The Sniffles and Coughs and Excuses

Okay, I'm officially VERY late for Christmas updates. I mean, at this point, who really cares where we went, what presents we opened, and what order it all happened in? But, for the sake of family (who makes up most of my reading audience), I really will get the "7 Days of Christmas" blog finished....SOON.

Meanwhile, let me just offer a few excuses as to why no blogging has happened at our house.

We've been doing a little bit of sniffling...

Quite a bit of coughing....

And a whole lot of doping up. This is just the "children's stash". My stash is in the bathroom. Seriously, enough already! I have absolutely no voice right now and spend most of the time hacking up a lung. (Did that sound pitifully whiny or what?) The girls all have ear infections, are recovering from eye infections, as well as sinus infections. We've had ENOUGH of the INFECTIONS!!!!

Actually, everyone is feeling much better. So, instead of laying around being sickly (and instead of blogging :), we've actually been using quite a few of our fun, new Christmas presents for family entertainment.

Not to spoil the "Christmas blog entry" (I'll save some for that), but here are a few of our favorite pasttimes right now:

1) Outdoor hobbies have not exactly been our "cup of tea" in recent years. But, I guess you can call it a new year's resolution? Or, just an itch for something different. Mark decided he wanted fishing gear and camping stuff for Christmas and after a bit of skepticism from his dear wife (as well as almost every family member on both sides), we are really getting excited about our new family hobbies. And, we got some great stuff to get started with! Here are the girls and their fishin' daddy on their first unsuccessful but very fun excursion. Of course, they found the bait in the front yard. :)

2) When we haven't been playing in our new tent, or fishing at the pond, we've been completely HOOKED on Little House on the Prairie. That was the big theme of Kendyll's gifts from Mark and me this year, and I have to say the whole family has enjoyed it. The girls live in their "prairie clothes".

This for daytime (an Ebay purchase):

And this for nighttime (a Gammy original):

And, what's funny is that Mom and Dad have sure been hooked too. We got her the entire first season on DVD and we watch one show practically every night. The other day we watched one in the afternoon, and when Mark found out, he said (in all seriousness), 'What?! You watched it without me?!" Was he meant for girls, or what?

Kendyll and Carlie (also known as Mary and Laura) play Little House all day long. They bake outside in our chiminea fireplace (with no fire, of course), or inside with pots and pans and their Easy Bake Oven. They take care of the "log cabin" by doing their chores, and they pretend to be in school, carrying their "slate" and basket of books. It really is so fun to watch them in action.

Meanwhile, Abby Kate has been really enjoying her loot of "big girl toys". Before Christmas, she got an early Christmas present from us...pictured below. And, no, it's not the toys. It's the baby jail, as we call it. :) It keeps her contained and she actually enjoys it (after a month of hating it).

Here she is blowing kisses to herself (her new favorite trick).

And, here's a sweet smile from one crazy, busy girl....yes, I know she's pantless. That's because she's so skinny that they fall right off when she crawls around. :)

Okay, this post at least got me back into the "posting spirit". Maybe I'll get Christmas done by February.

Oh, and if you're actually still reading, you get a bonus picture....of a CUTE CUTE nephew who came to visit us yesterday, with his big cousin Carlie. How ADORABLE is he?!