Allison's dream house...

Or Barbie's, rather. The only thing Allison asked for at all this Christmas was a Barbie doll and a Barbie movie. I don't think it gets any easier than that.

She got more than she bargained for. The Barbie house that my dad built for me some 20 years ago is something that my parents hung onto. We brought it with us out to NY last January. I spent most of the December rehabing the house with fresh "carpet" (upholstery velvet and wood looking contact paper), wallpaper (scrapbook paper and wallpaper mod podged on) and paint. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Here's the before (sort of... this is after Brian ripped out the old carpet the the mice in our rental here loved so much... ick!)

And here's the after.

And here's my cute little girl...

Now... I wouldn't decorate or paint my house this way (although the green on green stripe in the kitchen is pretty nice...), but I think its okay for Barbie.

Carter's First Love

Basketball. Definantly basketball. And he's not bad either. :)

A Storage Fantasy...

2 "Cameron" Cubby Wall Storage System, with 2 extra cubby units:

$1010 from Pottery Barn

MDF, mis-tinted paint, screws and bracing brackets:

$175

1 Gallon Behr Preium Paint in "Bibbidi Bobbidi Blue" (for the walls...):

$23

DIY plans from Ana-White.com:

$0

Saving a bundle AND having my dream toy storage installed in the playroom before Christmas:

PRICELESS! :)

Isn't it beautiful? I love it!!!

100 hours...

Remember how I posted about the first snow just a few days ago? Well, Saturday seems to have been our one little snow break. And since then, we've had 100 straight hours of snow... and its still snowing HARD.

Curious over what that looks like?

I think its going to be a l-o-o-o-o-n-g winter...

Gingerbread Houses

We went all out for Gingerbread houses this year. We probably spent too much for one activity, but the kids LOVED it, and it made for a much nicer-than-normal Sunday afternoon.

Which, by the way, am I the only parent of little ones who thinks that Sunday is actually often the HARDEST day of the week? What happened to day of rest? But thats neither here nor there...

Allison and Carter both enjoyed building the houses. Allison did her own with my help, and Brian did the other with Carter's help... although Carter's definition of "help" was to eat as much candy as possible. Fun was had by all. Next year, I think its cheaper graham cracker houses for our kids, but we'll stick with the royal icing. That stuff really is the key to getting a good house built. :)

Allison thoughfully placing her gumdrop border...

Carter thoughfully eating all the candy within reach...

Yeah... thats my husband... :)

First Snow

We got our first real, measurable snow yesterday and last night. Allison was thrilled to wake up this morning and find a few inches a snow... totally enough to play in.

Allison was very patient, and waited - nicely! - until 10 am to be let out to play. She immediatly wanted to build a snowman, and enlisted daddy's help. For most of the building, she was too busy "supervising" to actually help... sounds like my daughter...

Carter loved it too. This was his first snow experience, and he seemed to think it was pretty cool stuff. I love how chubby he looks in these pictures. Could be because the snowsuit is a little too big on him.