Christmas Shows...

Maura & Meredith both did a wonderful job performing in their Christmas performances. Meredith sang Rudolph, We Wish You a Happy Birthday (to the tune of We Wish You a Merry Christmas), and This Little Light of Mine. She is quite the little ham! Maura performed with her 1st grade class this year and sang Mele Kalikimaka. She suffers from mild stage fright, and covered her eyes when she was done singing!

Maura and a few of her friends

Cookies, Cookies, & more Cookies...

We managed to make it through another cookie baking day tradition, I think we made a few dozen! This photo only shows a portion of the little confections, and some small fingers helped themselves to some of the cookie toppings while the big people weren't looking!

OK Mommy's Crazy...

But aren't these matching sweaters so cute! I swore after growing up with matching outfits, that I would never do this to my children! But, as a plaque that my father gave me states "Mirror, Mirror on the wall, I am my Mother after all". And luckily my girls think it's fun too!
These pics are from Breakfast With Santa-you can see who has been naughty & who has been nice!

Meredith Turns 4!

Meredith celebrated her 4th birthday with 18 of her closest friends at Build A Bear. Everyone had a great time creating new little Beary special friends. Meredith named her new little friend "Vanilla" after her favorite flavor. And of course she had to have a "Hannah Montana" shirt for Vanilla.

My Mom...

As many of you know, my Mom battled lung cancer for eighteen long months. Sadly, on November 12th she left me with the heaviest heart I have ever known. She was a wonderful Mother & best friend. She was also the most loving "Mom Mom" & biggest cheerleader to her grand-daughters. Looking back on our time together, it brings me great comfort knowing that we truly lived life to the fullest, and took advantage of every opportunity to be together-before and after being diagnosed with this horrible disease. Till the very end, my Mom never gave up hope that she would get better.

We have so many wonderful friends & family members to lean on, and so many people that I will never be able to repay for the tremendous amount of support you have given me at this time.
Thank You!

Deep Creek Lake-BRRRR!

We decided to take one last hurrah in the "vacation home" before winter. So, off to Deep Creek we went (Meredith calls it Deep Creep Lake). Scott wanted to visit the area & see the leaves changing, but since the weather had been a little crazy, the leaves really hadn't changed yet. It sure was cold though! While we were there, we went to a dairy farm & learned about the milk making process, milked cows, & fed a baby cow with a bottle (all things we thought the kids would enjoy-right).


Meredith was not impressed with the "cow milking process" and thinks we should stick to purchasing it at the store!
Maura was not happy with the calf feeding. I think she was under the impression that the baby cow would fit in her lap & the bottle would be a real baby bottle. Not the case
So, needless to say, Mommy & Daddy thought the farm tour was pretty interesting & the kids thought they were being tortured! I guess that's how family vacations go! All in all, we enjoyed our time together & can't wait to go back.

U.S.S. Waller Reunion

Dad & Mom hosted a U.S.S. Waller Reunion in Baltimore during the first weekend in October. Over 150 people attended the reunion week-end, it was apparently a big success. We got to enjoy some of the festivites with them, and meet some of their friends from around the country.

M & M's 1st Day of School

Maura & Meredith are off to school! Maura is really growing up, all day-1st grade, what will Mommy do with herself? Somehow, I think she will still not have a second to herself! Meredith is in Pre-K3, three mornings a week. She is very excited to finally go to school with Maura.

Off to Harpers Ferry, WV...

Last weekend we traveled to Harpers Ferry, WV to visit our friends who live in that area. We enjoyed a nice relaxing week-end catching up with old friends & watching the children enjoy each others company. We climbed up to Jefferson's Rock, and played in the Shenandoah & Potomac Rivers. The area is just so beautiful-blue skies & mountains all around, very picturesque.

Get Us to the Beach-Myrtle Beach that is...

During the last week in June we traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC with our friends & the "vacation home". The drive was long, but the girls were great. We were all very glad to finally get there! During the last leg of the trip, Maura began complaining that her butt hurt (mine too really).

The beach was amazing, the water was so calm & warm (pretty much bath water), and the weather was great the whole week.


During our trip we visited Alligator Adventure Park. One of us was not a "happy camper", can you guess who? We almost fed her to the Alligators!

Here we are getting ready to go to the "golf cart parade" Yippee! We have truly entered a different world of vacationing here folks! Next year we will be better prepared with inflatable cart decorations & everything!

Maura really surprised us when she wanted to try this reverse bungie jump contraption. But low & behold she was doing backflips 3 stories in the air! We are still shocked!








The girls posing at sunset.

Happy Birthday Maura-We Love You

Maura celebrated her 6th birthday at the local ice rink. She had so much fun there with her school a few months prior, so she wanted to go back for her birthday. Her friends brought donations for the Animal Shelter in lieu of gifts & Maura was so proud to drop the items off to all the furry friends who need love! Dad was glad he didn't have to stand outside this year in the heat!

Maura's best friend takes the ice!


Daddy & Meredith wiz around the rink-I think Daddy may need the support more then Meredith!

Our Maiden Voyage...

Here we go...Our first trip in the "vacation home". For Memorial Day weekend we traveled to Chincoteague, VA with our friends. The weather was great & the girls had a blast. Meredith realized that she actually likes the beach, and learned how to ride a "big girl bike" around the campgrounds. Maura thinks our "little house" is really cool, and she had fun playing in the sand.



Meredith, Maura & their friend had fun making sand angels, I did not have fun cleaing them off!




Larry & Scott took the kids out for a boat ride-a first for our girls. They LOVED it! Maura particularly liked "bouncing up & down", I guess she means traveling over the wakes of other boats? Well, more "vacation home" fun to follow...

Look Out Mickey Mouse...

Happy Mother's Day (I am a little behind on this)! Today we suprised the girls, by telling them that we were going to Disney World! Wait-isn't Mommy supposed to get the suprises today? Maura has been waiting sooo patiently for "her turn" to go to Disney, that she didn't believe us until we got to the airport for her first plane ride. Mom Mom & Pop Pop are coming too-YIPPEE!



Thank Goodness-after only 30minutes in line-we finally met the Princess of the Sea! She was even more beautiful then we imagined-Meredith loved her sparkly tail & Daddy was quite fond of her shells!

Here we are-getting ready to have breakfast with the Princesses at the Castle in Norway! I can't believe the girls are finally going to meet their favorite people (besides me of course)!
Mom Mom is sooo excited to finally meet her favorite Princess-Dreams really do come true! Cinderella is so popular, we had to wait over an hour to meet her. But Maura was determined to meet her absolute favorite Princess before we returned home.

Well, it's time to say goodbye! On Our last day we had breakfast with Lilo & Stitch, and of course Mickey. What a way to end a great trip! Seeya Real Soon!

Hollywood Here We Come...

Here we are on our BIG day! Meredith refused to face the audience for both her ballet & her tap dances. What a way to remember her first recital! Maura danced her little heart out (in her own way), this was her second recital.

Happy Easter-where is the warm Spring air?

Thanks Easter Bunny-bauk bauk! Meredith was very excited that the Funny Bunny brought her "the old Annie" as she calls it, and Maura was thrilled to get the Twelve Dancing Princesses-thank goodness we don't have to get them from the library anymore

Pretty little ladies-ready for the Easter Parade.

Maura & Meredith with their cousins Brooke & Kristen

The Daddies pose with their Easter bonnets-so many other captions ran through my head, but they were all completely inappropriate!

Ice Skating Fun...

Maura's school hosted a family fun night at the local ice arena. Thank goodness Pop Pop took his Geritol (hahaha) and came to help out. I was almost certain, that after not being on skates for the better part of 20 years, the old fart would wipe out at least once-but he hung in there and managed to stay upright the entire night! Maura & Meredith & Mommy did great as well!