Nairi's artwork?

 Black Sharpie on the desk

 Sharpie all over a brand new book of stamps ( the sharpies were  hidden in the desk, she somehow found them)

 green washable marker on the carpet

 red

 pink

 orange

Lucky for us that carpet has just weeks to live or months at most so I don't really care how gross it gets.  And the washable stuff washes off pretty easy. The sharpie not so much... I know the easiest solution is to just put the markers out of her reach but Keira and Israel spend hours writing and coloring so no matter how much I put the markers out of her reach they always end up back on the art table within minutes. And Nairi herself constantly asks to color so I don't really want to stifle their creativity....

Letters to Santa and trees

 Israel's letter to Santa. I like how he asks for "a Jesus" right there next to pencils and a bulldozer.

 Keira's letter. Her most wanted gift is a make up set.

 Tree #1 in the tv room. This one has all the kids tacky  I mean adorable handmade ornaments on it.

Mike wanted to go nuts this year and a get a tree that would reach up to our 10 foot ceiling. So there you go. Our first real tree of our marriage. Its a beautiful tree but the needles always on the floor thing has the potential to drive me nuts.

Christmas Tree hunt

Bits and Pieces

 First snow! Nothing makes this boy happier than mowing  the lawn or shoveling snow.

 I love when Keira plays dress up with Nairi. The outfits and accessories are interesting... note the cd necklace.

Keira's Thanksgiving program at school. She was beyond excited about the whole thing. I could hear her giggling before I could even see her!

20 weeks

1/2 way there. Yesterday at my appointment I reviewed my u/s results with my midwife. The u/s tech had told me I had somewhat of a previa ( placenta covering the cervix). Yesterday she told me I had complete previa which means the entire cervix is covered by my low lying placenta. However its the edge of the placenta that's covering the cervix and it still has time to be pulled away from my cervix as my uterus grows. Hoping and it praying it does.  Another u/s in 7 weeks to check the location of the placenta.

She is reading!

Or starting to anyways! She is so excited and its fun ( and sometimes frustrating) to see the progress! Saint Benedict Academy rocks!

Mike's parents 40th anniversary party

Congrats to Mike's parents for 40 years of love and faithfulness! This party was a year of planning in the making and all went well minus the fact that the Manchester marathon made getting to the restaurant impossible. Both roads leading to it were closed!

Our big preschooler the landscaper

He is settling in to preschool nicely and enjoys his two mornings a week of painting and play dough and every other kind of preschool fun. His teacher told me today when he came in and sat on the rug he told his friend " Hey Brady!! I saw a landscaper last night.!"  Someday I will want to remember how he says last night for EVERYTHING. He was born last night, we went camping last night, his birthday was last night, we went to the beach last night. Its hilarious. Every time he says it Mike and I exchange looks and try not to laugh. He says it so seriously. He is also still so much in to mowers. He will be outside and mow with our neighbors landscapers for over an hour imitating their every move from perfect lines with his mower to turning the corner just like you would with a mower so as to not miss a spot. He holds his weed whacker just like the professionals do.  When we go for walks he points out to me which neighbors need to mow their lawns because their grass is " getting too long" or which neighbors " missed that spot right there!!" Now that its getting dark so early he "mows" with Nairi's doll stroller in the family room making perfectly straight lines with the stroller in the carpet. He gets upset if someone messes up his "lines" and will pretend to pull the starter on the stroller just like you would with a mower.  I can't see this kid with an office job. He is all worker bee. He likes tools and machines all the way.

Got leaves???

Since you can't see the first row... that is 23 bags of leaves from our backyard waiting by the curb for the yard waste truck. There is at least another 10 still to be filled.  Sorry for the darkness... it was before 7 am when I took this pic.