Luke is an animal on the slopes...The Whale, to be exact...

I promised an explanation of the whale sledding technique.  I think it is best to just show you the video and not waste your time with artful descriptions

The intro...(my camera was dying yesterday, so it kept shutting down while I was filming)

Luke demonstrates...(as a disclaimer, it just looks like that tree is right in the sled path...it is actually farther away and so not nearly as frightening/dangerous as it might seem from the angle up at the top...F didn't want anyone to be worried...I'd like to point out that he was already doing this by the time I found him, so I wasn't in on the decision making process on this call)

He does it again

And again

then uses a sled (kind of)...

First run of Day 2, or, We find out how much faster the sled tracks have gotten overnight...at the end, L says, "I parachuted!"

L crashes, but doesn't complain (Day 2 as well)...we put fresh snow at the bottom of the hill to cushion the end of the ride (thank goodness!)....

We are going to be so sad when all of this has melted away...I think we are going sledding tomorrow for sure as F is determined to beat L down that hill in a race ;-) 

Sledding?? Yes, please! (Pt. 2 of Marston Family Sledding)



Twin tigers (roaring included) showing me their sycamore tree "flowers" at the sledding hill today (Tuesday)



Day One Sledding:  Anna slides with Grampy (I need to have a custom-made-Anna-holster for him so that his arm isn't worn out by holding her as often as she demands..er...asks him to)

I love sledding!  And so do all the kids!!!  We have had such a fabulous time tearing down the embankment hills inside the fort on our makeshift sleds (the lids to the rubbermaid storage containers I slide under the bed).  You wouldn't believe how fearless L is sliding (more to come on that front)...look for him in the Olympic luge in future years. Or if Mikey is real nice by that time, maybe they can do the two-man bobsled.  Anna liked it until she tried to climb up the hill on the sled track and since it had melted it a bit and then re-frozen overnight, she slipped and smacked down hard on her face.  Her cute little nose was bloodied and she spent the rest of the hour and half wandering from adult to adult to tell them of her horrible experience falling on her face.  Poor little sweetie.  Well, she did get over it enough to go down the hill once today (she went several times yesterday), but then said she wanted to stay down below.
Mikey was pretty fun to slide with...I took him down the hill quite a few times.  And we upgraded our sleds today...instead of using the lids of the rubbermaid storage containers, we used the actual containers!  It was much better...plus, the tracks were much faster today, so that was even more thrilling.  I made the inital mistake of holding onto M with one hand and trying to use my other arm as a brake down the hill which flipped us backward, then over completely.  M thought it was great fun.  Pretty soon we got the hang of sledding together...then M saw a blue tractor they were using for snow clean up and he was no longer interested in sledding.  He was trying to find the tractor.

L sledding yesterday...still getting the hang of the "sled"

The first Luke-Daddy race today...F didn't even have a sled, he went down on just his back...

Race 2...Daddy loses again!!!

Heat 3...Daddy AND Miky lose to Luke....again!  At the end, L says to F, "I win!  I wonder why you don't win!"

The video with me in it...sledding with Mike...

Snow! Snow!! And more snow (pt 1. of Marston Family Sledding)

Sunday afternoon...I am the one taking the photo (F is outside) and I was too wussy to get my boots on and go out in it to take the first pic (of course, the little ones didn't want to be out in it because having their faces battered by snow and wind isn't so fun for them)

The trusty mini-van covered in snow...

view down the street toward the beach (kind of)...

The hills inside the fort were made for sledding!  Luke trudges to the top on Day 1 of Sledding (the first of many, many trips)

Sled run...Grampy and Anna waving to Luke from the bottom...

It started to snow on Christmas night.  It didn't stop snowing for 24 hours.  Now, being used to New England winter storms, I tend to scoff at the frantic preparations that Virginians make whenever there is even a 5% chance it will snow (they close schools preemptively here, for example), but boy howdy, we were in a really respectable snow storm this Christmas.  We were all loving it (especially the part of it that had us all stocked up on food and no engagements outside that would necessitate driving a car...well, except that the Franks had to go to F's work to shovel the runway, but I didn't have to go with the children in the car surrounded by terrible Virginian drivers in adverse weather conditions, so we were all set!).  It was so beautiful, it reminded me of how awesome Vermont/Maine winters can be...and I was so glad that we got so much snow (10-12 inches here, which is incredible!)...but nobody was more excited than Luke.  He is really a cold winter weather kind of dude.  I've never seen a kid who has as much stamina and who seriously NEVER complains about being cold or wet or wanting to go inside.  It's always a struggle to get him indoors when he is frolicking in the snow.
And frolic is an appropriate word, I suppose.  Unfortunately, I underestimated the weather down here and I left my winter snow boots in Maine, so I have only my rain boots to brave the drifts in.  The first day out, I made the mistake of wearing too many layers on my feet, which constricting the blood flow and made me feel very quickly like I was walking on all kinds of needles.  It was quite painful.  Plus, Ms. Anna-pants threw a colossal fit about having to clean up the toys before we went sledding, so she had to stay behind with me to do remedial cleaning (as she didn't help at all while the boys did the job) while the boys headed off...then we went the wrong way when we came inside the fort looking for them and took a 1/4 of a mile walk in the snow and ice before we found the party (as F and I both left our phones at home, we couldn't call each other).  By the time we got there, F already had to take poor Mikey home because his boots were filled with snow.  L was still having a blast, sliding down, then walking back up a considerably steep hill.  He never once complained about the hill nor asked for help from us to get up it.  He just slid, then climbed, slid, then climbed.  He's a tough little man.  He came up with a unique style of sledding he dubbed "doin' the whale", which deserves its own post.
***Here is a bonus for having kids:  You get to slide down snowy hills on the tops of rubbermaid plastic storage bins as many times as they can stand it without ever once feeling kinda foolish.  The more foolishly you behave, the more fun everyone has!  Hooray for kids!

Christmas!!!!

Luke was a bit excited....and he was leading the charge!

Daddy learns how to put the gloves on Anna (and M walks right into the frame)...

Real princesses have tiger hats...not tiaras! (She wore this very outfit for about 2 days)

M is all set with the first truck...he really didn't care about getting more presents, he just wanted to play!

Thanks to Aunt Rosie in Oregon for an ocean puzzle as big as L (it has a sperm whale and a giant squid and dolphins)

L wanted to take a picture of this logging truck (he named it Lucy, I really don't know where he comes up with this stuff) that Santa brought him.

So, since I'm supposed to go for a run right now before dinner, I thought I should try to summarize the high lights of Christmas.  On Christmas Eve, as I already mentioned, we drove to the gate of our base to give the guards their cookies, which made them late going to bed.  Did they sleep in??? Nope! (We put an exhuasted L into bed only to have to rouse him because we forgot to set out cookies and milk for the Big Man, but he was pretty excited to do it).  We were awakened at 6 am by Luke...we had to wake the little ones (next year I bet they'll be even more excited).
Wow!  Due to our generous families, they had so many presents!  L got a few new trucks and some awesome new documentaries on the ocean and its sea life (really, do you know any other 5 year olds like this guy?).  He also got a great CD of whale songs/classical music THAT HE LOVES!  Anna got a princess dress that she immediately put on and wore for the next 2 days.  Mikey was so cute, he was fine with his Thomas the train toothbrush that he got in his stocking.  Then he got a small truck and he was fine, he just wanted to play with it.  We kept having to bring him back into the action to open his presents (and when he didn't comply willingly, big brother jumped in to help him "liberate" his gifts.)  It's funny how different they are because L and A were all about presents, passing them out, opening them whether or not they belonged to them and Mikey really wasn't into it.  I think he got what was going on, but he was content with the first matchbox truck he got.  Thanks to all of you for your generosity, by the way!
I have to end with this:  L wrote a letter (with my help, of course) to Santa asking him some questions:

1. Did he like soy milk??? (L prefers soy milk and so set some out for him)
2. Did he like the star cookie (L also prefers star cookies from all the cut-outs we had)
3. What was his favorite place he visited this year?
4. Did he like chocolate?

We found a note under the letter he wrote answering all his questions (in case you are wondering, yes he does like soy milk, star cookies, and chocolate.  And his favorite place was Paris, France....L was thrilled as he is learning French at school and seems to think that anything french, including french people, are awesome!) and just some cookie crumbs.  Sometimes I feel bad perpetuating the myth of Santa as I don't lie to my kids ordinarily, but their delight in the story of Santa and the general magic of Christmas is so refreshing, I can't bring myself to burst that bubble yet.  The day was awesome, especially since the great Virginian Blizzard of 2010 started that night.  The next posts will be videos and pictures of us sledding!  Look out for that!

Cookies, cookies, and more cookies!!!

Grampy aka Rock Star helps the twins make their Gingerbreadmen..

Mikey adds some bling...

Anna pauses in her accessorization (note the sharp scissors within her reach)...

Grampy's job is to squeeze out the unbelievably stiff icing pack...

Finished!  From L-R: Mikey's, Anna's, and Luke's (who wasn't there for pics when the twins were)...what do you think...they are more like Ginger-Monsters???

One of my family's Christmas traditions was to make and deliver Christmas cookies to the guards on our base (we grew up on Yokota AFB for the most part) on Christmas Eve.  I have revived this tradition for the wee Marstons...the first couple years, the baking seemed to take an unbelievably long time (but then, getting dressed in the morning, does, too), but as the kids have gotten a bit older, it has gotten easier and more fun!

As I am not totally nuts, I bought these cute gingerbread men packs from Trader Joes and had been promising the kids for at least a week that we would do it, but then we were too immersed in other projects to follow through.  Enter Grampy (also known to the children as the Hero of the Hour and the Defender of Democracy and All Pure and True Goodness).  He entertained the wee ones with the gingerbread assemblage while L and I rolled and cut out sugar cookies.  Every event around here comes with its own lessons so I will share some for with you:

1. Five year olds will eat raw cookie dough no matter what you say.  A graphic description of samonella poisoning will not deter them from shoveling handfuls of cookie dough in their mouths whenever you turn your back.
2. Sprinkles are a kid's best friend.  The more sprinkles, the happier the cookies are (so says Anna).
3. Almost-3 year olds and their kingergartener older brother have the necessary mental and physical dexterity to figure out that they can do better decorating if they take that pesky sprinkle top off.  Whenever possible, it is best to super glue all lids on anything that is within the children's reach.
4. If you are doing any baking that requires sprinkles, it is best to make sure you have an industrial strength vacuum handy (or a dog).  Of course, you should have bought one back before the kid was born, anyway.
5. Sometimes baking makes Daddy a little stressed.

We had a fabulous time delivering the cookies.  We think the guards liked our little gift, too.   Don't worry, more Marston family Christmas clips/pictures are to come!

The Tenth Circle of Hell (Dante didn't write about this one)....

I have no scanner, so I took a picture of the picture...

is one long, long line to see Santa in any American Mall, 2 days before Christmas.

Let me start at the beginning of the story.  Last night at about 8:30, we realized that the furnace was not working.  We called maintenance and they came right over.  At first we hoped it was just that the fan needed a good cleaning and coat of WD40...but then I remembered a burning metallic smell that I detected in Luke's room earlier that morning and we feared the worst, that the motor had burned up (only in my house could a burning smell not raise an alarm...I just assumed it was the humidifier I'd just pulled out of the closet or else it was my brain, calling uncle, but since it went away, I didn't worry too much).  The guy turned the emergency heat setting on...it worked until 2:20 am, when the whole thing started to make a strange humming noise.  So F got up, turned it off, then went in and turned the oven to 350 and left the door open, being careful to barricade the kitchen and leave the fire extinguisher within arm's reach.  So this morning we were running a bit late...the maintenance people came over first thing, but told me they'd have to work on it a little to replace the motor in the furnace. No problem, I thought, I'd just do some errands after the gym, namely return a hat I bought that was 3 sizes too big for L's head.  Which necessitated going to the Mall.  I never go to the mall.  I don't really shop unless it is for groceries or craft supplies (or duct tape with which to fasten the children to the wall), so I drastically underestimated the kind of zoo it would be there, 2 days before Christmas.  Gah!

Being the idiot I am with the kind of luck I have, I brought the kids into the entrance that led directly to a brightly lit, sparkly faux-chimney scene complete with the Big Man sitting on a chair and lots of excited kids chattering on and on about Santa in a long line.  I find the whole "hey kids, sit on this slightly frightening stranger's lap and smile!"shtick to be a little creepy, so it really isn't my style to insist on an annual Santa photo.  But Anna saw that guy in his red velvet suit and FREAKED out!  Then Mikey began jumping up and down, yelling, "I NOT MIKEY, I AM BIG SANTA!"  And Luke said, "I wonder if he likes whales, can we ask him??? Will he like my shirt?"  So into the line I very reluctantly was dragged and there we waited for an hour while my children bopped around, amusing themselves by trying to eat the fake snow (Mikey), trying to write their names in the fake snow on the fake window (Luke), or spinning around in their "twirly dwess" until they knocked into everyone around them and gracelessly flopped over on the floor, thereby completely exposing their tights-clad bottoms (Anna). 

The line started out graciously enough and quickly degraded into a long, long line of hyper/nearly hysterical children and irritated parents who are trying to hiss out thinly-veiled totally un-enforceable threats to their offspring in order to keep them presentable and controlled in their holiday finery.  Meanwhile, the children are running about, kicking off shoes and socks, crying because their moms are trying to flatten their cowlicks with their bare hands, some spit, and good, old-fashioned elbow grease, and trying to gnaw on the plastic cookies and drink the plastic milk.  The high point was when Mikey almost fell on the fake cardboard trees when he leaned too far out the fake window (sometimes I worry about the future of the human race because of him...he fell into the trunk part of the minivan today because he was leaning too far over the back seat...you'd expect a human being to have more common sense than to do the same thing on the same day with the same results, right?), I looked over and managed to grab an ankle just in time...I digress.

So, at the end of this happy occasion, you get to pay $23 for 2 3X5s and 1 5x7 (above).  Do you think it was worth it?  I must say, the opportunity to hear Anna sing her song she composed for Santa (the entire lyrics are:  "Santa, I wuv you, I give you hugs and sit on your wap so you bwing me pwesents fwom dee Norf Pole and I kiss Rudolph wif his wed nose" might have been worth that $20.  Or else at least $15, I suppose.  I'll see what ol' F says about it.  Enjoy!

PS Anna chose that Christmas dress and Converse sneaks herself not at all because we had plans to see Santa (we didn't!)...and I love that M wouldn't take his shark hat off and that L looks like a whale-lovin hobo (withe his ripped knee-d jeans and untucked shirt)...this was the only one where they all had their eyes opened and L didn't have his fingers in his mouth (he was trying to feel his smile, he said)...

"I Did Not Enjoy that AT ALL, Mama." Or, our day at the Nutcracker...

Luke and Emma in the lobby of the Ferguson Center

**Sigh** Why don't I have a better camera to better capture these cuties???

"See my blue tongue???"  Ice cream full of preservatives and artificial coloring at Maggie Moos...

He is saying, "Chocolate!"

The kids posing in front of their favorite flavors...E telling Luke to look at the camera...

Okay, you've had enough pictures, lady

Alright.  I admit it.  I borrowed my friend's daughter so that I could entice L to agree to the ballet yesterday.  Emma is such an amazing girl and such a wonderful friend that I usually use her to get him to shape up and fly straight (as in, "Oh, Luke...Emma LOVES clean rooms.  I bet she'd be so happy if she came to our house and all your toys were picked up."  Or, "Wow, Luke!  Did you know that Emma prefers to be around people who chew their food with their mouths CLOSED?" ) Shameless, I know.  In my defense, I'd like to point out that in a few years, peer pressure will be a force I am trying to battle, so I might as well use it to my advantage now while he is still young and I have a shot at controlling this situation.  Sometimes it even works. Anyhoo...back to the Nutcracker.
So, I knew as there were no whales or trucks in the Nutcracker, I'd need some other motivation to get my dear son to cooperate.  Plus, if there is any child in the universe who might feel the same sense of wonder at the the ballet that I do, it is my dear Ms. E.  I love to hang out with the sweet little lady (and a sweeter lady you'll NEVER meet, I assure you.)  She is the kind of child I have dreamt of...if her mom says not to do something, you can count on her to listen.  She likes to follow the rules.  More than that, she is a rule enforcer.  As my off-spring like to push hard to see exactly where the boundaries are and how rigidly they are constructed at every turn, you can imagine my awe and appreciation of this little girl.  In short, she is an absolute joy to be around.  The only drawback is she is also very chic for a 5 year old...she showed up for our "date" perfectly coiffed and accessorized in a fancy party dress and smart little military-style black jacket...black tights, high heels, the lady had it going ON (and when does she not, I ask you)...people were literally stopping in their tracks to admire her.  And you might be wondering where I am going with this as there seems to be no downside, right?
Well, you have to imagine you are a 30 year old woman taking this lady to the ballet and that you did mean to dress up, too, so as not to cramp her style.  But you were running late to a breakfast date with friends and then you couldn't find your makeup bag because your 2 year old twins were pretending to fly to China (again!) and they found said makeup bag and put it in one of their myriad play-bags/purses/backpacks and stuffed it somewhere under the couch while you were getting the slow cooker prepped for dinner.  And so you ended up running out the door, slightly sweaty, with passably acceptable high heels (which were not fancy at all), without a stitch of makeup on your face or your hair brushed so that you could be on time for breakfast.  And of course after breakfast you were again running late, so you had to rush to drop the other 2 off with their Dad at the house and didn't have any time to pretty yourself up.  So basically, you take this adorable girl to the ballet looking like a vagrant homeless person with a nice red coat on.  She was very kind and didn't point this out because she is a sensitive and compassionate girl, but also because I moved up a couple notches in her esteem due to the DVD player we have INSIDE the minivan (which I broke out for her, of course).  She did however, look over Luke's yellow T-shirt/khaki pants/untied hiking boots ensemble and say, "Umm...why did Luke not want to get fancy today?"  I smiled and said, "Cause he is Luke.  And fancy for him is wearing an excavator shirt."  She gets him, so she smiled and said, "Well, he's handsome."

Wow, I am exceptionally long-winded today.  The kids were pretty excited to be in a big theater.  And the show started late, but they were both very patient.  Then, when the curtain went up, I heard little gasps emanate from them both.  I got tears in my eyes because I am apparently a total ridiculous sap these days.  It was funny, but they were both pretty impressed with the sets and the dancing...it was something neither of them had seen before.  And I don't know, their wonder and appreciation really made me feel...honored.  I felt really honored to be able to take them to something they'd never experienced before, to see it unfold before them and broaden their idea of the world just that little bit more.  That is the magical thing about being around kids...to see them take something in for the first time and see how something can really excite them.  Man, I was grateful to E's mom for letting me share moment with her.  It was the real treat of the day for me.

Okay, I'll try to hurry this up now since I've waxed on at such a great length.  I'll say just these few more things, 1. Sometimes I'd look over and the two of them would be leaning into each other, whispering.  One time, when the soldiers and the rats were fighting, they were holding hands.  2.  Luke was stoked about the fighting...he liked the party, but he sat ramrod straight for the Rat King and the toy soldier battle.  Loved it!  He was talking about the cannon even today.  3.  E gasped in terror and then delight when the Cavalier caught the Sugar Plum Fairy and then dipped her so dramatically that it looked like she would fall.  4.  Luke was done after the intermission.  He kept saying he had to go because Big Blue Whale Power Shovel was lonely without him.  The dancing girls bored him after a while.  5.  Even though he said he was bored a couple times, I did look over and catch him mimicking the dancers' movements with his arms (which the people behind us weren't too thrilled with)  6.  I took them to ice cream to make the day even better (and to perk L up after 2 hours of dancing).  They had a blast, I think.  7.  I can't wait to take the kids to the theater and I hope to take these two big kids out together again for another special date.  Also, if the ballet comes again, I'm totally stealing Emma (maybe just by ourselves) so we can go together again!

PS The title of this post is what Luke said when we were walking out of the theater.  But then he spent the whole ride home retelling the Nutcracker story with trucks in it.  The Nutcracker turned into the prince and then into a Power Shovel.  Clara showed up riding a Pile Driver at one point.  You get the idea.  So I guess he liked it more than he let on.

The Party That Forgot to Invite Santa...

Luke makes a graham cracker house



Mom made this for Mike while he ate crackers



A watching a movie

L finds his own present

 

Happy kids...

In case you thought she didn't have enough sugar....someone gave her this snowman cupcake.

Today was the annual kids' Christmas party at F's work.  I should begin by saying that I was hyped for the twins to actually see Santa...also, this may be slightly cruel, but I was looking forward to getting some funny footage of Anna reacting to Santa, up close and personal.  I thought it was bound to be funny (judging from her reaction to Santa riding on the fire truck a few weeks ago).  I kept talking it up to the kids...saying, "I wonder what Santa will bring you at the party!" This morning at swim lessons, I said, "Aren't you excited that you'll see Santa in a little while?"  F shot me a funny look.  Apparently, someone forgot to follow up on the Santa deal and so it wasn't confirmed that he would actually be there.  I kept getting conflicting reports while we were at the party, however, so I wasn't in a mad hurry to leave as I normally would be.

It was a nice time.  The kids dove right into making graham cracker houses with frosting and candy.  Luke and Anna ate their weight in candy while Mikey polished off a package of crackers (and never once did he do any decorating of his own).  Then they watched about an hour of "Despicable Me."  Luke watched about 15 minutes then left the room when he determined there was nary a truck nor whale to be found in it.  He retired to Daddy's office where he looked through a huge book of aircraft carrier/Navy jets until he started wandering about and discovered the Christmas tree.

I was sitting next to Mike, trying to convince him that jumping around in a wheeled chair while shouting, "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!  I am a Big Santa!!" was not his best course of action when my super-powered Mommy ears picked up the sound of a porcine-like squeal and the words, "It's a power shovel!  It's a power shovel!" being screeched from the other room.  I sprinted toward the tree and yup, there was my oldest son, strategically tearing the wrapping paper on his present to reveal that coveted truck.  This was about the time that Mikey staggered in, muttering to himself, and we determined that he had, indeed, pooped his pants.  F took him to the bathroom while I hunted around for the diaper bag and L enlisted some innocent bystanders to take his truck out of the packaging.  Then, two hours overdue for the nap, we found out that Santa was never going to show up.  We gave the other two kids their presents (you can see the footage above), which made them all supremely happy, then headed home to get them to sleep for a little while.  Just your run-of-the-mill Marston family party experience.

You should know a few other things about our day:

1.  At one point in the afternoon, the boys were fighting over blocks to use with their new trucks.  F told them if they didn't share, he'd put the blocks away.  Luke then put him on notice that he would be receiving a pink slip that would forever bar him from the work site if he didn't shape up his attitude.

2.  Anna ended the evening by being utterly sassy to me and F lost his patience with her.  He was very stern and put her in her room (after she shrieked at him as she is wont to do whenever she finds her wishes are being ignored)...man, that little fit of temper from Daddy shaped her sassy little self right up.  She was sweet as pie for the last 10 minutes of the night, saying sweetly, "Let's have a happy day, Dad.  I want you to have a happy day cuz I love you so much."  Then she got ugly with me over pajama selection.  If she survives her childhood, she will one day be a dictator.  Or a queen.

3.  Sugar turns our children into monsters.  I don't care what the scientists say about it.  At one point, Anna was face down on the roof of her little faux gingerbread house, eating her way out while L was stuffing little M&Ms into his mouth by the handful...then half that snowman cupcake (which I didn't give her, but which I was powerless to confiscate as Mikey just pooped his pants and L was opening presents)...it changes their demeanor, to put it mildly.

4.  Knowledge is power.  Luke can read his name effortlessly.  When I said he should have waited to open presents, he said, "But Mom, it had my name on it.  I just opened the one Santa left ME."  I'm going to have to dumb him down somehow so that I have a shot at keeping control of this situation.  Last night, I was reading a whale book I hadn't read in a couple months and I said, "Fin whales have grooves on their throats like humpbacks, blue whales...they call these types of whales ___" and Luke said, without pausing, "Rorquals."  Seriously?  The dude is 5 and knows rorqual?  He is going to take over my world soon.  Good thing he is such a sweet guy and rarely uses his powers for evil.

Luke says, "This is called snow plow" (Do you know what that means?)

Luke aka "Truck Driver John"...about to go lay salt down with his dump truck and plow the roads with his snow shovel

Anna did like the snow...it just doesn't look like it in this picture...

work site

Mikey gets down with a shark hat and his sand shovel...

Oh, and L drew this at school the other day...it actually LOOKS like a whale!  And the caption is: "Sperm Whale, Champion Diver".  He just told me the this sperm whale has a Critter Cam on it, like they use on National Geographic videos.

Happy Snow Day!!!

Here are some videos from our recent adventures in the snow in our backyard.  As you know (or you may not know), all of our children were born in Vermont.  Only Luke remembers it, however.  He is definitely a cold weather boy (the better for him as his ultimate plan is to move to Antarctica to help save the sperm whales...also, he figures his brother and sister won't be able to hunt him down there so he won't have to share his toys with them anymore).  I got out the boot trays from our mud room in VT so that we could put our rain boots in them (as we've lived in coastal Virginia for over 2 years, the little ones do not own snow boots...L has cammo hiking boots) after we were done in the snow...and I look around to find L using one for a sled.  Also, he was singing "Jingle Bells" to himself as it is a sleighing song.
I will post some stills from all the fun soon.  I wish we had snow more often down here (but maybe not as people are terrible drivers on a sunny, clear day)!!!  I'm sure the kids would say the same thing.  Here are some things I (re)learned:
1.  Dress the kids in their layers first.  Save the little ones for last as inevitably, someone will poop their pants by the time you've gotten everything on all of them (A, in this case.  It was because she really, really, really didn't want to come back inside to do her business).
2.  Dress yourself last as you will get sweaty enough from the exertion of dressing aforementioned children in your regular clothes.
3.  Tissues are essential outdoors in the snow as one of your children will have a snotty waterfall on his/her face.
4.  When sledding down a rock and cement wall, it is imperative to choose a course that does not end in a bump that causes the twins to clobber each other and knock their heads together at the bottom.
5.  If they do, everyone will laugh the first 3 times it happens.  After that, tears are inevitable.
6.  Your son who does not have snow pants and so therefore is wearing cotton cammo pants, will attempt to slide down a slight hill on his belly like a penguin because he loves the snow, penguins, and the Antarctic and is attempting to recreate it here at his house.

Base Tree Lighting, Big Santa, and the General's Speech...

A special holiday message for you brought to you by M, aka, "Big Santa"

General Luke, giving his tree lighting speech just like the Commander of our base...

"I Big Santa, Mama."

Anna cowers as Big S delivers his presents...

Who needs a sleigh when you can carry a load like a donkey?

Big S filling his bags with "presents"

Whew!  I really have dropped the proverbial ball, haven't I???  It's been quite a long time since I posted anything (or really, taken any pictures or videos).  On the 3rd, we took the kids to our base's annual tree lighting ceremony.  I was in a bit of rush (what's new?) because of L's gymnastics, but we made it there before the General gave his speech.  We sang a couple songs, then bam!  The tree was lit.  And because I hadn't put that much thought into it, I didn't realize the biggest deal of all: Santa was coming!  He came riding up on a fire truck to take pictures with the kids.  The lights were flashing, the siren was blaring and all our kids were transfixed.  I couldn't tell if the boys were more thrilled by Santa or the fire truck.  Anna was up on F's shoulders and she had the biggest eyes...then she clasped both hands over her mouth in a look of fear and excitement that is unique to young children when they are confronted with a red-clad, bearded old man they don't know.  She said, "Santa's my best friend...I no want to go see him!" at the highest register her voice can produce (if you know her, you are wincing right now, in sympath for our ear drums).

The biggest deal aside from Santa was the announcement that there is a mailbox on post that one can send letter to the Big Man, and, if one puts a return address, it will lead to one receiving a letter back from him.  When we got home, L immediately got to work writing a list of things he'd like and couple questions he had for Santa ("Have you seen many whales in the North Pole?" and "Do you have to wear a coat all the time?").  Of course A wanted in on the action...her letter was pretty much all about how Santa was so proud of her for using the potty.  She has turned into the potty police.  As you may be able to tell from this series of photos and videos, Mikey wasn't so interested in letter writing...he spent the rest of the night proclaiming his new identity as "Big Santa" and delivering presents to all of us.  He also dubbed F as "Baby Santa."  The kids are so excited about Christmas...L is into getting presents, of course, but mostly everyone is all geared up for the imminent arrival of Grampy.  Anna says, "I want Grampy to see me at Christmas" about 75 times an hour.  Which makes for a fun time.  So Grampy better start training now because these kids are going to give him a workout with all the hugs he'll need to dole out....

I'll work on taking better pictures and posting more things about holiday fun at our house....