mmmmmm

Rocky road pie at the chicken and biscuit supper. There's nothing like small town living.

the final countdown

Bob the Builder and friends catch the inauguration on a snowy day.

evolution of a nook

Our mostly-useless breakfast nook has been transformed into a center of beauty and efficiency!

First it looked like this:


Then, it looked like this:


And now, it looks like this: (several different views)

And so, our home renovations are almost complete. Can't we just redo the whole house? Not quite, but the projects done have made it seem a whole lot more fabulous. And I can have a baby now.

what would you do for two pink M&Ms?

That is a highly motivating treat for some people, I can tell you. I'm breaking all the rules--it's the middle of winter, I'm due to have a new baby in a couple of weeks--but what was I going to do? Not even try to potty-train? Abe is definitely on board. We'll see how far we get before the baby comes and regression sets in.

vamos al baño

Our bathroom is done! Well, almost done. We are still waiting for the bathroom furniture/cabinets we ordered to arrive. But the rest...finito. It's so clean and beautiful I don't want to touch anything or allow children in there. But, well, bathrooms were meant to be used. Look back a few posts if you don't remember what it used to look like.

5 minutes of fame

Sam pores over the Lego magazine that comes in the mail once a month, and his dream is to appear in the Lego Club Jr. Builders spread (builders 6 and under show off their original creations). I have no idea how many people actually send photos into this thing, so we'll give it a shot, but in case he doesn't appear in the magazine, he's appearing here. Sam E. Sachs. Age 5. Ithaca, NY. "The Robot Crew"

double big

Sam insisted today that he will not be this baby's big brother. He will be this baby's BIG BIG brother, since he is already Abe's big brother, and Abe will be this baby's big brother. I suppose it makes perfect sense.

random Christmas loves

Abe loves pushing his "baby" cousin Gabe (ten whole months younger) in the swing. Gabe doesn't seem to be loving it quite as much.
David loves his pirate puppet.
Sam loves Playmobil.
Brian loves biltong.
Daniel loves Sarah's cinnamon rolls.

Four little cousins sitting on a bench

at the Capitol Building in DC. Can you guess which one is sick?

TY, G&Z

for the great Chanukah party and visit. And thanks, Aunt S, for the fabulous fleeces.

New Year's Eve activity

On New Year's Eve, we were planning to drive home but ended up staying in Boston due to weather. What better activity to engage the kids in than sticking sugar on top of more sugar? And the good (or bad) thing was, this store-bought kit tasted so bad that no one even wanted to eat it. So it was a purely artistic endeavor. Maybe next year I'll bake one from scratch. I was just looking at the baking/construction guide in Joy of Cooking.