Christmas by candlelight

Christmas Eve: Louise makes sure that the chimney is clear for Santa's arrival. Notice the rice milk and carrots on the table left for Santa and the reindeer.


We awoke before dawn on Christmas day to an ice/wind storm that knocked out the power. We opened gifts by candle light (and headlamp). Santa brought Louise a doll house.

... More to come later...

Tuesday

Most primary and secondary roads are clear now, but ours is still looking pretty rough. Halleluiah for 4 wheel drive.

Whassup?! says princess/fairy Louise.

Snow! Emu! Power!

Well, it snowed alright!



It snowed enough to make this snow boy (Louise's choice)... We could have made an army of snow boys if we wanted!



And, we spotted a loose emu! We don't know if the emu ever made it home, but Sherlock Mike located the owner and we let her know where the emu was. We haven't seen it since.



The street in front of our house was a sled highway, all weekend long.

Lastly, we have power! By some amazing stroke of luck, we lost power, but only for about 24 hours... very lucky considering the conditions.

Snow

It's been snowing all morning. I'd say we have serveal inches already. Here's the forecast for this afternoon and tonight:

This Afternoon: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 34. Northeast wind between 7 and 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches possible.

Tonight: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 32. North wind between 7 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.

Pix coming soon. We've been too busy watching Christmas specials and playing games all morning to go outside and build a snowman. Maybe after nap...

Babies in tha house

Baby Charlie, Mike's sister Melissa, Mike's cousin in-law Molly, and baby Grace.

This adorable chubby cheeked angel is Louise's cousin Charlie (short for Charlotte). Charlie has an amazingly calm and sweet demeanor and weighs in at an impressive 19 pounds. She is 5 months old!

Louise continues to be totally, thoroughly smitten by Uncle Brian, proud papa of Charlie.

Michigan!

Our first full day in Michigan and it snowed 8 inches! And I got to catch the neighbor snow-blowing and the letter carrier delivering mail. Just another day in Michigan.

Louise, sitting on a chair that was Mike's when he was a boy, at Busia and Grandpa's house.

Catch-up time again

I'm just posting photos from Grandpa Mark and Grandma Lucy's visit in November!

Above: the birthday girls Brayden and Louise, at our house.

Louise and Grandma Lucy pose at the park.

Grandpa Mark reads a new Charlie and Lola book to Louise.

Ketchup

Pardon me as I post a month's worth of posts in one night. And I have more from mid-November if I can just get my hands on them...

Thanks for bearing with me...

Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree Farm

A holiday tradition with Grammy and Papa

Thanksgiving at Ma's

Carolyn and LJ

LJ opening a gift from Ma

LJ and Uncle Will

B-day Pics V Great Wolf Lodge

Waterpark fun- the wave pool was the fave.

B-day Pics IV Great Wolf Lodge

Samson

Brayden

LJ

The little ones: Lily and Jonah

At the Great Wolf Lodge near Charlotte NC with the Demory and Wilson families. Louise, Brayden, and Samson all turned 3 within a few days of each other

B-day Pics III

Beckett and Brayden

Brayden proudly shows that she's three years old, too!

B-day Pics II

LJ's dance party

Birthday Pics I

Modern Toddler

Louise "texting" on her calculator.



Watching a Sesame Street podcast on my iPod-- loving the new headphones.

Boo Hoo

Halloween was a bit of a downer this year. We all had costumes ready, parties lined up, pumpkins carved... But Louise came down with a bad cough and a fever. And the rain kept all but 2 trick-treaters away. And, it was so humid that our jack-o-lanterns molded within a few days of carving. Bummer!
I am happy to report that Louise's health seems to be on the up and up. No ear infection, no pneumonia, probably not the flu, maybe a little croup, but at least the fever is gone.
Y'all stay healthy now...

Jack-o-lanterns

Carving Time