Good Morning Christohper!

Every morning Christopher comes into our room around 6 or 6:30 am. He usually stands at the door and asks if he can come snuggle. When we say yes, he bounds into the room and climbs in right in the middle. Usually closer to Matt (Daddy is king right now). I love the days when Matt has to get up first, usually Tuesdays and Fridays. I get to lay in bed for a little while and listen to Christopher's joyful and relentless chatter from the bathroom. No joke, the kid will announce the play by play of Matt getting ready for no less than 30 minutes. Every fifteen minutes or so, he'll come bounding back to bed and ask me if it's time to make coffee yet.

Christopher has a very strict morning inquiry routine:

- Can I come snuggle?
- Is there a paper outside today?
- Let me go check.
- Mommy, do you want to get up, brush your teeth, put on your sweatshirt and slippers, and go make coffee? (Am I a creature of habit or what?)
- Daddy, after you shower, are you going to shave today? Do you need your deoderant next? Can I help you with your aftershave? Can I pick out your shoes? Do you need help with your belt?
- Daddy, Mommy and I will go make coffee. You come down when you are ready.

I'm sure you get the idea. Happy as can be. Happy to announce the happenings of the morning. Really excited to get to breakfast. It's like he's checking things off his mental list of things that have to happen before he gets breakfast. We'll do it again tomorrow.

Introducing Daniel's Puppies

Daniel has been talking about his puppies for a couple months now. At first I didn't give it much thought, but as the weeks have passed I've gotten more interested. He has four puppies. Two are big and two are little. The big dogs, Margaret and April, have to sleep on the floor, but the little puppies get to sleep in his bed. From the sound of things, Daniel and his puppies do lots of fun things together. Recently they went out to eat at their favorite restaurant, Salmon Rae. Contrary to it's name, there is no salmon at Salmon Rae. They only have five things on their menu - macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and a couple other kid-friendly foods. Daniel was hoping we could go there Friday night, but he couldn't quite give me directions. I can't wait to get to know the puppies better.

Christmas 2013

My pictures of Christmas are pitifully poor. I must have been living in the moment instead of behind my phone. It also might have to do with the fact that I use my phone for pictures instead of a real camera. I guess that falls into the category of things I'll get when I'm grown up. One day. Christmas was a wonderful time. The boys loved it and were so excited to receive every gift. Everything was a hit this year. Hard not to spoil them when they love everything. We were also spoiled with family. Aunt Kelly and Aunt Maggie were here the week of Christmas, and my parents arrived just after Christmas. I really love having a house full of people. This house was build for times like the holidays.

All ready for bed on Christmas Eve!

A carrot for each reindeer.

Bowling with Aunt Kelly

Monkey bread time!

Loving our eukeleles!

So you hammer here, Christopher?

Reading with Aunt Kelly

Loving having our family here!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Ever since Matt and I were engaged, he has made me a cake for my birthday. This tradition did not start out smoothly. I will confess that it was more or less forced; however, Matt did make me a cake. The first year I asked him relentlessly, "So, when are you going to make my cake?" He procrastinated so long in buying a box of cake mix that he had to make a cake from scratch. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face when I came downstairs after he had turned on the KitchenAid with the spatula still in it. Whoops!

His technique has greatly improved over the years, and Matt (like most of us) has learned the joys of boxed cake mix. My plan was always that Matt and our children would be able to make me a cake for my birthday, and here we are. Matt and the boys made me a cake with ingredients Matt procured, and they had a wonderful time doing it. Sometime around the time the buzzer on the oven went off, Matt realized that he forgot to get frosting. Oh well, one step at a time :) I was happy to supply my favorite cream cheese icing for the top.

The team in action

I always wear my best sweater for red velvet.

Red cake!

Yummy!

Christmas, the Warm-Up

"Hi Santa, I would like a flying car for Christmas."

I'm not so sure about this.

Oh, you get a candycane. I can find the courage. "I would like something made of plastic for Christmas."

Special wrapping paper for Grampy.

A tradition I might let pass next year. Too much work!

Yes, it will be a white Christmas!

18 inches later :)

So much snow and no mailbox.

The costumes were a hit... So was Aunt Kelly!

Let's decorate the Christmas cookies.

Poor Neglected Blog

Believe it or not, I think about my blog daily even though I have been a rather infrequent blogger in the past year. I guess life is busy. The combination of the new year and being pregnant has me wanting to tackle every house project that's been circling around the back of my mind all at once. I had one really successful purge day where I managed to pitch all sorts of expired pantry food (mostly old kid candy and unopened sodas) and clean out a mound of paper and old grocery bags. It felt so great!

I also feel rather proud that I was able to find new homes for almost all of the Christmas gifts! The boys were in great need of a toy shake up. Christmas couldn't have come at a better time. However, finding these new homes has somehow aroused the organization monster that lies within, and now I'm dead set that the basement is getting painted, carpeted, and affixed with much new toy storage and even maybe an art room. Chalkboard walls sound like so much fun! This is about the point where I get totally overwhelmed and end up quitting the project before I even get started. We have not done anything down there since moving in and the pastel blue paint and carpet are not for me. Not to mention the condition of the carpet which was stained when we moved in.

I have visions of a space that is warm and invites creativity while allowing for much jumping, climbing, and wild play without having to stress about what is getting destroyed or broken. Every mother's dream, right? I also want our guest room to be spiffed up just a bit. It's nice and private now. I'm sure the guests would enjoy warm and cozy, too.

This must be the nesting instinct kicking in. I'll be sure to keep you updated if I ever make any progress in the basement. If any of you Madison readers know a great decorator, pass the name my way. I might have to punt on this one.