Thanks, Maggie and Michael!

It was a treat to see our friends Maggie and Michael (who live in London) briefly while we were home over Christmas. Maggie and Michael had never met James and James was quite taken with Michael especially. They brought E&J fantastic presents from the UK. The top photo is of James watching the Peppa the Pig dvd they brought for them. I usually don't let them watch dvds in the car but I made an exception for the ride home from Buffalo. They both love Peppa and her little brother, George. The bottom photo is of James snuggling with his Paddington Bear that they brought him. It's so nice to have some British playthings in the house.

Ellie's Ice Skating Lessons

Ellie has been taking Saturday morning ice skating lessons this winter and has come a long way in a short time. The first three photos above are from her first lesson and the bottom two are from her second lesson. I haven't been to her past two lessons but John reports that she's not really using the crates anymore. The best part of all is that she's enjoying it.

#1 Uncle

Adam came up to visit us last weekend. Ellie and James were both very excited to have him here!

Hat by Grandma

My Grandma knit this hat for Ellie a few years ago for Ellie to grow into (she also knit a matching sweater which we love). Ellie proudly wore it to school recently and liked the hat so much that she was willing to pose for a photo on our way out the door in the morning. Thanks, Gram!

Snow Day #4.5

We had another day and a half off at the beginning of February due to snow. We were dismissed from school at 11 am on a Tuesday and had no school the next day on Wednesday. This was when I realized I was really over snow days for this school year. I'm fortunate enough that I don't have to make up days over any school vacations or at the end of the school year but I had enough of the weather and being cooped up indoors. Ellie and James made up their own kind of fun, putting the slide on its side and pretending it was a fort. Ellie chose her Christmas dress from last year and a snug fitting rainbow fleece as her snow day attire that day. Clearly I had lost the wardrobe battle of that day.

Mirror, Mirror...

James enjoyed checking himself out in a hand held mirror yesterday. Every time he looked at the mirror, he said, "James!"

Snow Day #3

We had our third snow day of January this past Thursday which was also our fourth unplanned day off this month (the other was due to a mechanical issue on campus). Ellie and James had fun playing outside. Ellie ate her first icicle and when they were inside and cozy in their pajamas, James played with his new favorite toy, the light switch. Oh and we had about a foot of snow so the snowbanks are taller than James and almost as tall as Ellie.