Music

Our kazzoo and whistle have become our favorite instruments lately. After awhile, they make Mom's eye twitch. We think we rock!

A Poem by Maren

Winter Poem

As I stand still every day and night

the snow falls gently down on me.

And when the last snowflake comes upon my branch,

I know that spring is here.

A Day at the Museum

We had winter break this past week. Dad was in Utah for a few days getting ready for his new job. After he got back, we went into the city, and had a great time at the Natural History Museum.

Playing on the steps in front.

Inside the Hall of African Mammals

Visiting the Dinosaurs

We found the backward pointing extension of the pubis bone absolutely fascinating.

We finally found the Easter Island Head. ("Dum-dum" to fans of "A Night at the Museum.")

It was a great day and we all fell asleep and snored like pirates on the way home. Thanks to our friends at Pure Gold for inspiring us!

A Note From Mom

A classic difference betweens boys and girls....

I'm washing winter coats tonight. Here's what was in Norah's pockets.

Here's what was in Harry's.

Man, I love that kid!

Maren the Magnificent

I am Maren the Magnificent. I love to do fancy magnetic magic tricks. And, my hat's cool too!

Single Ladies

We had a little "Family Pajama Dance Party" last night. Beyonce was the featured artist. We sure do know how to have fun around here!

Sometimes Mom just doesn't get it

It is perfectly obvious to us that this is not a mess.

This is a carefully constructed set up. We worked for hours on it.

Then Mom let Norah-zilla loose in the room. She doesn't appreciate the creativity and artistry that we exhibit.

(Please excuse Norah's diaper. At least you can't see her crack!)

"I would like to buy a hamburger"

Our neighbor Amanda sent a Pink Panther clip to mom and dad that made them laugh and laugh and laugh (even though they had seen it before). I thought I would try too.




Here is what I was copying.

Smith Family Book Club

It's been a little cold here and Mom and Dad won't let us out of the house. So, when we're not watching Zac and Cody, and driving our Mom nuts, we've been doing lots of reading. Wanna join our book club? Here's what we've been reading this week.

Maren:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick

Harry:

Good Night, Good Knight, by Shelley Moore Thomas

Norah:

Opposites, by Eric Carle

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Give Norah a little time alone with a stack of boardgames and see what happens!

New Year's Eve

We're glad we had some friends come and help us ring in the New Year, or else Dad would have made us play boardgames and Mom would have sent us to bed early.

It's Always Fun When Grandma Comes!

We love it when Grandma Jan comes to stay. We got to spend a day in the city, playing in Riverside Park




storming the castle at the Cloisters




and then Maren, Mom and Grandma got treats at Zabars before seeing the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center.


Even though we do fun things with Grandma, the best thing about having her here is that she loves us more than anyone. We've got her fooled!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was the BEST!

Norah with her Fancy Nancy Pocketbook


Maren with Books


Harry playing his Leapster under the laundry basket


Three happy kids


We hope your Christmas was just as merry!

Maren, the self-portrait artist?

Note to parents: no matter how lovely or adorable your children are, they will look like FREAKS if you let them loose with the camera on Christmas afternoon.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we always have a Danish Dinner. We have pork (yum), potatoes (yum), green beans (yum), rolls (yum, yum, yum), homemade applesauce (eh), and braised cabbage (gross). Mom and Dad love it all, but us kids just eat the good stuff.



After dinner, we have a dessert that has a hidden almond in it. If you find the almond in your dessert you win a special prize. Our Grandma always makes a real Danish rice pudding, which Dad likes best. But, Mom thinks that putting sugar in rice is disgusting, so she's always trying to think of a different dessert to put the almond into. This year we had banana cream pie, and Harry found the almond! He won Hungry, Hungry Hippos.

After all the yummy food, we have our little family Nativity. We read the Christmas story, and sing lots of songs, but for us kids, it's all about dressing up! This year Maren was Mary


Harry was Joseph (and a shepherd)


and Norah was a "Wise Woman."




Our Mom liked it that Joseph wanted to hold the baby all night.



Then, we FINALLY got to open some presents that came all the way from Utah. It's always fun to open presents from Grandma Veloy and Grandpa Dennis and our cousins. Harry and Norah kept fighting because she wanted to play with his R2D2 toy and he kept stealing her Little People Princess Castle. Go figure.

Right before bed, we left out cookies and Diet Coke for Santa. We know how to butter up the Man in Red!

Our Christmas Video Card

Norah lost a tooth

Just kidding. She just ate a brown crayon, but doesn't she look funny?

And here's a picture for the Grandmas out there. Mom says we're so cute we make her sick! She's weird.

Snow Day!

Our Christmas vacation started a day early! We woke up on Friday morning to a phone call from school saying that we had no school. We ran to the windows to find.... NOTHING! No Snow at all. Well, the weatherman was right, and by later that morning the snow was falling fast. Check out the awesome fun we had!

Kicking off the Season

We had a ward Christmas party last Saturday. Here's Maren with her friends C and P.



Here are the pictures of our Primary Choir. From the keen attention they are playing to our Mom, you can imagine how great they sounded. Can you see Mom's hand in the corner of the picture? She's fighting to get those kids to SING!






Then Santa arrived and all was right with the world.





Well, not Norah's world. She didn't want a thing to do with Santa. This is the one and only picture that exists to document her Santa experience.