BECCA WISHES SANTA CLAUDE ERIC A HAPPY HOLIDAY

Becca sends her heartfelt Christmas wishes to Uncle (Santa) Claude Eric. Enjoy.
(P.S. Daddy learned a new trick! More to follow!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2008

As Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close, we want to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas season. This picture seemed so pertinent, especially with the early snowfall we have experienced (and are experiencing!).

We had our pictures taken at a fundraiser for the Marshall County Historical Society. We have come to enjoy the Indiana winters, but can do without the Lake Effect snow/rain.

We hope you are all warm and snuggly and wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Love,

The Ratliffs of Plymouth, Indiana

WILL YOU JUST PUSH ME ALREADY!

Daddy didn't have the heart to take Becca to her preschool on a day when he and Mommy had off. So, we went to Wal-Mart, picked out a toboggan and off we went to Magnetic Park, which has a short hill where little kids can sled safely.

Of course, the snow was so deep Daddy had to sled first and create some runs so Becca could enjoy her sledding experience (oh, my achin' back!).

MAGNETIC PARK UNDER SNOW

Becca and Daddy walked to Magnetic Park for some snow sledding and this is what greeted them. The wind was picking up, the clouds dissipating and the sun peaking through in places.

Charles forgot his camera and had to snap these images (above and below) with his cell phone. We hope they come through OK on your end.

FIRST MAJOR SNOWFALL OF THE SEASON

Earlier in the week, we recieved about 2 inches of Lake Effect snow, which didn't seem to do much and melted away within hours. That changed Thursday night as a blast of Arctic wind shot down from the north, crossing a much warmer Lake Michigan and dumping nearly 8 inches of Lake Effect snow on the region.

This posed a problem. As you can see, D.D. had quite the interesting morning Friday trying to find a place to go potty. We did discover, however, that she is quite the snow dog and has no problem plowing through the snow (or under it!).

So, with the massive snow fall and wet, slippery roads, school was canceled Friday giving us an extra three-day weekend. Becca awoke to the massive blanket covering her backyard and went right out to make her first snow angel of the year.

We hope you all are enjoying the warm weather as we are enjoying winter's first visit to northern Indiana.

Claude and Kasey send a wonderful gift for Rebecca. After the screaming stoped, she jumped right in the tub with her new bathtub duck. It even glows in the dark!

BECCA DANCES THE ELECTRIC SLIDE!

One of the things about the Monster Mash is that Becca enjoys dancing to the sounds of the D.J. Here, Becca grooves with one of Daddy's teacher aides, Mrs. King. Becca was expecting her daycare friend (and son of one of Daddy's teaching colleagues) Cameron, but he never showed.

Of course, I did explain to Becca that Cameron had a brand new baby brother - born just last week - and his family was probably taking a rest.

She informed us that Cameron was still her friend! She added that she was going to let him have it at school tomorrow!

NOTE: For pictures of Becca and Cameron at last year's Monster Mash, go into the archives into the November 2007 posts.

BECCA AND DADDY HEADED TO MONSTER MASH!

Becca and Daddy get ready to head to the Monster Mash at Daddy's school. Becca likes to dress up and go to see all the junior high kids dress up. Daddy likes to dress up and go see all the crazy adults who do the same. The life of a school teacher sometimes requires you to do crazy things.

Here, Becca dressed up as Mariposa (Barbie). Mommy dressed her hair up with glitter and sparkle and a little reddish tint. This is the outfit Becca is going to wear to go trick-or-treating on Halloween.

CARVING PUMPKINS 2008 World Tour

Becca and Bizzy try out new instruments for carving pumpkins. Seen here, they are scooping the guts from the inside and getting the pumpkin ready for a face. Becca had no problem getting her hand gushy . . . so long as she had gloves on.

Once the guts were removed, Bizzy designed and carved the faces. Charles tried to carve a face on one, but Bizzy helped him get it right. Now, both creatively carved pumpkins now sit on the front porch waiting to scare trick-or-treaters.

HAUNTED HAPPENINGS AT MAGNETIC PARK!

Daddy and Becca went to Magnetic Park (just down the street from our house and the site of last year's flooding) and participated in the fun and games put on by the Plymouth Parks & Rec Department.

Here, Becca pokes her head out of the Hay Maze, created by hay bales and covered in a tarp so that the kids can crawl through, get lost in and find their way out of.

Becca had no troubles going through the maze and had a blast! So much so that she promptly proceeded to go through two more times.

Later, Becca played a couple of games involving bowling pumpkins and knocking down pins. She earned herself some candy. In this picture, she tells Daddy that she wants to go walk the haunted trail (the tractor pulling the hay ride broke down, so everyone had to walk - go figure).

Becca says she can't wait for Daddy's school to have its Monster Mash dance, because he took her last year, and this year she wants to go so bad, she's been counting down the number of sleeps until it gets here.

We want to wish everyone a safe and wonderful Happy Halloween! And, Becca says she wants to wish Daddy a Happy Birthday!

BECCA'S TURN TO TAKE A PICTURE!

We were at our favorite Mexican Restaurant and Daddy was showing Mommy pictures of the countertops that were installed at Yellow House. Becca asked for the camera, and, well, the rest is history. Not only is Becca going to become Daddy's little writer, she's going to become Mommy's little digital photographer.

Not only did she take a picture of Daddy, she took a couple of Mommy! Here's another!

COUNTERTOPS ARE IN!

Yellow House is now complete! With the installation of countertops, the kitchen is virtually done. Now, all we're waiting for is for our plumber to finish the faucets. Everything water-related is done, with the exception of the two bathroom sinks and kitchen sink.

We went out tonight to show the countertops to Bizzy. All she could say is "Wow!"

We're going to spend the winter and take extra furniture and things from Plymouth House out to Yellow House. For those who know and helped us move two and a half years ago, know that we have more than enough "stuff" for two houses!

YELLOW HOUSE IS DONE (well, almost)!

With the exception of a few minor details, Yellow House is virtually done. I know we've been showing you mostly outside shots, or shots of studded walls, now we would like to take you in the front door for a little tour of some of the features of Yellow House.

Thanks for keeping up with us via the blog, and we hope you have enjoyed the updates of all that has been going on.

Also, keep on scrolling below the Yellow House posts, as Charles has caught you up-to-date with other happenings going on (and included pictures of Becca!).

THE SOON-TO-BE ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

I know it seems like a lot for one little boom box, but Dad and Biz designed this beginning phase of the entertainment center in the main living room. If you notice, the boom box only has one speaker, because the other is sitting on top of the upper cabinets in the kitchen. Yes, Yellow House is wired for sound!

The top of the cabinets is tiled and the TV and Stereo system will sit on top of the cabinet. We haven't decided yet how the upper shelves will look, whether they will be built-in and drywalled (Russ help!) or if we will just mount shelves on the wall around the TV. We'll just have to see.

The wall to the immediate left of the boom box used to be the entryway into the old living room, that is until Dad knocked the wall to the left down and we didn't need it anymore. When Charles closed in the entryway, this alcove was created. Bizzy felt it would make a great built-in entertainment center.

MASTER BEDROOM ALLOWS UNIQUE BED NOOK!

Bizzy took the footboard of her antique four-poster queen-size bed and placed it into the center nook of the bedroom bay (each of the main rooms of the old part of the house have this unique bay alcove) to give an idea of how this unique nook will be used. The bed will jut into the bedroom from the bay wall, allowing more space to be used in the main part of the bedroom for the antique cherry furniture.

During construction, the middle window was removed and the wall repaired to allow a solid wall above the bed. The door to the master bath is to the left of the mirror on the floor, which got installed above the vanity sink (see post below).

MASTER BATH SHINES!

We took the Master bathroom and installed kitchen cabinets to allow for more storage for linens, towels and necessities. We are still waiting for the plumber to finalize the sinks, faucets and toilets, which will hopefully occur after kitchen countertops go in.

WAITING FOR COUNTERTOPS!

With the exception of countertops and backsplash, the kitchen at Yellow House is nearly complete. A bar juts into the middle of the kitchen at the lower right hand of the picture, while the sink will be installed as part of the countertops just below the window. Of everything at Yellow House that was designed, Dad and Biz really put their talents to good use where the kitchen is concerned.

BECCA PRETENDS TO CALL AUNT LESLIE!

Becca shows off the new outfit she got from her Aunt Leslie on the stoop in front of Plymouth House as we were heading out for the Plymouth-Elkhart Memorial home game. Becca was so excited when the package came in she couldn't hardly wait to put the outfit on.

Here, she pretends to talk on the phone to her Aunt Leslie, thanking her for the outfit. She can be so funny when she talks on the phone.

Overheard recently while coming home from daycare:

"Hello, can I speak to Dr. Ratliff? She's my mommy."

"Un-huh. . . OK . . ." Phone slaps shut. "Oh, man!"

"What is it, Becca?" Daddy asks while driving.

"Mommy can't talk right now, she's in a meeting."

And, so goes the life of a precocious 4-year-old who's growing too fast for words, too quickly to keep up with, and too cool for school.

BECCA'S BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY!

Becca gets her face painted at the Rockies' home game versus Elkhart Memorial two fridays ago. With the win over Memorial the Rockies took an undefeated 5-0 streak into Homecoming last Friday night, defeating Wawasee 42-7 to stay unbeaten.

After the exciting game, Mommy, Daddy and Becca headed out to the lake one more time to visit with Grandma and Grandpa before they head to Arizona.

BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL 08 A BLAST!

As is the custom in Plymouth every Labor Day weekend, more than half a million people descend upon the Marshall County Blueberry Festival (Indiana is home to more than a hundred "festivals") and we love going. The fact that we can walk to the Blueberry Festival is not lost upon Mom or Dad, who usually end up carrying an exhausted Becca, who as this picture shows, loves the Kiddie Carnival!

This year, Mommy got smart and grabbed the umbrella stroller and we were able to push (barely!) Becca home after hours of fun at the festival. This was one of the few times we have been able to break away from the ongoing project at Yellow House and just let go.