Guess that tv show

Does this remind anyone of a popular 90s tv show? I already know that Julianne will be the one to figure it out. Yes, I actually did sneak up on him, this is not a joke. Ben is quite the handyman.

Sledding

Here are some pictures of Alena sledding in happier times. She has an ear infection so she hasn't been up to any sledding lately, even though we have a nice powder right now. She is even too sick to celebrate Grandma Dee's birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma! Your snow fort is still standing in the backyard. How is that for a nice present!

The sled cruises best on packed snow--the alley is a perfect place.

If you pull her fast enough she will raise her arms like a thrill-seeker on Adventureland's Tornado. Apparently Daddy isn't going fast enough.

Sometimes you have to make do with what you have

Happy Birthday Grandpa Ed!

What were you feeding this baby?

Answer:

No, no, Jones!

Who is getting yelled at?

Alena is yelling at someone--who is it, and why?
a.) Jones, eating the phone book
b.) Daddy, playing with Alena's toys
c.) Ruby, scratching the carpet
(No, there is no option of yelling at Mommy. She never does anything wrong!)

Knee walking

This is Alena's traditional form of walking.

Alena Walking

Alena doing a little forced foot walking. She still prefers knee-walking.

Alena's walking update

Alena walked on her feet last night several times, including a 5 foot stretch. Will she be walking today, or revert back to knee-walking? If she does more of that newfangled foot walking I will try to get some video.

Snow baby

We survived the blizzard on Wednesday. It was a snow day for Daddy, even, as all of his jobs were closed! I made Jannie rolls in the tradition of a snow day. We had to keep them in the microwave so the cats wouldn't eat them. Yesterday we forgot to protect them and they were half-eaten on the floor when we came home (at least there were only two left.) Ruby! Alena liked sitting in the snow and eating it. She also liked sledding on Wednesday. Yesterday she hated it. She is a baby of extremes.

Getting bundled up in Cousin Lily's snowsuit. She was pretty much immobile in this thing. She could hardly sit up.

Alena had to sit in the wagon while Mom went up in the garage attic to get the sleds.

A visit with Santa at Hy-Vee. He was a little scary looking, but Alena was pretty much indifferent to him.

Alena and Tillie open an early Christmas present.

Feeding Jones with a spoon

I think that Alena is trying to feed Jones with her spoon. She does some crazy things to him, and he just sits and takes it. Later today she rested her head on him like she likes doing and he licked her hair.

Pictures for Julianne

Because Julianne loves kitty pictures, here are a couple:

Alena giving Jones a hug. Today they were looking out the window at it snowing. Alena was laughing, either at the snow or at Jones.

Here are the guts from the butternut squash. Ruby jumped up on the counter, grabbed the squash guts, and then carried them down to the basement to eat them. This is not good cat behavior.

Decorating the Christmas tree

Saturday night we followed our Christmas tradition of driving the Altima to Hy-Vee and sticking a tree in the trunk. We decorated our Christmas tree on Sunday. Alena was very good at helping. First, she hung the watering can on a branch. Then, we got out the decorations and she got to choose what she wanted to hang on the tree. The first thing she picked up was the only glass ornament I had lying out. Because of Alena's unpredictablilty and the friskiness of the cats (Ruby has already climbed the tree) we did not hang most of our good ornaments this year. But it still turned out pretty.

Mom helps Alena hang up the ornament that she selected. This was a hard one to hang up!

A grumpy baby on a rocking horse

Alena's dance

Alena is still playing with her Winnie the Pooh birthday card. It plays music when opened--good enough to dance to!

Strolling

When I was cleaning out the basement I saw our rollerblades (which haven't been used in a couple years.) We went to the Cedar Valley trail which is paved, flat, and straight--all of the things I need before I will strap on rollerblades! Dad tuned up the jogging stroller and got the brakes working. On the way to the trail it was raining, but nothing would deter us! It stopped right when we pulled into the parking lot and turned out to be a nice day, though a little cloudy.

Dad pushes Alena while she eats a cookie. She also brought her phone call just in case any important calls came in. Alena always comes prepared. Although she did forget her ducky hat. Dad was nice enough to share his red hat.

Mom passes Dad and Alena at the finish line, then turns around to gloat. Let's see you guys make fun of my pants now!

The end of the ride.

Alena and the kitties

Alena still really loves the kitties--and they are pretty tolerant of her. Ruby loves to jump in the bathtub after someone takes a shower so she can sit in the puddles. She also likes to help Alena take her bath.

They can't wait for the water to turn on.

Alena gives Jones a good ear scratching--and he allows it!

I love you, Jones!

Ending the nap strike

Alena has decided that taking naps means missing out on too much fun. She is therefor being difficult when it comes to naps.

Jones stops harassing Ruby long enough for a nice nap.

Alena finally falls asleep after a long day of refusing to nap. This was at 5pm. I took her out and put her in bed. She slept until 6:30 the next morning.

One more of the little flower

I couldn't resist a couple of more pictures of Alena in her flower costume. The following two were taken on halloween night. She was actually much happier wearing the costume the second time around (not that you can see that from these photos!)

Ruby

Silly Aunt Kristina--Alena isn't a kitty!

Jones and Alena looking at birds

Make yourself at home, Ruby!

Alena and the cats

We are now a two cat household. When I was picking up Jones last week, I found a kitten that seemed so sweet, I had to have her! She is a calico and her name is Ruby. When I brought her home, Alena was so excited. I think she thinks every time I come home now I am going to be bringing her a new kitty. Not so! This is the last one for awhile.

Ruby is very confident. As soon as she came out of the carrier she started playing and acting like she owned the place. Jones was immediatley smitten and kept making little meows and following her around the house. I told him to play a little hard to get, but Jones is a lover, not a player! After a while they were chasing each other up and down the stairs (with minimal hissing.) Later, Jones took a nap on my lap and Ruby took one on Ben's.

I will post pictures of Ruby soon. Here is a video of Alena trying to play with Jones. Sometimes it works out better than others. She has a tendency to smack him with the stick so he has to be a little cautious.

Trick-or-treating

Alena met Tillie at a fancy retirement village to hunt for delicious Halloween treats. The residents really gave the good stuff--lots of chocolate! And no one said "no candy for babies!" Alena went as a flower and Tillie as a strawberry. Maybe Alena will think it is more fun next year: but at least this year she stayed awake the whole time.

Tillie sampling her candy while Alena looks bored.

It is hard to crawl in this crazy suit!

Cannibal!