Snuggling with Silas

Today, while I was talking with my dad on the phone, Ariel was upstairs playing with the kitties. After I while I noticed she was terribly quiet so I went to check on her and sure enough, she was sound asleep with Silas purring near her. I'm glad he's getting used to her. He tends to be nervous with everyone, but especially the kids. He's fine if you're sitting or laying, but if you're walking around, he scats fast. So, happy for the snuggling progress we've witnessed today, but the results of which will be a little girl who wants to stay up late tonight. Guess we'll make a night of it.

Kitties for Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year. Santa brought us some kitty cats! Ariel was the first to spy them, and boy oh boy, did we hear about it! She raced up the stairs and was jumping up and down next to my bed saying, "Mommy, Mommy! We got some cats! We got some cats! Santa brought us kitty cats!" We quickly got up and dressed and ran downstairs to see. How adorable they were! The kids were SO good, and very gentle and calm with them. Dustan let the cats out of the cages and they snooped around. They did pretty well, although the orange one is distinctly shy. He preferred to stay put between the boxes upstairs in the hall.

It took us all day to decide names for them. I think we've settled on naming the brown tabby Chester, and the orange one Silas. They are lovers and not nervous with the kids, and we are so very happy with them.

Today we made a gingerbread house. It was our first one, and we cheated- I bought a prepackaged kit, and just had to squeeze the frosting on how we wanted it and add the candy.

You can see we even had a landslide- or some snowmelt- depending on how dramatic you want to describe it. At any rate, the giant children ate it. It was a lot of sticky fun!

Starting New Traditions

Last night we decided to start a new tradition at our house. Sleeping under the Christmas tree always seemed to me so magical, so exciting. And so, my kids got a chance to do just that, and they did great. They got to stay up late, have popcorn and watch a Christmas show (this year they chose Frosty the Snowman), and thus the tradtion has started. It will only be for the night before Christmas Eve, as we all know that Santa requires all children to be in their beds sleeping... Ah, the magical moments this season brings!

Goofing Off

Yesterday the kids were being silly and wanted to have their pictures taken. So, here is one that I doctored up. They think it's hysterical!

Saturday

On Saturday we had all Dustan's siblings and parents over for some family time. Jonathan couldn't make it, but we all had a great time anyway. We decorated cookies, had some yummy food and enjoyed hanging out. Here is some photos of the cookie monsters~

Ariel, Dominic (my nephew), and Nathaniel.

Snuggle Time With Daddy

The kids were being especially snuggly with Dustan the other day, so I had to get a pic of it. They love their daddy!

Cardinals

So, I had noticed that we have 2 pair of cardinals living in the brush behind our treeline. But, they surprised me the other day when I looked, there was a full fledged flock of them. I think I counted 9 males and each had a female. Then there were a few flying back and forth that I wasn't quite sure what they were 'cause they were a little more jittery than the others. But it does make me so happy to see them. They are winter's most cheerful birdy (in my opinion), and they are more than welcome to stay. I have laid out breadcrumbs along the railing on the deck to encourage them to stay. Today there were 2 pair right next to my glass door, checking out the house. They're gorgeous!

In the photo, you can see 7 pairs, I think. And yes, it is color adjusted so you can see them better. Our grass is really not THAT green! Don't forget that you can click the picture to enlarge it. Can you see the bird in flight? You can just make out its' head, but the rest is a blur that blends into the background.

Hunting Christmas Trees

On the hunt for that perfect Christmas tree, we soon discovered we wouldn't be so lucky as to find it at the first place we tried. We had stopped at the local tree farm, Brown's, to spy the lucky specimen for the right price. We deemed that the average going rate of $45 was too much for our pockets, and was at least trying to stay under $40, and be one that was fresh cut- not sitting there for a week or more.

So, down the street we drove to the next nearest place, Shiloh's Nursery. Much to our dismay, the gate was closed- we had missed entry by just 15 minutes. Sigh. Think. Think. Think. Where would they be selling fresh cut trees on a snowy Saturday- after 5pm? Hmmm.... the only places I could think of were in Dover, where we used to live. Dustan grumbled a few times, "I don't want to drive that far," as if 15 minutes was a long time for a person who drives an hour each way to work. But neither one of us could think of places here on our side of town, so we headed that way.

I encouraged him to go back to the nursery, "at that one intersection we used to drive by all the time- you go down that one road with the Rutters on-- you know!!!" But he swore he didn't know what I was talking about. He drove that way anyway, and soon he remembered. They were open. That's a plus. But after browsing their selection, that was a definate no go for us. Frasiers. And Douglas Firs. That's all they had. Now, I've always wanted a Frasier tree. I love them, with the compact branches and the blue tinted underside. But, as popular as they have become, they still are not exactly affordable, and so, this year I am without again. Ah. The small things in life, right?

Piling the kids back in the van the third time was not going so well. They wanted to go home and sit in front of the fireplace and watch a movie. Eat dinner was getting up there on the priority list too, as it was now going on 6pm.

Dustan started driving again. The wrong way. This was definately not the way home- but he insisted it was. Obviously he had thought of something else to check out, but why do men have a problem just saying so, instead of skirting the issue. They always avoid saying, I think this and such. They always have to KNOW what they're doing. But not like the way women have to KNOW-- you know what I mean??? I think the ladies definately do!

So next we stopped by Stauffers in Dover. Ah, still open. We walk in, Nathaniel being threatened and dragged at this point. Ariel was trekking thru the fresh falling snow, trying to keep up with me, and run in circles at the same time. Nice selection. A few possibilities. But wait, what did they just say? "Attention Customers. It is now 5:55. The store will be closing in 5 minutes. Please bring your selections to the register. Thankyou." Now the pressure's on. I'm getting hit with snowballs, giggles from behind me... where is Dustan? Where is our tree??? I yell for him. He shows up around the corner. Sigh. He doesn't like the one I found. It's a frasier, but for only $20. You know what that means- yup. It's not fresh cut. So, it's a no go for us 'cause we don't want a dead tree on Christmas.

Back into the van we go, and now we've agreed that we'll just go to a cut your own tree place tomorrow after lunch. But I'm thinking he doesn't REALLY want to cut down a tree.... He drives on... and oh, hey, there's Hakes' where they sell trees. Do they have any this year (peering through the darkness and thru foggy windows)? Yup!

This time I told him to go browse while I stayed with the kids in the car. If he found anything he liked, he'd come get me. Well, about 5 minutes later he did. And so the munchkins *gasp* stayed in the (not running and locked) car, while I went to see. And yes, hooray for us, we found a satisfactory specimen! Aren't you excited? We were! And tomorrow we get to wrestle the tree into the perfect spot in our home. Ah, the hunt for the Christmas tree was just as long, cold and torturous as I remember!

Mystery bug

Back in October, I spied this strange looking bug on the maple tree at my in-law's. Romona had never seen one of these before either. It seems perhaps to be a moth, but it was translucent and this beautiful bluish- green-yellow color. Does anyone know what this might be?

Halloween

Yes, I realize I am behind in a few things, including blogging. So, I just would like to mention that Halloween was fun this year. It was the same night that we were to have the walk thru in our new house, so we decided to come down to our new neighborhood to trick or treat. Rebecca met us here with Dominic, and we made the rounds. He was so cute, all dressed in mobster get up. Ariel, was of course, a Renaissance princess and Nathaniel was a pirate.

We were quite impressed with one little princess, who even was riding her pony. The pony was sweet and calm as can be, and the kids loved it. We finished the evening with a walk thru of our house, which was not ready yet for us. But, we still had a good time with the kids and we still got to move in the next day, so all was well.