Two Days Before Christmas

It's hard to believe that it's only two days until Christmas! All the planning that starts months ahead and then the last couple of weeks seem to rush by. This past weekend we got 24" of snow and it's really slowed everyone's pace down a bit, it's been kind of nice, actually. Our geographic area tends to panic when there is a couple of inches of snow so you can imagine that everything and everybody was completely paralyzed for the first couple of days.

December has been a busy month for the Jones family. First, I have finally become totally immersed in suburbia-we traded in the Mercedes for a MiniVan. For those of you who said it was going to happen against all of "my never in a million years", go ahead and chuckle. I have to say that I'm really glad to have made my last climb over the center console in the Mercedes to get to Baby K-as G has reminds me rather frequently, "you're not 18 anymore." All joking aside, the van actually rides smoother than the Mercedes and there is definitely more room in the front seats. R can actually ride comfortably in the passenger seat even with Baby K's carseat behind him.

Next, Baby K had her 8 month pics taken at a local picture studio. See pics below of her and G. I had hoped to get a pic of both girls together but no such luck on this trip (never fear, we'll be going back in April to do Baby K's 1 year pics:-). I did get a great pic of the girls and myself that I plan to frame and surprise R with for Christmas.

G has been busy with school and extra holiday activities this month. She went to her first Daisy meeting-she was so excited to be a part of the troop and to have some of her friends there from her preschool class. The troop leader is fantastic-not only does she seem super organized but she is so good with all the girls. I also took her to some holiday craft classes. At one, she made a graham cracker house, complete with a marshmallow snowman, that has become the centerpiece for our kitchen table.

This past Friday was G's last day of school and her class had a birthday party for Jesus. It was a great way to celebrate the true meaning of the holiday. Below are pics of Aunt M and Baby K and also of cousin J and the girls. The picture of the cousins is my "once in a million years" shot-all three kids are not only looking at the camera but are also smiling. Note the dress that Baby K is wearing-it was a hand-me-down from some of our dear friends. I have pics of their girls wearing those same dresses. Seems like only yesterday that their youngest was small enough to wear that dress, now she's 3 and going to preschool and their older daughter is in kindergarten. Where does the time go?

Enjoy the pics! I'll try to be a little more timely with the Christmas morning pics-


G


Baby K


Christmas card pics at Grammy's house


Aunt M and Baby K


The Cousins