Shedding a little weight

After I got my New Year Do, Elise wanted hers done too! So, I cut as much as I was willing to let her shed, and she likes it a lot. When I needed to even it out a little bit, she said I didn't need to take any more though. She also wanted to show her Mimi her hair, so here it is!

New Year, New Hair

This is for my fan club, so that they all can get their hair styled like mine! In fact, I think that Katie Holmes recent pictures taken for InStyle magazine were modeled after my cut. Just kidding, this is for my mom:)

Walk'n in a Winterland...

For it being as close to Christmas as it was, the weather was exceptionally nice. We desired snow, but kept getting sunshine mixed with rain. We decided to decorate our house for the holidays, even though it seemed too soon.
Upon Josiah's request, we set out the deer that he had asked for on his 3rd birthday, yes the lawn ornaments that we affectionately know as "Teek" and "Tank". Michael had to develop a way to rig up the lights as we have no outdoor outlets, but he was up to the task.






Then, the snow came and so did the play outside. Papa helped build a home for Elise and a bomb shelter for Josiah.


Luckily for Josiah the walls were firm, because Papa didn't hold any of his throwing force back! The dugout wasn't fail proof though!



Josiah took a few in the noggin like this one! But he survived and was out for more.

This war ended peacefully.



Elise wanted to modify her 'home' and then invited Mimi in for a tea party! Girls are so different than boys!


Lastly, Michael and Biscuit share a good wrestle in the snow. This is truly Man's Best Friend. :)

Two days later is rained some more resulting in the over-use of rain boots this year, but we are thankful for the brief time in the snow. Hopefully we will have a little more snow in these next few months, we have to take out our Tube-boggin for its maiden run of the year! Love to you all.

Birthday Time!!

December is a great month to celebrate a birthday, and our family would surely know! We started off with Josiah's 5Th birthday! Phase 1 of the 2007 celebrations began with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Zeigler. Ziah's special request was cheesecake and we went to an established bakery dedicated to cheesecakes to select choose his favorite. After much debate, and desire to try them all, we walked home with a White Chocolate Raspberry Cake baked on a Chocolate Cookie crust. Quite refined taste for someone so young, but I definitely enjoyed his selection. He also had an Indian themed birthday party, but those pictures will be presented another day, as I forgot my camera and relied on Mimi's photography.

Next in the line-up of births was Mimi's. She and Papa traveled over hill and over dale to get to us, but once they arrived we had a wonderful time together. We made her choice of Fried Catfish and coleslaw for dinner and finished the meal with a "Hazelnut Angel" cake topped with a raspberry glaze and torn mint leaves. It was magnificent. Elise was delighted with the whipping cream. To complete the night, Michael rented the first 4 Episodes of 24, the 6Th season...a show that all of us watched snuggled in together on our one basement couch!

I just thought I would add this picture in there to show where some of Josiah's 'personality' stems from...

Tim's birthday was on the 21st of December, and mine follows on the 22nd. Sorry, no pictures for this either as my day was recorded by Mimi and I forgot to steal the fotos before they traveled back. A memorable time was having Dad make my choice dessert: Homemade Doughnuts! He used to make them a lot when we were kids and he enlisted Elise to help make them for my birthday, mmmmm......

And on to the most well known birthday of the month, CHRISTMAS! We found ourselves in Springfield this year having a great time with the paternal side of the family this year. Michael preached at our home church, and then we came home as a family and opened gifts. Stockings were the first to be investigated.

If the stocking fits....

Michael taught Elise how to power the train that Grandpa had gotten Josiah for his first Christmas oh so long ago.

Uncle Matt deciphered who the gifts were for, Josiah and Elise passed them out.

There was even something special for Biscuit under the Christmas Tree...what a treat! I think this is why she always greets Grandma first!

Lastly, we have reading time...Elise's new favorite book: Pinkalicous! For girls who love everything pink! Even Josiah enjoyed this one.

Life with Little Ones...

Recently we have had the privileged to hang out with some of our favorite kiddos. It seems that when the nanny's are sick (or have children that are) we get the opportunity to enjoy some of the cutest kids at our home! Elise and Josiah are always more than willing to help our and look forward to the next visit from our guests.

Here, Elise and Olivia are being "Supergirls" helping out baby Anna with all of her reading needs.

The weather was ideal for some playtime outside, so the kids and I enjoyed the backyard...Grady was all smiles as usual. He and Elise would race the cars down the slide.

Some more reading time for Miss Anna, and just some good old fashioned cuddle time with Elise. How could we not have another baby? The kids are so thrilled to take part in the lives of little ones, but it may be different when they are around ours 24 hours a day!

And when our company left, we had a little fun on our own to finish the day.