Maya and Her Pottery Wheel!

The Fire Station and the Missing Pants!

Kai had one main wish for Christmas this year..."a real fire station that I can play with". He told us that he already had a firestation, but it was just a picture on his rug and wasn't much fun to play with.

On Christmas morning, the first thing he did as he ran to the living room to look at the tree was throw his arms up in the air and shout "I wonder which present is my fire station!". After all of the presents were open, a slightly deflated Kai quietly walked around the room and helped us open our presents. I said to him "Kai, was there anything that you really wanted this year for Christmas that you didn't get?". Holding back tears, he said..."yeah...a fire station". Fortunately, there was a small present still under the tree that had been missed. Kai opened it only to find a small fireman figure. A short note was attached and read..."If you want to see where I live, go downstairs...Love Santa". We all followed Kai down to the playroom where he found a mound of black garbage bags. Underneath was the coolest fire station that I've ever seen. Kai was beside himself and immediatly gave his fire station a big hug. He's been playing with it for hours and hours ever since.

Later that morning when he was talking to his Nanny, he told her that he had been really worried and thought he wasn't going to get his fire station.

I have to admit, this fire station is so cool. It is all wood and stands 3 stories tall, sporting a basketball court and helicopter pad on the top level. It came equipped with well-made, sturdy wooden furniture for each room. There's a bedroom, bathroom, office, living room, kitchen, barbecue area, and work-out room with a treadmill. It also came with an ambulance and firetruck with removable ladders.

The only thing that Dom and I just can't figure out is why the firemen are not wearing pants. There are 3 identical firemen that were included with this station and they are all pantless. I can't imagine it's very comfortable fighting fires with no pants.

Fireman Kai!

Our Little Photographer!

Since I now have a fancy camera, Maya wants to be just like me. She was so excited when her Papa got out his old camera equipment and let her set up shop. She loved using the tripod and "clicked" away as though she was working a photo shoot.

Our New Feathered Friends!

About a month ago, Papa and Maya made a bird feeder as one of their weekly Tuesday afternoon crafts. We mounted it onto the wooden railing of our deck that sits just outside of our kitchen.

Since the bitter cold weather and snow have arrived, we now find ourselves feeding many new feathered friends. Birds of all kinds are now nesting in our bushes and enjoying their new feeder. We fill the feeder every day and by sunset, the feeder is once again empty. We love watching the birds as we eat breakfast and lunch in the kitchen.

Our cat Cheeks also LOVES to watch the birds. She gets as low to the floor as she can and doesn't even move a hair. She just sits in that position for hours...hoping for the impossible.

Just recently, the bluejays and cardinals have begun to visit (2 of my favorite species of birds). Today, there were four bluejays at the feeder at the same time. What a beautiful sight.

Beautiful Curls!

Maya has been asking and asking for me to curl her hair. The other day, I finally got the curling iron out and curled her hair. Even at best, curling irons usually only offer a couple of hours of "good" curls, and for Maya, many of her curls were relaxed within an hour. It just wasn't the dramatic effect she was looking for.

Plan B...the foam curlers! You know the kind...the ones that you put in your hair before you go to bed and somehow find a way to sleep with all of those lumps on your head. I wore them when I was a girl and Maya was oh so excited to wear the same kind of curlers that her Mommy wore. She was so patient as I wrapped each curler around her long hair. Kai handed each curler to me trying so hard to be such a great helper.

I covered her head full of curlers with a bandana and tucked her into bed. I can't believe she went to sleep without a single complaint. The next morning she was so excited to take her curlers out and see the results. During most of the day, I heard "Mommy, are my curls still in?". She just loved her curls and I'm sure we will be repeating this process many times in the future.

I included a picture of my super helper kai. Deep down, I know that he would have loved to have curls too...to be just like his big sister.

Blizzard Beach!

Just before picking the kids up at my parents house, we made a brief stop at the beach. Dom decided to brave the extremely cold and bitter north winds and take the dogs for a stroll along the water's edge. I decided to stay close to the car, but was able to still get a couple of pics.