never, ever again for at least 2 years

Austria was just as Sound of Music as possible. Our trip, however, involved more than beautiful scenery and that is where the hands-down-worst-road-trip-ever bit comes in.
You know how it is with us- travel isn't always romantic candelight dinners and sipping umbrella drinks on the beach. When we're going somewhere sometimes people ask me "Are you bringing the kids?" and I'm like "Yes, they belong to us...they are ours, so yes, we're bringing them. Duh."
First the flight- when I found it was three hours...well, that's like a whole vacation in itself right there. Is there anything easier than three hours, with no plane changes, no need to de-board and re-board? There is not. It's like going to a movie, easier than church because you don't have to talk in hushed voices or keep reminding everyone that they will have to live without snacks for 50 whole minutes. We made the whole trip with no electronic devices at all. Lovely.
Skiing, I found out, is not so easy.
Here's what you absolutely must be sure that your rental car has when driving from Munich to Austria: snow tires. Here's what you REALLY don't want to hear from the rental car place "We have only one car with snow tires- a two door VW Golf".
And if you do happen to find yourself driving from Munich to the small town of St. Veit, Austria with one toddler in carseat and 3 other people squished in next to that (and that's just in the backseat) well, it's essential to have a GPS system, which we did. It's also essential to have a barf bag, change of clothes and clothespins to hold your nose plugged for the remainer of the puke-smelling trip but we did NOT have those.

Here's what's fun; having tons of snow/Here's what's not fun; having tons of snow gear to put on so that you're not miserable when you go out in tons of snow. It's nice to be warm and bundled up in hats, fleeces, snowpants with suspenders, mittens cinched, thick wool socks but it is heartbreaking to hear that someone has to use the bathroom once they are finally zippered in to their bundling accessories.

It was really fun to hang out with George and Mari, to learn to ski and to watch the kids going down the mountain like pros and we had a good time overall....but here is what you must know about going skiing for 5 days straight with four little kids- Do not go skiing for 5 days straight with four little kids.

even sleeping

This picture is too sweet not to blog...Sloane even sleeps matching Lola. Billie reading Spiderwick book 4. If Sloane is ever able to keep herself awake through reading time we turn out the lights and Billie and Jackson each get flashlights to read under the covers. Seeing them do this is just what you thought growing up and having kids would be like when you were 10. It's a dream come true.

Valentines

Bill actually took a picture. People always ask me how I knit with 4 kids...it's easy...just like this.

We're having a happy valentines day as we pack up to head out on our Austrian ski trip later this afternoon. The kids are so funny and fun to be around these days. Sloane is really into watching these home videos of herself as a baby and it's hilarious to see 2 year old Jackson making up sentences full of big words in the wrong places and cranky faces when someone makes a gesture toward helping him. Billie, in these films, is a happy, dancing girl with clever negotiations. I can't even remember them being like that, it's so sad. And so funny that they are both EXACTLY the same as they were then. At the time I was wondering what their personalities would be like as they grew older but they haven't changed one bit over the years.

The other day when I was looking through Molly's closet I had to admit that she has a much better wardrobe than I do. Lola does as well- her shoe collection alone is worth more than our van.

What my hair looks like

My hair is so much cooler than the rest of me.

Cortopolis

I don't have to remind myself that Cort is just a little boy. He's VERY little boy. He's cuddly and sweet and awful and he eats ALL the time. Cort has a teeny tiny vocabulary because he's perfected the art of pointing and grunting. He's got 5 of us running to do his bidding with that little point and grunt technique. When he's in his little toddler gymnastics class all the little girls his age are so verbal. The girls are all practically "Oh my, isn't this a charming dance around the parachute" and when I ask Cort do you want to dance? He just points and says "Ba!" He has plenty of signs and a few words but he's really made his needs quite clear and we all know the subtle differences between 'Baa'(that!), 'Da' (I want it), 'Na na na' (no no no), Nana (banana), 'Mama' (mommy or daddy), 'Baba' (Billie), and 'BA'(ball). He also has a word for drink but it's the noise we used to play Indians before we knew to call them Native Americans, using your hand to block off part of the sound coming from your mouth during a loud "Ahhhh" so that the sound keeps bobbing up and down. It's very annoying and we get him a drink right away to stop the noise.

Sloane-y Bologna

Frustration and then joy. That's Sloane. "I'm so MAD..okay now I'm happy."

then there's Jack

Jackson is a complicated kid. He's so sensitive and I keep waiting for him to outgrow it. He wakes up every morning before the rest of the house and silently climbs into the giant beanbag- sometimes dressing first. When I wake up in the morning I know I'll find him curled up with a book. Or, with crazy bed hair- working on deciphering or writing out a code. He's strong and smart and amazing and also totally immature. It's often hard for me to remember that he's just a six year old boy. He's a little boy- he dresses up in costumes and plays with stuffed animals. But he churns through academics like they're cake and beats out is his big sis in a lot of areas (and she's no dummy!). When ever we leave the house he has one of his 'guys' with him and usually the guy is wearing a sweater hand knitted by Jackson. If something doesn't go the way he wants it he gets mad and it's like you can almost see a tornado whirring up inside him. Jackson is the reason I'm constantly pouring over parenting books.

Composing works of art

I love these pictures of Billie. This is how she is 98% of the time. She's really very happy, enthusiastic and loves everything and everyone. Here she is composing her own music. She plays a few notes, then thinks about it, then plays a little differently and then puts her pencil to her mouth and then says "Yeah! That's it!" and scribbles onto her paper.
A few days later when she goes to play it, it sounds all off. "Mom?" she calls. I turned the paper right side up and now it's all good again.
Billie is taking piano and Jackson is not. Being just 15 months apart they are in the same gymnastics class, the same tae kwon doe class, the same soccer team. Piano is Billie's.

Excuses, excuses, excuses

See how close we came here to getting a Christmas picture before church last Sunday? Closer than ever before...3 and 1/2 kids are in this photo, sweatervests, bows and all! At least I got the Christmas letter out. Sat down one evening, typed it out and stayed up until 1am stuffing the wrong sized envelopes so they could get out the next day.

Each year my standard sinks just a little lower. This year one page with no card, no cute artwork, and no glossy photo was acceptable to me. I also forgot to sign our names...

At this rate, next year you might just get an empty envelope. Or...there's always a chance that I could IMprove and you might recieve a handmade card, artwork, picture, years summary and all. But let's be real; that isn't likely to happen until the kids are in college and at that point- sending out their Santa drawings won't even be very interesting.

I really want Christmas to be about the rituals and not the presents- we LOVE doing the advent calendar each morning, the advent candle each night at dinner, we went carolling yesterday, we'll open one gift each after Christmas eve mass, we make snowflakes and cookies, and my Christmas 'card' becomes less each year- these are our Christmas traditions.

Here's us now

Sloane and Lola. One of Cort's first words is "Lola."
Billie and Molly- all ready for Brownies.
Setting up the Christmas tree

The queen's birthday

pictures from 2008