Overheard

Ellie is such a "little Mommy". She's always taking care of the little ones. Yesterday I overheard this conversation and it just made me laugh. So sweet!

Ellie: No, Vance, you can't have grape juice in that cup. It's too stainy juice and you might spill it. I'll help you get a kid cup. 

Vance: Okay. 

(they traverse into the kitchen to retrieve said kid cup)

Vance (in a tone of adoration): Ellie- you're SOO smart! 

Well, I did want a White Christmas but.......

We are officially snowed in. At least until the snow plows come plow our road and I'm thinking that will be a while. We got 22 inches of snow- in ONE day. It's so beautiful! Jerry and Jessica got in last night (Thanks to Tricia and her dad for picking them up in the all wheel drive!) and now the Airport is shut down so they made it just in time. At some point I do need to get to the grocery store today because of course, we are out of milk and water- but once again, we'll have to wait until we're plowed out. 



This is our sliding glass door! Needless to say, we won't be opening it any time soon. 

And this is after opening the garage door. Poor Brady is out attempting to shovel the driveway right now. I am about to go relieve him- he's already been out for about an hour. 

She's.....

.....Sweetly adorable,

she loves to play,
  

 It's amazing how much she has grown!

She can sniff out pie from a mile away, 
      

And look, she can stand on her own!

Sweetie Pies

All about Vance

Cute pictures of my cute boy! 

All about Ellie

I love this picture of Ellie. She's turning into such a beautiful, grown up girlie. 

Bath Time!

I couldn't decide which of these was the cutest....... Is it this one?

Or this one?

Or this one?

Or this one?

---- so I decided to post them all! 

She loves to do this tongue-out-the-side-of-her-mouth look- she's pretty much the most adorable baby girl! What a sweetie.

And So It Begins

The day after Thanksgiving is our official beginning to the Advent Festivities. Because while we don't do an Advent Calendar (not yet, at least) Christmas is to us a month-long celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior! I love Christmas. It is a bitter-sweet holiday for many reasons. I love celebrating with my family and friends,  I love watching our children's excitement and remembering what it was like to be a kid. 

So last Friday we pulled out the Christmas decorations and put up the tree. 

One of our traditions is that our Christmas tree ornaments are all homemade, with the exception of a few nice ones given to us. Each year I make a new ornament. I don't put all of them up every year- that would be a little overwhelming! But we choose our favorites. This year I started early and crocheted delicate snowflakes to hang from the branches. They turned out beautifully, and I think I'll have to make more for next year.

Here are some of my favorite ones. 

Here are some of my favorites decorations from years past- all on the tree this year. 

The Ladies Dancing.....

The Lords a-leaping.....

I made these houses years ago, they are probably my all time favorites....

.

And the snowflakes....

My mom and Bill got the kids each a creche carved out of an Olive tree branch when they went to Israel. We didn't really have a nice place to display them so we nestled them in the tree branches. I think it looks beautiful! 

Now, here I sit, enjoying our tree with homemade fudge, a good book (appropriately, Ben-Hur) and a glass of good wine.... if only a contented sigh translated over the internet.....