more christmas pics

i know i'm their mom because i just want to squee! every time i see pics of them in their matching christmas jammies.

much love and many thanks to grandmas and grandpas and 

uncles and aunts for making their christmas morning so magical!

snow day

a quick trip up to stevens pass yesterday to check out the powder before ski lessons begin next month.

also to have a snowball fight, of course:

and to all a good night

merry christmas from the wheelers!

dallin's first snow man

this pic is a late installment from two weeks ago when it snowed and school was cancelled and all the kids were sick and sooooo mad at me that they couldn't go out and play in the snow (like i made it snow *just* when they were sick so that i could relish in raining down sorrow and misery into their little lives).

anyway, dallin was not sick and built this snowman with his dad.

ps - it's snowing again today.

pps- go hawks!

the wheeler kids

as photographed in their sunday best in twenty-nine degree weather 

watching their mom do a pretty stellar impression of scooby doo.

nutcracker sweet

last thursday, we took summer and afton to see their first professional ballet, pacific northwest ballet's george balanchine's the nutcracker.

ian falconer (of olivia fame) produced the set and costume design, and it is just a breathtaking and visually stunning reimagination (think: red stripes!), to say nothing of the dances and the dancers whom i wished would just go on and on forever.

our group's favorite dances included: waltz of the snowflakes, coffee (arabian dance), tea (chinese dance), marzipan (dance of the reed flutes), and waltz of the flowers.

bonus: mere was in town to join us!

visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.

bonus: bryan came, too!

and after the show, we were treated to another little bonus: 

snoooooow!!

c'est parfait.

pucker up

we couldn't resist this cute little stand at one of our favorite local tree farms.

bye bye baby

hello, dallin.

nine years old

summer girl is nine years old today. 

here's what sister afton has to say about the companion she's known all her life:

"summer is kind and pretty. she likes to share. i like to play legos with her and sometimes we play doobie and weeo (it's a game we made up). weeo is what doobie calls his sister, who is emi. and doobie has a pet frog named froggers. one of summer's favorite colors is seafoam green. summer is a good artist. summer's favorite food is pizza bites. i think her favorite book is harry potter. we like to talk about stuff at night. i love my sister."

summer is easy to love. she is happy and upbeat (even when she wakes up in the morning!), she is obedient and caring to others. she laughs when you're laughing and hugs you when you need it. as far as ringleaders go, this crazy crew of ours couldn't have asked for a better one.

happy birthday to our girl with the sunny name and the sunny smile and the sunny heart who just so happens to take her eggs sunny side up :) 

there's waldo

hi, friends! 

my name is waldo.

i'm just setting off on a worldwide hike.

 

you can come too.

all you have to do is come find me.

wow! what a search!

notes:

*dallin had the best day EVER trick or treating downtown. he was nonstop chattering to everyone we met and kept chirping, "look! it's star wars! hi star wars!" "look! it's a princess! hi princess!" "look it's batman! hi batman!" "look! it's a baby! hi baby!" (to all the real babies out there).

*we were amused by how often our gaggle was used as a landmark for fellow trick or treaters. phone call: "uh, yeah, we're outside the coffee shop. behind the waldos."

*we didn't anticipate how many times folks would say to us, "we found waldo!" or "waldo! we found you!" we obviously should have seen that coming but totally didn't. the kids were a bit surprised by all the attention. 

*my amazingly talented friend, melanie, crocheted all the waldo hats for me. she used to think her husband had the biggest head. until bryan.

*i found and ordered a vintage woof plush (waldo's dog) that was supposed to be the cherry on top for our costumes. it'll be here november 5th...

*i never want to see another can of red spray paint as long as i live.

*the wizard's name is whitebeard.

happy halloween!

jack o lantern

northwest pumpkin patch

we did, incidentally, pick *the* rainiest day in october to go pumpkin patching this year. which was also, like, the only day of the week the apple cider doughnuts were *not* being served (which cider doughnuts are pretty much the reason i go pumpkin patching).

so an all around parenting planning win, for sure.

we couldn't even go out and pluck our pumpkins straight from the field #likeaboss, and instead had to rummage through what had already been picked #likeregularpeople.

epic raining sigh.

BUT, turns out the wheeler kids don't care about stuff like good weather, apple cider doughnuts, and cutting pumpkins from vines. they had an awesome time anyway.

(actually, missing out on the doughnuts was a definite blow. nothing a little gourmet candy corn from the country store couldn't fix, but, still, a blow).