Catching up from November, Gearing up for December

I just realized that it's been a while since I've posted anything on my blog, so I figured I'd better add a few updates. We decided to decorate for Christmas a little early this year, since we would be gone at Thanksgiving. We dutifully hauled out the Christmas tree and "unbreakable" (er, plastic) ornaments and attempted to decorate it before the kids woke up from naps. NOT. Libby informed us that she had taken a LONG nap (5 minutes) and was "all wested". So, since she was all rested, we let her come down and help decko-wate the kissen tee! Caleb got to come down a little early as well and also helped us. Photos of the decorating processThe two foster kittens thought they would help by running around the lower branches of the Christmas tree and chewing on the cords for the lights. We now have a half un-decorated tree with no working lights on the lowest ring of branches. Hmmm. Kittens and Christmas trees don't mix well.

We drove out to Maine for Thanksgiving this year, since we haven't been home for the holidays in several years. We had a car full! Mom and Dad Rohrer graciously loaned us their Durango for the trip, since Mandie the dog came along with us and so did Arnold, a cat that we brought with us from Ohio for Matt and Libby. We got to meet little Aedon finally and celebrated his first birthday a few weeks early. He loved his cake and went in with both hands and his whole face. He had blue frosting up his nose for a few days afterwards. We visited Nana and Papa McLeod and Libby enjoyed playing with their cat, "Miss Kitty". We also got to meet "Stewie", Aunt Margaret's adorable new little puppy. While we were visiting Aunt Cindy, the kids were really excited to see a large flock of about 12 turkeys eating seeds under the bird feeder. The kids all stood up on the couch and looked out the window. When we left Aunt Cindy's house, we got to chase the turkeys and see them fly away. Eric and Erin and Adeline came for Thanksgiving, and Libby and Adeline hit it off. They played together and got in trouble together. Libby still calls Adeline, "My Best Friend". They were really funny together, and they looked so much alike! Valerie couldn't make it for Thanksgiving dinner, but she came a few days later and we enjoyed visiting with her, Hillary, Kalynda, and Logan. We also made the hour drive to Matt and Libby's house with Desi and Aedon, and met the ferrets, Midge and Cosmo. Libby was so excited watching them play! They were pretty mischievious, which is why she liked them so much. Pictures from Thanksgiving At last it was time to come home. We left a day earlier than we had planned to avoid some bad storms that were blowing in. When we left at 4 AM, it was raining and about 32 degrees. That meant that we ended up driving on black ice for a good part of the first 2 hours we were on the road. It was very scary and we were so happy to finally make it back to the highway - already an hour behind schedule due to the treacherous roads. The rest of the day was dreary and ended with more freezing rain in Ohio. We were so glad to finally get home and relax!


The weekend after we arrived home, we took Libby to see The Nutcracker at the Akron Civic Theatre. It was awesome! I really enjoyed it and so did Libby. Nathan - not so much. Libby has been telling us ever since that she wants to be a ballerina (ballaweena) and insisting on wearing her little dance outfit and tutu. Pictures at the Nutcracker

This past weekend, we made the hair-raising trip to Columbus for Samuel's first birthday party! I can't believe he is one already and crawling now. He was so pleased with his Baby Einsteins caterpillar cake. He didn't make it to open presents as he was exhausted and had to take a nap. After a few hours of celebrations and visiting with family and friends, we headed back home. The highways had not been plowed and the roads were in bad condition. I have never seen so many cars off the road in my life! It had snowed on the trip down, but it was raining at 28 degrees and freezing to whatever it touched. The highways were nothing more then tire tracks through the slush. It was hard to tell where the lanes were, and cars were in the ditches on both sides of the highway. In addition to the dangerous roads, Caleb and Libby were sleep deprived and managed to scream, yell, pull hair, throw teddy grahams, whine, holler, laugh, giggle, pinch, hit, and shriek all the way home. I have never been so grateful to put them to bed and listen to silence as I was that night. Whew!

Now we're gearing up for Christmas. The latest December pictures Libby is really getting excited this year. We have been reading a pop-out advent Nativity book to her each night, and she has almost memorized it. Each night we pop out another character and set it up on her dresser. Only a few more figures to go until we get to baby Jesus in the manger! She's so excited. We'll be opening presents at home this year early in the morning when the kids wake up, and then we'll be driving down mid-morning to see Mom and Dad Rohrer and the rest of the family for the family Christmas. If the weather is too bad, we'll just spend the night on Christmas eve and be there with everyone else on Christmas morning. We're really looking forward to everyone's company and all the food. The little cousins are starting to interact and they are so cute together. We're excited to see what they will do next. Merry Christmas!