Sweetie with a sucker

Sarah got hold of a leftover Valentine's Day sucker today, and ate it while wearing one of the boys' winter hats.


This little girl needs a bath!


Where did everyone go?

It's cold, and cabin fever's setting in!

It's back below zero in Minnesota, and things are getting crazier than usual in the Gordon household. Lucas seems to have gotten his hands on our camera ... while standing on the kitchen countertop, no less.



Erin, Noah and the dogs settle in for a two-hour showing of "American Idol." It remains to be seen whether Erin kills Rich for putting this picture of her on the net.



The twins watch a movie while Sarah chows down.

Sarah eats Trix

Sarah was sick the past four days with a case of strep throat, and tonight her appetite came roaring back. So she ate some Trix...



... she tried it without her spoon, a la Wilbur the Pig in "Charlotte's Web," her new favorite movie.



"What??? I know I'm supposed to use my spoon. I'm just testing you!"



Gotcha!

Sarah tries out preschool

Today we took Sarah for a two-hour visit to the toddler class at the Goddard School, which is a very nice preschool/kindergarten located two blocks north of our house. There are about 14 toddlers in the class, and at least two teachers in the room at all times.



Sarah kept to herself about half the time, especially when mommy and daddy snuck out of the room to see how she would do. She got a little nervous once while we were gone, but she never cried.



Painting is lots of fun!



The kids get to go outside and play for at least 20 minutes a day, even in the snow! Sarah enjoyed chasing the balls around the enclosed yard.


Getting ready to dig in the snow.

"There's gold in them thar snowbanks!"



After school, mommy and daddy took Sarah to eat lunch at El Toro. Here's Sarah trying some sopapillas. This cherry's for you, Grandpa Gordon!



Mmm, mmm, GOOD. Bravissimo!



Then we drove to Anoka to pick up Sarah's pictures from her 2-year photo session. She watched videos on the way, of course.


Super cutie!

Supermodel Sarah and some new 9-year-olds

Grandma Gordon is visiting us for a few days this week, and she arranged for Sarah to sit for photos at JC Penney for her two-year-old pictures. Sarah wore two outfits, one of which is a Norwegian outfit that Erin wore 30-some years ago!



Here's the other outfit Sarah wore. She had fun with the photographer lady!


Lucas and Caleb celebrated their ninth birthdays last weekend. They had several friends over, and thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Wynne, they all got to go snow-tubing for two hours over at Elm Creek Park. Then they came back to the house for cake and ice cream.

Meet Harley (Mud) Gordon

Erin came home from work one morning last week with Harley, a two-month-old male Pekingese puppy. Rich, who didn't want another animal in the house, says Harley's middle name is "Mud," although he must admit that Harley is pretty cute. Just not as cute as Mama Erin!


Harley has no fear of Max, who weighs 40 times as much as he does! Max has to defend his bone from Harley quite a bit, but Max never lashes out at him. Just has to growl a bit.


When Max goes outside to the bathroom, Harley sometimes goes along to learn from the big boy.


Sarah got a new puppy, too! A mechanical one (thank gosh!) from Grandma and Grandpa Gordon.


Sarah loves her new robot puppy!

Hockey Daze in Owatonna

The entire family spent this past weekend in Owatonna for a Pee Wee "C" hockey tournament. Noah's Brooklyn Park Pirates lost their first game 4-3 in two overtimes and a heartbreaking shootout, but bounced back to win their next two games and the consolation title. Here, Noah takes the puck up the ice.



Rich's bicycling friends Curt and Steve live in Owatonna, and they were nice enough to drop by and support Noah and the Pirates. Here they are sitting with Grandma and Grandpa Gordon.



Caleb and Sarah giggle after taking a little spill.



Rich exhibits his best impression of a deer in the headlights. Meanwhile, Erin seems to have channeled Saturday Night Live's Cheri Oteri and says, "SIMMER DOWN NOW!"

Erin and Caleb enjoy the game.



Sarah looks at pictures with her friend Jill, the sister of one of Noah's teammates.



Aawwwww!



Extreme close-up: WHOOAAA!

Sarah and Grandpa Gordon kill time at the hotel by watching the digital picture frame he and Grandma got for Christmas. Sarah just LOVES to watch pictures! When she wants to watch one of our home videos on TV, she points and says, "Show??"



We took the obligatory trip to Cabela's HUGE sporting goods/ outdoors store in Owatonna, where we saw lots of stuffed dead things on a fake mountain! Sarah also got to see the huge tanks filled with Minnesota game fish. Rich went nuts and spent most of his Christmas money on new hiking boots (about 60 percent off!) and GPS accessories.



Noah's Brooklyn Park Pirates team hoists their consolation champion- ship trophy! That's Noah in the back row, the second one from the left. The Pirates beat Faribault 4-3 to win their trophy, scoring four unanswered goals after trailing 3-0. Good job, PIRATES!

More Christmas pics

Mmmm ... Schwan's Push 'Ems!


Grandma Wynne watches as Sarah and Rich mug it up.


Sarah moves in on Grandpa's popcorn. Lloyd cooked some awesome meals ... prime rib and ham for Christmas dinner, a huge sausage-and-pancake breakfast, and he even did a taco night! Yum!

Christmas in Jamestown

We spent Christmas Day and the ensuing two days with Erin's family in Jamestown, N.D., and had lots of fun! Sarah got to ride Brownie the horse (which was Erin's when she was a baby), and loved it ...



... although all that riding took the starch right out of our little cowgirl.


Lucas and Noah watch TV and model the new sweatshirts they got for Christmas.


Erin seems to think "fishy face" is the funniest thing in the world!



Libby and Brian's kids, Peyton and Zane, are getting big FAST!

Is Santa here yet?

Sarah occasionally likes to run around the house naked, except for her diaper, of course. She hasn't felt well lately, but nothing too serious. Our neighbor brought over two big trays of Ferrer Rocher chocolates for Christmas, and Sarah's favorite thing is to unwrap the gold foil off the chocolates ... then she hands off the candy to mom or dad and begs for another one to unwrap.

The boys have been moving so fast these past weeks, we haven't been able to photograph them! Noah had a very busy week of hockey. On Monday his Pirates beat Wayzata 7-1, a much-needed win. Noah was on the receiving end of two heavy checks, one of which left him laying on the ice for 10 or 15 seconds. He said the other kid hit him so hard, it pushed his facemask into his face ... he's having fun despite the indignities.

Merry Christmas!

The Gordon Mob is spending Christmas this year with Erin's family in Jamestown, N.D. Grandma and Grandpa Gordon will be making a special trip down to have a nice "post-Christmas" with us after they return from visiting Ellaina's family in Oregon. Love to all!