Newest Addition to the Family

Introducing the newest addition to our family that we have high hopes for...it is the first addition in a long time that should result in a cleaner, not dirtier house!  Our new Roomba robot vacuum.  It spent an hour and 15 minutes cleaning this morning, going under furniture and cleaning parts of the floor that would never see a cleaning from me, unless we were moving the furniture.  It found a ballet slipper under a cabinet that we never would have found ourselves. 

I am excited that it is helping pick up dust and pet hair, but the biggest + to this thing is that we have told the kids that anything Roomba picks up will get thrown away, so if something is special, it better not be on the floor.  Not sure Ella cares so much, but Addy took this to heart.  We didn't clarify that it would only be cleaning the hardwood floor part of the house, so she disappeared in her room and a bit later I walked in to see this...

She was afraid the vacuum would get into to her pile of junk art supplies and crafts so she barricade it in a corner.  Now that she knows it isn't going into her room, I'm sure this stuff will be all spread out on her floor again in no time, but I am going to enjoy it while I can!

Happy New Year

We concluded 2013 with another family New Year's Eve celebration at the beach.  Was a bit chilly, but fun. 

Since it was cold, there was a lot of playing around in the house.  Girls got a bit goofy and Ella put a pull-up on her head.  She didn't realize I was taking a picture here...she is definitely our little entertainer!

We did venture down to the water to let Star run around and we did some running around ourselves.   Actually got them to pause for a second for a picture. 

Ella didn't even venture outside once the fireworks started...this is her firework watching spot in the house. 

Addy and Michael and their ammo.  Things were a bit slow at the fireworks stand so the lady hooked them up with some extra free stuff - lots of noise and lights.  

Zoo Lights

Zoo marketing definitely worked this year and we made the venture to Zoo Lights.  The marketing worked on the rest of Houston too because it was crazy crowded, we even went on a Sunday night, after Christmas, thinking the hype would have died down.  We also seemed to pick the prime arrival time so we spent some quality time finding a parking spot, but it was fun once we got in.  LOTS of lights!!

Berhow Visit

Rewind yet again to Thanksgiving week - we were excited to have the whole Berhow clan in town this year.  The girls had fun hanging out with Heidi and it was nice to catchup with Susan and Jon.  Stories from the farm will never cease to be entertaining for us city folk!  We made a trip to the zoo so that Addison and Ella could show Heidi some big animals.  Who would have guessed that Manhattan, Kansas had a zoo, but it isn't quite the size and scale of the Houston Zoo.

Here is a cute pic of the cousins.  We took probably 50 more, but this one is the only one where they are remotely close to all looking at the camera. 

Thanksgiving

Rewind back to November - I failed to take single picture at Thanksgiving, so I had to ask for help from family so that there was something more to this post than my rambling.  This was a Thanksgiving for the record books - our new kitchen/living area, 21 people including all the aunts and uncles and cousins.  It was great!  Festivities started with dinner at Dad and Mary's with all of the Densons and Schroeders.  It was great fun to not be hosting and to be able to sit around and catch up and relax. 

Then Thursday was not not so relaxing, but was just as fun.  We didn't get pics of everyone, but here is the list of everyone who came 1) me, 2) Michael, 3) Addison, 4) Ella, 5) Helen, 6) Dick, 7) Susan, 8) Jon, 9) Heidi, 10) Mary, 11) Dottie, 12) Fred, 13) Michael, 14) Kristi, 15) Dave, 15) Vicki, 16) Will, 17) Ann, 18) Granny, 19) Jean, 20) Tom, and 21) Betsy.  Only person missing was Dad.  He was home sick with a 24 hour stomach bug that happen to fall right on the 24 hours surrounding Thanksgiving.  It was a bummer, but fortunately we had plenty of uncles to fill in the role of turkey fryer helper!

This may be my favorite pic, the two youngest girls on the iPhone with the beer bottle in the pic.  

Me and Michael at the Denson dinner the night before Thanksgiving.

 A sampling of the Denson crew on Thanksgiving

The girls playing in Addy's room

Me and Michael in the kitchen.  It kind of looks like he is about to stab me, but note the turkey carcass in the background.

Merry Christmas

Santa found our house again this year!  He kept it simple, but went big - Ella got a Barbie Dreamhouse Townhouse and Addy got a sewing machine.  I think that both were a pretty big hit.  It was a very Barbie Christmas for Ella, she got the house and then multiple Barbies or Barbie figurines.  The theme for Addy was crafts and reading.  There are not a lot of "needs" here at the Wolf house, but I think that the girls got most of their "wants" plus some things they didn't even know they wanted until they opened the package.  Only exception is maybe Ella, she wanted a mermaid princess fairy...Santa and the rest of us are still trying to figure out exactly what that is. 

After presents and breakfast at home, we had some time to play and then headed over to Jean and Tom's for a fiesta themed Christmas dinner.  Even had a pinata!  Here are Addy and Ella collecting the loot from the candy cane pinata. 

Granny and the girls!

 Cousin time!

Me and my Granny!

Me and my Dad!

 The family!

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve tradition continues.   Early kid-friendly church service and then dinner at the Wolfs.  I am really hoping that next year Ella can just sit and stand at the appropriate times as opposed to feeling the need to climb around the pew the entire service.  Maybe next year, or hopefully when she is five! 

After the service is over, it is mandatory that we go to the garden with the statue so that the girls can climb on the statue.  And it is a great place to take a pic!

We all had the same plan when we got together - get a picture early in the night before we forgot or people get cranky.  Well, we weren't fast enough because we were gearing up for a picture and Ella had already made it into dress up clothes.  Got this cute one at the end of the night.  I think there was some bribery involved, but we got it!

Holiday PJ Party at Kolter

Nothing like a PJ party to wrap up the end of the fall semester.  Crafts, waffles and the opportunity to wear PJs to school - not sure there is anything better!  Here is Addy with some of her friends eating some very unhealthy waffles covered with sprinkles and chocolate chips

2013 Book Character Parade

So cute that they do this.  No Halloween costumes at Addy's elementary school, but the week of Halloween they have a week focused on reading and it wraps up with a parade where the kids get to wear a costume that goes with a character in their favorite book. 

If you look closely there are a number of girls with fairy wings on - Rainbow Magic Fairy books are THE book to read if you are a 1st grader, so a number of the girls dressed up as their favorite Rainbow Magic fairy.  Here is Addy

Ella's Dentist Visit

I imported pics from my phone and found some that had been lost for a while - pics from Ella's first visit to the dentist earlier this year.  She did great, we got lucky and have 2 kids that seem to really like the dentist.  Based on comments from people at the dentist's office, that isn't always the case! 

Here is Ella posing with some dental equipment.  I wasn't thinking pictures while we were here and the lady cleaning Ella's teeth actually mentioned it, so she got her setup and posed for the official first dentist pic.  

I am not sure why, but Ella spent the whole visit with her arms above her head like this.  Not sure if it was more comfy or what, but definitely the preferred position.  It was pretty funny.