What I Learned From our Disney Vacation...

1. Our children were not properly prepared for the Disney visit in that they hadn't seen many of the Disney movies and didn't recognize many of the characters. This was most evident on our first day in Animal Kingdom- they didn't know Rafiki or Jiminy Cricket and Sadie is now convinced that Pocahontas is actually Poca Hontas and has a beaver friend who takes care of her hair. We'll be spending all of April watching Disney movies to get caught up.

2. Caleb has a scientific mind and with that comes a curiosity about how the human body works. Add to that certain biographical information on Walt Disney and you get... well, an interesting conversation. We took the Magic Bus from the airport to the hotel and there was a short movie about DW on the bus. When Caleb saw Walt Disney, he began asking all these questions about how Disney had died. "Did his cells deteriorate?" "Did his organs shut down?" Not the happiest of conversations for the drive to the happiest place on earth and of course, everyone around us on the bus could hear but he's a curious boy with a desire to know things so we go with it.

3. Sometimes when the Walt Disney World Guide for Kids says that a ride is Dark, Rough, Loud and Scary, it might be a good idea to skip that particular ride.
Our first day at Disney was spent at Disney's Animal Kingdom and while there we decided to check out Dinosaur. Audio-animatronic dinosaurs? Cool! What could be scary?.... Well, at least Daddy liked the ride. Caleb and Sadie, not so much and we'll just leave it at that. And from then on, the kids would not go on anything that was listed as dark, loud, and scary. Oh, and we were also done with dinosaurs after that experience.

4. A little girl will spend the entire day in her Cinderella dress, hoping to meet her favorite princess. And yes sweetheart, you looked stunning.

5. If it's in an air-conditioned building, Mommy will stand in line for an hour or more to get princess or Pixar autographs. If not, Mommy will only do it once. Sorry Tinkerbell, you're just not worth that much time in the hot sun on the last (and hottest) day of the vacation. I learned my lesson with Ariel and Prince Eric.

6. Mommy and Daddy will stand in the hot sun with no sunscreen on eagerly watching their little boy become a Jedi and fight his enemy (Darth Vader). And Mommy will get teary eyed at how her little man is doing things that he wouldn't have even considered doing just a year ago. Things like putting on a Jedi robe and talking to people in costume- not a big deal for many boys his age but a huge success for our little man.

7. An adorable little girl can get a super hero to do just about anything. We have photographic evidence of Mr. Incredible doing plies for Sadie.

8. When you're done, you're done. Even if the fireworks are still going off in the sky.
We stayed to watch the light and fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday night. I couldn't believe the kids were even up for it but halfway through the show, Sadie turns around to me and says "okay, let's go" and her brother said the same thing. So we got up and headed for the buses, with out even a glance back at the fireworks finale.

9. Sometimes you have to push through the fear.
Dinosaur did a number on the monkeys and I hoped that they would get over it before the end of vacation. I really, really, really wanted to go on Pirates of the Caribbean. The kids really, really, really didn't want to go on it. With much convincing and well, picking them up and carrying them onto the ride, we did it. And they saw that it wasn't so bad. Still not their favorite Disney ride but I hope that we taught them that sometimes we do things for the people we love and audio-animatronic isn't always bad.

10. My happiest moments at Disney as a kid are very different from being there as a parent. There really is something magical in seeing such happiness in your child's eyes. It's really special.

Saving the planet... or not

in the new house, we have multiple bathrooms. This was eagerly awaited by everyone in our family. From a mom's point of view, the idea of getting to use a bathroom when one needs to and in private is a glorious idea.

Now, the kids get to use their bathroom (at the top of the stairs) and the half bath (at the bottom of the stairs) and this has worked out pretty well. They're enjoying their new independence, being able to reach the light switch and the water for hand washing. There is one downside- they are quite happy to turn the light on but somehow forget to turn the light off. So after I hear a monkey use the bathroom, I immediately ask the 3 most important questions...

Did you flush?
Did you wash your hands?
Did you turn off the light?

And of course, the monkey always replies "no" to all 3.

Now, if I should miss hearing a trip to the bathroom and forget to ask the 3 questions, I later hear the other monkey (the informant) announce to the house that the bathroom light is on. The announcement is always made and the informant monkey continues on their way- not touching the light switch. I guess there has been too much emphasis on the discussion of lights being on and not enough emphasis on the fact that we don't want the bathroom lights left on!!!

Sorry Al Gore, we're trying.

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

So where have I been for the past month...backpacking through Europe? a cruise in the Mediterranean? undercover, saving the world from imminent destruction? Nope. We've been moving and not even to an extravagant location. We moved from Oakland to the North Hills. Please, don't misunderstand, I absolutely LOVE our new house, it just seems like there was a whole lot of work going in to a move only 15 minutes away.

This all started back in February, right after the ridiculous snowfall. Andy and I had come to the realization that our little house in Oakland was not going to cut it forever. It was a nice little 3 bedroom place but that third bedroom was smaller than many walk-in closets around these days. It was not going to work and having a boy and a girl, they weren't going to be able to share a room forever. So we decided to start looking for a bigger place. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of houses on the market right after record breaking snowfalls. I was looking online and found some new construction websites. I had always been curious about them. Andy agreed, so we decided to check out a couple.

I never thought we would actually do this. Of course, the model homes were gorgeous and we thought, there's no way we could afford something like this. Then we started doing some more research. Andy and I are not fix-it-up kind of people. We don't like spending weekends re-modeling. The idea of having a house already done and better yet, we pick out how it looks, this was looking better and better. Then the first week of March we got a call. There was a big sell off of lots in the community we were interested in and so if this was what we were going to do, then we needed to decide quickly.

So on Andy's 30th birthday, we bought land, or rather, our lot for our future house. They set a closing date for August 25.



And over the course of the next 3 months, our house began to come together as we got to decide cabinets and flooring and counter tops. It was very exciting and very overwhelming at times. We also had to put our house up for sale. Amazingly, it sold after only being on the market for a week and a half. And our buyer happened to be a girl who lived across the street from us. Selling the house was not the best experience but thankfully, God brought us through and worked out all the details.

Then it was time to pack. Little by little, boxes began to fill up. And we were also able to take little trips to watch the progress of our new house. I think this was so incredibly helpful for our little man who struggles with change and another reminder that God knows how to take care of us. Caleb and Sadie both were very excited by the new house but were also full of questions...

"Will our toys come to the new house?"

"Will our beds come to the new house?"

"Will our new house have a bathroom?"

The bathroom thing really seemed to have them worried. They we relieved to learn that the new house would have 3 bathrooms. This is big when you come from a house with 1 very awkwardly shaped bathroom.




May came and went. June 1st we closed on our old house (and started renting for the next 2 months). Then it was July. Then mid-July and oh my, we needed to get going. All the while, we kept visiting the house and seeing how quickly it was coming along. The second to the last week in July, we learned that it was possible that the house might be finished early. (Duh, we thought to ourselves and then scrambled to get the paperwork together for closing).







Amazingly, everything came together. We changed around movers (since we no longer needed to put our things into storage) finished packing, painted most of the old house (and hired painters to finish that) and closed on our new house July 30 almost 1 full month ahead of schedule. The moving truck dropped our things off at the new house and we went on vacation. That's right, our family vacation to NJ had been planned in 2009, way before this craziness started, and we really needed a break so we took off for Ocean Beach, NJ. We had a wonderful and relaxing week there and we were able to leave the kids with G'ma Jody and PopPop Pat for a few extra days. With the kids at G'ma's house, Andy and I were able to get beds assembled and the kitchen put together without extra helpers.

So we are well into August and enjoying the added space (and multiple bathrooms) in our new house. We're slowly unpacking and organizing. We're trying to coax our lawn to not completely die on us and slowly starting to meet neighbors. Most of all, we're enjoying the quiet that is part of living in the 'burbs- no speeding hot rods and motorcycles down our street and no helicopters circling overhead.

Usually it takes Andy and I a ridiculously long time to make purchases, even something as little as a toaster oven, we'll research for weeks (in the midst of that right now). Buying and building this house over such a short period of time was completely out of character for us. The only explanation I can find is that God has a plan for it. There was a plan for us 4 years ago when we learned we were unexpectedly expecting Sadie. There was a plan 2 years ago when Andy was looking for a job and only had offers in Pittsburgh. There was a plan for us to be in Oakland, walking distance to Magee Hospital. I know there's a plan for us to be
here.

Christmas Tree 2009

This year we decided to get a "real" tree for Christmas, something we haven't done since living in Baltimore pre-kiddos. After talking about it a bit, we decided that it might be fun to venture out to a tree farm and try choosing and cutting down our own tree. It just so happened that G'ma and Papa have been doing exactly that for the past couple of years and new of a good farm to go to. So we ventured out to a pretty little farm in New Alexandria, PA to find and cut down our Christmas tree.

It was quite the caravan going out there. We had 2 cars (me and the kids had been on an overnight to my dad's and Andy drove out in the morning). G'ma and Papa had their truck and Aunt Judy and Heather had decided to join us and cut down their own tree too. Jackie also decided to tag along for the adventure at the last minute. So we were quite the crew.

The farm was on top of a hill with the evergreens growing on the surrounding hillsides. It was very pretty and we couldn't ask for better weather. We all piled out of our vehicles and started to walk around and take in all the trees. Caleb and Papa started walking together and at just about every tree Caleb would look up and ask "is this the perfect tree?" There were hundreds of trees but a lot of these early ones that Caleb looked at would have filled our entire living room. So we needed to find a cute, little, perfect tree and kept walking.

Sadie quickly found some weeds to pick and gather into a bouquet. I'm not sure what it was that she was picking but she started calling them cattails so that's what we stuck with. It certainly kept her entertained for awhile.

We walked around for about 20 minutes before finding the tree. There were a lot of maybes up until that point and then we saw our tree. It was perfect. Just the right size for our little living room! Papa Joe passed the saw to Andy and he began to cut while the rest of us eagerly watched. The tree fell and then Andy and the kids worked to drag the tree back up to the car. They were very excited to help.

The rest of us continued to walk around, looking for the next "perfect" tree. It wasn't long and wasn't far before Heather had found the tree for Aunt Judy's house. This one was big and full and beautiful. Papa Joe helped cut the tree down and Heather drug it back to their car.

Now we only needed one more tree but weren't having any luck. So we decided to wander back towards the cars. There were trees growing on the hill below where we parked and these were the ones we started out looking at. This time we decided to head towards the trees that were growing above the cars. It wasn't long before G'ma and Jackie had spotted their "perfect" tree. This tree was also full and not quite as big as Aunt Judy's but not as small as ours. Papa Joe quickly cut the tree down and got it back to the cars. We were loaded up and ready to go in no time.

It was a fun adventure and fortunately there were few mishaps so I'm thinking that we might be doing this again. Hope you like the pictures!




Papa Joe and Caleb




Is this the perfect tree?



Sadie and her cattails



Our tree? maybe...



Andy cutting it down. Timber!

Fall Fun

Saturday we visited the playground and ended up playing in the leaves with our friend Simon and then later that afternoon we took the kids to Shenot Farms to get some pumpkins. It was a great little trip. It's a small farm that's up in Wexford. They have a hayride that you take to the pumpkin patch (with a fresh apple from the orchard to snack on). Then you can walk around and choose your pumpkin. There's also a corn maze (we didn't try that out- it was almost closing time and didn't want to have to sleep in the cornfield :-)). They also had little samples of apple cider for you to try while out in the fields. Caleb's favorite part was trying to find the perfect sized pumpkin. He wanted to be able to carry it (which was quite a challenge). We had to settle for a pumpkin he could hold for about 2 minutes before letting it drop. Sadie's favorite part was the apple she got to snack on and the hayride. She also had some fun rolling pumpkins down the hill. I thought it was a little risky having a pumpkin patch on the side of a hill :-)

We got our pumpkins and also picked up some fresh cider and apple butter and other yummy stuff.

Now Caleb is very eager to "put a face on his pumpkin". Hopefully we'll get to that tomorrow :-)

hope you like the pics

update

It's been a while since I posted last. Life has thrown us for a loop starting right after Caleb's birthday. My step-mom, Mona (Grammie M to Caleb and Sadie) was taken to the hospital for testing after having some shortness of breath and what seemed like a respiratory infection. We discovered that week that she in fact had uterine cancer that had spread up into her lungs. It was a devastating diagnosis that sent all of us reeling and questioning "why is this happening?" It seemed like every day we were getting bad news, bits and pieces of hope were being chipped away. The only thing that seemed to keep us all together was the desire to be strong for each other and the tremendous outpouring of love, support and prayers for my step-mom, my dad and our family. It seemed like testing went on forever but finally the doctors came through with some hope for us. Mona had her first chemo treatment almost 2 weeks ago and has come through that well. She has several more treatments ahead of her, plus radiation and surgery but there is hope that she'll stay with us and that is a precious hope for our family. We're treasuring our time together, keeping faith that it won't be short and trusting God that he will continue to keep us in his care.

Finger Lakes, NY

Our first family vacation of Summer '08. We went up to the Finger Lakes area just outside of Rochester, NY for a long weekend. We stayed in a house on the lake with Granpapap and Grammie, and Sean, Emily and Claire. It was a nice big house with lots of space for the kids to run around in, which was a good thing- it ended up raining a good bit of the time there.

We drove up Thursday evening. The kids made the 5 hour trip well. We packed plenty of library books and that seemed to keep them busy. Sadie wasn't quite able to get at them herself and liked to flip through them quickly and then toss them on the floor so by the end of the drive we were almost constantly hearing her little voice yell "Book! Book!"

Friday morning, we got up and took a trip into Rochester to visit the Strong Museum
This is the National Museum of Play and it was great. The kids had a blast running around there and I don't think we even saw half of it. There was a huge Sesame Street area complete with games and puppets and all kinds of activities. There were areas with train tables and rice play and craft tables. There was a Clifford room that seemed to be the most entertaining for the kids. Then there was a whole other area for reading adventures. It was something else.

The kids were ready to crash after that so we came home for nap time.

Later in the evening we were able to convince Caleb to put on his life vest and go for a ride with Grammie and Grandpapap in the paddle boat. He's still very resistant to trying new things but is starting to understand the whole "if you do this, then you can do that" way of approaching things. He tolerated that vest and loved the boat ride.

Saturday was spent hanging out more at the house, skipping stones in the lake and going for boat rides. We couldn't get Caleb to wear water shoes so that left swimming out but he was happy to throw stones in the lake. Later in the afternoon, the grandparents managed to take all 3 grandkids out on the paddle boat. Caleb loved it. Sadie, not so much. She tolerated it but still looked pretty scared sitting in the back seat.

Grandpapap and Uncle Sean did some fly fishing and Grandpapap caught one and let Caleb help him reel it in. The kids were all excited to see the fish.

Then the kids got to feed the ducks. There happened to be two mama ducks with babies sticking around our part of the lake, so we got out some bread and the kids got to throw bread to the ducks after dinner. Caleb and Claire kept squealing and laughing watching the ducks devour the bread. Sadie couldn't understand why you would want to throw perfectly good bread away to the ducks- she preferred to eat it herself.

Sunday morning we had to pack up and leave pretty quickly. We did have time to play in the boats a little more and to get a quick family picture on the dock.

It was a fun weekend!

Busy, busy, busy

So it's been awhile since I last posted, as Aunt Judy reminded me yesterday :-) and a lot has been going on, which is why it's been awhile. Since the last post we've celebrated, Grandma Susie and Pa-pa Joe's 25th wedding anniversary (my mom and stepdad), spent a long weekend on a lake in the Finger Lakes area of NY, and most recently had a Rogers' family reunion up at Waldameer Park in Erie, PA.

In the midst of all of that we've begun "Adventures in Potty-training"- more on that in a later post.

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Now for the anniversary, that was something else.

And this is my recording of the events for those who couldn't attend and just to mark that day for those who were there.

It all started approx. 25 years, 1 month and 18 days ago when my mom and my step-dad, Joe, dropped my brother and me off at Grandma Rogers house so that they could elope. They didn't even get to be in a church with a preacher, just went to the magistrate's office and signed the papers. Later on, in the summer, there was a big reception/family reunion at the Bushes house in Derry. I only have a few memories of those times. I remember my brother Jason trying to go out the door with them, as a joke and at the party, I remember meeting all these new relatives and feeling awkward but still having a lot of fun with my cousins. It was a special having everyone together and because it was one of the last times we would have Grandpa Rogers with us.

I feel very lucky to have such a functional "dysfunctional" family. Any more you rarely hear about people staying committed to each other. I've seen enough Dr.Phil episodes to know that the statistics on remarriages after divorce are not very encouraging. And as Andy and approach our 8th year of marriage it's gotten me thinking about our parents' relationships. Once I used to think about my parent's being divorced a lot and I think I kind of let that define me. Now as I think about it, yes, my mother and father aren't together anymore but my mother and stepfather and father and stepmother have all been raising me together practically my entire life. I consider myself very lucky to have had not just 2 loving parents but 4 loving parents. To me, that's something very special.

So as I thought over all of this, it became very important to me to do something to celebrate this family mom and Joe have created. Fortunately, Jackie was all for it as well, not to mention Aunt Judy and Aunt Janet and all the rest of our family and friends who not only came out to celebrate but also continued to ask, "what can we bring?" and "how can we help?"

Jackie and I knew we wanted to have it be a surprise and to have it be some kind of a picnic. We had a lot of trouble figuring the details out beyond that. It continually fluctuated between a huge extravaganza to something a little more manageable (Jackie is still a college student and I have 2 toddlers running me ragged). I really wondered if this was really going to happen.

Then we got the idea to ask Aunt Janet if she would be willing (and able) to stand up for them so that they might be able to renew their wedding vows. (she will be taking over pastoral duties in July at her church up in Corry, PA) She was thrilled with the idea and slowly things began falling into place. Jackie thought it would be nice to have the ceremony out at Keystone State Park and then have a reception/party back at the house in Derry. We put together a list and sent out invitations. Then we started getting responses. It was so exciting to hear from all the family that wished us well and were happy to come. We couldn't have put this all together without all this help.

The remaining problem we had was how to get mom and Joe out of the house so that we could set things up. Jason helped by getting Joe involved working on a garage for his in-laws. That left mom. The only thing we could come up with was to take her shopping, so I had her take me out to JoAnns to get some fabric for a project for Sadie while the kids napped. Jackie and I kept in touch with our cell phones and mom was a little suspicious but had no idea what her daughters were really planning. Things went well and then I realized that I had to figure out some way to get her out to Keystone and to also get her fixed up (she had expected to spend the day playing with her grandkids and not going to a wedding so she wasn't what you might consider all dolled up :-) ) Fortunately, we were at a shopping center, of course, where anything and everything is available. I talked her into checking out a store that had clothes on sale. Then I talked her into buying a new top and me a pair of pants (I was actually getting them for her). The we had to stop into Walmart to pick up some party things and I couldn't help it. I had to give her some clue so I handed her the clothes and said, you need to change, you're going to a party. She was surprised and curious about what Jackie and I were concocting. After she changed I found out that we needed to kill some more time so I convinced her to get her hair done (Walmart happened to have a hair salon in store) then picked up a little make-up and she was ready to go.

We finished just in time and made the drive to Keystone, followed the red balloons to the ceremony area and as we drove by mom's first response was "There's Uncle Lynn?!!" Jackie got there right after us and we walked mom down near the lake. As we got closer, Jackie stopped mom and handed her the bouquet (every bride needs a bouquet) and slowly it started to set in what was happening. Family and friends were gathered around. Aunt Janet stood with a Bible under a white arch decorated with tulle and ivy and Joe was right there waiting for her. Of course, we all started crying, Mom, me, Jackie, Judy, Janet...basically every woman there was a little misty. Joe even got a little teary as it set in that he and Mom were actually getting re-married then and there.

Aunt Janet did a wonderful job leading the service even giving us a moment to respond to how mom and Joe as a couple affected our lives. We were all there as a testimony to how special they are to us and to each other.

After the ceremony, we shared stories of the surprise and took some pictures before revealing the final surprise - that there was a party going on at their house - and it was back to the house for more fun.

We ate good food, continued to share bits of the story of the day and swam in the pool as the sun went down. I think it turned out to be a very special day for mom and Joe and I continue to be amazed at how things came together. Thank you again to all of you who helped with this.

We love you Mom and Joe- happy 25th anniversary and we hope there are many, many more!

zoo trip

this is several weeks old but i've been playing around with these pics from the zoo. we went with our church at the beginning of april. caleb loved it! he was so excited to see all the different animals. sadie loved being able to walk around, and did walk around by herself for the most part. i had lots of fun taking pics of the animals. here's some that i thought turned out nice.

What A Trip!

Well, we did it! Caleb, Sadie and i made our first trip across the state to visit the NJ grandparents without Andy. it almost went really well :-) many have questioned my sanity and asked "why would you do this?" and i really didn't think it would be that difficult. in all honesty, the actual car ride out wasn't difficult at all- a little hectic keeping one eye on Caleb while chasing after Sadie crawling away at the Wendy's in Breezewood -but we were able to eat and then had a nice visit with the Groshes so the trip really wasn't bad.

the fun began saturday night....

Sadie ate too much (or that's what we originally thought) and got sick twice in about an hour so she had to sleep with me for the night. she was thoughtful in getting sick at about 11 pm when we were all just going to bed, instead of doing it in the middle of the night. then Caleb got sick in the morning. we kept them home from church but still thought they had just eaten too much- we were trying to be positive. then Caleb got sick after dinner and the fever started and we realized, they had picked up some kind of stomach bug. monday and tuesday were spent cleaning up messes, nursing fevers, making trips to CVS and figuring out if we needed to see a doctor. (these kids never get sick like this) by wednesday, Caleb and Sadie were much better but i came down with it and i had been planning on driving home on thursday. that was not going to happen. wednesday evening, Andy called and the wonderful husband he is, bought a bus ticket and rode out overnight to drive us all home thursday. (oh and g'ma came down with it wednesday night and was sick all thursday).

it was not the trip i had planned and i still feel so bad. i had intended to go out because at the last minute, Andy's mom was not able to come out here to visit for her break. this meant that she probably wouldn't see the monkeys until April. i had hoped to give her a nice visit and help out but it didn't quite turn out that way. oh well. it's made quite the story...

The Walsh Christmas Marathon 2007

Caleb's Backhoe

Sadie's new sweater (g'ma Jody made it)

A gift for you

okay, so i'm finally getting around to writing a thorough account of our Christmas travels. (warning: i will try to keep this short but i make no promises. some of you may just want to skip this post all together and i'll post a slide show for those who would prefer to see the illustrated version) :-)

we had 4 Christmas's this year. that just happens when you have 3 sets of grandparents that all want to spend time with the grandkids. and we wanted to have our own Christmas now that Caleb and Sadie are more aware of what's going on. check out my previous post to hear about our family Christmas the Sat before Christmas.

New Jersey Christmas

we left on Sunday (the 23rd) to drive out to NJ to spend Christmas with Andy's parents and sister. andy drove the entire trip through rain, pouring rain and fog. it was not a fun drive but we made it in time for dinner with the family.

Monday was Christmas eve and was our first family gathering of the week. the Walshes came over for dinner and some presents. this included andy's uncles (Brian and Mike) and Uncle Time, Aunt Judy and their sons Matt and Nick. the kids didn't quite know what to make of all these men in the house but they were happy knowing that mommy, daddy or grandma was near by. it was a nice evening of visiting and catching up. the kids got story books from Tim and Judy and that was perfect. i think i read Corduroy at least 5 times in just that evening, fortunately it's both a favorite book for me and andy.

we didn't make it to Christmas eve service but we're thankful to have been able to get the kids to sleep with little problems (as they get older i'm sure it will be more difficult to get them to sleep on Christmas eve).

Christmas morning started some time after 8. Caleb decided to sleep in so it was quite amusing to see all the adults downstairs eagerly waiting for the 2yr old to wake up for Christmas. Then it was a blur of packages and wrapping paper and gift bags with tissue paper. The big hit with Caleb was his kid's CD player and the different CDs he got for it. i think Sadie's favorite was her sweater that g'ma knitted and the blanket Betsy made for her.

we enjoyed a relaxing Christmas day and in the evening went out to visit some more family for dessert. it was very low-key so the kids did really well even though they were surrounded by new faces. the next day we had Christmas with the great-grandparents. it was nice to be able to visit them without all the craziness of Christmas day excitement.

the rest of the week continued to be pretty relaxing with some more time with family and just enjoying our gifts. andy and i were able to shoot down to Trenton to visit a friend of andy's from Hopkins. it was a nice chance for us to get away a little without the kids. then on Saturday, andy and papa took Caleb to the NJ children's museum. Caleb made us all laugh when we mentioned the museum and he said "oh dinosaurs." he has a really good memory (we went to the carnegie and saw dinosaurs with Aunt Lindsay earlier in dec). And Sunday we drove home stopping to visit the Groshes in Mt. Joy, PA on the way.

Christmas with the Bushes

on new year's eve we packed up the kids to head out for another Christmas. we decided to spend new year's eve with g'ma Suzie and papa Joe. it was another nice low-key celebration for us. after having dinner, we opened our gifts. Caleb loved his new backhoe (i think it scared Sadie a little). it moves and makes sounds and it didn't take long before the kids figured out which button played music and would press that and dance. Sadie got a pretty little anklet id (i had one similar when i was a baby). she also got a vacuum cleaner that was a big hit. the kids and grown-ups had lots of fun but Andy and i were the only ones who stayed awake for the new year :-)

the next morning we decided to do some visiting while we waited for Aunt Jackie and Chris to come out. we stopped over at gr-g'ma Roger's and visited with her and Aunt Judy and Heather. i don't remember g'ma ever having a Christmas tree that big- it was so nice and pretty (thanks Heather). after g'ma's we went to stop in at grammie m's and grandpapap (that's what Caleb's been calling my dad). it was a nice little visit but we had to get home- snow was coming.

we got back to my mom's and soon Aunt Jackie arrived so we could have one last Christmas. they got Caleb his first sleeping bag (Lightening McQueen). then we packed up and went back home.

Christmas at Camp

our last Christmas was just over the weekend at my dad's camp in Crossfork, PA. we drove out to Derry, Friday morning so we could ride up with my dad. he took pity on us after having spent so much time driving in the past couple of weeks. but this was quite a drive. 4 adults and 2 kids in car seats in the van plus all our bags and gifts and food. and Caleb and i both get carsick. everyone did really well though. Andy sat between the kids and kept them happy and quickly helped Caleb when he started looking a little sick. i sat up front (the only place where i won't get sick on the windy roads).

at camp, Caleb and Sadie shared a bedroom up stairs- Caleb slept on the futon in his sleeping bag and loved it. Sadie had the pack-n-play and tolerated it. they had lots of fun playing with toys and with grammie and grandpapap.

Saturday morning was our "Christmas" morning. the kids got up and opened their stockings and had a big breakfast while waiting for Uncle Sean, Aunt Emily and Claire to come over. when they arrived, once again it was a blur of presents and wrapping paper. Caleb was a good helper, passing out presents. Sadie happily tried to model all the clothes she opened up. it was a really nice morning. later in the afternoon, we had a dinner of venison and pork and sauer kraut (not all together). i'm thinking that not many people have deer meat for Christmas dinner but ours was so good.

the kids enjoyed playing with their toys the rest of the afternoon. and Sunday morning we got up and then packed up all the gifts and stuff to take back home. Uncle Jason and Aunt Lindsay helped by bringing their truck so we were able to have them transport somethings back to Derry.

so i guess that's it. we've now spent almost a week out of our suitcases and i've managed to get most of the laundry under control. we even got the cat back (she stayed at g'ma Suzie's and Papa Joe's through all of this).

we hope you all have had an enjoyable Christmas. we are so thankful not only for the generosity of our family but also for the blessing we have in such a large, loving family and we look forward to many more Christmas's together.

Christmas pictures

Here are pictures from Christmas at our house. I just realized that Sadie wasn't in any of these- oops. But you can see the kitchen and Cranky Crane (that was the bigger hit with Caleb). I'll have more updates later but now I need to get some sleep.

Christmas Morning - take 1

Yes, we had our first Christmas morning today, since we'll be off to NJ tomorrow. It went well. Andy spent all of last night putting together the first major gift for the monkeys- a kitchen set. We opted for a wooden one that we thought might stand up well and was smaller than the big plastic ones we saw. It was a big hit. We had it set up in front of the TV as they came down the stairs and Caleb and Sadie immediately started exploring the cabinets. We also had some play food in it that they found and "ate". Then we did the wrapped gifts- some story books, Cranky the Crane (for Caleb), and they each got an outfit. I've discovered that Caleb's response to unwrapping clothes is better when they have Thomas or in this case Bob the Builder on them. He actually took them out and held them up and happily said "Bob shirt and pants!"

After opening the presents, Andy went to work making pancakes while Caleb played with Cranky and Sadie explored the kitchen. It was a nice morning so I think we'll be ready for the next official Christmas.

Makin' Cookies

Well, we've had a very busy start to the holiday season. Wednesday we were out at my mom's for the day to make cookies (my favorite iced cut-out cookies). We had been planning this for awhile. Sadly, plans changed a little when my grandfather passed away late Monday night. As you can see from the slide show, Caleb and Sadie got to make cookies but I had to attend the viewing and other services. Despite the gray cloud, the kids had a blast. Caleb was so excited and eager to help. He helped my mom roll out the dough and then of course, helped with cutting out the Christmas trees and bells and Santas. Sadie preferred to eat her cookie dough instead of playing with it so we gave her cookie cutters to play with instead. I hope you like the pictures.

I was excited because my mom made a batch of Gluten-free cookies for me and they taste wonderful- just like mimi's. Now I have to use all of my self-control to keep from eating them all at once.

Thanksgiving Minutes

So I don't have a lot of time because I already hear Sadie waking up, I think. The girl does not sleep any more- very frustrating because then when I bring her downstairs, all she wants to do is either sit with my or climb upstairs and wake up Caleb. oh but I should get back to Thanksgiving.

We stayed here for Thanksgiving this year so it was a fairly easy holiday. The kids got up and we were able to lounge a bit and watch the Macy's parade before going out to Derry for lunch. Andy and I have already been discussing when we'll be taking the kids to the parade (it's so nice having family close to NYC). Caleb loved watching the parade and the balloons. Sadie also loved the music and spent lots of time dancing that morning.

We went out to my dad's for lunch and got to visit with my dad and step-mom (Papa and Grammie) and my brother and sister-in-law and then my uncle and cousin came for dinner too. Caleb and Sadie had lots of fun. There were some new toys at Papa's house, including a new floor puzzle that actually proved a bit challenging for Caleb. He really needed some help with it but seemed to find it easier working on it the second time. Neither one of the kids were interested in the turkey but they both liked the applesauce and Sadie even tried some sweet potatoes. They did like the rolls (of course). After dinner, they weren't interested in any pie but they both tried the little cinnamon flavored crust cookie that Grammie made. Caleb is still talking about Grammie and the cookies.

We visited there a little while longer and then had to make our way to my mom and step-dad's. We planned on just having dessert there so we wouldn't be completely stuffed. I couldn't resist though- my mom made gravy with cornstarch that I could eat so I had to have a little bit of turkey and potatoes with gravy. sidenote- this was my first thanksgiving with celiac which meant my first time having to refuse the stuffing and stuffed shells and rolls and other yummy things that might make me sick. I still haven't figured out if the bread in the turkey got to me or not.

Anyways, Caleb and Sadie enjoyed some frozen pizza and played with Aunt Jackie and Uncle Chris as well as Jas and Lindsay. Both kids pretty much went all day without a nap and were so good. Caleb happily wished people a Happy Thanksgiving and said gobble gobble a couple of times.

Our Weekend in DC

We survived our first trip away with Caleb no longer sleeping in a crib or pack n play. What an adventure. We traveled down towards DC to attend my cousin's wedding and to visit friends in DC. The kids were angels in the car on the way down. We were able to do the trip without stopping (another first for us). We got in to the hotel and we're able to get the kids settled a bit. We borrowed an air mattress from friends and brought the pack n play for Sadie. The air mattress was a big hit. The kids had a blast bouncing on it and flopping on it. But when it was time to sleep, Caleb wasn't as into it. We discovered on problem in our sleeping plan. The boy has gotten used to having stuffed animals all around him in his bed, even on top of him and we only brought Sneeze-Bear and Puppy-Dog. That was not enough and he let us know that. On top of that, Sadie has decided that she does not like the pack n play, no matter where it is. So when we tried to put Sadie down, she started crying. Since we only had one room to work with, I took Caleb out to the lobby to read stories while Andy settled Sadie down. We read through all of his stories and visited with some aunts and uncles and then went back to the room, thinking that Sadie was asleep. She wasn't. After some frustrating moments, Andy took over settling the kids and I went back to the lobby, my family was getting together that evening for a pre-wedding celebration.

Andy was able to get the kids settled and I was able to visit with family and we all got some sleep that night.

The kids were real troopers through the wedding and the reception, going without naps (although Sadie did sleep in the car through the ceremony). At the reception, they had a blast dancing and listening to the music. Sadie loved the dance floor and all the cute little girls that were following her around and taking her picture. Grandma and Papa brought a set of 4 puzzles for Caleb so that kept him busy. He sat in the corner and worked on his puzzles for much of the time.

We left the reception and then drove into DC to stay with Andy's college roommate John and his new wife, Andi. It didn't take too long for the kids to warm up to John and Andi, especially after they discovered that they could read stories. Caleb was very happy to sleep on the futon in their spare room and Sadie only protested a little to be spending another night in the pack n play.

On Sunday, we had breakfast and played a little before heading home around lunch time. Again, the kids were great on the road and we're very happy to be home. Caleb actually clapped when we pulled into our driveway and Sadie bounced up and down as Andy carried her into the house.

It was a pretty good test run for traveling this Christmas and I'm not too worried about how they'll sleep when we're away from home.

The Birthday Party

Well, another weekend gone and Sadie's 1st birthday party is gone with it. It was quite a hit. We had the party at Uncle Jason and Aunt Lindsay's house (thanks again guys) that they were so nice to offer up and to frantically finish installing floors for it- they've been gutting and remodeling this house for several years and are in the home stretch but had a lot to do to get it up to party shape. Now, you're probably wondering why we would have the party there of all places... well, our house is just not big enough to fit all of our family in it and Jason's place was conveniently located half way between here (Pittsburgh) and Derry (where all the rest of the family would be coming from). The closer location also made it easier for my grandma to come.

Andy's mom and dad came in Thursday evening to stay in Pittsburgh for the weekend. G'ma brought Caps for Sale which was a big hit with Caleb. He's been going through Mike Mulligan withdrawal having to take that back to the library. They also managed to bring out two ride on toys that were a big hit. One is a tricycle that has a handle out the back so that an adult can help push the kid as he's pedaling. Caleb took that to the park on Friday and loved it but his feet don't quite reach the pedals yet. The other toy is a car that also has a handle for pushing out the back.

For Sadie, they brought her very own baby doll stroller with a baby to ride in it. This was a hit with both kids. Sadie immediately started giving her new baby hugs and Caleb helped her to put in the stroller. Then they took turns pushing it around the room. Sadie was a little wobbly and had trouble leaning too much onto the stroller- then she would fall over. Caleb learned that it was funny to let the stroller drop and say "oh-no, baby go boing."

On Friday there was a lot of playing with the grandparents and getting ready for the party.

Saturday was the big day. We got a bit of a late start and then traveling out, ran into traffic on 376. We didn't get to Jason's until 2:15 (the party started at 2) but it was all family and they understood. The kids had lots of fun running around the big open space and quickly discovered the empty cabinets in the dining room. Sadie had lots of fun crawling into the cabinets and Caleb had fun shutting the doors on her. There were no tops to the cabinets so she could peak out over the edge and laugh.

After playing and snacking for awhile, we opened presents. Caleb helped open and Cousin Claire helped carry around and read the birthday cards. Sadie liked taking the tissue paper out of the bags but seemed a little unsure about it all. She got some really cute outfits and the little people airplane and mini van were a big hit with all the kids. She also got a little toy cd player that makes music and some soft stuffed animals. She's had lots of fun playing with her new toys and standing her ground when big brother tries to take them from her.

Next it was time for cake. She sat in her chair in the center of the room and we all sang. Then it didn't take long for Caleb to start sticking his fingers into the cake- to help her get started. Sadie didn't need any help though. After getting over the feel of the icing, she discovered how it tasted and then there was no stopping her. She had a blast eating her cake and enjoying all the attention. Caleb and Claire sampled her cake too and then tried to share it with the g'pas and g'mas who were watching.

My mom helped me get Sadie out of her chair and we took her to the bathroom to rinse her off and get her into some pjs. She had icing all through her hair but the clothes weren't too bad. In the bathroom, she was very excited because she thought she was getting a bath but there was only a shower stall so Sadie had her first shower and didn't like it very much.

It was only 5 or so when all this ended but everyone was exhausted, so we packed up and came back home. The kids got second winds after resting in the car on the way in and then had fun playing with all the new toys before going to bed.

G'ma and G'pa left Sunday morning before we went to church. And we all spent Sunday afternoon relaxing.