Megan is officially 10!  Last night she had her girlfriend birthday party at the ice arena.  We had12 girls skating around and having a good time.  After skating, she opened her gifts and we had cake.  Doing birthday parties has become less stressful as a parent.  These girls could do everything themselves, right down to putting on their own skates.  Nate & I enjoyed skating around the rink hand in hand….okay, we just skated, but it was nice to have some time alone as well.

I came home from work today to find that our cabinets had been installed!  How exciting is that.  The island is also in, so you really get a feel for how the kitchen is going look.  Everything is coming along so nicely.  I can hardly wait until the floors are put in next.  Time to go take some pictures!

Megan went back to school today, so I think we’re on the road to a healthy holiday this year.  In three days she will turn 10 years old.  Someone said to me today, “Wow, a whole decade has gone by.” I  stopped what I was doing and thought back ten years .  It sure doesn’t seem that long ago that we were having our first baby, but my friend is right, it has been a decade.  All I can say to that is, “Enjoy the time that you have, because a decade can go by quickly.”

Today Kelly had her Christmas piano recital out in Bloomington at an Assistant Living facility.  Megan was suppose to go as well, but came down with the flu in the middle of the night.  The program lasted a half an hour with about ten different kids playing Christmas Carols.  It was very nice and everyone did a wonderful job.  Afterwards, Kelly & I wandered about the building looking at all the different decorated trees.  Each tree was decorated in a theme, the funniest was a “bingo” tree!  How fitting for the elderly.

Now that we’re living out of our downstairs family room, we’ve been watching more movies.  We’re getting into the holiday spirit by choosing Christmas movies.  Last night we watched Elf and tonight, one of my personal favorites, The Polar Express.  I love the “Hot Chocolate” scene and the music that goes with it.  It’s one of those movies that makes you feel like a kid….and at Christmas time, we should all get to be kids.

Another week down, only six to go.  This week we haven’t seen any changes in the kitchen but we sure could smell the change.  They worked on staining the floor boards and putting primer on the wall.  When we came home from school on Wednesday, the air was thick in here!  I didn’t care that it was zero degrees out, a window needed to be opened or we were all going to be a little “loopy” by the end of the night.

We got our christmas tree up yesterday.  We needed to set it up downstairs this year and it still looks beautiful.  The girls put a couple of gifts under it today that they bought at the church shopping spree.  Can’t wait to open them!

We survived our snow yesterday.  I think we got about 5 inches, which wasn’t too bad.  It sure looks and feels more like Christmas time around here with all the white outside. 

Our first week of construction has come to an end and we did pretty well with it.  Alot has been done already and now we’re at that “lull” until the cabinets are ready.  This afternoon, Nate & I have to go pick out tile for the front entryway and for the backsplash in the kitchen.  Should be fun.  Only seven more weeks to go!

Today we are getting our first snowfall of the season.  We’re expecting to get about six inches of the white flakes.  The girls are excited to go out and play in it but I think they may have to wait until tomorrow when the sun is shining.