Exciting Week!

Mom and Dad left for Ohio last Saturday, and that's always a sad day for us. We almost didn't get a chance to say goodbye because of the beautiful snow! But they made it here from Joelle's anyway for a quick visit. And I have to tell you about a really yummy concoction that we devised during their visit: G and I are fans of Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel. The episode where he came to the Great Pacific Northwest is of course one of our favorites. He visited VooDoo doughnuts in Portland and had a Bacon Maple Bar. I looked at G and told hm that that was a perfect doughnut for him. For those of you who may not know, G is a "Baconian" - someone who believes that bacon makes everything better. Well, we showed the episode to Mom and Dad and (cut to the next morning) there we are, standing in our kitchen eating Bacon Maple Bar Sandwiches. Just get a good maple bar, cut it half for a sandwich and put some really good bacon in the middle. Soooooooooo Gooooood! Don't knock it til you try it!








Now that it is December, we have a tradition in our home that is the Advent Calendar. My mom started it when I was a freshman in college and it really stuck! Each day you a get a little treat of some sort, along with a passage from the Christmas Story scripture. Kealan discovered the joy of advent calendars last year and it is the highlight of her day now. The first one was a cinnamon bear and she ate the first one fine. But cinnamon bears have a tendency to be inconsistent in their heat level, and the next one was a little warm for her. However, she wouldn't stop eating it and kept asking us to "blow on it" for her.

Tiernan and his new "do"

A few silly stories about Kealan - When Kea was still in diapers, and needed a quick diaper change without wipes, we called it a Presto Change-o. As some of you know, we are struggling with potty training, so there are still accidents to be cleaned up. One such accident happened the other day, and when Kea was asked why she didn't tell Mommy or Daddy that she had to go potty, she replied, "This looks like a job for Presto Change-o!"

She was playing with a toy that has letters and shapes, lining them up, saying, "A, square, circle, C, hexagon, B, D. That spells Kea!"

Most of you know what happened to us last year during the storm I refer to as B#@*h when the tree fell into our house. Needless to say I have a touch of post-traumatic stress when it comes to windstorms. Now we all have to sleep downstairs when the wind kicks up. So Sunday and Monday nights were spent with a slumber party in the living room. It's not that bad because we have two hide-a-beds. I was very relieved when this one passed. I feel very fortunate as I watch the news and see all of the devastation this one caused. I'm just not the fan of winter weather that I once was!

My Mom-in-law, Jeanne and her new husband, Jay came for a visit today, which is always fun! Jay, or Jaypa (his new official name, courtesy of Kealan) is her favorite playmate. I think I've mentioned it here before, but he takes her direction very well! She and Grandma took a boat trip (on the couch) and Kea kept asking for her tuba as she was "swimming". Grandma and I were confused as to why she wanted a tuba, until Kea finally said that she was tuba diving!