Midwest Tapas and a Little House

Yesterday was one of those surprisingly fun days! We spent the morning sorting dolls clothes and making appetizers, but the afternoon was consumed with building a little house. It was a gift for Issa from one of my cousins, and we had no idea how much fun it would be! It took a wee bit of assembly:
Can you tell how much Daddy loves being photographed?

Issa spent a considerable amount of energy explaining to Evan that only Santa could go down chimneys and he should not try to go down this one. I think Evan actually was thinking about an attempt:

Then the kids moved on to helping Daddy:

Please notice Evan is also sitting on Daddy's legs. I'm pretty sure that was not the kind of help he had in mind. This might have been marginally better:

And when Daddy is an engineer, you know there will be a few extra steps not included in the directions. In this case, the corners needed tape reinforcement:

This house is not going anywhere. Once it was all assembled, there was decorating to be done:

Yes, my friends, we are all still in pajamas. It was that kind of day. (And for my family, yes, those are the Bushka pajamas circa 1990 something. They are comfortable.) We had great fun coloring. The outside is a giant coloring book and the inside is a blank canvas. We will be decorating for weeks!

I think this face says it all:

And for dinner, Midwest Tapas:

It's a once a year meal, but it was so happy. Yes...I would say that was the way to begin 2012.