This years Christmas Card...

Yes, I am a slacker. I believe I have officially procrastinated long enough that I'm going to forego the tradition this year and not send out my cards. (believe it or not, this is very painful for me! - there is nothing that I love more than getting and sending Christmas cards) So, in lieu of the hard copy, here's the card ... blog style! In fact, I think I'll make it my header for the rest of the month. Enjoy - next year they will go out!

BTW - I have LOVED getting all of yours....please don't take me off your list:)

It's December 17th...

Happy Birthday Ava!

We played beauty shop (hence the "painted-doll" look in the close up),

decorated her cake, opened presents, went to Chuck E. Cheese's for dinner, and, of course, ate cake. It's good to be 4!

Surgery

This is Todd before...And this is Todd after....(after the haircut, that is).

And this is Todd after surgery... These are Todd's lovely stitches...affectionately known as his "spiders".

Todd has become a sort of "regular" in the 'head and neck surgery department'.

Ok, not really. This is only his second time but somehow we doubt it will be the last. Back in the day, Todd spent a fair amount of time out at the river, at the beach, and just working construction all day in the sun. He is now paying for it via a few cancerous moles found on his head. Really, he's ok. The lack of hair is really a blessing in disguise - we find 'em and catch 'em early!

A quick recap...

I have not written for awhile. I guess I haven't felt inspired nor inspiring. Maybe I just haven't taken enough time to reflect and just think. So while I consider the deeper moments of my life, here are a few pictures to recap the most recent of events around our household.

Castle Park - not a baby friendly destination. This is just about the only thing Andrew could participate in. Needless to say - we won't be going back anytime soon...at least not as the only parent!

We made a quick and impromptu trip out to see Grandma and Grandpa. Ava demonstrated her mad skills in the kitchen. I am training her up to be the perfect "Betty Crocker" housewife! She's got the look, right?

We thought about riding the ATV's...didn't quite happen but sitting in the garage was still pretty exciting.

Oh, the tempting 50 degree pool (ok - maybe not that cold but it's close)! If only we could just go for a little dip!

My parents and my sister Rachel made the trek out to visit us for Thanksgiving.

We celebrated my Dad's birthday though it was a few days early. Happy Birthday Grandpa!

The kids worked hard to decorate the tree. Andrew focused his energy on ornament removal...

Tis the season for goodies of all kinds...but who can resist the allure of chocolate?

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Fixed!

Yes...it is fixed and beautiful. But even better news is the fact that I have the greatest car insurance ever. It was decided that I was only 50% at fault for this fender-bender (a blessing in itself) and so AAA waived my $1000 deductible. That's right - I didn't have to pay a dime out of pocket to have my car (or the other party's car) fixed. The shop repaired the car in under 4 days and we were ready to go - new car seats and all. I'm sure somehow my rates will increase - don't they always? But for now, we are quite pleased!

A Crumpled Car...

This is my sad car. Sunday afternoon he was hit in a small, but disappointing miscommunication. I know we'll get him fixed...someday...when we're ready to pony up the unfortunate $1000 deductible.