Christmas Girls

Here are some pictures of the girls in their new Christmas dresses courtesy of Grandma Parkinson. Sara was her usuall uncooperative self and Melissa met the pavement in a little playground accident last week, so the pictures aren't great, but they're my girls!!

Snow Day

This is what a REAL snow day looks like, Nickell! The kids were a little disappointed because they had a field trip planned today, but once they went out to play, they forgot all about it. The sad thing is that now they have to go to school on Monday! There is more snow in the forecast for Sunday, so maybe we'll get lucky and have another snow day.

Meet Holly

The parakeet that we found in the driveway in Blacksburg, Polly, died last week. She was old when I found her and I honestly didn't expect her to live as long as she did! Her mate, Pete, was VERY distraught, so we got him a new friend and the girls chose the name Holly. She is beautiful!! The two birds are getting along great and now Pete is back to his old self again.

Graham Cracker Tradition

Time for the traditional decorating of the gingerbread (graham cracker) houses.

It's VERY serious business. Even Sara was really getting into it. She had frosting all over her face.

The finished products. From left to right--mine, Ashley's, Rachel's, Jason's, Sara's and Melissa's.

Here's our complete village on top of my new fireplace. If you look really carefully, you can see some flames. It's working great now!!

Our Tree

This is the first year we have ever bought a real tree. We were given an artificial tree for a wedding present and have used it for the last ten years, but this year I told Jason we are buying a real one no matter what. I took $30 cash with us to the tree lot so that I wouldn't be tempted to spend more. With that amount we both expected to come home with a three or four foot tree, instead, we came away with a ten foot Douglas Fir. Turns out trees are cheap here in PA! If it looks sparsely decorated, it's because it is. We don't have enough lights, tinsel, or ornaments to fill up a tree this size, but it smells so great and I love it!!

The Moment I've Been Waiting For!!

Finally, my pink and purple butterfly basement is gone and is now liveable! I once again removed popcorn texture from the ceiling, tore down the aweful butterfly wallpaper trim, and painted (a LOT!!). We then bought a new couch that I love and a fireplace to replace the gas heater on the wall that didn't work. The fireplace isn't hooked up yet, and we are planning on carpeting some day, but for now, I can live here!

This is a door to the outside. It was pink.

This was the purple all over the walls, complete with butterfly trim and butterfly curtains.

And believe it or not, this is the same room!!


My very first fireplace. I'll decorate once it gets hoooked up.

First Snow

I thought living in northern PA meant lots of snow. Not true so far! This is actually our first snowfall on November 18th, and now it's gone. Melissa and Rachel were so excited about it and really thought they would be able to make a snowball out of this dust. The town has attached 6-foot poles to the fire hydants, so I'm optimistic that there will be enough for the snowball fights later on.