Ok, so I am using vimeo for this video to try to get better resolution.  We can watch these in full HD on the tv (and the kids LOVE watching themselves) and the web size I have been using doesn’t do them justice.

Anyway,  the video is below or click on the link to see the video larger (http://www.vimeo.com/8629355) and enjoy – you’re going to love it!

Mommy Says from mikeconnell on Vimeo.

As promised here is a video from yesterday opening presents.  It is about 12 minutes so it will take a couple minutes to download the first time.  Enjoy!

So happened upon this scene in the back room this week.  Chase was trying to change Madeleine’s diaper and the whole thing had us laughing uncontrollably until the very end!

Merry Christmas -Happy Holidays – Happy Chanukkah – Happy New Year!

Chase and Madeleine opened their presents from their Grandma and Grandpa Connell yesterday and wanted to share some photos.  Rumor has it there is some video footage as well, but Daddy hasn’t finished editing that yet but hopefully by this weekend.

While they don’t quite understand the whole holiday concept they did enjoy opening their presents and playing with their new toys.

Love to everyone and enjoy!

Getting started

Chase seems to be in the lead.

So he thoughtfully helps out his sister.

And is pretty proud!

Now we’re getting somewhere.

Chase wasting no time tearing stuff apart.

And the bell was the big winner here!

My little peanut.

It appears Chase found a pen and some “paper” – actually a box from his present.

Can you tell he had chocolate milk this morning?

Taking a break from presents to sample Daddy’s toast.


And a bit of exercise!

Maddyadeleine with her ponytail – it makes her look so old!

One of these days I will get a photo of her that really shows how adorable she is.  There are times she looks like a little porcelain doll and is just SO precious.

Back for round 2.

OK, seriously give us the good stuff!

Maddy getting started opening her tractor!

Until Chase takes over!

Chase is sad all of the presents are finished.

Daddy is sad he left Chase alone with the pen

Merry Christmas and check back for some videos soon!

So after the snow storm a couple of weeks ago we had over a week of very cold temperatures.  It was around -5 to -10 at night and maybe would get to 10 during the day.  The cold finally broke and we have had a warmer temperatures this week and pretty much all of the snow is gone here in town – although it sounds like the mountain is having a great year snow wise.

No photos today, but I did want to share some things about the kids that I never seem to include.  Chase & Madeleine are at a super fun age now and along with that are new challenges for mom & dad.  Apparently they think we create everything so they just ask for more of everything.  When it is things like water, milk, food etc. we can handle that.  When it is a request for more cows (“mo tows”) when we are driving down the road that is a little more difficult to fulfill.  They started with the cow requests a month or two ago and would get super upset when they couldn’t see another cow on request.  Now we are including school buses, big trucks and choo choo trains to list so it makes for interesting car rides at times. 

Gone are the days when we could simply grab whatever clothes were handy for the day and throw them on the kids.  Chase and Madeleine have different tastes and preferences depending on the day and sometimes the clothing combinations are interesting to say the least.  Letting them have a say in what they wear takes a little longer, but in the big scheme of things is a pretty easy thing to deal with.  Although for the second night in a row Chase has insisted on wearing only a red winter vest and diaper to bed – we’ll see how long this phase lasts.

The weather forecast for today was for a chance of flurries today.  Well we woke up to about 3″ and it hasn’t stopped snowing yet.  Right now we are probably over 15″ of powder and it is suppose to keep snowing overnight.  I haven’t seen powder like this before as it is so dry here and haven’t seen this much snow in a few years.

This set of images is from last week when the kids were getting ready for nap.  They were so cute and took their books and laid down next to each other on daddy’s pillow.

We had a weird frost last week – there were tons of these “icicles” standing up in the back yard.

Well before the snow, the kids wanted to go out on the tricycle.  So we bundled them up and I took them around the block.  Yes that is Chase yelling at the cat to get back inside in the first image.

There is a lot of tall grass around here and while I haven’t taken much time to shoot it I did like the image below.

Chase is peeling his first orange – he was very proud of himself.
  

Madeleine likes to hide behind Chase’s chair and then jump out and scream.   It’s a super cute game and they are almost playing hide ‘n seek sometimes.

OK, so yesterday we went up to the snow to go sledding and today we woke up to about 4″ here in town.  It is supposed to be in the mid to upper 40s this week so it won’t last that long but it was surprising to see that much snow when the forecast was for rain.

So in my effort to catch up on photos we have a few more from the past couple of weeks.

Here are the kids at their preschool for Halloween.  Chase was a little more cooperative on this day than Madeleine and they didn’t really grasp the concept but they liked going “Boo!”

And then we have this……  with the start of potty training there have been occasional bouts of protests over wearing our diapers.  In addition to not wanting to wear diapers on this particular morning we also HAD to wear our coats.  Needless to say “we” were really happy about this.

So as you can probably tell these images are from a while ago when it was short sleeve weather here.  This is a great playground and park near our house that the kids love. 

 

So on this morning Chase decided he HAD to wear a dress.  He threw a fit until we actually put it on him, flipflops and all.  He sure is pretty isn’t he?
 

and don’t you ever tell anyone about this!

The kids are starting to potty train.  Actually they (Madeleine) wanted to start and we have been encouraging it.  Chase followed along at first but didn’t really understand what the fuss was about.  Now they both go potty on the toilet several times a day but we aren’t quite ready to get rid of the diapers yet.

I walked in on this scene and couldn’t pass up the photo.  In case you didn’t see, the book Chase brought with him is The Art of Parenting Twins!

Moving in on Madeleine’s turf! 

There is gymnastics academy in town that has open play for kids under 5 at certain times and the kids LOVE it.  Most places you go there are rules to follow etc.  Here it is go have fun in the gym and really nothing is off limits.  They can play on the open floor, swing on the rings, run down the trampoline hang from the bars etc.  Of course we are with them the whole time but Chase and Madeleine really like going here.  These images are from late September and they can do so much more now than they could then!

   

On the trampoline

They also bring out this little car that has it’s own little ramp/track and they love to ride down the ramp and then push the car back up.

Working on our jumping skills

and our landings

On this day Chase was the only one that wanted to jump off the box.  The last time we went, Madeleine kept jumping and jumping.

OK so it has been WAY too long since we had new images up and while we have been super busy I know that just isn’t an excuse.  So today we went up to a snow park about 15 minutes from the house and let the kids play in the snow and try sledding for the first time.  There isn’t any snow in Bend right now, but at the park there was probably about a foot of powder.  A few miles more up the road is Mt. Bachelor – the ski resort opened yesterday and they have already had 80″ of snow this season!

Here is a video of the kids from a couple of weeks ago playing in the house.  Not a low going on just super cute interaction.

This is from this morning at Wanoga Sno Park.  While the kids have seen snow this is their first real chance to play in it.  Madeleine even laid down on her belly and ate some.

Some more of the kids this morning.  I didn’t edit this down – figured it was better to get it online than to spend forever waiting to get the time to edit.