Still Here!!

Okay, it's time for a HUGE re-cap! Sorry it has taken so very long to get back here, but school kind of swamped me for the last couple of months... The good news is the Fall term is over and I have until Jan 5th to get things in order before I start back for the Winter term.

So here is Kellen and Madison for Halloween. Kellen decided he wanted to be a skeleton, but then realized he REALLY doesn't like the feel of the grease paint on his skin. Madison, meanwhile, had a great time trotting around as Pooh, which earned her lots of comments along the lines of "How cute!" when we trick-or-treated at the university dorms.

In November, Steve and I had an opportunity (actually, Steve purchased the trip at the church auction) to go on a crabbing day-trip with another couple from the church. It was a great time, being out on the bay and kid-free for an entire day. As you can see in the picture below, I wasn't really keen on picking up the crabs (you have to throw out the ones that don't meet the size requirements) because they have the ability to really hurt if you get caught between the claws and I could feel the back legs trying to gain purchase on the back of the glove while I was holding him; he scared me to death!

Steve is there in the red shirt to the left of the picture, hauling up the crab pots. We didn't get that many, but it was a really nice day out with really good company. The guy to the right of the picture is the one who owns the boat and he helped us kill and clean the crab when we got back to their house so that we could take it home and boil it. Kellen (lover of all things seafood) was thrilled that we got to have crab cocktails the next day!

And we can't cover the month of November without Kellen's birthday, of course! He turned 10 this year and wanted a sleep-over with a Legos Star Wars theme. Hence the cake.

So here is Kellen with the friends that he had invited over, as he is opening his presents.

Just a couple of days after that we went to Tim and Joelle's for Thanksgiving (Joelle is Steve's sister, for those who don't know) and Kellen got to have ANOTHER birthday party with his cousins where he received three new Webkinz! He was so excited! Of course, the birthday party and meals were the longest stretches that we actually saw him because he had a blast playing on the Wii upstairs the remainder of the time...

And we couldn't leave without a picture of Grandma with all five of her grandkids gathered around. The books that they are all holding have become part of the holiday traditions, with Grandma and Papa giving each of the kids a new Christmas book every year.

After participating in the horrendously early shopping that is the Day After sales, we drove up to Mark and LaNita's (Aunt LaNita is my mom's sister, for those who don't know) house for a night and went to Leavenworth with them on Saturday. With everything decorated for Christmas, it was just beautiful. And there were a couple of older cousins from Mark's side there visiting, too, so they took all the kids except Madison while Mark, Steve, LaNita and I wandered shops with Maddi in a stroller.

The first Saturday in December is, of course, Scouting for Food. I'm just now realizing the Kellen is not in the picture below, but he was there in the building somewhere... Not sure how that happened. Anyway, it was a good, but long, day.

On December 13th Kellen had a piano recital (he's at the bottom left of the picture) and all of the kids did a really good job. I took video of at least one of his songs and will try to get that uploaded at some point. No promises, though...

Sunday the 14th, WE GOT SNOW!!! And not just a dusting. It snowed for real! It doesn't typically do that here.

So after church we stayed in and decorated our Christmas tree. Tradition stands thus: I put the lights on the tree, then Steve sits removing ornaments from their boxes and handing them out to be placed on the tree by myself and the kids. Madison had a blast, with her most frequent comment being "Do you have something for me?" which, ironically enough, was the phrase she kept repeating as I was removing the household decorations from the boxes, because I kept telling her that each item she picked up belonged either to Kellen, Steve, or myself. She never lost hope that there was SOMETHING in there for her SOMEWHERE!

And here is the finished product... We didn't put everything on; Madison's penchant for touching everything would be deterimental to most of our ornaments. Maybe they'll make it on next year.

Sunday night and Monday morning it snowed some MORE! Needless to say, our area isn't equipped to handle this stuff so schools cancelled all over the place, and the kids and I made a snowman in the front yard. With below-freezing temps (on some days, highs of 26 degrees) the snow was too dry to want to stick well so we had to make a mound and shape it instead of rolling it in actual balls, but it worked!

Tuesday evening our cub scout pack met at a local retirement home to go caroling. I know it's difficult to see, but Kellen is third one in on the right of this picture.

The last couple of days, due to freezing temps and nasty roads combined with the fact that our area is unequipped to deal with this kind of thing, Kellen has been out of school. Actually he hasn't gone all week, and school was cancelled again today because of the picture shown below. We have spent the time finishing up our various home-made gifts and I have every intention of doing some house-cleaning, baking, and peanut butter balls today.

Since the Mercedes is rear-wheel drive (i.e. not real safe in the snow) Steve has been driving the Honda all week and I haven't gone anywhere. Well, I went to grocery store after he got home from work yesterday, but that's it. It's getting a little boring, but Mom and Dad are flying in on Monday night and it's starting to look like we actually have the possibility of getting a white Christmas!! Holy Cow!

So that's the wrap-up of the last couple of months. Sorry it was such a brief view; I really did take more pictures of everything up there, but it would be silly to make a post THAT long. I decided to go for the Reader's Digest version instead :) Hope you are all doing well and having fun with your Holiday preparations!!