It's snowing!!!!!!

"It's snowing, it's snowing, it's snowing" to qoute a few of my children! Yes it is white around here, a few weeks before Christmas, Christmas Eve, and after Christmas it has been white. Annelyse loves to tell us it's cold everytime we go out, she is infatuated with the snow, mostly wants to eat it, unfortunately the variety on the ground where everyone has walked seems fine to her, ICK! So as much as possible I am staying in except when I absolutely have to go out & avoiding the icy roads.

Well I was home alone with 3 little girls to get ready & go to the light parade since hubby was involved with the Chamber of Commerce float & making sure the Comfort Inn float had a driver, etc. We ran over to our concession stand to pick up a dispensing thermos for hot chocolate, boiled some water, mixed in several packets of hot chocolate & put it in the dispensor. Packed a bag with cups, lids, marshmallows, & some cookies so we'd have a treat & something to keep us warm. Then bundled everyone up in their thermals, warm clothes, coats, mittens/gloves, scarves, & a few blankets , de-iced the van & ran out the door to get a good place at the parade. Of course about 2 minutes out the door Annelyse fell asleep so we put her in her stroller when we got there & covered her as well as we could, it snowed the entire time we were watching the parade, it was cold but a lot of fun! It is afterall an annual tradition & we had hot chocolate to warm us up as we watched. Ashlyn insisted that when we got home she was going to have a bath to warm up, & she did! Annelyse I think decided we were nuts as she woke up outside in the freezing snow part way through the parade! LOL She's probably right! ;-) Oh well, it was fun & that's what matters. It looks like a White Christmas alright!

Searching for our Christmas Trees

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Well we took off to look for a Christmas tree on a friend's property up on the mountain with 6 of the 7 kids. Stopped for hot chocolate & breakfast items, donnettes, etc. and we were off to the mountains! It was gorgeous, difficult to get some shots with so much sunshine & white powder everywhere. Some of the snow was up to my knees so poor smaller people in the family had snow waist high that they were trudging through. Annelyse has decided that she loves the snow! She is very big on making & especially throwing snowballs! I think she got my camera at one point, ACK! Overall it was a really nice day to go up, with the sun out it wasn't tooo freezing cold & it was a fairly safe day to go up with a bunch of kids. They had a ball choosing our trees & helping to cut them down. A few are camera shy, so I told them if they hid their faces I was still going to post their photos! LOL Enjoy our Christmas music along with our photos!

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving at our house!

Are they here yet?

We told Annelyse Aunts, Uncles, & Cousins were coming for Thanksgiving so she & her brothers & sisters were anxiously awaiting their arrival.

First night, learning to share the couch, toys, & TV programming

After awhile these 2 warmed up to each other, they did really well the next day when they discovered the snack table together while waiting for Turkey dinner!

Favorite toys of the weekend, Shrek & Blue's Clues "Computer"

"Is it naptime yet?"

Sharing DS Games, the highlight for most of the kids it seemed.

We did install our carpet the day after the little one's birthday. I picked up the girls from school, Katelyn & Ashlyn & told them the installers brought the wrong carpet & they'd have to wait another 2 weeks to get the right carpet in so we may just leave their rooms with mattresses in them & leave everything else where it was! That would be 5 bedrooms worth of furniture; 7 kids beds, 7 kids dressers, & assorted items all stuffed into the family room downstairs & the living room upstairs! HA HA! They were pleasantly surprised when we walked into their rooms that had new carpet installed! LOL I had to have some fun with them!