o christmas tree

thought you might find some enjoyment seeing aubrey help pick out our christmas tree this year. she was quite fascinated with the process... but cried when mommy had to help pull daddy and the tree through the front door.

we had this wonderful idea to buy a "balled" christmas tree to plant after the season was over. little did we know that...#1 - it is suggested that they only be inside for 8-10 days. #2 - it is suggested that they be stored in the coldest room in the house. #3 - they weigh like 8,000 lbs. not really, but they are pretty heavy. we bought our tree last weekend.... meaning it will be inside at least 25+ days and it is standing in our family room, which is probably the warmest room in our house at any given time.

all this to say, most likely the tree will either die (probably not, we've just provided the ultimate green house)...or it will come out of dormancy. meaning i will have a live GROWING tree in my house. neato! anyway.... it's in, it's decorated and it's beautiful.

fun with friends and tree hunting

saturday we decided to spend the day with the mcintires and go tree shopping. after a great breakfast with friends the 6 of us headed out to bethany farm (around the corner from matt's parent's house) to look for trees. we did have one stop at briar rose green house before hand... to pick up poinsettia's and show brian and lindsay our friendly neighborhood green house. (i call the guy who owns it jimmy stewart because i think he sounds just like him... it makes me smile.) anyway... breakfast, briar rose and then on to bethany farm. it was fun spending time with friends and really got us excited about the next coming weeks and christmas coming! our tree is now "planted" in our family room, but we have only managed to get the lights and topper on it as of saturday.

an early birthday celebration

we decided with all of the craziness that will be going on in house the next few weeks that we would celebrate aubrey's 2nd birthday a little early, while the family was out and could celebrate with us. it's humorous to watch a 2 year old figure out that birthdays are special and they are for YOU. at one point aubrey said "i birthday" to which she was corrected with "my birthday" well, she thought that grammy was saying it was her birthday, not aubrey's and flew into a crying fit. neat. i didn't know the terrible twos started as soon as you brought out the balloons.

you may be wondering why my daughter is wearing a fairy costume??? well, she's my daughter, that's why. just ask my parents and they will tell you... i spent most holidays in my underwear because i had to try on everything that i got. before the fairy costume, it was a a feather boa....and before that a hello kitty sweatshirt. like mother like daughter.

thanksgiving

...phew! it's over. i cannot believe we pulled it off. we had 16 people and 3 dogs at our house on thanksgiving day. my parents got to our house bright and early that morning to put in the turkey and help us prepare for the day. my dad is sort of a turkey connoisseur... much like the dad in "a christmas story." so he had to make the turkey and it was much easier starting it here then transporting it from nj. we watched some of the parade on tv. i burned the cinnamon buns...oops! but come 2:30 everything was ready and everyone was here. i know pictures of food and table settings are probably boring... but our first thanksgiving in our new home needed to be documented. maybe i can find one of aubrey to throw in there...



the highlight of the day though was when it started storming and we had to bring all three dogs into the house. at one point they smashed over the gate and and came running through the dining and living rooms where everyone was starting to eating. we thought it was going to be over right then and there... it truly would have been like "a christmas story" with the dogs running off with the turkey and us ordering chinese for dinner. they were easily caught though and corralled back into the family room.

it really was a wonderful day.... and we do have so much to be thankful for.

proof

i realized later as i drove closer to downingtown that not everyone got snow this monday. seeing as my photos of snow were from the mountains, and i didn't want you all to think i was crazy... i had matt take a picture of our house when he got home "with snow".

my dad used take pictures when it would snow a lot when i was a kid... he would always take a photo of our house or our street or the backyard. problem was you were never quite sure when exactly the picture was taken. not that it mattered... they all started to look the same after a while. dad's are funny.

snow

it's kind of strange to look out the window this morning and see snow covering the rooftops. but it makes me smile. i am looking forward to the holidays and spending them with my TWO little girls. perhaps leah will make an appearance before thanksgiving (i doubt it.... but she does seem set on torturing me for the next few weeks.) we are getting ready for thanksgiving dinner at our house this week. both my family and matt's will be here. it's very exciting to be able to entertain in our new home.



we spent last weekend in the mountains.... it was a wonderful time of r & r with carla and greg and matt's parents. mostly we napped and read, played a couple of games. aubrey had so much fun. it is the first time that she has been there and could really enjoy it. i think that the last time she was only about 11 months old (last year same time). while we were up there it snowed a little (i guess a sign of things to come down here in chester county.) aubrey was ecstatic. she made us go outside every chance we got. she would just run and run.... yelling "i running!" the whole time. we couldn't keep her from laying down in the grass (mommy was a little concerned about her getting wet and cold.) it was so much fun to watch her little face enjoying God's amazing world.



i am excited to see the look on her face this morning when i bring her down and show her the snow outside.

i hear her now.

trick or treat.... smell my feet (again!)

Halloween 2006

Halloween 2007

wow! it has been a year already since aubrey's first halloween. the kids are all getting so big, so fast. it's hard to believe next year we will be adding even more children to what has become our annual halloween event. i am starting to think though that the whole event is really for the grown-ups. although i have yet to convince them to dress up too. (chris lagarde did where a fake tattoo sleeve on his calf in an attempt to be... well, i don't know what. ) we kept the kids up way to late... the mclaughlin kids actually asked to go to bed. then we went through the bags and took out our favorites.

i am not sure that aubrey grasps the concept of halloween yet, but she was ecstatic about spending a night with friends and the chance to chow down on candy. (mommy was too!)

it's fun to see the kids interact. they are starting to develop friendships and that is neat to see.

when i was young my parents used to hang out with a group of friends who all had kids around the same age. to this day those friends as close as family. they were more then just "the norbeck kids, the winter's, the newell's etc." they were people that i love desperately to this day, even though sometimes the occasions that i see them are few and far between.

The Little Princesses 2006

(well one is a chicken, but a princess at heart.)

The Little Princesses 2007

stay friends little girls...