Gingerbread House 2009

Our yearly tradition of decorating a gingerbread house took place yesterday. The house turned out beautifully and as you can see from the crazed looks on the girls' faces, they enjoyed eating the candy as much as putting it on the house. Needless to say, the gingerbread house rests on the very tiptop of the bookshelf - out of little hands' reach!

Santa and his elves

The girls went to see Santa today. Julia asked for art and Emma said she didn't know what she wanted yet. The candy canes were the highlight, of course!

Little Drummer Girl

Here is a clip from Julia's first concert with her drum group. She was great - love the smile she is trying to hide.

Halloween 2009

This was cute...........

And this was scary..........

Halloween party in Julia's class - lots of black and scary makeup for those 4th and 5th graders

Not so much black for the first graders - mummy, nature fairy and disco fairy

Fun trick or treating with friends

Hope you all had a fabulous Halloween!

House remodel update

Emma's dormer window

Julia's dormer window

Tub/shower and toilet

Vanity (knobs and pulls to be installed)


We are so close to being done! Probably two more weeks to wrap up the last details. Time has certainly flown by and working with our contractor has been great. We would recommend them to anyone. I can say that I am definitely looking forward to having a clean house again and being able to walk out of the bathroom without meeting someone other than my family! Here are a few pics.

Anyone seen a tooth?

Emma lost her first top tooth this week. She lost two bottom teeth already but nothing compares to the look of a child with a top tooth missing. You just can't help but giggle......too cute.

Happy 2009!

Despite the rain that has been pouring out of the sky all day, today has been a very enjoyable start to 2009. The girls have been getting along fantastically (partly due to the start of a new way of earning tv time - they earn minutes for good behavior, mostly meaning GETTING ALONG and not screaming in each other's faces and pulling hair and jabbing fingers into each other, etc., etc.). I've tried lots of other methods and this one is actually working. We have had 3 very peaceful days after a doozy of a day on Monday. I'm hopeful that it will continue into this new year.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their families. We had a very snowy and relaxing time with Molly, Sous, and the kids and Mom and Dad up in Seattle. On Friday, we celebrated Nathan's first birthday. He is walking and into everything. Such a cute little guy. The addition of some boy energy to the girl vibe is a welcome addition.

Happy first birthday Nathan!

Jillian and Emma in their matching Christmas dresses (Molly and I unknowingly bought the same dress for the girls)

Before Halloween is more than a month gone.......

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks. We had a fun visit with Auntie M, Uncle Sous, Jillian and Nathan and then Grandma and Grandpa Woodworth were in town for Halloween. Things quieted down for a bit but that has definitely changed. Lots of banging and sawing and booming coming from upstairs. I'll try and post some pictures of the progress being made tomorrow. They cut through the roof today and are busily framing the dormers. Rain is supposed to hold off until tomorrow night. Keep your fingers crossed! Julia returned to school today after a weekend of being sick. Poor thing - she had a fever of 103 on and off since Saturday afternoon. The big bummer was that Saturday night was her sectionals meet for gymnastics. She was disappointed that she had to miss it but we encouraged her that she will have another opportunity in the spring. Emma surprised me the other day when she said, "Mom, can we talk about prison a little bit?" Um, okay sure, but where did that come from??????!!!!!!! She had some very serious questions. She seemed satisfied with the answers. We're looking forward to talking to Uncle Tim upon his safe return to Tennessee this week and also to spending time with Nana and Grandpa Povich next week for Thanksgiving.

Emma, Jillian, and Julia - all smiles!

Little Nate

Presenting the seastar and the pirate

Emma's attempt at a cranky pirate face

Emma and Grandpa

Tooth drama

Emma lost her first tooth last week. It was a very dramatic experience - no surprises there! The tooth was just hanging on by the smallest bit and she was just distraught about it. I don't think I have ever heard such wailing. We finally settled her down and got her to sleep with much reassurance that, "No, it won't come out while you are sleeping", all the while hoping and praying that it wouldn't! She woke up with tooth still intact and it fell out as she was sitting on the potty. Thank goodness it didn't fall in! The tooth fairy visited and everything was good again. Here iare some pictures of the toothy gal.