Just a Little of the Top...

I was scrubbing the family room floor the other day, the same day, actually, that we'd put up our Christmas tree....when suddenly I heard a 'snip, snip, snip' coming from the other room...never a good sign. I quickly called to the kids, "Who is using the scissors?? What are you cutting??" Gabby, the informant, came to me, "We're just trimming the tree a little bit to make it pretty..." Apparently, Nick was watching me with his eagle eyes while I trimmed a few bulky spots on the tree earlier, and he had decided to do a little trimming of his own. Of course, he got his little accomplice involved for good measure. I rushed to the tree, thinking I'd find just a few little bits cut from it. Turns out, they'd been at it for a while and I just hadn't heard them over the noise of my scrub brush on the floor. I swept up a huge pile of pine snippets...three dust pans worth. Our poor tree now has a blunt, squared-off look that Chad has assured me I only see because I know. Nick, as usual, had little to say for himself. Gabby insisted that not only was it Nick's fault for 'making her do it' but she was only 'making it more pretty!'. As I swept up the mess I found myself wondering why they were using my scissors instead of their small children's scissors. Just then, I caught a glimpse of an odd ornament hanging from the tree. Closer inspection revealed not an ornament, but a pair of small kid scissors jammed on a tree branch, and hanging like a reject ornament at the back of the tree. As I leaned in to remove the blue plastic handled scissors, another oddity caught my eye. Scotch tape. Apparently once he'd trimmed a bit too much, Nick had decided to re-attach a few of the branches. I'm still finding bunches of evergreen scotch taped to our tree. Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree....how chopped up are your branches.

Oh Christmas Tree...and Cookies!

We finally decorated the tree this morning! The kids were so giddy and excited, pawing through tissue paper to re-discover forgotten ornaments. Gabby was happy to let me help her find the perfect spot for each of her ornments, but Nick insisted on hanging his favorites in a little cluster at the back of the tree. They've both gathered their fleecy throws and a couple pillows and have made little 'beds' beneath the tree...so they can sit and read and play under a canopy of lights and sparkling ornaments. It's really starting to feel like Christmas around here now.

We also repaired our vintage ornament wreath and hung it on the wall. It seems like every year we have to replace a broken ornament. This year, Gabby helped me choose the "Merry Christmas" ornament to take the place of a broken one.

Yesterday, we went to a cookie baking party at Holly's house. Nick rolled, mutilated, floured, and cut dough...and then added pretzels and raisins galore. In the end, he only came up with one cookie design that met his high standards and that he considered 'bake worthy'. Gabby was too busy socializing and playing with the other kids to make even one cookie. We all enjoyed ourselves in the company of our friends.

Sneaky Sneakster

When I rolled out of bed this morning, Nicholas had been up for a short while already. I came out of my bedroom to find him waiting for me, gazing up at me with the

sweetest little smile ever.

Of course, I immediately asked him "what did you do?"
He assured me he'd been doing "nothing" and a quick glance around reassured me that, in fact, he hadn't done anything. Several minutes later a sleepy eyed Gabby tumbled out of bed and, remembering it was her turn to open a box on the Advent Calender, parked herself directly in front of it. Turning my attention to the calendar I was shocked at how few days I had to prepare for Christmas...wait...what? Where is the 23 box? and the 24? and the 15? and what? is the 19 missing too? I turned to Nicholas "where are they?" he sheepisly pointed to the orange fleecy pile that was his blankie, sitting innocently on a stool in my office. Sure enough, hidden in it's fleecy folds were the contents of the four boxes. He remained mute regarding the whereabouts of the boxes themselves until I wondered aloud "Gee, wonder what Santa would think of this?" At this point he quickly retreived them from their mystery residence. The boxes and their contents are now back in place on the calendar but the surprise they held is now...well, not so suprising. That's ok, though, Nick and Gabby have already located the 'deeee-rections' for the calendar and discovered who/what was in each box.

I think we've produced a couple of 'gift shakers'...Chad will swear those are my genes.

Look closer...do you see the signs of tampering?

Doodling on the Computer

Most of you probably know that I love to doodle and draw...but did you know I like to doodle on the computer as well? I started tinkering with adobe photoshop elements a couple years ago and it's become one of my little hobbies. So, I thought I'd share some of my 'doodles'. Enjoy!

Revisting Summer on a Rainy Winter Day

It's rainy and gloomy and cold today. The kids are dissapointed that the rain has washed away the snow and as much as I dislike snow,
I think I agree with them.
I'd rather have snow this close to Christmas than rain!

I have been looking through my photos the last few days, picking some to print in black and white to frame and hang in our hallway. I came across these and thought I'd post them. Gabby and her cousin, Jordyn, sharing secrets and giggles at the company party last summer.

What a couple of cuties.

This one cracks me up. Look at those faces.

Here's one of 'Just Jordyn'...ever seen 'Just Jack' on Will & Grace?

And here's one of Gabby...wonder what she's contemplating?

Finding the Perfect Tree

We trudged (and walked and ran and skipped and frolicked) through the woods over Thanksgiving weekend to find the perfect Christmas tree.

We had our first big snow of the year that day and the kids were thrilled with all that white stuff! Nicholas kept running ahead of us, then hiding under a big snow covered tree so he could jump out and 'surprise' the next person to walk down the trail. He was such a blur of motion it was hard to capture him with the camera until we were snug in the cab of the truck on the way back to the house.

Gabby was like a little snow nymph. Her cheeks were so rosey and little bits of snow stuck to the hair that peeked from her hood. She found herself a walking stick and insisted on climbing over all the fallen trees 'all by herself'!

Mom is in charge of the final tree decision...but Daddy is in charge of cutting it and lugging it back to the truck!

The woods were beautiful in a blanket of newly fallen
(and still falling) snow.

It was a wintry wonderland.

Hmmm....could this be our Christmas card photo?
I really like this shot.