kittii wii

I noticed we haven't posted anything on here in quite a while...so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We had 5 Christmas celebrations...which were wonderful, but were quite busy. Funny that we didn't take a ton of pictures at Xmas time. It was nice to just enjoy time with family and friends. We really enjoyed both having some time off and getting to spend time together not studying or rehearsing scenes from a play. It has dropped into the below zero temps the past week and has been really cold! Here's a pic of Muggles playing indoors...it's quite funny to try to play with her sitting right up by the screen.

She has also developed a new love for Jenny's hair. She will attack it if it is in a pony tail or bun, and even more so when she has in braids. She will bite at them until she removes the binder.

Toyland, Toyland....

Ah, Babes in Toyland is over. Above, here we are in "Toyland" as carolers. This is why I have not posted anything in over a month! I have been busy busy busy with the play. It was fun, but took up quite a bit of time. It's weird to have a "normal" life again...although with Christmas just ahead, it is still pretty busy. It was a blast to be on stage again...our last performance was a riot, and everyone really got into their parts, which was great. I will greatly miss most of the cast and being onstage with my accountants and elves! ;)


Here I am as Chief Accountant. I love the glasses and the outfit. We had a song where we danced with clipboards, while it's weird, it totally worked.

Anyway, other than that, Christmas is coming, the cookies are getting baked, the presents are starting to show up under the tree, and Chris is done with finals! YAY!

Here is after our opening performance, lots of family and friends came to see...even a student saw the play. It was quite fun!

Tonight's plan....the 2nd Annual Popp Christmas Cookie Party!

Raking, raking, and yes, more raking.

Leaves seem to gather like mad in our yard every fall. Even after losing 2 large trees in the past year, we still have a multitude of them. We spent the better part of today raking and hauling leaves to the compost place in New Brighton. We ran out of time and must continue on later this week. We also decided to quit using leaf bags and just load up the trailer, throw a tarp on top and haul it away.

Here is our backyard leaf pile. We had a bout 3/4 this amount in the front yard. The pile is about 6-7 feet deep. Fun stuff!

Trick or Treat!

We had a fun time this past weekend at a couple of parties for Halloween.

We decided to be toys from the 80's. Jenny was Rainbow Brite, and Chris was Optimus Prime. Chris by far had the best costume at the party. We both made our own costumes, which was really fun to do.
Now, Jenny has some cool rainbow knee highs and leg warmers....can't wait to use them again!

Chris cut, painted and attached all of his joints. He found a cool helmet that actually changes your voice into that of Optimus Prime.


Jenny joined Josh and Amy at another fun costume party Saturday night. Josh and Amy were Gargamel and Azriel from the Smurfs...check out their Smurf cage.

Mom and dad also joined in the fun as a pumpkin and a Gopher football coach.
Brian was down in Iowa and dressed up with some friends as the Geico Caveman.

It wouldn't be Halloween at the Popp house without sharing a little pic of our black kitty, Muggles.

From all of us, Happy Halloween!

Fall wedding....early wakeups!

We were down in Milwaukee last weekend for a wedding of one of Jenny's elementary school friends, Karen. It was a beautiful, crisp fall day with an outdoor wedding.
We were able to stay warm during the ceremony with a bit of hot chocolate and apple cider.
The first day of Kindergarten, Jenny got of the bus at Karen's house, and they were instantly friends. Jenny was happy to be able to celebrate Karen and Jeff's big day.

Chris' mom sent us this video...it completely fits the way we wake up some mornings. Muggles likes to sit on me, whether it is on my back, my legs or my face, yes , my face. I wake up to head butts, a cold nose or whiskars tickling me most mornings....but she's cute, so it works.

Young and Spry

On Sunday, we celebrated my gmas 93 bday! Happy Birthday Grandma! It was a fun time...we had a beautiful day outside, and chatted, played games, and figured out settings on our cameras. (I know, it sounds strange, but it was good to take the time to do it).


Ooh--running water....and...

Still water droplets!

Also....yes, we have not just a spry grandma, but a spry kitty. Muggles was up to something that morning....we heard a thud, and found her sitting on top of the door...yes, ON TOP of the door. What a weirdo! But, we love her!

Drinking Habits

So, Muggles is getting used to living in our house now, and she is doing pretty well. She seems to have a strange way of drinking water. She's not too into her own water dish, but prefers our glasses (which we don't let her do other than to take these pics), and the sink.
She'll sit in the sink for quite a while and lap up the water while we are getting ready in the morning, or evening. It's really funny!