Random Moments Monday V

Afton has claimed a "spot" in our house. More often than not I find this little baby sitting in the exact same spot- the left side of the fireplace hearth. I don't know why this particular place is so appealing to her, but she loves to sit there, perched with her little legs crossed. Try and take her from this place and you have one angry baby on your hands.

Sam attended a "Peace Day Dance". If none of the children in Sam's elementary school are sent to the office it is called a "Peace Day". These days are added up and after reaching a set number (25 peace days, 50 peace days), the children are rewarded in various ways. This last Friday they were rewarded with a school dance. This was held towards the end of the school day, and from what Sam has told me, all of the children gathered into the "All Purpose Room" where the lights were dimmed and a DJ played music. Sam's been demonstrating how he and his fellow kindergarten friends danced, and I would give anything to have seen it.

Luke's latest catch phrase: "Oh, now you've done it!" This is said in an angry voice, usually directed towards myself, concerning something that doesn't involve me at all. For example, Luke might knock over his cup of water, glare at me, and then say in an angry little voice, "Oh, now you've done it!" Ohhh, Luke.

Andrew had his first overseas work trip. Last week Andrew was sent to Switzerland where he attended a conference for work. He spent 4 days there, with the first being used for time adjustment and sightseeing. The neat thing about the city he was in is that it is located right on the border of Germany and France. Andrew took a tram to the border of France, walked in about 50 yards and turned around. Now he can at least add France to the list of countries he's visited. As for myself, I'm still batting 0 for 0.

The town square with the market

The tram center (not sure what it's really called)

It snowed again. Will this winter ever end? The crummy thing about this past snowfall is that it made it near impossible for Andrew to get home from his trip. His flight landed at 3:30 pm and he didn't make it home until 8:30 pm. Since 90% of the taxi drivers appeared to be hiding from the snow, the journey home involved sharing a taxi to DC (which he cut way ahead in the line to do), hoping onto the metro and then catching a taxi home. This was all after a 2 hour train ride to the Zurich airport and then a 9 1/2 hour flight home. We're glad to have him back.

Cousins in the House

Have I ever mentioned how much my kids love their cousins?

Sam's B-day Party

Sam, age 6

Current Likes: going to school, playing outside, riding his bike, Mexican food, curry, swimming lessons, reading, animals, dinosaurs, outer space.

Current dislikes: wearing his socks indoors, wearing a jacket outside, getting his fingernails cut, rules in general.

We've been wanting to get to know the 5-6 year old boys in our neighborhood, and Sam's birthday seemed like the perfect opportunity. I was initially planning on inviting over 5 boys, but somewhere during the planning process 5 turned into 10 (including our two). With that many kids I was anticipating madness, but rather than fighting it, we embraced it. As you can see from the pictures below, the boys loved it. The theme was "dinosaurs" and not having much kid party experience, we stuck to the traditional party stuff (games, cake and ice cream, etc). Once everyone left I asked Sam if he had fun- his response, "Yes! It was like having a ginormous playdate!" I guess that's one way of looking at it.

A special thanks to my friend Merry who was a complete lifesaver! Without her help I think the madness may have gotten out of control!

I hate making birthday cakes, but "Family Fun" has the best (easy)

cake ideas on their site. Click here for the recipe for this little gem.

Happy Birthday Sammy Boy! We love you so much!

Now could you please stop growing up so fast?

Random Moments... Sunday?

I realized last Monday that there was no way I was going to be able to get this post done. Tomorrow looks as if it is going to be just as busy as last Monday, so this week I am giving you "Random Moments Sunday".


It's been snowing. A lot. A couple of posts ago I mentioned that we would probably only get one snowfall this winter. I was wrong. Right before Christmas we were pounded with a couple of feet of snow, and of course that much snow here is crippling. While it was fun to be snowed in, it also made me a little anxious. #1, I don't like feeling trapped and #2, I get nervous about losing electricity. Andrew and the boys were in heaven though (they went sledding and made a ginormous igloo), and the whole scene was very picturesque. Since then, it's snowed two more times and I think I'm done with this whole snow business for the winter (if only mother nature would agree with me).

I laughed till my sides split while hanging out with old friends. Its been nearly ten years since I've hung out with my friends Kim and Jill together. While at my parents' for Christmas, the three of us arranged to have a reunion. For this much anticipated get-together we graced the best diner in town (we don't mess around), and then went back to Jill's house to continue our "remember when" gab session. We also stopped at Jill's Dad's house, who must have thought he was transported back to 1999 by the way we were acting. When Andrew asked me what we did that night I told him "we laughed". I don't think I've laughed that hard since High School. It was fabulous.

We were able to see one of Andrew's best friends from High School. There are very few people who Andrew makes an effort to stay in contact with (Facebook has made this a little better). Andrew's friend Dave is one of those people. Dave and his wife Tracie, along with their 2 year old son and newborn twins, recently relocated back to the East, so over the break we were able to meet up with them and go to the Camden Aquarium. We had a wonderful time and since this is one of our favorite families, we hope we can do it again soon!

I spent 90% of my Christmas vacation with my sisters and I loved every minute of it. I have been waiting for years (and I mean YEARS) for my little sisters to get over themselves and accept the fact that we are destined to be best friends. That day has finally arrived and I am not letting go! For half of our Christmas vacation we hung out at my parent's house and then we brought those crazy girls back to our house. We watched classic movies (The Goonies), ate till we made ourselves sick, saw Sherlock Holmes (I think I liked it) and went downtown. We were all sad to see my sisters go when my parents came to retrieve them.

The picture below was taken during our "lets see who has the biggest nose inherited by dad" photo shoot. Yes, I realize I have no shame posting this picture of myself. At least it wasn't the side profile shot. That would just be embarrassing.

Luke entered Primary. Luke is now rolling with the big dogs and loving every minute of it. I teach in primary (this is where the children go during the 2nd and 3rd hours of our church), so I was able to personally observe Luke during his first week. At one point he started playing with a piece of string, and then was only content when it was perfectly situated IN both of his ears. His teacher turned around and asked me, "Do you see what your son is doing?" My response was a common one concerning Luke: "He's craaaaazy".

and lastly...

Afton is now walking. The little girl has been doing this for a few weeks now, but I still think it is the cutest thing I've ever seen (well, at least the cutest thing since Sam and Luke started walking). She still loses her balance and is by no means fast, but she seems to have forgotten that it is even an option to crawl. She also has added a few more tricks to her growing repertoire. She now can kiss, retrieve her baby doll, and fold her hands when commanded ("Afton, Kiss!", "Afton, Fold Arms!"...you get the point).

Christmas '09

Of the 10 Christmas we've spent together, this was the first that we celebrated by ourselves. We've considered doing this before (especially since we started having children), but the thought of spending Christmas morning away from extended family has always been a little depressing to us. What can I say? We love the craziness that comes with our large families. This year however, Sam requested that we celebrate Christmas at our own house, so we decided to give it a go. Of course, I must clarify that we spent part of Christmas Eve with Andrew's family, and the second half of Christmas day with my family, but the point is, we spent most of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning by ourselves....that's progress!

We spent the afternoon of Christmas Eve with Andrew's parents, three brothers and their families at our house decorating gingerbread houses. I'm sure that more candy was consumed than used to decorate the houses, but they turned out cute and everyone seemed to have a great time.



After we wrangled our kids to bed, Andrew and I (with Santa's help) filled stockings, assembled bikes, set out presents and got everything else in order for Christmas morning. As I've mentioned before, I love this part! Andrew also made some rules for the boys before they went to bed:

1. No one gets up before 6:30 a.m (which is a stretch for our kids).
   
2. The beds must be made before we can go downstairs
   
3. And lastly, Mom and Dad go downstairs first to inspect what Santa left
   

On Christmas morning we heard Sam stirring in his bed around 5:00 am. Fortunately, he has a clock in his room, and like a good little boy he patiently waited for 6:30 to arrive. At 6:27 Andrew heard Sam say, "It's super-duper close to 6:30!!!" And of course, right at 6:30 we had two little boys at our bedside.




Andrew's parents, Aunt Colleen and Peter dropped by later that morning to open the gifts we'd given to each other. Afterwords, we packed up the kids (plus their favorite toy) and drove to my parents' house for our "second Christmas". Three of my siblings were there, which made it even more special.

I think that the best gift this year came from a complete stranger. Over the last year my dad became friends with the owner of several fishing fleets in North Carolina. When my dad was down there a few weeks ago, this man told him that he had a gift for my dad's grandchildren (my kids). He apologized for the gift wrapping (his wife was out and he had to wrap it himself) and then gave the package to my dad. When we opened it Christmas day we found that he had carved a large wooden dog for my kids to ride on. The craftsmanship is beautiful and we were so touched that someone we've never met would take so much time to make this beautiful toy for us.

The kids (and Aunt Ashley) on their wooden dog

It was a wonderful Christmas filled with plenty of goodies, family and fun. The added bonus was that this year was a white Christmas.

The Birthday Girl

Reflection of the last 21 months
(9 months in, 12 months out):
First there was the pregnancy- 9 months and 40 extra pounds of growing discomfort. Then of course, the short term and long term recovery of my body. There were/are the sleepless nights, the extra time it takes to leave the house, the sore arms from carrying her for extended periods of time, the fun events missed because of naps and/or bedtime, and lastly, the added cost of living.

Of course, these "sacrifices" are insignificant when I think about all that we've gained- our baby Afton. I'd like to think that I would have willingly gained another 100 pounds if it meant having this little girl. That I would be willing to forgo even more sleep and miss out on more activities. I love my children more than I can express. I'd like to think that there isn't anything I wouldn't do to have them.

And what really surprises me are the moments I find the most rewarding. The pats on my back when I pick up this baby. The way her eyes widen and breathing speeds up when she is excited to see me. Her excited squeals. Her growing independence. The list could go on.

Happy Birthday Afton! We think the world of you!

Let it snow!

The above picture shows what I found last week after I put Afton down for her morning nap. It had been snowing all morning, and the boys decided to get themselves dressed so they could go outside to play. They obviously were trying to sneak out, because rather than using one of the doors, they decided to use a window. If you look behind Sam (looking fairly guilty) you will see Luke (still in his footed pj's, without his shoes on) trying to make a run for it.

This was quite the contrast from last winter, when we had a newborn and lived in our 3rd floor condo. Because I didn't want to take the baby outside in the cold, or send the boys outside alone, they never got a chance to play in the snow. This time, however, I was able to bundle those crazy kids up and push them out the back door while Afton and I stayed toasty indoors.

I hope the boys enjoyed it- this may be the only snowfall we get all winter.