Monet 4th Birthday

Well I let March and April pass without a blogpost....life just sped by and the time to blog was hard to find. I thought Monet's 4th birthday part was a good excuse to get something new on this page.

Alice in Wonderland was our theme and we almost hope Monet will want to have this theme for another year when she is older because it was so much fun and the possibilities for this kind of party are really endless!

Each of Monet's friends had their own place setting and took their tea cup home with them.

Monet and her friend Maya standing in the doorway or looking glass...."Through the Looking Glass" that is.

Teelin and his little friend Lily stooping by the toys.

Sad Alice after she spilled bubbles on her dress...but she rebounded and had a great time!

The Tea Party! They had hearted shaped P&J sandwiches, chamomile tea, juice from their "Drink Me" cups, fruit and of course cake and ice cream.

Catherine as a playing card..

Teelin as the Ace of Spades.

Coloring the roses red!

Even Sweet Pea was decorated!

Valentine's Getaway!

The Mt. Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, NH was our home away from home for three nights with a sweet ending on Valentine's Day. We all ate delicious food and slept in beautiful rooms with a picture perfect view of the majestic mountain. We swam indoors and out as Monet and Doobie braved the chilly temps and took an afternoon dip in the outdoor heated (93 degrees) pool. We went tubing on a perfectly groomed hill, which gave us just enough speed! And Monet and I went to high tea and were delighted with scones, chocolate shortbread, lemon curd, hot chocolate, mini sandwiches and much more if you can believe it. An elegant feast indeed!

Cookies and milk were delivered to the rooms EACH night after dinner!

Oh well, we thought Salmon was something she liked! Doobie and I did try our best to eat as much of it as possible and still eat our own delicious food. The strawberry soup, rolls and butter and ice cream sundae were more to Monet's taste!

Nanna and PopPop receiving their thank you gifts for a memorable weekend.

Mali, Ethan and Monet checking the mural on the ceiling in the round room.

Who is that child behind the chair?

They asked for them and we delivered!

Looks like the Arctic!

Monet and Doobie took a hike to the river on Sunday and investigated the frozen river and all its glory. The ice moves everyday and each morning it's always a thrill to see differences that took place during in the sunless hours when our view was blocked.

This is looking North towards Windsor, VT. Monet is standing on a slab of ice that was pushed up onto the river bank.

This is looking South.

Sledding, Snowmen and the Space Shuttle

The Wheelers came for a visit on Sunday and we took all the kids out in the snow to burn off some steam! Maria and Monet were all about sledding down the hill or rolling down the hill, however, when it came to getting back up they needed a little assistance.

Teelin even got in on the action and as you can see from the smile on his face loved going down the hill. The parent riding with him needed to use their "hand breaks" to both slow and steer as to not give little Teelin and white wash!!

Meet Mrs. Snowman. She was a joint effort and we put birdseed in her hat for our friends the Chickadees.

Where do you think they are headed? I think Maria wanted to go to Spain.

Not the best picture, but cute dolled up girls nonetheless!

Doobie Birthday Dinner

Teelin, Monet and I took Doobie out of his Birthday and Dr. Henry completed the party. I think him and Teelin must have called each other and said the sweater vest was the way to go for the Common Man!

We hadn't been out to dinner with both the kids for a while and as the dinner progressed and as we slowly lost control of what happened on, under and around our table Doob and I remembered why it had been so long...and will be as long or longer until we do it again. The blue Playdough that got stuck up in Monet's nose and Teelin's loud announcement that he was standing up on the booth cushion all 150 times he did it are just a sampling of our fun Birthday dinner out. Well at least there weren't any dishes!!

CHRISTMAS

Need to get some better shots from our other camera...but here are a few from our Cornish Christmas.

We got Chinese food Christmas Eve and Teelin went for the spare rib. And the woodstove cranks up the heat in our house and was doing just that on the 24th so he thought just a diaper was just enough for dinner.

Needing something a little sweet after dinner he went for a swig of egg nog.

The tree all ready after everyone was fast asleep with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads.

The damage was done. And smiles were delivered all around!

Thanksgiving song with Monet, Nanna and Kevin

Monet always loves it when Kevin plays his guitar and at Thanksgiving they went for a food themed song. Jill was letting baby Chester hear the music...he seemed to like it!

Snow and Santa

Santa came to Windsor this past weekend....on a firetruck...and we visited with him and Monet was able to ask him in person for the couple of things she would like for Christmas. Teelin on the other hand didn't want to be within six feet of him, but we were able to get a couple of photos anyway. Didn't see making Teelin unhappy to get the "knee" photo.

Katie and Kevin used to make fun of me for taking so long to get ready to go outside and play in the snow. Well if they could see me now...getting myself, Teelin and Monet ready...they would still make fun of me.

Monet tried to pull Teelin in the sled and as you can see the sled didn't move much.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

The first snow fall blanketed our area on Sunday morning and we dove right into the Vermont postcard and got our Christmas at a local tree farm. The kids were in full snow gear and with the sled Doob pulled them into Christmas tree heaven.

Teelin loved the snow and after MANY attempts at getting his little mittens in place he sat contently and pushed the white fluff into little mountains.

Here is my failed attempt at a photo of them sitting nicely together sharing a special family memory...why do we even try?!?

She found the one!

And plugged in the angel after is was all decked out!

Will post more of the decorated tree later.