The big snow of '08

The Triangle area of NC was on full alert for the "huge" snowstorm heading our way. Kids were waiting with bated breath, church closed, people made a run on eggs, milk, and bread. Home Depot sold out of generators and batteries... We were ready...

Liam catching a few of the first flakes. Daddy is quite a bit colder than he's letting on...

Done. After a night of storming, a full 3/4 inch! We went out at 7am... In order to make a snowball we had to pack it into the margarine container.

The deck had a good amount. And Liam spent a great deal of time "shoveling."

At our neighbors across the street. Their backyard is sloped and we gave it a good try (mostly sledding down frozen grass after the first run...) Liam loved it!

And there's nothing like coming in after a morning in the snow to hot cocoa, pancakes with maple syrup, and red cheeks.

Family Time

Just hanging out this weekend. Nothing big going on here. Boys are doing great.

Liam grabbed this of us this morning. Early. Both boys up!

The Thumb.  

Christmas Day

A little late posting here, but Grammy and Papa have left and though we're settling back in we sure miss them. Especially Liam!

Here are some great pictures from Christmas morning.

Taken from the top of the stairs at midnight Christmas morning... Before Santa came and messed up the place.

Liam's new Power Ranger pajamas, and new soccer socks. Together, they're his new favorite outfit. He's, in fact, not taken it off much in the last week. Today, he wore the tank top over one of his turtlenecks because we wouldn't let him go outside without a long sleeve shirt on...

The Christmas chaos. See if you can find Jenia, Noah, and Liam.

Us. Christmas Eve night -- Liam's only 30 seconds sitting still.

Christmas Eve Revelry

We took a few great shots of tonight of our Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's. Noah was in on the action, and Liam was very excited to go home and get to bed. He picked a special candy cane cookie for Santa.

At dinner, I grabbed the camera and said, "Let's sing for the blog." If you listen closely, you can hear that mom is singing Jingle Bells, Cheryl We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Ryan Little Drummer Boy.

Nobody's quite sure what John and Yan are doing... Coulda used Beth tonight...

Brother comparison

Liam and Noah each giving their best, "So, what can I do to get you to buy this car tonight?"

They're really starting to look different from each other at the same age (look close enough and you'll notice they're on the exact same blanket, with the exact same toy...)

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Liam's preschool. He's square in the middle at the beginning of the video (the one stretching and yawning...).

The one with the pipes is Liam's friend, Will. 

Priceless.

Christmas Prep

Last weekend we put up our tree. Liam inspected every ornament. He wanted to know who gave us which ones and who made what ornaments and when... (I took credit for most of them).

Tonight was Apex's 50th Christmas Parade through downtown. Of course, in true Jeff and Jeni form we've been here for six years and only heard of it today. We thought, "oh, that'd be fun." We picked up and left the house with Liam without so much as an extra sweatshirt. The parade started at 5pm... It was Loooong... By 7 we were in a huddled mass keeping each other warm, really wondering when (and if) we'd see the Santa Float. But Liam loved it. It was good "small town fun," and every group that passed was handing out candy. Liam made out almost as good as on Halloween!

We met our friends Janice, Donald, and Troupe Jones (Noah was home with G and G). As you can see, Liam couldn't tear himself from the action... 

Big plans for next year: (1) proper winter attire, (2) food, (3) thermos of hot cocoa.