Long Overdue Update - Hope Everyone Had a Very Merry Christmas!!

We hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and we wish you all many, many blessings in the new year!

This post is way overdue but I figured we'd start with the snow. We got tons of the white stuff - I think at final count we had about 22 inches in all. The kids played and played and loved every minute of it. The best part? We had a white Christmas!!

Here are some photos of the kids while it was falling on the first day...

Here are a few (okay maybe more than a few) photos of the snow around the house. It was so pretty as it fell, I just couldn't help myself. I took tons of pictures!

Yes, I guess you could say I had a thing for outdoor lighting that day. It just looked so Christmas-y

***

Okay, now on to the Christmas Pageant at church. N and M were sheep. They did a great job and really enjoyed themselves.

Look at the little angel there on the left in the above picture. Don't you just wonder what she's looking at? And what might be happening? Looks like the little one next to her sees it too. Ha ha, so cute.

That brings us up to Christmas! Hope everyone had a good one! We sure did and the kids had a great time too...

I can't believe I forgot the camera on Christmas Eve but they had fun!!
****

Speaking of Christmas Eve, we had another sonogram on Christmas Eve morning and the doctors say that baby is growing well - she's weighing in at a whopping 4 lbs 4 ozs and that was with 9 weeks still to go! Whew, wish me luck with that one!! Please pray for an easy birth! And...guess what? They tell us she already has hair too. Amazing what they can see on an ultrasound, I didn't even know they could see hair. They took some 4D images of her but the umbilical cord was right in front of her mouth so they were a little distorted. That's okay though because we got some great shots of her eyes, nose and little hand and fingers. Very cool!

Here's the cord in front of her mouth

and would you look at that little pinky finger up there in front of her face?

Here we go, I had to put the belly shot in there! I know I'll miss it once she's here.

Ha, ha, one more...

***

I'll leave you with this cute little video of "D" He loves to dance. We had a video of a house where the Christmas lights were synchronized to the tune of "Amazing Grace." He loves to watch it over and over again - and dance to it too!

Enjoy...

Field Trip

M's class went on a field trip today. They learned all about safety and the highlight of the trip was to drive these cars on a special road just for them. He loved it and had such a good time!

Visit With Beth

Isn't he adorable?? Beth came to visit today and we really had a good time! She brought her new baby with her and I finally got to meet him! She and her husband live in GA but are in VA for the next several months. He's such a good baby and sooo cute!
M loved him

When the kids got home from school, they enjoyed every minute with their newest baby cousin

D really wanted to get in the baby cradle

and N got him to smile!

Halloween Decorating and a Good Recipe

I've been doing some fall and Halloween decorating around here. I enjoy that almost as much as I love decorating for Christmas. I guess it's the change of season, the air that suddenly becomes crisp in the early morning and evenings. Along with the change in temperature, also comes the desire to start baking. Another thing I love to do but in the heat of the summer, I don't do it as often.

I'm sensing a trip to the pumpkin patch is in order - with all of the fun that goes with it! Hayrides, corn mazes and pumpkins galore!! Oh and don't forget the delicious hot cider!

And last but certainly not least, the baking part of this post...

I love allrecipes.com and make a lot of stuff from the recipes I find there, including this one. It's for Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread and the recipe makes two loaves of this size or three smaller sized loaves. It's wonderful if you like the flavor of pumpkin and it makes the kitchen smell just as good! Rather than copy all of the recipe in this post, I'm going to link to it instead. So just click here

and it will take you directly to the recipe! I hope you enjoy it!

I'm going on a field trip with M's class on Thursday, so I should have some good pictures to share with you later in the week.

Have a great day!

Erin

It's a girl!!

It's a girl and boy oh boy are we excited!!! We can hardly believe it but here are the pictures to prove it!! Baby measures at 19 weeks and 3 days and the doctor says that everything looks great.
Look at that sweet face...

... and she even has her very own diaper bag and first blanket. Who knows, I just might pull out the paintbrushes and pink paint tomorrow. Just kidding. Believe it or not, I'm not sure yet if I want to paint the room pink or something a little more neutral with pink accents. Plenty of time to decide!

Have a great weekend!

Finished Steps and French Door Install

We put french doors in about a month ago and then a few weeks ago, a set of steps. These have rails on them so much safer! I don't even think the old ones were up to code so after 10 years, it was time.

At the very top, there is a platform about 3 feet wide and N & D like to sit there and play cars. The dogs like to lay there too in the sun.
Dad and Carol, I'll put some of the patio in here as well because I promised eons ago that I would show you pictures of it.
Have a great weekend!!

We're Trying Hockey This Fall!!!

Last spring, M went to a birthday party held at the ice rink. He loved it and wanted to play ice hockey. We checked into it and thought, why not? Let's give it a try! So he had his first experience with it 2 weeks ago and wasn't completely sure he liked it.

Okay, let's keep it real. He was ready to give up. "I can't do it." "I'm not any good at it." "These skates don't have brakes." (He's referring to the toe pick that a figure skate has) He likes the toe pick because it gave the skate something to grab the ice with as he pushed off to start moving. Yeah. Hockey skates don't have this lovely feature and he wasn't happy about it. So...we asked him not to give up so soon. Try it again because you only get better with practice and after all, after the 1/2 hour it took to get him fitted with equipment and suited up, he only had about 30 minutes of actual ice time. He agreed and we went again last weekend. He was much happier and he said he liked it more this time. He did much better too. He even wants to return again this Saturday. Yay!! So we're going to give it another go and who knows? Maybe he'll want to continue with it and play again during the winter season. We'll see. We're not going to push the issue.

Here he is getting suited up in his gear

Almost ready...

Okay, here we go.

See N there in the background? He's contemplating the ice. Hmmm...No. Thank. You. Those were his exact words when he got on the ice for the first time at the same bithday party last spring. He put one foot on the ice then got right off of it and said, "no thank you." That was it. He refused to get back on!

and he's off!

Sorry these photos appear a bit fuzzy, I had to take them through the Plexiglas window that surrounds the rink. It was a tad smudgy.

I know I'm too little to play hockey but aren't I cute?