Christmas Season

Christmas is just around the corner. We had our annual Santa picture taken yesterday. Unfortunately, I had to be in it too because I didn't want a repeat of last year's photo - Hannah screaming for dear life. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas Season!!

We Came, We Saw, We Disney'ed

All in all, I have to say that our Disney trip was a success. So much happened over the course of seven days that I can only "blog" the highlights. The weather was perfect, George Mason played well, no naps, Hannah was clingly, Alex was afraid of the dark and needed lots of coaxing to get on the rides, NO naps, Nanny survived the craziness, Mickey hit on me, did I say NO NAPS, and Jeff and I now need a vacation. That about sums it up. I hope pictures really are worth thousands of words because I'm too tired to write anymore.

Trick or Treat

Alex and Hannah had a great Halloween season this year. I say "season" because they spent a couple of weeks celebrating by going to several parties and parades at school, choosing and carving the perfect pumpkin, and closing the season out with the grand finale of trick or treating. Alex was the Red Power Ranger and Hannah was "pink" (aka Uniqua from the Backyardagins). Hannah was supposed to be Tinker Bell but she freaked out when the tulle of the costume touched her legs so we resorted to her back-up costume, pink. The trick or treating weather couldn't have been better. After trick or treating Alex played outside with his friend, Evan. The sugar rush helped them keep up the pace flashlight tag. Now that Halloween is over, we can concentrate on getting ready for Disney World. Look out Mickey 'cause here we come.

Alex's First Football Game

Alex has been asking to go to a football game for a couple of months now, so we chose to make the trek up to Annapolis to see the Midshipmen play in their 2007 Homecoming game against Wake Forest.

Although Navy lost, the trip would have to be called a success because Alex seemed to enjoy himself immensely.

When we got home, Alex said, "Now I've seen baseball, basketball, soccer, and football - can we go see a hockey game?". I guess we'll have to go see the Caps play soon.

Thirty Seven

We helped Jeff celebrate his 37th Birthday this week. Alex and I went birthday shopping for Jeff and came home with "Wack a Mole" game. I'm sure this is exactly what Jeff has always wanted. Alex and Hannah both gave Jeff suggestions on what type of cake to get - Alex suggested Spiderman while Hannah thought Dora would be a good cake. Jeff ended up with a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Cake - my personal favorite. Jeff and I spent the day together sans kids (they were at school) - we went Christmas shopping for the kids and had lunch at Chipotle. We topped the day off with take out dinner from Carraba's (thanks to Grandma Flora), ice cream cake and presents.

Jeff, I hope you had a very Happy 37th Birthday. Ha Ha - You're older than me now (well, for about four months). Here's to many, many, many more!! I love you!!

Cox Farms

We had a wonderful family adventure at Cox Farms last weekend. I absolutely love this place! They have farm animals, slides and rope swings, climbing hay mountains, hay rides, apple cider, and pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins. The slides are so much fun because all of us can partake - Alex was brave enough to go by himself but Hannah had to sit on my lap. Each slide has a different theme: volcano, miner's mine shaft, winding slide through the pig barn, dinosaur's back, etc. Alex liked the miner slide because it was bumpy and went through a long tunnel; I liked the winding slide through the pig barn; but we all loved the gigantic dinosaur slide.

Alex on the Castle Slide

Of course Alex and Jeff had to try out the rope swings. And we finished the day off with the hay ride. The kids loved the hay ride. If you look closely enough you might spot Snoopy characters, CareBears, SpongeBob, or any number of other critters. We were followed by space aliens and got stuck in the pond and Farmer Cox had to pull us out. The finale of the ride was the "spooky barn" where all the creatures (including with Alex and Hannah) danced and clapped to Happy Halloween songs. Alex thought the ride was "sooo awesome". (He is going to have his socks knocked off when we go to Disney World next month).

Jeff on the Rope Swing

Alex on the Hay Ride

October Already?

I can't believe that it is already Fall - time has really flown by. Even though school has started, the pool has closed, and the Halloween costumes are selected, it just hasn't felt like Fall. It probably has something to do with the 94 degree temperatures we've been experiencing. We are finally at normal Fall temperatures and can now think about getting pumpkins and other Halloween stuff. Since it's been awhile since my last post, I decided to post miscellaneous recent photos. Nothing new or exciting to write about except for a few random tidbits: Alex started school and absolutely LOVES it - he is finally showing interest in reading and writing; Alex got his first black eye doing boy stuff; Alex enjoys his soccer class but could do without the Karate class; and Hannah is Hannah - still screaming, constantly being held, and loves to sing and dance.

First Day of School

Alex and his first black eye

Happy 2nd Birthday Hannah

Thursday was Hannah's 2nd Birthday. She had a fun day celebrating with her little friends at school and her family at home. Hannah had a popsicle party (hence the red face in the pictures) and goodie bags at school. You would have thought that it was Christmas in August in our house. Hannah (and Alex) had a great time opening gifts and eating ice cream cake with Grandma and Grandpa. Alex had just as much fun as Hannah did because he thought the gifts were for him, too. At bedtime he moved the new doll baby bed from Hannah's room to his because he said his Black Bear needed a new bed. He also spent the afternoon pushing Black Bear around in Hannah's doll stroller. The novelty still hasn't worn off - he asked me this morning if we could take Black Bear for a walk in Hannah's stroller. Although, once Alex sees his new bike in the garage he will probably forget about Black Bear's walk.



Hannah has definitely left the infant stage and hit the terrible/terrific twos. She is very curious about her environment but is very moody exploring it. This next year will be exciting as Hannah grows into a little girl and I can't wait for the screaming to end and for the diapers to disappear. Happy Birthday Hannah-Girl!!

P.S. I've added the Hannah video - I'm not a very good video taker or movie maker but I'm trying. It's not too bad for my first attempt.

America's Next Top Model

Well, maybe not but Alex and Hannah sure are cute. I recently submitted pictures of Alex for the Company Kids Catalog Model contest and Hannah for the YoBaby Yogurt 2007 spokes-toddler contest. Considering that millions of kids probably entered I really don't expect my children to win. I just thought it would be fun to see what happens. These are the pictures that I submitted for Alex. I took Hannah to the Picture People in the mall since they took her picture and submitted them to YoBaby free of charge - so I'm not sure if I'll get to post them.

Happy 4th of July

4th of July was a big event at our house this year (at least it was for Alex). Alex could hardly wait to go to the fireworks stand to make that special purchase of sparklers and fountains. I was surprised how readily he took the sparklers and waved them through the air. We even got to watch professional firework shows from our deck. I'm not sure where they were going off, but it was great not carting two little kids to a football field in the middle of a hot sticky night (9 o'clock is the middle of the night for Hannah) just to see a few sparkles in the air for about 15 minutes. All of us had a very nice day. We went to our neighbor's house for a barbecue and waved a few sparklers then came home and watched a few more fireworks. Maybe next year we can attempt to venture to a football field; I know it will be many years before we attempt to go to the National Mall for the 4th. Anyway, Happy Birthday America!! We enjoyed the celebration!!

Backyard Swimming

Summer is here in full swing: Popsicles, lemonade, sun tea, and inflatable pools. The weather has been hot and humid and there's nothing better than putting your sticky kids in the pool and hosing them down. The kids absolutely love the inflatable pool. As a matter of fact all the neighborhood kids love the kiddie pool. It's amazing how creative they can be coming up with various water games. Alex and Hannah love trying to keep up with the bigger kids. I love getting Alex and Hannah out of the house and wearing out some that kid energy by letting them splash and jump in the water. I have to admit I even love to go for a dip in the inflatable pool, too.