Neighborhood snow play

Just heard that we are having the "worst" snowstorm in over a decade. We have about seven inches and it's still coming down. We're hoping it doesn't all melt by Christmas!

We took full advantage of our quiet neighborhood today. First Ed came out with his sled and pulled the kids around our front field, and over, and back, and over again.

Then Kenzie's schoolmate and his little brother joined us for a snowball fight.

Finally we sought out a hill, which we found just a couple of streets over in a driveway. The four kids, plus a teenager who lived there, had a blast!

Transformer Canoe, by Mason

Mason drew this picture. He describes it, "it's a transformer canoe because it can transform. It flies and can land on water. Some of the arms are wings, some are canoe paddles."

Let the Christmas begin

We had the Bolam family Christmas gathering at our house this morning, so Christmas has officially begun. Here's our best pose...

Snowball fight

Snow angels

We got a winter blast today! Everyone made a snow angel, even Jordan.

Off limits

Mason has been dry overnight enough times that he gets to sleep in his monkey underwear tonight. I thought I'd be nice and wake him up for a quick trip to the bano before I retired. I found this note, however, discouraging me from entering. I'm not convinced that it was his doing because: (1) it's on the outside handle and (2) it's not his handwriting.

Monkey Roos

Alas, two dry nights in a row!

Redmond lights

We went with some good friends to Redmond tonight. We experienced caroling, a lot of walking in Christmas lights, a live manger, and anticipation of Santa in a canoe (who never showed). Here Kenzie met Comet (or maybe this was Cupid).

Saturday

Frosty, by Kenzie

Tree posing

Who's been teaching her little brother how to pose for a picture?

Court

I got a traffic ticket a couple of months ago. I took a left turn onto a road that had a sign in a tree saying no left turns. Kenzie has been upset with me, not quite understanding how I could justify breaking the law. I explained to her that I honestly felt that it was an unjust ticket, and I decided to challenge it.

I took some pictures, looked up some regulations, and prepared my case. I thought it would be a good experience for Kenzie to (1) see the process in action and (2) learn that the courts are a place where you can see justice (hopefully). I took her out of school early, and we went to the Issaquah courthouse. We were escorted into one big courtroom with 70 "defendants" and one judge behind a raised desk. (I was expecting a more intimate setting.) The guy sitting next to Kenzie obviously had some mental health issues. He was talking to himself about killing someone (yikes). His hands were bandaged up - he blurted out that he had gotten in a fight. He was first up and was immediately arrested, so that was an interesting start to the next hour! People were called up, starting with "Z" last names, so we got a show. She paid attention the entire time, asking "what are tabs?" "why did that person speed" and "he hit a bicyclist??" When it was my turn I took her up to the front. She stood next to me while I was sworn in, watching my every move.

The ticket was dismissed (yeah!)...and Kenzie high-fived me as we were leaving the courtroom. I think she was most excited to be out of there.

You and I

Kenzie was yelling at Mason, "You are so MEAN! You pulled my hair! Mom, look what he did!?!" She showed me a handful of hair on the carpet.

I tried to distract her and we started talking about school. She told me about Miss April, the school counselor. "Miss April told us about 'I' sentences and 'you' sentences. A 'you' sentence is when you say something like 'you did this' or 'you did that.' An 'I' sentence is when you say, 'I felt bad' or 'I am sad.' Cameron and I had to act it out! We went up to the front of the class. Cameron pretended to cut in front of line. First I made a 'you' sentence. I said, 'You shouldn't cut in line!!' Then we tried it again and I said, "it makes me upset when you cut in front of me in line."

Trying to reinforce the teaching moment, I called Mason over and said to Kenzie, "how about if you show Mason? Tell him with an 'I' sentence how it made you feel when he pulled your hair out."

You would have thought I told her that she was a child of aliens. Her eyes were as big as saucers. As she picked up her jaw from the carpet she said, "I never thought of it that way."