Christmas part 1

So the pictures taken at my parents and on Christmas morning are on my camera which is in the car. Since it is raining and cold I do not want to go out there. So here are some of before Christmas.



I didn't feel excited this year for Christmas this year. I think it was a combination of many things but mostly because my house was in a state of chaos. (still is) Hopefully next year all will better.



Becca in my old rocker in an outfit Molly wore at 18 months!

Becca loved the Christmas tree. By the time I took down the tree, all the ornaments on the bottom had been moved to the top. She loved the lights and would try to pull them off.

Molly, Jack and Becca got a great big package from their great aunt and uncle in Nevada. Since I would not let them open the gifts inside, they settled for the box. It kept them entertained for most of the day. They colored it and called it the Peanut Car. At one point, Becca, was in it being "driven" around the living room.

Becca getting caught!
I thought for a while I was going to do a more posed picture for our Christmas card. While I loved this picture, the one I used seemed better. It was taken one evening when Scott was out of town and I had finished reading to them. They were in our bed laughing and having fun. It was a sweet memory to me and meant more to me than the posed one.
I know they are mine, but, I love them.....

Rotten

My third born is rotten. Spoiled. Molly said today that she is happy I wanted another baby because "...Becca is so cute and I love her. I love having a sister. I'm glad she's here."

These are from Monday. Becca Boo loves Molly's rocking chair. She was rocking herself so hard that you can see my foot keeping her in. Jack also LOVES his baby.

Cutest feet ever!

Out with the old...

I do not understand why, but my pictures always change order now when I upload them....


Anyway. Walls are down. Floors are up. Beams are secure. Here are some home remodeling picts.

This is a shot of the wall down and the beam up to support the floor above. It seems that the kitchen area was added 10 years after the house was built and no one could tell it was baring wall. We will have a slight bulk head but nothing to bad. Another good thing about opening the wall is we could see an old pipe leaking that we didn't know about.
The night before the wall came down I allowed Molly, Jack, and Becca to write on it. They had a blast!!
Never again I told them! :)

Support beam put up today. See all that brick? The walls in my house are 3 bricks wide/deep.

Before construction.

More after. Can you see all the years of funk? 3 letters were found behind the cabinets. One was dated 1967 from a 16 year old boy who wrote it to who ever in the future would find it. He talked about his 5 siblings, neighbors, and politicians who were corrupt, war, and how he and his brother were going to enlist in the Army and go to Vietnam. I wonder what ever really happened to him. Guess I will have to Google him....

These are out of order. This is the window closed up.

Window before in the old and now gone pantry!

Many topics!! :)

So, I've been busy. Busier than usual. We have been wanting to remodel our kitchen since we moved in. We bought our 2nd house because of the kitchen and bought this one in spite of the kitchen. Well. I found a designer who listened to MY needs and wants and didn't try to sell me her's. My contractor (I say mine because he has done other projects around this old house...) was able to begin work at any time so we decided it was as good a time as any. So the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, 3 men showed up at my door a 8:00 ready to tear down a wall. While this is what I have wanted for sometime, I am finding it very stressful. It's been stressful because 1. I don't love change even when it's for the best. 2. I hate a mess. 3. I hate chaos. 4. I am stressed my children are breathing in lead, poison, asbestos..... I could go on. Anyway, they are working hard and I am excited that things are moving along. I have lots of pictures of the kitchen I will post tomorrow. I want the after demo pictures and it's to dark in there right now.



For Thanksgiving, I hosted the Nys. It started out being Scott's brother,his wife and their 3 boys, his dad and step mom, his sister, her husband and their 2 girls. Then it got big. Patty's (step mom) son and family had no one to spend Thanksgiving with so they came. David and family coming to Va meant his dad had no one, so he came. Then the morning of Thanksgiving we found out Scott's personal trainer would be alone, so we invited him. In all there were 12 adults and 11 children. (ages 8 to 1 year) It was loud, hot, crazy and SO Much fun. I didn't get any pictures except after most everyone left and it was just kids and Scott's siblings. Here is Scott with Campbell. Grace and Campbell loved reading to the younger children.

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the preschool had a feast. Jack was adorable in his costume. Becca was tired and overwhelmed by the number of people and noise.

Wyatt and Jack.

Jack was happy to "feast". We were afraid the other parents thought we didn't feed him at home!!!!

My cousin Beth got married the weekend after Becca's wedding. I rode up with Emily and Kenny and we picked Laura Lou up in Fredricksburg from the 'rents. It was lots of fun having sister time in the car. (minus Courtney who was having fun in Ohio)

At the reception...ET &KT

Emily, Me, Tommy, Heather, and Suellen.

We had to much fun at our table. We were at the kids table in the back with our cousins. It was a great party!!!!

Cocktails before the reception.

Some of Dad's crew. We missed Scott, Tim, Courtney and Jeff.

Nana bread & duck-duck

Nana brought Molly some Nana bread when she came for Becca's party. Molly was so excited to have a huge chunk after lunch today. Way, way, way back in the day, I was the young one eating chunks of Dana's bread. When dad and Dana started dating, I loved going over to her house because she always had bread. It was (still is) the best bread ever. Molly, Becca and I ate half a loaf today!!!

I was shopping one afternoon with Molly and Becca. Molly spied bin of stuffed animals and decided she, Jack, and Becca all needed one. Being in a good mood, I agreed. Molly chose a horse, for Jack, we picked a monkey, and Becca reached out for a duck. All three kids love their animals, but Becca loves hers. When I lay her down to sleep, she reaches for it and tucks it under her arm. After nap/bedtime, she holds onto it and keeps it with her until she is now longer sleepy. We have named it Duck-Duck which she can now say. Here she is with Duck-Duck....

I Love her.

Becca's first Birthday Party

We had a "small" family party for Becca's first birthday. I REALLY wanted an all out, invite everyone we know Becca's turning one party. Scott want the 5 of us and a cake. We compromised and had grandparents and siblings. And if you know our families, that's a lot of people. We ate lunch and cupcakes and the cousins played. It was lots of fun. Here is Becca enjoying her first cupcake...dairy free!

Molly getting in on the action. It is hard for first borns to share the attention. (I know how she feels.)

Getting cleaned-up. Her icing has tons of shortening to make up for the lack of butter/cream. It was very messy!

I can't believe she is about to turn one! Her official Birthday is the 20th! We are going to have more cupcakes to celebrate. Molly and Jack spent the afternoon making decorations for Becca. I love how much they love her. I can see how the baby of the family gets spoiled rotten. But with Becca, it's easy to do!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. When Molly and Jack got home from school, we carved our 6 pumpkins. I wish I had taken a picture of them. The squirrels and chipmunks had done a number on them so a few pumpkins were "abstract". I just cut random shapes to use the 'work' the animals had already done. They turned out pretty cool....

Molly wanted to combine her 2 favorite things this year and went as a princess cat. She looked great and had lots of fun in her costume. Jack was a vampire and was able to scare many people! Becca was a butterfly. She was very cute and round in her costume.

(my pictures will not load in order for some reason today, and after 3 tries, I'm giving up. Sorry)

Jack was VERY tired by 8:00 (rightfully so) so Becca, Jack and I went home 'early'. Scott and Molly hit a few more houses before coming home. This is Jack checking out his haul. Becca loved rummaging in his bag and he was a good sport about it.
This is the crew before we went out.

We met up with our friends the Townsend's to Trick-or-Treat with. Wyatt and Scarlett are the sweetest kids and I'm glad they are our neighbors.

The entire group ready to go!

Me and Becca. We are BOTH ready for bed!!!

Quiet Baby=Trouble

Becca is on the move these days. She no longer "army crawls". She is up on all 4's and moves fast! Today while I was making breakfast, I noticed she wasn't under my feet anymore and very quiet. I found her in the bathroom unrolling TP. You can't be "mad" at something so sweet and harmless. :)

What have the Ny's been up to?

The debate will begin in 6 minutes....so lots of pictures, very few words.

Molly's soccer game last week. Scott getting the Unicorns pumped!


A Friday morning with Jack and Becca. I love them. They played together so sweetly. (Except when she kept knocking his towers over. He was good about it when we made it a game.)

Working hard. He loves to build. Loves it.
All dresses and ready to go get Molly from school. They are great together.

After quiet time (Becca's nap). Here she is going after a passie.

Molly and Jack were very quiet yet seemed to have lots of fun!!!!
Having fun with Daddy. This was a rare night he was home recently.
Becca watching.


We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend. Becca loved the pumpkins and playing in the dirt.

We were watering the grass Sunday trying to get our seeds growing. Molly and Jack thought it would be fun to run in the sprinkler. It was warm, but not that warm....



Debate is starting, gotta go. Hope you are watching too!