MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Santa's Workshop is working overtime. Of Course I can't show you
what's a makin in there until............later...........but some cool stuff I'm
tellin ya! I have made a BUNCH of hats.
Here's a few pics to enjoy!
If you're wondering who the stray child is in the above photo it's Paul's nephew. Robyn
babysits him 3 days a week and he's very attached to her.
I'm holding Dominic and Molly is holding Alex.

Aren't they so cute in their Christmas Outfits?


Dominic thought the giant animals were going to eat him. He kept a wary eye on them and clung to his mommy. Like this one....it has scary teeth and looks like it has blood on its fur from its
last meal.

What's so scary about this pig though?

Candy necklace IV's.....


Little Penguins....







I hope everyone is snug and cozy and enjoying this special Holiday Season.
I'm full of warm thoughts for everyone and am sending them your way.
Merry Christmas!

THANKSGIVING

We ate a ton of food and had a blast!
Literally....Dan and Daniel shot off their rocket.

Here's our step children....

Paul made this fabulous apple pie.

Random eating shots.....



This is Dominic....

Pushing and shoving to get to the food scene....

Adorable Annie....

The Turkey came up missing but we figured out where it went....

yep! Sari had it the whole time...
Kathy's family...


We did crafts too....like making some ornaments (no pics drat)
but here's Shannon learning to spin on a drop spindle.

Cute couple...

Jam faced kisses...(dominic and megan)

learning to pretend...(dominic and alex)

jail birds...

Here's the kitchen help singing 'when we're helping we're happy'...

Christmas is around the corner!
I just finished these vests for the grantwids.
They're made from felted sweaters (a grand name for shrinking
the sweaters). I just got a
nifty fun felting needle tool and needle felted the Christmas
Trees on by punching up and down on the craft felt until the
fibers meshed together. It's really really fun!

BOO!

I don't know who was more excited to go trick or treating....the kids or all the adults who trailed along. Here's some highlights...
NEMO...starring *Annie*

DINO....starring *Mathias*

PUPPY....starring *Alex* seriously what else would he want to be?

TIGER....starring *Dominic* yikes I lost my shoe!

PUNCHING BAG.....starring *Paul* believe it or not he got 3rd place at work for this!

80's DISCO DUDE.....starring *John*

MOLLY....as *herself* seriously....remember her hair growing up?

THE BOXER....starring *Robyn*

The DISCO DUDE and Molly hook up with a tiger for a pet...

Trick or Treat!

Some people kiss gnomes for luck....others kiss....skeleton lights!

Or anyone else who might be handy....

IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH

I love Halloween because it signifies the closing of the year for me. All of a sudden the leaves have changed color, the garden goes to sleep and its Autumn. The color ORANGE is suddenly fashionable. With the arrival of new babies in our lives Holidays take on new meaning.

Alex kissing the garden gnome. He kissed every statue in the garden.

We're kids again...teaching new kids how to have fun. Seriously...have you ever taken the time to actually play with an 18 month old? I have this opportunity every week. For example...Robyn had an eye appt. so I watched Alex for an hour at the appt. We ran up and down the stairs, drank from the drinking fountains, then went outside. We played in the leaves, swung from the bike racks, walked on the curbs without falling into hot lava, threw rocks in the creek nearby, collected dinosaur eggs for gramsi's garden, threw helicopters into the air (the seeds with wings) and made the noises for helicopters, rode the construction cones like horses. We learned "danger." When a car comes I yell "danger!" and we run to the curb and jump up on it until the danger passes. It's amazing how well I can communicate with these little ones. They talk to me all the time and I know what they're talking about. Life has become new again through their eyes.

Here's some pictures from our annual trip to a nearby farm. Enjoy the little ones in your life. Try and see the world through their eyes and take the time to actually play with them. Get down on their level and be little again!



This farm is so amazing. They have a local 4H group run various activies for cheap! You can go in and pet all the animals for free. The pony rides cost $1
Going in the *maze*. It was dark in here but they loved it.

Ridin the pony...alex

Dominic feeding the goat...one kernel at a time...

I loved this next shot because they're so cute in their little overalls.

My camera battery died too soon but I'll get more pics from the moms.
And yes I knitted the cute hats and made the scarfs. Always in the height of fashion.
Dominic...

and here's a rare moment...Alex posing...standing still? a miracle!