Christmas fun!!

Our Christmas started in the best possible way... SNOW on the last day of school before vacation!! We got out of school early and had time for a play date with S's sweet friend A-M before the snow got too deep...



The girls were thrilled beyond words with the 7 inches we got! That's a lot around here!!

We also enjoyed a Snow Fun birthday party that weekend for R's buddy D...

We spent our first few days of vacation visiting with great old and new friends on the 23rd and getting our house ready for company... B's entire family was here for lunch on Christmas Eve (16 people!!) and we still had major work to do to get everything put away from the remodeling projects. Lunch was successful and it was great to have the whole family together!! This was the first Christmas in many years that EVERYONE was here and B said it was just like he remembered as a little boy- craziness and people everywhere!!

One of S's first gifts... not exactly her favorite of the day, but so cute!! I need to remember to do this sometimes myself...!!

R's pride and joy... her dollhouse from Nana!! This was a gift of sanity for Mommy and also a gift of peace & quiet for S... S has had her own similar dollhouse for a couple of years and we often have major drama over R rearranging S's Barbies. Now (hopefully) there will be no more arguing!!!

Christmas Eve ended with tracking Santa on the NORAD site and sprinkling reindeer food in the snow!! Our first white Christmas!!!

Christmas morning brought gifts from Santa and Mommy & Daddy... the favorites were a Nintendo DS for S and a Leapster for R. We headed to my Grandma & Grandpa's for breakfast and more presents, then home for a rest before dinnner at my parents (Grammy & Bumpy).

Here's R opening her 5th Eiffel Tower related gift of the holiday... she's obsessed with the Eiffel Tower!!! I love her style!!

S was so excited about her PINK razor scooter!! Such a girlie girl- love that, too!!!

Both girls got an American Girl doll from Grammy & Bumpy... Kit for S and her bff Ruthie for R. They were thrilled!!

At the end of the day, the girls wanted to sing happy birthday to Jesus. I was proud that they were able to remember the real reason for the season! We also got to visit with our NYC friends who dropped by after the girls were in bed- so great to see them again!!

We hope you had a holly jolly Christmas!!!

ebay Alert!

I am getting myself motivated and trying to start listing some outgrown little girl clothes on ebay. Most are 3T or close to it. Check us out- the seller id name is benmere415. Happy week before Christmas!!

SO excited about this...

... We have a new bathroom!!! We have been in the process of having our master bath remodeled since about Halloween, so I am beyond excited to have it DONE, finally!! The previous owners of our house did a pretty crappy job of putting in a teeny corner shower, peel n stick floor "tile", brass lights and fixtures, etc... There was water damage behind the shower wall and in the floor, so it all had to be taken out and started over from scratch!

Here's a Before shot...

And another... with the shower doors already removed and a bunch of B's work stuff inside...

And here's a picture of the lovely During process... nothing but studs and plywood...

With one wall and a Hollywood light fixture left behind...

During all the work, B and I moved into the girls' bathroom. It was a little tight with 4 people and all our stuff!

We also moved out of our bedroom during Thanksgiving in order to take up the carpet and have hardwoods put down. Here are B and his bff E working hard on the floor...

The bedroom with new floors, but still without furniture...

We had to put our bed mattress on top of the sleeper sofa mattress in the living room and have been sleeping there for 3 weeks! Our bedroom furniture is scattered throughout the living room and office/computer room...

Imagine how cozy we all were in our living/bed room over Thanksgiving when some old friends who now live in NYC dropped by to catch up!! Where to sit??

I have had a really hard time with the displacement of all this. We couldn't get to our Christmas stuff to decorate because of all the furniture and everything else scattered everywhere. We finally now have our tree up and the house somewhat decorated, but I am still not in the Christmas spirit like I usually am when my house is a wreck and only halfway decorated!!

Here is what the bathroom looked like about a week ago...

Ready to see the After photos???

TA DA...

LOVE my giraffe towels- thank you, TJMaxx!!! Still need to go back for some accessories...

This picture does not do the shower justice- it is huge!! We have 2 shower sprayers in there so you are never cold!! The shower door is ordered and should be here the 21st. We also have ordered a new bed that should be here by Tuesday. Hopefully by Christmas we will be back to normal!!