Sleddin' U.S.A.

Dear Laney & Hagen,

Yesterday, it snowed most of the morning and afternoon, so your dad decided it would be fun if we all went sledding. Grandma Sue got your dad a snow tube for Christmas, which is awesome. Not that I'm competitive or anything, but I got your dad a new baby, so I still win.

Hagen was skeptical of the sledding plan at first,

and thought our time, like the other 90% of his schedule, might best be spent napping.

But until you learn to talk, you don't get a vote in this house, so I put him in a bear suit, wrapped him up in a baby carrier, and zipped both of us into Uncle Nate's jacket. See, Uncle Nate is out of the fleece business these days, so he left it behind last time he was here. I call it the "My Brother-In-Law Went To Live In South Florida Where The Weather And Beaches Are Beautiful, The Food Is Great And The Shopping Is Even Better, and All I Got Is This Stupid Jacket" jacket.

Catchy, no?

As always, Laney and Dad had a great time playing around, although I have a new House Rule that says, "If I spend 35 minutes getting two children ready to play in the snow, we must actually remain outside for at least 35 minutes."

Here are the highlights of the afternoon. Anyone who has ever seen an episode of Diego will recognize Laney's verbatim recitation of how to save Dad from the snow tube.

I would like to report that Hagen's first winter sports outing with the family was a wild adventure, but he slept through the whole thing.

Me and the baby = on the same page.

Love,

Mom