Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy Holidays!

Pre- and Post-Christmas new and old traditions

getting decorated like a tree with the Daisies

About to see SANTA! Same ole Santa, 11 years later. This was one of those nights where the kids were battling non-stop - we literally had to dry their tears and yell at them to smile as they walked up to see Santa


Josefina getting a MUCH needed new 'do (Mema and Tate went on a special date, including lunch and a giant cookie)


Marshmallow making with a good friend - and we didn't even hate each other afterwards! And we weren't even that sticky!! Tara, a new tradition is born!

The annual hot cocoa-then-run-around-the-courthouse with our first friends in our town. Love this family.


Tate's favorite, bubble wrap!

Just Dance 4 - SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

Oh, Kit. Movie, doll, our hearts. 


Bubble wrap in its unwound glory


Roller skating fun at a cool '50s-ish place! $5 per person, includes rental! They'll be seeing more of us, for sure.

David skates HARD! He left chunks of wheel all over the rink (that Smith picked up)

Dog sitting for some giant beauties - love these guys. The box on the sofa has a Smith inside it!

And today, New Year's Eve, has been a delightfully simple day. Smith has a good friend over, I'm going to do some sewing for the bunkbed Tate got for her American Girl dolls (pillows and sheets to match the quilts I made), Tate's watching a movie. Tonight we'll have some homemade sushi and homemade pizza, and CHOCOLATE FONDUE. Oh yeah. 



Sunday, December 9, 2012

December


The annual things in our town - Friday night, Santa came through our neighborhood on a firetruck (don't know who is more excited...wait, it's Tate. She ended up rounding up neighbors about 45 minutes before we actually saw any firetruck action!). Friday was especially good because David and I refinanced just before the truck came through!



kids after chasing the truck through the neighborhood



Daisy reindeer fun - we're doing Project Elf, helping a local family have a better Christmas. There's that fine line of note writing with 6 year olds - "Have a Happy Holiday" is great. "We are sorry you are poor" is not so great. Our great leader (Great Leader - sounds very North Korean) headed that one off at the pass, though. Good call, Tara!



Our town's parade - our elementary school participated, and representatives from all the girl scout troops attended and passed out candy. Kids at the beginning of the parade had BAGS FULL of candy - seriously more than Halloween! Smith, being an alum, was looking forward to walking with his old school, and had to as David is out of town. The Assistant Principal asked if he'd help carry the lead banner! Very nice honor for Smith!



 These are just funny videos - Smith has been very into Parkour lately, and while we were waiting for David at the outlet mall the other day, they were practicing. Smith's getting there...and then there's Tate. Cracks me up.



And finally, after the parade Saturday, the kids and I went to DC for the afternoon. Smith wanted to do a museum but it was far too pretty a day to be inside, so we decided to do outdoor memorials instead. We saw Lincoln (who Tate kept calling George Lincoln Washington Monument), Vietnam Wall, World War II Memorial, Korean Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr (question - why did they choose the whitest of all white stones to represent him? Seems very odd to me, and perhaps a bit insulting??), drove by FDRs, then off to Union Station to have a Johnny Rockets lunch and walk around the building. What a beautiful building that is - it's where David and I had our wedding reception! I took the kids into B. Smith's to show them where we had our party. 









All in all, a GREAT day - from parade to DC to hanging out at home. Kids are ecstatic this time of year, as I'm swamped with work, which translate into a LOT of Wii, Minecraft, tv time. 'Tis the season!







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