Sawyer's first day of school

Hours after arriving home from a holiday of travel, we were slapped with adjusting to a new reality. With Linds’ maternity leave officially over, today marked the first day of back to work… and more significantly, two kids in day care!

On “to do” list this morning: shower, dress, eat, dress the kids, feed the kids, walk the dogs, feed the dogs, pack E’s school bag, pack S’s diaper bag, bundle the kids, grab our work bags / laptops, scrape the car, commute to Hopkins, fill out E’s school sign-in sheets, fill out S’s school sign-in sheets, commute to Mills… oh, and get it all done by 8am!

The reason for the season…

Top: L's sis (Ashley), R's mom (Nancy), R's bro (Joe), R&L's dog (Maya), R's dad (Tom)

Middle: R, L's mom (Linda), S, J&T's dog (Carter), E

Bottom: R&L's dog (Griff), R's sis (La), L, L's dad (Bob), R's sis-in-law (Tisha)

Xmas 2010, v3.0

Continuing with the theme game, Xmas with Nana was all about establishing / continuing traditions. One tradition, handed down from Evie’s namesake (Nana’s mom, Evelyn), that Nana began to establish with the next generation is cookie baking… lots and lots of cookie baking. The most sentimental holiday cookie to our family is the Norwegian waffle cookie, Krumkake (or “scrollers”).

Shown above is Nana and E making a batch of Krumkake using the same iron griddle I remember using with my Grandma Evie, some 30 years ago.

Xmas 2010, v2.0

If the theme of Xmas v1.0 (the Maxwell version) was all about discovering the magic of Christmas for E (i.e. presents!!!!), then the theme of Xmas v2.0 (Grandpa Tom’s) was all about the fire truck. Evie spent hours playing with her new fire truck, watching fire videos on YouTube with Uncle Joe and digging through G’pa’s (fmr. fireman, by the way) collection of fire department gear, souvenirs and photos.

The frozen tundra of TCF Bank

Linds (watched the kids), my dad (bought the tickets) and the guys (endured the conditions) treated the birthday boy (me, 12/20) to a night out at TCF Bank Stadium, taking in one of the craziest and most memorable games in Viking history*.

Thanks all! Great night.

*The Purple lost 40-14, but the win/lost thing was hardly the biggest headline. The Dome collapse, the return of outdoor football in MN, snownami 2010, Favre's last game (?), Joe Webb's first/last game (?)

Xmas 2010, v1.0

The Maxwell clan journeyed to snowy MN for a long weekend and Christmas get-together.

The family time was great, as getting everyone under one roof is a rarity... but my personal highlight was seeing the light bulb pop on in Evie's head that all these funny colored boxes that had been piling up in her playroom (a.k.a. our living room) contained... toys, toys and more toys!

2 months

Sawyer Rose hit the two month mark on 12/13. Here's the monthly update...

A few of Sawyer's latest tricks include:

• Smiles, coos and aahs
• Fist-to-mouth coordination
• Bottle-blocking with her tongue (try to sneak a bottle to her mouth, you'll see)

A few of Sawyer's favorite things include:

• Her mom (it's only fair... E is Daddy's girl after all!)
• Kisses from the dogs (the only thing that consistently produces a smile)
• Being swaddled "Captain America" style (one arm out/up)

The blizzard of 2010

Mother Nature dropped temps well below zero (-30F wind chill) and dumped 18" of snow on most of Minnesota this weekend, the most since the Halloween blizzard of '91 and the 5th most in state history.

Too darn cold to get E outside for snowmen and sledding (plus, Dad was tied up shoveling around the clock!) but I don't suspect this stuff is going anywhere for a while...

Finn Lawrence

On December 2, 2010... Evie and Sawyer welcomed another "cuz", Finn Lawrence Furber.

Finn rounds out that "three amigos" next generation... for now?!?.