Good Night and Good Bye!

Good night and good bye, Tyler! It was fun having you (and Emmy and Ryan) home over Christmas Break. We'll miss you, especially Kiera.  

Same book, different night, different reader! Kiera usually has three books read to her each night. Ty read the first one, I read the second one, and Dave finished up. Then she was asleep in 5 minutes. 

Cold Fun in the Wintertime

Dave was working on his to-do-list; he was installing baseboard in the foyer. To get out of his hair (ha!), Kiera and I put on our snow gear and headed out side. We went for a mini walk, tried to make a snowman (but it was not snowman snow), sucked on ice sickles, filled the bird feeder (after we saw a beautiful cardinal looking down at the empty feeder), and dusted the snow off the boxwoods. Then we came in to enjoy some hot cocoa with whipped cream, of course.

T-Y-L-E-R pie

We had another fun family dinner this weekend with Mimi, Papa, Emmy and Ty. The menu: steak, cauliflower mashed potatoes, salad and peach pie. Even though we had a big birthday dinner for Ty earlier in the week, we still stuck the candles in the pie...they were too cute not to. 

Walk in the Woods

We took advantage of this mild winter afternoon and took a mini walk through the woods. Only for Dave, it wasn't just a walk, it was a walk-n-carry Kiera...ha! We found this stick hut and just had to take pics...and look, I'm even in some!

 We finished up our fun night by reading three bedtime books. Kiera's favorite lately has been "Dinosaur Roar" and she has it memorized.  Take note that Kiera has been sleeping (at least until we put her in her bed, that is!) in the hallway outside her bedroom. What a kook! 

New Year's Dinner

We went to Mimi and Papa's for New Year's Day dinner. Pork, sauerkraut and Papa's famous potato dumplings. The day was great...relaxing, football watching, Scrabble playing, moon dough making, CVS shopping, tea drinking, and lots of playing with Kiera. 

Here are our resolutions/goals for the 2012...

 Mimi resolves to be a nicer person (how's that possible?).

 Papa is looking forward to not paying tuition and using the money to reduce debt.

 Dave is hoping to buy a new truck and have his business name on put on it.

I am hoping to organize the attic and the craft/laundry room once and for all.

Kiera wants to make "pillow pets." (She does this by cutting foam into shapes of animals and taping them together...totally her own creation, other than the name, of course.)

Two funny Kiera-isms...

Dave: What should name should I put on my truck? 

(thinking she would say D. Paul Interiors, like she always does)

Kiera: D-A-D (she spelled it!)

While eating a pear to the core, she replied, "I ate this to the bone!"

Happy 93rd Birthday, Gram!

Gram turned 93 on January 3rd and we celebrated on Friday. Then, I put the birthday girl to work and we made stuffed cabbage casserole times three (one for each of us and Mimi). Dad and Gram surprised us by staying over for dinner (they usually leave at 4).  For her birthday, we got her two magazine subscriptions. Since she's had her lens replaced, she is a reading machine.

 Look at that face...she sure enjoyed her cake and hot cocoa!

Happy 19th to Ty!

We celebrated Ty's 19th birthday this week, fiesta style at  Ryan and Jason's favorite restaurant...Tres Portillos. No birthday celebration is complete without a sombrero! Tyler had the hots for the greeter at the restaurant.