Adam's 4th Birthday

Just yesterday I was running out of the office to bring him into this world and now he's four - time sure does fly.  So of course we had to celebrate in our family way.

Friday we took cupcakes to school for Adam to share with his friends.  It was an odd day because we had a "winter storm" the night before - which translates into it rained all day, the temperature fell a little below freezing and there were a couple of flakes.  Grace's school was delayed two hours before being closed so both kids spent the day at Tutor Time.  After we picked the kids up, we went out to dinner.  The choice was On The Border, a Mexican restaurant.  As we finished our meal, Grace told the waiter it was Adam's birthday so they brought him a dessert and sang to him.  He loved it.  When we got home we gave him one of his presents so he could have it for his party.

Saturday was party day - the first time we have been able to have one of the kids' parties on their actual birthday.  He wanted an Avengers party so we put out all his superhero toys and got ready for his friends.  Seven kids joined us to celebrate.  Since the attention span of a group of four-year olds is limited, we blew up balloons for them to play with, played a quick pin the shield on Captain American, had cake and ice cream and then opened his presents.  Everyone had a good time.

Still can't believe my baby is four!

Weekend with Nona

Not being one to miss an opportunity, I check the weekly e-Savers on the US Airways website every Tuesday to see if there's a deal for a quick getaway.  Well last week what did I discover but a low fare from Philly to Charlotte.  Since we didn't get to head north over the holidays I thought it would be a perfect way for the kids to see at least one relative.

So I invited mom down for the weekend.  She jumped at the chance to have a couple days with the kids.  Saturday morning bright and early she boarded a plane headed our way.  The kids were very excited to have her here.  They colored, watched movies, played games and hung out.  It was a chance for us to see what it would be like to be around family more often.

They were sad to see her go Sunday evening but they really enjoyed their time with her!

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year

Where to begin...the last few weeks of December were quite busy at our house.

First there was Grace's birthday.  After a fun filled day at school, dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and cookies with her Pom class we geared up for her party.  This year we had a How to Train Your Dragon party at the karate studio.  The kids played some games, learned some karate moves and enjoyed cake and ice cream.

A week later we hosted our annual Family Christmas Party.  We used to have a party every year when we lived in Huntersville but stopped when we moved.  Last year we tried it and since everyone had so much fun, we decided it was time to bring it back to our calendar.  Several of our friends and their kids came over for food, drink and catching up.  Adam didn't want to miss a second and stayed up until the last person left around midnight only to fall asleep shortly thereafter with a sucker in his mouth.

Christmas this year was a ton of fun!  Both Grace and Adam couldn't wait to see what Santa was going to bring them.  In the weeks leading up to the big day, they woke up each morning to search for their Elf "Gingy".  Grace even sent Santa a few notes by way of Gingy thinking Santa would see them quicker.  Then on Christmas eve, they got a call from Santa while he was on his sleigh!!  Thanks to the magic of Santa, they were both in bed a little after 8.  Unfortunately Grace couldn't sleep and was very worried that Santa might pass by our house because of it.  Luckily she fell asleep a couple hours later and Santa was able to drop by.

Both of the kids awoke to a candy cane by their beds and plenty of gifts under the tree.  Adam asked for all sorts of trucks and that's what he got.  Grace was more specific requesting the How to Train Your Dragon DS game, but since our babysitter gave her that on Christmas Eve, Santa brought her the first three books of the How to Train Your Dragon series along with the CD from the movie.  They were also fortunate to receive lots of other gifts from family and friends.

The next few days, both kids went to their "daycare" centers so mom could straighten up and organize and so dad could go to work.  On New Year's Eve, Grace and I had a mini girls day when I got home from work.  We did lunch, got her hair done and saw Rise of the Guardians.  And then that evening we all hunkered down in the garage with our respective electronic devices and waited for the New Year.  Adam didn't make it to midnight but Grace did and caught her second wind.

Now that 2013 is upon us we are hoping everyone is blessed with health, wealth and happiness!  We will do our best to keep you updated on the happenings with us.

Someone is 9 Today!

Hard to believe that today is Grace's 9th birthday!  She's been sick the past few days but was able to go back to school today.  I'm going to meet her for lunch so we can have cupcakes with her class.  After school, we're going to go out for tacos before she has Pom.  Then she'll have more cupcakes before coming home to open presents!  Happy Birthday Grace!!

Vegas Trip

This past weekend, Marianna and I finally took our birthday trip to Vegas.  This was to celebrate our 21st and 40th birthdays - and was also a gift I promised her a few years ago.

We only had two full days to take in all that's great about Vegas.  We visited Madame Tussaud's wax museum, the Venetian, walked the strip, visited Caesar's and the Bellagio plus enjoyed our hotel the MGM Grand.  While in the Studio City wing of the hotel, we were able to preview and give feedback on a new tv show.  And of course we enjoyed fabulous food, drinks and gaming.  It was a shame it had to end but we did have a great time!

This picture was taken at the atrium of the Bellagio - they had a fabulous display of fall flowers and it was the perfect place to capture us.

Report Card Time

Third grade is the start of real grades in school and Grace just received her first report card of the year.  While there were a few changes from her mid-term report we're happy to report that Grace made the A-B Honor Roll with 2 As (Science and Social Studies) and 2 Bs (Math and Language Arts).  She also had perfect attendance for the first quarter but that won't happen next quarter since she was sick two days last week.  She did however make it back to school in time for the assembly to recognize students on the honor roll.  She received a certificate along with a bag of goodies.  We're proud of her and hope she keeps up the good work!

Halloween

While our family and friends up North have to wait a few more days before they can don their costumes and collect candy - things were on the normal schedule in these parts.  This year after spending weeks telling us he was going to be a dinosaur, Adam opted to be Ironman; while Grace, who is into mystical things and creates, chose Astrid from How to Train your Dragon.

They went out with David around 6:00 and circled the neighborhood.  In Adam's words "we rang the bell and it said ding dong, then the peoples gave us candy and we said thank you and happy halloween".  When they came home around 7:30 both kids helped me hand out the rest of our candy before calling it a night at 8:00.  That's the one thing I love about our neighborhood, we all seem to be on the same schedule when it comes to these activities as most people were out from 6-8.