The reason I haven't been blogging...

First...we gutted our kitchen and I've spent most of my "extra" time sweeping, mopping and trying to make dinner without a stove. No, Christmas time is NOT a good time to rehab your kitchen, but it sure is a great gift to ourselves!

The night before everything came down, I let the kids draw all over the walls. Mostly, they just wrote notes to the contractor, who is starting to feel like part of the family....



Second, I got a new camera and I'm having quite a difficult time learning to use it! (It's another perfect gift though!)

Join the Christmas Fun!

Friends

I took some photos of friends the other day and this photo of this beautiful young lady is probably one of my favorites!

Belated Halloween Poetry

Wow. I had forgotten how bad my digital video camera is.

But at least I captured Lily's favorite song/poem these days. She recites it ALL the time.

I also caught a teeny bit of our ugly kitchen. Hopefully this will be one of the last photos of before it is all torn DOWN!

Was that a compliment?

A few days ago, when we found out that one of our favorite breakfast eateries was closing forever, Sam said:

"Mom, you should open a restaurant...everyone always says you are a good cook and they love your food--except me. I hate your food."

Little stinker...

I voted...

I voted today.

And just like every other time I have voted since having children, I brought my kids along. Joey was 4 months old kicking his fat little legs from a Baby Bjorn the first time he "voted." Now he is ten.

As parents, we repeat certain rituals every year on holidays and birthdays so that those rituals become traditions that are etched in our childrens' memories. I know that I have incorporated many of the traditions from my own childhood into my family life today.

So the way I look at it...why not treat election day like a holiday and perform the simple ritual of voting with my kids so that it becomes one of their childhood traditions?