Bunk Bed!

Here are some pictures of Sam and his new bed. He is now very popular, and getting all sorts of useful lessons from Pearl about how to use his desk and such. I think they spent two hours today pretending it was a pirate ship. I walked in once when Pearl was in the bathroom, and Sam was just sitting there patiently waiting for her to come back so they could keep playing. See, they still play together even when they're 3 1/2 years apart!

Last night they both slept in it (Pearl's head was at the ladder end). It was quite the party, and a rousing success (or, I should say it wasn't, they stayed down all night). We decided that slumber parties are only for weekends or vacations or when Crystal needs to sleep in Pearl's bed.

So far so good, two nights down, and no broken bones yet... he sure does look small up there. But much more comfy, and he hasn't tried to get into my bed once (which was part of the reason for all of this).

Pearl's First Recital

Pearl had her very first piano recital today! We went from quite overconfident, to tears, to somewhere in between by the time the recital started. She was #2 on the program (she's only been taking for 3 months...) which means we sat through the rest of a very long recital... thank heavens Sherry took Sam for me!

This is the before, and below is the after. She was much more relaxed!
She got a REAL CORSAGE made by Sister Larsen for her first recital. I remember my dad got me a corsage for my first recital - I also remember crying because I did a wrong note. Pearl did a much better job than me.
So, here is the performance! I just have to say, I LOVE my new camera. This is the second time I've set video up on the tripod so I could hold Max and video Pearl at the same time. This time was even cooler because I had to be in the back of a large auditorium, but I got to use my super long zoom lens.

Nice work, Pearl! We're very proud of you!

Snow!!!

On Monday morning, we woke up to this:

Yeah! Well, actually we woke up at 5:30 to the phone call from the school saying that school was cancelled that day because of the snow! So, by 6:00 all of us were in my bed (we had no power and thus no heat) so we were out the door to play in the snow by 7:30 or so.
Yes, I got this trick from Tami. They wore wool socks in their boots, their toes stayed nice and warm. More than can be said for Sam's pants, as the first thing he did was sit down in the snow and try to slide in it.
This is Pearl's face after throwing a huge snowball at her Grandpa Hulbert. Lucky for him, it landed about 3 feet shy of the intended target (you can see it on the ground right in front of her...)
Hey, Sam can make a big snowball too!!!
Even Max joined in the fun (as in, I have to come out here because my mom can't leave me inside alone and Dad's on a call for work... oh, the third child. If it had been Pearl when she was a baby, we never would have gone outside...)
Sam was SO HAPPY! Well, for about the first 15 minutes. Then he was cold.
Dad even came out to watch, even though he was on a call for work. Oh the magic of the iphone!
We tried sledding on cookie sheets. Didn't work out so well.
Little footprints in the snow...
Well, the snow was a big adventure. It came with all sorts of fun stuff, like no power for 24 hours, two days off of school, and some nerve-wracking driving. Sure was pretty, though. And right before Christmas! Pearl was pretty sure this MUST mean it's Christmas!!!!

4 Month Stats

Max's 4 month appointment was this week. Though his stats are not impressive to most, he's the biggest baby I've ever had. He came in at a whopping 14lbs 14 oz in weight, that's 42%. He was 25% for length (24.5 inches) and 33% (16.5 inches) for head circumference. Dr says he's a small baby... but you should see his chubby thigh rolls!!!

He continues to be a happy baby, we are blessed to have him!

Sam's master plan

Sam got his really cool bunk bed this week. I let him sleep in it last night (pictures forthcoming...) and yesterday we talked about if he's going to sleep in a high bunk bed, he can't get up in the middle of the night to come to my bed (which he's done fairly consistently since Max was born, I think he needs the extra cuddles).

"That's ok mom, because I'm a big boy in a bunk bed, and big boys don't have nightmares. I'll just think about rabbits."

Ok Sam, I hope that one works for you!

Confessions.

1. I have a ton of pictures to process and blog and have not finished.

2. Still haven't finished the baby blanket for my sister - she's going to pop any minute, I started it three months ago...

3. Max has no stocking. Is is ok if he has his first christmas and I haven't made his stocking yet?

4. The laundry situation is so bad, I sent Sam to school in a long sleeved pajama shirt today.

5. Jared left for China, which caused me to put a handful of chocolate chips in my oatmeal this morning, then eat two bowls.

6. Would way rather be organizing Sam's new bed than mopping the floor which still has frosting on if from gingerbread houses made on Tuesday.

7. I have not blow dried my hair since Sunday.

Do you have any confessions?

Cold

The high today was like 42 degrees. It was snow/rain/hailing in Placerville while we were at church. Though they were appropriately clothed at church, this is what they decided to change into when they got home. (Note the bare feet.) So what does Jared do? Send them outside to get cold so they could have some hot chocolate. It worked. They were cold.