Let It Snow!

Well, it will definitely be a white Christmas this year! We have had 2 storms (with another one to come) that dumped about 16-18 inches of snow on us. And, since Michael is down for the count temporarily, I learned how to use the snow blower and snow rake.

For those of you that didn't know, Michael had knee surgery 2 weeks ago. He tore his miniscus and had to have it repaired by means of arthroscopic surgery. He was on crutches for a few days. He is doing much better and walking around with less of a limp. Then he got bronchitis. He has been on some lame antibiotics that don't seem to be working, poor Michael.

Poor Brad and Holly and kids, too. Last week in the ice storm, they lost power for 6 days. They stayed in their house for 2 nights, then a friend's house for a couple days, and 3 nights with us. It was fun, kind of reminded me of the Northridge Earthquake in '94. Fun for me, not them. :( Actually, I think they had fun. It was a big sleepover for the kids.

Anyway, we are ready for Christmas except for the fact that our tree is DEAD!!!! I hope it stays up for a couple more days because on the 26th, bye bye!!

Cole is very excited for Santa. This year he received the Elf on a Shelf. Oh my gosh, if you haven't heard of this, and you have kids, you must get one for next year. It is the cutest concept. I got it at the Hallmark store. It comes with a little stuffed elf and a book about the Elf on a Shelf. You have to name your elf, ours is Nate. He watches you during the day, then at night, he flys to Santa with his elf magic to report how the child(ren) has been behaving each day, then when he returns, he is in a different location in your house and the child(ren) has to find him. It is so cute!

The twins are clueless about Christmas, but it will be cute to watch them open gifts and then play with the boxes. They are really fun to watch lately. Luke is starting to walk, which is hysterical. He puts his arms straight up over his head and laughs at the fact that he is upright, then after 4 or 5 steps, he falls. Mallory is saying a few words, kitty, mama, dada, uh-oh!

This is the Christmas picture I really wanted to use.

We wish everyone a beautiful Christmas, and a healthy, happy new year!

The Twins are One!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday and were able to spend it with loved ones.

We had a great time at Laurie's in Virginia. My mom and John came up from North Carolina as well. We also celebrated the twins' first birthday on Saturday, Nov. 29th. We first went to the Arboretum to view the train exhibt.

We decorated the dining room with prince and princess crowns (that was the theme) blue and pink number ones, streamers, etc. We started by playing pin the kiss on the frog, some of us even played upside down and blindfolded! Then we opened presents (Luke's favorite was the recycled Shape-O-Toy) then had cake. This is more for the adults amusement than for the one year olds who have never had cake, much less sugar. Mallory dug in and did not disappoint us by getting it all over her face, hair and even in her ear. Luke was not enjoying anything about the cake, not the look of it, the feel of it or the taste of it! And, there is one thing that needs to be added in the Parenting 101 Manual, "Chocolate can sometimes cause diarrhea...often at 2:30 a.m.". Poor Luke!

I survived another round trip to Virginia with the kids. I guess we'll do it again!

Enjoy the pictures.