Auto body

Darby is working on his auto body skills today.

Cozy Christmas

Zada and her dolls received new flannel nightgowns for Christmas, fashioned by Grandma Margie. How wonderful to have so many family memories this month!

Happy Christmas!

Button up!

Darby's got two buttons to go to be ready for Christmas Eve dinner.

Car nap!

Word of warning

The kids made this with our babysitter, Morgan, last night. Love the note, apparently Troy and I have a reputation.

Art at dawn

The kids wanted to draw a bit this morning as I got breakfast together. We all agreed it should be the weekend by now.

Darby's holiday party

I stopped by Darby's holiday party yesterday, where he decorated and ate a cookie, played bingo and pinned the nose on Rudolph.

Lost tooth

Zada lost her first tooth today! She's bringing it to school, as is the custom.

Snow buddies

The kids are getting a good amount of playtime in the snow this week. Here they are giving a two-shovel salute.

Sprinkles with Sophie

Zada's first-grade neighbor friend, Sophie, came over to help decorate cookies today. If you're sad about missing it, the sprinkles will likely be rolling around my kitchen for the next month, though I doubt the cookies will make it to the weekend.

Bump on a log

On our snowiest December day I have spent the last six hours sitting and knitting. The good news is, having my hands occupied cuts down on my holiday snacking. The bad news is, when I do take a break, I am like a bear waking from hibernation, crashing around the kitchen looking for sustenance.

Holidazzle fun

Photos from Thursday night!

Fleisch and fam's surprise visit

My friend, Fleisch, stopped by Saturday with her kids and hubby in tow. The kids had a whale of a time.

Doing our best to join in on small business Saturday!

Oldies but goodies

While we are in Duluth for Thanksgiving, the kids are enjoying playing with some classic toys, including this Rainbow Brite set.

Thank goodness

For longtime friends, perfect weather and frosted cupcakes!

One lucky gal

I must be one lucky gal since I am on yet another girls' weekend! This time I'm in Houston with my college roomie, Tenni. We ate at a South American place tonight, where I had the jumbo shrimp and she had the pistacioed snapper, both pictured below.

Grand visit

Rod and Mary made a quick trip to Minnesota late last week and we were a happy landing pad for them.

Mermaid mosaic

Off and on since her birthday Zada has been working on this mermaid mosaic, to which she added the glittery stickers according to the color codes. She and I think it turned out very well; now, where to display it?

Mmmmmm...warm cheese pizza...

With me out of commission the last two days, Troy has really stepped up taking care of the kids. Here are some action shots he took of Darby fighting sleep while eating pizza. Darby has long been vulnerable to the sleep-inducing powers of melted cheese, especially on Friday nights.
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Comeback kid

It's been a rough 36 hours but I've showered, made myself toast and put clean sheets on the bed. Thank God we have electricity and running water!

Pumpkins and pumpkins

We dressed up our crop for its big day!