Favorite Play Thing? Umbrellas!

Lorelai got an umbrella for Christmas and Jane has been begging for one ever since. It arrived and these 2 sisters have been having a lot of fun together. 

 Silas & Ephraim wanted in on the photo. Boys know how to look so lovely... ;)

And a side topic: I looked out the window and found Silas' $220 glasses on a rock. Doh!

The Extravaganza

We just celebrated our Dec 31st / January 1st Annual Extravaganza in two parts: 1) bounces houses, a circus and music downtown, and 2) a family party with a midnight countdown at our house. Enjoy the photos!

Silas & Ephraim (Silas is doing "reindeer hands")

Lorelai on a slide

Lorelai

Lorelai & Azael

Jane

Lorelai & Jane enjoy the train

Lorelai on the tightrope

 Jane wanted to try the tightrope, but BAILED at the last minute.

Lorelai on a big wheel/teeter-totter

Silas has a go...

Our party at home with our favorite sparkling drinks, hats, & horns.

Merry Christmas, Darlings!

Lorelai left Santa a sweet note last night. It says "I love you Santa Cloz" on the front

In the middle it shows a picture of her with a Kirby doll she wanted. 

 And she signed her name on the back. So sweet. She didn't ask for much. 

 Jane and Lorelai, the "believers" in our family, set out some milk & chocolate covered pistachios for Santa and also 9 carrots for the reindeer.

 Up before the sun, everyone posed in front of the tree this morning prior to opening gifts. 

 As the sun began to rise, the last gifts were opened by Mom - 6 gourmet chocolate bars from Vosges in Chicago. One kind had bacon in it. Yum! ;)

 And for much of the day, we saw THIS as they tried out their new Wii games.

 Jane played on her own most of the day with her new Minnie Mouse doll and also with a new doll house

Best part? We all stayed in PJs most of the day. Sweet! :)

Merry Christmas Darlings! It was a great day.

Monster Snow Fort

After 18 inchdes of snow, Mystery Man helped our kids built an awesome snow fort. It's about 8 feet tall. The kids had a complete blast playing in it with friends Lydia & Claire.

Merry Christmas, 2012

Merry Christmas from the Ridays!

Mystery Man turned 40 this year! He still enjoys his work as a plant breeder for the USDA. He is becoming reacquainted with the sport of racquetball and plays in a local league. He enjoys relaxing in front of the TV after the kids are in bed, watching Burn Notice, Merlin, and Dr. Who.

Jen plays the banjo, loves yoga, and is trying to redo her business website – all in her copious amounts of free time – NOT!  Jen does in-home childcare for four 3-year-olds and Jane, which she enjoys. She also teaches our kids piano, which she does not enjoy J. Jen learned to downhill ski last year and is excited to see some snow.

Azael is in 6^th grade. He is a percussionist in band and is enjoying Improv, One-Act Plays, and the All-School Musical. He enjoys having lots of friends and having greater freedom as a Middle Schooler. Azael loves Dr. Who!

Ephraim is a 4^th grader and brand new to the Charter School where Silas and Azael attended last year. He has a new best friend named Logan. He is a great swimmer and looks forward to taking a dance class next year.

Silas, a 2^nd grader, had a blast playing soccer this year and has just started basketball. He is quite athletic and does well in school; he just began reading the Harry Potter books. Silas will be getting baptized in February 2013.

Lorelai is in kindergarten and has made many friends. Her best friend is Leslie, who rides her bus. Lorelai brings home lots of rewards for good behavior at school (a big change from preschool!). She is in 1^st-grade reading.

Jane is 3 and enjoys playing with her childcare friends every day. Jane loves to ride bikes down our driveway with her friends, enjoys using scissors, has fun playing with dolls, and re-decorates  our Christmas tree every day.

We hope your Christmas is wonderful and 2013 is your best year yet! May we all feel the love of Christ in our lives and share that love with those around us.

With love,

The Ridays 

A Mystery Man Moment

A Mystery Man Moment: "Hey everyone, we're having Spider Potatoes tonight!" Our curiosity piqued, we all look in the bowl and see cooked potatoes with long sprouts growing out of the eyes, which he apparently didn't want to cut off. 10 points for interesting, right?

Holiday Fun

Time to update. We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving with our good friends, the Rothstein family.

This past weekend Jen's parents, brothers, sisters-in-law and nephews all came to visit. Prior to their visit, Jen had the not-so-brilliant idea to paint the entry chandelier. This photo doesn't do the reality justice. Jen climbed up 3 stories to paint the top of the chandelier. Note, the ladder is resting against air, except just for the top 2 feet. Nice. 

Everyone arrived on Friday. Jane had been anticipating the visit of her cousin Mason for days prior. Here they are. 

Here is a photo of the entire family. The adults had a nice dinner out on Friday, then on Saturday we celebrated our Christmas with presents, and lots of food. All day. Did I say lots of food? LOL! We all had a gift exchange, which was fun. And Grandma kindly bought all kinds of other fun stuff and all the grandkids took turns picking out gifts. 

I took almost no pictures, but this one is funny. Lorelai's favorite gift was an umbrella. And she modeled it while wearing her new winter hat. 

Just hours after Jen's family left on Sunday, Santa came to visit! The kids had a blast. 

It was a great weekend!