Couldn't Find The Paper

I ran upstairs this morning to get Ellis a new shirt and brush my teeth. I guess Ellis really needed to color... right then. He decided that his tummy would be the perfect place to start. With a ball point pen, no less. Ouch!

Waiting For Snow

A very few flakes fell today at our house. Ellis was anxiously looking out the window for more flakes to fall.

Cookie Exchange

I was invited to a girls cookie exchange this year. I have heard, through the grapevine, that people go "All Out" with their cookies... I was feeling the pressure. For any of you who know me, you will know that Chocolate and Peppermint are my 2 favorite things together. I was tickled to find this cookie recipe in the Real Simple magazine. You make basic sugar cookies, cut them in to square, dip in melted chocolate, and sprinkle with crushed peppermint sticks. I cannot wait to try one!! I hope they live up to the other cookies at the party this afternoon....

Snowy Cabin

My friend Anne invited a group of us up to her cabin near the Alpental Ski resor on Saturday. It was a beautiful, cold day. We had a good laugh while dressing him in all of his gear to go outside... Thankfully he is still in diapers and did not have to pee once he was all dressed. I was sweating by the time we finished. Anyway, Ellis loved the snow. He dove right in to making snowballs and jumping around.
Anne made a huge feast for us of 3 different kinds of Fondue and all the homemade sauces to go along with it... and she is 9.5 months pregnant. Thanks Anne! It was a fun day.
All of the non-pregnant people managed to polish off a Grande Sized bottle of Ross Andrew Syrah.

A Family Date Night

At least once a week we take Ellis to the Bellevue Club for swimming, basketball, and dinner. He absolutely LOVES the water. We have not done any swim lessons with him yet, but he already blows bubbles and puts his face in the water. We always have to drag him out after an hour in the water.
He gets a little frustrated that he cannot make shots with the "Big Boys", but he sure tries.
I love having the Bellevue Club for these activities!!

Potty Time

Ellis always seems to have some major milestones while I am out of town. This time it was actually using the potty. I practice with him every day, but generally nothing happens. While I was in Minneapolis this weekend, he used the potty, 2 times!! Big Boy.

Trimming The Tree

We had a nice ending to the long weekend... Eric went fishing and came home with a Salmon and 4 HUGE crabs. We made a big fire, baked some sugar cookies, invited some friends, and trimmed the tree. We are all ready for Santa!