My friend, Rebecca, is doing a some-odd annual December Photo Project where you show the “world” what you’re looking at for the first 25 days of December. Ta-da!

This is what my living room looked liked this morning when I woke up.

We got in late from a nice, long visit to St. Louis for Thanksgiving, and this is the thanks I got. 

I spent the day cleaning and unpacking and doing dishes and putting away laundry and stripping the last bit of wallpaper off the third wall so we could decorate as a family tonight.

I can hardly keep my eyes open.

I know, I know.  5 people have told me in the last 3 days that I should blog more often.  Here’s what I’m doing these days:

1.  Elsie is turning 3 on Friday.  I wasn’t going to have a birthday party.  Now there will be 20 kids plus their parents and our extended family there.  It’s a Wizard of Oz themed bash, and I’ve been cutting, pasting, cooking, shopping and sewing for the party…so far!!

2.  I joined the Zion Church Arts Committee.  We organize events like art shows, concerts, etc.  We have a book lecture and art exhibition called “God in the Gallery” on October 18th.  Guess who’s in charge of food?

3.  Zion’s Fall Fest is on the 26th of October.  I’m in charge of/singing in the bluegrass band.  We haven’t practiced yet

4. We throw a super big Halloween/Reformation Day party every year. And my costume kicks butt this year. As does the children’s.

5.  Tess will turn one (!!!!!!) on November 6th.  I have to do something for her 1st birthday.  This time I’m seriously only inviting close family and making some cupcakes.

6.  Another Zion Art deal - Matthew Smith and Indelible Grace will be at our church on November 20th.  Also in charge of refreshments for the band.

7. I teach sewing lessons every Thursday night.

8. We’re going to St. Louis for Thanksgiving, Dallas for Christmas, and our dear, dear friends are coming into town from Japan for Christmas, but mostly just to go to/be in a wedding. I’d like to have a New Years Party as well in there.

So, bear with me. Once the weather cools we will be spending more time inside, so that will be more accommodating to blogging. Until then, my friends…hang tight.

Here’s Tess’s 10 month pictures from JC Penney a few weeks ago. They have improved by leaps and bounds.

New photographers who love their jobs, new managers with (gasp!) management training, new lights and photography equipment, and a touch of professionalism = GREAT PICTURES.

Well, there you go. They probably read my blog.

Here’s another round of Photo Friday!

The infamous Mine Piper.

My sweet Tess in the bathtub, the surefire way to calm her down. She splashes and “swims” all over the tub. Prepare to be soaked!

Tess is standing in her crib all the time now. I love the way she has her leg pointed out like a dancer. Follow this link to see a video of her standing in her crib.

Tess’s look is starting to be more of a toddler than a baby these days. She’s getting a bit of chubby on her, which means she’s getting ready to grow tall again. She’s saying, “Let me get this straight…” here. She is also signing “all done” and “bye-bye”. She waved to me, while standing in her crib, when I laid her down for her afternoon nap.

________________________________

We’ve been doing chores this week. I made up a chart for Peter and Elsie that has pictures down the left hand side and the days of the week across the top. Each chore that is completed gets a sticker, and each day with all chores completed gets a piece of candy - hershey’s kiss, licorice, etc.

Here’s a picture of what Elsie’s bed looks like after she’s made it. I think it’s a woman thing. She can make her bed so well!

I promise that I didn’t help her at all with it! She’s just good!

This Saturday evening, if Pete does the rest of his chores (teeth brushed, toys picked up, help set table for dinner) for the rest of the day and all of his chores tomorrow, then he gets $2. He is stoked. I’m not sure if we will give Elsie an allowance or not. Maybe 50 cents or so. She doesn’t have a concept of money yet.

It sure has been easier on me this week with them doing a lot of their own picking up. It’s also made me clean up better after myself. Pete asked me why there was stuff in the bottom of my closet…OUCH!

Elsie has been way less of a monster since Tuesday. No more bologna, thank goodness. I told her to show me her sweet smile.

Pete sometimes just looks at me like this, and it sort of freaks me out. It usually takes me a moment or two, but I finally realized the other day that this is him showing me that he has a happy heart, as evidenced through his smile. He’s such a good boy!

I’ve been sending pictures to my family and friends every Friday as part of Photo Friday for the last 5 months. I missed a few weeks in there in a row, but for the most part, I’ve done several pictures every week. I put a little update on my family, what we’ve been up to, and just typical daily stuff in the Wittmann abode. Mike said “That’s called blogging.”

Sure.

So, now I am actually blogging, even if it’s just for Photo Friday.

But you never know, so stay tuned.

Pete’s Great Grandpa caught a fish and put it on Pete’s line, then threw the line back into the water. A few minutes later, he told Pete that he had a fish.

Pete never knew the difference.

Elsie’s very first fish. Once she had reeled it in, she thought it was gross. That’s my girl. Note the angler’s accessories. You can never be too overdressed for fishing off the docks at Windermere.

Tess is now doing “So Big” on command. She mostly does it for her Daddy’s attention. It works 60% of the time, every time.

Elsie was just standing there, posing for Pete, trying to talk him into going out into the lake with her and her Daddy. Pete wouldn’t have anything to do with it.

Elsie on the Aqua Jumps. This is right before she started freaking out about the fish in the water. Then Mike pushed encouraged her down the water slide into the lake. Yuck.

This is my little rock standing on a big rock in the Lied Jungle at the Omaha Zoo. This just exemplifies his personality right now.

My sister took this picture with her Fancy Dancy camera when she was up here a few weeks ago. I just LOVE it. Also, Tess looks a bit like an ostrich.