Snow Day

Last Tuesday, we had a mini snow day at our house! It wasn't much, but we were at least able to go out and play in it a bit. It was actually Caleb's first time in the snow! Yes, it has been nearly 4 years since it's snowed in NE Columbia! When Caleb first saw the snow, we had this conversation:

Caleb: That's a lot of snow!
(Surveying the yard intently)
Caleb: But where are the carrots?
Mommy: The carrots? What do you mean?
Caleb: The carrots to make the snowman's nose.
Mommy: Oh, you have to buy those at the store. They don't come with the snow.
Caleb: Oh!

I guess he thought special "snowman carrots" just fall from the sky! Ha ha.

The snow really brought out Caleb's silly side!



Jessie did NOT like getting snow in her face.


Eyeing the back door


"I'm trying to catch snowflakes on my tongue like Lucy and Linus."


Our mini snowman!



I caught some snowflakes on black cardstock and was able to get some close up shots. I admit they're a bit blurry, but it was hard to get focused before they melted. I think it's SO amazing how much detail God put into something so small.

Christmas is for the birds

Back in December, my mom read an article about a cute way to recycle your Christmas tree. Basically, you put the tree out in your yard and decorate it with bird feeder ornaments and fruit slices for birds and other wildlife. She thought it sounded like fun (and so did I), so the week after Christmas, Caleb and I went over to help. We all had a blast making all of the ornaments and hanging them. In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we've gone back over to do it 2 more times since then! The birds seem to have enjoyed it too.

We made 2 different ornament styles. The first is very easy and is the least messy of the two. You just string Fruit Loops or Cheerios onto a pipe cleaner and form it into a loop. **While the Fruit Loops are more colorful, the birds seem to prefer Cheerios.

The second one does require an adult to help. For this one, you use waffle cones/sugar cones. You start by cutting the tip off and knotting a pipe cleaner to run through it. Then, cover the cone in peanut butter and roll it in bird seed. Done! It's basically like the pine cone bird feeders we made as kids, but much easier and less painful than dealing with pine cones! They turned out really cute. **Caleb did NOT like getting peanut butter on his fingers, so he sprinkled the bird seed on instead. This actually made it a lot less messy and probably a bit more fun for him.

We also put/impaled some fruit slices on the tree. When we finished, Caleb said it needed a star, so I whipped up a VERY ghetto looking star out of pipe cleaners and we let him put it on top. All in all, the tree turned out great. We are looking forward to making this an annual tradition and, hopefully, Camryn will also get to join in the fun next year!

Christmas Day

Isaac and all were all smiles while filling the stockings and setting out Caleb's gifts. I was SO excited. In fact, I was so anxious for Christmas morning to come that I didn't sleep all night! This was the second Christmas that Caleb was cribless. Last year, I was SO afraid that I'd miss the initial "gift reaction" that I made Isaac camp out in the living room with me on Christmas Eve. :) Our Christmas Eve camp out has now worked out, successfully, 2 years in a row. This may become a annual tradition for us.

Christmas morning is the one morning of the year when I pray Caleb WON'T sleep in. Alas, the boy who is usually up between 6:30 and 7 AM was still in bed at 7:15. I seriously couldn't wait anymore, so we put A Charlie Brown Christmas in and cranked up the volume. It worked like a charm. :) Caleb was so excited when he saw his new pirate ship that he turned around and covered his face in disbelief. It was really cute. I wish I could get the video clip of it on here, but you'll have to settle for the still shot. After opening all of the gifts, we made Christmas cookies. I've decided to make cookie baking a Christmas Day event for several reasons: 1- We are ALL home! 2- It keeps them from all being eaten before Christmas. 3- It's just more fun when you're already in Christmas mode. After cookies, we broke out all of the toys and played and played some more. What a fun Christmas!

December 2008

OK, I'm finally getting around to posting Christmas pictures. We had a busy and wonderful December! We got to visit with lots of family and friends, including my sister-in-law's family from Pennsylvania and my favorite aunt and uncle from Texas. I easily took a few thousand pictures in December, but I've tried to narrow them down (somewhat).

This year brought with it a few firsts. For starters, we let Caleb watch A Charlie Brown Christmas for the first time. It was an instant hit with him, and we watched it at least once a day throughout the entire month of December. Seriously... every day! I'm glad I like it too. :) We also made our first gingerbread house. Isaac and I had never made one as kids, so we decided to make it a new tradition for our family. So, without further ado, here are our December pictures:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...


On December 15th, my mother-in-law turned 50 (sorry for outing ya, Judy). Since Isaac's sister and family were down from Penn., we decided to have a mini surprise party for her. We went with a 50's diner theme, which I think turned out cute.


Christmas with The Emery's and Riley's


Visiting with The Emery's/Grace and Abigail's birthday


Christmas at Mom and Dad's


Lights Before Christmas


Christmas with the Burley's, Quesinberry's, and Phillips' Families


TO BE CONTINUED....

Christmas 2008

Pictures coming soon...

I promise!