Crafting fun

The kids decorated this gingerbread house on Monday. The candy was truly disgusting, which cut down on the eating of the supplies. Guess where we bought the kit? Walmart, of course!

Christmas Cactus--finally

After babysitting this Christmas cactus for many years (it was a tiny start from my Mom's original), it has finally bloomed appropriately. For most of its life, it has not bloomed at all. Then, three year ago, it bloomed 2 blooms at Easter. The next two years it bloomed closer to Valentine's Day, each year producing more blooms. After returning home from our trip, I was pleasantly surprised to see the darn thing covered in buds. And at the correct time.

CVM

We'd like to introduce CVM a.k.a Crabby Vest Man. It seems that a certain Grandpa earned the original title, but Jon was eager to join the club when he discovered his own vest in his closet. The latter CVM looks a little cuter than the original.

Christmas tree hunting

After returning home last Saturday at 1:00AM, we still decided that we MUST have our Christmas tree that very day. We set out (for Farmville) about 3:00 PM. Happily, we discovered a great tree farm that had many varieties to choose from--we chose a Grand Fir. Or maybe it's a Canaan Fir. Anyway, the best part of the whole experience was that it snowed on us. And I mean snowed! By the time we left for home, there was nearly an inch on the ground. We had a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant, Charlie's, in Farmville. Our window seat afforded us a view of the falling snow. Now, if I could only find some presents to put under that tree.......

A flurry of sewing

Between overcoming a certain amount of jetlag, getting back into the routine of school, and just settling in, we haven't had much time for anything this week. Madeline and I took advantage of some unseasonably warm weather and spent an afternoon outside (while the boys played) sewing these cute bird ornaments. Easy and fast--my kind of project.