Life with our little family of 3...

Ok so we don't have any snow here at home so we decided to go find some! So we took a trip up to the mountains for a day of sledding! There were a lot of people there and it was snowing pretty hard at times, even sideways! But we had a blast anyway! What could be more fun than a day in the snow with the people you love?!

So Emma woke up at 4:00 am thanks to the cat! Since we are cat & dog sitting, we decided to put the cats in the office so they didn't scare away Santa (meaning - destroy the presents and wrapping!). Well they didn't like that too much so they meowed and pawed at the doors very loudly to protest. So I got up to let them out and cover up the presents. Emma also heard all the commotion and decided that she wanted to see if Santa had come yet. I convinced her to go back to bed before she made it to the living room. I knew that if she had seen that he had come, there was no way she was going back to bed. So we laid in her bed for 3 hours dozing in and out of sleep until she bolted upright and said "It's 7:10am! Santa came!". And up she jumped to wake Robert. As parents we hope that Christmas morning is all that our children hope for... and again it was... Santa brought her Gwen's bunk bed behind her, Guess Who Extra and some neat things for her stocking. We g...

We have a friend, Gary who visits us a few times a year. Whenever he comes to visit, Robert and him usually play Axis & Allies. This time Emma really wanted to play too! Though she wanted to be on Gary's team... which were the bad guys... the Germans! But she had fun and maybe someday she'll use some of this knowledge...?

Here is our Christmas tree! Emma decorated most of it this year! She is getting so big! I remember when she could on get the very bottom row.

We finally had a little bit of snow the other day. So Emma went out as soon as she could to make her first snowman. She made this one all by herself! She was really sad when the snow started to melt later the same day. She keeps asking when we're going to have snow again. Not soon enough for the both of us!

or studying your eyebrows??? Emma asked me if she could play the piano since I was awake from my nap. (Yes I was taking a nap, Mommies get sick too I guess.) I asked her what Daddy was doing. She told me "He's studying his eyebrows. I told him that mine were High School Musical eyebrows." What?!? I think she meant to say "he was studying his eyelids" meaning he was also taking a nap! It was so cute because she was so serious about it!

Sammy is 11 years old. He hates his life sometimes. Can you blame him?? We don't have a toddler to torture him... he just has a dad that does! And a dog who seems to think he needs to sleep on his own bed! Doesn't he realize that what is Sammy's is Sammy's and what is Mac's is Sammy's???

for the perfect Christmas Tree. Every year we go out to try and find the perfect Christmas tree. It is quite the ordeal since we have a tree snob in our family! Before I moved to WA, I never knew what a Noble tree was. Well that has all changed because Nobles are the only trees that are worthy for the Rubbert house! It was SO cold the morning we went out. The temps at night are down in the teens and low 20s. So when we went out in the morning, it was barely in the 30s! After walking around and around and back and forth and around again, we finally found THE tree. I think part of the reason why we got this one was because it was in the sun! They didn't want to have to cut it down in the shade where it was like 15 degrees colder. It's our annual tradition for Robert and Emma to cut down the tree together. I get to watch and take pictures! Every year we talk about getting a fake tree because both Robert and I HATE putting on the lights. However, I would miss this part...

Emma started piano lessons this year. She is loving them! So on Friday, she had her first recital! Her song was "We Three Kings". She wasn't nervous at all until it was her turn! I thought for a moment that she wasn't going to do it but she did it! And all without any mistakes! We were so proud of her! And so was her piano teacher, Ms Kelly! As well as her friends. They all did a fantastic job!

A year ago Emma discovered the American Girl dolls. For months she talked about wanting one. We thought it would be just a phase and pass but it didn't. The dolls are pretty spendy so we told Emma if she wanted one then she would have to pay for half of it. So for months she saved all her money. Even though there were times when she wanted to buy something with her money, she didn't. She waited and waited, saved and saved. Finally she had enough to pay for half of it. So 10 days ago Gwen was ordered... Argh Thanksgiving got in the way so she had to wait a couple of extra days... But it finally came! She asked me for days where was it at and when would it arrive. We "tracked" it online. Then today arrived and she knew it was coming. It has been agony waiting... UPS sometimes is here at 10 am and sometimes at 8pm. We never know.. Fortunately he came at 12pm! Right before we needed to leave for the YMCA. (I've been informed that she is going to sit with me at the Y!...