Local Newspaper Christmas Coloring Contest

http://anappleaday-photojournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/wish-her-luck.html

Remember this entry from a few weeks ago... The newspaper called this morning and said Lydia won first place for her age division in their Christmas coloring contest. She gets to go this afternoon to get her picture taken for the paper and get her prize.

Toledo Zoo Lights Display

We went to the Toledo Zoo Lights Display tonight with Uncle Bryan, Sasha, Grandma, and Grandpa. Unfortunately our group pictures didn't turn out, but we had a great time.

Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve

Making Christmas Cookies

Day Out With Dad

Today Lydia was with Grandma and Mom needed to work. Dad took Seth and Morgan to Science Central for the day.

Ice Storm

We've had an ice storm hitting since the middle of the night. Morgan woke up at about 4 a.m. and discovered her night light was out. As you can see in the picture above, she wasn't happy. We were lucky thought that our power was only out for a few hours. It's flashing now and we hope to keep it. The nursing home where Dad works a mile from our house has no power.

Renewable Energy Poster Contest

Lydia has been working for the past few days on her entry into a renewable energy poster contest. Other than the "Ohio Farmers Poster Contest" title and border, she drew, colored, and labeled everything herself.

Snow Days

School and preschool have been closed the last couple days due to snow. We're expecting a major snow/ ice storm tonight. We don't expect the kids to be back to school until the new year. Today they were engrossed in their favorite things. Lydia is working on her latest coloring contest masterpiece :-) (pictures to come later), both kids have pretended to be Walmart bakers making Christmas cookies and cakes from Play Doh, and Seth has been playing on the laptop as much as Mom will give in to his constant pleading and let him. They've had fun, but the days could get long after tonight's storm.

I'm 18 Months Old!

I turned 18 months old on Sunday! Mom and Dad should have had a party... but they didn't. I went to the doctor last week and found out that I've gotten a lot taller. I'm now almost in the 50% for height and almost the 10% for weight. This was a big jump since my twelve month appointment.

This is my favorite way to dress. I don't understand why Mom doesn't let me wear this everywhere. Whenever I see my princess dress from Halloween, I just have to wear it. I love my pink blankie, taking baths, playing outside, pretty dress-up clothes, shiny purses, Barney, coloring, toy cellphones, my kitchen, and anything big brother or sister will do with me. I hate wearing my coat in the carseat, wearing big brother's ugly old white shoes (I throw them down the stairs when Mom puts them on me), and not being included in anything happening in the household.

Mom and Dad think I'm pretty easy-going. I sleep when I'm supposed to sleep, eat pretty much whatever they hand me, am usually fairly quiet, like to pick up my toys, and they don't seem to notice most of my occasional tantrums. Give me a few months though....

Checking Out Santa's Reindeer

Santa was kind enough to bring one of his reindeer to the nursing home where Dad works today. He even let the kids pet him.

Lydia the Red-Nosed Reindeer

All Dressed Up

I went to Dad's work Christmas parties today at both nursing homes. I enjoyed seeing Santa but refused to sit on his lap. I also liked looking at Reindeer but didn't want to touch them.

Earning Santa Cookies

Hi! It's me again.... Morgan. I'm enjoying a yummy Santa cookie. Mom would like to take credit for making them, but she bought them for $.50 at the grocery store down the road. Don't tell her but I think they taste better anyway. I got mine first tonight because I was first to eat some of all my dinner. However, big brother struggled and gagged over his 3 green beans he had to eat for quite a while.

A Girl and Her Purses

The love of purses starts so young! One is never enough...

Gingerbread House Party

The Day Before Our Christmas Party

It appears that a pipe has broken in our wall in the basement. Part of the floor is flooded. We have the water shut off. We have 7 kids coming to our house tomorrow to make gingerbread houses. We're hoping the musty smell stays downstairs.

Wish Her Luck

Lydia has been working every day for almost a week on her entry into the local newspaper's coloring contest. Whether she wins or not, we think it turned out well.

Check Out My New Haircut

I have a new style! With my old hairdo, I screamed every time Mom fixed my hair and Dad didn't even try to fix it. They decided I needed a change. I loved the beauty shop. I sat in the chair and didn't move. When I was finished big brother told me I look adorable. Dad, Mom, and Lydia were also talking about my cute hair. I knew what they were saying. I sat in my stroller, smiled, and curled my hair around my fingers.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Long, Long, Long Return Home

The traffic was a nightmare for the trip home today. We spent hours on the interstate in stopped traffic. Our normally nine hour trip took twelve. The kids were great, but it was a long day for us all!

Going on a Trainride

Papa took Seth for a ride on a real train. He even got to honk the horn!

First Place Ohio State Patrol School Bus Safety Coloring Contest

Lydia found out today that she won first place out of 283 Ohio first graders in the bus safety coloring contest. She's excited about all the cool prizes.

The Days of Spontaneity are Gone at Our House

Mom has a theory on traveling with 3 small children. She says it takes as much time to pack and recover from a trip as we spend on a trip. Therefore, she expects to spend 2 days preparing for our Tennessee Thanksgiving trip and 2 days unpacking and getting things back to normal. She did laundry and packed the kid suitcases today. We're taking Christmas gifts when we go so she's wrapping gifts tonight. She's also doing some housework which is always needed with us around. Tomorrow she's packing herself, the food and drink supply for the trip, and the endless supply of electronic and old fashioned entertainment so we don't annoy her to much on the nine hour drive. She's also working ahead on her job tomorrow so she doesn't have to work too much on vacation.

What about Dad you ask? He has a big project of his own. (Other than his 8-5 job) he's working on painting the house this week. He started last night. If you look behind the suitcases, you can see the new color. It's much better than the flat white paint that has black spots all over it from me and big brother putting our sticky fingers all over the walls.