Kids by themselves, kids with grandparents, kids with parents

Milena is either Supergirl or part of my dad's training for the next Ironman competition. (some of you probably think I'm joking)

An example of Fisher Price's newest line of toys.

Milena being very sweet. She was bringing toys to Grandpa, and got extremely upset when somebody tried to take her special spot.

Now Milena gets to do some bizarre Norwegian (or is it Swedish? Not that there's a difference...) child torture ritual. "Ria, ria rumpkin, kick you in the bumpkin." Or something like that.

Eli poses with a stranger who was at our house.

Then Eli gives that same stranger the loudest kiss he's ever experienced.

A very happy family - Mommy, Eli, a cow and a giraffe.

Just Some Pictures of the Kids

Here are a few pictures of the kids playing with Little People. Ah, Little People.

Milena apparently thinks that she is a Little Person.

Koleman set up a zoo with the Little People animals. He used the buildings to create a barrier to prevent any of his siblings from getting near him. Darn siblings.

If I understand this correctly, a peasant is driving his tractor to the king's castle, bringing his firstborn as an offering. Wow, Kelson has a dark, twisted mind.

Pictures of the Moment

Look, it's Kelson!

Koleman had a friend over to play. You'd think one chair wouldn't be enough, but it works when you're six.

This is Eli's ear.

Milena was doing her favorite thing, which is "playing food stuff."

The three great pianists!

The truly amazing thing is that the three of them are this close together and nobody is screaming.

A piano bench built for three.

The concert is over! Bravo! Take a bow!

"Thank you very much! Thank you very much! We'll be here till Tuesday. Tip your wait staff."

The Kitchen Race Track

Since it was so blasted cold this past weekend, and we weren't about to leave the cozy confines of our house, we built a race track in the kitchen. Thank goodness for cardboard and duct tape.

Eli's car is in trouble - he's hit Dinosaur Swamp!

Whew! This time he made the jump.

Kelson really, really liked the swamp.

Milena liked the swamp too. Funny, there was a Ring of Fire, Rockslide Mountain, a tunnel and a mudslide, yet they kept coming back to the swamp...

Here Eli has managed to avoid the rockslide, and is heading towards the tunnel!

Milena and Kelson got bored and went to their room. There wasn't quite enough room in their for both of them, so...

... they tried cramming themselves into the dollhouse. You never know what you're going to find those two doing.

Mom and the kids

I think these pictures are pretty self-explanatory.

Kelson and Milena don't fully understand the game.

Ah, to be young and flexible!

Family portrait time. Here is the Sick Family.

And this is the Strange Family.

This must be Normal Family.

And I'm guessing this is Sleepy Family.

Christmas Hats and Playing Outside

The kids all got fancy new hats and gloves for Christmas. See?

Koleman, wearing all of the Christmas hats.

Hey, let's go outside and play! It's a lovely January day!

These pictures were taken on January 2. The day before it was in the mid-20's, on the first of January, so naturally that meant ... a thunderstorm? We got lightening and thunder, and a nice coating of ice, topped off by a coating of sleet. But this is the closest thing to winter fun we've had so far, so we took advantage of it.

Milena was off to sweep away the snow!

Kelson wanted to play outside, but he definitely didn't want to put on his snowpants or hat. He compromised by watching us out the window.

Even though there wasn't much snow, the ice/sleet combination made for some decent sledding.

Wheee! Eli goes down the hill. It's always safe if you're the first one down.

Oops. Maybe not.