A Fun Day

Have I mentioned that LG loves water bottles?  She has always been fascinated by them.  She likes the water to swish back and forth.  She likes the bottle to make crackling noises.  She loves to munch on the top.  :)

She also still loves to munch Daddy's cereal, too!

Curtains are still a favorite plaything.

LG finally drew a few squiggles with her crayons!

And here is just a lovely Christmas photo.

A New Friend

LG has a new friend that we met at Rhyme Time (a singing and story time put on by the library for non-walkers).  She came over to play with LG today!

A Big Girl With Her Favorite Toy

LG is a big girl today.  She gave up nursing for good!  For the last month, she was just nursing when she got up in the morning.  This morning, she was content to get up and go down to breakfast and drink milk out of a cup.  Yeah, LG!  That gave her more time to play with her toys this morning.  LG's favorite toy is definitely her shopping buggy/trolley.  She can push it around!  She also has a fun time putting things in it and taking things out of it.  You go, Big Girl!

The Day After

We still had presents to open this morning.  :)  LG loved her shoes that friends gave her.  She got her first crayons, but instead of drawing, she was more interested in watching Mommy draw or playing with the crayons.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Our friends got the great news this morning that they could catch a flight this morning, so B ran them out to the airport and got back just in time to take us to church.  Here you have church on Christmas morning instead of Sunday.  After church, we had been invited to a friend's home where we participated in a traditional Christmas dinner complete with turkey, Christmas pudding, and crackers.  After the meal, we watched the Queen's speech with them, and then we all went home to open gifts!  What a merry Christmas we all had, or as they say here, "Happy Christmas!"

LG in my Christmas dress my mom made

The Family

Playing out our friends' house with their kid-friendly nativity scene

Christmas Crackers

Christmas Pudding (and me eating it!  Yum!)

Christmas Gifts

And we save the best to the end...Christmas bags and wrapping paper!

Still Playing

You can imagine the mad house that our house has become with 8 people living here.  Our friends have done some sight seeing, and the older boys enjoy playing in the snow.  The youngest, though, are content to play with their blocks and hide behind curtains.

Delayed

Sadly, our friends have found out that their flight has been canceled and now they will not be able to leave until December 26.  I know they are disappointed that they will miss Christmas with their family, but it will be fun to have lots of people here for Christmas!

Fun With Friends

I am so impressed how well LG is playing with her little friend.  They actually play together!  The older boys are more interested in doing older boy things, but here you see the young ones have roped the middle boy into playing with the Christmas stickers on the window.  :)

Friends!

With all the snow yesterday, all the airports have been shut down.  We got word yesterday that some friends who had a layover here are now stranded because they can't get out to go home for Christmas.  They stayed in an outrageously priced hotel last night because that was all that was available.  So we have offered to let them stay with us!  B drove over and picked them up this morning.  He drove in all that snow!!!  Can you believe it?!!!  Our friends have 3 little boys, so LG is having a great time so far with all the activity around  her.  One little boy is only a few  months older than she is, and they have already discovered peak-a-boo behind the curtains.  If all goes as planned, our friends will be able to get a flight home on Wednesday.  Let's hope it doesn't snow anymore!

More Snow!!!!!

It snowed and snowed and snowed and snowed!  I haven't seen this much snow since the blizzard of '95 when I was trapped in Boston on a school trip.  Just look at all the snow!

Our street

Our yard/garden

Our car

Hat Girl

Parakeet

A couple of days ago, B bought some bird food bundles.  One of the bundles had peanuts in it.  I told B that I didn't think any outdoor birds would eat peanuts.  Peanuts are something that you feed parrots and other big, indoor birds.

Today B looked outside and yelled for me to come look!  There was a bright green bird eating the peanuts!!!!  We thought that it must have been a neighbor's pet that had escaped, but later in the day when I told a local about it, they confirmed that this area is known for its parakeet population.  What?!  Apparently it is...read this.

Track Suit

LG was up and at 'em this morning!  It's a good thing she wore her "track suit!"

13 Months Old!

It's getting harder and harder to take these posed, monthly shots since LG is so mobile now.  :)

Christmas Cheer

We took LG by to see some friends today.  You may notice that this is the 3rd time she has worn her Christmas outfit.  We are making good use of it.  :)

Santa

We took LG to see Santa today.  She didn't cry, but she didn't really smile, either.  What would you call that expression?  Apprehension, maybe?

Snow Princess

Christmas Card Picture

I had hoped to have snow in our Christmas card picture, but it has all melted now.  I guess I waited too late. 

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Balloon Hair and Reindeer

Today LG and Daddy had fun playing with some of the balloons leftover from LG's birthday party.  (Yes, they are still around.)  They both love the spiky hair look.  :)

LG also enjoyed wearing her Christmas house-shoes (slippers).  They are reindeer!!!!  (You would never know she had another shot today, would you?)

Snowman!

It snowed again last night...even more than before!  We finally have enough snow for a snowman!!!!

So...we bundled LG up in her snow gear, and we watched Daddy build a snowman from the safety of the conservatory. 

Once he was ready for the finishing touches, LG brought Daddy the carrot for the nose, and she lent the snowman her red beret.

That snowman is as big as LG!!!!!