spring weather

The rest of the country is getting insane amounts of snow, and I spent the day outside in balmy 75-plus degree weather. I am not being smug about it, since I really miss the snow during the holidays, but yesterday I was able to just appreciate having a lovely springtime day. Meg and I got to meet friends at the park who we hadn't seen in a long time, and then later in the afternoon we sat out on the front porch and blew bubbles. Most of my Christmas errands (chores) are finished and now I can just sit back and enjoy it.

sat-na

Meg had her first santa experience yesterday at Mark's office children's party. Meg enjoyed the party - playing with napkins, eating pretzels off the floor and staring at other kids, but sitting on santa's lap was pretty much what we expected - see photo above! Meg is leaning as far away as possible and santa doesn't look too happy, either. It's probably our fault since Meg had never even heard of santa until a few hours prior to the party, when we tried to find a few images on google and youtube!

The crying was over as soon as it began when Meg got to hold a candy cane - she had never seen one before. I don't think she was too traumatized because she later kept saying, "sat-na! sat-na!".

cyclamen

Thanks to all the people who e-mailed about my mystery flower! I knew someone would know - it is a cyclamen! It has bloomed even more today and continues to be gorgeous.

mystery flower

Mark brought home this plant that a friend gave us this week. It is beautiful and I don't think I've ever seen something like it before. The colors are so vibrant and perfect for the holidays. I wish I knew what it was - the tag says something unexciting and vague like "assorted foliage". Anybody recognize it?

cravings

I had a craving a couple of days ago for chocolate chip cookies - not the refrigerated dough kind, but the kind you make from scratch from the recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House bag. Nothing beats it! Anyway, as with all pregnancy cravings, I mull it over for a few days to determine whether it's "real" - if I still can't stop thinking about it in a couple days then I go ahead and give in to it. Once it's satisfied I usually move on to something else. Cravings that have come and gone so far: indian food, Starburst, cranberry juice, chinese food, bacon (this one is recurring), swiss cheese, and now chocolate chip cookies. So can you guess what is fresh from the oven at our house?

yard work

Mid-December is when our leaves really start to fall (and then spring begins in February!?) so this weekend was another busy and productive one - yard work, cleaning out our attic, Christmas shopping. All of these things I put off but am always relieved when I finally get them done.

holiday weekend

I'm always a little sad to put away fall decorations. I personally think the colors are prettier than Christmas colors. I realize I might be alone there, though.

Meg couldn't stop staring at Mark as he geared up to "re-work" some insulation in the attic. (We just had some extra insulation put in but they covered up our precious storage area!)

Next: the Tallahassee Winter Festival in the afternoon and Christmas tree shopping at night!

Sunday: long naps for everyone + long walk in beautiful weather + trimming the tree = great day!!