I don't think this is what Frosty meant by "We'll have some fun"

Lots of light fluffy snow on Thursday plus rain today makes perfect snowman making weather :)


But Jane likes sticks for chewing, not for arms.......and snow for digging.
Goodbye Frosty - you were fun.

Walk Around the Block

A few shots from our walk with Jane on the trails in the neighborhood .

Happy Birthday Jane

No, no birthday party for the dog, but I did indulge myself this weekend in seeing if she'd wear a birthday hat, which was mildly successful.. at least long enough to get these photos.

Happy First Birthday Jane!

Christmas Recap

A few photos from Christmas day


































Jane had a few goodies, but was most interested in all the paper she was allowed to tear up - what fun!


















At Mel's parents house, Jane was getting cuddly-close with Papa.


















The highlight (or should I say lowlight?) of Christmas with the grandparents/aunts and uncles/ cousins: the game Doggie Doo. If you haven't heard of it... you're probably better off. Unless of course waiting for a plastic dog to poo play-doh which you get to collect on a shovel is your cup of tea... yeah, didn't think so. But I will admit, we laughed pretty hard trying to play this game.


















Jane knew just what to do with her presents at Brian's parents' house!

















Lucy opened up her handmade wall art gift from Uncle Brian and seemed to approve! :)

















Sue received a handcrafted wand from wand-maker Scott, with official wizarding papers to prove it's authenticity. Who needs Olivander when you've got such a talented wandmaker in the family!?























Lucy and Daddy Eric getting ready for bed.

Christmas Prep

Sure, there's a lot to do before Christmas, but some "chores" are our favorite parts!

• Decorating the tree and the house with Brian's favorite Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life playing.
• Baking (and eating!) all those holiday treats. Brian always makes his 'famous' apple pie for Christmas day dessert. And before the holiday, we made a few batches of chocolate-covered pretzels - just for us!
• And Mel's favorite job... wrapping the gifts!! Seriously, I love this part.

Puppy Play Date with Zoey

Our friend Tegan came over for the afternoon and brought her family's dog Zoey. They adopted Zoey around the same we got Jane, so we've been sharing puppy stories all summer. Zoey's about 2 months(?) younger than Jane and was just a tiny thing when she and Jane first met back in April. But Zoey's grown and is bigger than Jane now... but that certainly didn't stop their fun!

They have similar markings so it's hard to tell who's who in the video; Jane's hogging the red frisbee to get Zoey to chase her.....

And after they left.... Jane took a verrrry long nap! Thanks for the visit Zoey and Tegan!

The most sensational inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational

Excited to see the Muppet gang back together, we went to see the movie tonight - yay! We loved it... how can you not love it?
And when we got back home, we made our own Muppets HERE
And if you had a hundred bucks you didn't have a use for, you can actually have your muppet creation come to life!

On a similar (Jim Henson) theme.... It's become a compulsive habit to check for The Christmas Toy movie on VHS whenever we find ourselves at a fleamarket, second-hand store, yard sale, etc because I (Mel) have such fond memories of this movie. It made such an impact on me that I still said goodnight to my favorite stuffed bear long after I was old enough to know better... just because I liked the idea of my toys coming to life. So after years of off-and-on hunting, what did I find in the dollar bin at the library yard sale last month - my MOVIE!!! Which put Brian in an awkward position.... he had to tell me not to get it because he had found it on ebay just a few weeks earlier and was saving it for Christmas. What a sweetie! So now that it's Christmas-movie-watching-season, we're going to watch it. I hope it's as magical as I remember!

My guess is it'll be the most sensational inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational......