Life with our little family of 3...

Hanging out on New Year's Eve... Playing Star Wars and "watching" football... Only a face a mother could love...

"but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31 We spent the afternoon at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge with some friends today. It was a beautiful sunny day. What a great way to spend it!! Ok so I didn't get a great picture of the eagles soaring but they were soaring alright! Dozens of them! It was awesome! But I was able to get a picture of this beauty!

I'm finally posting some of our Christmas pictures! It's taken me a few days to recuperate and put everything away! Every Christmas Eve Robert's Dad and Step-Mom come down for dinner, church, presents and dessert. It's always a relaxing and fun evening. Here Robert is modeling Emma's new apron and crown... kind of freaky... So Grandpa decided he needed to model Elly... what kind of family did I marry into?!? She loves opening presents... This may be one of the last pictures like this. Emma is starting to question whether the big man really does visit all the millions of children around the world...

We are not gift buyers just to buy gifts. When we buy gifts we want them to mean something which sometimes means lots of time and thinking. This year was a great year... it seems like everything was just right! Let the war begin... Emma picked out this Nerf Gun for Robert. The funny thing is Santa (Robert) bought her the exact same one! It's amazing that out of the 30 or so models, they bought each other the same one! I guess great minds think alike? Pure excitement! I wish I could have gotten the little dance she did on video when she opened this one! Ok not too much joy here. Maybe he was so overjoyed by the new red collar that he passed out from the excitement... High joy here...

Here is our budding photographer taking pictures of herself opening her gift from Grammie... More excitement! More Littlest Pet Shop! YEAH! (Not for Mom though who sometimes vacuums up the pieces!) :-) Grammie and Emma building her new Toy Story 3 Lego Set! Tah Dah!

Oh Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree... This is a song that Emma has been singing lately. So I thought I would post it with our Christmas tree picture!

We finally were able to go shopping for our Christmas tree this weekend! Though we picked the worst weekend... we received over 3" inches of rain! Last year we had cold, cold weather. We had to bundle up so that we wouldn't freeze. This year we had to dress so that we wouldn't drown! There was a break in the weather so we quickly went to the tree farm to find the perfect tree! Growing up these are the kind of trees we always got.... Then I moved to the Pacific Northwest where these are the types of trees people have... After 12 years of Nobles, I think I have finally gotten used to them. Even Emma insists on Nobles. We walked by a fir and she asked "How do you even put ornaments on that?!?" So Nobles it is...

I don't really have anything to say about this but.... Awwwww.......

This morning I was vacuuming the endless pine needles that get tracked in when I decided to have a little fun... I decided to vacuum Sammy... no reason... He just sat there and looked at me with contempt! He must have sat there for 10 minutes contemplating his course of action... Do I... A) go for her juggler? B) puke a hair ball up on the bed? C) leave a nice stinky one in the box? D) just sit here and look at her with contempt? He eventually chose D) then jumped off the piano and settled in for his 11th nap of the day... I guess this explains why he tried to escape into the snowstorm last night. Experiencing hypothermia was much more appealing than being vacuumed by a human...

Homeschoolers get snow days too! :-) Today was one of those days! We now have about 3 or 4 inches of snow. It's still only 19 degrees at 11am though so the snow isn't great packing snow. But it still makes great snow angels!

We are having our first snow of the year! Yeah! I hope that this isn't the last time either! They are predicting up to 4" by tomorrow! Yeah! Too bad it will only be here for a few days. Nothing like fall harvest with a dusting of snow!

Last night I went to be early since I wasn't feeling well. Robert helped Emma with getting herself ready for bed. After he put her to bed he stayed up to watch some tv. A little while later, I woke up to Emma in our bed with me. She brought her pillow, Elly and a blanket with her.A little while later I got up to get something to drink. When I looked in her room this is what I found... I also asked Robert if he knew that she was in our bed and he said he didn't. So the only explanation for the picture above is she was trying to make it look like she was in her own bed when he checked on her! Sneaky, sneaky... This morning I asked her why she brought her blanket in. She told me it was because she knew I didn't feel well and didn't want to disturb me by getting under the blankets so she brought her own. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she did kick me all night under the covers! And that I didn't have any blankets several times throughout the night so I end...

Today we continued our study of the beginnings of England. We read about serfs, noblemen and castles. Our project today was to make an edible Norman Castle! Yum! Emma is adding the final touches to the castle. It almost looks too good to eat... but no worries I am sure it'll be gone once Emma's friend arrives!