Merry Christmas Everyone

This year we all got the gift that keeps on giving. That's right. We all got a bug. Erin spent most of the night of Christmas Eve sick in the bathroom. Jeffrey woke up about 5 with his own issues. Both kids were very worried that since they were awake Santa might not come, but I sleepily assured them that being sick didn't count. Santa might have already shown up anyway. So Tom spent the rest of the night sleeping with Erin and I snuggled in with Jeffrey. Erin woke up about 7:30 feeling better, but still icky. After a while, before breakfast, she curled up on the couch in a ball.


Both kids were able to enjoy their Christmas though, especially once the Motrin kicked in. Erin had asked Santa for some un-breakable headbands and he certainly came through. He also tucked some lip balm and sparkly nail polish. Boy, my little girl is certainly growing up.





Jeffrey had asked Santa for a train table. Since the whole table wouldn't fit in the sleigh, mommy and daddy came through with a wooden train set for him. Tom made Jeffrey wait until the very end of Christmas morning to open the "big box". He certainly was excited once he did get to open it. His Star Wars toys from Uncle Bill were also a huge hit. Thanks, Uncle Bill.





The rest of Christmas was low key. We tried out some new Wii games. Erin tested her Bolt DS game. We put together puzzles and Leggos. The kids have also really enjoyed their "Stuff to Do" boxes that Grandma W. sent them. She filled a couple of shoe boxes with some paper and pencils, simple crafts, Bingo games etc . . . Each day both kids have gotten into their boxes to dig something out. Pretty cool idea.





Since people were feeling down we decided to hold off on Christmas dinner until everyone could enjoy it. So our quiet Christmas at home, ended up a bit more quiet and low key than we'd planned, but it was still pretty special.

SNOW!!! In Action...

More Snow. We're not having any fun at all.

Yes Virginia . . .

. . . there is snow. And lots of it. It seems we're surviving the great snowpocalypse of '09. They predicted snow, so I made sure we had a gallon of milk. That was about all I made sure of. Maybe I should have taken it a little more seriously.

This was a weekend that had been full of plans. We had two final shows of Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. There were two holiday parties, including the annual Baxton Wine Party. The gym was holding a family "Santa Brunch and Dash." Well, none of that happened. What did happen was this.




Yep. Snow. LOTS of snow. After about 24 hours of constant snow we have accumulated somewhere between 20 and 24 inches. That's more snow than we've seen in VA in the last 10 years combined. Honestly. Pretty freaky.

About 5 PM Friday evening the flakes started falling. It took Tom 2 hours to make the 40 minute drive home. We ate a late dinner and then headed out for a nightime walk in the snow. It was beautiful, pristine and silent except for the giggles of one little girl. Jeffrey was not having quite as much fun because we couldn't find his boots and his feet were cold. We stopped at the top of the hill and had a snowball fight in the middle of the road. After a quick cup of cocoa when we got home, the kids snuggled off to bed.




We woke in the morning to an amazing amount of snow. More snow than I ever even remember growing up in MA. After breakfast we bundled up the kids and sent them outside. Finally realizing that I must have accidentally sold Jeffrey's boots, we layered 2 pair of soccer socks and put him in mommy's boots. That's right, the 4-year old is wearing mommy's boots. They had a blast plowing through the snow. For both of them it came up to about mid-thigh. Erin really wanted to sled, but the snow was too soft. I finally went out and packed down a little path for them to get a few slides in. After an hour or so there was snow just about everywhere. In hoods. Inside pant legs. In boots. Inside gloves.

For the rest of the afternoon we hung out inside. We made cookies and some ham/bean soup. Tom baked bread and we just had a blast.

I assume we'll be snowed in for at least another two days. Maybe tomorrow we'll try sledding down the road.

Just a Phase

I'm really hoping this is just a phase. Please don't tell me, "It only gets worse," "Wait until they are teenagers". Because you might just find pictures of my cute little guy on E-bay. He'll be sitting on the 3rd step from the bottom, because he lived on the time-out step today.

The backtalk and the sass are driving me nuts. I honestly hope that it's nothing more than a phase. I don't remember Erin being much of a back talker or sasser when she was 4. But maybe she was.

A basic conversation from today..

"Hey bud, can you find some shoes so we can go to the library."
"No, I'm busy."
"I told you a bit ago we were going to try to go to the library this afternoon."
"Well I'm busy now."
"Jeff, please go up and get your shoes."
Sassy voice, "Please go up and get your shoes."
"That's it. Time out step. No library."
"Fine."
"Fine"

Seriously looking back at it, it does look like a conversation with a 15 year old. Heaven help me in 10 years.

Thankfull Days

It's been a few weeks since Thanksgiving. Forgive me since they've been busy weeks.

As had become tradition we host Thanksgiving for the extended family. This year we had 14 people sleeping in the house at one point (3 BR, 2 bath). Close quarters, but it's all family.

Tom's brother, sister-in-law and their 2 daughters arrived Tuesday afternoon. Erin and Jeffrey were waiting at the window for them to arrive for several hours it seemed. They see their cousins a few times a year, and always play nicely together. Even if Jeffrey ends up the odd man out sometimes.



Grandma and Grandpa W. arrived later Tuesday night. The kids got to play with them for a few minutes before bedtime.


Wednesday was a day of some errands in the morning. Then the parents took off for a local winery leaving the kids with Grandma and Grandpa. We discovered a chocolate wine that was just divine!!

Thursday morning Noni, Grandpa, Oma and Uncle Jon arrived. How exciting!!!! We all had a great day. We chatted a ate. Tom smoked a turkey (which was done by 1 PM when we were planning on eating at 4 PM), there was ham, candied sweet potatoes, stuffing, mashed taters....all the fixings. We also had a plethora of pie. Can't ever have too much pie :)


As an extended family we all enjoy games. Clearly late to the party, but we all discovered Apples to Apples over the weekend. There were laughs, guffaws and all out silliness. So much fun!!!

While the adults played, the kids had their own party . . . in Erin's bedroom. Three cousins (Erin, Rylie, and Jeffery) spent the week camped out on Erin's floor. They all had so much fun chatting. Reading stories. Playing games. I'm not sure how much sleep was had, but fun with cousins is precious.

Friday morning, a few of us ventured out to black Friday fun. Jon and I hit up Toys-R-Us. Tom, Jeff and Robyn headed to Best Buy. They returned with mommy's Christmas gift...a new HD TV!!!!! So Friday afternoon we got some time to relax and watch a movie on the new TV.
Erin and Rylie spent the afternoon playing with Oma. What a special relationship Erin has with her Oma. Not every little girl has a 93-year old best friend. After dinner Friday, Noni et al had to head back to DC. The kids were very sad to see them go.

Saturday was another quiet day around the house before we headed out to dinner at a local Japanese restaurant. The kids call it the "fire place" and all had a great time. Jeffrey made sure to let Grandpa know, he really likes shrimp (which he does). When we got home we had time for a quick campfire in our fire pit on the deck.


Sunday morning Grandma and Grandpa had to head home. Daddy and Uncle Jeff planned a brew day. The mommys had some shopping to do and brought Mr. Jeffrey (feeling a little left out with the girls) along for the trip. The kids all had a great time playing.

We all had a great week with family. Though a little cramped at times, that's the way we like it. Can't wait to see you all again :)

Fall Photo Time

We've had a busy last month or so. I keep saying "Things will slow down" but that never seems to happen. I know I've been saying it since July and it still hasn't happened. We have had the chance to get out into the fall foliage. The kids love this time of year. Erin's learning a lot about the seasons at school. We drove by a tree that was losing it's leaves. Look mom!! There's a deciduous tree!!! She then sang a cute little song about it. Jeffrey is a lot like his mommy. He loves the sound of the leaves crunching under his feet when he's walking around. So here are a few pictures (or a lot of pictures) of us enjoying the recent change of seasons.

May The Force Be With You

We had a lot of fun getting ready for and celebrating Halloween last week. The kids have had their costumes for a month or so. Jeffrey picked this year's theme when he said he wanted to be Luke Skywalker. Erin was perfectly happy to go along with the idea and dress up as Princess Leia. Noni found some adorable costumes online and ordered them for the kids. Erin's even came with a wig.

We started on Sunday the 25th at a pumpkin carving party with some friends. Unfortunately, the pumpkins I bought for the kids turned out to be hard as rocks and about 3 inches thick. It was just completely impossible for them to carve. Turns out they were baking pumpkins.

Tom and I bought some tools that came with some patterns. I've never done anything like this, but they looked cool. We picked out this neat design that was a ghost flying through the word "Boo". Although the kids couldn't really help, they were perfectly happy running around outside with their friends.

Tuesday Jeffrey and I bought some more pumpkins so the kids could carve them. We got them all ready after dinner that evening. Problem was, the kids liked the "Boo" pumpkin so much they just wanted mommy and daddy to carve their designs in. They did get to help scoop out the goo (something Jeffrey was willing to do for the first time ever). Erin made sure all the seeds got separated out so we could roast them.

We ended up with the "Boo", a witch, a bat, and a kid in bed hiding from a monster outside his window. I think they all turned out pretty cool. Especially the witch.


Friday Jeffrey had his party at school. They get to wear their costumes but can't bring any weapons (so the lightsaber had to stay home). Unfortunately even the teachers didn't really get who he was. He knew it though and was perfectly happy to tell them. He enjoyed playing the games with his friends, especially beating up on the pinata.

Saturday night came and we got the kids all layered into the costumes. Rain had been threatening all day, but was still holding off. We decided to head into town for a friend's annual Halloween Lawn party. We made a quick stop at another friends to show them the kids costumes. Their teenage daughter offered to take the kids trick-or-treating around her block. They were so excited to go out with Izzy (thanks hun).






We continued in to visit our other friends. We took the kids trick-or-treating down their street a little. Unfortunately while we were there, Erin started complaining of a headache. After about an hour, the poor girl was in tears and asking to go home. My little princess Leia just couldn't take the fun any more.

No matter, we still had a great time celebrating together.

Something's Changed Here....

I took this picture 2 days ago.

And now today.



That's right. Something has definitely changed here. Something's missing. I can't quite tell what it is. What could it be?

Yep, the tooth is gone. After wiggling her "loose" tooth for almost 4 months it finally came out. I sent her to school with a fully intact, although somewhat loose, tooth. She returned with a wad of Kleenex in her mouth, more Kleenex crumpled in a baggie and one VERY loose tooth. She said it started bleeding after PE. I asked if she knocked it, but nope. Just something finally came loose.

We came inside and I gave it a little tug. Still pretty firmly in there, I sent her off to play. She continued to mess with it for the next several hours. She came running downstairs to show me she could push it pretty far forward with her tongue. I asked her if it could twist or turn at all. She shrugged and ran off.

A few minutes later she was hollering at me. I found her in the bathroom standing in front of the mirror. "Yep mom. It can twist. See?" She had managed to "twist" it 180 degrees and it was still in her mouth, but backwards. Let me tell you, that's really freaky. I tried to give it another tug, but was disturbed by the oddly twisted tooth. "Put it back please," I explained. When I said twist I meant did it turn a little, not all the way around.

A few minutes later she had righted the tooth and I decided if it could turn like that, it was time for some tugging love. I grabbed a Kleenex and had her open wide. A few gentle tugs, and "pop" out it came. She was so excited. She almost dropped the tooth down the heat register on the floor she was so excited.

We quickly called daddy, Noni and Grandma (sorry folks, the cel phone battery died, will call more people tomorrow). She spent the rest of the evening playing with the new hole in her mouth. She has discovered several things.

1 - Thumbkin fits perfectly into the hole.
2 - Your tongue can also fit cool in the hole.
3 - Brushing your teeth tickles.

So now she's tucked in bed. Her little tooth is in an old ring box lined with velvet. She told me she hopes the tooth fairy brings her a nickel. (Wow, I figured the going rate was more like $5.) We'll just have to see what awaits her in the morning.

My Family

As expected Erin has spent much time in her room the past two days. She'll play on the floor with her pets (and then even put them away!!!). She has also really enjoyed having a "work" area. Tom's old desk has been in her room for a long time but it's just been a place where we set stuffed animals, books and other clutter. Now it's near her door and set up as a place where she can sit and "work". Yesterday she did some drawing and copied a few books, something she really enjoys doing. This morning I found this on her desk.


It's a list of Erin's family. Written in what I call Erinese. She sounded out everyone's names phonetically and wrote them down on one sheet of paper. Some I was really impressed with. I was able to figure out all of them without her reading it to me first.

Here's a translation for you.
Erin, Jeffrey, Mom
Dad, Noni, Grandpa
Jonathan, Aunt Katie
Grandma, Grandpa W
Rylie, Avery
Aunt Robyn, Uncle Jeff
Aunt Katie (again), Uncle Bill
Baby Will

I'm pretty impressed. More because she tried to sound out the names, rather than memorize them. "Jonuthin" I found particularly impressive. I think "Ant Cadee" is pretty darned cute (and so must she, because Aunt Katie made the list twice). She still gets her lower case "b" and "d" mixed up. This is a recurring issue that we're working on. It's also very clear that the long E sound is EE. The very last two I think she was getting tired. Sorry Uncle Bill and Baby Will.

Maybe it's just a mommy thing, but I'd say she's a pretty smart cookie.

Time for a change

I realized last week that Erin's room has been essentially the same since she got her bed. That was when she was 18 months old. Aside from removing the crib and moving a desk in for her, her room has looked the same for close to 5 years.

I remember as a kid how exciting it could be to move things around. Heck, I still get a kick out of it and am envisioning a redo of the living room area too. So, Tom and I asked Erin if she'd like to have her room changed around. She was so excited. She even volunteered to "help". I explained that was not an option, "help" was a requirement.

Of course this also gave me the opportunity to cull the amazing amount of stuff that a 6-year old has managed to acquire. Especially the stuffed animal collection. We also got rid of LOTS of papers, crafts etc that she had done in preschool. Sure they're adorable. Sure they're special. But if I held onto EVERY special and adorable piece of paper, I'd have NO room for anything else.

Erin made most of the decisions as to where we would put the furniture. She was given some ground rules. The most important being that her bed was NOT allowed to go next to a window. Also the new teddy bear net could only hang from one corner because of the placement of ceiling vents.

So here are some pictures of her room pre move. As you can see, clutter is the name of the game, but it gives you a sense of how it's set up.



Here is the new set up. We put a fish net in the corner over where her bed used to be and tossed a bunch of animals into it. Then we shifted her bed to come off the wall next to her closet. The bookcase is between the bed and the wall with the window. Her dresser took a 90 degree turn and faces against the window looking out over the hill. Finally we cleared off the desk and moved it over near the door. I hope that eventually it will make a nice homework area for her.

She spent most of the afternoon in her room. Playing on her bed. Sitting at her desk reading or drawing. I cleaned out her closet as well and put all her dress-up clothes in there. Easy access for playing, but out of the way when she's not using them. That really made the clutter a lot better.

I'm so glad she really loves having her new room and hope she keeps excited about it.

Apples, Sunshine and More Mountains

This morning was Jeffrey's annual field trip to the apple orchard. It's one of our favorite places to visit and I'm sure we'll head back a few more times this year.

We woke to a dreary morning with predictions of a high of 72. We crossed our fingers that it would clear up in time for the trip. So both mom and boy dressed in layers, since the orchard is at the top of a "mountain" (that's what we call big hills in VA). I scrounged around until I found some rain gear for the two of us also. As we left the house we could see the sky clearing.

On the drive into town the sky continued to clear. By the time we arrived at the top of the mountain it was a gorgeous early fall morning. Except it wasn't 70. It was closer to 80 and climbing. Here we both were in jeans and layered shirts. I couldn't get him to take his undershirt off for anything.

While at the orchard the kids got to go to Apple School and learn about apples. Then we got a nice hayride and saw a 100-year old tree. It still bears fruit. Very cool. After that we were given some bags and went off to pick apples. The area open for picking had been pretty well picked over. There were not many lower apples (this place does a TON of field trips). Jeff and I walked a bit and finally I got him up on my shoulders where he reached a few. We decided to venture down the hill a bit to find some lower apples. After 5 minutes of walking I picked a row and decided that would be it. We found a couple of trees where he could reach several apples while on my shoulders. I wish someone had gotten a picture of it. We must have been quite the sight.

Afterward we settled in for a picnic with a view of the "mountains" that was to die for. Both of us were totally soaked in sweat so it was nice to sit for a few minutes. The teachers brought each of the kids apple donuts and some cider to go with their lunch. These apple donuts are totally to die for...mmmmmm.

After some play time with his friends, we picked out a few more apples and a gallon of cider. We also grabbed a cider slushy (half frozen cider). And to think when we got up in the morning I was looking forward to getting a cup of hot cider.