It's Bedtime Somewhere . . .

Wintergreen

2010-01-18T19:16:00.003-05:00

We took advantage of the four-day weekend to take a big group of kids to Wintergreen overnight. On Sunday night, we had fun eating, playing games, and watching movies. Somehow the girls got into playing with makeup, and ended up looking kind of scary. They all packed in like sardines to sleep, but they didn't seem to mind. The weather was beautiful on Monday, and we all had a blast tubing.

The Hope of Spring

2010-01-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

I came home to find these on my counter the other day! A thank you from a friend. It gave me hope that warm weather will come BECAUSE I AM SO COLD!

Cracking up...

2010-01-05T22:10:00.008-05:00

I went grocery shopping last night. I remember buying eggs, I really do. I picked out a carton of 18 large white eggs, scanned it, and placed it in the cart. Using the self-scanner cuts down on lots of potential forgetting for absent-minded folks like myself because once you scan it and place it in your bag, you don't have to take it out again until you leave the store. So I KNOW I left with them.

But this morning, as I heated the pan to make scrambled eggs for Cal, I COULD NOT FIND THE EGGS. Talk about frustrating. I checked both refrigerators multiple times. I checked the trunk of the car twice. No luck. Pop-Tarts for Cal.

I'm making dinner this evening and realize I need one egg white. The frustration returns, and this time I send Bailey to look. I mean really? Where could they be?

She found them in the freezer. Turns out eggs don't freeze well.

First Swim Meet

2010-01-02T22:38:00.002-05:00

AJ decided to swim again this winter, but she got off to a rough start when she came down with pneumonia just as the season was beginning. We've eased in slowly, and Christmas break helped a lot with keeping her rested. Our crazy snowstorm on the 19th postponed our first meet until today, and AJ was ready! She improved her times in the three events she swam: freestyle (4.05 seconds), backstroke (1.73 seconds) and butterfly (11.99 seconds).

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T23:54:00.007-05:00

Wishing you good times and good health in 2010!

Texting While Driving

2009-11-19T18:22:00.002-05:00

My friend Angela sent this yesterday, and it cracked me up...

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T17:08:00.002-04:00

The rain held off long enough to make Halloween very pleasant. This year, the kids all went their separate ways. Cal's friends had a party at the home of a girl in the neighborhood, and about ten of them ate together and then headed out for brief trick-or-treating. He started out as a baseball player but appears to have morphed into a baseball player/gangster.

Bailey went out with her friend Hannah - her step-brothers Nick and Quinn were in for the weekend from Indiana, so they were thrilled to see each other again. Should have gotten a picture of the group, but I didn't.

Sydney went out with her friend Skyler.

I took AJ out with her friends Katie and Kate.

Mark took care of passing out candy. He had at least one cute customer!

Syd's birthday party

2009-10-17T11:12:00.000-04:00

This girl is now 11!

She and a few friends celebrated at the bowling alley.

I arrived with the cake, and that was all I had to do.

I strongly recommend a party at Kegler's!

Cool spider

2009-08-31T22:56:00.001-04:00

I may have never used the words "cool" and "spider" together, but check out this guy that was on our front porch:

First day of school 2009

2009-08-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

Ok, ok, I'm a little behind! Yes, school DID start and we DID take pictures (both for your pleasure and the children's dismay). First we had Syd and AJ heading off for 5th and 4th grade, respectively. This was Sydney's last first day of elementary school!

Next we loaded Bailey and Cal on the bus for 7th and 8th grades. They REALLY love getting their picture taken. You can see Cal also loves getting his hair cut these days.

Demolition Derby

2009-08-21T23:37:00.002-04:00

Mark was pretty excited about the county fair this year -- he wanted to see the demolition derby. This fair is not even in our county, and it's more than an hour away. I was not excited about any of it, but I had resigned myself to going. And then a last minute reprieve! Reuben was willing to go, and that meant no room for me in the truck. Too bad!

What a nice group shot! No grumpy me to ruin it.

Looks like they had lots of fun.

There were rides:

And tractors:

And exercises:

Food, of course

And the best part of all - the demolition derby!

Out on the Water Again

2009-08-01T18:11:00.002-04:00

The best part of RI may now officially be the trips to the pond where Emily's family has a summer home. They drag us around in tubes on this beautiful water, and Mark takes a million photos.

Bailey and Sydney went first:

Next came AJ and Cal:

Notice the wildly different emotions:

Next it was my turn:

I look like I can handle this, right?

And things started out well...

But for some reason I had more problems like this than anyone else did:

That happened three times before I gave up. But it was fun!

And here's a bonus picture of Wyatt because he's so cute:

Time with the nephews

2009-07-29T08:30:00.000-04:00

Our RI vacation this year was mostly about this:

That's me holding a sleeping Wyatt.

Sometimes we mixed it up a little with some of this:

Or this:

How about this?

Or this?

One time we let Sue hold him:

But you get the gist. We held Wyatt a lot.

When we weren't holding Wyatt, we were playing with Jackson.

He could be a bit of a rascal:

But how cute is he?!

Vacation in Rhode Island

2009-07-28T22:39:00.002-04:00

We were back from the beach only a week when we left town again - this time for Rhode Island.

The first night we arrived, we stopped at this Mom&Pop ice cream shop near Dave

and Emily's house. They had this super-friendly duck who joined us as we ate our ice cream. We liked it so much that we returned the second night - this time without the camera. And it turns out that that gentle swan you see gliding along the pond? He had a whole "good cop/bad cop" thing going with the duck. They were both out of the water, and they were taking nothing from nobody. We could have sent it to funniest home videos. But you will just have to use your imagination.

A Week at the Beach

2009-07-25T21:16:00.007-04:00

We are back from a week at the beach, and it was great!

We played in the pool...

and fed the turtles...

and played in the sand...

and dug some holes (rumor has it that Doug did all the work)...

and built some pyramids...

and said some prayers...

We taught Ella some life skills...

and did some shopping...

We played some mini-golf...

drove some go-carts...

and gave Ella some snacks.

A good time was had by all!

Adam's 3rd Birthday!

2009-07-14T11:24:00.005-04:00

We are at the beach - what a great place to celebrate a birthday! Our godson, Adam, turned three today.

More Lacrosse Camp

2009-07-06T21:56:00.003-04:00

Bailey had the opportunity to attend another lacrosse camp - this one at JMU with her friend Julia. It was a small group of campers in a real college dorm. Bailey was a big fan of the food they served. She missed out on Vacation Bible School with the rest of us at home, but I think she thought it was worth it.

Fourth of July

2009-07-04T21:49:00.004-04:00

We filled the jeep for the annual neighborhood 4th of July parade. We had a few extra - the kids invited three friends (twin brothers and their step-sister) - over on Friday morning, and we didn't end up returning them until Saturday night! A fun playdate with some really sweet kids just kept going and going...

O's vs. Red Sox

2009-07-01T13:57:00.001-04:00

Mark, Cal, Bailey and Bill Howard took a trip up to Baltimore to catch the Red Sox at Camden Yards. It's funny that Cal was named after a famous Oriole but has been a Red Sox fan his whole life. Camden Yards is an awesome stadium, and they had some great seats right near the Red Sox dugout. In fact, after the Sox warmed up, Beckett handed Cal a ball to his great delight. He didn't sign it, and it doesn't even say Red Sox on it, but everyone tells me this is still significant.

Best of all, the Sox rallied in the 9th inning and beat the O's in the 11th.

Catch up

2009-06-30T13:46:00.003-04:00

I've got to catch up on the past few weeks...

Bailey went to lacrosse camp with some girls from her team

Cal and AJ went to see Night at the Museum 2 with a super 3rd grade teacher who will now be teaching 4th grade this fall - they won it in the Silent Auction at the Spring Festival

We go to swim practice every day -- sometimes twice. The kids are all seeing huge improvements in their swim times and getting plenty of exercise

I took a trip with a friend to see David Sedaris in Winston-Salem. He was hilarious, and we had seats right up front. He signed our books and gave me a bottle of body wash from the hotel as an anniversary present. Ellen was an excellent hostess as always.

This is just a fun picture of the kids before a swim meet.

Contact lenses for Cal

2009-06-16T18:29:00.001-04:00

Cal decided to give contact lenses a try today. He was a natural with getting them in at the doctor's office. I'm hoping they work out because I think they'll turn out to be easier for him. Sports and glasses have never been a great combination.

Bat Mitzvah!

2009-06-06T13:53:00.006-04:00

Cal had an exciting and long-awaited event today - a Bat Mitzvah for one of his classmates. He had to dress up and behave for 9 long hours! It was nice to find out that both of those things were possible.

A Big Day for Us!

2009-05-29T08:57:00.010-04:00

When it rains, it pours!

We had so many exciting events today. The biggest news was the birth of our second nephew, Wyatt Theodore. Wyatt was born at 1:26pm and weighed 7lbs. 9oz. All are doing well.

We had purchased the privilege of attending a "pajama party" in the classroom

with a 5th grade teacher at the school auction.

While clad in their pajamas, Sydney, her friend Chloe, and 8 other girls spent two hours eating popcorn, decorating pillowcases and doing all kinds of fun sleepover activities.

Syd had a great time and now has some wishes about her class placement for 5th grade.

AJ was supposed to be part of the pajama party until we realized it was at the exact same time as her Brownie Fly-Up ceremony. We had a potluck dinner and cake and watched the girls cross over the bridge to become Junior Girl Scouts. AJ now has a green vest instead of a brown one.

Cal and Bailey weren't left out - they had a school dance. Lucky for them, I wasn't available to get any shots of that.

Pop's Projects: Before & After Part III

2009-05-28T16:10:00.008-04:00

As I mentioned recently, Bailey's generations project phase IV involved a cool photo timeline of some of Pop's biggest handyman projects. Here are pictures from his latest project - remodeling the basement of their new home. We've never had all of these assembled in one place before. Doesn't my dad do great work? And of course he couldn't do any of it without his fantastic apprentice, my mom. Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Pop's Projects: Before & After Part II

2009-05-27T12:49:00.004-04:00

Pop's next project was another pool. The pool's been installed, and he and my mom began the landscaping.

AFTER

After I left for college, Pop gutted our downstairs bathroom. This photo is taken from the laundry room next door looking into the bathroom where even the wall is gone.

Unfortunately, this was the only "after" shot I could find - the shower. The bathroom was navy and white with tons of tile and a 100% improvement over the old one.

Pop's Projects: Before & After Part I

2009-05-26T12:33:00.007-04:00

In Bailey's fourth installment of her Generations Project, she created a booklet with before and after photos of some of Pop's biggest home improvement projects. This "before" shot of my brother, sister and me (and the next door neighbor) is in the backyard of our first home.

Our house was in the city, and this pool took up almost the entire backyard

We moved in 1979, and in 1981, my dad had back surgery.
During the six weeks off from work for recuperation, my dad replaced this little landing off the back door.

This is just the beginning of some huge projects Pop undertook, but I'll save some for a later post!

Soccer Tournament in Richmond

2009-05-24T16:07:00.010-04:00

We traveled to Richmond for Bailey's soccer tournament this weekend. We stayed at the brand new Hotel Sierra in the Short Pump Town Center, and it was fantastic. The girls played well and finished second, which earned them each a medal. Mark took tons of pictures, but I'll keep it down to a nice group shot and some cool shots of Bailey in goal.

We used a lot of sunblock this weekend. Some more than others. This was AJ's finished work, and she wouldn't have realized there was something wrong if her family hadn't laughed so hard and started taking pictures.

Great hair!

This is was one of the more painful plays as goalie. Check out the look on her face. She definitely took a foot to the torso area before it was over.

Nice reach!

The whole gang - cleaned up and ready for California Pizza Kitchen

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T12:12:00.005-04:00

Or should we say Lacrosse Day? At noon, Bailey had her final lacrosse game of the season, and they won. We moved on to UVA to watch the men's lacrosse team stomp all over Villanova in the first round of the NCAA tournament, winning 18-6. It was a gorgeous day, and lacrosse is fun to watch. We wrapped up our day with dinner at T.G.I. Friday's where moms received free dessert. Perfect.

Helping Pop

2009-05-02T06:59:00.001-04:00

Bailey is working on the fourth installment of her Generations Project which involves a project with Pop. She's focusing on a timeline of his handyman projects over the years. In addition to the timeline, she was supposed to create something related to this whole idea, and Pop invited her to help him with his latest home improvement project. He's building a retaining wall in the backyard where a garden will eventually go. Their day involved trips to Lowe's, a trip to McDonald's and some manual labor.

No more swing set

2009-04-30T16:09:00.001-04:00

It's a symbolic time in our lives - taking down the swing set after 11 years! Pop helped us take it apart and get it cut down to smaller pieces. Mark and I hauled it away in a borrowed pick-up truck. We hope to get netting put up around the deck and use it for a little sport court now. These kids keep growing!

Crazy Hair Day

2009-04-29T22:29:00.004-04:00

It was crazy hair day, and AJ went all out!

Cal's 13th Birthday

2009-04-25T23:42:00.003-04:00

We celebrated Cal's 13th birthday a little late because it was a better weekend for gathering his best buds. They played ball in the yard before we dropped them at Putt-Putt for 36 holes. Then it was on to hamburgers and ice cream before they all came back to spend the night. (I'll share only two of the THIRTY-TWO POSED GROUP SHOTS Mark took that evening. Because teenage boys just LOVE getting their picture taken.)

Easter Sunday

2009-04-11T22:19:00.004-04:00

Our Easter morning began with church (getting up early and wearing nice clothes - two of the kids' favorite things!) We were able to enjoy Ella in her cuteness while we were there. Then we headed home for Cal to hide eggs in the yard for the girls, David, Duncan and Adam to find. A beautiful day for an Easter Egg Hunt!

Massanutten

2009-04-09T08:13:00.001-04:00

We didn't have any fancy travel plans for Spring Break, but we did at least make a trip to Massanutten Waterpark. It's less than an hour from us, it's clean, and the kids have a blast.

We took a little party of 12 and made a day of it.

A Visit from Michigan

2009-04-08T07:47:00.001-04:00

It's Spring Break for us and for our cousins from Michigan, too. They came to visit Virginia for the first time, and we had a great time showing them UVA, Bodo's Bagels and Monticello. Madysen and Jack seemed to love the constant action at our house,

and a good time was had by all.

The locals thought the weather was pretty cold, but being from Michigan, the cousins were thrilled there wasn't any snow on the ground and even wore shorts! So the beautiful flowers at Monticello were an added bonus. Have you seen the gorgeous new visitor center there?

Sydney and Madysen

We did a couple of tours, both inside and out, but nothing was as interesting

to this crowd as running and roughhousing on the wide expanse of grass.

I think Cal is under that pile somewhere.

Fighting MS in Roanoke

2009-03-31T22:10:00.000-04:00

It's only been two years since Robin was diagnosed with MS, but much has changed. She's doing great, by the way. Today I picked her up with her mom and drove them down to Roanoke where we had the pleasure of attending the Women Against Multiple Sclerosis Luncheon and listening to Robin as the keynote speaker. She did a wonderful job. She recounted those early months of her diagnosis where she was very symptomatic and immediately jumped into doing all she could to raise funds for MS research. Her exciting win of the SixDegrees.org contest, the ensuing visit to CA to meet Kevin Bacon, and his subsequent nomination of her for CNN's Heroes Series were the highlights of her talk, and it was exciting to travel back to that time for a while. I know she was an inspiration to many of the women in the crowd who struggle with MS, and I was proud to be a part of the day. You can read more about her story here.

Party Time!

2009-03-22T07:23:00.004-04:00

To celebrate her birthday, AJ chose to have 5 girls spend the night. She had another friend's party at the bowling alley in the afternoon, and Rachel offered to pick her up from that party, take her to the hair salon to give her a fancy 'do, and then get her back home before her guests arrived. What a special gift! AJ loved every minute of it!

Sick Kid

2009-03-20T19:01:00.004-04:00

This kid kept me up all night. Her insides wanted to get outside. No school for her today.

Duncan's Birthday

2009-03-17T10:36:00.004-04:00

Who knew IHOP's not crowded on St. Patrick's Day? It was the perfect place to celebrate Duncan's 6th birthday. Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Back to the airport already

2009-03-16T10:35:00.002-04:00

It went by so fast! Already headed back to RI...

Family visit

2009-03-15T10:34:00.006-04:00

Sue, Dave, Emily and Jackson were here for a family visit to celebrate Baba and Pop's 40th anniversary. The weather was pretty bad, but we had fun standing around watching Jackson. He's 21 months old and cute as can be. His favorite time of day is just before bed when he strips down to his diaper for "nakey time" and runs around the house. Pure entertainment.

Writing about Pop

2009-03-08T10:22:00.003-04:00

Bailey is working on a year-long Generations Project that has a different aspect to it each quarter. First quarter, she wrote her autobiography. For the second, she compared answers from myself and Pop with her own on our experiences during the middle school years, AND she had to create a timeline with photos of important events in my life juxtaposed with current event photos of that time. We've just finished the third quarter which required Bailey to write a biography of her grandfather. We took new pictures and borrowed the photo albums to use some of the great old ones. It's been a remarkable experience to hear all of Pop's stories.

Destination Imagination

2009-03-07T21:46:00.003-05:00

Cool sign! I think we'll get to keep it at our house.

Their mascot

Julia, the opera diva

Angie, the fearless leader

Awaiting the Awards!

Today was the Regional Destination Imagination Tournament, and Bailey's team participated in the Instinct Messaging Challenge. They were to choose a feature creature, create a skit around it, and include the ways in which that animal communicates. They chose the Adeli Penguin as their creature, and their skit took place in cool "Ice Vegas". They did a great job, but they came in second place and thus, their road ends. No State Tournament or Global Finals this year. They did win a Renaissance Award for extraordinary amounts of effort and preparation in their solutions. This is what the judges wrote:

"This team wowed us with their beautiful, impressive set design from start to finish. The impeccable craftsmanship, down to the very last detail, was uniquely integrated into their solution. The team's performance included intricate, hand-made costumes and props, and an unexpected and creative use of materials for sound effects. They totally amazed us! Wow!"

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

2009-03-07T09:43:00.004-05:00

These people celebrate their 40th anniversary today.

Look how young and cute they are! And how adorable that baby is! And how ugly that couch is!

Snow Day!

2009-03-02T17:51:00.003-05:00

A real snow day! We measured 4 inches in the driveway, 7 inches in the front yard. The girls had a blast out in the snow, and at one point I counted 11 children in the front yard as they built snow forts.

Last Game for the Aces

2009-02-28T17:50:00.006-05:00

Today was the last day of basketball. Cal's game was early, and we didn't get pictures. They had an undefeated season, thanks especially to a really tall, talented kid named Isaiah. I'll be interested to see how he does over the years. The girls won their game, too. It was a great year for Sydney who has a height advantage (obviously) over most of the girls. She rebounds the ball well. AJ needs to work on her dribbling. Giving the ball to her to take down the court is NOT a good strategy. Good thing she has swimming.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

2009-02-25T17:49:00.004-05:00

The students in sixth grade language arts have been practicing for 2 weeks for this morning's performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. There are 3 blocks of classes, and each block comprised a full cast. The play was divided into three parts with each block taking the characters for their third of the play. Bailey is in the third block, and she played the part of Puck.

I don't get too excited about Shakespeare as a general rule, but I was so impressed with this performance! The kids knew their lines really well and did a terrific job. The costumes were lovely, and some of the roles were perfectly cast. The two directors had added modern music at appropriate times to make the play extra funny.

Bailey as Puck!

Here are the three who each played Puck

These two played Helena and Hermia in the first block. They were terrific!

Battle of the Sexes

2009-02-07T12:25:00.006-05:00

Keri-Lyn turned 40 yesterday, and we celebrated with a small dinner party.

Everyone did something to help including the hosts' 8 year-old daughter who created the menu for display.

Catherine made the cake, but she had to leave before we even got started

because of her sick child. Her cake was a big hit, but she was greatly missed.

Following dinner, it was Pictionary, boys against girls. One of us was super competitive and had never played Pictionary before. When we got off to a slow start, she vehemently proclaimed that she did not want to play. As the girls began to crush the boys, she changed her tune. Does this look like the face of someone having a lousy time?!

On one of our All-Play Challenges, the phrase was "grass skirt".

Can you tell me how it's possible that my lovely drawing above lost to the one below?!!

Snow day?

2009-02-03T10:17:00.005-05:00

Last week we had two snow days, but we didn't really have measurable snow. We had ice, sleet and bad road conditions.

Last night looked more promising. It began to snow late in the evening, and by this morning, we had a beautiful covering of snow. The children looked out and saw such promise. Fun in the snow! Snowmen! Sledding! Alas, it was not to be. Just a two-hour delay because all of the roads stayed pretty clear and dried quickly. They all left for school frustrated by the unfairness of life.

Weekend Fun

2009-01-26T23:38:00.006-05:00

It was a fun weekend. Bailey and I headed to NC for the Revolve Tour with Jennifer, Morgan and Caroline. Back in VA, Mark ran the show which included skate night on Friday night for Syd and AJ, basketball games and a movie on Saturday for all three kids, and then a swim meet on Sunday for AJ.

Revolve was a great time - lots of concerts and some moving and funny speakers. Natalie Grant's concert was the part I enjoyed most; her album Relentless was my favorite of 2008. She performed on Friday night and spoke on Saturday. Bailey enjoyed it all but really liked Group 1 Crew and Hawk Nelson who both performed on Saturday.

We had left home around noon on Friday, arrived in Greensboro around 4 and took a dip in the hotel pool before dinner. The conference ran 7-930, and we headed back to the same restaurant where we'd eaten dinner to enjoy some delicious dessert. Bailey asked for a scoop of vanilla and received a bowl piled high. Dinner (and the rest of our trip) also included a great deal of texting.

Our sleep was mostly uneventful except for the part where Bailey yelled "Stop!" while she was sleeping and scared Jennifer right out of her bed.

After the conference ended at 4, we headed to Winston-Salem to Ellen's house where we once again went out for dinner and ice cream - this time with Ellen and Amy. We slept in, ate together at Panera for lunch, and drove back home.

Next year, Revolve is in Charlotte which is a bit longer drive. We're still undecided - anyone care to go?

Great book

2009-01-22T09:18:00.005-05:00

I'm feeling badly that I haven't posted in a while, but we haven't been up to too much around here. I'll have more by Monday after Bailey and I return from North Carolina for our Revolve Tour weekend.

I have been reading, though, and I cannot tell you how much I love David Sedaris. Everyone in this family has given me scared looks as I laugh and wipe the tears from my eyes while reading something he has written. I just finished Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and while I was laughing hysterically one morning, Cal said he wanted to know where I was going to keep the book so he could take it out the next time I was mad at him.

I'm putting off reading the only one I have left because I don't want it to end. I like them all, but I would recommend starting with Naked (the one I read first). As I vaguely recall, the imaginary sequence at the very beginning is a little odd, but don't let that put you off. Me Talk Pretty One Day would be another good one to try first.

Ouch - catch that man!

2009-01-10T18:09:00.006-05:00

At dinner...

Mark: Ms. X had a kidney stone over the holiday

and was in the hospital for three days.

Bailey (incredulously): She had her kidney stolen?

Maybe you had to be there, but I found this conversation hilarious.

Christmas Joy

2009-01-10T16:07:00.003-05:00

For Christmas, our friends gave the kids these lovely animals called Farmyard Flingshot Flyers. NOT ONLY are they slingshots, but they ALSO make their respective animal noises. There is a chicken, a pig, a monkey and a cow.

If someone buys these toys for your children, are they telling you that they hate you?

Happy Anniversary!

2009-01-07T06:34:00.002-05:00

These sweet people are celebrating their anniversary today.

Happy Anniversary, John and Katie!

New Year...New Haircut

2009-01-02T14:09:00.000-05:00

Back to the bob! No more swim tangles!

New Year's Eve

2009-01-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

Two of our favorite families (and fellow beach housemates) helped us welcome the new year with a fun and game-filled celebration. Given the country's current economic situation and the general need for recycling, we chose to make our own 2009 glasses. What started as me forgetting to buy the glasses turned into a fun craft project.

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T14:37:00.005-05:00

Santa visited last night, and only ate the Oreo middles! He nibbled on cheese and carrots, too.

He left a Wii Fit for the children

Pop found a new hat in his stocking and tried to wear it "Mark" style

After spending the morning with Baba and Pop, we joined these guys for dinner and games -

it was a very, merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T20:36:00.009-05:00

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to church and come home and open one gift - pajamas.

Baba joined us for church and gift opening, but then she went home to get ready for Santa!

AJ received the ever-popular Hannah Montana PJ's

Sydney wore her new dress for the first time

Notice Bailey's recurring theme of penguins

Pajama bottoms and undershirts - what a surprise!

Perfect fit!

Jackson's visit with Santa

2008-12-24T19:31:00.003-05:00

Jackson went to see Santa, and Aunt Emily reports he was very brave!

Beautiful treats

2008-12-23T22:44:00.003-05:00

We arrived home to a treat at the front door this evening. Aren't these cookies beautiful? I thought they looked a little too pretty to eat. They were accompanied by a jar of homemade apple butter. Don't you just love Christmas?

Little visitors

2008-12-21T19:47:00.003-05:00

I know that the kids get bigger every day, but it really hits home when we're around little ones. They love to be around small children... I think it gives them an excuse to pull out all the old toys that they used to enjoy. Logan and Elizabeth came to visit today, and our four kept them occupied while their parents got a little time to relax. Our first foray into babysitting! Logan loved Cal's jersey and cap. When it was time to leave, he looked like he wasn't going to give them back. Mom's quick reminder about sharing made him happily take them off and hand them over to Cal. It seems like yesterday that our kids were this small!

David's Birthday

2008-12-14T09:40:00.001-05:00

Tonight we celebrated David's birthday at Red Robin. Happy 8th birthday, David!

Here's the whole gang.

Bailey and Adam - he's not a baby anymore!

Duncan and AJ

Gingerbread houses

2008-12-07T23:11:00.005-05:00

I'm trying to let go of the fact that the decorating, shopping, cards, etc... are all not done. Instead, I'm determined to enjoy the pleasures of the season with my family and friends. And it's working! I let the girls make a total mess tonight WHILE WE HAD COMPANY! We worked on gingerbread houses with Alli (sister of newlywed Chris - she was taking a break from studying for exams) and Emily. Doug and Ella were there, too, but they were no help at all.

Tattoos

2008-11-28T08:20:00.002-05:00

One gal at the reunion had this awesome tattoo of KISS. Notice that each letter contains the face of one member of the band. Her brother is a tattoo artist - what talent! She had a cool photo on her phone of herself displaying her tattoo while standing with Gene Simmons! Three friends and I dressed as KISS for Halloween a few years ago, and we won first prize. Suddenly I'm wondering if I should get a tattoo...

Reunion

2008-11-28T07:24:00.003-05:00

My 20th year reunion was Friday night. I was pretty nervous - my memory is horrible. But they published a list of those who were planning to attend, and I took my yearbooks back with me to study, so I felt pretty prepared. Mark went, too, and most of the folks there thought he was the official event photographer. He took photos of EVERYONE! We had a great time, and it was really cool to see these folks again after so long. I was told I still look the same, which either means I'm aging well or I have really bad hair!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T08:27:00.004-05:00

We haven't been home to RI for Thanksgiving since we've had kids. It's too far and too much traffic. But with my reunion being on the Friday after Thanksgiving, we've had this trip planned for a while. We took the kids out of school Monday and Tuesday and made a whole week out of it. We stayed with Sue and Chris, but Dave and Emily hosted Thanksgiving dinner. We gave Jackson a Fisher-Price Garage for Christmas, but he liked the box it came in just as much. He makes that little "Oh" face all the time!

Happy Birthday, Ella!

2008-11-23T21:50:00.004-05:00

It's hard to believe that Ella is one already! Check out the progression from princess to total mess...

Do you think this sign is as funny as I did?

2008-11-16T23:02:00.001-05:00

All I Want for Christmas...

2008-11-14T23:02:00.005-05:00

...is my two front teeth!

Ella's First Halloween

2008-11-02T21:52:00.005-05:00

Mark had the great pleasure of doing a photo shoot with Ella for Halloween. How cute can you get?

UVA vs. Miami

2008-11-01T21:23:00.004-04:00

While I was gone, the rest of the family took some friends to the football game. Unfortunately, UVA lost to Miami.

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T21:23:00.008-04:00

It was a weird Halloween here this year. I was at a Women of Faith conference in Greensboro with my friend Jennifer (we also visited with Ellen in Winston-Salem--we had a great time!), and Cal and Bailey were gone on a school field trip to Pittsburgh. So it was just Syd, AJ and Mark back at home. Syd went out with her friends (the cat and skeleton) in a different part of the neighborhood, Pop took AJ out with her friends Kate and Ali, and Mark handed out the candy. The two pirates are Kate's friends Stephanie and Katie.

Sydney & Rachel and Reba & Kelly

2008-10-30T21:22:00.004-04:00

I don't know how they decide which shows are coming to town and when, but we've known about the Kelly Clarkson concert for about 6 months it seems. Sydney didn't know she was going until just two weeks before, so I guess that made the waiting easier. She took the camera with her and took tons of pictures. Rachel took Syd to Chili's for dinner first. Once they arrived, they had to buy matching Kelly t-shirts. Kelly and Reba sang all of their songs together or at least as back up for one another. Both Rachel and Syd report that it was a great show.

Chris and Erica's Wedding

2008-10-25T21:22:00.007-04:00

The big day for Chris and Erica finally arrived. They managed to pick a Saturday in October with no home football game for UVA - nice job! We headed to the Oxon Hill Manor in Oxon Hill, MD for an outdoor wedding at 11:30am. It was rainy and blustery the whole way there, and it was a bit windy for the ceremony, but the rain held off. The minute they were pronounced husband and wife and disappeared down the aisle, the skies opened! But it was time to go in anyway, so it all worked out perfectly. We ate and danced and had lots of fun and then drove back home - all in the same day! Did I mention that they looked beautiful? See for yourself.

Halloween Dance

2008-10-24T21:22:00.013-04:00

The second dance of the year is the Halloween Dance, sponsored by the student group, Youth Leadership Initiative. Calvin and Bailey are both members of the YLI and have enjoyed it very much. The Halloween Dance is one of the most popular dances of the year because it is at night (6:30-9pm) rather than right after school.
It makes for a long day for the YLI kids who left home at 7:30 am (for an 8:00 YLI meeting), were in class til 4, stayed for dance setup/pizza 4:00-6:30, went to and worked at the dance 6:30-9, and then stayed for cleanup 9-9:30. That's a 14-hour day when they finally get back home.

Round Hill Farm

2008-10-20T21:11:00.007-04:00

Several years ago when the kids were in pre-school, they all (in turn) took a field trip to Round Hill Farm. They had many fond memories of the hay rides, hay maze, corn maze, petting zoo, etc. Somebody suggested we should go again on a day when there was no school. Monday October 20 was a teacher work day in Albemarle County, so we invited just a few of our closest friends and ended up with a nice little group of fifty-two! (12 adults, 38 kids, 2 infants). The farm is about an hour away, not too far from Culpeper. We packed a picnic lunch and got there just before 11. The weather was nearly perfect and we had an even better time than anticipated. It was almost 4 when we returned home.

UVA vs. North Carolina

2008-10-18T21:21:00.007-04:00

Today was a perfect day for a football game... and that's what we got. In the final minutes, UVA tied it up, put the game into overtime and won 16-13! We brought friends Emma and Natalie with us, and it was Natalie's first football game ever!

Sydney's Birthday

2008-10-14T21:18:00.007-04:00

It's double digits for Syd! 10 years old today, and she chose Golden Corral to celebrate. She received the tiny fridge she had been eyeballing at Limited Too for months plus way too many WebKinz from Skyler. What was her big gift? Two tickets for the Kelly Clarkson concert! Rachel is going to take her, so it will be a special night for the two of them.

UVA vs. East Carolina

2008-10-11T21:21:00.005-04:00

Another home game! This time vs. East Carolina. Mark took Sydney and AJ and some of their friends while Cal went to his first "teenage" birthday party and Bailey and I went to her soccer game. Busy day!

Ella's baptism

2008-10-05T18:03:00.010-04:00

Today was baby Ella's baptism. It went beautifully, and Ella never even really complained. She's had some separation issues recently, so I thought for sure she'd object when Father David took her to strut down the aisle and show her off. Apparently you can take her from her parents if showing her off is your plan! We were able to join Ella and her family for a celebratory brunch afterward, so we had lots of photo opportunities.

Girls at the UVA/Maryland Game

2008-10-04T23:05:00.008-04:00

For the Maryland game, Bailey and I went with five of her friends . . . Grace, Julia, Julia, Summer and Ana . . . Doug and Emily stopped by before the game, with Emily's brother, Bill . . . their pyramid was not as tall as ours . . .

AJ was gone to a birthday party, Tara stayed home to retrieve AJ afterwards, Cal stayed home (probably because we had just been blown out at Duke), Sydney stayed home because Tara did. They all missed a great game, as we crushed the Terps, 31-0!

Erica's Wedding Shower

2008-09-28T10:17:00.001-04:00

Erica was one of our primary babysitters for a couple of years during the time when she was the Aquatic Director at the UVA pool. It was during those years that she met and fell in love with Chris, and now they are engaged to be married. They live in a new town, and with the wedding only a few weeks away, the girls and I took a two-hour drive to help shower Erica with goods to stock their new kitchen. The girls had never been to a shower before, and they were thrilled to see Erica and watch her open her gifts.

Final Photos from Wallop's Island

2008-09-27T11:17:00.000-04:00

Snapshots here include washing the equipment after the Marsh trip and our trip to the Ice Cream store in Chincoteague (?) Friday night. Friday after dinner, we went for a walk on the beach, and played flashlight tag. The ice cream store offered home-made ice cream and really gave you a lot for your money. Later we went back to the lab for an impromptu talent show and final thoughts and reflections.

Saturday I was up at 6, got the boys up at 7, for packing before breakfast at 8,

We finished loading the bus and cleaning the dorms by 9:30.

We went to the Assateague Lighthouse for about an hour and a half before the rains came again while we were at another Visitor's Center.

We started for home around 12:15. At exactly 1:58 pm, for the FIRST TIME since TUESDAY, we actually saw some SUNSHINE !

We stopped for lunch/dinner at a Wendy's around 2:45 pm. We stayed there for a little over an hour, and then made several bathroom/pit stops on the way home.

We arrived back at Burley, right on time, at 7:30 pm Saturday night.

P. S. The school bus was a 1996 model, same as most of the kids on the trip. :0)

To everyone who has been faithfully looking at this blog for over a month now, with nothing to show for it, I am sorry. It is all my fault. There were so many photos from this trip, and I wasn't exactly sure how (or if) we were going to present them. The magnitude of the project made me keep putting it off. I hope to do better now in the next few weeks before Thanksgiving -- we have lots more photos to share from football games, Round Hill Farm, the Halloween Dance, Erica's wedding, Sydney's trip to the concert, Cal and Bailey's Field Trip to Pittsburgh, Halloween and more . . .

Still More from the Marsh and Muck #3

2008-09-27T10:16:00.000-04:00

Still more great shots from the Marsh and Muck . . .

More from the Marsh and Muck #2

2008-09-26T10:16:00.000-04:00

More great shots from the Marsh and Muck . . .

More from Wallop's Island/Marsh #1

2008-09-25T10:16:00.000-04:00

Friday afternoon was the highly anticipated trip to the Marsh/Mud/Muck. This was the best photo opportunity of the whole trip.

There are really too many photos to look at here, especially if you don't know the kids. I am only going to publish less than half of the shots I took. If you don't have time to look at them all, we understand.

The beginning of this slide show includes the group shots at the bus before entering the Marsh, and some of the lab type experiments they did before getting muddy. Notice the (4') red/white pole that Mr. Kruger has stuck into the Marsh, almost up to the end. The footing here was very treacherous, with lots of unexpected slips and slides.

Lindsey was one of our two instructors from the Consortium.

Slide.com limits me to 50 photos per slide show.

Wallop's Island

2008-09-24T23:18:00.000-04:00

Calvin and 34 other 7th graders, another Dad and I, and two teachers went to Wallops Island on a 7th Grade field trip, September 24-25-26-27.

We left from Burley on a Wednesday morning a little after 8:00. The gifted teacher drove the school bus. The other teacher drove his pickup truck with many of the suitcases and duffels. The rest of us squeezed into the school bus. Many of the kids were three to a seat. We arrived at a Visitor's Center around noon and stayed there for lunch, a movie, a hike, and to see the salt marsh and the WWII bunkers. We were there until almost 3pm. We arrived at the Marine Science Consortium campus around 4:20 pm. We quickly unpacked, had dinner and then had a lab from 6:00-9:15 pm. Lights were out at 11:00.

Thursday morning we took a trip to the Dunes. Rain and wind were awful, precluding any photos. Thursday afternoon was the trip to the Intertidal Waterway. Weather was the same, once again precluding any photos.

Friday morning was the Research Vessel Boat Trip. Weather here was great, but forecast was lousy and I wasn't sure about the parameters of the boat, so there were no photos from the boat, either.

The slide show below has 38 photos. It takes a minute or two to see them all.

All of these are from the bus ride down, the lab, and general outside shots of the buildings we used. Cal and I stayed with six other boys in Port Hall, the first maroon door beyond the tree in one of the photos. Other photos include the dining hall, and the class/lab building.

Camping for Bailey

2008-09-16T18:05:00.012-04:00

It was Bailey's turn to go camping -- not the whole sixth grade but about 30 kids in our school's Gateway program. They drove out there directly after school on Monday, spent the night and following day, and then arrived back at school in the afternoon in time to take the bus back home with the other kids. The purpose of this trip is less about studying the river and environment out there and more about bonding and working together as a group. They had to play a game where they bent down on one knee and said, "Honey, if you love me, give me a smile" and the person to whom they were speaking had to respond "honey, I love you, but I just can't smile" all without smiling. They had to carry each other, and sit on each other in a big circle without falling over and get their individual groups all situated on a small towel -- stuff like that. The day's fun was capped off with a dip in the river.

Brooks & Dunn

2008-09-07T23:18:00.006-04:00

We had the pleasure of going to see Rodney Atkins, Brooks & Dunn, and ZZ Top tonight. We took part in some of the festivities before the show started and made it in just as Rodney began the show. We were surprised when Brooks & Dunn performed next - I thought they were the feature performers. ZZ Top went last, and at that point the kids couldn't take any more. I was able to hear about 4 songs before I gave in and agreed to go home. (I tried to text a couple of friends to hitch a ride home with them, but nothing worked out. I never even heard "Legs" or "Sharp-Dressed Man"!) I just found the link to the Brooks & Dunn website to add this photo you could have taken before the concert.

Middle School Dance

2008-09-05T21:50:00.017-04:00

The first dance of the year was directly after school (and "fresh" off of camping for the seventh graders - yuk!) Mark played his usual role of hall monitor interspersed with event photographer. Bailey and her friends were more than happy to pose, but Cal made himself scarce - caught on film just one time.

Camping in Seventh Grade

2008-09-05T21:50:00.015-04:00

The entire seventh grade spent the night at the local 4H Camp last night. Mark headed out there the night before to help erect many tents because there were more campers than cabin bunks. The kids arrived Thursday and even had a dance on Thursday evening. Mark went back out there this morning to help make and serve breakfast (!)

Cavman Video

2008-08-31T12:22:00.009-04:00

Every UVA football game begins with a short video, mostly animated, that involves the Virginia Cavalier defeating the mascot of the visiting team in some sort of battle. Mark bid on and won the chance for our kids to play a role in that video for the first game of the year against USC. On July 1st, we headed down to the University Grounds for the taping of our part in the video. The children were supposed to be tossing a football happily when the dastardly Trojan leaps in and ruins their good time. At the last minute, they told Mark and me to join in as well. It was fun to listen to them plan how they were going to add the animation later. We kept the plot under wraps until game day when all 64,000 people saw how it turned out! Take a look...

First Game 2008

2008-08-30T08:38:00.012-04:00

Wow! What a big day! It was our first home game of the year, and the USC Trojans came to town. It was a huge game, and USC brought a ton of fans with them. We had our brand new seats in the stadium and our brand new parking spot for tailgating. We arrived early in the afternoon to set up and entertain, and boy was it hot! We headed into the stadium nearly an hour before the game started for an extra-special visit to the field for pre-game activities. We had won an auction earlier this spring (I'll put more about this in a separate blog) that included passes for the kids and Mark to go down on the field. They were up close and personal as the players came out onto the field, the band played the National Anthem, and the latest Cavman video debuted. Bailey was standing next to Chris Long and trying to work up the nerve to ask him if she could take a picture with him, and then the video started. When it was over, she turned around to ask him, and he was gone. She was disappointed about her lost opportunity, but overall, it was a great experience! Too bad the Cavaliers were clobbered 52-7.

Camp Sally

2008-08-28T23:50:00.008-04:00

No, Sydney did not get hair extensions. I just forgot to leave room for a post to write about Camp Sally. Our friends Sally and Phil have taken the kids on an overnight camping trip every summer for about 5 or 6 years now. Mark and I love it because we get a mini vacation for about two days, and we don't have to go camping ourselves. The kids love it because Sally and Phil always show them a great time and teach them something new. In the past, they've watched a beekeeper, visited a dairy farm, and watched a friend make wool on her sheep farm. Usually they just camp in Sally's backyard, but this year they went up to Big Meadows. At dusk they had a tour through the meadow from one of the guides there. This picture is from before they left for their adventure, but hopefully Phil will have some pictures to add.

Second Day of School

2008-08-21T08:42:00.003-04:00

I think Mark's trying his best to embarrass the kids as long as he can still get away with it. While children all over the country endure those "first day of school" photos, our kids get to enjoy "first WEEK of school" photos. At the bus stop. Every day. With brute force if necessary.

First day of school

2008-08-20T09:15:00.005-04:00

"It's the most... wonderful time... of the year!" I've always thought that was a great office supply commercial. The dad is skipping down the aisles, and the kids are trailing behind him looking all dejected.

The kids here today didn't look too dejected - they had mixed feelings about going back to school. Bailey was sad that summer was over but excited about the experience awaiting her at middle school. AJ has been excited about school starting for a couple of weeks now. Sydney forgot her homework already - I hope that's not a bad sign.

I'm ready to reclaim my house!

Family fun in PA

2008-08-18T07:30:00.011-04:00

We took a one-day trip to Pennsylvania yesterday. My cousin Matt and his wife Wanda were throwing a birthday party for two of their children, and my Michigan cousin, Mike, and his wife, Jayne, and their two kids were in town. We hadn't been up there to see my Aunt Janet in quite a while (partly because she's been doing a good job of coming down here regularly), so it was a perfect chance to see a bunch of people in one place at one time. I love that! The kids all agreed that they would rather go to PA than the big summer picnic at church we'd been eagerly awaiting (how long do you think a family trip in the car for about 9 hours will be their idea of a good time?!) It was a perfect day and a great trip.

Sydney's new 'do

2008-08-16T21:01:00.005-04:00

Rachel squeezed the girls in for haircut appointments this evening. I wasn't even paying attention when Rachel quickly left the room and came running back with a ruler. Sydney had asked how short her hair would be if she donated it! And here's the answer...

Busch Gardens

2008-08-07T05:43:00.006-04:00

We went to Busch Gardens today to celebrate Bailey's birthday (just a little group of 17). Our first ride was the Griffon, a horrible roller coaster that I would never go on again. We came off the ride, and they had this bank of monitors with pictures available for sale. When I finally found our photo and saw Sydney's face, I thought I was going to die. Every time I look at it, I almost wet my pants. And poor Cal! His face WOULD HAVE BEEN hilarious, too, if Sydney didn't totally trump him. I am very thankful to Mark for figuring out how to add this pic to the blog. I hope it makes your day.

A day at the pond

2008-08-04T22:33:00.005-04:00

We may have saved the best for last on this trip. Emily's folks have a summer house on a gigantic pond, and we visited them on our last day. Ken, Emily's dad, took all of us out on his boat and pulled us around on inner tubes. It was awesome! It was a beautiful day, and a fun time was had by all. It was good that we saved it for the last day because Ken and Michelle might not have enjoyed it when the kids insisted we return to the pond every day of our vacation! Oh, and as if all that water fun wasn't enough, they also have a kitten...Harry!