The best things...

For Christmas Keaton had a grand idea. He said, "You know how they say that the best things in life are free? Well, I'm gonna give you one of those kinds of gifts for Christmas." And he was pretty tickled with himself because he inherited the "frugal" gene from me and he was pretty excited about all the money he was gonna save. I was pretty excited because I think Keaton knows me pretty well and what I really needed was this:

YES! YES! YES!

My day was wonderful. I watched some shows that I had been trying to get around to watching for awhile. I took a nap. I read a WHOLE book. And when Jantzen came whining to me about this or that I said, "Go tell your mom." Keaton was wonderful. He took care of all sibling arguments, helped Chris with dinner and read stories at bedtime. It was like Mother's Day in January. Thank you Keaton! You're awesome!

In case you're wondering what the fine print at the bottom says, here it is:

This coupon is not valid in Washington, California and Maine. This offer excludes massages, being ordered around and the authority to eat downstairs.

Keaton-you're not just awesome, you're funny too.

Can we PLEASE take a normal picture?

Daniel's birthday,

Take one.

Daniel's birthday,

Take two.


Daniel's birthday,
Take three.


Okay, good enough.

Daniel UN-redeems himself at Mt. Hood Meadows

Stay tuned until the end to see how...

Oh! The suspense. It's just too much fun!

The day started out early. I'm talking about 5:00 early. But to a skier, it's worth it. The kids don't even complain. I wake them with a pat on the shoulder and a "Wanna go skiing?" and they bounce out of bed. It continued on with an exceptionally long and slippery drive to Mt. Hood. We figured it would be a quiet day at the resort because one of the roads leading there was closed due to a mudslide. But EVERYONE and their dog decided to drive around and use OUR ROAD to get there. (The nerve!) So Portland traffic was found on a beautiful and winding road between Hood River and Mt. Hood. Next we have a parking spot in a land so far, far away that they put you on buses to take you to the lodge, where you stand in line for 15 minutes so that you can happily give them hundreds of dollars for a ride on their fancy little chairs which are suspended from cables high up in the air.

But then you remember how happy everyone is when they're bundled up in several layers with long skinny things attached to their feet and a funny little square tag attached to their jackets.

And you realize that they have graciously replaced the *!#%^ rope tow with a blessed "Magic Carpet" which is ....

wait for it....

wait for it....

wait for it...

COVERED so as to keep you out of the falling snow while you ride it! Hooray! And it's so easy to ride that Jantzen could do it all by herself and she could do her ten million laps on the bunny hill whilst I stood by and took pictures.

This is inside the tunnel. Does it look Star Trek-ish to you?

Notice the hands on the hips. She is so tickled with herself and her new ability to ski without using that harness you see attached to her. This girl had a permanent smile all day. And the red snowsuit? It has survived three kids now. Don't tell her that her brothers wore it. I know I'm already living on borrowed time because it's not pink.

This video is posted purely for the enjoyment of my mom, because grandmas just don't think this stuff is boring. Here you go, mom. As per your request.

And now for the end of the story, the moment you've been waiting for.

Yes, it's broken.

And the pictures don't really do it justice. It's uglier in person. Unless you're Daniel's parents. (Hi Tina and Thomas!) Then it's fine. No bruising, swelling or pain. Don't worry! He'll be good as new in 4-6 weeks and the doctor said that he can still go snowboarding with the cast on. That way maybe he can break the other hand. Aren't you so glad you sent him to America? He's getting the full American experience, including an up close look at the health care system. I apologize in advance for your upcoming doctor bills.

Daniel Redeems himself at the Wrathall family ski resort

We had another try at our homemade ski run. It was much more successful this time.

We also found another way to amuse ourselves, thanks to our beloved family dog, Kamber. You may want to turn the music off so that you can get the full effect of Carson's screams. By the way, that's a dog biscuit that he's throwing.

Don't worry. No animals were harmed in the making of this movie.

Even the snowmen are cold! Lately we have had some crazy weather! For the first time in my life (that I can remember), we will be having a white Christmas. In the past week we have had about a foot or more of snow, and school was cancelled three days this week. Crazy!
I took this picture last Sunday, when we had about 4 inches of snow. That was monumental for us, so I forced the kids to brave the cold for a snapshot.

Little did I know that there was so much more to come. Since then we have had temperatures down below zero and tons more snow.



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This is the view from our front porch a few days ago. I wasn't willing to go too far from the warmth of the fireplace.

But today we built a big ramp in the front yard.

We had visions of riding it all the way down the front yard, but it wasn't as successful as we'd hoped.

On Sunday we also went to Daniel's Christmas concert in Echo. I thoroughly enjoyed the music, and it was extra fun because the "Weather outside was frightful." That makes all things Christmas just that much more fun.

They played the music from the Nutcracker, which Jantzen loved. She had heard the songs on an educational website that she plays on called starfall.com. She didn't realize that the music was from a ballet.

So now Christmas is in full swing. We finished our shopping yesterday, the kids are out of school and all that's left to do is to start eating until we gain the mandatory 10 pounds. Wish us luck.

Another Christmas Tree Post

So I was thinking about posting pictures of our Christmas Tree Decorating evening and I thought, "Every blogger in the world is probably doing a post like this." Why? Is it because we only do it once a year? Well, we clean the gutters once a year and you don't see any posts detailing THAT activity, do you? I clean my blinds once a year and you haven't heard about that! How about winterizing the boat? Nope. Well, I guess Christmas is sorta special, and Christmas trees are pretty to look at.

Except mine.

Some parents feel guilty because they don't let their kids help decorate the tree. Or if they do, they end up rearranging the ornaments after the kids go to bed.

Let's just say that I don't have that guilt.

I really don't care about it. What is WRONG with me? We went to a parking lot where Boy Scouts were selling trees. Let's just say that they weren't the prettiest trees I've ever seen. And the shortest one was about 20 feet tall. So we chopped one in half, took the top and away we went with our Charlie Brown tree.

When people come over it seems as though they are trying not to look directly at it, kinda like you do with the sun. We have a very eclectic collection of ornaments from kindergarten projects, cub scout projects and the like. (Notice the one-eyed snowman?) But I don't care anymore.

Does this mean I am older and wiser now?

Or just lazy?

Wait. Don't answer that.

The Frying Pan Rap

So that you can join in the fun, when you see the words "bang, bang", bang your head on the kitchen counter, OK?

My name is Jodi and I'm here to say
I bought a new frying pan the other day.
The box, it said Cuisinart
So I thought it would be better than Wal-Mart

I hate my pan (clap, clap)
I hate my pan (clap, clap)
I HATE MY PAN! (BANG, BANG)

But every time I try to cook
The pan it has a very bad look.
The food , it sticks and it makes a mess
One might think that I paid less

I hate my pan (clap, clap)
I hate my pan (clap, clap)
I HATE MY PAN! (BANG, BANG)

So everyday I soak it in water
And soap and vinegar and baking soda
But now my arm is starting to ache
Because I scrape and scrape and scrape

I hate my pan (clap, clap)
I hate my pan (clap, clap)
I HATE MY PAN! (BANG, BANG)

And now it's time for me to get a life
One might think I'm a desperate housewife
If about my pan I write a rap
Well, it really is CRAP!

I hate my pan (clap, clap)
I hate my pan (clap, clap)
I HATE MY PAN! (BANG, BANG)