Having a ball

There's a lot of fun stuff to be found at grandparents' homes.

There are grandparents (of course) . . .

. . . and cool furry pink ball thingies . . .

. . . and snowballs.

You heard me.

At the cabin yesterday, Dad aimed his snow blower at the back of Sean's truck, and Sean carted the load down the mountain for our snow-throwing enjoyment.

While the rest of us were risking frostbite making hand-packed snowballs, my favorite engineer concluded that it would be both more comfortable and more efficient to toss snow using a shovel.

Ally-oop!

Standing for Something

Look out world--Daniel has learned to stand up (at least when there's an obliging futon nearby to help him out).

I love the fact that our son was motivated to stand so he could reach a book.

Or was it a light saber? Yes--that must have been it.

Cover Up

Turns out it's a good thing I made Daniel's hat too big. Joy has decided it's the perfect size for playing . . .

"Where'd My Face Go?"

Oh, there it is!

Speaking of oversized accessories, who wants to wear a dainty little jacket to church when Daddy's coat provides much better coverage?

Food Chain

Daniel's at the head of the food chain.

Joy's somewhere between ice cream and brownies.

Baby and Bear 6

I took Daniel's baby and bear pic a little late this month because he celebrated his 11-month birthday by bumping the desk and getting a big bruise on his noggin, and the "rugby player look" wasn't exactly what I was going for in a baby portrait. I was hoping for the "cutest and best-behaved baby in the world look."

What I got today was . . .

"Hyperactive"

"I am WAY too cool for this"

"Enough already--it's my turn to play with the flashy gizmo!"

I guess there's more than one kind of cute.

Tamping

Long ago in a galaxy far away, I was really into rubber stamping. My ink pads have long since dried out but I still have most of the stamps, and it recently occurred to me that Joy might enjoy using them. I bought her a washable ink pad for Christmas, and now scarcely a day goes by when she doesn't ask to spend some time "tamping."

Allow The Joyful One to demonstrate:

Step One: Select your stamp.

Step Two: Ink it up.

Step Three: Press it down on the paper.

Step Four: Lift it up (this works best if you extend a finger in a small flourish).

Wasn't that fun? :)

Everything's Rosy

Some friends of ours have a New Year's Day tradition of getting up early and strolling along Orange Grove Avenue in Pasadena. They like to look at the Rose Parade floats lined up waiting for the parade to start at 8am.

We decided to give it a try this year, and we had a lot of fun seeing all the creative designs. Phillip was a little dubious that anything could be worth getting up at 7am on a holiday, but I think he enjoyed it the most.

Phillip's favorite float was Mexico's (partly because he served his mission there). My favorite was Honda's "Ship of Dreams," but alas, I didn't get a good picture of it.

The fishies were fun, though.

So was Taiwan's dragon . . .

. . . and a little local color, complete with a small youth orchestra.

It's hard to say what I thought of the Lutherans' Ark of the Covenant float. I appreciate their desire to stand up for the Bible, commandments, etc., but I kept expecting someone (maybe them, maybe us) to be struck by lighting.

And of course, the cavalry were on hand to keep order in case any of the floats got uppity and decided to secede from the parade.