Snow and lots of pics

Questions I ask myself every other day lately:
#1 It's snowing AGAIN!?
#2 Does the outdoor themometer really say that!?
#3 Do my kids ever go to school!?





PICS FROM THE LAST MONTH:



Frosting!


Christmas morning


"Ahoy Matey!"


Having baby Amelia visit for a week was soo fun! Built in entertainment!


Of course we loved having Alan & Lindsay visit too! New Years Eve fun!


Ice Skating!


Sledding on one of the many "snow days = no school"


Emi's first violin concert


Happy 7th Birthday Clara!

Christmas Pics

Dressed up for pics before Church! Emi sang a solo in sacrament meeting on Sunday. She did an amazing job, way to go Emi! Everyone is excited for Christmas!

Catching up

It's hard to believe that the holidays are upon us already! I feel like we just celebrated Christmas about two weeks ago.....and here it is again! I guess that's what happens when you get older. I haven't posted in awhile, so here are just a few pics of what's been going on around the Steele household.


Clara lost her front two teeth! (sorry the pic is a bit blury)


Emi practicing her violin.


You know that hot, clean smelling steam that blows out of the dishwasher while on the dry cycle? James loves it.


Boy fun. James giving his matchbox cars a bath.

Camping

We set up tents in the basement and the kids "camped out"! We used battery tea lights and blocks to make a 'campfire' and told stories around the campfire before bed. The kids had a great time sleeping in their camp tents! And Mom and Dad enjoyed NOT sleeping in tents! :)

Trick-or-Treat

October is my favorite month. I live in New England because I love fall! The amazing colors, the leaves swirling across the streets, leaves falling from the trees like snow, mums and orange pumpkins on the front steps of every colonial home.....it's just so quintessential New England! Love it.

Okay, now on to Halloween. I love Halloween because a. it's in October, b. the kids get super excited about it, and c. all of the yummy candy! Enjoy the pics and Happy Halloween!


Emi as a pretty swamp 'monster', Clara as a witch and James as a shark.


Carving the pumpkin!


The finished product.


Jim is amazing. Look at this awesome pumpkin with horns, bloodshot egg shell eyes and goo coming out of it's mouth! The kids lost interest in the carving process after about 20 minutes and left Jim with the job. He's mister fun and creative in our house! Great job dear! The eyes glow when it's lit - very spooky!


The clan at our annual Halloween gala.


Rummaging thru the spoils of the night!

Acorns

For the past two months we have been hearing 'gun-shots' falling from our oak trees. Thousands and thousands of these monster acorns fall about 80 feet and bang, clank and crash into our car, driveway, deck and roof. Watch out, it can be very dangerous! :-)


Notice how many TALL oak trees completely surround our house. I swear each tree produces about a million acorns!


Look at the size of these things! This is why Jim's old Taurus is soo badly pocked with acorn dents. (The new cars are safely parked in the garage)


Another picture to show the gianormous size of these things. On occassion, the kids have worn their bike helmets while playing in the yard! The acorns really hurt if they hit your head!

The past month

Ahhh, I finally have my laptop back again. After 3 weeks without it, I'm glad it's home. It has a new hard drive, so it's as good as new! Here's what has been going on around here for the past little while.

August/September was a rough month, but I made it...and brighter days are still ahead. I recently went thru another late-term miscarriage. This one at 17 weeks. Not fun at all! I thought it would be easier, since I've done this before (only a year ago), but it was actually harder. Surgery went well, and physically I'm doing fine, but the emotional road to recovery is a long one. But alas, life goes on.

On a happier note, school is now in full swing. Emi loves 4th grade. She is beginning violin lessons at school along with continuing her piano. She loves soccer and girl scouts too. Clara is known as "speed-o" by her first grade friends on the playground (the boys chase the girls). Her fast running is also evident on the soccer field. She scored something like six goals at her first game last Saturday! Way to go Clara! James finally started preschool mid September, and asks at least every 30 minutes if it's time to go to school yet. He loves it!

Here are a few pics of the kids this past month.


The girls on their first day of school!


James on his first day of preschool.


Sister soccer stars!


James can now ride a two-wheeler....without training wheels! He loves it and does really well. I now have to jog on our morning 'walks' together just to keep up with him - it's nearly killing me :) On Saturday, we went about 4 miles and he just smiled and pedaled away! What a little trooper!