The Kiehl Chronicle: January 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Not my shining mommy moment...

Here's the story...

I was getting out the mixer on Monday to make cookies with Jane for her birthday. Inside the bowl, was a ziploc bag of powdered sugar (for another project). I knew it was there. I was going to remove it once the mixer was on the counter. Somehow, while carrying it over, I must have bumped the switch. So when I plugged in the mixer...yep...you can imagine the white cloud that engulfed me and a good 25% of the kitchen. After I turned it off, and got over the initial shock, I began cleaning up. I apologized to Jane for making such a mess and delaying our project. She replied, "That's okay, Mom! Do you need my help? Anytime you need my help you just say, 'Gob dammit' and I'll come help you right away."

Ooopies.

Super Snow Day

Even Dad was home today because of the Snowpocalypse which is evidently not over with. We were thrilled to see him home when we woke up, along with 4-6 in. of the white stuff.

We quickly donned our snow gear and headed to "the hill". Curran Lane is an awesome place to sled, but don't try to drive your car up it after everyone's compacted the snow. (Don't know that I'll be getting to work tomorrow. Might have to bribe 23 y.o. neighbor with beer to drive me in his 4x4 jeep.)

Here are some photos of our last few days in the snow. Sam loved it when we'd hit him with a snowball and he'd "timber" to the ground. He was pretty funny. He also preferred destroying snowmen to building them. I know. Shocker.

It took both adults to pick up the middle of the snowman and place him on the lower ball.

Yeah? What's it to ya?

Snow glow

23 y.o. neighbor mentioned above. And yes, I let him take my son down the hill like that. What? He was wearing a helmet!

Who said you could be 6?

Really Jane. I mean, I planned on you being our "Baby Jane" forever, but I guess we can't stop you from growing up.
I wish.

2 weeks old

On Monday, our sweet Baby Jane turned 6. And under severe weather conditions to boot! We were supposed to have her "Spa Party" Sunday afternoon, however our hill had just enough snow that we couldn't drive our cars up. Since we didn't want anyone else to get stuck on Curran Lane, we decided to postpone it until next weekend. Jane took it all in stride, and we all went over to the orchard and built the biggest ~~dirty and maybe slightly drunk~~ snowman ever. On Monday, the snow was slushy enough we were able to get an early dinner at the Ram (Jane's choice) and had a great time. She's really excited about her new Hello Kitty electric toothbrush (the only Hello Kitty ~~crap~~ Mom will allow), and her new Razor scooter with pink wheels (it's not even a hand-me-down!!!!). We'll just have to wait for the snow to melt so she can try it out.

Charlotte 3 years, Jane 3 weeks (this was my FAVORITE sweater for her)

Charlotte (faking), Jane (not); 4 weeks old - Valentines Day

Jane - we think you're growing into such an amazing girl. You're sweet, caring, smart, funny and you make friends where ever we go. You're a kisser and hugger and a cuddle bunny too. Thank you for enriching our lives as a loving daughter and an encouraging big/little sister. We love you so much and pray for you everyday. We can't wait to see what the future holds for your life.

At her family donut party Saturday. I think she'll need a bigger donut next year!

Love those dimples.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Our Sasquatch

The scarf is presented to her from the librarian as her "trophy". For a girl who
loves to accessorize, this is the bomb!

Charlotte received her Sasquatch reading award this morning at the school assembly. In 2nd grade she earned this by reading 4 Sasquatch award books, but this year she had to read 5 of them to earn the award. She did so before Christmas, and now she says she's excited to go for her second award in one year! Love this girl and her goal-setting!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

This is no joke.

GET OUT!!
No, seriously. That's what I told myself as we drove home from the girls' school this morning and Sam said, "Mom! Look! A rainbow!!" And sure enough, not only one rainbow, but two! As we turned onto our street, (note Curran Lane sign) I literally told myself to get out and take a picture. Lucky for me, my camera was riding in the passenger seat.

It appeared that the rainbows were perfectly positioned above Curran Lane and looked as if God himself were shining a flashlight behind the lower rainbow. Remember the LiteBrite we all played with in the 80's? That's how vibrant the colors were.

So unbelievably cool.

This is SOOC (straight out of the camera). Looks like our house is glowing.

What a great way to start the day.

New Years Fun

Here comes 2012!

This was our 2nd annual New Years Eve (EST) with our friends, The WMD's. (Webber-Dower-Moerkeseths) They graciously opened their home to us and our little party animals. We ate delicious food, drank non-slushy-slush (delish D!), played games and rang in the new year at 9:30 with our melodious horns and whistles (you're welcome neighbors).