Justthefourofus

Yum!

2008-04-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

If you haven't discovered Confessions of A Pioneer Woman yet it is time to start reading - love the stories...pictures AND the cooking site!

We tried this for dessert tonight and EVERYONE loved it! It was so easy! You must add it to the menu this week!

*pic courtesy of the Pioneer Woman!

So good!

We have tried most of her recipes and love them all!

Oh...and we even had Carl's vanilla ice cream with it! Delicious!

A Trip to Maymont.

2008-04-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite (free) places in Richmond to go and see is Maymont. I can remember going as a child. We try to take the girls every year atleast once and this year we were able to make the trip with our friends Maggie, Griffin and Palmer. The weather was beautiful...which was good because there is ALOT of walking...Afterwards we headed to Byrd park for a picnic...

Wish me luck!

2008-04-04T06:34:00.001-07:00

What have we been up to??

2008-04-03T10:32:00.001-07:00

So much has been going on - so many pictures have been taken...so I figured I would just get all caught up in one post....

1st there was Girl Scout cookie time....

Just a few of the boxes that we had to sort through!

Annie's birthday party at my parents! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of her party with her friends - it was a chaotic day! We took 12 girls to go see the Christian Youth Theater's production of Annie and then off to Friend;y's for ice cream! We all had a blast, but it was a long day. That night Tim and both girls had a daddy/daughter dance through the Girl Scouts!

Weecycled Sale....

Have many more clothes that I need to sort through...and then to get all the winter stuff in the attic!

Enjoying the wonderful weather with some friends!

More warm weather, More friends...

HMES Winter Field Day at the Field House! Emma and her classmates had so much fun!

Swim night at the Y with the Girl Scouts...

more to come...

A Fish Called Wanda

2008-03-31T04:59:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I am NOT an animal person...just TOO much work! The last time I went in to read to Emma's class before spring break her teacher asked me if I would keep Wanda over Spring Break. It just so happens that Wanda belonged to Morgan, and Morgan was Emma's best school buddy. She moved away 4 weeks ago and left the class her pet fish, Wanda. So Mrs. Mann thought that Emma would like to take care of Wanda over break. I was a little hesitant at first, but I do have to admit it wasn't bad. I had even told Emma that we would offer to watch Wanda over the Summer for her teacher if she wanted. This is not a fancy set up - no fancy tank...just a bowl, some rocks...it does suck I would clean Wandas' house every other day, because the water would get cloudy and there would be a slight odor, but it was no big deal. You probably know where this is going....

So I woke up this morning to clean the bowl and get ready to take her to school ....

Good bye, Wanda!

The girls handled it just fine, I emailed E's teacher this am to ask what she would like me to do. I told Emma that we would probably flush it...unfortunately, she wants me to wait until the end of the day!

Is it that bad??

2008-03-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

So tonight as I was putting Annie to bed and we were talking about Spring Break (and what we were going to do without Tim around for a few days) she started to suggest a few things that us girls do. Of course, this is after I suggested laying around in our PJ's, having movie marathons and eating popcorn for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She wants us to take a day trip to the mall, yes, the Spotsylvania Mall! Ugh...I haven't enjoyed hanging out there since I was in my teens...not too long ago, but... Well she wants us to go shopping and walk around. However, before we go she wanted to make sure that I was dressed for our excursion...She told me I was NOT allowed to wear Crocs...had to paint my toes and put on some nice shoes, I needed to wear a cool t-shirt (no idea what that means - I refuse to be one of the adults that wear Disney t-shirts-even if it is Hannah Montana!) Oh and she wants me to straighten my hair and wear it back in a ponytail with a hot-pink ribbon...There was even something in there about how I was supposed to walk. I stopped paying attention at this point and was daydreaming about how *nice and sweet she used to be! So after she was done planning my makeover - I held my hand up in a 'talk to the hand' way...well she had something to say about that too...she told me I was doing it ALL wrong...that I had to roll my eyes a certain way while doing it!

She then told me "Mom, if you can't walk the 'hip' walk, then you can't talk the 'hip' talk!"

*SHE IS STILL NICE AND SWEET - but with just a little DIVA added in....and I KNOW that she didn't get that from me!(She just came in to see if I would come cuddle with her- so, off I go! It is real nice that she still enjoys that, because she is growing up so fast!)

**So if you see me over the next few weeks and something looks a little off - we have Annie to thank!

www.girlsrock.com

2008-03-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

Has anyone heard anything good/bad about the movie?? Can't find any info about it. It looks as if it may not even be playing around here. I watched the trailer and I do have to say it looks interesting!

Today on Dr. Phil....

2008-02-27T17:26:00.000-08:00

One of the many examples of Annie trying to save the day! She is such a kind hearted person. We were having alot of problems at the beginning of the school year with her trying to fix other peoples problems...a few trips to the giudance counselors office and it seems to be working!

I know you guys have all been waiting patiently FOR...

Annies' Dating Tips...

1. get a friend to help pick out clothes
2. DO NOT SWEAT!!
3. you have to keep talking.
Ask questions
4. Bring a change of clothes if you do sweat!
5. Do not talk about only you!

If you need anymore advice, I am sure that she would love to give it to you!

I stumbled across these in a notebook that she keeps in her bag...

Long story, short...
Girl on bus got in trouble for writing something mean about another girl. Annie felt bad because said girl had her notebook taken away. Annie didn't quite understand. Said girl was upset because she said parents didn't have money to buy new notebook. So Dr. Phil - er, Annie, gave her one out of our school supply box for her to use. Annie keeps it in her bookbag - don't know why...I guess this girl (5th grader) was going to the movies with a boy and that is how we got Annie's Dating Tips!

Only 15??

2008-02-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

Stay tuned for...

2008-02-01T12:25:00.001-08:00

dating tips from Annie!

(Hehehe! They are really cute and I happened to stumble upon them by accident!)

Glitter, Sparkles, Hairspray and more Glitter!

2008-02-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

For Christmas the girls got a couple of gift cards to a store called Libby Lu from Santa and some cousins. I had HEARD alot about this place, but had never really seen what it was all about until I was shopping at the mall for teacher gifts with Annie and she started going crazy as we came upon the hot pink store! so I was able to distract her that time. However, 2 weeks ago they had off for MLK, Jr. Day and by noon we were going crazy finding something to entertain us with - that is when I was able to bribe them with a trip to Libby Lu if they would be patient and run a few errands with me...

By the time we arrived at the store we had already passed by a couple dozen little girls who had been madeover...I guess alot of moms had the same idea I did that day. Well, the girls had $35 in GC's for the store and I made it clear that I WAS NOT paying for anything...they could get a makeover, (starting at $22.50) shop - the store is full of High School Musical and Hannah Montana merchandise to buy!

Well when we walked in their eyes got as big as saucers! They headed straight for the makover station to watch the other girls there have their makeovers done...you can pick a few styles out...Diva, celebrity, princess...and you can even walk out looking just like Hannah Montana for an extra fee!

They had a blast! I have heard alot of negative things about this store...letting little girls dress like this, all the makeup...I think that that is taking it way too far! All it is, is girls playing dress up. I don't allow them to wear makeup outside the house...they have some that they play with, but they have to ask first to make sure that we are not leaving the house that day...most of the time they forget that they even have it around...Annie did mention that she wants to have her 9th (yep - she is turning 9 this month!) birthday party there...I agreed, but put a 5 girl limit on the party.

Here are a few pics from the day!

Movie time...

2008-01-30T05:40:00.000-08:00

A couple of us were able to escape and go see Juno last week. It was a nice treat - cute movie, but even better was the soundtrack...I discovered this - a video made by another Juno-soundtrack fan...cute..

More snow...

2008-01-21T08:58:00.001-08:00

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

1st REAL Snow Day!

2008-01-21T06:58:00.001-08:00

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Happy Anniversary!

2007-12-14T06:33:00.000-08:00

Anyone home?

2007-10-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

I am still here - haven't officially stopped blogging - yet!

So much has been going on recently, that I haven't found time to sit down and tell you about it - I hope to have lots of pics to show you about it uploaded tomorrow...

Here is a breakdown...

- We celebrated my Dad's 57th bday with crabs and a cookout.
- Even travelled to Hampden-Sydney parents weekend to surprise Dad with a Birthday Cake.
- Emma celebrated her 6th birthday!
- Mom took the girls and I to Richmond to see High School Musical on Ice! What fun!
- Emma had her first slumber party!
- We had the annual Taylor/Tate trip to Belvedere Pumpkin Patch on Sunday...

pictures of all to come...

It's funny now that both girls are in school, I have never felt busier, but by the end of the day I really can't tell you what I have done...still waiting on the final transcripts to come in so I can apply for a job with the city school system as a Substitute teacher!

In the neighborhood.

2007-09-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

We have been very fortunate to have great neighbors around us since we moved in almost 9 years ago. There are 2 rental houses, one next door and one across the street that are for the college students in town. Every May, we anxiously await the moving van (if it is a bad bunch) and hope in August that we will start the school year with a house full of perfect angels - that babysit! My grandmother lives a few doors down, we have a wonderful couple next door and 2 across the street. One that has a newborn and one with a 5yo little girl. Perfect! Couldn't get any better.

Well...I discovered this tonight... www.RottenNeighbor.com What a great idea! I added our address...
(the pic below is just a general random zip code pic...since their wasn't anything interesting in our zip)

Has anyone tried one of these sticker books?

2007-09-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

I discovered this today and was wondering if anyone has tried this before. I thought that it would make neat Christmas Card seals...

www.moo.com

There are 106 days ...

2007-09-10T17:07:00.001-07:00

until Christmas...and I bought my first gift today! So excited!

We have so many cousins in our family...and I happened to run across one today out shopping and we got to talking about our love for Vineyard Vines...she had scooped up tons of womens clothes...and I decided to browse the mens and kids section...I came across this belt (at a steal) and she said "Oh, P would love that!" So I handed it to her and she said "OR you could give it to him for Christmas." I thought that would be alot easier than buying another toy! One Christmas gift down! Many, many, many more to go!

Oh how I love Sunday's in the Fall...

2007-09-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you guys have heard of this site before.... www.postsecret.com , but it has turned into a favorite of mine...some of the secrets are a little wierd. It's funny I always try to see if I know someone that could have sent one of the postcards in...well I found one that I may or may not have sent in ;)

Logo Quiz...

2007-09-07T09:22:00.001-07:00

See how speedy you are in guessing these logos...I did horribly!

Play Logo Quiz at LogoQuiz.net!

Day 2...

2007-09-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from this morning!

I did it....

2007-09-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

I survived the 1st day! Today was Emma's first day of Kindergarten and Annie's 1st day at a new school, in 3rd grade. It is amazing how much these girls have grown over the summer. I knew that they would be fine, but was wondering how I would handle it.
Looking back on Annie's 1st day of Kindergarten, it is a good thing that my mom was at the bus stop with me and Emma to see Annie off. I continued snapping pics as the bus came down the road and even as she walked onto that big yellow bus...but as soon as the doors closed and the bus was starting to pull away...I ran crying all the way home...leaving Emma and my mom standing at the stop! I also may have gotten in my car and followed that bus to school the first couple of weeks... Yes I am crazy, but I wanted to make sure that my little girl got dropped off at the right school!
This year was different - we had one getting on one bus and another on a different bus headed to a different school. Tim stayed home this morning to see the girls off and my mom, even made it by in time to see Emma off. Considering the scene that I made with Annie's 1st day - I wasn't sure what to expect today! We had been told last week at Orientation that Annie's stop was 2 blocks over at 7.31 and Emmas was right on our corner at 7.52...so at 7.25 we started off, 2 cameras in hand to go to the first stop...As soon as we reached our corner, the bus pulled over and got Annie...this caught us offguard so I didn't have time to take pics or kiss her goodbye. I thought about that all day...So we headed across the street to sit on the wall and wait for Emmas' bus, bus R...with the 'lovely' Miss Betty. Emma has been so excited because she is also starting Kindergarten with her Best Friend, Amelie and another friend Jack, that lives around the corner. So all 3 were waiting at the corner...lots of parents, Gigi and even Mary Bowe - our favorite neighbor! After everyone had compared snacks and lots of pics and videos had been taken the big yellow came down the road and they all got on....I got a little teary eyed...I think that everything happened so fast that I didn't have time to think about what was happening!

Until....
I was out and about feeling very independent and running all sorts of errands...2, yes 2 lovely visits to our wonderful Department of Motor Vehicles, BBaBeyond, Tuesday Morning, back home again...well...on the trip back home I happened to pass by Hurkamp park...and this is when it all hit...Every Tuesday (that weather has cooperated) for the past 6 years I have gone to Lunch in the Park with atleast one of the girls...and as I was stopped at the light watching all the moms cross the street to head to the park and set up I realized that I have had my last Tuesday lunch in the park, soccer tots class, storytime at the library, park playdate and all the other things that the girls and I did together. So I cried from William Street all the way home...ugh...and now again :)

I eventually calmed down and realized although I have just put my last, 'first day' Kindergartener on the bus...that I will be fine and so will they. There may not be anymore weekday walks to the library ... but, I will get to continue to go to their schools to read to their classes and have lunch once a week...class parties, field trips...their is even talk of a school dance this year (Hopefully, Annie won't mind if I sneak in!) Annie is also going to continue with Girl Scouts. I have stepped down as Assistant Leader and have committed myself to being 'snack coordinator'. Emma has signed up to be a Daisy scout this year and I told Annie that I was going to help out with her troop for a few years. In a month, when they get situated in their classes and used to daily homework, we are going to start them back up with other activities...both girls want to continue dance, Emma wants to do gymnastics again and I am trying to convince Annie to give Field Hockey a try.

So...I just finished uploading pics to my computer and for some reason I am missing a few pics...so these will have to do...and then tomorrow I will take more!

Prayer Request...

2007-08-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, August 28th is Emmas' surgery on her mouth. She is starting to get a little nervous. We had our pre-op with Dr. Massey on Friday and went to register her. I am sure everything will be fine - the hardest part will probably be going back next week and having him remove the stitches...I opted for the non-absorbant kind...because I would like to have as little risk of infection as possible. We have to be at the Surgi-Center at 6.50 am, surgery is scheduled for 7.50 - that will be another difficult thing! Emma is always STARVING when she wakes...and she can't have anything to drink after 4.50 am - so I am hoping we can get her in the car and there before she wakes up!

Camm

We are still here...

2007-08-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry - it has been awhile since we have updated with anything - trying to pack in a few things before school starts in a week and 1/2 !

I did find this pic of Annie's 1st day of school in 1st grade - that I played around with!

We will be back soon!

More pics from the beach..

2007-08-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted - the week we got back Emma was signed up for VBS at our church and Annie was signed up for horseback riding camp...will go into later....so here are the rest of the beach pics...

Miller and Emma up to their necks in sand!

Mom and Gaga lounging around!

Nap time for dad!

Dad catching a few waves!

Annie ready to go out!

Emma practicing!

Taking a break from digging the hole!

Libby and Emma!

Muckers anyone?

Mom and I entertained ourselves, waiting up for Winston to get back from the 311 show.

We made it back!

2007-07-30T05:00:00.001-07:00

We got back from the beach late Staurday night! I think 3 of us are ready to go back! We had a great time! The weather was beautiful. Here are some pictures from the trip...

On Tuesday we went fishing offshore on my father's boat...Winston, my dad, Tim and I all caught citation worthy Amberjack...then we each pulled in a dolphin. The Amberjack get thrown back after they are measured, but we were able to take the dolphin home to enjoy for dinner. We also ended up catching a Barracuda and a bird (don't ask!)My father ended up hooking 2 white marlin, but they never made it in the boat! It was a long, hot day but we all had a great time. It is so beautiful out there - we only saw a couple other boats that day. We were 75 miles offshore of Virginia Beach - we actually were closer to the Outer Banks - I think only 17 miles away! While we were fishing mom took the girls and their cousin Libby on the local pirate ship cruise... They came back with buried treasure and tatoos!

We spent lots of time on the beach playing in the sand and enjoying the waves. It worked out great - the week were were down at the beach was the same week that my cousin Liz and her children Hearne (10), Libby (9) and Miller (5) were also down...it helped us all out to have playmates for the kids...they stay in my Aunts house right behing ours.
One day my parents and I took the girls and Libby across the street to the park and did a little crabbing - we caught a dozen, but I killed them before we had a chance to cook them up!!

I will continue later!

Having a blast!

2007-07-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

We are at the beach right now! The girls and I just came in - the weather is wonderful! Having so much fun! Tim, Winston, my dad and I went offshore fishing on Tuesday - we all got Amberjack citations - and we all pulled in a dolphin! We went down to the boat this morning after breakfast and caught about 12 spot to use for live bait when they go back out next week. Getting ready to go boil some water for the crabs that the girls and I caught yesterday! We will have lots of pictures when I get back late Saturday night!

Gotta go...

2007-07-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

real quick...well we didn't win the Itty Bitty City - ugh - not happy.

So sorry it has been such a long time, but we have been buuussssyyy around here - we are actually leaving in a few minutes to head to Virginia Beach for a week! Woo hoo!! We are all so excited!!!

Here are a few pics from last years beach trip - I wasn't blogging then - so it is safe to say you haven't seen them yet!

Itty Bitty City

2007-06-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

For the past 3 year, The Free Lance Star has had a summer Scavenger Hunt downtown...I have always wanted to do it, but we never seemed to motivate until it was too late. This year was different. We talked T and BT and Em and the boys into doing it with us...we figured the more eyes we have looking the quicker we would find everything. Well we started last Thursday night with dinner at the pool hall and headed out with our map, pics and clues down William Street. We ( I mean everyone else, I couldn't find but 2) were able to spot a few right away and some you had to really look into. We finally stopped looking around 9, when it got dark, but we went up and down Caroline and Sophia Streets many times. That first night we probably found 15/20. So Friday night after dinner, T and BT and T, the girls and I went back out. Em and the boys couldn't make it. We were very fortunate that the weather was so nice those 2 days. Had it been as hot as it is now, I don't think we would have been as motivated as we were. Well on Friday we found the rest of our items! Now we just need to submit the form with all of our answers! We ended up at Hyperion for some coffee and hot cocoa!

Annies' Last day of School!

2007-06-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

She made it! One more year down! Annie will be going to a new school in the Fall, LUES. WE have had another good year at HMES! Her teacher this year, M. Green, was wonderful. She had a class full of good students and made quite a few good friends!

Teacher Gifts...

2007-06-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Every end of the year I get stressed out with what to give and who to give to...This year we had Emma's 2 teachers, Mrs. White and Mrs. Knapp and then Annie's teacher's...her teacher, the aide, the helper?, her math teacher, the GT teacher, the bus driver...this was all that I gave to this year, I know some parents also give to the principal, the art teacher, the music teacher, the gym teachers (there are 3 of them) How do they do it?? I was determined to save money and be crafty this year. For Emma's teachers, all the parents gave $30, $15 for each teacher, they both got an $80 spa GC, one teacher got a $100 to Anthropologie, the other teacher got a silver bracelet with her daughters name engraved into it, and whatever was left over went on a Visa gift card...pretty nice I thought. Well Emma and I also gave them a plant that she had planted in a nice pot, from our favorite store, Tuesday Morning, and a clip board that I had decorated for them, with a pad of paper monogrammed with their name. I didn't take pics of the ones for her teachers, but here are pics of some of the ones for Annie's teachers. I also got them some items from BandBW and some other goodies. I was very pleased with how the clip boards turned out - we also made little maching monogrammed gift tags/key chains.

Bugs, bugs and more bugs...

2007-06-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, I took Emma and Q to the Bug Box in Spotsylvania. They had a great time. We spent about an hour there and then I took them for lunch to chic-fil-a. At 2 o'clock we met up with Emily and W at the city pool...the kids played for hours! We had a great time!

Cooking class...

2007-06-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

Last week I posted about the girls' Carriage Ride through downtown. Well Friday was the last Girl Scout activity of this school year. We picked the girls up after school and took them to Whittingham's downtown for a cooking class. The girls were supposed to make a 'healthy' pizza and a clown cupcake for dessert. Well...the made pizzas - The teacher had onions, mushrooms, green and red peppers, cheese and pepperoni for the girls to put on the pizza...as you can figure we had lots of pepperoni and cheese pizzas! However, we did make the girls put 1 of each of the veggies on their pizzas to try...for some reason by the time they got around to that slice of pizza they were too stuffed...but they found room to devour cupcakes that they decorated!

The aprons they each decorated at their last meeting.

It's a record....

2007-06-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

only 6 days have goine by since my last post - i am getting better ... let's hope. It has been such a nice weekend. Tim offered to watch the girls for the majority of the day on Saturday so that I could get together with some friends at mom & dads pool and have a relaxing day. So much fun! Emily, Vicky, Barrie, Amy and Kate all came. We started the day at 2 - just sipping some ice cold beer and laying around - we ended up playing badmitton, jumping on the trampoline and have crazy pool races! Finally around 10 we decided that it was time to end our day and we met back up with kiddies and husbands at Jimmy's. Thanks again! I ddin't take any pics, but I know there are a few floating around!

Well this is Annies' last week of school! We are ALL excited! I have been finishing up the final touches on her teachers end of the year gifts...this has always been tough for me to figure out - I am sure that they get overwhelmed by mugs and candles....so i try to always find something creative to do ... However, when you need to get gfts for her teacher, the aide, the student teacher, the math teacher, the GT teacher and the bus driver...not counting Emma's 2 teachers - it can add up ... Once I finish their gifts I will post pics....

It seems we have been spending SO much time at the pool recently! With the new city pool that opened last year and my parents pool and Jimmy/Chris' that we use from time to time, we are constantly lugging noodles, goggles, rings, toys, towels, sunscreen all over the place...AND wet bathing suits and coverups...I was at target on Friday to grab 2 birthday gifts for parties over the weekend and decided to swing by the dollar section at the front of the store...this can be a good thing or a bad thing :) Well it was a great thing today - I found these adorable totes - straw with either pink or blue polka dot lined fabric in the inside. I picked up a few -I am planning on going back this week and grabbing a few more. I got one for Annie's friend who was having a party on Friday night and filled it with scrap book supplies - all in the dollar section - and stuffed it with tissue paper and tied it up with a cool ribbon. I also grabbed 2 more - one for each of the girls - I am planning on themn using it as their pool bags - they will each have their own goggles, books, sunscreen, cover up in their OWN bags - so if we pool hop - they will have all of their things in their bag.

Here is a pic of Annies - not happy with the ribbon I added - so I will probably change that ... as soon as Emma finds hers I plan on fixing hers up....

This is what the inside looks like..

Make new friends, but keep the old...

2007-06-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the Girl Scout bridging ceremony. If you leave in the are you know that Sunday was also the 1st day in a couple of weeks that we had rain - ALOT of rain! However, there is only one shelter/pavillion at Alum Springs Park and it takes forever to get a reservation there so we were told early that the festivities were still on. Well, after getting everyone ready to go we piled in the car and headed over at 2.00. To get into the park you have to drive through a small stream of water - usually no big deal - however, since it had been raining all day the water was a little higher than we thought! Driving through the water came onto the hood of the car - producing some steam and a slight odor...When we got up to the parking lot we noticed girls, but no cars...that is why people were parking and walking to the park...so we turned around and did just that...We met up with a few other girls from our troop and things were getting started. Tim was nice and took Emma to the playground...the older GS's took the girls on a SHORT hike - still pouring - and then back to the shelter to work on their Outdoor Badge. While they were doing this Tim and I took Emma for a little stroll through the woods. We made the decision to not bridge the girls this year for a couple of reasons - one being the fact that there would be a big age difference between some of our girls and the other troop that they would be joining so - we decided to leave at 3.30.

Picnicking...

2007-06-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

On Saturday T, B.T, T the girls and I, made our yearly trek to Westmoreland County to the site of George Washington's birthplace for, some sun, sand, shark teeth and lots of yummy food. We always have a great time when we go. After a few hours of hanging out on the sandy beach we moved over to the picnic area and had a wonderful feast that Tanya had prepared...chicken salad sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, cheese and crackers, pasta salad, fresh strawberries, chips and homemade chocolate cake...after eating we all just grabbed our books and laid around on a blanket. Then Tim and I took the girls for a hike through the trail - the bugs were HORRIBLE - you couldn't enjoy the walk because we were trying to go so fast to get it over with (- we ended up finding a tick on each of the girls Sunday after their bath/shower.) After that the boys tossed the football around and then decided to head home. It was a great day!

Here are all the shark teeth that we found this year - the large one (near the quarter is one we found last year.)

Done...

2007-06-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

As in Emma finished preschool. I can still remember Annie's 1st day of school. We are very fortunate in finding a fantastic school very close for both of the girls to attend. Annie went for 2 years and Emma just completed her last year. We were also fortunate to have the same teacher for all 4 of those years...Mrs. White - she is absolutely wonderful! This year there was a new asst teacher - Mrs. Knapp who we also loved!

I remember someone from church asking me where I was going to send Annie to preschool...When I told her CLPS she had said how much she loved the school - she had been a nanny for 5 children that went through the program - and she kept talking about the 4 yo graduation program and how cute it was! She was right - the teachers do a great job putting this on - they actually starting practicing for 15 minutes each morning starting back in February. Must take lots of patience to be a PS teacher!

Well a couple of weeks ago Emma completed pre school - we were both sad - Emma was sad that she wasn't going to be seeing her teachers every week and I was sad because this was it - the last child to go through preschool. T's parents, Mamaw and Pops, my parents, Gigi and Gdaddy, her Great Granmother, Gaga, Annie and Tanya all made it to watch their performance. Afterwards, we took everyone out to Friendly's for ice cream sundaes.

Earlier that evening, her GiGi stopped by with her graduation gift - her 1st set of pearls.

May...

2007-06-04T11:30:00.000-07:00

May was another busy month for us.

It began slow, but ended up jam packed.

Starting with The German...lots of fun, always!

Then we had Mother's Day...this year the girls and I spent it at my mom's for a day of crabs and grilling. A wonderful time! T spent the day with his mom.

The next week Emma had a field trip to The National Zoo with her class. We had a blast. They take the 4 yo's each year. I remember Annie and I taking the trip a few years (4) ago. It is a quick trip - we left the school at 8.30 and were back by 2.15. Emma was slightly dissapointed that her favorites, teh zebra and the giraffe had both taken vactions down to Tampa for renovations.

Then we were able to squeeze in her school's Beach Day - another fun filled day for the kids - I don't know how Mrs. White and Mrs. Knapp made it!

Later that week we took our Girl Scout troop on a Carriage Ride through downtown and stopped and had an Ice Cream treat. The girls were wounded up this day. They had all taken a field trip that morning to check out LUES to see where they will be going next year and there was a 1/2 day that day. So Debby and I picked the girls up from school and ventured downtown. This was a special treat for the girls because they did such a great job selling Nuts in the fall and cookies in the Spring that we were able to treat them to a couple of fun activities before the year was over. We are taking them this Friday to Whittingham's for a cooking class.

Then we had a wedding to attend ... no pics of us... but here is Tims' brothers and their wives and Caleb with Tims' niece, Brianna.

Finally, we got to head to the pool...the water was cold, but we had a blast!

Field trip to the Firehouse...

2007-06-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

Back in April, Emma took a Field trip down to the Fire Station with her preschool class. Afterwards, we met up with T and B.T. and had lunch at Goolricks.

Back in April, Emma took a Field trip down to the Fire Station with her preschool class.

Time is just flying by....

2007-06-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

The end of the year is always crazy around here...field trips, birthday parties, picnics, school functions, Girl Scout activities...this year we added Emma's preschool graduation, but we were able to remove VBS prep work :) We have also found some time to lounge around - whether it is in the yard or around the pool. So much to say and so much more pictures to show - hopefully will get around to updating this afternoon!

P.S. Since it has been FOREVER since I posted there will be LOTS of pics and few words :)

Kings Dominion...

2007-04-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

The four of us went to Kings Dominion over Spring Break with some friends. We were very lucky - the weather was perfect, the lines were short and everyone behaved.

Emma, Annie, Maddie and Libby.

Jamie and Maddie.
Zoe.

Annie brought her friend Libby along for the day.

Q and E - off to bump some cars!

Walker, Emma and Quentin with Blue.

Emma was so excited - this was the 1st year that she could drive!

Visual DNA

2007-04-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Easter 2007

2007-04-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter weekend with family and friends! Dyed some eggs, made some treats, a beautiful Easter morning at church...and the day ended with a wonderful dinner at Mom and Dad's. Of course they went overboard with the food AGAIN ...such great food and friends to spend the time with. We had Venison, Smoked Turkey, Ham, Lamb, Spinach Casserole (my fave), Asparagus, Tomatoe Aspic (sp?), Squash Casserole, Mac N' Cheese and a wonderful salad. As soon as we got to their house, the girls ran off to find their Easter baskets and goodies - they got bathing suits and spring clothes - just what they needed! Santa and the Easter Bunny love lotto tickets. After we spent an hour scratching to see what we won, the girls were off on their Egg Hunt...Uncle Winston beat them to the Golden Egg, but they each found tons of eggs with more goodies on the inside!

Easter Pics...

2007-04-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Still more to come...

2007-04-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

2007-04-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

Yummm...Chocolate...

2007-04-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

Everyone know that G daddy and Emma's favorites are M & M's ... The Easter Bunny gave Emma a chocolate painting kit w/ M & M's - she and G Daddy got to work after dinner and GiGi even joined in on the fun!

2007-04-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

Bubbles...

2007-04-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

Emma got a bubble machine for Easter - it blows 10 thousand bubbles in just a few minutes! The girls, Allison included, had a great time with this.

More...

2007-04-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

Annie recieved a Hoover Disc in her basket - she, Tim and Winston had fun tossing it around the yard.

She can see!

2007-03-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

Annie has been wearing glasses for 2 years now. However, recently we have noticed that she sits closer to the TV and holds books alot closer with her glasses on than she used to. So we made a trip to the eye doc last week - and we were right, she needed to change her prescription. She had already picked out the glasses on an earlier visit. It is wonderful to hear that she actually wants to put her glasses on each day. Usually on the way to the bus stop in the mornings she is always amazed at what she sees differently now than before with her old glasses! Emma's appt is next month and she ahs already decided that she wants glasses just like Annies' except she wants the blue ones. Maybe I should get the black ones!

Beautiful Weather...

2007-03-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

We have been spending ALOT of time taking walks and heading to the park now that the weather has finally started to cooperate...here are some pics....

Quentin and Emma looking at the turtles.

Being silly.

Emma and I decided to play UNO at the park.

The turtles.

Of course 2 blocks is too far for her to walk!

A must read....

2007-03-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

Drop everything that you are doing - I have been reading this blog since it started and I think it is time to share...these couples are hilarious...Don't worry for all those out there wo lil ones...read!

http://www.dadsaidmomsaid.blogspot.com/

Well it is a beautiful day here - supposed to reach 81! So we are headed to read to Annies class and then take a walk to the park for a picnic and meet some friends!

Camm

Sunny Days

2007-03-01T06:44:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, on a nice Sunny day - we took a walk done to the river with Tim, Tanya, Mycroft, Allicon, Mike, Jasmine, Abby and Mystic...we all had a great time! Maybe we could do it again this weekend if the weather stays nice!

What are you listening to?

2007-03-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed the music on the sidebar - hopefully if you were at work, your speakers weren't turned up too loud! Just a few songs that I enjoy listening too!

My little one...

2007-02-28T18:27:00.000-08:00

Well ... it is official - I am the mother of an 8 year old. Annie celebrated her 8th birthday over the weekend! Can you believe it? It seems that the first 8 years have flown by ... I wish we could just slow things down a little bit. It is amazing how quickly they can change.
One of her presents was a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. We visited the waterpark once when they 1st opened, but this was the first time we spent the night! The girls had a blast! I think I may have been more excited than they were. There is so much for the kids to do - not just the waterpark! We ended up playing all day Saturday and not heading home till 7.30. I can't wait to go back!
We woke up to a surprise snow on Sunday morning - we made it to church only to discover that church was cancelled (who cancels church?) and decided to head out to get fixins for Annie's bday dinner - Cheeseburgers, peas, fries and ice cream cake! It was a little too mushy out to grill so we borrowed a couple George Foreman Grills and cooked out in the kitchen! An additional treat for Annie was being able to sleep in on Monday, due to a 2 hour delay!

Diamonds....

2007-02-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

Annie participated in her 1st spelling bee. Hard to believe, but I was actually a good speller growing up and was in quite a few spelling bees. Something must have happened between middle school and now, because I have lost my touch. I never won a bee nor did I ever come close, but I can remember standing on the stage looking down at everyone as my name was called to spell my word. I will also never forget the same boy (JS) who won EVERY year and got a new dictionary EVERY year! I was so proud when Annie was picked to represent her class in the spelling bee. We studied for a couple of weeks. The school sends home 3 pages of words to study that are used and they also pull from a list that is not sent out. However, the weekend before the bee I found her crying in the living room because she was so nervous. Before you start thinking that I was pushing her to do this - I wasn't - I even gave her the choice to opt out if she wanted. I told her that there was nothing to worry about - that this was for fun and that I didn't care if she spelled ALL the words wrong - I was just proud of her for trying. Well, on the afternoon of the spelling bee my mom and Allison met me in the auditorium to cheer Annie on. She did great! She made it through the 5th round and then they started to ask the words that they didn't get to study and she came up to the microphone and they said that her word was 'diamond'. She paused and thought about it and out came D-I-M-O-N-D....they rang the bell and she sat back down - at this point my sister leans over and says : "If you made her spell it right on her Christmas list, she wouldn't have gotten it wrong - so it's your fault!" You see - Annie asked for a diamond necklace on her wish list for Santa and I didn't make her correct her spelling on that! So who knows how she would have done if only I had made her spell it right the first time. However, Mary Wallace, who is a friend of Annie's and in our Girl Scout troop won! Congrats!

Kinda funny...in a bizarre way

2007-01-25T21:34:00.000-08:00

This is for all the parents that have had to put up with their childs screaming when you just thought you couldn't take it any more. Just be thankful that this isn't you. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16784154/ Next time your child throws a fit, just be thankful that you don't own chickens.

Anybody out there?

2007-01-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

Discovered this today and thought it would be neat since I do a different name...

I started with my first name, Arrington:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Tried with middle name, Camm :

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Looks like I am really special :)

Still here....

2007-01-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have updated - I have TONS and TONS of pictures to post...but first some from earlier today. Today is Tim's 31st birthday - so Emma and I were working on the cake today after lunch. Annie will be icing it later when she gets home from school.

Update...

2006-12-29T10:56:00.001-08:00

I guess I should let you guys know how the eggs turned out - fine...bc I didn't eat them :) I told the girls that I wasn't feeling well and to help me out they could make me a tall glass of ginger ale for breakfast! Got out of that one!

Eggs...

2006-12-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

As I sit here and type this entry, my kids are in the kitchen making me breakfast. Yes, We all slept in this morning - 1st day of Christmas break! They have been in there for about 30 minutes. That is what woke me up - the sound of the microwave beeping. They are making eggs...scrambled in the microwave...my sister taught Annie how to do this at the beach this summer. The only problem is - I am a little funny about my eggs...Even when I make them sometimes, I get queasy and have to throw them out. Every time I crack an egg open I get nervous and worry that somehow one with a baby chick in it got into my carton in the store. That is usually when I start to get queasy - Also, I have seen my girls crack eggs and there is usually ALOT of shell.... Well...I just heard them call me - Breakfast is ready! I will let you know how it goes....

**I really appreciate my girls doing this for me - its just eggs make me nervous...

Yummy...

2006-12-20T18:26:00.000-08:00

I found a few neat martini recipes for the holidays...let's all get together and try them out!

The Christmas Cosmo

INGREDIENTS:
• 1/2 oz. Cointreau
• 1/2 oz. cranberry juice
• 1 tsp. lime juice fresh
• 1 oz. vodka

DIRECTIONS:
Pour all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake then strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a few frozen cranberries after pouring!

Snow in Tokyo Martini Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 oz Sake
1 1/2 oz. Vanilla Vodka
1 oz White Chocolate Liqueur
Splash Baileys
Dash Kahula Chocolate Shavings
Maraschino Cherry Juice
Milk Chocolate, Finely Shaved

DIRECTIONS:
Place ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Dip the rim of a martini glass into the juice of maraschino cherries then dip into milk chocolate shavings until they stick. Strain liquid into glass. Garnish with the Kahula shavings.

Gingerbread Man Martini
INGREDIENTS:
2 oz. cinnamon schnapps
2 oz. hazelnut liqueur
Splash half and half
2 oz. Espresso Vodka

DIRECTIONS:
Add all ingredients to a martini shaker over ice. Shake until cold then strain into a chilled martini glass. Sprinkle the top of your martini with cinnamon and garnish with a cinnamon stick!

Pumpkin Pie Martini

INGREDIENTS:
1.25 oz. Vanilla Vodka
1.25 oz. Pumpkin Smash
.5 oz. Milk
1 tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Mix in vodka, pumpkin smash, milk and ice in a martini shaker. Shake well. Mix sugar and cinnamon together and add to the rim of your martini glass. Strain the pumpkin pie martini into your glass rimmed with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Enjoy!

White Chocolate Blizzard Martini

INGREDIENTS:
1 ounce white chocolate liqueur
1 ounce vanilla vodka

finely shaved dark chocolate

DIRECTIONS:
Pour liqueur and vodka into a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Sprinkle dark chocolate shavings on top and pour into martini glass. Enjoy!

Hot Cocoa Martini

INGREDIENTS:
3 ounces homemade hot chocolate, cooled
1 ounce dark crème de cocoa
1 ounce Bailey's Irish Cream
3/4 ounce vanilla vodka
3 to 4 miniature marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the chocolate, dark crème de cacao, Bailey's, and vanilla vodka in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake moderately. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Drop 3 to 4 miniature marshmallows in the glass and roast with a crème brûlée torch, if desired.

Dreaming of A White Christmas...

2006-12-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

Well since we haven't had any of our real snow and we probably won't anytime soon...I found this neat website where you can create your own snowflake to send to a friend for a good cause. http://www.popularfront.com/snowdays/index.html?id=3285359

My Santa - THE LEGENDARY SANTA

2006-12-10T14:01:00.000-08:00

I know - I am a little too old to get so excited over seeing Santa! I admit, I probably whined and groaned for atleast 10 of the twenty so years that I sat on Santa's lap, but there is something special about making the trip down to Richmond to see the REAL Santa each December. I feel sorry for the generation of kids who have to go to a mall and stand in line to see someone that looks more like an elf than the real Santa. Yes, I probably have waited or made my kids wait in a much longer line just to see the Legendary Santa, but it is so worth it. I can remember mom and dad taking us to Miller and Rhoades in Richmond every year. Some years we made a day of it by shopping and even a few times we had tea or even dinner with Santa. There was always Bruce the Spruce (the singing Christmas tree) and the Snow Queen. Some years we had to wait in a long line, but if mom timed it right we were only in line for a short time. Even when we reached the age where it was no longer cool to sit on Santas lap, mom and dad still would always say "All we want for Christmas is for a picture of you guys on Santas lap. She still keeps the pictures displayed. Dad, even mentioned last week that that was all he wanted. We granted their wish, even if it meant coming home from college early to make that special trip down to Richmond. So of course I take my girls down each year to see My Santa...of course since Miller and Rhoades has closed its doors...it moved to Thalhimers, and from there to the Richmond Convention Center to where it has been the last 2 years, The Childrens Museum of Richmond. My parents would let us skip school to make the trip and of course I pull Annie and Emma out for the same. This isn't any guy dressed up in a Santa suit - he LOOKS like Santa...I consider him the REAL Santa - It's funny, even though I am a parent and have certain duties on Christmas Eve and yes, I know the REAL reason behind the Season...I STILL believe!

Suggestions....

2006-12-06T04:58:00.000-08:00

Every Tuesday I go to Annies school and read to her class. The past few weeks I have read....
Double Trouble in Walla Walla, Jungle Drums, Blueberrys for Sal, The Happy Hedgehog and Merry Christmas Amelia Bedelia. I usually have 25 minutes to read before they go to lunch. I am tyring to not get into a chapter book, because if I can read 2+ books to them it keeps their attention because I can discuss/ ask questions inbetween books...SO if you have any ideas, please let me know!

Stumbling Santas 2006 - The final one for me :)

2006-12-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

I am not going to go into details, because everyone that has access to view my blog knows that I had WAY TOO Much fun on Saturday! After finally dropping the girls off at home with the babysitter, after the parade - I was exhausted, but just wanted that one beer to quench my thirst because I WAS TAKING IT EASY ! No late nights for me I had a whole day of shopping planned for Sunday .... well it didn't quite happen that way... let's just say I have thrown Tim's Santa Suit away - 5 years of no washing and being stored in the attic - it needed to be and I am offering my babysitting sitting services for next years Festivities!

.... maybe ;)

Parade...

2006-12-05T16:26:00.000-08:00

The first pic - is from all the girls at the pizza party before we started to decorate the car....the 3rd one is a pic of the car after it was decorated!

More pics from parade...

2006-12-05T16:15:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Parade in Downtown Fredericksburg.

2006-12-05T16:05:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a crazy one! On Saturday we had the Christmas parade. Annie's Girl Scout troop decided to that they were going to organize it for this year as our Service Unit project. For the past couple of months we have been getting things ready at our meetings. Emma attends the meetings also since I am the Assistant Leader, so she was thrilled to hear that she was going to get the opportunity to walk in it this year. We have taken the girls to the parade every year, never missing one. I missed one year, but Tim took the girls. This year the theme was "A Carribean Christmas" I think it is a little over done, I would rather see red and green and hear the traditional songs...but pink and green and a little Jimmy Buffet isn't that bad! The girls had a great time! They were absolutely exhausted afterwards! However, we did manage to find a spot to watch the parade for about an hour before we hiked back to the car. I did tell them that next year we need to choose - either participate in the parade OR watch it! But not both - too much!

Halloween Pictures...Finally!

2006-11-25T16:27:00.000-08:00

I am finally getting around to posting our Halloween pictures! We had a blast ! The girls got more candy than ever this year! We actually STILL have a bucket full - I think I will throw that out tonight! I need to make room for the Christmas decorations!

Annies eyes look as if they are going to pop out of her head in this one - I guess she was trying to tell me to quit taking pictures so they could start Trick or Treating!

Thanksgiving Feast

2006-11-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Emma's Thanksgiving Feast at school. This is always so cute. One of the classes dress up as pilgrims and the other as Indians. Last year Emma was a pilgrim so it was her turn to be an Indian. The spent last week dyeing, decorating and beading their costume! Her teacher does such a great job getting things prepared. Once the Indians and Pilgrims greeted each other it was time to enjoy the feast. They had turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn bread, fruit salad and pumpkin apple muffins. Everyone loved it!

I know...

2006-11-14T09:20:00.000-08:00

This was over a month ago, but like I said I am trying to play catch up - This year we had Emma's 5th birthdayat the Riverside Dinner Theater - they put on a Childrens theater on Saturdays and we had seen Cats there a few months earlier. Both of the girls loved it and I knew that Seussical was coming so I suggested it to Emma - Well she loved the idea and couldn't wait! She had about 12 of her friends and they all had a great time.

Still trying to catch up!

2006-11-14T06:46:00.000-08:00

This is from Emma's class trip to Belvedere Pumpkin Patch.

2nd Grade Concert...

2006-11-14T03:54:00.000-08:00

Last night was Annies, 2nd grade music concert. They actually had 2 yesterday - the first one they do during the day for the other students and then last night for the parents and friends. Everyone did a great job! Their music teacher is awesome - he really does a great job with these kids!

The first 2 pics are from the night concert and the bottom 2 are from the one during the day. It is a shame that more parents don't bring their children back for the evening performance after all the work that the teacher does to prepare.

2nd grade concert...(pictures)

2006-11-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

Emma's Halloween Party Pics...

2006-11-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

better late than never...

We voted...did you??!

2006-11-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

Election Day -

2006-11-07T04:12:00.001-08:00

Just a reminder to everyone to go out and vote!

BYOP - Bring Your Own Pumpkin

2006-11-05T07:23:00.000-08:00

Last weekend the weather was beautiful! We were able to enjoy it to its fullest. Granted it was a little busier than I wouldv'e liked, but we survived. On Sunday, after church, we came home and after lunch we packed our huge pumpkins in the back of the van and headed off to my cousins house for a pumpkin carving party. They have had it for years, but this was the first that we were able to attend because of scheduling conflicts. What a GREAT time we had! They had everything you can imagine for Annie and Emma to play with. They have 2 boys and 2 girls - all under the age of 7 - so it was perfect. Go carts, the biggest swingset/fort you could imagine, bikes, wagons ... and 2 dogs! After a couple hours of playing and eating - it was carving time...Everyone grabbed their pumpkin, they provided ALL the tools and a basket full of stencils - if that was the route you planned on taking! Emma picked a cat for her dad to carve on her pumpkin and Annie and I picked this very detailed stencil of 4 monsters faces ... after we finally poked all the holes and removed the stencil it was time to start cutting the pumpkin - Well after 15 minutes of staring back and forth between the stencil and pumpkin, pumpkin and stencil - I discovered that Annie and I taped the stencil on UPSIDE DOWN! Ugh! So we flipped the pumpkin over and started carving - Unfortunately, by then it was dark and no amount of tiki torches and heat lamps made it possible to continue to carve that pumpkin.

Apples, Apples and more Apples

2006-11-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

I am really fortunate to have all of my family nearby. It especially comes in handy when you feel overwhelmed and need a day off! Allison and Kate took the girls to the Apple Festival a couple weeks ago. They had a blast! Aunt Allison packed a picnic and took off with the girls. They came back that evening covered with straw, tired and toting lots of small apples - Emmas favorite!

**Thanks Kate for taking the pictures! They were great! Also Emma thanks you for the piggy back ride!

Backtracking...

2006-11-02T09:19:00.001-08:00

Now that October is over...I really don't have anything exciting to talk about. So I will be playing catch-up with all the Fall activities that we have been involved with the past few weeks. I have been playing around with www.picasa.com this morning, trying to organize ALL of the pictures that I have on my computer. However, I have started using my other camera recently and am waiting for those pictures to be put on disk so I can upload those to the computer also.

Getting Started...

2006-11-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Finally. I have talked about doing this Forever...well here IT is.