December, so far

ok, i was all ready to keep up with my blog. i had taken some pictures and was gonna post after each event. but then i had it out with comcast, the devil! we just couldn't see eye to eye anymore so i 'broke up' with them. so, yet again, a long post. early december was packed with events.... sort of. the town had a tree lighting ceremony that i decided, last minute, to take the kids to. luckily the library had an open house at the same time, so while we waited for the ceremony to start we sat in the warm library and had cookies and hot chocolate. i'm sparing you the pictures from that event. then i took the kids to my parents home to help decorate their tree. my funny nephew, carter, came down just for that. then we had our tree decorating. i had the tree up since the beginning of the week, but decided to wait until daddy came home to decorate. still with me? then my little sofia had her second birthday, which we kept very low-key. and finally (i know, too much) we had a special holiday musical that the 2nd and 3rd graders put on for the families. only a few pictures turned out good.... so now, to view!



















while waiting for the tree lighting at town hall.... we saw santa! aidan was happy to see him, but he was more interested in his candy cane.

my nephew carter and erica helping to decorate grandma's tree. see that fire, technically carter and i started that. he helped me burn some papers...

he was very careful after his first 'oops'. luckily we didn't give him or the others ornaments that were 'priceless'.

had to throw in a picture of my parents house. it would have looked even better if there was snow on the ground.

don't know what they wanted to do more.... decorate the tree or watch 'the santa clause 2'

i let her put up a few non-breakables before she was off to bed.

i couldn't do this... we had to wake 'he-man' up so erica could put the star on.

the finished product, this day. every day i come downstairs to see the tree looking just a bit different. the kids love to move the ornaments around... and sofi loves to break them.

just after breakfast... she actually snuggled with me for a good 20 minutes. too bad that sippy cup is in the way.

do not disturb the little princess when she is watching 'toy story'. it's her new obsession.

i let erica help make the cake. she still hasn't learned how to crack and break the egg without makin a mess. but she had fun. only two small shell pieces for me to dig out.

daddy gave airplane rides to everyone. but after a while he would only give them to sofi... she's lighter.

this made me nervous, but erica loved doing the piggy-back rides for sofi. and of course sofi loved them.

not a huge fan of the 'candles' (matches, i forgot to get candles) and of the singing. i think the others blew out the 'candles'.

open wide!

eating her cake while erica plays with her new 'jessie' doll. sofia steals erica's doll all the time, so i figured this was fair.

i know... where's waldo. i tried to help this time. can you believe that this is all three of the 2nd grade classes

out of the five songs, she got to do something special for one. i don't remember if it was the kid in front of her or another, but one of them was twirling the mallets like a drum stick any time he could. it was funny!

A baptism, a dress and food!

november was a quiet one, thank heavens! one of erica's best friends was baptized and we went to that. i wanted erica to see what it was so when it's her turn she'll be more excited. other than that, we just had a nice thanksgiving. like i said, a quiet month. we went to my parents (i will go anywhere i don't have to cook) and most of the family came. it was a beautiful day and the company was great. mom and i laugh at the fact that my brother's family, my mom and dad and i finished the appetizers before any other family got to the house. their loss! my little nephew carter didn't want to leave and erica didn't want to lose a good play buddy, they always have so much fun together. well, after ten hours there i finally took my little crew home and within two minutes of getting into bed, we were ALL out!















best buddies! and so beautiful. they were a little sad that they weren't all in the same class this year (hasn't happened yet). the moms and i agree that might not be a good thing.















"mommy, take a picture". don't know why sofia was all upset.

daddy's home, mommy is no longer the favorite. which means i'm left alone for more than two minutes at a time.

my mother-in-law gave this dress to my oldest back in 2003. i have been waiting for the time that little sofi could wear it. it's still my favorite dress.

talking and watching whatever football game was on. and yes, waiting for the dinner to be done.

the best way to sit in front of a fire! my grandpas had the best seats in the house.

my nephew killian wasn't impatient, he just wanted to play with the forks. a little drummer in training i think.

good food, good meat come on let's eat! and we did! my fav... green bean casserole. my brother puts cheese in it, so yummy!

the only one not sitting at the table. she wasn't too happy this day until much later.

we have never all fit at one table. but this year there was no 'kiddie table'. you took the plate where you wanted to sit.

the damage has been done. and can you believe it... i came home with no leftovers. i could have, but didn't.

October Catch Up

ok, again i slacked off with the posts. october was very busy, but not really until the end of the month. that last week was brutal! so we went to a museum on one visit with daddy. if you want to feel really small go to the air and space museum in dulles. a week later we had our town's harvest festival. that's where all the "pretty" cars come out and lots of things to buy. well, it was the same day as my nephews birthday so my mom, kids and i didn't spend too much time there. we did let the kids play on the air bounces a little. then we had our busy week. halloween started on the thursday before in our little town. friday we had a special playgroup since my brother and his family came back to visit. saturday we had my grandfather's 80th birthday and most of the family was there. with all the backing, cooking and taking the kids out for trick or treating i was very glad to see the month finally over. i think i survived well enough....

the air and space museum in dulles

my favorite kind of picture.

aidan was in hog heaven. i think jeff loved being able to tell all he knew to him.

why is the flag backwards?! i have yet to get an answer to that.

yes, i can be in the pictures too. we were waiting for daddy, aidan and sofia to come back down from the third floor.

one view from the tower. we picked a good day to go. as beautiful as it was, i didn't get too close to the windows (go ahead, call me chicken)

another view from the tower. in this one you can see our old apartment.... really you can.

watching and listening to air traffic. they loved this.

they like having picnics. so easy to make them happy.

"weeeeeeeeeeeee....."

one of my old nightgowns. she doesn't wear it much since she still takes her diaper off if it's within easy access.

are there really any words for this.... ?

yes! she is drinking the puddle water. i was far enough away that my zoom was at the max. she didn't last long though.....

my belle, buzz and stinker. sofia didn't want to dress up as anything. i had two costumes to choose from and she wanted nothing to do with either. maybe next year.

i hope that my kids get this man for their teacher when they reach 4th grade! aidan wasn't too sure of him at first, but looked for him as we went through the town.

the town had it's own trick-or-treating for the kids. a good way for the businesses to get known.

at the end of "day one" of trick-or-treating. we were waiting to see if they announced the winner of the costume contest, we left too early.

i get this look a lot!

the toy room.... well used!

"but i want the cookies and brownies..." i'm such a mean mommy.

aunt rachel playing catch with my babies. she and my brother are the kids' favorite since they are still willing to go out in the cold to play.

when all the grandbabies get together we attempt a nice picture.... hasn't happened yet! someone is always being a stinker. this time it was my sofi.

me and my siblets. there were so many cameras going off we had no clue where to look and when.

momma and all her siblets. i love how the men are as gray as can be and the women are not.

uncle scott, aunt katy, aunt rachel and aunt lisa braved the roads to take the kids out for the treats. all the kids that live in the mountains drive down to the neighborhoods to go around for candy, so there are a lot of extra cars out.

wanting to go out with the big kids trick-or-treating.... or to just be with me (i took candy duty). take your pick.

sunset over broadway, i know! sounds like a musical.

At the end of a very long weekend! i think i felt like her hair....