SNOW DAY 2010!

Well, they were right! We got a significant amount of snow! Everything for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday have been canceled, and we are enjoying our weekend off! We really could use some down time since we are all sick or getting over being sick.

Poor William has been our for 3 hours or so trying to clear the driveway. He gave up on the plastic excuse for a snow shovel long ago and has been using a flat-bladed thing he bought to pull up carpet tacking and a dirt shovel. We really could use a nice, metal snow shovel from up north!

The kids all enjoyed the snow! We have to do our best at batching it when it comes to bundling though. The kids are all trained to keep their pajamas on under their clothes to got out to play, the girls wear rubber rain boots, and Jeremy is lucky to fit into my 20+ year-old snow boots. Here is what Benaiah wore out to play in the snow:

• Onsie
  
• last night's pj's (cotton, two-piece)
• sweat suit
• denim overalls
• mittens
• hooded sweat jacket
• denim jacket with fleece lining
• knit hat on top of hood
• leather shoes

With as little snow as we get, it just isn't worth it to get snow boots and bibs.

So, we're all snowed in, and today is Mom's birthday. She doesn't have a computer, so if you could call her and wish Barbara a "Happy Birthday," she would be thrilled!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Benaiah!!

Benaiah had a great 2nd birthday! When he woke up, the first thing he said was, "Happy to you. Cake!"

We began the celebration with banana pancakes for breakfast, and then we went to Build-A-Bear Workshop where Benaiah made a wolf that we named, "Natty Wolf." Natty Wolf also has a little friend named, "Tay-tay," which from what we can tell means "no, no" in Amharic.

After another favorite meal, pizza, Benaiah enjoyed a nap, but since he knew that something was up, he made sure that he didn't waste too much time sleeping.

Mema, Aunt Patti, and our local cousins came over for chicken nuggets, gold fish crackers, and some Very Hungry Caterpillar cake. Benaiah had a fun time ripping open his gifts and being the center of attention.

His birthday was funny for me again this year. I didn't mourn his birth mother's loss as much as I did last year, but his birthday is strange in comparison to our bio children's birthdays because I have memories of their births and I don't even know what I did the day that Benaiah was born. I guess our gotcha day with Benaiah is more significant to me. We lit a candle at dinner to honor his birth mom. God bless her!

Happy Birthday, Mr. B!!

Happy 6th Birthday, Annika!!

My baby girl turned 6 years-old! Annika asked for a "Hawaii birthday," so we bought luau paper products, pineapples for the tables, leis, and of course, we had a volcano cake just as she requested! (She loves Hawaii and wants to go there more than Disney World!)

Annika was thrilled to get the Webkinz mud hippo which was the only thing that she would tell us that she wanted for Christmas or her birthday! Jeremy and Marissa got that for her.

Mom, Patti, Scott, and the kids joined us around noon for pizza, chips, dip, and the volcano cake. We played lots of Wii games together and had a great time hanging out all afternoon!

Happy Birthday, my sweet New Year's Eve surprise!

Merry Christmas 2009!!

We had a nice, quiet Christmas morning at home. LOL! Mom came over to enjoy the chaos. We moved some of our chairs in to the dining/school room so that we could sit beside the Christmas tree. I don't remember if I mentioned on here that we set up our tree in there so that Benaiah didn't try to climb it or knock it over or strip it or eat it or all of the above!

We only had a few packages under the tree since we decided to just do a big family gift this year. Marissa opened the major gift and found a Wii. (You can see Jeremy's reaction in the photo above where he is squeezing the life out of Annika!) We also got Dance, Dance Revolution Disney Grooves. So, guess what we did all day and night for the next 10 days in which William was off of work? You bet! (William and I were so sore!) We all love it! We especially love it because in most of the games we have, we have to get up and move. William and I have started doing the DDR dancing for a workout a few times a week in addition to our trips to the gym.



We had a nice steak dinner and decided that Jesus wanted a birthday cookie instead of cake this year. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blew out a candle.

We had a great Christmas together as a family and hope that yours was blessed too!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve at Mema's House

We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's house with my sister, Patti, her husband, Scott, and their 3 children, Tabitha, Benjamin, and Isaac.

We had a really nice ham dinner, and then we got caught up on birthday gifts. We were unable to get together with my sister's family for Marissa and Scott's birthdays. In the collage above, is a photo of Scott with the Monopoly quilt that I made. The family received the matching pillows for part of their Christmas gift from us. Patti had bought the Monopoly fabric at least 10 years ago and had given it to me when she moved. It was fun using it to surprise them all!

Mom had given me a bunch of OLD aprons that her mother wore in the kitchen and to work at the Westinghouse plant in Columbus, OH. We believe that some of the aprons also belonged to her grandmother. Anyway, I made my mom a wall hanging out of them. I hated to cut them up, but they were of no use to any of us, and now, they can be enjoyed.

Isaac (3) and Benaiah were a hoot to watch together. They are dangerous!

Happy 9th Birthday, Marissa!!

Marissa had a great birthday! Grandma and Grandpa came down to celebrate, and Miriam spent the day with us as we went to the NC Zoo and enjoyed pizza and strawberry cake!

Happy Birthday, Marissa!!!

Christmas with Grandpa & Grandma

While Grandpa and Grandma were here for Marissa's birthday, we celebrated Christmas with them. We enjoyed a dinner of cubed steak, mashed potatoes, and pineapple upside-down cake before exchanging gifts.

The kids all made a miniature painting that we turned into ornaments for Grandpa and Grandma.