Living, Loving, Learning

This was the view from the backdoor as I was letting Sunshine out first thing this morning and get this...it was enough snow to warrant cancelling school for today!! The Michigander in me laughs at these thin-skinned Southerners!! In totally unrelated news...I know some of you have expressed interest in the quilting club that I'm in so I thought I would post the block I do each month. Hopefully, we will all watch me improve over the year! January's theme was Southwest. I chose the brown fabric because it reminded me of earth...sand, dust, rock. The green fabric reminded me of the wavy patterned flesh of succulent plants found in that part of the country. The pattern is called "Anvil" which, I am told, is a common pattern used in Southwest style art. This was my second try, as my first came out at 11 1/2" (supposed to be 12 1/2").

Griffin had his first 'without parents' swim class yesterday. He takes them at our YMCA...the pool is under a bubble dome for the winter. I love the photo of them all lined up at the edge of the pool...it looked like Old Navy was shooting a commericial for kids swimwear. And look, there is actually a boy that is thinner than Griff! :) Griffin is second from the left. I had problems getting photos in the low lighting, but I will try again at his next class. We are all fighting monster colds right now....actually, the boys have won their battles but I am still down for the count. Hoping to feel better soon.

Well, there are very few "belly" pictures of me this time around because I am the designated house photographer but Bruce managed to snap one off last night before I realized it. I will share it with you so y'all can see how we are coming along. Be kind people, this was the end of a very long day.

Although, we are still deep into our winter hibernation, I figured I should poke my head out of the cave and catch y'all up a bit. We are doing great, really enjoying getting to know our new home. We have made great use of the big kitchen, the fireplace and the claw foot bathtubs. We have spent most of our evenings hanging out at home, trying some new recipes, playing games with Griffin (he LOVES the Diego game, thanks Webbers!!) and watching DVDs. I have gotten Bruce all caught up on Lost so he can watch with me this season. I have joined an Internet based quilting club that has a monthly project and I am really enjoying getting crafty again...I have even pulled out the embroidery floss and started working on some onesies for Sprout. Sprout is fantastic. The Dr. is always impressed/aggravated by the flips she does when they are trying to listen to her heartbeat. I would love to say that she is in there practicing twirls with the grace of a ballerina but it really feels more like a...

GOT MILK?

Family Movie Night

Grandma and Grandpa Huggins gave us a fantastic Christmas present this year, a family pass to the local zoo. It is less than an hour away from the house and located in the closest big city (Evansville, IN) where we have to do much of our shopping. It is so nice to be able to pop over to the zoo for a nice long walk before facing such dreaded places as the mall, Target or Home Depot. We went for the first time last weekend and really enjoyed the family time. Some of the enclosures offer terrific up-close animal experiences that I think Griffin will continue to enjoy for a long time. For me this is a perfect gift...it continues to give all year long, provides us a learning experience, excercise and family fun outdoors. Here are a few photos I managed to snap.

I can't wait until this is an every day occurrence in this house!!

I am soooo excited.... looks like my man is getting a fair shot at the White House! YEAH. Here is his website if you would like to learn a little bit more about him.

Sisters