Passing Time

Riley is over visiting Megan and the boys tend to crowd them. So, I decided to keep them busy and play around with the computer. The temp is -16 outside, so we won't be. Good news though, we're gaining daylight!

Christmas 2008

The kids pre-loot on Christmas morning.

All around the table

From the left Cody (standing), Justin (standing out), Kathy, sis Jennifer, Louis, Cathy, the backs of Jenny and Angie.

Cathy and Judy - I love this picture.

Eddie and Jacob

Premeditated Deception

Cathy was walking up the stairs and saw this little bit of "artwork" that appears to be signed by the artist. She called Colton down and he denied doing it. She knew this, but needed to ask. Then she calls Justice down, believe it or not, he denied it too. Actually, when she asked him about it, he said "read it...it says Colton." So I called Colt down and told him he would have to be punished for having done this. I told him it wouldn't be so bad if it were pencil instead of ink. Then Justice proclaims from up the steps, "It is pencil." Then I asked him how he knew and he said he watched Colt draw the picture. I finally decided the lies had gone far enough and got him to confess to his actions. He said he was drawing on a piece of paper and it got on the wall. I guess he just went with it. Besides a spanking for his art and lies, he had to clean the wall.

An Edlin's Idea of Winter Fun

Now you see 'em...
...now you don't.
We love doing this. We get under a tree burdened with a load of snow. Then we kick the tree. For a few seconds, it's white out conditions. It's more fun if your coat has a hood. Otherwise you get a bunch of snow down your neck. We had to kick a lot of trees to get this picture. The timing was tough. They had fun getting it just right. Now, right after I took this whiteout picture and put my camera in my pocket, Justice yelled "Eagle!", and a bald eagle drifted just above the trees right over our heads. It was the coolest thing! I hoped that it'd land in a tree, but it didn't. I couldn't get my camera back out in time. 

So I posted this one. We saw it in town yesterday. It's looking right at me. Awesome.

'Round the Christmas Tree

Don't look at Colt's shirt tail.

My ladies.

The Rest of the Ride

These are the rest of the pictures I wanted to share from our "hunt" turned "ride". 

This is a frozen creek that I thought was pretty interesting. The shelf is where the water first froze. About two feet below that is where the water started to freeze again. As the water supply started to decline, the ice couldn't support itself and broke through. We could here water running where I was standing when I took this picture. My foot broke through once, to water. It wasn't deep, but it was enough to convince me that I didn't want any part of me wet for the rest of the day.

We took this picture on our way out. It wasn't long after that darkness moved in.

Colt and his ginger bread house

Colt's class made ginger bread houses a couple of days ago. This is his before we ate it. You'll notice a sidewalk stone missing. It was a Hot Tamale and it was irresistible. I couldn't help my self. He got way more upset than I thought he would. As you can see, he recovered.