Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!

That is the sound of the girls bouncing off the walls. They are getting pretty excited about Christmas. Carina has her program at school tomorrow night. Olivia is just as excited about it as she is. They both have their fancy dresses all ready to go for the occasion.

Olivia's concert was last Thursday - but she was home sick! She was disappointed, but seems to be over it.

This photo is from Dec. 1. Carina is enjoying the snow as much as Olivia this year. I talk about moving somewhere warm with no snow and they tell me snow is their favorite and winter is their favorite season. It seems like we have had some significant snow every week. We're supposed to get 3-5 inches again tomorrow.

The girls got Santa nightgowns from St. Nick. Here is a picture of them modeling. I did not request the glasses. I don't remember what the purpose was, but I had to take a picture of the look.

Until later....bounce! bounce! bounce!

All The Kings Horses

It's been one year and 8 months to the day since my first surgery. Today, I had what will hopefully (emphasis on hopefully) be the final one to put me back together again. There will be a medical tatoo artist step after this, but that is done at the doctor's office.

The surgery started at about 7:30 or so. The doc was talking to Matt 9:10 and we were home at 12:15. I've been hanging out on the couch and enjoying my pain pills. I'm not sure how things turned out because of bandages, so I can't report on the success. I have a doctor appointment on Tuesday, so I'll know more then.

I'm not supposed to make any "big decisions" until 24 hours after the anesthesia, so no online shopping until tomorrow!

Success!

I have a picture for the Christmas cards - hooray! Here it is.....the girls were goofing around with the reindeer headbands and we got this cute picture. Quinn was especially loving it...

We had a great Thanksgiving. We had Matt's parents, my Mom and Steve, Sharon and Dylan, Dave and Sue and the three kids, and Uncle Bob.

Olivia wanted to make this sign for the table - it says "The Thankfulness Table". She also made all the place cards.

I made mashed potatoes and couldn't find the bay leaf I boiled with them. I did end up finding it in the pot - it stuck to the side when I drained them. I thought that I would kill someone by leaving it in....here's what Wikipedia has to say about that....

Facts
Mountain laurel leaves are poisonous to certain livestock and are not sold anywhere as a culinary herb (Britannica). This has led to the mistaken belief that bay leaves should be removed from food after cooking because they might poison humans. Bay leaves are safe to eat. However, a person may accidentally swallow a leaf; and since the leaves remain stiff, even after several hours of cooking, it may cause general injuries in the throat.

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving too.

The Illusive Family Photo

Home project number two -the dining room, is mostly done - we just need some new art work. Here are some pictures...

As you can see, it is quite a change....

I've been starting to thing about Christmas cards and maybe including a photo of all four of us this year. So far, no success. We had Henry's baptism (Anne & Brad's 2nd son) this weekend so we were all looking half decent. We tried to do a family picture, the results were not good. We'll have to try again this weekend....

Look Out Martha Stewart

Over the past month or so I have been doing a lot of work on our kitchen. It started with taking off the old wall paper - time spent, about 15 hours. Then painting, first primer, then two coats - time spent, around 10 hours. Finally, I looked and looked for something for the windows. Everything I found looked like it should be in either a senior apartment or a country style home - of course, this is not the look I was going for. I checked into having some cafe curtains made - the cost was going to be over $600. So, I took a sewing class at the fabric store. I had flashbacks to middle school home ec and Mrs. deLeo (I think that was her name). I remember a fabulous pair of shorts I made in that class. Anyway, I spent this weekend making the curtains - it took about 8 hours just for the cutting, pinning and sewing. We also went through three different curtain rods for the big window. 30 or so hours later, here is the final product (sorry about the mess on the counter, I was too tired to move it)....





I am so thankful that my next project is painting the dining room and not more curtains.

A Barack Ovama for You, A Barack Ovama for Me

We have two magazines with President Elect Barack Obama on the cover. Yesterday, Carina (3) pulled out the magazines and said to her sister, "Here Olivia, a Barack Ovama for you, and a Barack Ovama for me." Good thing there was enough of him to go around.

The girls had a swimming lesson this afternoon. Olivia was swam her first length of the pool - front crawl with breathing to the side an all. She is very excited about her progress.

Before swimming we went to an office building in Wauwatosa that is displaying art from McKinley Elementary. Olivia had a Self Portrait that was chosen to be on display. It is a great picture. When we take Matt to see it I'll take a photograph and post it.

Dog Free to a Good - no Average - Home

It's been busy, busy, busy since I returned from Brussels. The trip was good - it was great to see all my colleagues from around the globe. We had some time to see some landmarks, including the famous statue Mannekin Pis, Grand Place - the central market square, and the Atomium which was built for the1958 World's Fair hosted by Brussels.

Mannekin Pis....

Inside the Atomium - this control panel was right next to the line for the elevator we were standing in. It seemed to operate the elevators and have something to do with security. Not quite something we'd see at home. Don't push those buttons!!!

Looking up at the Atomium...

Now, onto Halloween. The girls went trick-or-treating on Friday night. We had great weather and they had a blast. Both got whole pumpkins full of candy. However, the supply was significantly reduced when the stupid dog helped himself. It was Saturday morning and I had gone to the gym and Matt had taken the girls to gymnastics. I got home around 10:30 and after I was upstairs when Quinn came up with a Kit-Kat in his mouth. I thought - I wonder if this is really the first thing he got. It was like he was confessing to the crime he had committed.

And a crime it was! I looked in the dining room (the pumpkins had been in the middle of the table) and he had turned the floor into a chocolate, sucker, bubble-gum covered disaster. I picked up 30 mini wrappers - that doesn't count those that appeared later. Apparently dogs don't digest wrappers well. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Quinn is still with us and no worse for the wear. The carpet cleaners come tomorrow. Bad, bad dog.

Here are some Halloween pictures...I really wish I had a picture of the disaster to show, but unfortunately, no.

Carina and Olivia

Some of the neighborhood gang....

Carina and her best pal Mallory....

Liz - Henry is Anne and Brad's youngest. The hair is completely natural!