Ice Skating

Today I took Ristow ice skating for the first time. It was great. He bounced in his seat with excitement the whole way there. We waited in a huge long line to get into the rink and then another line to get skates. It was all worth it to see his face when he stepped onto the ice. He absolutely loved it! He wasn't too bad at it either. We managed 3 laps and only 3 falls and he even passed some first time adults creeping along the wall. I would call it a success seeing as how he wants to go back tomorrw and do it again ;) though one of his favorite parts was oogling over all the hockey gear in the skate shop.

Snow Day Fun

We had our first snow of the season this past weekend and Monday was Ristow's first snow day of the year! So we bundled up, which seemed to take an eternity, and headed out the door. Well kind of. First, I had to find warm clothes that fit for both kids, Jessica was in boots two sizes too big for her and luckily Ristow had just gotten a bag of warm clothes the next size up from a friend. Then I headed to the shed to get the sled out, but the lock on the shed was frozen solid. Back inside for a cup of warm water. I finally get the sled out and go to get both kids out the door. Jessica, of course, now has a dirty diaper. Undress the bundle, change, bundle back up.
Are we ready?
Jessica is beside herself with excitement as we go out into the white wonder, though she seemed to have difficulty smiling due to the fact that her new winter coat was squishing her face ;)
Ristow got on the sled first and Jessica fought to get out of my arms and onto to sled with Ristow. After the first time down our tiny hill. Jessica was crying, not because she didn't LOVE it but because I was making her get off so I could take the sled back up! She and Ris went down the hill about 10 times and every time they got to the bottom Jess would want more. She has become my little adventurer. The kids had fun and now we await the next snowfall because of course the snow was all melted by this morning. That's Tennessee for you.

Here is also a picture of Jessica "helping" string the lights for the Christmas tree!

Family Pictures

Over Thanksgiving weekend when Jimmy and his family were visiting, Mom arranged for a wonderful photographer to come and do family photos. Unfortunately it was the same weekend as the OSU Vs. Michigan game that Christopher had planned on going to for months. So needless to say my family was missing a key element in the pictures. Bri was wonderful enough to give us a separate time when we could all be together for pictures. That time was today, between when Ristow got off school and Christopher had his next client, a 30 minute window in 30 degree weather. Freezing cold! We all dressed for pictures and we figured we could whip off all our coats for a two minute period and see if we got anything. Well Bri managed to get some fabulous pictures!
I still can't believe how great they turned out and before all of our noses turned red from the cold.
Thanks Bri!

Party Central

December is a busy and joyous month in the McClintock household. We have the privilege of celebrating both of my beautiful children's birthday in one weekend!
Ristow turned 6yrs old this past Thursday and he had a LEGO party here at the house on Saturday. It was lots of fun! I had made Lego invitations, Lego Cake, Lego party favors, the kids played Lego games and of course he got lots of Lego presents! It was a big success and most important, Ristow loved it!
Sunday we celebrated Jessica's 1st birthday! I was thankful to be able to use most of the same decorations since everything was primary colors and made a #1 cake for Jess. She did pretty well opening presents. She got a pink shopping cart which she pushed all over the house! She did not care for her cake but she sure loved the strawberry ice cream that came along with it ;)It was a ton of work and hopefully I figure out how to make it a bit easier with practice. We have got lots more years of double birthdays ahead of us! I was glad to have the McClintocks here visiting to help with the kids and party stuff.
We also managed to squeeze in this past weekend: Seeing The Rocketts perform, Breakfast with Santa, Seeing lights at the Opryland Hotel and putting up the rest of the outdoor Christmas decorations. It was quite a weekend.

Thankful

We were blessed to have my brother Jim and his wonderful family join us for Thanksgiving this year. We spent great family time just hanging out and watching the kids all play together. It was so cool to watch them and see them truly enjoy each other.
We did so much, from Thanksgiving dinner to Wii competitions, from High Tea (just us gals) to a movie afternoon, from hugging and talking by the fireplace to sharing meals and laughing with the kids during family photos. It was a visit full of memories and great times and I am so thankful that they braved the 11 hr trip down from PA. They truly made this holiday special for us.

Mazes and Marathons

Wow, what a weekend. Great weather, great time together as a family, great time with friends, just wonderful.
Yesterday Christopher worked on our leaf maze in the front yard. We are that family that despises bagging leaves, so instead we systematically arrange our leaves into a fun maze for Ristow and his friends to run in. Our leaves look neat and are yard looks pretty cool, it's a win win for everyone ;)

Today Ristow ran his first real mile. He has run bits and pieces of a mile before but not known what that distance really looks like. (heck, how many of you know what that distance really looks like? on foot anyway ;)
He did great. Christopher ran with him at a loop at a nearby park. It was so cute watching father and son running together. Ristow signed up for the kid's Country Music Marathon this year. He has to run 25.2 miles between now and April and then he gets to run the last mile on the course of the Country Music Marathon with a group of kids from schools across Nashville and cross the finish line! Needless to say, he is super excited to cross the same finish line that his Dad crosses each year! I am so proud of both my boys ;)

Meanwhile, Jessica played in a Hippo!

Date Night

Whenever we get a chance to go out for date night, we take it! Most times it is my parents who are gracious enough to watch my children, for which we are very thankful.
Once a month we are part of a babysitting swap with 3 other families. This past Saturday we were able to drop the kids off at the swap and then go on a double date with my parents. We had such a nice time. It was nice to be able to have actual conversations with them and not have the kids interrupting. We went out to dinner at Bonefish Grill. It was AMAZING! I think I talked about how good the food was more than anything else. Mmmmmm. If you have one near you and haven't tried it, I highly recommend it.
It was so nice to know that the kids were having a fun time and we were able to just enjoy one another. We talked, we laughed and had a great time.