Hiking in Mud & Ice

by Megan

The whole family went for a short hike this afternoon.  The trail alternated between squishy mud and slippery ice.  Everyone had rubber or waterproof boots- except Mommy.  Daddy had to carry her piggyback over the muddiest sections.  I wish I had brought my camera.

A cold breeze was chilling my unprotected ears, so I asked Hannah, who was riding on my back, to cover my ears with her mittened hands.  This worked so well that Nathan begged to carry her as well so his ears could be protected.

When we reached the end of the trail, we were treated to the sight of the waterfall, swollen frothy white from the melting snow and yesterday's rain.  We had to keep a close eye on Ben and Hannah to make sure they didn't fall in.  Stubborn Hannah insisted she wanted to put her feet in the water.  She couldn't seem to comprehend that it would be over the tops of her boots in an instant, despite my repeated attempts to show her the depth.

Another Hannah Haircut

by Amanda

Hannah kept getting food in her hair, so she was given two choices: 1.  let me put it back or 2. let Megan cut it.  She refused to let me do it so Megan cut it.  However, problems arose.  One side was shorter than the other.  In the process of fixing it, her hair ended up an inch shorter than intended.  It's still very cute.

Snow!

By Amanda

We have at least a foot of snow, which makes for pretty good sledding. 



When asked if she was scared going sledding Hannah replied, "No, I just close my eyes."
"Why?"  Daddy asked
"It's to scary."
But that didn't stop her from going down the hill constantly.



Daddy and Hannah wiped out

Santa Claus Hold-up

By Megan

Here's the lastest installment in our famous series of Life is Good pictures.  This one is drawn by myself and Christmas themed.

Throw them Away

Amanda

Tonight we opened up ornaments from Grandma and Grandpa Siebert, after we had opened, the little ones got up to go, leaving behind the wrapping paper strewn all over the floor.   So Mommy calls "Wait, what do you do after opening presents?"
Ben looks around and declares, "Throw them out."
He meant throw out the wrapping paper, but he failed to specify that. 

Snowman Day

By Amanda

Now you are probably wondering what snowman day is.  That is an excellent question.  So I shall explain.  Snowman day is a Nisly holiday, the day we all dress up as snowman and eat snowman food and be generally snowmanny.  Reference pictures for what snowman food looks like and how to dress as a snowman.

Amanda's snowman pancake



Ben's snowman pancake



Megan in costume, making pancakes

Amanda and her dinner snowman

Megan's snowlady

Invasion!

The Great Animal Invasion began on Tuesday when friends dropped their dog and 2 cats off for us to watch over Thanksgiving.  So now the total score is 8 humans to 6 animals, 5 cats and 1 dog.  Humans in the lead. 

The next day Mommy brought Daddy to work and then ran some errands.  Us children back home had a pretty typical day, until Mommy calls and tells us to open the garage door because she has a large stray dog in the car that she wants to put in the basement.  We all looked at each other and made a mad dash for the door, schoolwork forgotten.  Sure enough sitting in the car is a large dog who looked part english pointer part beagle.  Score 7 humans (Daddy being at work) to 7 animals, 2 dogs 5 cats.  Tied! 

The stray dog had a collar on so we called the number, but no one answered.  Since it was the middle of the afternoon the owner was probably at work, so we left a message.  Then we looked at the address.  The dog was from the far side of a neighboring town, 14 miles away!  This unfortunately leaving us with alot more questions than answers we settled down to wait for the owner to call back.  That night the owner did call back and explained the dogs presence.  The dog, who's name was Buck, was being trained by the mans son who lives right around the corner from us and had escaped while the son was at work.  The son was already looking for him.  So we gave him our address and he came and picked up Buck.  Score 7 humans to 6 animals.  Humans in the lead once again.

Amanda