing about this picture - M running alongside her on the edge. After she'd finished her own race. And was exhausted. She was just so excited to cheer J on. 

 J confessed later that she sprinted too hard at the beginning and had to walk a little in the middle. Good lesson to learn :) But she finished nonetheless, although a little disappointed in herself sadly.

 But a ribbon helps to cheer anyone up, right?

First snow!

Last year the first snow of the season was October 3rd. This year, we held it off until the 4th! It was a little warm for it so we has assured J that it wouldn't actually snow. We should know better. The littles were thrilled!

Honestly, baby G was fascinated and just watched and watched. No worries G. There will be more where that came from!

Face painting

The one thing we didn't get to at the Apple festival was the face painting booth, which was extremely distressing to the girls. EXTREMELY. To keep them from total meltdowns (pretty hard for them to hold it in after such a long day in Bismarck with both mom and dad in meetings), I promised to paint their faces after church the next day. I'd say I came through!