Bay Area Noltes: December 2010

Happy Christmas Eve!

As I type this, Luke is busy inspecting the fireplaces while continually asking us how many more minutes until bedtime! I guess this is the one and only day of they year when bedtime can't come fast enough. Also, this is what the front of our house looks like right now.

Again, I can't figure out how to flip this darn picture! But, you get the gist-- and actually, seeing the picture sideways makes it look a little less horrible than it actually is.

We Have Otters - For Real!

These are the otters that frequent the golf course across the street.

Painting the Downstairs

We finished the living room ALL BY OURSELVES, and with a little help from our new best friend, the Little Giant Ladder!

The Christmas scene is the result of Matt not wanting to waste the paint on his brush when it was quitting time. A lady from church dropped by and was so impressed that Matt did that "Without a stencil! Wow! He should be an artist!"

Cute Lance in the Bath

Pretending to be Santa!

The Children were nestled all snug in their beds...

This is the scene in L&L's bedroom this Christmas season (with and without flash):

(notice Lance's little foot sticking out over his railing--cute!)

Luke's Kindergarten Christmas

Luke started a new school on November 8th. He had a rough start, but overall is doing really well. I have been able to volunteer in his new classroom once a week, which he loves. There are 22 boys and 7 girls in the class, and his teacher always seems to put me in charge of the paint station-- WHOA! What a job! Working the paint station is super high pressure-- getting all those kids out of there with unstained clothes is what I aim for! I stay for about an hour and a half each time and leave totally exhausted!

The Christmas program was a blast and soooo cute. I was impressed by how many songs they learned. Luke has taken a liking to Christmas music this year, but mixes up the lyrics quite a bit: "Two turtle ducks and a partridge in a pawnee..."