The best thing about birthdays is having your friends help you celebrate. Preferably while wearing full princess regalia. Because THAT'S how we roll....Happy Birthday, my Princesses....

The birthday girls had their big day today !!

There were princess cupcakes and princess outfits and princess necklaces and princess crowns and princess shoes. And we ate lots of fruit salad and ham (the food groups of choice for the Princess-set, for those of you NOT in-the-know).

So, we've had a full week of stay-at-home time, partially due to weather and school closings, and more depressingly, due to a horrific hacking, snotty-nosed , coughing, gagging, feverish cold which struck all three urchins at roughly the same time. While the cold continues to linger, I'm pretty sure we need to go to school on Monday.
We're starting to go a little crazy....

Making cake.

Unfortunately, it was a healthy cake, made with 4 cups of zucchini and whole wheat flour (amidst the cocoa and chocolate chips).

So, we had to fix that.

An inch of buttery frosting and some M&Ms quickly pushed it back into the "astonishingly bad for you" category. Finishing it off with pink sugar sprinkles just added a certain "je ne sais quoi."

Most tasty with a cold glass of milk.

The stegosaurus costume.
For those days when one is feeling Extra Prehistoric....

Inspiration - Van Gogh.

So, we made it up to the farmhouse this past weekend, and as promised, here are a few photos...
The little man inspects the new plaster, and makes suggestions for additional decorative elements.

The farmhouse floors have been refinished, but I didn't really get to see them, because they are safely under wraps while the painters paint every known surface in the place. I cheated a little , though, and pulled back a bit of the paper in the upstairs hallway.
Wow.
Remember, the floorboards looked really really sad when we first bought the place. But now? I think they are going to be lovely....

A few photos of the kitchen .

This one shows the wee built-in bookcase for the cookbooks (in the center of the picture) and through the doorway on the left is the pantry, with oodles and oodles of shelving...The big doorway on the far right gives you half a glimpse of the french doors in the breakfast room, which ONE DAY will lead out to a lovely garden, but which currently lead out to a muddy, orange-clay-filled pit. In the foreground is the Island-of-My-Dreams. Okay, here's another shot, again with the cookbook shelves, the doorway to the pantry, the big doorway to the breakfast room, and more of the Island...On the far right you can just make out the range hood...

More of the range hood and the island. The island has been designed to store all sorts of goodies, from all angles. It will also house the steam oven, and we plan to plonk a large sink right next to the raised part (we raised part of the island so as to block the view of the island counter top when one is sitting in the breakfast room. Why clean up when you can just hide your filth???)

The library shelves !

And Now For Something Completely Different:


This will only be meaningful to those of you who spent a lot of time in the 60s and 70s, watching Canadian tv. These public service announcements pretty much made up the entirety of "educational tv" during my formative years. Enjoy.

Skinny's. An absolutely imperative lunch stop while visiting Grene and Grandstan. Go for the burgers, onion rings and beer. Stay for the "atmosphere".
Two fine patrons of Skinny's.
Hi Grene! Hi Frannie!!!

Things to do on a cold (ish) beach in December......


Turn your feet several shades of fascinating blue by walking in the water:



Bury Treasure:

(I was thinking of calling this shot "I thought you said you were going to leave Dada's head ABOVE the sand." But changed my mind.)
Wander aimlessly:

Analyze the adhesive properties of wet versus dry sand, and the longevity of adhesion of same through rigorous frolicking:

We had a Merry Christmas. How about you?

One of the best things about Christmas is being able to play on the beach at Grene and Grandstan's house. Even if it was so cold that we had to wear our fleece jackets to the beach, the sun was still shining and life was good.


Lest you think it was ALL sunshine and sand, let me tell you about Orlando's "ICE" exhibit. Yes, a place the size of a football field, kept at temperatures BELOW 9 degrees (F.) and FILLED with ice. We got to wander among beautiful ice sculptures - created by artists from Harbin, China - and slide down an amazing ice slide, and get really really cold. We thought of Grandma in Pennsylvania, and the weather in Canada...
Nice blue parkas, no? They give you one as you walk into the exhibit, for which you are immediately grateful.

Because Big C. WOULD NOT LET ME REST this weekend until we had at least SOME Christmas lights on the house, I give you - Our Front Porch. Aren't we festive? He wanted to put lights on the shrubbery and the potted plants, too, but Muma just plain ran out of energy to complete the assignment. I think he's going to grow up to be one of those adults whose house causes traffic jams because of the sheer volume of Christmas lights adorning his home's facade. We all know the type. I just happen to suspect I'm raising one....

Photographic Interpretation of Muma's brain after five days of no school and three days of (the children eating) too may sweets:

After the Thanksgiving feasting, we headed downtown to participate in the annual "Lighting of the Christmas Lights". We managed to take a few pics with the famous downtown Christmas tree. We also indulged in the awesome cupcakes at the Cupcake Bakery downtown. 'Coz we needed a few more calories....
While it would appear to be below freezing, based upon my children's attire, all I can tell you is that living in the south has severely impaired our ability to withstand even the slightest cold. Seriously, in Pennsylvania they'd still be wearing shorts in this weather....

The pictures really speak for themselves...this was our first - of two - Thanksgiving Feasts, which was held at school. The second feast was held at home, and Muma neglected her camera in favor of actually preparing a decent meal. So, we've eaten our share of turkey and pumpkin and cranberry! As for the "Native American" headdresses the urchins are sporting, let's just say I wasn't really prepared to go there......

The real reason Dada has a bad back.....

A few shots of the farmhouse from last weekend...as you can see, we're making progress.

The "new wing" is up and the siding is on and painted. We still need the shutters, and I'm reserving judgment on the siding color until then. (I think the siding is too light. And too similar in color to the trim color. But the thought of re-painting it is giving me hives So, here's hoping the shutters make everything look better.)


And inside, ahhh, it's beginning to look like the inside of a house ought to...which is to say, we have real walls, now!
The kitchen has walls, too. Big C. and one of the sissies inspect the handiwork of the plasterers.

This weird shot is from the back field looking toward the rear of the house. The three long things that look like we've buried super-sized snakes just under the surface are the areas where the geothermal system has been buried. Apparently, the soil on the surface is eventually supposed to "settle" down to level, but I'm thinking that we're going to have to help it along some.
That, or we can start our own Nazca Lines site in Virginia. That'll get the archaeologists' attention....