Calgon, Take Me Away...

It's not just this room, either!!! If only I could find my magic wand. Then Christmas would be perfect. :o)

Tree Decorating Story

Oh yes, I forgot to include the little story about our helper, Griffin. I was busy getting the lower branches clipped and getting the needles vacuumed up and the lights on while the rest of the family was busy ignoring all of my directions to stay out of the ornaments until I was ready to help unpack them. Kyle was letting the kids get into all the breakable ornaments and all of the sudden they came across the Huskies ornaments. Sophia was so excited and pulled a few out and then Griffin found a glass ball. Well what do little boys do best with something that looks like a baseball??? He threw it across the living room to his Daddy. Unfortunately it hit the step stool first and shattered! I rushed over to clean up the glass and was about to basically say "I told you so" to Kyle, but realized I didn't need to. It was his favorite Rose Bowl ornament... I figured that would help him remember that sometimes he should listen to the Mommy also. :o)

Oh Christmas Tree

And what a big one it is this year! Wow. I'm glad Nick and Kora were at the tree farm with us to help Kyle get it cut down and loaded up.

Griffin loved helping with the decorations.

Sophia did the lower half of the tree practically

by herself and did a great job!

The kids went up on the ladder much higher

than Daddy - he's not really one for heights. :o)

It is probably the prettiest tree we've had. But, we

will probably try to scale it back next year to save our backs, though!

Happy Birthday, Papa Dan!

I can't believe that my Dad turned 60 this year! I guess that means I'm getting pretty old, too! The kids helped me make a cake. Sophia is very good at cracking eggs. Griffin helped pour in water and oil. They both helped clean the beaters!

We just made a small cake (dark chocolate), so I had leftover batter for mini cupcakes that I topped with white frosting and sprinkled with candy cane.

Happy Birthday, Dad. We love you very much.

Choo Choo!

Alderbrook & Santa

We stayed the night at Alderbrook on the Hood Canal this weekend. We love it there so much! The kids both had a great time and so did Kyle and I. It was so festive and everything was lit up and decorated so adorable. We had a Christmas tree in our cottage and it was all so perfect. Sophia really had a lot to tell Santa this year. Griffin payed absolutely no attention to him. He was too preoccupied with the electric train circling the giant mantle of the fireplace.

Our pretty girl!

Santa is Sophia's new best friend.

This was the second time she went to talk to him!

The kids both loved swimming.

Griffin loved the top step in the hot tub (which was perfect for me, as I'm not much of a cold water person.)

Sophia swam and swam. She's such a little fish!

I need to get her into swim lessons. I know she would love it!

So tired by the end of the adventure.

They both fell asleep on the way home.

A perfect end to a perfect weekend!

I Still Can't Believe It!!

Sophia has been going back and forth on wanting to cut her hair short ("like Piper's"). I asked her again on Tuesday and she still said she wanted to cut it short, so I took her to Jack & Jill's and we had it chopped off! It looks amazingly cute. I just keep staring at her. She looks about 2 years older now. Most importantly, though, she loves it! So I'm glad I got the courage to do it.