Weekend w/ the little one...

Assorted January Pics

Making a Pancake Man! From Little House in the Big Woods!

(He wanted to turn the burner on himself- I'm not ready for that!)

Little dancer enjoying a pancake man! I signed her up for "My First Dance Class" and it starts this week! She has already stated she doesn't want to do it b/c she has to go in the room w/ out me... she's so much more independent w/ her baby sitter than she is w/ me! Took the easy way out w/ the gingerbread house this year and bought pre-made kits... I miss the real one, but I don't miss the stress of having to work on it, clean it up and needing to put the frosting/candy out of reach from Abby every time we worked on the big gingerbread house... these were much easier, if not as creative...

Still sharing presents the week after Christmas... CHeck out the dolphin hat Santa brought Abby... she had asked for a waterproof dolphin costume, but this was as close as Santa could get (airmail from Hong Kong via E-bay!)

Trying out the skates Babushka left at the door for Margaret. And Abby inherited her old pair... W/ light up wheels... they ruled the skating rink on a cold Sat. afternoon!

Not enought snow to make a snowman... they worked together for an amazingly long time on this Egyptian pyramid!

Russian Christmas

Bubby reads the Babushka Christmas story to us (which apparently isn't Russian in origin after all, but I love how it tells about Babushka being too busy cleaning her cottage to travel w/ the three kings to bring presents to baby Jesus...) just before there is a knock at the door... presents from Babushka!

Pick up sticks... don't let the smiles fool you... they almost led to a stabbing fight between siblings...

Love the outfits... they are growing so much, I'm not sure if I'll be able to use them again next year! Finding the first star! Thank you Bubby and grandfather for the wonderful feast! 12 foods... blessings for the new year... and more Christmas joy to extend the season of giving...

Slideshow of Christmas Eve

Decorating cookies... setting out food for the reindeer...attending Little Fork Children's Nativity Service... tracking Santa... and spotting Rudolph's nose just before bedtime!!

Slideshow of our Family Trip

Patrick had to use up his vacation time before the end of the year... so we had a lot of family time this Christmas and it was really nice. We took advantage of all of our days off and got out of town for a few days... Abby is a big Stonewall Jackson fan, so we went to Richmond so she could see the artifacts at the Museum of the Confederacy. We also went to the Children's Museum both days we were there. Then we headed down to Williamsburg and spent two days in our favorite place in the world. We ended the vacation with a surprise carriage ride through the Colonial area. It was a really nice vacation...especially since we splurged and went for the two room suites each night!

Slideshow of our Christmas Day Pictures

Great Christmas! Santa ate the milk and cookies and the reindeer nibbled the peanut butter celery and carrots we left on the roof! Visits from Pops and the Griz's...The kids still had plenty of presents under the tree when they hit the sack Christmas night...we love spreading the joy of Christmas out over the break... Best gifts: New pants for Patrick, E-Reader for Jen, Skateboard and portable DVD player for AP, MP3 player and DS for Margaret, a bunch of things to suit Abby's various interests!