Party!

We had some friends over the day after Christmas. Things got pretty wild, let me tell you, as the party went on from 5:30 PM or so all the way until 9:00!

Nine that same night, that is.

So things have changed a little since school... it was a lot of good, clean fun!

Connor Cooking.

Connor has a (toy) miniature kitchen in his play room, and one of his presents was some cookware that was to scale. He's quite crafty with it, just like his old man.

Christmas Eve.

Traditionally we have opened our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve, but we've become a bit more flexible on that policy over the last several years. This year was pretty much back to normal, although we were missing Tina (unfortunately). We had lots of gifts and lots of time to open them as well. My brother got me the Element Gasket I'd mentioned from time to time throughout the year, and he and my dad both received the Chia Obama from me, among other things. It was a wonderful night with family.

Evie's First Birthday!

It's also Christmas Eve, so we had a family birthday party for Evie in the afternoon. (It was family, and an older gentleman that has some loose connection to our family and manages to come to many of our gatherings... suffice to say we're looking into it.)

Evie was one year old, and I for one couldn't believe how quickly the year passed!

Winter On The Meadow.

It can be quite pretty on the Meadow.

Later That Day.

When we got home I was watching a movie downstairs, and Connor was in his play room. Jodi was on the main floor doing I'm-not-sure-what, then she came downstairs to do something else. I'm just setting the scene, folks...

I think I noticed Connor heading upstairs, but I know I didn't think anything of it. I went upstairs maybe two minutes later, and found the boy, just as the photos show. He somehow got it in his head to paint the door to the pantry, and the rest doesn't really need description. I should at least point out the knife though; it's a monster.

Seeing Santa.

We went to Breton Village Mall, which is sort of where my brother and I had our first "mall" experiences when we were kids. We'd follow girls around, and... well, I'm not sure what else we did, but Breton Village was within walking distance to our house. Connor did really well with Santa; Evie, not so much. Next year sweetheart!

Random.

Jodi at home playing with the kids, and the camera.

Evie Is Standing!

Just like it sounds, folks.

Winter.

I actually enjoy clearing snow off the driveway, even though I'm lazy in nearly every other way laziness can be calculated. These days Connor likes to come out and "help", which is one part cute and fun and one part hassle in that he generally makes things worse and I have to redo my work. (I mentioned he's cute, right?) And my mom arrived back in MI for the holidays!

Day Care.

Jodi babysits for a girlfriend on Monday mornings, and Nina's fun to have around (as far as I don't know).

Holland.

We all spent the weekend in Holland, which we had not done in a while. It was cold, but we had a great time. I'm pretty sure we went to a Hope basketball game Saturday afternoon, too, and that they won. My goal, having season tickets that I rarely use, is to make it to four games this year, then add one game a season as Connor gets older. We'll see.

Reformation Day / Halloween / C-man's Birthday!!

It's sort of its own trinity, really. Connor is heavily into Speed Racer, which is kind of cool since I was into the exact same show when I was a kid. Flash forward though, and instead of watching one episode a day, from say, 4:00 til 4:30 (after school), in the new millennium you just order the entire series (six DVDs) online. Then you can watch every single episode, every waking minute of your life, until the thought of hearing the theme song just One More Time brings with it visions of checking in to a mental institution, or at least hitting the eject button. (The best part of course is that, with DVD players in vehicles now, you never really have to be away from it; it can stay with you wherever you go.)

But I digress... it was C-man's third birthday! We had a party in the afternoon, then went trick-or-treating at night. Connor did much better than last year, although it was much colder and unfortunately he had to wear a coat over his costume.

Evie And The Tub.

She's growing all right. This is her in the tub, if descriptors are really required. Oh, and that's the boy and me after bath time, circa probably the same night.