The Crafts

What have we done?! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

A couple of weeks ago I had a Christmas party to attend so Matt and Kate stayed home to watch an Iowa State basketball game. Both were decked out in their Iowa State basketball jerseys. While Kate enjoys wearing her shirt, I think one was having a bit more fun than the other. Never less they look pretty good, don't you think?

God has blessed me with many talents and skills, but gift wrapping is NOT one of them. Below are a few of my Christmas wrapping disasters. Notice the edge sticking out. It would be very easy for someone to peek inside this gift. This is the same gift but you can tell it has been manhandled by a two year old. Sorry LeAnn, this one belongs to you. This gem is just weird. I promise the inside is so much better than its package. Of course, that could be said about a lot of things in life. Oh, Kate. I'm so happy you are too young to understand why your gift is missing half of it's paper. This is not because I ran out but rather I just don't know what I'm doing. This one made me laugh out loud as I was finishing up. This one has a story. I realized I had too much paper as I was wrapping up the end. So I carefully trimmed the paper...and then there wasn't enough to cover the gift. Sad but true, this happens to me at least once a gift wrapping year but I usually cut a littl...

Kate joyfully attended her buddy, Wendell's, birthday party yesterday. However, don't judge her joy by the below picture. It is near impossible to get her to smile for pics. Anyway, the kids had a blast coloring party hats, sculpting homemade playdough, and eating. By far Kate's favorite part was the balloon she got to take home with her. She hasn't let that thing out of her sight. She asked to take it to bed with her last night but I had to put a quick stop to that. Instead she gives away kisses to the balloon before nap and bedtime. Thanks for the fun party Wendell and happy 2nd birthday!!

Kate loves to eat...but hey, who doesn't?! Here are a few Kate favorites that continually surprise me. Favs: Olives Mushrooms Salmon (most any fish really) Dried cranberries Raw onion Raw green peppers Raw red peppers Some surprising dislikes: All juices Chocolate milk Peanut butter Raisins Sandwiches But I love her still the same. (Unless she is being naughty. heehee)

So my friend, Heather, was telling me she is actually able to fit in a video work-out with her son awake. Wendell is about one month older than Kate so I figured I too would give it a try. Heather says Wendell will either play while she exercises or he will actually do the exercises with her. So I tell Kate that we are going to do some pilates . I pop in the DVD and lay down to start the work-out. Kate lays down next to me and I think, ooooh , we are onto something. A minute and a half later Kate is draped over me hugging my shoulders like I have abandoned her. And to make the moment even more laughable, Baxter the cat catches wind of the pig pile and runs over to join in the fun. But I'm not a quitter so I keep going. With my legs and one arm in motion I complete a pilates exercise with Kate whining into my collar bone while the cat sniffs my face. So I got in a good three minute work-out this afternoon. Don't call Suzanne Somers , I don't think she'd be imp...

A view of our bedroom. The rugs are original to the house - 92 years old! Another view of our bedroom. The upstairs 'hall'. Kitchen view #1 Kitchen view #2 Living room Dining room

What a crazy month and a half. We have not spent a weekend in our house since mid-October until this weekend...but it was NOT a restful one. Our house was on the La Porte City Christmas Tour of Homes. After hours of cleaning, painting and decorating, not to mention 300 people later, we are done. In the last month we have torn out old carpet, re-carpted, painted the kitchen, foyer, stairwells, and ceilings. We scrapped plastic off window frames, put together a new (but free) dining room table, hung curtain rods and pictures, and decorated for Christmas. We are worn out. I don't think I'll be tackling any more projects for a good long while. Now I can hopefully finish my Christmas shopping and relax. I'll post plenty of house pictures soon enough but for now I will add this picture of Kate. While cleaning out one of our 'storage' rooms I found a graduation cap. Kate started cheering 'hat, hat' so I put it on her. How fitting that she happened to be wearing her...