Penguin Prep

Sophia and James will be having a joint birthday party again this year, in mid-February.  They are both quite excited about it and the theme will be Penguins and Polar Bears.  While Sophia is always quick to remind anyone that penguins and polar bears actually live on two different arctic poles, Jimmy immediately follows that up with, "Sophia likes penguins and I like polar bears."

It's a great theme for winter -- so many decorating ideas and crafts for this time of year.  And frankly, we have done more than I planned due to the fact that the kids have had a record number of snow days home from school already this year.

One such craft was using a potato as a stamp and making homemade penguin wrapping paper for Sophia's gifts.  I already had everything on hand -- plain brown paper, potatoes and acrylic paint.

I set Sophia up on one counter and Jack on another ... we began with the black body; let it dry and then followed up with a white belly and eyes and then orange beaks and feet. 

I explained ahead of time that the penguins would end up looking "rustic;" that is, they wouldn't be PERFECT.  Some will be larger than others, some will not have as much black or white, etc.

Overall, the kids did great with it.

I ended up finishing it up by myself (the snow outside was piling up and they were anxious to play), but I am already thinking of the endless ideas that we can do with this concept for future wrapping paper ideas -- not just for family, but also for friends!

Jimmy's First Haircut

That's right.  3 weeks before his THIRD birthday, we took Jimmy for his first haircut.  We had been talking about it for a while now, but the timing just didn't seem to work out.  I wanted to make sure that his first haircut was at a "real" barbershop (Steve does Jack's hair these days at home), and Steve wanted to be sure to take him to Greg, the barber that he went to for years when he lived in Lansing.

The stars finally aligned and we made the trip into Lansing on a day when Steve was off work and the other kids were at school.  Jimmy fell asleep on the way there, but woke up in decent spirits, excited for the day that we had been talking about for what seemed like forever.

And just like his older brother, he sat there, still as a stone.  He was the perfect little model.

It always amazes me how much hair gets cut off and falls on the floor.

Finishing up some light trimming before getting out the clippers.

Jimmy didn't flinch at all.  In fact, he is so used to seeing Steve use them at home on Jack that he was already anticipating it.

Almost done.

All finished.  And looking like he was six now.

It will be interesting to see now how soon Jimmy's hair will begin to darker (Steve, Sophia and Jack all had light hair as toddlers and then it got darker as they aged).  I'm sure that the texture will change too from baby fine to coarse, like Jack's.  It's those blue eyes that get me every time!

Winter Fun

We've had an unseasonably mild winter so far; in fact, the ice on our lake just now froze to the point where there is no open water.  It was the first weekend where we allowed the kids out on the lake and they spent many hours shoveling snow, clearing a skating rink and just plain running around.  It was cold out, but that didn't stop them.

In the meantime, I found these pictures from our first big snowstorm of the season, way back at the end of November (my mom's birthday, to be exact).  I remember that it was windy and the snow was so wet, but I ran outside to capture a few shots of the kids as they sledded down the hill in the back yard.

I'm not sure if Jimmy remembers snow from last year, but he squealed when he saw it that day.

The trees were so gorgeous in the background, that is almost seems like a "fake" winter scene.  BUt it certainly wasn't.

Everyone was dressed warmly and prepared for the snow that continued to fall all around them.

Sophia's favorite hat -- I hope that it fits her for a long time.

Samantha is looking so tall and grown-up these days.  I need time to slow down a bit.

I think that this little boy will learn to love the outdoors just as much as his older brother.

Speaking of which, those two can fight like no other, but they can also play together well when they want.  Jack begged to let Jimmy ride on the sled with him.  I obliged.

Making it to the bottom of the hill and taking a small rest.

The more, the merrier!