Cloudy, With No Chance Of Meatballs...

Is was cloudy, but not raining yet. So, we went on a hike in the foothills by our house. We had a good time. The kids found some drainage pipes to use as bridges. A man passed us and told us about a swing hanging from an oak tree at the top of the hill. The girl and I crossed a drainage pipe over the water way and climbed the hill. It was a little slippery going up, because of all of the mud. However, once we got to the top of the hill, we found the beautiful old oak tree with a home made swing. What a great find!

While the sun was out. We walked to the park. The girl played on the monkey bars and the tire swimg.

The boy and hubby played football. The boy got a new football from Santa. He takes it everywhere with him.

Feeding the Elephants

We took the kids to an animal sanctuary/training facility not far from the house.  We had the opportunity to feed the elephants.  It was great.  The kids were so excited. The elephants are all former circus animals. As soon as we started walking to the elephants area with the carrots, this elephant quickly came across the enclosure to be fed. Feeding an elephant is a slobbery business.

There were several lions and tigers, but no bears..oh my!

Cuteness

One of the cutest boys ever came by for a Christmas visit.  He brought his new baby sister with him.  There is no pic of his baby sister, as I was getting my baby fix holding her. She is 6 weeks old and adorable! Eventually, I did give her back to her Mom.

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Recycling

What is this?  I know some people might think it was a milk box. In the hands of a 5 yr old boy its not.  I will give you three guesses.  If you said a knight helmet...you would be correct.  

The things he is waving in front of his arms are paper swords he made.  
Since he can't really see where he is going, it is a good thing his swords are made out of paper.

I wonder what else in the house he made into a toy.

Hmm...is he reading his cousins blog?

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Quiet Time

I love nights like these. It is raining.  The house is decorated with candles and lights.  There is a pot of turkey soup on the stove (turkeys were on sale) and bread in the oven.

The boy is drawing and writing a story about zoo animals.  The girl is writing a play we will be performing after dinner.  I play 9 or 10 different parts.

With all of the rushing around this time of year, it is nice to slow down and enjoy this time together.

To bad the laundry won't do itself.

Christmas Spirit

Darn those kids and their Christmas spirit.  Making me get tree sap on my hands and forcing me to crawl on the roof hanging lights from the gutters.

This year we did not go for a drive to cut down our own tree.  Apparantly it was a tradition that the kids were not as interested in as their parents were.  They were totally excited to drive four blocks from our house and wander through a Christmas tree lot proclaiming each one to be "the best tree ever!" 

Anyway, ornaments and garland will go on tomorrow.