Dog Walker

Nina is getting plenty of practice walking a dog (in slippers, by the way) in hopes to have a real one some day. She LOVES dogs, but it might be awhile before we get one as a pet. Until then, the doggie house that she got for Christmas will have to do.

Christmas Morning - Part 2

After enjoying Christmas morning together at our house, we went to my parents' house to celebrate with the rest of the family. We missed Garland and Emme who were there earlier but left before we got there to help avoid passing on a "bug" that Emme got, but we had a great time enjoying the morning eating, laughing, enjoying some nice gifts, and being thankful for the many things we've all been blessed with.

Back at home later that evening, Mark and I enjoyed a nice dinner together, and Nina did some coloring with her new art supplies and art table.

Christmas Morning - Part 1

We started off the day at our house on Christmas morning. We were so excited to bring Nina down from upstairs and see the reaction on her face when she saw her big present...

However, this was the unexpected reaction we got from her instead...

Thankfully, things recovered quickly and Nina really loved her new kitchen and the other gifts she had under the tree.

This Year's "Visit" to Santa

Since we didn't make it to a real visit to Santa this year, we decided to do the next best thing and make a visit to the neighborhood Santa and life-sized snow globe. Actually, they're right across the street (yes, we're really slacking this year). Anyway, Nina gave Santa a hug, and stared at the snow globe for awhile, then her nose was red and her hands were freezing, so it was back in the house for us.

Making Christmas Cookies

While there is nothing easy, efficient, or remotely clean about making cookies with a 1 1/2 year old, there is something very cute about watching her get so excited to help be a part of something. Nina took her job as "helper" very seriously, and the extensive clean up effort was well worth the fun of cooking together.

He Made It!

When Bo left for Virginia Tech 4 1/2 years ago, we all shared one wish...we hope he graduates! Well, on Friday we got to witness the accomplishment for ourselves. I can remember his preschool graduation like it was just a few years ago, so it was hard to believe that he was already graduating from college. We're all proud of Bo and excited to see what comes next for him.

Our Trip to Florida

We have been in Florida for the past few days visiting part of Mark's family that lives there, and we got the chance to spend some time with family and enjoy the beautiful Florida weather. I have some pictures to post of our trip, but I also have some cute video of Nina with her cousin, Ryan. I was planning to put those on this post, but we had an eventful first day back home, so I will have to follow up with those a little later when I get a chance to load them on the computer. We were glad that we got to see so much of the family in the time that we were there, and we enjoyed the opportunity to visit before the pre-season starts again.

Little Artist

While the fascination with markers first began with taking the tops on and off, it has grown into a real enjoyment of coloring. For some reason, markers are much more fun to Nina than crayons (maybe it's the potential for that much more mess), but we're enjoying watching her creative side come out. These pictures were taken after Nina dumped applesauce over her head, hence the interesting hair doo. With marker on her face and applesauce in her hair, a bath was the next thing that followed.