Does craziness run in the family?

Has anyone had any experience with imaginary friends? Thomas is obsessed with one. His friend's name is Russ (funny that he chose that name right, like we don't have enough of them in our family) and he has to do everything that Thomas does.  Naps, potty, brushing teeth, putting on shoes, getting in the car-seat; you name it and Thomas helps Russ to do it.  I thought it might end when Emerson got here but it almost seems like it's getting worse.  Am I not giving him enough attention?  Is this a normal phase?  It's getting embarrassing, his real friend was over here yesterday playing and Thomas kept inviting "Russ" to play with them, luckily the kid wasn't quite sure what Thomas was doing but still, he's looking a little crazy!  I haven't said anything to him, we just kind of laugh and even play along, it didn't seem like that big of a deal, but it's escalating.  I need the wisdom of my older siblings.

Skiing in Donner

This is our fourth year in a row going to Donner Ski Ranch. It is a long drive but it is affordable and perfect for kids.

We had a great time. We went with three other families and we brought along a babysitter.



We left at 5am on Thursday, Valentines day. Of course Mindy had a Valentines Bag of gifts for all the kids and me! (I did have a hand-made card for her so I didn't totally blow it)

Some good friends from Wharton happened to be at the resort next door so we got to get some Pizza with them one night.


After skiing or snowboarding all day the kids would pull out the sleds when the lifts closed. We couldn't believe their energy.

Kate was smooth on her skiis



Next Presidents day we hope to get some of you up there. Even though it is a long drive it is the most affordable way to ski with a family. Start planning!!

Charlie Bit Me... remix

This was the next video that came up. It made me laugh again.

Charlie Bit Me

My family can't stop laughing at this video.  You have to watch it a couple of times.  My kids think this is the funniest thing ever.  Click here.

When we moved this tree was put in the back of the pickup
& whipped around in the wind on the drive here. It looked half dead - a real mess. But I decided to wait until the weather warmed up to see what it was going to look like.
I decided I would trim it up a little to make it look better.
This picture makes it look much better than it really is.
But when I got my clippers out & started to make that first cut, this is what I saw:




I'll wait a little longer - aren't they cute?

Caught in the Act

Do you ever talk to yourself? I totally do, usually in the car when I'm listening to a radio DJ that I disagree with. Yesterday the boys and I were driving to the store and the radio show I was listening to was discussing stay-at-home moms and whether or not they should give up their careers to raise kids. There were some women who argued that moms should never give up their careers for kids because when they ended up divorced they'd have to start their careers over. I had some opinions on the subject and while I was giving the radio a piece of my mind I heard Thomas in the seat behind me ask, "Mom, who you talkin' to?" I guess now that he's old enough to know his Mom is crazy I'll have to stop talking to the radio.

Macs are awesome

This is us using iChat last night, it was fun to see everybody and to show off Emerson.  We should do it again and get more people involved.  Glenn and Cindy you should really get a Mac.  Happy Monday!

Valentine's Day

Mike said he had a surprise for me, I secretly wondered if I was getting one of Melissa's cookie bouquets even though I told him not to get me any sugar (we've been sick around here, plus sugar gives the baby a tummy ache).  

Not only does he love me, he really loves me.

Here's what I got:

I have the best husband EVER!!

Look what I got for Valentine's Day!!
One of Melissa's famous Valentine Bouquets!!
It's not only cute but it taste good too!
Dad & Melissa plotted - while Melissa baked & baked & frosted & frosted, Dad took Rusty for a 6 mile walk for several days. This kept Rusty mellow & out of trouble so Melissa could keep baking & frosting.

Boy is that the Truth!

and the winner is...

Mike likes to cook.  He says it's his creative outlet, what blogging is to Eldon cooking is to Mike, so on the weekends he usually does some or all of the cooking.  For the last month or so he has made pork chops on Sunday, every week a different recipe.  We've had Baked Pork Chops and Dijon Pork Chops with a Shallot Vinegar Cream Sauce, etc. but tonight was the winner, Stuffed Pork Chops.  Yummy!  Here's a picture of our feast.  So my point is, if you decide to come visit us make sure you come on the weekend, otherwise you might get spaghetti.

Caucusing in Colorado

So Colorado is a caucus state. That means that instead of going to the polls and voting like you would in an election, you go to a neighborhood type meeting and vote within that meeting. Our precinct (fancy name for political neighborhood), took a straw poll and these were the results: 3 for Huckabee, 2 for McCain and 40 for Romney. Next step in a caucus is to elect delegates to the county Republican convention; the delegates go to the county convention and "should" vote along the lines of the precinct's majority; from there, delegates get elected to the state convention and so on and so on until the national convention.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I was elected a delegate from our precinct to go to the county convention on March 1st. Hmm, maybe there's more to life than being an actuary-Super Dad.

A few pictures

I haven't blogged in a long time
and haven't posted pictures in even longer.
So here's a few.

Here's my attempt at a Christmas Greetings picture.

My favorite picture of Rusty and Russ.

The girls in their Christmas dresses.

My favorite monkey. That's her "snowing jacket".

Rusty on his 1st birthday.

Super Tuesday

The Great Snow Storm of 2008.  Well we only got a little over 2 feet (last year we got 4 feet in April), it was still fun.  School was canceled for the second day in a row and the kids couldn't be happier.

I took this one on Monday around Noon.

It snowed another 8 inches.

This one is before the additional 8" too.

I have all our snow pictures on our WEB GALLERY.

GO MITT ROMNEY!!!!

SuperBaby

Thomas got the flu over the weekend and was pretty darn sick. On Sunday Michael was starting to feel pretty crummy too so he laid on the couch and flipped on the Superbowl to take it easy. I slept all day because I'd been up with Thomas all weekend (plus 2 o'clock feedings).  Emerson was the only one not effected by it all (thank goodness), he was just happy to hang out and watch his first Superbowl.