Kati is 6 years old!

Happy Birthday to Kati - and for her chocolate sheet cake some surprise candles. She had a blast trying to blow them out and we had a great time cheering her on.

Kati was in the Talent Show too!

As I left the auditorium no less than 5 different people, some I didn't even really know, stopped to say - "ohhh that Kati, you're gonna be in so much trouble!" I don't know if trouble is the word I'd use to describe Kati (although she does enjoy getting in to a little scrape every now and then)

Just about each nite, after I tuck them in, and in ode to a movie they'll probably never see, but a book they might read someday.  I tell them they are:

Beautiful

Powerful

Smart

Strong

The Uncomfortable Totem Pole

Olivia wrote a skit for the Stillwater Elementary talent show this year to celebrate her Native American studies.

Skiing in March

Well the weather was amazing, and there was even a foot or so of new cascade concrete to bust through. All in all the girls had a wonderful time and so did Dad!

Valentine Fondue

How much fun can you have with a bowl of molten chocolate? Plenty. We continued a Valentine tradition last week by inviting our neighbors Mat & Courtney over for a bucket of chocolate! Audra had out all the fixin's, pretzels, strawberries, bananas, big chunks pound cake, graham crackers and even a few macadamia nuts(just to see if you'd had too much wine and couldn't get them on the fork!) but the winner and still champion of chocolate dipping - Aud's home made little coconut cookies(I can't remember the name right now) those things were amazing!

How Much Snow?

These pictures were taken around Christmas - the pics of Lucy in the garden (yes that's the garden) were taken on Christmas Day. We had a ton of snow for these parts - some of our friends that have grown up here mentioned it was the most snow they'd seen in their lives, others said the snows from 1964 were higher. We've been here since 1999, and it was certainly the most snow we've had here at the house.

What happens when the snow melts?  Well - that's the subject of the last few pics.

First Day of Skiing!

Yesterday the girls and I headed up to Stevens Pass for some early season skiing. They had opened on Thursday and the reports were that the snow was good (they had received 24 inches in 24 hours) and the weather was clear and cold.

The first trip down the mountain Kati had a pretty tough time. She was having trouble remembering all the techniques and she was out of control, stopped, or crashing most of the way down. There were lots of tears, and a good bit of angry stomping. If you had been behind me on that first trip down, and saw me headed to back up the lift - you would have either reported me to CPS or thought me a madman. I'd love to say that I knew what was going to happen next, but in truth, my ability to coach my youngest daughter is mirrored by my ability to coach my wife. This time I happened to give Kati one tip - to put her hands on her knees - that she somehow followed and all the muscle memories kicked it. The second trip, and all subsequent trips, were fun and flawless (mostly because I kept my mouth shut and let the girls ski)

Olivia had no problems. She had been up the night before, worried that she wouldn't remember, but her first trip down was memorable only in that she spent an awful lot of time waiting for Kati and I to catch up! She was wedge turning like a pro and flying down the hill whenever she wanted. The girls even found a little trail with a jump that had been cut into the side of one of the runs. Both were catching air (at least that's how they saw it) by the end of the day.

We had a great first day. The girls had a blast, and I did too. I love skiing with my girls as much today as I did last year - and I imagine it will always be that way.

Playdoh FEAST!

In Seattle - big snow means no school. The girls have been home for the better part of the week, Kati has been home the entire week as AM Kindergarten is pretty useless when you start 2 hours late (she would end up being in school for about 30 minutes). The girls have been troopers, playing in the snow, watching movies with Mom and even breaking out some toys that haven't seen a lot of air time in quite a while.

Photo's by Olivia

Gingerbread House

Audra snagged a kit at the Safeway this afternoon and proceeded to put it together for the girls to decorate after dinner. Great fun was had by all - and I think some of the candy even ended up on the house!