A White Christmas

     It snowed here, early and a lot.  We got over 8 inches at our house by our ruler.  Then we got around four inches a few days later.  The girls had so much fun sledding!  Our yard is very steep so it makes for some awesome sledding, as long as they remember to roll off before they go off into the woods.  

     We also walked down to the river which was really beautiful in the snow.  Parts of the water were iced over and there were deer tracks all around.  We also climbed up to some boulders and found a "cave" and long icicles.  Tink went with us, even though I had to carry her most if the time because the snow was too deep.

     The snow was so pretty the second time it snowed because it stuck to all the trees.  It really was a winter wonderland!

     We've been lighting our Advent candles one more each week.  The girls fuss over who gets to light them, and blow them out, but all-in-all they're pretty good about it.  I like the reminders of Christmas coming and the focus on Christ each night at dinner.

     I took the girls to see the train display at the Kenilsworth Mall in Towson.  It wa really cool!  There are little buttons that control parts of the display all around it.  It's also full of every sort of cartoon characters, from Minnie Mouse to Ironman.  I even found the Tardis!  The girls really enjoyed looking for what the buttons controlled and finding all the different characters.

     It snowed again.  This time only a dusting, but I'm getting lots of snow shoveling practice after a years' respite.

     Jason and I celebrated 13 years of marital bliss on the 16th.  The traditional gift for 13 years is lace, so Jasongot creative and found me this pair of lacey mouse flats.  So cute!  We celebrated with a candlelite dinner in the dining room.  The waitresses in this restaurant are a little pushy and prone to eaves dropping, but it was a lovely dinner.

     Out of the blue Lula decide she wanted her ears pierced.  I already had the gun, so we stopped at Sally's and got the earrings and did it at home.  It was NOT fun.  I have sworn off ear piercing.  It's a good thing we don't have any more kids - if they want some other holes in ears, they can do it themselves. But, Lyla's ears did get pierced and she is proud of them.  I think they're pretty cute looking too.

     The rest of the week we were busy getting ready to go home for Christmas, finishing up school, cleaning, and finishing up some home-made Christmas presents.  I was able to get enough sourdough starter made to give to some friends and neighbors.  I love to give people stuff like this!  

     This was perhaps the first Chriatmas that I haven't been finishing some project or taking something in the car to finish on our way home for Christmas.  It all got done with time to spare!  Woohoo!  So now we can head south and relax and enjoy our family and Christmas.