It's SNOW fun!

We had a nice little snowstorm here this morning, so this is how my guys spent part of their day...

There is something very satisfying in watching your teenage sons do manual labor (insert evil mommy laugh!)

Yes, my teenagers are wearing their pajamas outside while they shovel the snow. (Well, you know, it IS winter break.  There's been a lot of all-day pajama wearing around here)

Tom is their leader by example.  Basically he said "Get out there and shovel, or else - no more computer games."  That got them going!

Koko Dog is a snow officiando (is that a word?)  She loves - truly loves - the snow.  You can tell she's been snuffling it again - the evidence is on her nose.  She's such a snowdog!

And what did I do while the guys were so busy outside?  Why, I cleaned the house - of course.  It takes a lot of work to pick up after Winston.  He's a regular house tornado!  Hope everyone else is enjoying their Winter Break as much as we are.

Flying Paper, Ribbons and Bows, Oh My!!!

The table is set...

This year the boys got Magic Snowballs

that they had to unwrap to get little toys and trinkets.

It was a lot of fun watching them unwrap them.

The balloons were a big hit!

Keaton's new Billy-Bob teeth!

Winston and the balloons!

Keaton's new keyboard - Dad requests earplugs

Marcia got a stationery chest

Preston's new shirt

Tom's pajamas - because he's a Superman!

And last, what a blast - Winston's romp with the wrapping paper and bows.  Every year he likes to throw it in the air, jump in it, roll in it - basically make a big mess but having a ton of fun!

Winston's Holiday Fun...

The other day Winston was walking around like this...

Tom says this explains a lot.

Winston has been quite busy arranging and re-arranging my little farm houses.  He's been adding some of his own unique little touches to them...

The yellow school bus with no tires -

adds a little redneck flavor to the scene.

Even in the country you need a Greyhound bus

to pass through once in a while

He's a busy little bee!

He happens to be REALLY into buses lately.  He's beginning to have a whole fleet of them and he likes to number them and line them up in formation.  Silly boy - when I call him that he says "Mom, some people say I'm cool!"  Yeah, he's cool too.  You'll have to pardon the shagginess of his hair.  He told me he needs to grow it out.  I'm letting it go for a while, but come warmer weather the shaver is coming out!  Today he told me that Preston is not a kid anymore - he's his "BrotherMan".  Can't argue with that one!  What a kid!

Where There's Snow...

...there are boys who want to throw it!

Tom, being funny... he's trying to hit me with a snowball.

Preston takes aim

 (taking pictures through plastic covered windows makes for fuzzy snaps)

Tom is reloading.

(It's much safer taking pictures from behind a window!)

 Keaton's up to his old tricks

We call this "Keaton's Wall"

The boys pose with Tom's awesome snowman

Holiday Cheer - cough, cough, cough

I love the look of happiness on Tom's face in this picture.  The only problem is that this 'smile' is the result of him being onery - very onery!

To give a little update... the kids and I finished with school last Friday.  Preston finished finals, Keaton and Winston got a half-day off, and we officially started our Christmas break!  YAY!

On the down side, Keaton gave us his cold.  BOO!  I'm actually starting to feel better, just have a nagging cough.  Tom is starting to get it, and Winston has had a stuffy nose for a couple of days now.  Thank you, Keaton, for sharing with the whole family.

I've been trying to do some baking.  Winston and I made and decorated sugar cookies.  Made some gingerbread cookies, fudge, caramel, turtles and cinnamon hard candy.  I still want to make some shortbread cookies and Tom's oatmeal scotchies that he likes so much.  We'll see if I can get it together enough to get that all done.

Winston and I get to spend the morning (7:45 a.m.) of our first official day of break at the Dentist office.  Doesn't that sound delightful.  I really dislike going to the dentist - and I really dislike waking up early.  But after that is done, I think I can relax for the next two weeks!

We're looking forward to a nice quiet holiday at home.  Hopefully we will get a little more snow so the boys can go sledding.  Marcia is visiting, so we are enjoying her presence here with us.  Hope you all are having a lovely holiday too!

Tom, taking a bite out of Mr. Gingerbread Man.

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Bring On the Christmas Vacation!

Hee-Hee-Hee!

It's a Laundry Folding Party!!!

We put the whole family to work on Laundry Mountain!

Don't they look so happy to be helping out? 

It's a picture of Family-Togetherness!

I can't believe the amount of laundry three boys go through in a week.  If they were girls, I'd understand.  And with me working, the laundry tends to build up until it almost becomes a climb-able mountain.  Tom is excellent at recruiting the boys for projects like this.  Partly because he likes his wife to not be crabby after folding it all - and partially because he likes to have clothes to wear to work on Monday morning.  So we make a party of it.  Sometimes there's singing.  Sometimes there's riveting conversation about the latest book one of us has been reading.  Usually there is lots of complaining, but the job does get done.  I'm hoping one of these days the boys will figure out that they can wear a pair of jeans for more than a few hours - or better yet, they could do their own laundry and only have to fold their own clothes.  I know, I'm a dreamer!

Winston, playing in the 'Mountain' of clothes.  It's like playing in a pile of leaves... except it's laundry.

These Moore Boys...

Here are the latest pictures of our guys...

 Preston, 18

As usual... this was the best we could get out of Keaton, 17

Winston, 8

They're growing up!

Oh What Fun...

Winston and I made a Gingerbread House today.

I was a little stressed out about doing it at first because I'm such a control freak when it comes to these kinds of things.  But I finally let my inner-child loose, and let my youngest child take over.  It turned out to be a really fun activity for both of us.  It was also a great use for all of that leftover Halloween candy.  I got to use the 'new' gingerbread recipe for it (the one where you use a cake mix - it's super easy).  I thought it would turn out too soft, but it didn't.  It was perfect for making a gingerbread house.  This will definitely be something we do again for the holidays - or at least until Winston is too old to be interested.

Apple Cup 2010

Apple Cup Buddies!

Like Father like Son!  Tom and Keaton had a great time at the game, even though WSU didn't win.  It was a pretty close game, though.  That makes it more fun to watch.  It was freezing cold and they bundled up as best as they could.  It must not have been enough, though, because Keaton is running a fever today.  Not good because he missed school and will miss playing his trombone in the Holiday concert tonight.  I guess it's worth it for a chance to go to the APPLE CUP!

(Did you notice the 'Apple' and the 'Cup' in the first picture?  That was Tom's idea)

Go Cougs - Oh Yeah!

Going to a Coug basketball game tonight.  It will be Winston's first Coug game ever.  He's excited.  The Cougs are undefeated so far this year in basketball.  But tonight they play Kansas State, who are ranked #5 in the nation.  Hope we can pull this one off.  Then tomorrow Tom and Keaton will be going to the Apple Cup football game - big time rivalry with U-Dub.  They are going to freeze their wazzu's off - it's going to be a cold one!  This will be Keaton's first time to go to a Coug football game.  He's looking forward to that, even if it turns him into a coug-cicle.  Winston and I will be at home, toasty warm, making sugar cookies.  I believe Preston will be sleeping off his night of babysitting the stadium for the last time this year.  We love our Cougs!

HAAAAAAA-YEEEAAH!

This one is for my sister Melyni and Brother Nels!

NINJABREAD MEN!

(When I saw these I laughed so hard! Then thought of you guys - Mely & Nels!)

You can get them at UncommonGoods.com

for your Holiday baking pleasure!

Black Friday and the Snow Plow

Tom and I were not going to go shopping on Black Friday this year.  But there was something on sale that Winston has been wanting for a while, so we decided to make a quick run into town.  We got up at 4:00 a.m. and were out the door by 4:30.  Then we were back in the door by 4:45.  We got about a half-mile down the road and were faced with an army of snow drifts, so we turned back around and crawled back in bed.

At about 6:00 a.m. the snow plow went by.  Tom woke me up and said "Should we go ahead and go?"  We decided to try it again - one last time.  If this time didn't work, that would be it.  The snow drifts were filling in pretty fast after the plow.  When we got to the top of the hill, there was a very long six-foot high snow drift.  We definitely wouldn't have made  it through that without the plow going before us.  We made it into town and got what we wanted to get.  The nice thing about living where we do is that there are no crowds for the shopping - and there usually is plenty of sale items to go around.

Then we got more than we went for.  That's the danger of Black Friday - you usually come home with more than you planned on.  I am grateful for that this time, though.  I got to buy a nice new laptop PC.  (Yes Brother Nels, you heard that right - a PC, (giggle-giggle + happy dance!))  It's an HP.  My favorite is Sony, but the HP was at a great price so I couldn't resist.  It's my early birthday present + whatever else I will celebrate in the next year (or three) - but it was worth  it.  So I am typing from it now.  I can store all of my photos and do my scrapbooking on it and not have to worry about everyone else needing the computer.  Woo-Hoo!

On our way back home we were able to follow a truck back up the hill.  He blazed a trail through the new snow drifts for us, so we didn't get stuck. I don't know what we'd do every winter without Mr. Snow Plow.  We'd all have cabin fever for sure!

We're looking forward to having Preston back home tomorrow.  We miss him, but his Grandma Chick and Grandma Moore have enjoyed having him with them.   I just hope we can get into town when it's time to pick him up from the depot.  We're supposed to get a lot more snow tonight! 

Here's What We Did On Thanksgiving Day...

Koko Dog watched the back yard for deer from her outside house

Did some bowling on the WII

Winston really got into it!

Tom kept winning... Keaton taking a break

Keaton had a lot of 'Age of Empires' happening on the computer

Worked on putting together a Thomas Kinkade Puzzle

Checked out the Thanksgiving Day online shopping deals

Winston found a giant icicle growing on our house

I spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen - for some reason

AND... dinner, of course.

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!