My Little Performers...

Meredith was selected to portray "Mary, the Mother of Jesus" in this years Pre-K Christmas Program. She was so very excited to have such a monumental role. Even though she had no speaking to do during the show, she knew inside that she had the most important part (aside from Joseph-in case you read this -Jenn). Daddy drove all night just to make sure he did not miss Little Bit on her big debut!

Now Maura on the other hand, chose to participate in the Children's Choir this Christmas season. She loved singing and we were so proud of her! She stood in the front row for all her performances and tried so hard not to look like a "dear" in headlights!

A Decade Ago....

Well, it has been 10 years since we tied "The Knot". 10 years, wwhhoooo! Sometimes it seems like yesterday, and sometimes it seems like it has been forever! I guess that is how it is supposed to be. But, in 10 years, we have come so far...we have bought & sold houses, welcomed our beautiful (debatable at birth) little girls, lost some furry friends, traveled (rolling condo), hung "out" with friends (the days of free beer are over) and generally supported each other. I know without Scott's support, I would not have made it through my Mom's illness & passing, he was my rock.

I am thankful for my husband, he is a hard working, fun loving guy, who sometimes doesn't get enough time to relax. But he as given me a life I will forever be grateful for. I have been extremely priveledged & humbled to be able to work at home raising our girls. Being a stay at home Mom was something I never understood or appreciated (in my own Mom) until I had my own daughter. These years are disappearing & I begin to look to the future...what will the next 10 years hold? Well, I hope they are filled with Health, Happiness (no amount of money can buy this), Love & Laughter.

Thank you Scott for being my partner!

Gingerbread Anyone?

So how does one actually celebrate 10 years of wedded bliss? Well, this is how Scott & I celebrated...Scott went to work (which is hard for him to find right now, so he has to take what he can get-anniversary or not), and I had 7 little girlies over to decorate mini-gingerbread houses. This has become somewhat of a holiday ritual, the kids love it & I do too (as long as my graham cracker houses hold up). So 7 little girls in a sugar induced frenzie...life is good!

Happy Birthday Little Bit!

I am not entirely sure where the time has gone, or how it has managed to have gone so quickly, but somehow "Little Bit" turned 5 today. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday-ironically 5 years ago this day was a Monday also. I went to the hospital early in the AM to be induced. I knew my baby girl was coming-I was ready. I had her "coming home" outfit packed (GAP lady bug outfit), I had pink "It's a girl" lolly pops packed for Maura to give to all her classmates, Maura had her self decorated "I'm a Big Sister" sweatsuit ready. Daddy & I knew she was a girl, but we kept the secret from everyone (except Tanta Leen). My Mom was not amused that I kept this little secret from her...she saw it as a lost opportunity to buy a ton more girl clothes.

After a day long adventure in the delivery room Meredith arrived in our lives at 5:29pm, 7lbs 11oz of feisty love! Since then she has brought more joy and excitement than we could have ever imagined. She has completed our family. I can't even type this entry with dry eyes. God has blessed us so deeply with our two babies, I will be forever grateful! HAPPY BIRTHDAY WINKY DINK!

Meredith-Daddy & I are excited to see what becomes of your life...we know great things are in store for you!

Rockettes-here we come!

On December 5th we went to the arena in the city to see the Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular. The Rockettes were coming to town & I was so excited I couldn't see straight! I have always wanted to see them (aside from the TV screen during the Macy's Day parade on Thanksgiving), and I am not ready to schlep 2 little girls to the Big Apple just yet. So, I splurged for tickets and off we went with another friend & her daughter.

The girls wore their Christmas dresses & loved hearing all the compliments from strangers on how beautiful they looked. The show was truly "Spectacular", and I knew it because Little Bit kept leaning over saying "Thank you Mommy, thank you for bringing me to this show". I think I missed 1/4 of the show because I was watching their little faces instead. The magic of the season is here, let the festivities begin!

Cookie Day 08'

Here we go again-baking for the holidays. This tradition has been taking place since before I can remember, and it gets more delicious as the years go by. I don't know what I could eat up more-the cookies or these adorable little creatures that keep popping up in the family!

At the Hop...

What a difference a year makes! Every year our Brownie community sponsors a Sock Hop. Last year was Maura's troops 1st year. So as we prepared for the dance, I pulled out Maura's outfit, it consisted of; jeans rolled up, bobby socks, saddle shoes (thank goodness she owns them for school), a t-shirt & pony tail with a long scarf. Well, needless to say in true fashionista style, Maura was not thrilled. "No one dresses like that!" she said, "I'm going to look stupid", she cried. I had to go as far as pulling up the Roaring 50's on the computer to show her she was dressing appropriately. She relented & wore the said outfit, and was relieved she did once she arrived at the dance.

Fast forward 1 year, and my daughter kindly reminded me that I said I would make her a Poodle Skirt for this year. Lucky me-these kids forget nothing! So, I whipped up a hot pink poodle skirt pronto & Maura was so excited to wear these memories of a time gone by this year! And she looked so cute.

Trick or Treat?

Happy Halloween! This year, since Halloween was on a Friday, we decided to take the Rolling Condo out for one last spin. So we packed up & headed 45 minutes north to Quarreyville, PA. With costumes, decorations, candy, and of course...spirits (the liquid type) in tow, we were ready for a real boot scootin good time!

Maura had decided that she wanted to be a Cheetah, not a Cheetah Girl, just a Cheetah. So I shopped e-bay till we agreed on a costume (be wary of the results when you enter any type of animal costume into the e-bay search engine)! Meredith in the other hand, decided to go Princess this year & selected Snow White (Mom Mom's favorite Princess) as her costume. Again-love e-bay & the costume even came with a great wig (new-never opened). We trick-or treated through the campground on Saturday, which was super fun, there were so many families there, all with tons of CANDY and fun decorations. There were hayrides, costume contests (Maura made the 1st cut for her age group) and contests for the best decorated site (we didn't win).

Before we headed home on Sunday we went for an Amish carriage ride through some Amish farmland. The tour guide was quite informative & we loved the experience. Maura got to ride up front with the driver & she thought that was pretty spiffy. And in case you were wondering...yes, the horse did his "business" while we were in his company! Then I began to wonder...do the Amish have to have their transportation tested for emissions?

NO-We Haven't Converted

But we did visit DUTCH WONDERLAND. Lancaster, PA AKA Amish Country. We had an enjoyable day at the lovely theme park geared for the younger crowd. And of course, we couldn't resist the opportunity to have our photo taken in the Amish cut out. You will notice that Maura is not smiling--she was not happy to have to fill in the spot of the little boy. I guess she is not old enought yet to just relax & have fun with this stuff-she is a little vain.
Both girls enjoyed being a little adventurous with the wilder rides. I used to love the "pirate ship" ride, so we tried the "space ship"-same type of ride. Scott decided this ride was a little much for his capabilities & offered to photograph instead. He sat on the ground under the ride to snag the photos. Well, after this ride, I decided I should have passed also. The theme for Dutch Wonderland is that it's a place "Where a kid can be a kid", I have decided to add "and Mom can throw up on her shoes" because that's how I felt after this ride!

It's That Time of Year Again...

Back to school, I feel like summer just started & now we are back to the grinde. Maura is very excited to be in 2nd grade, she gets to learn to write in cursive & can hardly wait!

Meredith is in Pre-K4 and has a writing journal in school. At home she also has a book to write in-her diary, although in true 4year old fashion, she calls it her "diarrhea" book. We can't stop laughing when she says it, so we haven't corrected her yet. She'll figure it out sooner or later. Till then, we assume she is writing all her "loose" thoughts & "run" on sentences in this lovely little book.

OK-Here's the Story...

Our Myrtle Beach campground is really a fabulous resort. They have so many amenities to take advantage of, so one day I said "let's take a paddle boat ride in the lake". I for one, was very excited and so were the kids. Scott, in his usual form, was reluctant. He would have rather stayed at the rolling condo & had a beer. I won & off to the paddle boats we went. As you can see it was very sunny, so we all look like wackos squinting for the family shot (go ahead & laugh-we did). At least we have proof that we took the adventure, because next year when this kiddies say "let's do that again", I am going to show the photo & say "we already did & once was enough".

Anyway, we had payed for a 1 hour excursion & began paddling our little 4 seater paddle boat, but we really didn't go very fast. Now mind you, it has probably been at least 30 years since the last time I was in a paddle boat, but I thought they should go a little faster then we were going. Scott & I also seriously under estimated the physical shape we were in. Somehow we managed to travel about 40 yards away from the station & realized that we also had to paddle back-CRAP! We decided to turn around and go back. Scott & I were both very concerned that we were going to paddle our way to heart attacks. Thankfully we made it back & took the rest of the night to catch our breath!

LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT (to the tune of the Barry Manilow song)

Well, after what seemed like a longer drive then last year (did they move Myrtle beach further south?) we finally parked the roving WEITZ HOUSE next to the TAJ MA HORTON (our friends rv) and set up camp for the week. We decided to go with the LUAU theme for our ocean front adventure this year, hence the Tiki Hut & various inflatables seen in the photo (Scott & Larry are under the pavilion). I will spare everyone the agony & leave the photos of Scott & Larry in their coconut bras out-thank me later! Here is the view from out kitchen window. We were right on the parade route this year-a very exciting thing as night falls. Golf carts from near & far converge on "The Strip" and drive around in circles for about 3 hours. Our kids blew bubbles, gave out Leis, and gave "high 5's" to the passers by. Maura stayed up late one night with Scott & was very excited to have "earned some beads" (mardi gras type necklaces) as she called it. Thankfully she earned them by High 5ing!
Here is the only photo I have of the "golf cart parade" The lovely lady in the photo is someone Scott & Larry befriended & she really didn't seem to care that they had wives. Kym & I simply referred to her as the "girlfriend". As you can see Maura is looking at her, probably questioning the lovely lady's choice of attire, as were we, but it made for a fun evening.

REALLY? Why do People Stop Here?

That is the question we found ourselves asking. Well, because they are stupid like us! On the way to Myrtle Beach we decided-to stop. I remember as a child stopping at SOUTH OF THE BORDER on the way to Disney. I don't remember much, just that we stopped. Scott on the other hand, had never been. He drives past quite frequently while working, and had always been curious. This now proves that curiousity can get you in trouble.
We stayed long enough to get a few obligatory photos, and to prove to future generations that we visited this east coast land mark. But other than that, it was pretty much a Mexican ghost town, full of delapidated touristy shops full of kichy crap. The merchandise was so outdated "80's", we wondered if anyone had actually purchased anything in the last 20 years. Moral of the story-DON'T STOP!

Hershey-Hershey Park Sounds Like FUN!!!

Unless you are Meredith & suddenly have an aversion to life size pieces of chocolate! You will notice that "Little Bit" as she now is requesting to be called, does not look so amused. I am now wondering what was going through her head? She wanted nothing to do with all the walking candies this day. I now think she might have been under the impression that big people eat little candy, but do big candies eat little people? Fear, maybe it was fear, that made her uneasy-not wanting to be eaten by giant chocolate. Well enough contemplating the workings of a 4 year old brain. We traveled to Hershey with friends from school, the week school let out for summer. We thought it was a great plan-go to the Park before the public schools let out & beat the crowds. We did beat the crowds, but as our luck would have it-it was the hottest week of the summer. So, we sweat our way to the water park & "parked it"! The kids had fun & it felt great to cool off!

Happy Rockin Birthday-Maura!

OK, I am not so great at finding the time to update my blog. I can't imagine that there are too many people hanging on for dear life, waiting for updates on our exciting adventures. However, if you are, today is your lucky day! I will flood the blogspot with new entries, and hopefully I will be caught up. So, here goes...

In June we celebrated Maura's 7th birthday! Where does the time go? She is very wrapped up in "Hannah Montana" right now, and we have to listen to the 15 year old billionairre so much that Scott & I have actually memorized & grown to like her songs also. Pretty sad. So to honor our little gem, we threw her a Hannah Montana "Best of Both Worlds" Birthday Bash. I made a 9'x9' movie screen & we played Hannah Montana shows on the big screen on our patio. We also played several rounds of "Freeze Sing & Dance" as well as water balloons & the 3 legged race. We all had a great time, although the girls birthdays are always bittersweet for me, especially this year. My Mom would have loved this one!

Making Memories...

The lazy days of summer are quickly coming to an end. I am not sure how the summer seemed to flash by, but I think just yesterday I was excited to not be shuffling my Little Loves here-there & everywhere! The obvious signs of summer ending are upon us-it's darker a little earlier, we went school supply shopping, and I officially started work today.

But I knew summer was really over for us last Friday night. My Little Loves & I returned home from our annual pilgrimage to "Girls Week" in Fenwick Island. Auntie Cassie has generously hosted this special week for what seems to be forever, and we look forward to it every year. We ladies of the family forge to the beach for bonding, reminiscing and forcing the younger generation to eat sandy sandwiches. This year was difficult, memories of my Mom seemed to occupy my mind often. As I watched my Little Loves make sand angels (UGH), and taunt the oncoming waves with tongues sticking out, thumbs in there ears & fingers wiggling, waiting for their little "piggies" to be punished by the cold water, I found myself recalculating the years spent here. Our 1st year, Little Love #2 was only 9 months old, my Mom rocked her to sleep daily on the beach, same thing the following year. For the past two years Mom had been sick. Then I realized HOLY COW-we had only been doing this fun trip for 4 years! WOW-I said to Auntie, "I can't believe we have only been doing this for 4 years, Little Love #2 has gotten so big, I have so many memories, it seems like we have been here forever!" To that Auntie responded "It doesn't take long to create special memories". And so we have-created many special memories that I hope will remain in our hearts forever, as we continue to carry on.

WELL...its a deep subject...

I have been re-inspired, I guess you could say. I have re-connected with a "French Connection". And it made me realize that time is a wasting while I wait for photos to go with my blog entries. So, I have decided that-while a picture is worth a 1,000 words, a blog can sometimes contain 1,000 words. And I hope my words will mostly entertain, I may take awhile to get " in the goove" (as opposed to "shake your groove") please bear with me! Wine is a wonderful thing!

It's A Boy!

We have added to the family-Scott purchased (yes he actually paid for this) a 1971 Ford Bronco. It is so meaningful because it is a 71' our birth year (there is no sarcasm in the tone here-ok yes there is). Scott swears that one day it will run-I am not so sure. But, if he is happy-I am happy (not really, but it sounds good). Seriously, he is happy tinkering in the garage, so I can't complain (but I have & he hasn't listened). I have nicknamed the project "SCRAPMETAL". Hopefully, one day (after all the unfinished household projects are done) we will have a play vehicle. We are so old that the "BRONCO" can have historic tags-pretty sad! The kids want to know where the "air bags" are!

Happy Early Easter

Easter was fun for the girls & they looked oh so cute in their cute dresses. Mom Mom would have loved them. We had dinner and an egg hunt at our house.
OK-why can't they always get along like this?

Fun With Brownies

Maura joined her 1st grade Brownie troop this year & I have helped out with leading the troop. We have a really great group of girls and they have been really enjoying themselves. This photo is from "Thinking Day". Maura's troup represented Iceland.

Our New Cousin...

Here is the newest addition to our family. Our cousin Abby was born on January 20th. We are very excited she is here & the girls love being able to hold her & help babysit her!

Merry Christmas...

Santa certainly spoiled Maura & Meredith again this year! He obviously didn't look in their playroom to see the mess of toys they already had!
Maura was very excited to get a radio she had requested-and a "Hannah Montana" CD to go along with it. I have now entered the stage of yelling "turn that radio down" to my 6 year old. I am too young for this!
Meredith was very excited to have gotten the "Sleeping Beauty Pop Up Castle" she was sure Santa had one just for her! Along with all the other loot-the girls were treated very well.