Family Heirloom

Kevin's grandpa Byron made this Santa, sleigh, and reindeer. He was a master craftsman in his younger years, specializing in woodworking. Doesn't it look awesome? He actually made it many, many years ago when Kevin's mom was still little. It was a yearly Christmas decoration when she was a little girl. It has been in storage all of these years. Grandpa Byron decided that it was time for ol' Santa to find a new home. Since he wanted it to stay in the family, we were thrilled that it was being passed on to us!

It is in beautiful condition! You would never guess that it is over 40 years old.

Our New Puppy

Well, it has only been 11.5 months since Gunther passed away. I know that I swore that we would not get another dog, but I caved. Kevin and the girls all three really wanted a puppy. I decided that if I could choose the breed, we would go ahead and get another dog. Well, after all of my hunting and searching online for the perfect dog, I decided that another lab is just what I wanted. It just seemed like labs and beagles were really the only dogs that I just fell in love with. Kevin and I decided to that a yellow/white lab would probably be a better idea than another black lab just due to the dog hair. We have such light colored floors that every tiny piece of Gunther's black hair was visible. We hope to keep the dog hair swept up at all times, but realistically speaking, hair that blends in with the floors would help a lot. So, after lots of searching, I found the puppy for us. We drove 3.5 hours today to southeastern Ohio to the Rocking R Ranch to pick her up...and the drive was worth it! She is such a great puppy. She is 8 weeks old today and a whopping 10.5 lbs!

Look at her sweet little face...

Miss Sophie Alleuicious Nels

You can see how much the girls love her already!

On a funny side-note, Sophie did a poo-poo inside the breeder's house while we were signing papers. Kennedy was cursed with a super-sensitive nose. The poor kid actually started gagging and her eyes were watering. She really almost threw up! We had to take her outside because we truly thought she was going to throw up. Once we were all back in the car and driving home, poor Kennedy help her nose for the next 30 minutes. Sophie was a little damp from her recent bath and the smell was more than Kennedy could handle. Every time she unplugged her nose, the gagging would start up again. We felt really bad for her, but it was pretty funny too!

Counting Quarters

Kevin brought home our "Free Money" tonight. Kevin always laughs when I call it our free money and reminds me that it is in no way free. You see, we have some coin-operated laundry machines at a couple of our rentals. When he empties the washers and dryers...voila...FREE MONEY! It isn't really free as coin operated washers and dryers cost quite a bit more than traditional washers and dryers to buy. So we put our money in upfront and we are getting a return on it, one quarter at a time.

We decided that counting and wrapping the quarters could be a family event. This is the first time that we let the girls join in...usually Kevin takes on this job all by himself. I'm not sure the girls were really much help to Kevin, but shh...they sure didn't realize it.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Fondue!

I thought it would be fun to pull out the ol' fondue pot and introduce the girls to one of life's great pleasures...chocolate fondue! They were quite interested in the pot itself. Then, when Kevin lit the flame for the pot, the interest level peaked. I set out a plate of some of my favorite snacks to dip into the chocolate. We had, bananas (Kevin's and my personal favorite), strawberries, marshmallows (Katelyn's fave), and graham crackers. Kennedy's favorite ended up being the strawberries without the chocolate. Katelyn and Kennedy alone finished off two containers of strawberries - mostly without the chocolate. My girls have always been huge fruit lovers.

Here they are getting ready...pre-chocolate

Skewers in...

Katelyn is giving her first bite a big thumb's up for approval.
Kennedy is still working on her first bite.

Katelyn had fun playing with the skewers (is that what they are even called?)

I see a big smile on Kennedy's face, she must have liked her first bite as well.
Katelyn is ready for more

Not sure what Kennedy is thinking here; this might be when she decided that she liked the strawberries better without the chocolate.

We had so much chocolate left over...we may just have to do this again sometime soon.

Halloween 2009

It is always a big deal around our house deciding what the girls are going to be for Halloween. This is a task I usually try to get finalized in late August before I go back to work (I plan all holiday outfits months in advance). Well, this year Kennedy decided that she wanted to be Minnie Mouse. Katelyn had her heart set on being Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

I searched everywhere online and found the perfect costumes. Well, Katelyn's costume happened to come in first. Once Kennedy saw those ruby red shoes and that basket with Toto, she immediately proclaimed that she too must be Dorothy. Fortunately, her Minnie Mouse costume was back ordered, so I had the opportunity to cancel the order without any problems.

The girls had three opportunities to get dressed up in their costumes this year. First, we went to Trunk or Treat at Nana's school. They had a bounce house, hay ride, several games, and the best part was tick-or-treating. Several families went all out and decorated the trunks of their cars, mini-vans, and SUVs. Then, all of the kiddos went from trunk to trunk trick-or-treating. It was great!

Next, we took the girls to the annual Children's Halloween party at CCN. There was a bounce house, musical chairs, a marshmallow eating contest (which Katelyn's team won!), a mummy making contest, cookie decorating, face painting, glitter tattoos, and balloon animals made balloon animals made by the man on stilts (we see him every year). The girls always have a great time at the CCN parties! Here are some highlights from our afternoon...

Our Darling Dorothys...

Sprinkles and icing with a little cookie...

Balloon art...

The mummy making winning team...

Kennedy all glitzed up...

Finally...Beggar's Night! The entire neighborhood went trick-or-treating together. Our large crew of beggars included: Katelyn, Kennedy, Luke, Andy, Eric, Kevin, Tommy, Annie, and Ella. All of the moms and dads went too! We have such few kids actually stop by our houses that we all just leave bowls of candy on the front porch with a sign for the trick-or-treaters. The honor system seems to be working as we have done it this way for the past three years and always have plenty of candy left in the bowl at the end of the night.

The whole crew...

Fall Fun

This fall, we have had some of the most beautiful fall colors...so rich and vibrant! So, I decided to take the girls out for a little fun playing in the leaves. We found a great area just down the street at Katelyn's school. These are the kind of picture Kevin and I will cherish for years to come...just our little girls having some innocent, childhood fun!

I love this first picture even though Kennedy's face is out of focus. I wish they were both in focus, but I just had to keep it nonetheless...

A little sisterly tickling...

Building the leaf pile...

The first big jumps into the leaves...

Kennedy...

Katelyn...

Alright girls, get some leaves, wait just a minute...

Now, let's have some fun...

And fun we had! Thanks babies for the memories!