Snow Day

Jackson's "Oh Mo! face. aka Oh no!


View of the Neighborhood...

View of the street!

If you have not already heard, New Englad was hit with a "severe" snowstorm tonight and it is supposed to continue through the morning. We are supposed to be getting anywhere between 18-22 inches of snow, plus 60-80 mile winds in some parts. There is a road advisory in effect, asking people to stay off the roads. As of late last night most public centers like the YMCA, Museaums have been closed.

Thankfully Brandon is going to be working from home over the next two days as his drive is already long enough with the most ideal road continues. My worked closed the offices and our daycare also closed.

I guess this is really it! The New England winters we have been anxiously waiting for. Today, I wish I had also asked Santa for a good pair of sturdy (and fashionable) snow boots like these:

Oh, and I guess a pair of long johns would also come in handy since I HATE being cold. There is some light that comes from all of this...We dont live in a house-which means WE dont have to shovel our driveway or sidewalks. Nice! Yesterday, we stocked up on some groceries. Santa brought the kids some fun family games and we have a coffee pot brewing. I think we will get through this one just fine.

Sandy's Dog "Pack"

The Dog Pack is a tradition that was started by Brandon's family when he was a Child. On Christmas Eve the Dog(s) suprise the family with a little gift. No one knows how the dogs sneek out of the house, drive around to different stores or even pay for the gifts, but the wonder in the suprise is quite beautiful for the kids.
The kids faces were priceless this year (click on the pictures to enlarge). Sandy, our dog was super excited as she carried the "pack" full of gifts on her back. This is one tradition that we are happy to continue with our children.

Christmas Eve

There is nothing else that warms my heart up like seeing my children's sweet sentiments and innocence in action. This picture is a clear indication that although as parents we make a lot of mistakes, we are still capable of getting a few right here and there. Last night, the kids helped me make some sugar cookies for Santa. Issy spent a good hour getting little eyes, scarfs and buttons on the snowmen. Later she quietly wrote another note for Santa and left it next to the cookies. It reads:

Dear Santa:

I made these just for you.

I hope you like my cookies.

Your Friend,

Isabel

It just makes my heart melt. What a sweet child we are raising! I love the Christmas Time!

Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

We want to wish you the Merriest Christmas yet!


Love,

The Chopko's

Our Trip to Winter Wonderland...I mean Vermont!

We had such a great time at Smugglers Notch' Vermont! I am sure I am not the only one not ready to come back to reality.

It was nice being able to visit an area of the states that, we may have not ever visited, had we not moved to MA. I never in a million years thought that we would have been spending a weekend in Vermont. I am glad we did because I love it up there! As soon as we got in to town, the radio stations were playing english music, but the DJ's were speaking French Canadian. SO FUN! The towns were super cute, cute homes, cute little shops, awesome food. I just couldnt get enough.

On Friday, we took advantage of the late check in to rest up (aka re-coup from my motion sickness), get some dinner, and enjoy some quite time together!

The rest of the weekend we took in the sites ( like the Ben & Jerry's Ice-Cream Tour-Yum!), the great food, the night tubing, kids fun zone, etc. Izzy is at an amazing age where she can literally roll around in the snow and have a blast. Which is good, becuase that is what she did on our "time off". We just loved watching her play! Jax is a different story... If you remember, Jackson, has never really been a fan of the cold, wet stuff. He did warm up to it eventually,only beucase he realized that it was okay to throw snow balls at us. Funny!

Honestly, I do believe we made some beautiful memories this weekend, so I really hope that we can do this again next year.

Birthday Boy #2

I posted as many pictures as I could without bogging down the website, but this was our little ones Birthday in a nutshell! We ended up not having a party for him, only becuase he doesnt do so well around too many people and why overwhelm him on his special day?


As you can see, he had a blast anyway! Jackson was spoiled with a fun filled day at Kid's Wurld (no, I did not miss spell it twice, "Wurld" is the name of the place). Let's just say that this was the perfect place for a two year old to hang. Jax and Izzy ran around, bounced, laughed, stretched- basically they acted like they owed the place! Afterwards, we came home to find a package for the little one filled with ALL BOYS stuff. He had a blast tearing the presents opened, and enjoyed his ninja bike, cars and even his clothes. He looooved it all! When we were able to put his toys away (which was no easy task), we played his favorite movie...Toy Story 3.

Thank you to everyone who sent all those nice gifts, left those nice voicemails, and sent birthday cards. We miss you and wish we could have been together!

Big Hugs from the Jacksonian (aka Jackson).

Ninja Wheelie Time!!!

Thanks Pappy & Nanna for sending Jackson the Ninja for his Birthday! Hahaha!

First Snow of 2010

First snow...well, sort of. A funny new word we hear a lot around these parts is snow "flurries" and that is what we saw today- lots of snow Flurries flying about sporadically throughout the day. It didn't stick, but you could see a faint layer building up along the streets. Today, the high was 22 degrees and wiiiiindy. Ack! I am not trying to be a wimp, but personally, I don't EVER remember being this cold in my life! The locals say that December is just the preview for the things to come...if this is the case....I am extremely nervous about what January and February will bring!

Bring on the mittens, boots and hats! Throw in a cute scarf and some hot cocoa into the mix and I am in Winter heaven!

2 years old!

Happy Birthday my sweet Jacksonian! You are the most amazing two year old in the world. What a lucky woman I am to be your Mom! We love you soooo much!