Ideas, anyone?

I'm so excited! My new furniture was delivered today! It is so beautiful, but it makes me realize just how small this house we're renting is. If any of you have an idea for a better way to arrange, let me know...

Christmas Wreckage

So, we've been busy. We've had Christmas and Christmas and Christmas and then finally New Year's celebrations. We've been to Cherokee, IA; Storm Lake, IA; Rochester, MN. We played Texas Hold 'Em, Hand and Foot, 80's Trivial Pursuit and Etc. - and Roger got in one "quick" game of Risk. We ate ham, turkey, parmesan chicken, spinach dip, pickels with corned beef, the yummiest chocolate cake and pesto pizza, while sipping on a cup full of wassail. It was such a wonderfully fun time to spend with family and friends.

We had our first heavy snow not too long ago...it always causes quite the panic here. People stock up on groceries, drive 2 miles an hour, and everything is cancelled (school, work, sports, life...). The adults groan and look outside at the driveway that needs to be shoveled. When Cate looked outside and discovered the snow, she said, "Mom, the snow is sprinkle-y!". Kids always notice the beautiful little things that we sometimes forget to look at. They want to experience everything they can see (except for the green peppers in their casserole). While the rest of the world is preparing for disaster, children are commenting on caterpillers, pinecones, snakes and snow that sparkles like diamonds.

I was going through some pictures today and I found these ones of my babies. They are so cute. It makes me miss the baby talk and giggly times of 2 years old.

I thought you all should know what a silly little boy I have. He makes me laugh with the "knock, knock" jokes he makes up. He makes my hair gray with his questions- "What's after nap? What's after breakfast? What's after school? What's after lunch? What's after nap? What's after snack?" (oh my word). He'll change his clothes in the middle of the afternoon when he sees what his daddy is wearing so that he can be just like him. He's cuddly and sweet and independant. He'll pick out his clothes in the morning, come out to show me and then say, "Mom, do I look cool?" and of course, with his camoflage-from-head-to-toe look, he really does. (For my sisters...say something about a certain someone that we all know and you'll be in serious trouble.) He'll want to be a big boy and watch a movie that's a little bit scary and then hide under the "magic blanket" when he knows something is going to happen- and tell his sister, "I'll protect you, Cate!" while under said blanket. He loves balls, snakes, danger and blocks, but will still once in awhile ask if he can have some lipgloss, please.

We braved the wet, slushy roads for a birthday party this afternoon. Cate's friend, Halee, had a dress-up party, complete with makeup, jewelry and a fashion show. Cate was in her element, dressed in a lacy blue number with her red satin shoes and boa. They all walked carefully down the paper runway to accept their prizes for "Biggest Smile", "Best Makeup" and "Best Walk". And then on to decorate headbands and have a piece of chocolate cake. It was a girly, giggly, beautiful kind of party that every little princess shouldn't be without. And all the boys wrestled in the basement.