HairAnd cut

And it is...Haircut time.

Poor child.

He got a haircut some three weeks after his cousins.

Stuff.

Noah at Steak And Shake with hat.  He did not want to wear it, so we sneakily put it on his head while he played his game-boy.

Mama was more cooperative.

 Shifty eyed sombrero man in San Antonio

A happy Judah Indian.  This was taken just before the fit of two posts past.

I did not feed the bears, even though it looks like I am about to.

What we consider as a good part of a child's education.

Every fifteen-month-old should be able to sword fight...

...With Glasses

Yes, this is very important, more important than cleaning up the shoes that always lay around the house.

One little, two little... you get the point.

Five little happy Indians in a hotel room in the woods of  Chicago.  Hmm, i thought there were six. Where could the sixth little Indian be.

Ah, there he is, hiding behind the chair.  He did not want to put on his costume.  

Screaming lunging fury!  NOOO!  I will not smile for the picture  Nyaaah!

In truth, no one wanted to wear the costumes for the picture.

"Do it for your nice old Grandma who made you the costumes." Actual quote   "Yes Dad,"   Grumble grumble

Noah begs Judah to swallow his pride and pose.  Judah wears his costume twice a week normally, only, he was  just very tired.

This was all done after an eight hour drive.

Sledding

Ah sledding, that bliss that can get us through winter.  What?  Are you telling me your hills don't go through the woods at such a steep incline?

Teeny tiny people at the top.

Judah sat on the sidelines in his inner tube.

Not for the faint of heart, there are trees in the path at the bottom.

 I promise we did not need to call an ambulance.

Snow-hating Daddy was there too.

Noah crashed a lot, and Judah couldn't get his tube up the hill.

Me on a sled, though I normally went down on my belly, the hill was that slick.

Missouri doesn't get two feet of snow every winter.

This is the view right before you can't turn back.

Yesterday we took our Chinese adopted student, Lucy, down the hill.  She had never been sledding before.   There was no snow in her home town of Qingdao, which is a medium city in China, though it is as big as Chicago.  Lucy kept slipping in the snow as she tried to get in the sled.  As soon as she got on she took off down the hill, squealing.   She crashed into a tree at the bottom.  Once down, she couldn't get back up the hill because her tennis shoes slipped on the hill.  I went down and had her hang on to the rope of my sled as I carried it up the hill.  Lucy has a friend from northern China who says Kirksville has not enough snow.   However fun sledding is I am ready for the snow to melt.

A loss in the family.

Last night we went to Chinese New Year with our Chinese friend, Lucy.  We understood little of what was going on.  Noah, Hannah and Judah brought home balloons.  Judah's popped as soon as we got home.  He wept for ten minutes.  We tried to console him by telling of all the balloons we have lost.  Today, Hannah gave hers to Elisha, then regretted it.  She cried, a testament to  the griefs of childhood.  To quote Josiah, "Popped balloons are more numerous than the stars in the sky.  That's a lot of latex."

America, gloria in excelsis.

Today I put Hannah's fairy wings on Judah.  He ran in circles saying, "I'm an angel."  He stopped and looked at me very solemnly.  "God made angels, Chaella.  Angels tell things.  Angels sing."
"Judah, what do angels sing?"
Judah looked very proud that he knew the answer, "Holy holy holy, God bless America."