June had a couple family events – father’s dad and my father’s birthday – won’t say what number but it was one of those ‘milestone’ ones that brings the entire family together. ‘lil q really liked being around her older cousins. (she is the youngest of the group by 6 weeks)
Showing off for Papa
Me and Daddy at Grandpa’s birthday party.
Grandpa’s birthday picture with me and Papa
Sometimes I have to show Papa important things
Me and my cousins
Sporting my new ‘family’ jacket.
This is my second cousin – “A”
This is my older cousin, C – I drove him nuts by chasing him all over the whole weekend.
Aunt Lorraine’s horse. I saw him before when I was little.
That horse is bigger than you Emma, Papa
The school had a father’s dad even and I didn’t take too many picture because I was required to do the activities with ‘lil q but before we got started I snapped this one of her and her BFFs:
And this one just made me laugh so i figured I share it:
We’re almost to the point where ‘lil q is hip to all the holidays. Despite mentioning it several time that the Easter Bunny was coming today, he needed a bit of prompting to remember. But once she did, she was all into it. So after getting up we put on our bunny ears (that didn’t even make it down the stairs before they fell off) and down to look for our basket, then breakfast. (Yes, I let her have chocolate before we ate, I’m not a total ogre. )
Look, Papa, I’ve got bunny ears, too.
Papa, what’s in this? Is it chocolate?
Ooh, the Easter Bunny left this for me, Papa, not you.
I ate all my eggs and some of my toast, now it’s time for the good stuff.
Grandma sent her a basket of goodies that we opened and no shock this was her favorite.
So DC had another snow day – at least the last few have been legit – we got about 8 inches of snow over night and it snowed up until about 2 pm on and off. But it’s stunning that it went from 60+ to snowing in less than 36 hours. Here’s a shot from Saturday that grandma took.
Snow days sure ain’t what they used to be when we were childless. Trying to find ways to entertain ‘lil q is getting harder as she gets older. She’s in that in between window where we can’t just let her play by herself just yet. We’re getting closer, but we’re not there yet. Continue reading Snow Day – Part -Um. . . . I’ve Lost Count
I have to eat a bit of crow, I was complaining earlier that they closed the schools, daycare, government before we even got a flake of snow. It did start snowing about 10:30 am. But really? Even the squirrel didn’t care.
Don’t try this at home – I’m a highly trained squirrel
Of course the snow picked up some and by 4:00 pm there was enough to go outside. ‘lil q was born in Sept ’11 – the winter of ’11-’12 was so mild, we never got to use the winter coat we bought her. [Fortunately a co-worker of mine’s daughter fit in it last winter and this winter it made its way to Boston to the co-worker’s cousin’s daughter.] Last winter was colder, but there wasn’t a snow fall that would allow us to go out and play. So this is her first real snow.
Hat, Coat, Boots, Gloves – Let’s go have some fun, Papa
Hey, this stuff is cold!
I know I picked up a handful, but I can see any on my mittens.
Look, Papa, I’m making it snow from my hands!
Your Jeep needs to be cleaned off, let me help.
I like the snow, Papa, but it’s cold.
Did you just throw a snowball at me, Papa?
There were flowers in here before, where did they go?
And since pictures are nice, but video is nicer – here are some videos:
We didn’t stay out too long, it was cold, the snow was a wet snow and we don’t have a proper snow suit for ‘lil q. So we came inside and had hot chocolate. Here’s what it looked like about 5:00 pm.
Seven hours later, the squirrel was gone, but we finally had snow.
After we thawed out a bit, ‘lil q and I set out to make dinner. One advantage to a snow day, we had time to make a proper meal.
As many of you have guessed from the Holiday Event I had on my blog this season, I love the different aspects of Christmas. I also want to create memories for ‘lil q like my parents and grandparents did for me.
On Deanna Wadsworth’s blog I wrote about how Christmas is for kids, even the little kid inside us all:
Every year Mike and I have this debate with ourselves, should we get a tree or shouldn’t we? By the time we get around to buying one, half the Christmas season is over and we ask ourselves, do we really want to spend the time and money on a tree. Every year we come to the same conclusion – yes, we need a tree. This year, ‘lil q understands that ‘she’ has a Christmas tree – and it has lights. Sunday we decorated the tree.
We waited until she took her nap to begin. With two of us we just managed to get it done before she woke up. When she saw her tree she was beaming. Made it so worth it just to see her smile. [I did say I was one of those parents.] Continue reading Christmas ’13 Part 3 – ‘lil q’s Christmas Tree
Trying to shop with a toddler is like trying to herd goats – it sounds hard, but it ends up even harder. But with the Thanksgiving to Christmas time at under 4 weeks, we had to ‘multitask’. One of the tasks I didn’t let fall by the wayside was our weekend daughter/daddy breakfast. Every weekend – usually Sunday – I take her out to eat while Mike walks the dog. I get so little time to see her during the week – she’s still sleeping when I leave and at most she’s up for 2 hours after I get home and that includes, dinner and bath time – that I wanted a time for just us. When asked where she wanted to go for breakfast – she said ‘pancake house.’ [Okay, I gave her choices and that was one of them, but she did pick it.] Continue reading Christmas ’13 Part 2 – Christmas Shopping With ‘lil q
‘lil q had her first holiday concert on Friday. Yes, I’m one of those parents who took off work early to be there and to film it. She walked in with her class, looked around but couldn’t see us. I snapped a few pictures: Continue reading Christmas ’13 Part 1 – Our First Holiday ‘Concert’
Andrew invited me to participate in his holiday event, providing the theme of family and kids. My mind immediately ran to the myriad of experiences a mother of four has after spending 20+ years “holiday-ing” with her kids.
Josh’s first Christmas, when a roomful of twenty adults sat looking at each other from six a.m. until noon because the one-year-old was still asleep and a mother never wakes a sleeping baby.
The year PJ (3) and the cat curled up in matching boxes and feel asleep under the tree.
The first year Asia (18) brought a male guest to Christmas morning and my husband felt the immediate need to clean all his guns at the kitchen table.
The year the dog got tangled in the Christmas lights, panicked and ran out the door and off into the woods dragging the tree.
Hello everyone! I am so excited to be here today and thanks so much to Andy for inviting me over to his blog!
My name is Jay and I run a m/m romance review blog called Joyfully Jay. In my real life I am a suburban mom of two wonderful girls, ages 10 and 12 1/2. Yes, we are right on the cusp of having teenagers, and let me tell you, the view is scary from over here! But they really are fabulous and my husband and I are so lucky to have them in our lives.
Andy asked me to share my thoughts about kids and the holidays with you guys. I love the traditions of the holidays, the way we reach back to things we have done time and again and can look forward to every year. I enjoy teaching my kids about the meanings of the holidays, and why they are important to us. I think it helps them not only to appreciate our own celebrations, but also to build the foundations for their own holiday celebrations in the future. I love the opportunity to see family, to have a break in our regular routine, and to have something exciting to anticipate. Continue reading Holiday Blog Event: Joyfully Jay – Kids, The Holidays, And Pecan Pie.
