this one's for you, Kristima

I have recently been accused by a certain sister (I won't name names, so I'll just refer to her here as "Kristima") of neglecting my girl child's dress and grooming. I spent the weekend pondering and praying about a hair do that would effectively hold her hair out of her face AND be impervious to her little wandering fingers. Voila! Here it is, folks. Yes, she's still naked (though "still wearing panties" as she pointed out to me this afternoon) but we're one step closer! Thanks, of course, to Lanissa for the inspiration for the do and pbskids.org for the diversion while I worked.

kids find the darnedest places to play

Why do we even waste money on swing sets and playhouses?

sweet is the peace

We have all the windows open and a warm, sunny breeze is blowing through the house. There's fresh bread in the oven, Stuart is napping and Whitney and I are sharing an apple. It can't possibly ever be better than this. We are so blessed.

Happy #3 Whitty!

We recently celebrated Whitney's third birthday with a few friends that all happened to be in town at the same time over the holidays. (For anyone with a holiday season birthday you know that's a Birthday Miracle!) The trampoline was a big hit, even at 30 degrees.

Here are most of the party animals waiting patiently for the birthday candles to be lit. (Pink noses and fingers courtesy of the trampoline.) Whitney actually displayed a little embarrassment at being sung to this year. That's my girl!

Here's proof that there was a cake--not just apples and grapes.

Boy did we hit the nail on the head with the scooter birthday present. She even let each of her guests take a turn up and down the sidewalk. Another big hit. (And to think I almost wasted money on a piñata to keep the kids entertained.)

And on a completely unrelated note, look at the fire in this sky! I thought for sure it was an alien invasion. (It wasn't--just a really pretty sunset. Too bad there were so many power lines obstructing our view.)

the joys of christmas continue

Mom, are you seeing this? Look at these little Christmas angels!

The lighting in the house wasn't ideal so I made them step out onto the porch for 30 seconds in the 20 degree air. It was totally worth it--look at Whitty's hair in the sunlight. I love it!

Christmas Eve Miracle

This is what we woke up to Christmas Eve morning. About 3 inches of it. After a few more hours it turned into 5 or 6 inches. Its a Lubbock Christmas Miracle!

This is one of our bushes out front. I just thought it was pretty dawn lighting.

Here's my cutie little family playing in the back yard.

 

This camera was born for snow! It (snow) creates such fantastic lighting for picture taking.

 

Stuey's got a pocket, got a pocket fulla snowflakes.

 

This is me and Whitney doing snow angels face-down.

 

This makes a total of 3 pictures with me on the front side of the camera. Take it all in.

holiday fun

We've just been so stinking busy having fun the last few weeks that we haven't had time to post. Here are some of the highlights.

Our family morning run has turned into a family morning fiasco now that the weather has turned cold (in the mornings at least.) Instead of throwing the kids in the stroller and hitting the black top, we wrap the kids in an extra pair of jammies, hats, coats, gloves, boots, favorite snugly blanket and ratty old stuffed animal, hot chocolate sippy cups and bag o' cheerios...and then hit the black top. (And within a few hours the temperature has jumped from 23 to 58 and we trade our boots in for sandals.)

...after which they prefer to be rolled in the door and parked in front of the PBS morning line-up. (That's for those of you who were tempted to think "wow, they get up and run together as a family every morning?" No one's perfect. Not even me. Seriously. I'm not. I let them sit there for hours while I get things done.)

 

I lost the kids at the park, so I ordered some new ones. Here they are, fresh out of the box. You can't even tell the difference except that these ones might be EVEN cuter (if that's possible), plumber's crack and all.

 

We made our own Christmas tree ornaments this year. It's been the highlight of Whitney's life so far. We've repainted them four times now at her request.

 

My little budding artist...

And we had a significant snow fall early this month. It was a slice of heaven for the kids. And not a small one. I wish I knew how to upload video--they were so excited...