Hey There!

We are still here!
January is more than half over, and my hopes of weekly updates to you, our friends and family, well- are dashed.
We had a delightful weekend with my sister and brother-in-law. Mom, Lottie and I had a blast in Chicago at "Phantom." Lottie also brought us to "The Italian Village"- Chicago's oldest Italian restaurant- for a wonderful lunch before the show. Here we are in the lights of Chicago.



Here's a tidbid of info- We were there Jan 5th and they were "undecorating" for Christmas. Hundreds of trees were lit like these, and they just have a wire cutters and snip all the light strands out- in like 10" pieces. It surprised me, but I suppose paying people to carefully unwind them all would cost much more than new lights each year. Put that in your trivia bank.

In other big news- LanMan has found his thumb. He's not a huge thumb sucker (still prefers the pacifier when he can manage to hold it in), but has founds his hands and likes them.



Bella has a new social engagement each Tuesday- She accompanies her Great Grandma to quilting at her church. Bella is especially enjoying the time, though I think the ladies all enjoy having her, too. Last week they helped her sew and tie this little quilt for LanMan, which he loves!



We are enjoying another big snowstorm today! :) I love it! Huge soft flakes falling very quickly! I think we have about 5 inches thus far!

We are really enjoying having "Bird" of Helm's Deep with us this week as her parents are perusing the Caribbean. The girls have been apart for long enough that this is a treat and so far, are getting along swell. I will have to share photos of the paper people they made- too funny!

Well, I'm off to clean as Jake's Aunt and Uncle (in whose home we are staying) are coming home for a visit this weekend. I want their house to sparkle for them when they arrive. With four- no five- kidlets, that's a full-time job!