reading time

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit last weekend - which is always a great time! This particular visit, Alexa requested that Grandpa do the "tucking in" with a bedtime story and snuggles. He did a great job and had both kids asleep in no time! As you can see, Alexa's bed is a favorite spot for both her and Grant to do some reading. He loves to climb up, pull on the blanket and grab a book. He doesn't have his "big boy bed" yet so he has to use her pink stuff for now ;o) It seems so strange to think of him in a regular bed soon and not having a crib around. Kind of sad but exciting at the same time (tear...)

Puppy Time!

Well, we finally took the plunge and got a puppy. Her name is Duchess Prancer Berryman and she's just adorable!! Alexa is in love with her and is always picking her up. She likes to "be in charge of Duchess" whenever I'm not supervising the potty training duties. The help is much appreciated, actually! Grant likes to softly bark at her but for the most part, totally ignores her. I think Duchess can sense this because she tries to chase him and nip at him whenever he walks through the kitchen (which is where she's confined to, most of the time.)

The Squirmy Update

I promised an update on "Squirmy," Alexa's pet caterpillar, quite some time ago. He was re-released back into the "wild" - aka our back patio - shortly before Christmas. We don't know whether or not Squirmy was still alive in a cocoon or if he was just shriveled up and crustified in the jar so we gave him back to nature to join his family and become a butterfly. Alexa seemed very fine with this idea so Clint tossed Squirmy out - literally right outside our back door. I was hoping for a more "private" release where we wouldn't see Squirmy every time we walked through the kitchen but it was cold outside and Clint wasn't going to move the caterpillar any further than where he landed. Luckily, we have had a few snowfalls since his release and he's no longer visible from the door. Just wait until the snow melts...

Christmas 2009

Here are just two pictures from Christmas this year. It seemed like a daunting task to do blog each "party" that we had so this is all you get! We had an awesome holiday and enjoyed seeing family. Santa was very gracious this year and gave Alexa a goldfish and Grant got the "Cozy Coupe" car. It's so awesome to celebrate the birth of Jesus every year. Alexa would say "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!" She was concerned about whether or not God made Jesus a birthday cake - I reassured her that He most certainly did. :o)

New header picture

I hope you like the new photo I put on the header. It totally cracks me up that neither of my children would look at me for the picture!

Outside finally!

After many weeks of sub-zero temperatures, we have FINALLY been able to get outside and do some much needed sledding! I've been very surprised at how long they are able to stand being out - especially Grant - he's usually the last one inside (probably because we pull him everywhere and he barely burns any calories except for giggling ;o) I hope these comfortable temperatures last for a while - cabin fever was starting to get the best of us.

photo session

Here are some pictures of Alexa and Grant during their "photo session" for our family Christmas card. Do they look at all interested in cooperating?? No. Alexa was more focused on reading some Christmas books and Grant wanted to climb on furniture. I did end up getting one decent picture of them together. Mind you, it's decent but not great :o) Still, they're pretty cute to me!