Twelve Days of Christmas- Partridge in a Pear Tree

Sorry to leave you in the dark for so long... The holiday whirlwind... You know how it goes. But I'm here now and that's all that matters, so shhhh.... don't hold a grudge, Babies... I've decided to make it up to you by offering you a "treat..." Twelve Days of Christmas, in which I will post something- if even just a tiny snippet- of our goings-on here every day leading up to Christmas.

As long as I can remember- since my sister and I were little- my mom has always bought us an advent calendar to count down the days to Christmas. Now, even after I'm out of the house and have an advent calendar for my own children, she continues to send me an advent calendar every year. Today's picture behind Door #13 is a small basket of goodies.

I'm off to address Christmas cards now... I know you're waiting with baited breath by your mailboxes, right? But, before I head off for that, I'll attach a picture of the family room as it looked yesterday afternoon:

The view of the family room from the hall
(kitchen slightly visible to the left)
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They've got it partitioned off with a plastic wall that has a zipper door... The ceiling was all ripped out so they could frame in the four new skylights... They also added two new casement windows on the back wall so we can actually look out into the backyard now... The room is so much lighter now I absolutely love it! Bill just showed up this afternoon with all the finished trim for the screen porch- that looks awesome, too. He's been milling it all in his shop in Bangor. Things are coming together nicely... Next spring our backyard is going to be the place to be!

The family room from inside the plastic bubble-
look at the trees in our backyard, wouldya?!
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One last thing that I had to put in here, because it's good for a laugh:

Rocco- 15 mos

Rocco was upstairs with me after dinner while I was putting in a load of laundry and waiting for the tub to fill for his bath... As I finished up with the washer (a mere five steps away from the tub) I heard a thunk... When I went in- assuming to see that Rocco had thrown a toy into the tub like he usually does- I saw Rocco, sitting in the tub fully clothed: complete with diaper & socks. I had to giggle. I have no idea how he managed to get himself into the tub, but he sure was anxious for that bath! Now I'll keep the bathroom door closed while the tub fills!

Happy Holidays from Your Very Clean Friends in the North...

xoxo k.