Good morning! At 5:20am, the normal waking hour in our household, I hear Trinity excitedly calling, "Mommy! Mommy! Come look! Mommy!" So our Christmas morning began. Angelina was still sleeping, but not for long. Here are pictures of our morning:

This is actually a shot I took before going to bed after getting everything set up. We got the big Barbie playset for free off of the Des Moines ReUseit group on yahoo. (formerly freecycle) What a blessing! We found the Muse Barbies on sale at Walmart for $5 each, so they are now in Barbie heaven. :)

Loving those Barbies!

David helped the girls open their stockings. They each got a little bear, a purse, some M&M's, and a pack of gum.

Here Angelina was very excited about something going on in the movie "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" which is one of their favorite movies and a gift from Grandma Barbara which IMMEDIATELY had to be put in to play.

Angelina is giving the horse bouncy ball a ride. This was a gift from Great Grandma and Grandpa last year, which we stored away until this year. Angelina was just a little too small last year - this year is working out perfectly. :)

Angelina is checking out the train set from Grandma Mary while not letting go of the stuffed bear that was waiting in her stocking.

I was able to buy a lot of 10 games off of craigslist for $6. Four of them they got now and the others will come as they get older. This year they got Franklin Goes to School, Alphabet Bingo, Bible Dominos, and The Memory Game.

A happy morning :)

Posted in: Slow Lane on Thursday, December 25, 2008 at at 10:26 AM 0 comments    

I took the girls to the mall today so they could burn off some energy in the play area. Then we went over to see if Santa was there....and he was. I was on the wrong side to get pictures, so I missed Trinity on Santa's lap. I just managed to catch this one of Angelina. She sat up on his lap and just started rambling away. Then he asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she said, "um...candy!" I wish the picture wasn't blurry, but at least I got a picture!

This is the same santa we went to see last year (and caught him going on break) that made me cry. He has Dad's eyes. I didn't cry this year, but still see Dad in his eyes.

The other day we made jewelry. We got an advert in the mail from a jewelers. Loads of great bling to create with. Here is Angelina in her earrings.

Here is bling girl herself, miss Trinity. She made earrings, a neclace, two bracelets, and two rings. I think I may be in trouble when she gets older! lol!

Posted in: Santa, Slow Lane on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at at 3:03 PM 0 comments    

Winter is here in earnest!

"A Wind Chill Advisory Remains In Effect Until 12 PM CST Monday. Dangerous Wind Chills Will Develop This Evening As Winds 20 To 35 Mph Combine With Temperatures Falling Through The Single Digits On Their Way To Lows Of Near Zero To 5 Below Zero... Resulting In Wind Chill Values Of 20 To 25 Below Across Much Of The Region Through Noon Monday. A Wind Chill Advisory Means That Very Cold Air And Strong Winds Will Combine To Generate Low Wind Chills. This Will Result In Frost Bite And Lead To Hypothermia If Precautions Are Not Taken. If You Must Venture Outdoors...Make Sure You Wear A Hat And Gloves."

Right now we are at 3 degrees with wind chill temp of -21. They are calling for -3 for the overnight low. Wow! Really makes me wish we had our corn stove already hooked up. We are still waiting on the installation kit to arrive. So we will just use up a lot of our expensive propane to get through this cold snap. But, BOY AM I GLAD I AM NOT DELIVERING PAPERS!!! I had tried doing a paper route, but you couldn't just throw the papers from the car. You had to hand deliver the papers to the front step. (or back porch or anywhere else the customer designated) I knew that I was not going to be a happy camper when it was nasty weather to be trotting papers up to front steps at 4 in the morning. I can't even imagine doing it in -20 windchills....BRRRR! I will be praying for all those people who are out there in the wee hours of the morning trying to get the papers out... poor souls.

Here are pictures of the girls enjoying the first snow we had this year - I think this was the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Posted in: Slow Lane on Sunday, December 14, 2008 at at 9:16 PM 0 comments