HO HO HO...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ribB!

Today is ribB's birthday--such a special day. Happy Birthday to an amazing Husband and Dad!

ho HO HO!

Here's some more pictures...Kdee playing dress up (yes, she created these poses; I love the one of her laughing--that's a pure photo of her laughing hard!), little B smelling his fave blanket, Kdee in her Christmas dress...how cute is it that she appears bigger than our Christmas tree (which is a fun story in and of itself--long story short, we got a free tree from our neighbor, who cut it down on his property up north!).

Ho Ho HO!

Christmas is almost here...what a magical time of year (even in the busy-ness of it all). I have lots of pics from the recent fun we've been having:
*the kids & Santa last weekend...little B was waiting in line, waving to Santa and yelling "HI SANTA!!!!". (This is a big improvement over last year when he was freaked out by him.)

*Kdee & me baking her Great Grandma's cookie recipe...we've been doing this together for the past 5 years and I must say, she's become a very good kitchen assistant!

*Kdee had her Church Christmas program last weekend...she was an angel, with speaking parts and everything. She did great and got a fun surprise when Grandma Honey & Grandpa Paul came to the program and took us out to Burger King for lunch afterward.

More pictures to come on another post (I can only post 5 pics at a time....)

...and more photos

Here are some photos from the past few weeks...ok, one more sledding photo from a couple of weeks ago and some fall raking photos of the kids. It looks so warm in the fall pics (it was 70 degrees that day), it's hard to believe it wasn't that long ago! Kdee has "pink hands" because she's wearing gardening gloves (which she pronounced work well for climbing trees!). I love little B's scrunched up look in that photo--it's his "look" that he does. Too funny...

Mary, Joseph and sledding...

The Christmas spirit is in full swing at the ribclan home! This past weekend we spent a great deal of time decorating our tree and house--and even had some time for special fun as well. Some of the highlights? Family snow time at 7pm Saturday--super fun and tiring (which was part of the point--running out some of the pent up energy in the kids!). I'll always remember Kdee leaping in ribB's arms from the snow pile and little B rolling down the snow pile (instead of sliding down on his bottom). He literally looked like a baked potato in all of his gear! Other fun--Lunch out with my friend, Susan and a date night with ribB on Sunday (the kids were pumped to have time with Ann--what would we do without her?).

In the "kids are funny" department, I snapped some pictures of the kids at the end of last week playing "Mary & Joseph" (see them praying over "baby Jesus"), which then turned into Noah's Ark. It was very sweet and incredibly funny all in one. But, that said, Ms. Kdee has kept us on our toes lately and her time at Sunday School this week was no exception. Imagine, if you will: Kdee wearing a sash around her waist to Church...said sash turns into a connecting device--you see, she tied up her chair to her friend's chair with the sash. Was I mortified? YES. After apologies to the teachers (who were very nice about it) we had a looonng discussion about how we don't do that--ANYWHERE. Then, I notice on her Sunday School worksheet that she marked (& erased) "Be an idiot" under the area where she was supposed to write about how to help others. UGH! We then had to talk about how you don't goof around with friends when you're supposed to be listening and doing what's asked of you. Let alone, all in God's house! Oh, the horror. I think we recovered...eventually. Kids--they are sure good at keeping you on your toes (or at least teaching you about grace!).

In little B news, he continues to do really well with his potty training, barely wearing diapers at all. We are amazed at how well he's progressing on this stuff before the age of 3. He's still pretty excited about garbage trucks, and it makes his morning if he sees one (or more!) on the way to daycare. He and Kdee are overall playing well together (such as Mary/Joseph!), but we are seeing more moments of when they want to pick on each other. Ah well...

Hope your holiday season is gearing up in a most festive way!

Photos: Mary & Joseph, Noah's Ark, "Mary" and "Baby Jesus", and a couple of sledding pics from the first snow fall a couple of weeks ago (please note: this year little B is not wearing any pink or purple clothes--yippee!). Funny side note: the purple dress Kdee is wearing was my dress--my mom made it for me, I think for a school program...wow, my little girl is growing up quickly!

Some extra kick to the week...

That's right! Foo Fighters tix went on sale last week (for those of us with presale passwords--tee hee!)and yesiree, I'll be there...lower level...(cuz I'm not sure I want to elbow my way up front on the ground level--that doesn't make me old, does it?). February 27th will be a very fun girl's night out indeed (cuz ribB isn't a fan of concerts)!

So, with that in mind, last week was great and the weekend was even better. Lots of time home as a family, a Christmas party with my small group from Church and a weekend of very necessary home organizing (in prep for Christmas decorating). Add to that a wowza trip to Ikea (sweet, cheap shopping and Swedish meatballs...ah, this Swede is properly in touch with her heritage!)and a little snow fun...it's really quite delightful. (photos to come!)

Hope your week is starting off with a fantastic bang...mine sure is!