december update

November ended and left the first snowfall. The first snow is always so fun and exciting. I made a great effort to get the kids out each day, which seems to bring a whole lot of drama.  Ivar has serious trouble coping with any fabric that bunches up...you may remember he was only one when he coined the term Sockie Boo Boo, a word that is as understood as any other. He hates wearing socks because of the bumps. He hates when his sleeves aren't completely flat under his coat. And you can only imagine how upsetting snow pants are. My new goal for the winter is to get everyone bundled and outside without any meltdowns. It's a lofty goal

But we are good Minnesotans, so we press on and push through the tears. Even when Elsie insists on wearing her Prairie bonnet instead of a winter hat. We can roll with that.

I taught my kids the game Fox and Goose, a game my mom played with us when I was little. You make an 8-slice pie with your feet and then play tag within the track. If you step out of the track you're "it." So you're either running around the circle or cutting into one of the spokes, and often get trapped. Ivar mostly liked following me and making the track. And Elsie mostly liked pretending she was a kitty "who loves to eat snow." In the end she taught us a game called "Kneel to Kneel" and then we all pretended we were kitties eating snow.

Our house has been in a constant state of christmas clutter. Every night requires a whole lot of tidy time. But everything is getting put to good use. The whole cast of the nativity story has been for many stroller rides, the tree skirt has been found to make great forts and ornaments come on and off the tree all day long. So far only one angel has lost her head, and one glass ornament shattered on the tile. Not bad for eight days in...

My mom has told me that my brother Mat always used to dress me up as a baby. So when I found Hattie like this, I felt very pleased. And made Ivar pose for a picture.

We had our friend Tony from church over for lunch this week and he told about how for a while he was a cowboy in South Dakota in charge of a huge herd of bulls. He told the kids stories of needing to use a lasso..and the kids were thrilled at the thought of a bull stuck in soupy mud. He left and they came down dressed like this, ready to play cowboy the rest of the day.

And the next day was Grandma Margaret's birthday so she and dad came to town to get her free hoagie followed by a trip to the cupcake shop. It was a delicious trip and a great way to celebrate. It's been a good start to our December!