My new favorite song

She was trying to get better presents.

It worked.

We caught one

Just a couple of comments.
1) Mark is helping. That branch he's holding is very heavy. I'm not sure Jason could do it with out him.
2) Anna is helping too. She's walking. She wieghs 15 lbs more with all that stuff on.
3) You can't tell in the this picture but it was brutally cold. We spent the rest of the day with our lips pressed up against the side of hot cocao mugs to get the frost off of them. It was COLD!
4) It was a fun day.

A day in the kitchen

In my tiny pool of available time, I am managing to squeeze in a very small amount to baking. It is that time of year after all. I have a new little helper. I've always had help in the kitchen. And I still have my big boy helper sometimes. But now I have a cute little helper whose smile lights up my kitchen. See what I mean. She asks a million and one questions. I understand about half of them. That is big. I used to not understand anything. We are coming along. I think it is moments like these that are helping. She and I are spending time together just talking. No big brothers around. She can't just nod to what he says; she has to talk to me herself. And to top it off, she is learning to make apple crisp. In another year I will be able to send her to the kitchen to make me dessert while I veg. on the couch. It's an investment in the future I figure.
BTW, what do you think of my new wall color in the dining room? I told you I couldn't stand wood paneling. I'm not sure just how I feel about painted wood paneling yet. But replacement wasn't in the budget for this year. $20 worth of paint was. I like the color a lot. We also painted the kitchen a bright sunny yellow. And I used a yellow green as an accent. I will show you these things another day perhaps.