Snow Day

Tons of fun pictures. Trust me, I DID whittle them down...there were just SO MANY!! So, here's our fun afternoon in the snow, for you all to enjoy or skip right over. :)

Rudy with our snow alligator. Better watch out or he'll "Eat you all up!" (One of Rudy's favorite phrases.)
Rudy and I have a favorite song about a lady who "sailed away on a happy summer day on the back of a crocodile..." So here's a toddler sailing away on a chilly winter day on the back of an alligator...same thing, right?

Those cheeks were just too rosy not to kiss. Rudy seems to think not kissing them would have been fine. :)

Rudy hiding so that I won't 'eat him all up'.

Our rockin' awesome sledding hill I made while Rudy was napping. We used a piece of plastic off of one of Rudy's plethora of toy boxes from Christmas for a sled. It made for a way fun little ride! After almost sliding down head first a couple times, Rudy decided it would be best for him to go down "only on my bum". He went soooo sloooooowly, I was able to take three pictures of him on the same turn. (My camera takes forever to recharge after I shoot a pic.) It was hilarious, because with each little push he gave himself, he'd say in a half convinced voice, "Whee!"

Whee!

Whee!

Here we are, getting ready to go down together on the super sonic plastic.
An action shot. Sorry for the blur-it's hard to hold on to a kiddo and a camera while shooting off the back porch on a thin piece of plastic! Rudy seems to be enjoying himself...mostly. :)

Oops! Those cheeks are getting really rosy-time to go in for some hot chocolate!

"Did you say hot chocolate? What are we waiting for??"

Short Hair = Awesome Morning Surprises

I love waking up to a new 'sculpture' each morning. Here's my favorite so far:

My Russian Men

Jason likes to wear his Russian hats from his mission to work on cold days. His boys get a kick out of it. So does Rudy. :)

Real Food Revolution

Jason and I starting eating healthfully about 2 weeks ago. We just got fed up with feeding ourselves junk all the time. For my part, I actually found a lot of motivation to change in Rufus, our cat. Sounds funny, huh?

I had just taken him to the vet for his well check and vaccines. During our visit, the vet and I chatted about proper feline diet and the type of food and amount I should be feeding Rufus to help him stay the lean, healthy specimen he is. :) Turns out I needed to be feeding him half as much as I had been, so that day, I simply cut his food portions in half. Easy. Done. Rufus is now on the road to a long life of health.

All Rufus's protests got me thinking about why I was willing to make a needed, yet uncomfortable change for my pet's health, but not for myself. Hmm.

I decided that I needed to be as matter of fact about my nutrition as I am about Rufus's. About that time, Jason said he wanted to start eating better foods to lose some weight. So, the next week (I needed some time to pump myself up to it) we started the 8 minutes in the Morning diet by Jorge Cruise with Jason. It's simple, healthful, and only the cost of a book (which we already had from past attempts at weight loss and better nutrition.) The program combines short morning exercises (8 minutes long) with great nutrition. WE LOVE IT! We both feel so much better-not so sluggish and weighed down. We love knowing that we're helping our bodies with the things we eat, instead of hindering them. Hooray for good health! Hooray for real food! Hooray for Rufus! ;)

Christmas Day

I think I liked the Christmas Season better than Christmas day. It was kinda hectic, especially after our big day the day before. All those presents to open, all those toys to find a new place for...sigh. It was nice to visit Jason's parents for a large part of the day and have dinner with most of his side of the family, but next year, I think we'll do what his siblings do, and just come for dinner. A kid needs time with his new toys, I guess, and parents need time to take inventory. Maybe next year we'll figure out how to space out the present opening too...it was kind of an overload experience!

We gave Rudy his Christmas present from us about 3 days early, mostly 'cause he saw me buy it and it would have been kind of pointless to break his heart by making him think that he doesn't get to have it for the sole purpose of seeing his excited face Christmas morning. This ambulance has been hanging out at Savers for about a month. Every time we'd visit (we go about once a week), Rudy would spend the majority of his 'toy time' playing with it. I had been thinking I'd pick it up for Christmas and tried to do it stealthily, but every time I approached it, Rudy would come running over with a "play with me?" invitation.

When I tried telling him we had to put it back on the shelf for other kids to play with, Rudy clutched it to his heart and implored, "Take to Rudy's house? Put it in my basket?" So that's what we did. No stealth involved. Lesson for next year- Rudy's old enough now that I can't take him shopping with me when I want to buy a surprise for him.

Anyway, he played with it for about 3 hours a day until Christmas came. It's getting a break now, with his other new stuff taking center stage, but I'm sure he'll come back to it.

My bed head and Rudy's excited face while opening hot wheels from his cousin, Aubrey. He LOVES them, and has played with them every day.
This all the stuff he got from Grandma and Granpa and Oma and Opa. Whew! Rudy's two favorite things were the construction set from Grandma and Grandpa, and the box of multi-colored, mulit-sized marbles from Oma and Opa. He uses them together for hours of construction fun. :)
Rufus's favorite gift. My parents gave us a bunch of great health food stuff in this burlap bag. I turned away from the half emptied bag to show Jason one of the items, and found Rufus had moved in. I had to postpone unwrapping the rest of it until Rufus decided his was done with his "lair". :)

Here's Rudy playing with his marbles and truck.

Christmas Eve Dinner

We had a great time on Christmas Eve at my Grandparent's house with all the extended family PLUS, our good friends Matt, Bonnie, Amy, and Noel. Unfortunately, I promptly lost my camera after this family shot, so I don't have any pictures of the tasty ham dinner, Rudy and Amy playing together, the whole family (24 plus) playing Christmas carols on chimes, my Grandpa reading Luke 2...sigh. Oh well. It was really fun, and after a bit, I kind of enjoyed being able to simply savor the moment instead of seeking good photo opps. :)

Christmas Eve Lunch

All my siblings and their spouses came to my parents house on Christams Eve day to play games and enjoy each other's company. I had no idea we were going to have a special lunch, so imagine my surprise when these babies showed up on the table!

That's Rudy's "Monster Crab" face. The first time I gave him the crab leg to hold, he dropped in shock and horror and told me "Pokies!". That's what we say whenever there's anything sharp around. I hadn't realized how poky those fellows are until Rudy made sure I understood they were not to be messed with. He happily gobbled up the succulent meat from within, however. Thanks, Mutti and Vati, for a fun and delicious memory! :)