Little White House

As one of our jaunts during Winter Break, Donald and I took both girls to Warm Springs to visit FDR's Little White House.  Abby is a history buff and Emily has been learning about American history in school, so they both seemed to really enjoy the trip.They both especially enjoyed visiting the original rehab center and pools where FDR went to swim.  The water really does feel amazing - so warm and silky because of the mineral content.  Since my last visit (elementary school?) they've built a really impressive museum with all types of artifacts and interactive displays about FDR's life.  Good fun for a day trip!

Introducing Betsy Ross!

Our little diva was chosen to represent Betsy Ross in the first grade's annual Salute to the Red, White, and Blue program.  All of our first graders put on a tremendous performance but, and I may be biased here, I believe that Betsy was the star of the show!  There are pictures and a video clip of her performance below.  You be the judge!

Hopewell Talent Show

Emily's piano teacher recently asked her to play Jesus Loves Me in the children's talent show at Hopewell Methodist Church.  She agreed and, although she was a bit nervous before the show, did an absolutely fabulous job!  Watching all of the other kids take their turns performing on stage gave her a healthy dose of courage - she leaned over to me and whispered that she didn't need me to come and sit at the piano with her, after all.  So proud of my glittery, feather-haired girl!

We dressed for courage in the glitziest ensemble we could manage - and apparently it worked! Otter came along to support her, as well.

Weekend with the Zoellers

Our friends, the Zoellers, recently came to spend the night with us.  So much fun to see all of our children running around and playing together!  Sweet Kathryn babysat the little ones while we all had a delicious dinner at The Beirut.  If you haven't tried it, definitely give it a chance - so delicious!  Donald cooked us a delicious pancake breakfast VERY early on Sunday morning (why don't little people understand the need to sleep in on the weekend?) before the Zoellers headed back to Lawrenceville.  It's always fun to catch up with old friends!

Headed home from supper

Storytime - I LOVE Bootsie Barker Bites!

Pancakes and bacon - breakfast of champions!

A little Wii after breakfast

All bundled up and about to head out

Fun with Mustaches

Emily and I decided to "emulate" (that's Fancy Nancy-speak for copy) a cool Valentine we saw on Pinterest and spent an afternoon making goofy faces with a stick-on mustache before we discovered the cool photoshopping capabilities of picnik.com.  Although I ended up photoshopping in a great 'stache, I ended up with this funny series of photos.  Donald even got in on the action.  Hope you enjoy!

My personal favorite - she looks like she's from an old kung fu movie!

Finished products - aren't they funny?

Ladybug Luncheon

The Alpha Gamma Crazy Girls held their annual luncheon and spent the afternoon tellng tales and eating cheese ball.  What a blast!  It's always fun to get together with my oldest friends and watch our babies play together.  We're excited to meet Holly's new little prince when he arrives and initiate him into our secret society!  We should really do this more than just once a year - it was too much fun to wait another 364 days to laugh that hard.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012 to my blog friends!  I hope the new year brings you loads of wonderful memories with all of the people you love.  We spent the first day of the new year surrounded by family and friends eating some delicious soul food - which I helped to cook, if you can believe it!  The girls enjoyed a new tradition courtesy of our friends, the Blounts - the peppermint pig.  Apparently, it's a Victorian tradition that includes smashing a tiny candy pig with an equally tiny hammer.  We all got to share the pieces, which will bring us health and prosperity for the new year.  Little children are always happy to be destructive and our two REALLY enjoyed hammering that poor pig to bits - possibly even more than they enjoyed eating him.  Happy New Year!

Happy New Year's Eve!  A little toast with the "fancy glasses" - our wedding flutes.

Check out those nails!  And no, I didn't dress her in a tank top for New Year's.  She just stripped off her cute poncho and ran around like this to spite me.  Full of sass....



Poor thing....he doesn't know what's about to hit him!  Get it?

Merry Christmas!

I love photos too much to not include a million in this Christmas post, so you'll get a movie instead!  Takes less time to post them all that way - plus I get to use my new favorite slideshow service, Animoto.  Merry Christmas to all of you!

Lucky #13

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary!  Can't believe it's been that long - we seem to have only meet each other yesterday!  Some might say we rushed it - after all, Donald proposed to me on our second date - but things seem to have worked out pretty well!  Not to be trite and cliche, but I really did marry my best friend.  Much love to you, Dr. White, on our anniversary!  Thanks for cooking such a delicious dinner - and cleaning it up while I blogged!  Hope you enjoy this blast from the past! Now as I look over these pictures, I realize that there's a smudge on my scanner.  Am I going to rescan all these pictures? Not on your life!  Makes me appreciate digital photography even more!

 One of my favorites

 How old were we all again?

 I think they were getting ready to sing.

This picture (lipstick grin and all) has been on my nightstand for 13 years now.