Cute little ones

Caleb and Molly were having some sweet times together and I just had to get them with the camera.  It sort of negates all the times they are at each other's throats!!

Dave's dead rabbit hat

Dave's dad was chilly a lot of the time he was here visiting, so one night, Dave lent him the dead rabbit hat.  He was so warm, that he took off his fleece.  Well, not really, but he did admit that this was quite a warm and toasty hat.  I guess we know what to get him for next Christmas!

Wendy brings Christmas gifts a bit early

Wendy managed to come over before she left to visit her family in Wisconsin to bring the children their Christmas presents.  Hmmmmmm......now what would Wendy possibly get our children?  It is always hard for her to come up with something.  They are so picky and difficult to buy for.  Ha ha, Wendy always gets the kids.......PLAYMOBIL!  So Potter finally got the Noah's ark he's wanted (after playing with Wendy's for a long time), Molly got a bunch of princess playmobil, and Caleb got a playmobil train set.  Happy faces on happy kids.

Whoops, there is a picture

Ok, I didn't realize that Dave had taken a picture of me and Caleb in the church sanctuary while the other kids were singing.  Also, another picture of Molly that Dave clicked of her doing her bells.

Molly (and Caleb's) Christmas pageant

Molly and Caleb's preschool has a Christmas program where the children all sing some songs together, do a few dance moves, and generally entertain the parents and grandparents.  As you will see, Caleb is NOT in any of the photos, just Molly.  She loves to sing, dance, and get in front of a crowd, so she did all the songs with great enthusiasm!  Caleb just wanted one of us to hold him the whole time.  After the program, each class goes back to their rooms for snacks and treats.  Once again, there are only Molly's pictures.  Dave and Granddad went with her and I took Caleb back to his class where I sat on the floor and held him for about 20 minutes while the rest of the class snacked.  I did get to chat with another parent, who was also sitting on the floor, but there is no photographic evidence that Caleb was even at school that day!!

Granddad is here for Christmas

Granddad arrived this afternoon, bearing a blanket for all and gifts for Molly for her birthday.  Caleb, as expected, immediately went for the blanket.  His favorite game is playing 'boo' under the blanket and having one of us join him under the blanket.  Molly got to open two more presents, one of which was a magnetic dartboard that was an immediate hit with the children.  We look forward to having Granddad around with us for the next week!!

More snow!!

Lots of fun in the snow today.  Each of the kids was walking around, eating snow, and then making me take their picture as it melted on their tongues.  A bunch of snow throwing and snow attacking, everyone having a ball, especially Caleb who hated the snow last winter.   We went to the backyard and the kids all went down the slide, out into the woods, and stood under the evergreens as I pulled the branches and made it 'snow' once again.  This was the best time of the weekend!!

Molly's new jewelry

One of Molly, Potter, and Caleb's favorite birthday presents was the jewelry box and the accompanying jewelry and hair products that she received.  After lunch, everyone decided to wear some, and they all agreed readily to pose for pictures.  

Molly's party

Molly enjoyed her princess cake that looked like a crown.  There was not one slice left at the end of the party.  After cake and snacks, the presents were torn open and then played with by all of the girls (and her brothers!!)  I can't believe how grown up my Molly is getting!

Molly's Birthday Party

Molly's princess party this past Saturday was a fairy tale indeed!!  Despite the nasty weather of the previous day, all of her friends managed to make it to our house for a lot of pink, purple, and glitter!!  They made princess crowns, dressed up as their favorite princess then played and ate and giggled for 2 solid hours!!  

Snowy Friday

There was no school this past Friday due to the 6-8 inches of fresh white snow that graced our town!  The kids had fun all day long playing and shoveling, right up until the time that Dave got home from work early and the sun began to set.  It was our first good snow of the year that was worth anything, and the kids had unlimited fun!!

Thursday demo

Today was the last day of demolition.  We now have no more blue and white little tiles on the floor, the walls of the shower are completely gone, and all that is left in the rectangular room are the two small parts of the baseboard heat.  The new wiring went into today for some additional lighting (thankfully) and we went to the lighting store, picked out, and brought home all but one of our new lighting fixtures.  That one will come in next week.  We still can't get over all of the changes that have happened in such short order.  We did say goodbye to the trailer that has housed all of our scraps of the old bathroom.  Now we look a little more respectable in our neighborhood!!  Stay tuned, I think tomorrow some new studs go up in the shower area, as well as some walls, so then the floor and actual shower walls will go up.  Yay!!!

Mid-demolition

The first and last pictures are where the vanity used to be.  We will soon be the proud parents of a double sink vanity in coming weeks.   The second picture is where our icky shower used to be and we are so glad to be rid of the baby blue tiles and ugly floor.  It will be replaced with an elegant Swanstone shower.  Yay!  The third picture is where the toilet used to be and it still has some of the dark blue drywall and paint.  We are getting a new toilet that will match the other elements in the bathroom.   I really need to get a picture of the classy trailer that is parked on the grass in our front yard that the contractor is using to put all the demo stuff in.  We look really high end with that in the front of the house here at the holidays.  

Pre-demolition

This is what our bathroom looked like yesterday.  The nice light blue tiles, the outdated vanity, the lovely shower door and the new toilet, which actually moved to the kid's upstairs bathroom.  

Last birthday pics

Molly is now all set for winter with big girls gloves.  Dave is also testing out the new Crayola glowstation (all the kids, even the big one love it).  Aunt Jean sent a really cool pirate book that has opened up new vocabulary for the kids!!