A week or so ago Heather and I planted some herb seeds from this little kit that we had gotten for Christmas from my sister, Diane. The seedlings have started to sprout and Heather enjoys checking their progress everyday and giving them a gentle spray of water to drink.
Just a couple of examples of the things that keep us busy indoors while we wait for the first days of spring (aka mud season).
The kindergarten class.
Wayne in his classroom before the concert. They all wore these sashes.
And randomly, Cole and I went skiing behind the school while Wayne was participating in his cross country ski club on Friday afternoon. This was Cole's first time, and as it turns out, he's a much better skier than he is an ice skater. He did quite well and enjoyed it a lot.
Wayne during his ski club. They ski around the trails behind the school in the fields and wooded areas. An instructor comes from the Craftsbury Outdoor Center to work with them.
After working on a few skills, they play "capture the flag" on skis.
One of the finished products.
Later, some adventure in the Vermont snow. They worked well together, taking turns giving each other a push on the swings. They were so cute.
Switch.
In this picture, Estelle really had her heart set on making a snowman, but the snow was too loose, so they made a tower instead.
Making tracks.
Glover school winter concert last night. Check in for videos in the next couple of days.
Then over to Joanie's house where she and Estelle played "house" under the table. They're having a tea party with the Snowman.
Lena gets in on the action with some blocks.
Estelle was kind enough to share her slippers with Heather. I kept asking them to smile, which is how these goofy faces came about.
Maybe I'll get some photos of fun in the snow later. Stay tuned.
And Wayne's:
Heather, she's in there somewhere.
She tries to ge sliding but the snow is too sticky.
Wayne digs himself a foxhole to protect himself during snowball fights.
Spike invented a game of snatching hats off our heads and trying to make us chase him to get them back, so he had to be kept at a distance and looks on longingly.
Hope you all are healthy and if you want to stay that way, you should stay far away from us!
He is very happy with his new look and can't wait to show it off at school, if it survives the night.
We all need a new look once in a while.
And a family tradition - "Christmas Is."
Here's the big girls' table. Lizzy, Alex, Katie, Chelsea, and Lauren.
And here's the little girl's table. Heather was the only little girl.
Eliza and Curt. My camera was having trouble here form some reason. Sorry for the fuzziness.
After the meal, Peter had a game for us. It was kind of a popculture quiz with multiple choice questions about Christmas movies, tv shows, and songs. Please be sure you notice his headset and speaker.
Jeanne makes friends with our new cat, Patches.
Lisa and Dan during the "grading" of the quiz.
Paul and Martha won the prize - a left over item (candelabra) from the Perron reunion auction which had been donated (to the audtion) by Cedric. Wes had bid on it as a joke it for some reason but ended up winning the auction bid. It had been in our garage all these months and Wes tried to give it to Peter as a Christmas present - Peter then tries to pass it off with this this game.
Then the desserts - tons of pies and cookies, and candy, and chocolate cake! 
Hanging out in the living room. A few gifts were exchanged.
Then Wes, Danny, and Wayne went out to shovel off the ice on the pond. Here's Wes pushing Heather after he's done shoveling.
Martha ventures out to watch the skaters.
There was a big hockey game.
I pushed Heather and tried to keep us out of the way of the game.
Martha, Danny, Jacob,
After the ice skating we all went in for hot cocoa, coffee, and more desserts. 
