Merry Christmas

After out big shindig the night before, we didn't feel like doing much at all. Samantha and I spent most of the day on the couch while the boys played with their new toys.

Vince with his new balls -- how did Santa know that Vince loves balls?

Johnny investigates the stockings and the mice that Santa brought.

Christmas Eve Party

We threw a Christmas Eve party, and I got a little carried away (as usual). Here I am before the party began with the appetizers (once the party got started I completely forgot to take any other photos).


What a spread!

A detail of the cookies... so pretty (if I do say so myself).

The bar -- the hot spiced cider was the hit of the party (thanks again, Martha).

My frozen vodka looked so cool!

Country livin'

For those of you who doubt we live in the 'burbs, take a look at this friendly visitor we had in our backyard last night....

This guy was huge -- and he wasn't afraid of us at all. Now I really need to make sure I have my flashlight with me when I fetch firewood at night!

1st snow of the season

It snowed all day long...

wreath on the front door

our entryway decorated for Christmas

Oh Christmas Tree

Here's our huge tree....


we're ready for Santa

and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

finally finished with the painting

After a big push (4 days of non-stop painting), all of our rooms are finally painted. Here's some highlights of the downstairs.


in the living room, looking towards the foyer and dining room

in the dining room, looking towards the living room

the dining room, as seen from the kitchen

the fireplace

close-up

detail of the intricate painting

Gobble -- gobble!

Here's our Thanksgiving dinner, which I have to admit was fantastic as always.

the table


some of the sides

the bird (yes I'm in desperate need of a turkey platter)

my favorite... the creamed onions.

trick or treat

we had a great halloween... and gave out tons of candy to the 75-100 kids who stopped by. we had spooky sound effects playing and a neighbor lent us a smoke machine -- it was fantastic!

we're all ready!

the front door with cobwebs, spiders, mice and bats

our entryway with my homemade wreath

jen and her creation

ricardo budding up to the scarecrow

tip: gourds make dying flowers look better

happy halloween!

Have you seen that kitten?

Oh wait, there he is!

Roses

We're discovered that we have lots of rose bushes in our backyard

How's Vince?

He's been neutered, and he's doing just fine.

Flowers

I'm finally getting around to posting my flower photos....

the mums by the lightpost

street view

our garden frog

window boxes on the porch

aster in the backyard

"We've been adopted" --- Ricardo

Meet Vince, our new kitten, enjoying his first inside meal.

Yes, I know --- we're crazy. It's a long story, but this weekend we welcomed a new kitten into our home. Actually, not all of us welcomed him --- Samantha won't stop hissing and growling.

Here's how this happened... this cute little tuxedo kitten lived in our alley when we moved in. Ricardo said the kitten greeted him on the day we moved in. Since then, every night we grilled the cat would come up to us and nudge, rub and purr --- he's very friendly. Our neighbors (who have 3 dogs) have been feeding him, and were planning on bring them in their home, since they had buried 2 of the kitten's siblings. Anyway, this weekend we were talking, and decided that we would take the kitten into our home, since we already have cats, and since we're crazy.

We named the kitten Vince, (bonus points if you can guess how I came up with this name --- remember: his big brother is named Johnny) and so far he's doing great.

Our laborious Labor Day weekend

We spent our holiday weekend working on our !#$@ guest room. For some reason the walls in this room are in the worst shape, and it seemed the more we scraped, patched and spackled the more cracks and bumps we found. Poor Ricardo took on the ceiling, and he ended up covered with sanding dust.

They're well-adjusted

The kittie cats are settling into their new home, and have made some discoveries...

Samantha has discovered that the new couch is pretty comfortable, especially when you snuggle into the corner with lots of pillows.

Johnny has discovered that the stairs is an excellent place to get Dad's attention and to get a nice belly rub.