Sorry no Christmas post cards...yet.

 

Wintertime is here!  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not at all excited about this.  But here on our homestead we're trying to make the best of the situation.  I think I can speak for Colette and the kids, and I think they'd all tell you we like spring and summer much more than winter.  Surprise, surprise.

Thanksgiving day, we ate our thanksgiving meal here in WDM as a family and then after a breif nap we all shuffled off to Waukee for some family bowling.  Brayton and Lauren love bowling and Colette and I do too.  Especially since smoking is no longer an option the bowling alley, it now is an opportunity for some good family time.   We played two games, If memory serves correctly Colette got beat by Lauren both games.  Brayton was very disappointed to get last place each time. Throw in a couple Miller High Life's, some pizza, and good times were enjoyed by all.

The next Saturday, we attended "Jolley Holiday Lights" which is an enormous fundraiser for the Make a Wish Foundation.  They decorate all of Water Works park in Christmas lights and you pay a little money and get to drive around the park and see all the Christmas lights.  There are several tunnels of lights to drive through and the kids love driving under them and looking up through the sunroof to see the lights going overhead.  Finally at the end of the lights show, there is Santa's workshop.  Our kids are not yet brave enough to go and sit on Santa's lap.  Lauren is deathly afraid of him AND his elves.  She says, "Daddy, I DONT LIKE HIS BEARD!"  Makes me laugh thinking about it....

As of this writing, it's the weekend of December 10th and we're supposed to get a heck of a blizzard tonight.  It snowed a little bit earlier in the day & wasn't terribly cold out yet so I decided to take the kids out sledding for the first time this year.  They really loved it and did a good job.  At least no one broke their arm.

Finally, I've failed again this year to get Christmas cards out.  Why?  Because I'm lazy.  That's the only reason.  So, thanks for the cards you've all sent.  They are taped on the fridge, Merry Christmas.

Sledding and Santa...

Today while I was at class, it was a beautiful 50 degree day. Some of the snow was melting, but that didn't matter. Colette and the kids took advantage of the great weather and were outside playing in the snow. The video below is a shot Colette took of Brayton pulling Lauren in the sled.

After I got done with class, Colette and the kids picked me up and we went to play at a park. It was a little cold on the kids hands because the playground equipment was cold, but they still had fun going on the slides and climbing on the equipment. Of course we very close all the time, holding on to coat tails to make sure slippery wet shoes didn't provoke a fall.

We went to supper at Hy Vee, and then proceeded to Jolly Holiday lights. We knew Santa would be there, I used to volunteer to be Santa a few years ago, and Santa is free at Jolly Holiday lights. Whereas if you go to the mall, you have to stand in line for a very long time and pay $10.

We used the opportunity to reinforce being "nice" rather than "naughty" to Brayton over the past few days. We knew that if he knew he was going to see Santa, we could leverage that into good behavior, and for the most part it worked well.

There was a long line to see Santa today, but the kids waited in line very well. They never fussed. Brayton we could tell had to really go potty, but there isn't a bathroom there. When the time came to talk to Santa, Brayton was very excited. Lauren cried and didn't want anything to do with him. Neither would sit on his lap, I don't think that was a surprise. Maybe next year.