It's a family affair!

The flooring is almost finished! This week Chris has to finish the flooring in the hallway and then we're done! Yippee! I never thought this day would finally come.

As for the girls and I we also helped. My high school wood shop teacher would have been so very proud of me, and maybe would come out of retirement (since I was the one to put him in. Long story short, I needed an extra art credit).

Paige got really into helping, she is more of the hands on engineering type like her father. Piper was preoccupied with the package of undies we bought her at Target this afternoon. Don't ask?

We also bought the roman shades, so that is also in the works this week-more pictures to come.

~Happy New Years Week!

Old friends!

I was reacquainted with some old friends today, some I haven't seen in nearly 20 years! You might recognize a couple of them: Don't Break the Ice", "Candy Land", "Playdough", and "Chutes and Ladders".

The boys were steadidly working on the basement and us girls had nothing but time. I really should have cleaned the rest of the house, folded laundry, etc...but how fun is that on a Saturday? So we played the day away-Piper, Paige and I.

We also had a fun time with the camera-and these are two of the best!

~Happy Saturday!

Mission to finish the basement!

Just wanted to post some pic's of our unfinished basement to get Chris motivated to finish it!
Jason came over early this morning to help, and so far so good. I am just ecstatic awaiting to finally furnish and "live" in the rest of the 700 square feet of our home. Hopefully some really fun "finished" pictures to follow later this weekend!

~Happy Weekend!

Chris's Christmas cooking "midwestern stye"

Meat, mashed potatoes and gravy. And yes, I did add a vegetable (asparagus) and a large bottle of wine!
Needless to say-we all slept real well Christmas night!

Christmas with friends...

...or should I say family that we choose!

Christmas eve continued...

Twas the night before Christmas...

...and we couldn't wait for Santa!

White Christmas

Christmas eve marks the 12th day we received snow this December, and Baxter is kind of sick of it! So I have taken the liberty to speak for all of us. After Christmas day, is is quite okay if the snow melts and we get back to our regular rainy weather!

Holiday Grasshopper Pie!!

As Michaud family dictates, every year we make the annual "Grasshopper Pie". Last year I added my own ingredient to give it some holiday flare, and it was absolutely fabulous and a must recipe to any collection! I also have my work buddies (especially Paula) hooked!

Holiday Grasshopper Pie

1. 2 1/2 rows Oreo cookies
2. 3/4 stick butter
3. 7 candy canes
4. cool whip
5. hot fudge
6. chocolate chip mint ice cream

Crust: Place Oreo's and candy canes in large plastic bag. Take rolling pin and pulverize into small pieces. Melt butter in microwave and add to Oreo and candy canes and mix evenly making sure all is covered. With a fork, flatten into dish evenly. Make sure to save some crust for topping.

Filling: Evenly place chocolate chip mint ice cream over crust. Evenly place hot fudge over ice cream and follow with cool whip. Garnish with remaining crust. Cover and freeze until ready to serve.

Makes 2 8x8 dishes

Our family of Gingerbread!

"Not the gumdrop buttons"

Sunday evening we decorated holiday gingerbread cookies for Santa's visit this week. Paige and Baxter had a better time eating the cookies rather than decorating them!

Christmas card holder revisited!

I am very pleased with everyone who participated in the mission to get my Christmas card holder filled by Christmas. I race to the mail everyday and am so pleasantly surprised with all the wonderful holiday joy we have received! It looks so wonderful-thanks to all of you! Keep the wonderful cards/pictures coming! Only 3 more sleeps until Christmas!

~Happy Sunday

Snow day continued...

Just some more pictures of the the weather we are having outside, and of the girls' Care bears that we left in the car (they now should be warm after a blankey and some time by the fireplace)!

We had to wear these to go outside in this!

Today is a snow day for the kids in Bellingham, so NO school! I asked Piper what she wanted for lunch, and guess what she said? Yep, your right -"Donald's" for chicken nuggets and My Little Pony toys. So, I bundled us all up and warmed the car. Scraping the car windows bring back many Montana high school memories (some more pleasant than others). At least it's not cold enough for my nostrils to stick together!

So here we were, all ready to go as we carefully drove down the street-and sure enough I got stuck right in front of the driveway! Glad we all have snow boots to get home! So the moral of the story is: I guess we'll have to wait for daddy to go to "Donald's" this week!

~Happy Thursday!

The show must go on...

...besides the snow on the ground, the ice on the roads, and the cold weather, the preschool pageant went on!

Potty Party!!

9:45 am. Today we had a potty party first at the Schweigert house, Paige used the potty for the first time this morning!! She came up to me and said "go potty", and I thought what the heck, might as well let her try. Sure enough, she really had to go! Yippee!! There is one more milestone down the drain, literally.

Teacher Christmas Gifts!

Thanks to Treasury of Memories, I was able to make a darling gift for Piper's preschool teachers for only $10.00. I just hope preschool and the big "pageant" aren't cancelled tomorrow because of the weather! Piper has been practicing her part as the angel for weeks! Hopefully, there will been fun pictures to share tomorrow!
~Happy Monday!

Baxter's new sweater!

Bath and new sweater for Baxter ended our Saturday night!

Pizza Party!

Saturday night after church we decided to make pizza with the girls and their snotty noses (oh well, were all sick anyway)! Daddy and the girls wanted pepperoni and me, Hawaiian! Guess which pizza everyone ate?

The night finished with fresh "snow balls falling from the sky" (Piper), and a bath and new sweater for Baxter! Picture to follow.