She's got Skillz

Not only can this girl tie cherry stems with her tongue, she also can pick a mean lock with a bobby pin. Better watch out for her!

Winter cometh

Our First snow day! Yesterday it finally snowed. They kept predicting it and it never happened. All that snow went over us or under us, but never dumped on us. Yesterday it finally hit and we had a grand time in the snow. Emma's snow bird who is waving hello to you!

Yesterday they had the day off from school anyway, so it wasn't quite as fun as today when they got up and it had rained and sleeted all over the snow last night. That made today the first official snow day!! So exciting- but unfortunately, raining, icy is not fun. We'll be staying in all day.

Discovering Fun

We discovered a fun place the other day. At first Max was a little scared to participate, but then a friend encouraged him and off he went to bounce and slide and climb for almost 2 hours. It gave mom quite a workout too!

Party On!

Emma turned 12 and I turned a lot more than that and so we had a party for Emma. I decided I had been doing enough with my husband lately, that I didn't need much this year. Ok, as far as presents go, I got plenty- I meant, not much celebrating! Of course with all the calls and friends dropping by with little gifts, I felt like I had celebrated pretty well, too.
Twelve, however, is a big year in our home, so we went all out. We hired our local nail and hair artists- Rebecca and her daughter Alyssa- to come give the girls that were invited a fun make-over. I also made little rice bags with lavender and rosemary in them for all of the girls. I warmed them up for them and put them around their necks as they were getting their nails done.
My SIL gave me a very fun birthday hat and a cuter than cute Birthday banner, along with this pan to make "The Giant Cupcake of Doom". We used these all for the first time for the party. Emma, as you can tell, was not overjoyed about the forced wearing of the birthday hat. The girls ate and swam and stayed up until all hours of the night chatting.
Happy Birthday sweet Emma! Remember, there are such things as sweet teenagers. In fact, my friend and I decided that if you really do stay sweet until you are 16 that you deserve a huge party! {here is me hoping bribery works!}

A Little Get Away Fun

This is the first time I have really gotten to sit down at the computer and look at blogs and try to post one of my own since my husband has been home. I have been having lack-of-blog-panics! But it is Ok, now. Unfortunately, my husband caught the cold we have all been suffering from for awhile and he decided to go back to bed until 10 am.
Since Dad has been home, we have had fun shampooing the carpets, doing a boat load of laundry, and cleaning the whole house. Oh, and we also took a trip to The Great Wolf Lodge- so fun!! Rob bought them the wand this time and they had so much fun with them. They have something in them that causes them to make all kinds of things in the hotel do things. They also have a huge treasure hunt and video like games all over the 4 stories of the hotel. I never could beat that crazy dragon, though- the kids had to do it for me. Max and Joe were totally scared of the dragon, so they refused to do it. Luckily Sam and Emma got quite good at it and helped all kinds of other people beat him, too!
We also took a little trip up to Antietam, Maryland to a little bed and breakfast up there. Of course, that trip was just Rob and I. The kids got farmed out all over- Thank you to all those special people! Rob took one look around and said, "Where's the TV?" Ha ha. We are not totally addicted to TV, but we do use it as a crutch sometimes. This Bed and Breakfast was kind of out of the way and with it being the middle of winter it was a forced relax and get to know you time. We went over to Antietam and Harper's Ferry, we played Scrabble (and Rob actually won! He never beats me at word games, but he did this time), we took long soaking baths and just had a good time relaxing. The breakfast was wonderful! It started with a poached pear, then raisin french toast, egg fratata, and bacon and ended with a banana sundae. Yep, you heard me right- chocolate covered ice cream and a banana for breakfast. It was lovely!

It's Good to be Good to your Neighbors

We have a neighbor who is in the Coast guard and works at the White House. This is why we got in to the Easter Egg roll and have taken several trips to see the White House. Last night he took the time to take our family through where less than 0.01% of the American's will ever go- to see the West Wing. We had to wait outside for a little, because they were actually meeting in there, but as soon as they were done and cleared out, we were let in. We got to see the Oval office and the Rose Garden, the Press Briefing room, the Roosevelt room and several other places. We also went over to the Eisenhower building to see the Treaty room- where no treaties were ever signed, but where they kept the treaties with the Indians, the room that they were supposedly negotiating with the Japanese while the the Japanese were actually starting the whole bombing of Pearl Harbor, and where Civil War troops made an impression on the marble flooring as they practiced for Abraham Lincoln's inauguration. We also saw the Hay Adams where the Obama's are staying. It was a fun night. Thanks Seth for a great tour!

New Look

Emma's New Hair Cut.
Doesn't she look cute... and way too old!

Home

We got him! At 5:45 am New Year's Day. A good way to start the New year!