January Thaw

John was teaching a Winter Skills class in the White Mountains from Tuesday - Saturday last week.  I always dread these "Single Parenting" times.  I worry about how I can pull off drop off, working, pick up, and the evening routine while maintaining my sanity.  I think the anticipation is the worst of it, and this always makes John feel guilty about leaving the team.

But, when I'm in it, it really isn't as bad as I anticipate.  I only forgot a hat for Cally and my own school bag one morning and then got it together for all other drop offs.  I squeezed in a few ski tours for myself (and paid a little extra for after care at Poker Hill) and even got out for a girls night (thanks to Cousin Chris coming over to babysit).  The kids were in bed every night by 7pm and I was in bed by 9:30 (I'm rarely in bed before 11pm when my parenting partner is around).  So, I'm figuring out how to make the best of these times when John has to be gone, without making him feel bad for doing what he's always done.

I was even able to handle a Saturday morning with three kids under the age of 4 (my brief foray into parenting three kids) on my own.  I managed to do an art project, get them dressed to go outside to build a snowman, and fed.

And once John did get home, we decided to go on a "family date" to the neighborhood cafe.  Cal wore her professional figure skater's dress, formal slippers and new sweater from Nana.  Hazen just opted for his new skate boarding shoes and a red sox sweatshirt over a button down.

Even though the snow is melting and we are pretty sad about that, it gives us a chance to slow it down and have a lazy brunch with good friends!

Nana's Big 7-0!

Decade birthday's are meant to be made a fuss about!  So, when we asked Nana what she wanted to do to celebrate her 7 decades on the planet, she made it clear she just wanted to be surrounded by family.  With January being a hectic time in our household, we knew we had to put everything aside and make it down to Nana and Grandpa's for a visit.

We arrived with sleeping kids on Friday night, who settled into their beds easily and let us enjoy a lovely Peg cooked meal for dinner.  The kids slept until 7am and Peg whisked them downstairs, fed them breakfast and let John and me sleep in until 8:30!  I'm not really sure if we've ever both slept past 7am.

Because our visit was less than two weeks after X-mas, Nana and Grandpa decided to extend the gift giving madness and we had two little critters who were thrilled about opening a few more packages!

 Cally was thrilled to get a talking monkey (which made both her and her Nana laugh like little school girls) and a new book about her body (more on this later, but she's pretty much obsessed with the human body, the circulatory system and kidneys are her favorite).  Hazen was immediately throwing the balls that he got and using his new magnifying glass.

And both kids are looking even cuter than ever with adorable new Nana made sweaters!

Grandpa and Nana were kind enough to watch the kids for most of the afternoon so that John and I could visit with Mark and catch up with some of John's old elementary school buddies.  It was so great to see Mark.  He's six months out from the stem cell transplant and everything is looking great.  It hasn't been without it's stumbling blocks, but he's keeping such an amazing attitude.  The big news is that he was given the green light to eat hot food prepared outside of the home!  He hasn't been able to eat anything that wasn't cooked in his own kitchen for six months!  I can't even imagine having to make so many home cooked meals.

The real treat was getting to take Nana out for an adult only dinner with Lynn, Chris, and  Catherine.  Peg chose a trendy Oyster Bar/Restaurant in West Hartford and we had a great evening.

As Art put it, "I never thought, when I took this gal out for a date 51 years ago, I'd end up with this-- 8 grandkids, 3 kids......."  We are all so lucky that Baby Peg was born 70 years ago!  She's raised great children, been an amazing grandmother, and a wonderful mother-in-law!  May she have many more trips around the sun.

New Years Eve

And so we end another year in the Abbott families life.  The Top 10 List for 2012:

1. Hazen getting tubes (he's speaking more and hasn't had an ear infection since September-- after having more than six in the previous year.
2. Summer Tour de New England (Cape Cod, Maine with friends from near and far)
3. Cally being at Poker Hill (the best place in the world for her right now)
4. Bates Burning Man (surrounded by dozens of amazing old and new friends)
5. John's Birthday in Montreal (great culture and new friendships)
6. Katy's 40th Birthday celebrations (skiing, relaxing at the spa, the great song, and fun friends)
7. Idaho (being in big mountains with old and new friends, babysitters, and snow)
8. Finishing the front porch (and stringing it with lights for the holidays)
9. Down to only one nap a day (freeing us to actually go on family outings)
10. Christmas Storm (time for Mom and Dad to ski, but also having the whole family on the slopes)

We spent the last day of 2012 doing exactly what this family loves to do.  John and I earned some of the most amazing turns of the year with our good friend, Anton at Bolton.  We took four laps and returned home to cook some food for the Harris-Plimpton Sledding Party.  The conditions were ideal! I think Cally took 8 or 9 runs with the big girls (she already has no interest in hanging with her parents-- at 4!).   

And the best part was the lift back up the hill after every run!

We didn't make it very far into the evening.  With the kids asleep in the car, we did stop at an adult only party for 15 minutes, but I'm pretty sure we were all asleep by 10pm.

A White Christmas in Vermont

You've got to love Vermont!  Our neighbor, Chris Cleary and his friends (including John), spent hundreds of hours building a 15 foot tall mastodon-- with toe nails, tusks, and kissing wreaths as testicles!  It was loaded with fireworks and supposed to be set ablaze on the solstice.  However, there was a crazy storm on Friday-- with gusts clocked at over 100 mph on Mt. Mansfield, so the event was postponed until the 23rd.

With snow flying and temperatures dropping, we were able to share this amazing spectacle with my parents, sister, brother-in-law and neighborhood friends.  It will surely be an event that will be remembered for many, many years!






We were able to sneak in a dinner in Waterbury with Jamey and his family before the holidays.  It was a bit chaotic, but so great to see the cousins together.



One of the biggest treats, was getting to go out for a half day of skiing in 12 inches of powder with my best ski buddy in the whole wide world!  We poached closed trails, snuggled on the chairlift, and new the kids were having a ball with their grandparents.



Rob and Nif made a great Christmas Eve dinner and the kids got very excited for Santa to come:

 We had a great morning and lazy afternoon followed by a gorgeous late afternoon sled on Casey's Hill in Underhill.  With the alpenglow ablaze on Mt. Mansfield.




We had a traditional Thanksgiving feast for dinner and the kids had a great evening romping around and being playful cousins.

It was great to have family and friends around to celebrate the holidays with us in our home.  It meant deep cleaning the house before people came, while they were here, and after they left and grocery shopping and cooking a lot, but we loved the coziness of being in our home heated by our neighbors trees and filled with so much fun and love.  There was a bit of an emptiness in the house when everyone packed up and left today, but it was fun to have our unit back, ready to make some turns together on a sunny day, awaiting a huge snow storm tomorrow.  Thankfully, we still have another six days of vacation!

Celebrating 4 Trips Around the Sun

It was a perfect day and a perfect way to celebrate this amazing spirits fourth trip around the sun.  We started with butterfly pancakes with our extra special house guests:

Birthday Breakfast with Bumpa and Grandma

Lots of presents were opened and playing was done:

We got out for a lovely dog walk/ski up to Underhill State Park:

And we made it home just in time to get dressed and do a little prep for the birthday party before our first guests arrived an hour early!

Those in attendance for the kid part of the party were:  Ada, Piper, and Dylan, Hazel and Milo, Aiofe and Fenn, Addie and Mason, Tiller and Edie, Thompson, and Elijah.   We did some cookie and crown decorating:

and capped it off with buttermilk chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting:

It was such a treat to have Grandmpa and Bumpa in attendance:

And in case you can't see from the photos, Cally was on Cloud 9 for the entire party (which had a second part when her godparents, the Ganz Clan, the Whelans, and Marriots joined us) , which lasted for almost six hours.  She loved everything about it and we were really happy to celebrate her birthday in such a special way.  

Cally, you are not always the easiest kid, but you make me more and more proud everyday that I get to know you.  You are smart, inquisitive, articulate, sensitive, energetic,  thoughtful, and kind.  You make me laugh, you make me think, and you remind me everyday how lucky I am to have you in my life.  I can't wait to get to know you better and see the person that you are going to become.