Hey Santa!

Josh decided to surprise Chloe and Isabella by dressing up like Santa today. I'm not sure if he fooled them at first, but Max jumped right in and revealed Josh's true identity. Little brothers --ugh!!!!! It was sweet to see Josh plan this whole thing out for his little sisters!!!

Gingerbread House

Today was gingerbread house construction day! The kids had fun building and decorating it...... The only issue was the silly VT! The girls severely protested the VT emblem. They wanted the house to be girly with no reference to sports. Oh, well! The Hokies won out in the end and our gingerbread house proudly displays VT!!! We think Kevin may be a bit obsessed!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Isabella had her singing debut on Sunday with "Happy Birthday, Jesus." She was so sweet and adorable! I was so proud of her. Who knew that a child of mine would like to be on stage?????????

Thanks, Aunt Jenn & Uncle Matthew

Thanks, Aunt Jenn and Uncle Matthew for our cool shirts! We can't wait to see you.
Love,
Max and Katie

MAX AND KATIE ARE 7

I can't believe that Max and Katie turned 7 today! It seems like yesterday they were born! Time goes so fast. They had fun today. Kevin took them to Bob Evans for breakfast. They opened presents, got to skip co-op, and went to the Rain Forest Cafe for dinner. All the kids loved the restaurant! It just so happened that it was "Kid's Night" (every Wed) so all kids' meals were only $1.99! What a bargain! We came home and did birthday cake. Max requested that Mayson make him a marble cake -- straight from Duncan Hines! Katie wanted a real bakery cake. They messed up our order and gave us a 1/2 sheet instead of a 1/4 - come on over for some cake!! We have so much left over! The day ended with a game of Skip-Bo! Their parties are in a few weeks!

Heidi's Wedding

The wedding was so much fun! Heidi was gorgeous and Chris was so enthralled by her beauty. The Maryvale Castle looked so amazing all decorated for Christmas. It was such a special night. I was so honored to be a bridesmaid. It was like my daughter was getting married! Max & Katie handed out programs and Josh & Mayson each did a Scripture reading. They all did an awesome job.

Jingle Bell Run

It was 36 degrees, but sunny! We had our jingle bells tied to our laces (see pix) and took off. Poor Rachel was super sick and coughed through the run. It was freezing! We ran a 5K around Centennial Park in Ellicott City. The course took us all around the lake. It was very hilly which made for a tough run. I had my best time ever of 30 minutes 42 seconds!! I was so happy. The t-shirts were so much cooler than the sweatshirts we got at the Turkey Trot! So much fun.....

Trimming the Tree

Keeping up with our tradition, we trimmed the tree on Black Friday. It was much nicer than fighting crowds in stores anyway! We changed things up this year and got a new artificial tree with colored lights (as per the kids' request). They have actually grown on me! The tree looks pretty. Now if we can just get the rest of the house done......

Turkey Trot

It was 41 degrees and a bit misty! The ground was wet from last night's downpours. However, Rachel and I braved it to Frederick to run in the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot! It was a 5K (Rachel's first). We had so much fun and we both completed the race with our best times. Gotta love my Nike+ iPod to give me my stats as I run. These are the Before and After pix. It's going to be a new Thanksgiving tradition!!

Clavinova Festival

Today was the Clavinova Festival for piano. Josh, Mayson, Max, and Katie all performed adding all sorts of fun sounds to their music. Grant, Cole, Hailey, Blair, and Becca all participated as well. We had a very musical morning!

Halloween

Good times this Halloween!! I was Mrs. Incredible for the Hunt 2 -- my car of superheroes came in 2nd!! Yahoo!! Then on Halloween night we hung with the Sabad's at their house (huge neighborhood = lots of candy)! Josh was Chewbacca (he dressed up but opted out of trick-or-treating). Mayson was a Movie Star (her Betty Rubble costume fell apart, so we pieced together the movie star deal). Max was Jango Fett from Star Wars (the helmet didn't last too long). Katie was a 50's Waitress (although many referred to her as a nurse). Chloe was an angel (note the straight hair -- the girls took the flat iron to her). Isabella was Sleeping Beauty (who knew??). Kevin spent the day at work as a VT football player (can you believe that??). Loads of candy here -- good thing Daddy fixes teeth!!!!

The Hunt 2 -- Who Says I Am A Crazy Driver?

Sunday night at the Hunt was a total blast. My competitive spirit kicked in!! Our team of Superheroes was killer! Megan, Mandie, Jessica W., Jessica R., David, Kevin, and Chris were such incredible teens to hang with. I have already been invited back next year!! We came in 2nd with no speeding tickets! It was such an amazing night. I am having fun hearing reports of my crazy driving!

While I chauffeured my group, Mayson and Katie were being chauffeured REALLY! My girls were hanging in a Navigator Limo with their best friends (Becca, Hannah, and Rachel) having an awesome time. I think this goes down as a major memory for them!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to get our pumpkins at Spring Meadow Farms on Wednesday. It was freezing and felt more like winter than fall! We enjoyed picking some out. It's incredible how different they all look. We even got a few white pumpkins. For some reason Hokie and Beamer are really attracted to the white pumpkins. They continue to steal them off the porch and eat them!! Josh reminded me of the nutritious value in a pumpkin, so I suppose eating pumpkins is better than eating socks!!

Kevin and Heidi helped the kids carve the pumpkins on Friday while I was in NYC again. Heidi, being amazingly artistic, created a masterpiece for Isabella of Cinderella's carriage! Oh to be so talented!

New York, New York

WOW!! I just returned from a big trip to the Big Apple. I was quite brave.... took a train, got my own taxi (many times). It was kind of fun to be in a huge city -- however it is awesome to come home to lots of land and pretty scenery. NY is fun to visit, but I doubt I could live there.

I went up to help my parents. My step-dad had spine surgery last week and they are renting an apt while he recovers. They have been kind of cooped up, so they were very glad to have a new face in the one bedroom TINY apt. It was great to be able to serve them.

Coming home, my train got stuck behind a broken down train -- UGH! It took forever for them to unload all the passengers from the broken down train to ours (especially the passenger in a wheelchair since there was no platform or ramp). The frustrating part was that we were only like 30 min from Baltimore, but it was about an extra hour and a half before we got home!

Too much fun......

Fun in the Sand

Can you tell that it is raining today? All the laundry is caught up. We are organized to leave tomorrow. So I had ALL this free time and have decided to blog -- how funny that I haven't blogged in weeks and now there are 2 in one day........

We had so much fun burying Chloe and Kevin in the sand. Kevin even got sand boobs -- of course they kept cracking. He requested double D's!!! Lots of good laughs were had!

Sunrise, Sunset

We have been in Pine Island, NC since Sunday. Wow -- what a beautiful place. From our back deck we look out on the ocean and watch the sunrise. Since there are no houses in front of us or in back of us, we can watch the sunset over the sound. How beautiful. The colors are spectacular. God's creation is amazing.

I have been running every morning. The fresh air is awesome and to watch the sunrise as I run is so cool!!

The beach is so fun. This time of year is great. It seems like we have the whole beach to ourselves. The kids have LOVED playing in the ocean. This is probably the first year that most of them have actually enjoyed being out in the waves -- deeper than their ankles!

What a great vacation!!

School

We have been working really hard on school work. The kids are loving science. We have been looking at cells under the microscope. So far we have checked out skin cells and blood cells -- very cool. Today we looked at pond water and saw all sorts of creatures. What a cool testimony to the reality of God. To think that He has all of our details worked out to the tinest cell. Praise God!!

My First Blog

How fun! I am feeling pretty with the times...... Not too much to report today. Jen and her kids came over for an afternoon visit. We enjoyed some yummy coffee and played a rockin' game of Scrabble...... Cole is spending the night with Max. They enjoyed watching Napoleon for the thousandth time!!! Sweet! We all enjoyed a dinner at Panera. Gotta try the Crispani. It is soooooo good.