Bastian smiled:
And rode the bike that Aleks didn't seem to notice for the first half-hour
Papa looked tired and angry:
Everyone investigated the contents of their stockings:
Natalie looked tired too:
Bastian played with the Star Wars action figures (pew! pew!):
Aleks finally figured out he got a bike:
And we all posed afterwards with our coffee and wearing our new clothes:
Jon then hid away in the bedroom rawking out to the ipod and reading lolcats:
Aleks aimed his foot at me.
They eat snow no matter what I have to say about it.
Me, all bundled against intense winds and near white-out conditions.
Bastian ran in the street at one point! He couldn't see the difference because everything was covered, but I think he had an idea that the street was there and not okay to run in. Maybe the blanket of snow made it seem like it was okay for now since it looked just like the yard.
Our garlands, all finished:
Then the boys threw snowballs at me and each other.
The kids immediately grabbed whatever cookie cutters we had, resulting in a shamrock cookie and a turkey cookie in addition to all the little gingerpeeps.
Aleks' new Imperial Walker/Storm Trooper Transformer found its way across the rough terrain of cooling cookies.
Many of the cookies stuck together too, so the AT-AT (Imperial Walker) is pictured here stepping on a chain of 6 or so cookiefolk on its way to Hoth.
The icing didn't work out great either, but we had some conjoined triplets and a conjoined twin that was anatomically correct (thank you Papa). We gave these to the upstairs neighbor who was packing to move to Chicago and she said they were delicious!
Here's a bowlful of gingery goodness!
Here's his cut under waterproof tape to protect it while the numbing gel works its magic.
All done, waiting to be discharged. He had 3 stitches, which Grandma Cat cut out 5 days later. He did not like getting stitched at all. The first 2 stitches seemed okay, but I think he really felt the 3rd one. Still, he handled it like a champ.
Sadly, we don't really have too terribly many track pieces and the finished track only reached from Aleks' bedroom through the hallway and partway into the kitchen.
The start of the track was beneath a mountain. Aleks points out his achievement.
Bastian connects the tracks.
Then destroys everything!
GACTCATG...
Aleks wouldn't stand still for a picture. Big surprise there. They spilled orange juice on the floor too.
The next morning they began eating it directly off the tree:
We used cotton balls for snow, gluing some to fishing line for falling snow and connecting a bunch together for a sheet of snow on the roof of the barn.
Aleks constructed a fence out of blocks to keep the farm animals in so they wouldn't a) get away and b) get attacked by predators. He thought the horse would likely be able to bust through the gate, but I assured him that horses pretty well obey fences naturally.
Bastian loves to play with the animals.
The pocket gnomes now have a home.
Aleks made a dyed wool nest for the gnomes to sleep in at night. He's even been tucking them in before bed and waking them up in the morning.
Contrary to proper animal husbandry techniques, I'm sure, the animals are all corralled together: horse, pigs, sheep, chickens (both roosters no less), and what we think is a goat.
Aleks had to keep checking to see what his snowflake looked like.
Bastian still doesn't quite have the coordination for cutting even less difficult things, but we worked together to make some lovely flakes.
Aleks had fun putting the snowflakes on his head.
We used origami paper to give the flakes even more texture.
Lastly, we hung them in the dining room, whose wall does not look very snowy at all.
