STREET SWEEPER

Just like Pawpaw, James likes to keep the neighborhood clean.

BIGGEST PUZZLE YET

The kids got a play set for Christmas! It was a combined gift from their Gramma, Grambot and Pawpaw, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa, Grand Aunt Margie and Grand Uncle Daryl, and their parents. We'd been interested in purchasing one since last year, but wanted to wait until Cora was old enough that we didn't have to worry about her hurting herself (well, worry less anyway, since she's such a daredevil that we'll always have to worry about her - case in point, she managed to scrape up her head during play set construction by playing on the slide before it was attached, just running back and forth on it and tripping off the end into the gravel - she has her mama's independence AND grace...). It took us a long time to decide on a set (brand, activities and accessories included, platform height, price range, etc.), and we finally settled on a Gorilla. We didn't keep it a secret. We asked the kids ahead of time if they wanted a playground in their backyard (YES!) and involved them in unloading and construction prep as soon as it arrived. Needless to say, they are extremely happy with their new toy and we foresee many, many afternoons and weekends spent hanging out in the backyard. Which will be awesome, since mama and daddy have a lot of backlogged yardwork that needs to get completed!

Unloading the boards (after "helping" us carry the giant boxes down to the carport from the top of the driveway - we drove them down in the back of the minivan) on Thursday.

Fire ring relocation #1 (moved prior to starting the fire, of course). And hot chocolate. (Temps were in the low 30's during day one of construction on Saturday.) We spent about an hour leveling ground, measuring, and deciding on placement of the play set.

You gotta start with the base...

Jay and I worked together for all 14 hours it took us to complete construction, but I'm the one that took the progress photos, so you won't see me in any.

The peanut gallery was super excited to see the sides go up!

Measuring angles... Jay had to cut the top of the ladder to make it lay flush against the fort, so just know that even all-inclusive sets with great instructions sometimes have small issues that need to be fixed as you go.

Ladder and platform complete!

Lunch break! Note that the fire ring has been moved again. It actually moved 3 times total because it just seemed too close to the bottom of the slide. And nobody wants kids to slide into a fire pit...

Getting close and letting the kids test out the swings (so we knew how high to hang them). Eventually we'll buy a truck load of gravel to recover this entire area, but on Sunday we bought just enough to cover the old fire pit (which had been in place for who knows how many years, since it came with the house).

Getting the slide and roof attached while the kids went in with Grambot to start dinner.

Daddy attaches the rock wall foot holds while Cora tries out the trapeze rings.

Helping daddy finish the rock wall after dinner.

Finishing touches (Captain's wheel, flags, and telescope, plus the stakes to secure the entire thing to the ground) were completed at 10:15pm last night. We figured that since the directions said it would take 8 hours to put it together, that it would actually take 16. We finished in around 12-13 hours, so we're happy. Biggest puzzle we've done yet, and we actually had a great time doing a project together!

And, of course, it was all worth it for the smiles on THEIR faces this morning!

  

COLD DECEMBER DAY

While mama and daddy built the play set...

DOUBLE DIGITS!

We ran 11 miles together this morning with an average pace of 10:57/mile. We did the full upper loop of the military park in figure-8 style and walked up just 2 of the 5 big hills (running all of the smaller hills), plus a short walk break while refueling. Temps were in the low 30's, so we wore gloves, Turtle Fur, and cold-weather running tights (and were MUCH warmer than we were last weekend in Georgia running 9 miles in similar temps without them). We enjoyed running the first 8 miles with Ashley (who then split to run additional loops in the flats, since she had 18 miles scheduled - she's running the full at RNR NOLA), and finished off a little higher than our scheduled 10.3 miles. Other than the usual soreness in our feet and joints (which I get once I pass the 7 mile mark), we had tight calves and quads (from the hills), but otherwise felt good and pain-free. We're feeling much more confident about our half marathon now and are really looking forward to running it together in 2 months!

GRAMBOT'S HERE!

After an all-night flight and a big breakfast, we braved the rain to buy some cold-weather running tights for our planned 10-mile run in the sub-freezing temps tomorrow.

Reading Pinkalicious and Where's the Dragon with Grambot. About 50 times each...

WHICH BABY...

...is on the potty with the Lego man lamp?

BABIES ON THE TRAIN

 Daddy moved the chairs into the living room so he could mop the kitchen floor and the kiddos enjoyed playing train. They took some of Cora's baby dolls for a ride too.

SPIDEY

I SPY

A boy in flannel Lego Batman jammies (size 5, which fits his torso perfectly but is HUGE in the pants) and his new favorite book!

CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas presents went like this... 

At first the kids were more excited in the train tracks we set up than in opening ANY of their wrapped presents. Eventually they got into it though, and it was slow-going as we took turns and generally opened and played with each item as we went (fine with us - that's how we wanted it to go). About halfway through though, I think James was either overwhelmed or over it, since he stopped being interested in the gifts the second he opened them... He'd just rip the paper off, set it to the side without so much as checking it out, then say "I need another present". This is exactly what we were trying to avoid (by limiting the number of gifts the kids received - we only gave them 3 each), so we were pretty disappointed. We ended up taking a 20 minute break to regroup (and refill our coffee and mimosas), then enjoyed the rest of the gift opening with slightly less rushing. The kids were definitely spoiled again this year (and we don't even have the play set delivered or set up yet!) and seem very happy with all their presents (toys, books, jammies, sheets - they love them all). James was thrilled that Santa brought him a Spider-Man suit (just like he asked for) and a pack of Spider-Man undies. There are definitely some stand-out favorites this year though: the Batman cave from Uncle Davey and Auntie Taryn, and the remote control My Little Pony car from Grambot and Pawpaw. The medical kit we made James and the bead board we got Cora are high on the list too, as well as the new bath toys they each got, though we were surprised the Lincoln Logs didn't get higher reviews...

(James' doctor kit has real tools: a pediatric blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, and reflex hammer.)

Cora got her very own backpack (she always wants to carry James') filled with girly accessories. And purple boots.

She LOVES sorting!

(Outfit change by choice, not due to an accident or spill or anything. She had gotten hot in her fleece jammies and was running around naked until I showed her the Christmas skirt I made her last year).

Jude gave Jay some big hugs

Christmas cookies (and back into the fleece jammies because she got cold...)

CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS

Waiting for my loves to wake up (Cora ended up in bed with us at 3:30am, and at 8:00am everyone was still sleeping! The kids ended up sleeping until after 8:30am!)

Matching jammies! (Cora slept in different jammies just in case she had an accident, since I wanted the kids in these ones for photos today, but she's generally dry overnight these days. Also, Cora had already started taking things out of her stocking before we even got her up onto the bed...)

Light saber flashlights are AWESOME!

(Wearing my new running gear: gloves, visor, and reflective vest for early morning runs)

Iron Man motorcycle

Doing "jazz hands" like mommy did!

Our annual Christmas stocking family portrait

And just to reminisce from years past...

2011

2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS EVE TRADITIONS

Naps:

Making cookies for Santa:

Going for a late night drive in our jammies to see Christmas lights around town

Setting out magic energizing food for Santa's reindeer in the driveway:

Setting out milk and cookies for Santa:

Filling the stockings:

Putting the gifts under the Christmas tree:

Jay and I had a  lot of fun building a big train track (using a few new pieces, but mostly parts that the kids already owned) in front of the fireplace to surprise the kids