Gingerbread house

Last year I went all out on the gingerbread house. This year, not so much. I do enjoy doing them though, so I bought a cheapy kit at the store on impulse. I think it turned out okay considering what I had to work with. Next year I want to go more elaborate again but this worked too. Just thought I'd share. And since I'm so proud of the one we did last year, here's a picture of that one too.

I'll do it when I'm ready!

Riley is pretty laid back and snuggly. At 16 months old he is still not walking around unassisted. He's close though. I got him to take about 4 steps yesterday on his own so I know we're THIS close. He got a few things at Xmas to walk around with and that's helping his stability, but here is what he normally does....

Yummy....Paint!

I thought I'd try letting Riley finger paint. As you can see, he wanted to eat the paint and smear it all over himself. He does pretty good with crayons though. I need to get him some of the big fat ones to make it a little easier, but he likes to sit at the table and color like sissy. I think I'll wait a bit longer before I try the paints again.
Of course Lily had fun with the finger painting too. She normally paints with a brush, but because Riley was using his fingers, she thought she should too....
And for your enjoyment.....Miss Lily-poo back in the day. I think she was about 2 years old in this picture. And one more, just because it's so stinkin' cute! My how they grow...

December is here...

I am getting pretty good at bundling the kids up for the walk to school. Obviously Riley isn't thrilled, but he keeps everything on cause it's cold. Mommy just needs to get some gloves and a scarf and we'll be set.A random shot here, to be sure, but look at how big Riley is getting. He kept wanting to do everything that Lily was doing so I handed him a crayon. It's going to take a little more work, but he is interested in scribbling. He is starting into a very fun stage. He still isn't quite walking. But I haven't been working very hard with him on it either. He pushes a chair around the house and walks behind it, he just hasn't ventured into the unassisted stage yet. So much fun stuff is coming. I'm so lucky to get to be around to see it all!

And finally, a shot of the tree. Pictures don't do it justice. We bought a new prelit tree this year and it is so nice. I can handle 35 bucks too.....seriously, you gotta love Walmart sometimes! Here's to a great December!

Faces of Lily...

Just thought I'd share a few random shots of monkey #1. Enjoy :)
Lily and her cousin Grace were chefs creating their masterpiece personal pizzas at Graces' birthday party. She still wears the hat around cause hey, it's cool!
She also got to be an Indian at school for their Thanksgiving party. Here she is acting stoic.
And just for fun, here's a flashback to 3 years ago. Wow, how time flies!

Bonk...

Riley is a climber. He likes to explore and climb. I don't get it, but still think it's pretty cute. Unfortunately with height comes the ability to fall. He fell and gave himself a nice bruise which developed into a black eye two days later. After the initial "OWWW" reaction, he was bouncin' around like before. BOYS!