A "big" snow

It snowed pretty much all day yesterday and all night last night. It's definitely the most snow we've had in the boys lifetime despite only being about 1 - 1.5". This morning everything is white but yesterday it was really only sticking on the grass and trees. We took the boys out to play in it a couple of times yesterday. They really liked being out there and looking at all the snowflakes but they wouldn't really get their mittened hands in it. Nonetheless daddy made them a small snowman (read less than 1.5 feet) and since Jack kept insisting - cleaned off the slide and let each of them go down a couple of times. Overall it was a big hit.

Elmo makes music

On Sunday we went to Chattanooga to see Elmo Live! The boys were excited to see the "real" Elmo as daddy kept telling them but I don't think they really understood until the show started. They loved it and did better than I could have ever imagined. They were completely enthralled. Mostly they watched wide-eyed, clapping and dancing just a little. They remembered the letter and number of the day and were able to tell daddy afterward. By far their favorite part was when all the characters sang the alphabet song. I wish I could have captured the look on their faces when they started to sing. Pure elation! We went with a big crew of the Chattanooga relatives but need to really thank Mimi for getting the tickets and arranging the whole thing.

Post-Christmas/New Years post

Our Christmas was great and a lot of fun with the boys. They were really into opening presents for about the first 3, then they just wanted to play with those rather than open the others. They got lots and lots of great stuff and have been busy figuring it all out/taking it apart ever since. Santa brought them a Gator power-wheels type car. It was a big hit and on the few non-raining days we've had since then you can catch them driving in circles around the driveway. They don't really get the whole steering part yet but they haven't really hit anything so that's a plus.

In general news Charlie is now talking non-stop. He is very into animals and colors. At least once a day he gets out and lines up the 50 or so animal figurines we have naming each one as he does. Jack is still very into his ABC's and has taken to calling it the "alphtibet". He is also very into playing basketball and singing. My current favorite saying around here is "Looks like a soccer ball but it's a bead" referring to a black and white spotted stringing bead they got for Christmas. There is just something about the way Jack says "but it's a beeeadd" that is just too funny. They are both getting pretty good with their French. Both can count to 20 and say several short phrases. I'm going to have to brush up a little myself as they seem to know that I'm not that great at it and mostly speak it with Meredif (as they call her). Charlie seems to be about ready for potty training (Jack shows no interest) so I'm readying myself to start that soon. They have to be trained to start preschool in August so that gives me several months. It would be great if I could get at least one of them trained before the baby comes but I'm not holding my breath.