Day 21--Babysitting and Cookies

Today I babysat two children from around 7am-4pm while their newborn brother had surgery. It could have been a long day, but these two kids were about as sweet and easy-going as they come and the time seemed to fly.

Ellie had the time of her life with Avery, a kindred spirit, who loved dressing up as much as she did. The girls went through a dozen dresses each and spent the day comparing the princess qualities of each dress.

The only thing that got them to take their dress-ups off for a minute was the siren call of the cookie cutters. They had a great time rolling, shaping, and eating the dough. The second they were all on the pan they ran for the dresses again!

I'll take that kind of babysitting again anytime!

Day 20--Faces of the Inauguration

Although we ultimately decided not to brave the crowds and attend inauguration, we couldn't resist a little glimpse at the excitement first hand, so we woke up early and walked to our local Metro station. We expected complete madness, but were completely surprised at the efficiency with which everything was moving and the cheerful, patient mood that seemed to pervade even amongst the tight quarters.

Day 19--Adam and Mommy

In the aftermath of today's snowstorm that wasn't more than a five minute flurry, I decided to take advantage of the good light and the frolicking kids for a good photo shoot (they're getting used to my camera happy ways by now)!

Here's Ellie all decked out in one of her typical outfits...turquoise shirt, jeans, pink frilly dress, silver vest, mismatching gloves, and boots! Actually looking at it more closely I'd have to say that due to the lack of clashing patterns that usually adorn her wardrobe she actually matches much better today than usual.

Emma hamming it up for the camera!


I decided to pull Glen away from his work and ask him to take a few pictures with me and the kids. This was one of Adam and me is one of my favorites!

Day 18--Real Snail Mail

If you peeked into our home every Sunday afternoon for the last year and a half, you would find a scene similar to this one.

It's letter writing time. Six grandparents (including great-grandparents) and five kids. That means each child writes one letter, then Glen writes the sixth (I help the little ones with theirs). It's been hard work and I've been tempted to give it up several times, but the feedback we hear from our grandparents has made it all worth while. It's become a wonderful tradition for our family.

Day 17--He Survived.

After emptying our wallets at REI and spending a night filled with worry over his well-being, this is how Glen found Spencer this morning after camping out in the coldest weather in 13 years...
...hatless and wearing just a t-shirt underneath his jacket.

How long did it take for him to change into shorts when he got home?

One minute flat!

Day 16--Glad it's not me!

In my 17 years away from my Minnesota roots I can safely say that I have become a certified cold weather wimp! Every time I walked outside today I just about froze my patootie off. And in true wimp form, in addition to my own shivering complaints, I've been REALLY worried for poor Spencer and his fellow Scouts sleeping outside on this frigid night.

Spence, on the other hand, has been nonchalant and excited about the whole night....especially with all his new cold weather gear.

All I can say...Glad it's him and not me!!!!

Day 15--Ouch! That Hurt!

In hopes that Spencer will return from his Scout camp-out in sub-zero temperatures this weekend with all of his limbs intact, we decided we'd sell a few of our limbs to invest in some good quality cold weather camping gear.