How could I forget

Last weekend was Brian's company Christmas party. It was a neat setup with lots of activities for the kids. They put a lot of effort into making it a great day for everyone.

We started with pictures in front of our tree




The girls decorated picture frames. It was neat to watch Abigail creating a pattern with snowflakes and Elizabeth sticking them on all willie nilly...


Then they made candy canes ornaments with pipe cleaners and beads. They both created patterns on this one.




Fishing for prizes...


Abigail decorated a cookie. Elizabeth wasn't interested...


And my personal favorite....a bubble wrap hallway! It was crazy loud and a ton of fun!


Of course there was Santa....

OOOOOhhhhhh the wait (I love this picture)


Still waiting....


Here's Santa!


Elizabeth liked Santa this year. It's our first Santa shot without tears...He even knew her name and that she wants a telescope for Christmas. How does he do it???


Abigail was in and out of there. This was the only picture we got....thank goodness is a nice shot!


Merry Christmas!

It's raining, it's pouring

Well not anymore...but it rained all day yesterday and through the night. The power went off somewhere around 4:30 this morning followed by a loud clap of thunder. The wind was blowing like crazy. I'm hoping it blew hard enough to get all of the leaves that were planning on falling over the next 6 weeks out of the trees...not that I don't enjoy mowing, blowing and raking an acre of leaves only to have the trees dump more leaves 15 minutes after we finish...

This is the front yard after we cleared some of the big stuff...so we could get down the driveway.


Elizabeth loves it when we get a lot of rain. It causes the "big muddy thing" to shoot water six feet into the air.






She also enjoys watching the water go down the drain.


This is where this particular lake drains. The water is usually really calm...not this morning though.


The dock usually sits a good foot above the water...


This is the radar as of 10:00cst. I marked us with a star...looks like it should be quiet around here today but it gives you a good look at what just came through.


I'm going to try to convince Elizabeth that "pick up sticks" is an outside game......

Wordless Wednesday

It's warm here....

Bill and Caroline headed back to Oregon this morning. We had a great visit and none of us were ready for it to end. But there's good news for the rest of you...we have a


Accommodations include....

Your own livingroom


Dining area (yep that's a tv...with cable)


Full kitchen with oven, stovetop, microwave, toaster, coffee pot and more


Queen bed, dresser and a big 'ole closet


Laundry


Full Bath


We miss you all! Come see us....

I lost count at fifteen

Alright Red, this is for you. I have been watching for the wreaths to appear, as we knew they would. This afternoon, on the way to the park, we drove by this house in the College Street District. Merry Christmas girl!



Holy greenery Batman!






The side yard was a heavenly bonus!



And how could I resist sharing the Boll Weevil monument in all its Christmas glory...

Goddess of wildthings

Artemis, the daughter of Leto and Zeus, and the twin of Apollo...or is it Abigail? Miss Abigail has been studying Greek Mythology in the Adventures Beyond the Classroom program she attends each Wednesday. Well yesterday three of the classes dressed up as different Goddesses and Gods and presented their parents with a lovely banquet.



Greek Christmas Bread...made by yours truly (16 cups of flour in that bad boy)

Wordless Wednesday