Friday, November 30, 2012

Tosca Gets a Ride

Jason took a couple of cute videos yesterday.  Grace is laughing so hard in this one that she chokes!  Who hasn't experienced that?


In this one, Grace is fascinated by bubbles.


Monday, November 26, 2012

Christmas over here

It is Christmas over here!  Just this year, my Mom gave me my Great Grandmother's Santa sleigh because she no longer has a mantel on which to display it.  Because of this, I was actually EXCITED to get the Christmas decorations out this year, which is probably a first for me.  


The reindeer were made in 1956 by Napco, a Japanese ceramics company.  


Mr. and Mrs. Claus are salt and pepper shakers, so we imagine this was a table centerpiece display.  They are also made by Napco, and both they and the reindeer have something called Spaghetti trim.  I guess that is the trim on Santa's hat?


The sleigh is made by Brad Keeler.  He died in 1952, so we know the sleigh dates before then.  Anyway, I am very pleased to have it and I think it looks great on our mantel!  We would have put up the stockings here, but we realized they temptingly dangle at the perfect baby height.  We hung them up downstairs instead.  


We also put up our tree!  Grace really enjoyed watching it go up and "helping" to put the decorations on.  Christmas time is definitely much more fun this year, and I feel less of a scrudge!  Let's not overdo it though, I'm sure I'll be plenty sick of it and exhausted by the time we get to January!

Plus it snowed here for the first time this season today.  It doesn't look like it will stick, which is perfect because I need to drive in it later.  

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Couldn't Be Beat

Another great Thanksgiving!  This one seemed special to me because Grace was able to eat everything, so it really felt like a family event.  


Here she is, fork at the ready!  She was definitely hungry because we were trying to hold her off with cheerios.


Just for fun, we changed it up this year with a southern oyster theme.  We had fried oysters as a starter.  They were awesome!


The rest of the meal included a Nut Terrine, Oyster Stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, brussel sprouts and of course, a pumpkin apple pie!  It is hard to get a good baby smile when there is no one behind the camera to look at, but at least she is facing the camera (unlike the 5 other pictures we tried)!


She takes after her Momma because the mashed potatoes were the biggest hit!  She may have eaten her weight in potatoes.  She kept asking for more, and she says "potato" very clearly because that is what she calls her current favorite toy, a Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday!  Today was a day of debauchery and relaxation, tomorrow is a day of cleaning.  

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Last Summer Post

It has been a hard week for my family.  We lost our Patriarch, a great pillar of our family whom we all looked up to.  He set a long and beautiful example of how to live a great life and we all are so thankful for that in many ways.  I could go on and on about him, but I don't think the internet is really the appropriate forum for me.  Just know that I think it is safe to say that we are all broken hearted right now, and though we will never be healed, we are learning to carry on.   That is why I thought a post featuring the last of our summer trip photos might lighten the mood a bit.  


On the last leg of our journey, we drove past some pioneer landmarks.  I wanted to stop and take pictures, and though Jason humored me, he was pretty annoyed by the whole thing because we were hot and tired.  Independence Rock is also a rest area, so that is nice and convenient.  


We also stopped at Scotts bluff which offered some pretty cool views.  


Grace enjoyed getting out of the car and taking a stroll with Daddy, though she really wanted to get down and crawl around herself!


Another crazy view of Scotts Bluff.  It was, like most things, much better in person.  I can imagine why this was a landmark for the pioneers after all the flatness.  


We're number one!  Go team Strom!

Much love to you all.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Boo! Grace's favorite pastime

I hope this makes you smile today!  It did for me and I really needed it.  


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

(Almost) Completed!

We have a vanity, a working faucet, a medicine cabinet, a mirror and a light fixture!  


What more could you want?  Well, besides a working shower, of course.  

There are a couple little details to add; I need to pick out a towel bar and other accessories, plus we need some trim along the bottom of the vanity and we need to paint the door.  But it is a usable bathroom again, and that is what matters!  

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Halloween 2012

Grace was a lobster for Halloween!


She loved wearing her costume!  We tried it on in the morning to make sure it would still work for that night.  When  we took it off to go shopping, she cried, so we let her keep it on all day.  


She also enjoyed sitting in this pot for another cute picture opportunity.  


How did she fit in this pot?  


We decided to dress up too.  We have a ton of costumes from past Halloween parties during our pre baby days, so Jason was Zorro and I was a pirate.  Grace loved wearing our hats.  I forgot to take a picture of us dressed up though, sorry!  I also forgot to take a picture of our living room decked out in spider webs and fake spiders.  


Grace's best friend Avery came over along with her parents Jason and Erica.  Avery was a butterfly, one of her favorite things.  When she says butterfly, it sounds like "applewhy."