Fine Art

While trying to get some school work done today, I set Mary up in front of the easel for the first time. It's twice her size!
But she really liked it~

And she was pretty darn pleased with her work~

You can barely see it, but she pretty much stuck with only green and yellow~

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso

"A little Snow was here and there..."

Mary thinks she's a big kid now, right in the midle of her brothers' and their friends' snowball fight~
She loves being in the snow~

Snow Bunny

We had our first snow here today - and Mary is finally old enough to really appreciate it. She loved it!

O Give Thanks

Mary and I spent a quiet Thanksgiving with Grandma and Aunt Jessi and Jaiden and Julian. Everything was delicious, but we missed our boys.

Young Pup

Mary loved the Wolves game tonight - we are working on her mullet...

Dance Partners

We caught a performance of Jim Gill's at the library tonight - he was fantastic! Elliot and Mary really got into it; they've really improved their moves~

Birthday Girl

We celebrated Mary's birthday with the family today - it was wonderful! Mary really loves penguins, which she calls "ducks", and so a (very loose) theme was born. Emily gave me this idea - olives stuffed with cream cheese~
They were a hit - but a lot of work (Scott and I spent an hour making these early this morning). We had chili, and cornbread for dinner, and finally, cake!

It's a quadruple layer butter pound cake with fresh strawberry puree and whipped cream frosting. 100% homemade! The igloo is molded from Rice Krispie Treats and the penguins are assembled from gumdrops and Reeses Pieces~

I love Mary's tongue sticking out~

The dress was in a bag of hand-me-downs and fit perfectly~

Two is a great birthday - they finally "get it" at this age and really enjoy their parties~

I am very proud of this cake~

And this little girl~

Pleasure is spread through the earth

In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.

~William Wordsworth