Snow, snow and more...snow

Up until last week we'd had a very mild winter with little snow. Last weekend we got about 18 inches; we were supposed to get two feet this weekend but we were quite relived when only 6 inches fell. Here are a few shots of our fun in the snow.

My little angel.

Charlotte ready to get to work with her "Charlotte size" snow shovel.

working hard!

Charlotte and I had some Mommy time together in the snow, we sledded, made angels, and had a snowball fight. A self shot; it was very sunny.

Snow fort!

This is a picture of the field right across the street from us. It is great for playing Frisbee in the summer and snow play in the winter.

Olivia loves to watch the snow fall out the window (don't worry; Scott is standing right behind her). She says snow in the cutest way; she sticks out her lips and forms the tiniest little "o" -I wish you could hear it.

This is what Finn would look like if his ears stood up.

One evening there was the most stunning sunset. I raced out to try to get a shot, but it was changing by the second. It was so gorgeous with the snow in the trees.

Happy Birthday Finn

Finn turned one year old today. I am quite surprised he made it through the year with us; he was an exceptionally naughty puppy-and we talk about finding him a new home many times. But, he has been settling down a bit and I think he will one day be a fine dog. He is very sweet and gentle with the girls and he loves to snuggle. He has the softest light yellow fur you've ever touched. I love him despite all his bad habits. here are a few recent pics.

When he naps Charlotte often donates a stuffy for him to snuggle. She tucks it under his arm for him.

In celebration of the day Charlotte colored about a dozen pictures of doggies and hung them around the kitchen. I love how she colored this one. She wanted to bake him a "bone-flavored" cake; but fortunately we didn't get around to it.

The other night we were watching a movie when Finn climbed up on Scott like he is a 10 pound cat instead of an 80 pound giant.

We found Finn curled up in Charlotte little dog bed she uses for her stuffies; I think it is meant for a cat or maybe a Chihuahua.

Poor Finn, he is Charlotte's favorite pillow.

Finn often gets to be part of dress-up; he is usually a very unwilling participant. But, I guess he was tired enough this day to wear a headband. Charlotte said his name would be Finsterella for the day (we call him Finster sometimes).

Frolicking in two feet of snow on his Birthday; does it get any better than this?

Charlotte dressed up in her dog costume to honor Finn today; he looks more annoyed than honored to me! Olivia also loves Finn; she is always bestowing hugs and kisses upon him. But, she simply doesn't hold still long enough to get it on camera-so sorry no Livy shots.

Happy V-Day

Charlotte modeling her valentines outfit; she is quite the poser these days.

I made these little outfits for the girls for Valentines Day. I've been wanting to try some ruffle skirts; and after a quick Youtube tutorial I discovered that they are pretty easy and fun to make!

Not such a good picture; but its the only one I got of the two of them.

Olivia was not in the mood. She insisted on wearing the purple headband (even though I explained to her that it didn't match) and I am not sure where she found that pootie-but she wasn't giving it up!

Another Charlotte pose before pre-school this morning.

Had to get a shot of Olivia in the heart antlers.

Charlotte was so proud of her valentines. She put the stickers on each one and drew cute little lady bugs on some.

She looks like Johanna to me in this one. I realize Charlotte bangs are hanging in her eyes; I am growing them out.

I spent another Valentines Day delivering Balloon Grams all over town as part of our Wellness Team fundraiser at work. There were 330 this year; luckily I had some help.

Just had to throw in this shot of this cute bug in a rug. She was feeling very silly after church and kept rolling her self up in this rug.

Scott and I were able to go on a date Saturday evening in celebration of Valentines Day. I had planned to go Ice Skating, but unfortunately it was hockey night at the rink. So we resorted to dinner and a movie. Dinner was delicious and relaxing for once! It was slim pickings at the theater so I convinced Scott to see Gnomeo & Juliet. Romantic, ehh?

Weekends at our house

Olivia wore her first pair of pigtails to church this Sunday. They made her look instantly grown-up and more like big sister. Too bad they didn't even make it half way through Sacrament.
Oh so cute!

Olivia spent much of the weekend talking on the phone; or in this case a calculator.

We had a wild Viking/ballerina on the loose.

Terrorizing Daddy and Olivia.

Luckily, she also does dishes. I came down from a trip to the potty to find Charlotte working on a load of dishes I had started. She did a whole sink full. She's so big!

Finn discovered he really really likes to sleep on the couch. It is hard to kick him off when Charlotte covers him with a blankie and tells everyone to be quiet because her baby is sleeping. She also lent him some of her favorite dinos.

Artists in the making

Olivia has recently discovered the joy of painting. It always nice to find a new way to keep her busy for 10 minutes. I thought these pictures were cute; so here you go.

Look at that focus!

Speaking of artists; I've noticed Charlotte's drawings have made a leap in sophistication lately. Her characters are often wearing patterned clothes or have wonderful facial expressions. Here are two recent masterpieces. She said this one was her and Humpty Dumpty; I like his striped pants.

This is my favorite drawing she's made to date. She told me it was an angry spider. His facial expression make me smile.

Christmas

I hope you are ready for the longest post ever! We had so much fun at Christmas; I had a hard time narrowing down the pictures. We stayed in Flagstaff for Christmas; it was so nice to just be at home and enjoy our girls.

We should have made Olivia the Angel on top; but we decided to stick with the star.

Charlotte and I were given some tickets to see the local production of the Nutcracker. Here we are before the show. We loved it! Charlotte is getting to the age where all little girls want to be ballerinas, but in the end the rat king was her favorite (sticking with her habit of rooting for the villain).

Two excited girls on Christmas Eve.

We tried to set out cookies for Santa, but Olivia kept sneaking up, grabbing the cookies and retreating to the tree where she ate them hastily. Unfortunately Finn also grabbed a mouthful of chocolate covered cookies and ended up with the Hershey squirts for for 2.5 days (sorry, TMI)

Olivia got this adorable stroller from us, and the cute baby doll from Grandpa & Grandma Hoth. They have been inseparable.

Despite the cookie troubles; Finn had a nice Christmas too.

He's thinking, "hurry, can't hold it much longer!"

Grandma and Grandpa Hoth sent this neat-o horse barn and horses for Charlotte. Grandpa made an extra set of fence for her corral, some miniature hay bales and a personalized gate for Charlotte's ranch. It is adorable, and she just loves it.

Charlotte has been arranging her horses all over the house. If you ask her what they are doing she has some elaborate story about Carnotaurs coming so the horses are staying together in their corral while the King pony runs out and pokes them in the eye.

A few days after Christmas Charlotte's T-rex arrived (thanks for the late delivery Amazon). But, she really didn't care. He is quite the character; he likes to play dead and burst to life when you are close enough to be eaten.

I bet you didn't know that Vikings often serve tea with their favorite dinosaur pals.

Happy New Year.

Sedona with Katy

For Christmas I got a rare chance to get together with Katy. We decided to leave the kids at home and make the most of our few short hours. We met in Sedona where we had a hike, ate a delicious lunch (still dreaming of pot-roast and mashed potato sandwiches Katy?), some brief shopping (where Katy treated me to a pair of funky Zumba pants-I'll have to post em) and ended the day with an outback Jeep tour. Needless to say; we had a fabulous time! Thanks Katy for treating me to a wonderful day. I wish I got to see my sisters more often.

This picture was supposed to be last-oh well. This was on our Jeep tour; the sun was setting and putting an orangy glow on everything-gorgeous.

Katy on top (almost) of Bell rock. There really is no clear trail up the thing. People just scurry about like ants; trying to find an easy way up. We picked a goal point on one of the mesas and reached our destination. We were planning an hour of meditation on top (just kidding; but people in Sedona are really into things like that); but there were too many people waiting for our view.

A view from the top

The 7 sacred pools; part of the jeep tour

Our tour guide "Buck" took this picture. He was quite the stereotype of a Texas man in a leather vest, spurs and a gun holster.

Ahh, Sedona (named after a settlers wife-we found out on the tour). It really is such a beautiful place. It felt great to be walking around in a light jacket in December for a change.