In the next edition of hallway pen pals, Meryl made a coloring sheet for Holmes to work on during his nighttime quiet time:)

Meryl is going to cooking camp this week and has befriended a number of animals along the way:) Unicorns still remain her favorite with horses a close second, but this calf here has become her riding partner for the week.

A snowy morning means catching snowflakes on her tongue on her way to camp! Snow has come earrrrrrrrly to Seattle this winter!

Snow day from preschool! Holmes initiated our need to shovel, or as he calls it, “scooping.” He LOVES to shovel snow.

Holmes just might like eating snow more than shoveling, it’s a hard toss up. He much prefers eating snow directly from its naturally landed surface (yes, he knows about yellow snow)…though I did freak out about metal surfaces and he is now, thankfully, well informed about not licking snow off of anything made of metal - poles, handrails, guardrails, you name it. Because we need our tongues.

Baylie!

Scene stealer, the pirate captured ‘Pirate Girl’ gets rescued by her foreboding and fearsome pirate…Mom, and her fantastical pirate Mom compatriots:)

Yearly check-up and we left exceptionally exceptional yet again:)

Melody’s marshmallow wreath making party is such a fun annual tradition…the kids ate approximately a zillion marshmallows and tapped into energy reserves no one knew existed.

We biked around to see holiday lights at night! So fun! And, so cold!

Learning from Lola! And Meryl is wearing a knit sweater that Baba (Grandpa’s Mom) gave me when I was her age!

Thanks, Lola! I scored a bracelet!

Her unicorn scored a matching necklace that works perfectly as riding reins too:)

Gretchen’s great sweater vest!

We’ll see what comes over the next few days as the weather front that dropped multiple feets of snow in Anchorage is descending upon Seattle.

Jenna brought over her plants to take care of while they’re off to Michigan to visit family…here’s hoping the kids can keep them alive! (We have the best of intentions, Jenna!)

Meatloaf night! Holmes made sure the freshly ground pepper was indeed fresh. Quality control is important.

This year’s edition of 2022 picture ornaments are up! We’ve made picture ornaments of the kids each year…and by the time they’re twenty-two our Christmas tree may need more than the liquid supplement in its water to stay standing:)