Natalie Totally Looks Like the Frito Bandito

And a Happy 2009 to all of you!  I'll be ringing in the New Year in my dreams, as I'm planning on being in bed by 10:00.  Sad, I know.

Brief Check-In

I just wanted to pop in and clear away some of the dust from this place.  I'm on vacation (from work - I didn't actually go anywhere) and I've just been enjoying spending time with various branches of the family.  This week, the kids and I will just be hanging out and doing some fun outings.  I'll try to check in again later in the week, but regular posting won't resume until next week.

And, that's all I have for today.  Here, look at some pictures.  I hope you all had a great Christmas!

(Ha, I just noticed the red-eye removal tool got a little carried away on this one.  It also removed some of the red from the kids' outfits - that's what the black crescents above and below Natalie's eye.)

Living in a Winter Wonderland

It has been so freaking cold this winter.  I'm disappointed, because we couldn't go to the Holidazzle Parade this year, and we also haven't been able to take advantage of free ice-skating. You see, I'm rather fond of my kids - I'd hate to lose them to hypothermia.  So we've been spending A LOT of time indoors.  My sanity is suffering because of it.  Do you know what it's like to be trapped inside a smallish house with two kids under the age of three for AN ENTIRE WEEKEND?  I'd imagine it's a lot like being pecked to death by chickens.  Really loud chickens.  Who like to risk their necks by climbing up on tall things, and also? pulling every single tissue out of a Kleenex box, one by one, leaving a sodden mess on the living room carpet.  Because OF COURSE Kleenex must also be shredded into tasty bite-size pieces, then chewed up and spit out after the flavor is gone.

But!  On Saturday, it was actually warm outside.  (Ha - everything is relative.  Three months ago, I would have called 20 degrees unbearable.  Now, I'm all like, is that with a minus sign in front or not?  Did you say above zero?  Pour me a pina colada!)  

In addition to being warm, we got about 5 inches of snow.  So we bundled up and went outside to enjoy the brief respite from below-zero temperatures.  Approximately 12 hours later, the temperature dropped 40 degrees and we were dropped harshly back to the reality that is winter in Minnesota.

(Not long after this picture was taken, Natalie realized there was no hope of getting back up on her own while wearing all that clothing.  After that whenever she fell, she lay on her back, like an overturned turtle, waiting patiently for someone to come and help her stand up again.)

Keeping Me Laughing

Children are great mimics. Sometimes this is really cute. Other times, like when your child tells you to go into time-out because you are NOT LISTENING, it’s not quite as cute.

One cute thing Sam has picked up from me is that he sings to himself all the time. Oh, don’t get me wrong – it’s not cute when I sing – in fact, some might describe it as “nails on a chalkboard” or “incredibly annoying”. But it’s cute to see Sam doing it.

This morning, as he was eating his scrambled eggs, he was singing quietly under his breath: “I’m eating my eggs, eating my eggs; Please don’t, don’t bother me, I’m eating my eggs”.

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One other cute Sam story, since I can’t seem to think of anything else to write about today:

As are most little boys (and some girls!) Sam is very much into tractors. Last night, we were talking about tractors and how the different colors are different brands. Like, green tractors are John Deere, and yellow tractors (well, construction equipment, but we call them all tractors around here) are Caterpillars.

“No,” he said matter-of-factly. “Caterpillars don’t live in the snow.”

I tried to explain that Caterpillar was also a company that makes tractors. He broke in and said, “Worms are NOT tractors, Mommy,” in a “you’re-an-idiot” tone of voice.

“Good point,” I said, and left it at that.

Internet Dangers

One of the many things I love about having an almost-3-year-old are the endless questions. I'm not even being sarcastic when I say this - I really do love hearing the things Sam comes up with these days! One day, while watching Finding Nemo, he asked me how a fish sleeps. I think I answered that one to his satisfaction, but when the next day he asked me what a flamingo says, I was stumped. So we went to the internet to find out.

I decided to start with YouTube, and typed in the keyword "flamingo". Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of options and as I glanced down the list, I saw a title that was something about a baboon and a flamingo. Okay, that sounded like it might actually have an actual flamingo in it, unlike most of the other videos that came up.

So, that particular clip starts out with a baboon watching a huge flock of flamingos. Maybe you see where this is going, but I was oblivious and when the baboon attacked and ate a flamingo, I almost knocked over the kids in my mad scramble for the "pause" button.

You know, I don't really think Sam understood what was happening, though (or maybe he's a future hunter?), because he keeps asking to watch the flamingo video again. Luckily, I was able to find another 7-minute video of a trip to the zoo that has a brief cameo of a flamingo in it, and that satisfied him.

I'll consider that his first lesson on *cue the music* "the cirrrrrrcle of liiiiiiiife...and it moves us allllllll...."