up-to-date... almost

so a few more things, so we're all caught up for christmas :). we've been really busy, but mostly playing around. here's a picture from a week or so ago, it's just so easy for me to take more pictures when paul's home, and i wanted to record rayna's 'mary poppins' outfit, that's what she calls this dress (i especially liked her knee socks).

 'crafting' with some friends. we made a bunch of snowflakes, and we put a lot of them up on our sliding back door, so when the sun shines we have cool shadows on the kitchen floor; it makes for a fun breakfast room.

 malachi LOVES this truck now. he plays with it almost every night after the girls go to bed, he's getting pretty good at stacking the blocks and shoving them through the shaped holes, but mostly he drives it around making siren noises :).

 most pictures of him i have now look something like this:

he loves the camera, and what can i say, obviously the camera loves him too!

we also had a fabulous visit to the zoo last saturday with daddy... unfortunately i left the camera in the car :(. it was really one of the best visits we've had in a LONG time, partly because we haven't been going as much with that miserably hot summer and then school starting for afton, and partly because paul got ot come with us, but the animals were entertaining, the kids got to see most everything they wanted, and the zoo wasn't crowded at all (it was predicted to be cold, but it turned out to be a nice warm day).
we had an especially great time in the reptile house, and playing at the bug house... of all the weird things for my "cutsey little girlies." we also enjoyed seeing an eagle eating some little furry thing, and an owl feathering a small bird... sounds so much worse when i write it down... suffice it to say, the things i would have taken pictures of would not have involved any of that, but lots of silly smiles, petting little goats, watching the flamingoes, and maybe crawling through the tunnles with the naked mole rats... oh, and afton and paul held a few birds in the children's aviary. we sure have enjoyed having that zoo pass, though i think we're ready to let it expre for a little while, it's a lot harder to get all the way out there with school... maybe we'll try somethign else next year! merry christmas!