Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere

Lillie enjoying her bubble bath. Patrick bought her a new bottle of "Mr. Bubble" because, apparently, the bubble bath stuff I bought was totally inferior. I guess he was right, because Lillie never wanted to submerge herself in bubbles before...

Thank goodness there's an architect in the house...

...or this Gingerbread house would have been Gingerbread crumbs. Thanks, Pat, for the consultation and the fantastic structural reinforcements. Here we are decorating the house and Pat's handy work.

Catching Up

Here are a few moments in time from this past week...

First tooth!
Charlotte is getting her first tooth! Yea!

When does it happen?
This past week I have been wondering when is it that suddenly my little toddler became a little girl. I know, it sounds silly, but all the sudden Lillie's manners have kicked in, she starts conversations about everything, etc. For example, we often play doctor/nurse with her dolls and stuffed animals. (I'm waiting for the day she wants to use Charlotte as an unknowing subject!) She will come up with an ailment for her "friends". On Thursday it was a stomach ache.
"Lillie, why does Teddy Bear have a stomach ache?"
"He ate too much cereal."
Then it was my turn to be the patient.
"Lillie, what do you think is wrong with Mommy?" (no comments from the peanut gallery out there!)
"You have a stomach ache."
"I do... why?"
"Too many coffees."
See, they don't miss a beat. I guess I'm thankful she didn't say "Too much Jack." or "Too many vinos." Whew!

He gave me a back massage
Early Friday morning about 4:30am, Lillie came in our room and said she was scared. Pat went in her room to find out she was afraid of a "face" on the ceiling. Pat moved some things around to get rid of the shadow. Lillie came in our room about 4 more times. I finally gave in and stayed in her bed for a few minutes until we were SURE the face wasn't there.
On Friday afternoon the conversation went like this:
"I came in your room last night."
"Yes, Lillie, why did you?"
"I don't know. He gave me a back massage."
"Who did? Daddy when he put you to bed?"
"No, the face on the wall. It wasn't a scary face. It was a happy face and he gave me a back massage."
Hmmmm.... Well, all I can say is I want that kind of happy face on MY wall!

Lillie Scissorhands

For about a month now, Lillie has been asking me for "safety scissors" like she uses at preschool. Yesterday I finally remembered them and picked up a pair and some more construction paper. Since yesterday, Lillie has cut through about 1/4 of the pack of paper. Just cutting. "Look Mom, I can cut." "Look, Charlotte. Look at me." First words out of her mouth this morning when she got up? "Good morning Mommy, I love you." No, scratch that. "Where are my scissors?" So here is a partial pile of her work.
Since Charlotte was napping, I decided to join in the fun of 'craft day'. Here is... well... we'll call him "Art" short for "Artsy Fartsy" guy. I thought he needed a little Christmas cheer. Nothing some felt, cotton balls, and a glue gun can't fix! Hey, it's better than one of those geese dressed up on our front step, right??

And, lastly, for the Borzenski siblings...I'm sure you all remember this man in front of Grandma Sulzer's house. I've updated him and made him eco-friendly by putting in a compact flourescent bulb this year. He also stays inside because chances are he would soon be flying without he sleigh and reindeer if left outside in Chicago. HO! HO! HO!

I'm a lumberjack and I don't care!

We spent Thanksgiving in beautiful (ahem!) Lansing, Michigan. Good food, family, and great fun was had by all. Well, except for Lillie shouting "NO! Not Oliver" each time he came near her. Didn't phase Oliver a bit. BIG, BIG hugs and kisses for Lillie. I think, like so many men do, he just kept doing it to get a rise out of her! HaHa! Here are some pics of the wonderful, crazy day.
Clockwise: Dave with all the fixins!; Meghan, Brian & Oliver; The West Family; and GGma & Charlotte



To bring our Thanksgiving weekend to a close, we joined Kathy, Dave, Jennie, Dan, Oliver, and Sophia on a trip to Anna Louisa's Christmas Tree farm to cut down our very own tree. It was cold and snowy... a perfect Christmas-tree-getting day. Who knew Pat was so handy with a saw? Here's Mr. Lumberjack contemplating which is the right tree. Oh yeah, with Charlotte in tow.Fell that tree, Patrick! (Seriously, I've never understood the whole "fell a tree" thing.)For those of you thinking, "oh, poor Charlotte",don't. She was fine. Just fine.


We made it home with the tree in one piece! Yea! We got it decorated, well, "we" started and Mom finished. Lillie became totally distracted by the jingle bell ornaments that I bought this year. So yeah, I guess it's my fault I didn't get any help after I opened those. Here are the girls enjoying them. And so Christmas Season begins...