Skiing & An Alteration

I know I've mentioned before my love of cross country skiing. It is the best. It's not nearly as thrilling as the down-hill variety (which I also love), but it is so serene. Even though the ski trails are less than an hour from our house it feels like we could be millions of miles away. And sometimes I need that escape.

It also doesn't hurt that xc skiing ranked as the #1 calorie burning exercise in Jono's exercise science book from grad school. The best part? It doesn't feel like the most intense workout (most of the time).

We were able to introduce our friends to our favorite winter sport this past week. Jeff and Katy were in town from Pasadena over the holidays and so were Sara and Andrew from New York. And they were both willing to join us in an adventure.

Here's Jeff with our little marshmallow, preparing for departure.

The girls: me, Sara & Katy.

Jono took on the challenge of pulling the Claranator. Thankfully this limitation made for a more level playing field for the rest of us (I'm pretty sure he's posing - I hope so, at least).

Stopped at a junction.

We celebrated our trek with some Didier's chili and yogurt. And then Katy and I did something kind of wild...

Yes, we got our noses pierced. Katy had one in college and I loved it. I'd been wanting one for a while but teaching always stood in the way. Recently I realized that I could actually do it. And so we did.

It actually wasn't all that painful or terrifying. The worst part, actually, was that I decided to watch Katy get hers, after feeling pretty proud of my toughness in going first. That was a mistake. I immediately felt woozy and light headed. And had to wait in the back room for a few minutes until I regained composure. Really embarrassing, I know. And to think I entered college having declared nursing as my major. It is a good thing I came to my senses and changed my mind.

Christmas

I know I said that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday but I was lying. Or at least it was a partial truth. Christmas has to be tied for first. I just love it for completely different reasons. Of course the actual day is lovely (and eve, so maybe two days). But so is the entire month leading up to it. The count down, if you will. I love the whole month of advent. I love the gift planning/shopping/scheming/wrapping nearly as much as the opening of gifts. The Christmas card receiving! The baked goodies. The lights (including these lovely ones a few miles away). The decorations. The gingerbread houses. The Christmas Eve Service. All the traditions. The time spent with friends and family. And of course, embedded in everything is the reason for the season, the celebration of Jesus' birth. There is much to love about Christmas.

This year was a pretty relaxing Christmas for us. We spent Christmas Eve and a little bit of the morning with my family. Since it was the Vaughn family "off year", my sister and brother spent their Christmases far away...with their in-laws. This left just my parents, our little family, and Ethan to celebrate Christmas Eve together. We invited our new friends, the Blomgrens to join us. It was a wonderful, relaxing day...

Clara absolutely adores her "Uncle E"...

She threw the worst napping fit I've ever witnessed on Christmas Eve and ended up sleeping for two hours straight with Grampy on the recliner. Looks comfortable, huh?

Here are Kelly & I with our little girls (Norah is fifteen months) in their Christmas outfits. How is it that I didn't manage to capture any family pictures?

Our little necky lover.

Grampy reading to the girls.

Here are a few from Christmas morning. As you can see, she was quite thrilled with her new baby doll and elmo slippers from grammy and grampy.

Then we loaded up our car for the .5 mile drive to Jonathan's parent's house. There we spent the whole day as a family eating well, opening presents, playing games and enjoying a relaxing day.

Miss Sophia was excited about all the action.

And both the girls had a fabulous time opening presents, sharing/stealing them from one another, and playing like mad. This Christmas was much more exciting than last year, let me tell you!

A lovely little Christmas dinner spread.

And of course the Hook family traditional talent show. This year Clara stole the show with her lovely Jingle Bell performance.

A great finale to our evening, which pretty much summarizes our stage in life with little ones: All eight of us gathered round the laptop to watch Elmosong, yet again, on youtube.

And it seems that after a long weekend of fun-filled time with family that I realize, yet again, that we did a pretty ridiculously bad job with pictures this year. Has anyone figured out how to fully enjoy their day/relax while carrying the camera around their neck constantly to capture all the great moments? As for me, I usually resort to yelling at my husband to... "Get the camera! Hurry! Take a picture. No, from that angle! Shoot. You missed it". And I'd rather if my tendency was not this way. Do help, if you have ideas. Besides hiring a full-time family photographer, of course.

Gingerbread Houses

After a weekend with about twelve cancelled plans (slight exaggeration) because of a sick little lady, it was really great to gather as friends for something a little bit Christmasy. Last night we went straight from our santa date to the Troupin/Nixon household for some gingerbread house decorating.

Clara was really into it.

For about twelve seconds. Then she decided it was more fun to play with the frosting and scour the floor for dropped candies. The discarded candy + santa's candy cane probably contributed to the fact that she stayed up later than ever before last night.

The others had a slightly longer attention span. The adults, of course, finished it off. And then we watched Polar Express. For about ten minutes before heading home for Clara's early bed time. She didn't sleep because of her sugar high; we should've stayed.

Despite all this, it was great to gather with friends. We had a lovely evening.

Santa

We went to visit santa today. And Clara actually liked him. She did scream for a few seconds (we missed our photo opp., sadly) and then she was over it. He asked her if she wanted a baby doll. To this she replied "yesss", which is a good thing. Her grammy has one under the tree, ready for the Claranator.

But it wasn't santa that Clara was thrilled to see. It was the stuffed polar bear. I wish we would've known. Taking a picture with the polar bear is free.

Goodnight Moon

This Christmas we decided it was time to get a flip video recorder. We called it a joint gift. Until now we've recorded small bits and pieces of Clara's first 1.5 years of existence via the digital camera. I don't think we'll regret this purchase. It's about time, really.

Our first official video? Clara reading her favorite night time story with daddy. Oh, how her little voice can melt a mama's heart.

The Little Things

One of the most interesting parts of parenting, I think, is watching our child discover what she loves. I know that we can push her towards things, but I swear to you it does absolutely no good unless she has the desire to pursue something herself.

Take throwing balls for example. Wouldn't it be great if she could play catch? We thought so. Of course we've taught her. She can put her hands up and catches the ball quite successfully. She can throw pretty well too. But despite our efforts, she will not do it more than once. She simply is not interested. We have tried, trust me. And then there's elmo, or her bike helmet, or pickles, or her tutu. These are all things we've exposed her to, but becoming slightly obsessed with them? That was all Clara. She certainly has a little personality of her own.

Even when it's surprising - or different than we expected, it is so fun to discover what brings her joy. Here are just a few fun things we've done lately that she's loved...

Spending time with cousin Eeya, of course.

Wearing her bike helmet + tutu + climbing inside her toy chest + being with her cousin. What could be better?

Helping daddy string the Christmas tree lights.

Watching daddy set up the toy train set from his childhood.

Checking out the light display at a park by our house.

Playing with friends at Mobias, especially "Pawker & Giffin" (two of Clara's four boyfriend obsessions, along with Levi & Andrew). And enjoying sweet little Hollyn & Amy too.

Riding the "choo choo tain" at co-op, to the music room (that + snack are Clara's favorite parts, by far!)

And that's what we've been up to lately. The little things. You can't get much better than that.

Picture Time

My dear friend Andi took some Christmas pictures for us this year. We (or rather I) kept going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth about whether we should get professional family pictures taken this year. Let me just say that I am SO happy we did it. I mean, come on. When do you ever regret getting pictures taken? My point exactly. Especially when they turn out at lovely as these. I love the way she captured our family and especially the Claranator. Check out Andi here. She has even more pictures from our little photo shoot on her website. Thank you, Andi. You are amazing!

Give Some Love

Tis the time of year. To grab your cup of hot cocoa and cozy up to the fire. To blast those lovely Christmas tunes. To bake the heavenly goodies and eat way too much (if you're me, at least). To gather with friends and celebrate the season. To buy a hat and change a life.

That's right. It's time to give the gift of love. If you know me, you know I love Krochet Kids. This is obvious because a) my brother-in-law helped start it but more importantly because b) they are doing incredible things in the lives of women in northern Uganda and c) their products are amazing.

If you are struggling because you want/need to give a gift but you want to give your money to a meaningful cause, look no further! Just peruse the above website and make your selection. Or stop by our house where we have eighty hats waiting to be sold at Jono's office and our church. If you order online, just type in "Jonathan.Hook" in order to receive a 15% discount. That's basically the same thing as getting free shipping!

Enjoy choosing your product! Consider yourself warned...it might be challenging to pick just one!

Elmosong

If you want a little glimpse into life at the Hook home these days, just check out the following video. And then imagine a little girl running around the house saying elmosong (all one word, or so it sounds) all day, asking to watch it. We're trying to regulate to just a few times a day, but it takes some serious resolve. It's good to know that of the 21,117, 019 views, we have contributed to about 87 of them.