Another Christmas Memory

Last year I shared this Christmas memory. Here is another one of my favorites. . .

One December night in 2004, our first Christmas in Maryland, we heard sirens blaring and saw lights flashing in our neighborhood. I went out to see what was happening. To my surprise, I saw a procession of firefighters walking down the street as a fire truck escorted by other rescue vehicles, all with lights and sirens ablaze, made their way through our neighborhood. On top of the fire truck, spotlighted for all to see, sat Santa. This was too cool. I ran back into the house yelling for everyone to come and see. I found Rachel and Chloe and dragged them out of the house. Hannah was upstairs in the shower at the time, so Lance ran up to the bathroom, wrapped a towel around her, grabbed her, and ran toward the closest window. He opened the blinds and they watched as the parade of people and vehicles passed our house.

After the excitement was over, Lance looked down at Hannah and noticed her pale face and shocked expression. She had no clue what was going on, but heard the sirens as Lance pulled her out of the shower. She thought that our house was on fire because he was running with her to the window. Hannah was just waiting for her dad to open the window so that they could jump to safety.

Party Time

Birthday parties are great fun. They are also a lot of work and super expensive. When we made the move to Maryland 4 years ago, instead of having big parties every year for the girls, we decided to begin having birthday parties for them every other year. On the non-party birthdays we still do special things with our family and sometimes a few close friends. We still make a really big deal out of celebrating the special day.

I am loving the every other year party thing. And, I must give some credit to my friend Suzie. She does parties for her 6 kids every other year, too. And talking to her helped me decide to make this change. I mean, come on, there is great pressure to have a big blowout every year. I am glad to have freed myself up from this. I think my kids still have a chance at becoming normal, well adjusted adults someday even though they only had birthday parties every other year.

Well, this year Rachel's birthday was Thanksgiving week. It was her 10th, double digits, a big deal. So, we celebrated her all day (really all week) long. It was also a party year for her. Here are a few photos from the big day that I am finally getting around to posting.

Winter Weather, Part 2

Here are some photos to go with the previous post.

Winter Weather

I spent the first 32 years of my life in Louisiana and Texas, so maybe that makes me appreciate the winter weather here in Maryland a little more. Maybe after living here for only 4 years, I just haven't gotten used to it yet. I don't know, but I don't think I could ever grow tired of snow.

I was so excited Monday to see the first snow flurries and flakes of the season swirling around outside. Well, it has been snowing here since early this morning today, and it is beautiful. I love the snow. I love snow days. Chloe and I have been home today. I thought it would be a great day to get some of the many things that I need to do done at the house. But, I should have known, most of my day has been spent just staring out of the windows watching the snow blanket my yard. I always find it difficult to get much done when snow is falling. I find myself being drawn to the windows again and again.

In honor of the first snow of the season, here are some of my favorite things about snow/snow days:

• school cancellations
• sledding down the hills in our neighborhood
• building snowmen and snow forts
• looking out of my windows at the snow covered trees in the woods behind my house
• cooking large pots of soup and chili
• shoveling my driveway and sidewalks
• seeing those giant piles of snow the plows leave in parking lots that last for weeks and weeks
• hot chocolate and popcorn
• staying in my pj's all day
• the silence that everything being covered in snow brings
• how bright everything looks outside at night when the moon shines on the snow

Schools are closing 2 hours early today. Rachel just got home and Hannah will be here soon. I'm going to get the hot chocolate ready.

Just Another Sunday Together at LifePoint

Here it is. The finale from Children's/Student Ministry Weekend Services at Lifepoint, May 2007.

Holiday Update

We had a great Thanksgiving week. I love having my girls home from school. Here is a recap along with some photos:

• Went to see Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and Enchanted at the movievater. (This is what Chloe calls the movie theater.) Mr. Magorium's was not so great, but we all loved Enchanted.
• Celebrated Rachel's 10th birthday on the 19th. She had her favorite breakfast foods (chocolate chip pancakes and breakfast burritos), opened her presents, played with her sisters, and chose to eat at Bob Evan's that night for dinner.
• Got the great news that a test my Mom had done last week at the hospital showed no major problems.
• Snuggled up in the bed together and watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• Spent Thanksgiving Day with good friends, ate a lot and watched the Cowboys win again.
• Stayed up late playing Mexican Train (dominoes) with Hannah and Rachel.
• Went swimming at the Y a couple of times.
• Went shopping at Pet's Mart with our dog, Annie.
• Went to see the Westminster Christmas Parade on Main Street. It was cold, but fun.
• Took Chloe to the birthday parties of two of her favorite 4 year old boys. One she calls "my best boy, Tyler," and the other she calls "my prince, Elijah."

Turkey Day Test

Thanks for this one, Jen. I am mashed potatos. What are you?

You Are Mashed Potatoes

Ordinary, comforting, and more than a little predictable. You're the glue that holds everyone together.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Rachel's 10th Birthday

Here are some photos from our day. I will write more later, just want to get these pictures up for grandparents to see tonight.

Quarter Quiz

This is a fun little test that my Mom sent me. I scored an 18 out of 20. My girls have been collecting each of these quarters as they come out, so maybe that helped.

Do you know what's on your change? Find out here.

Game Day

Another win for the Cowboys today! 8-1, what a season so far.

Lance spent the day at the game in New York with friends tailgating and watching the Cowboys win again. He's on his way home now, and has had a great day.

More 4 Year Old Wisdom

We had a dry summer here in Maryland and were having a dry fall. I mean, hardly any rain at all for weeks on end. In October, for the first time in a long time, it really rained. Chloe and I were looking out at the rain, talking about God giving us rain and how much the rain was needed. She looked at me with big round eyes and said, "We do need rain, because I heard there was almost a shrought."

Chloe got this little notebook in a bag of party favors. She brought it home, asked her sisters how to write Chloe's Diary, and spent about 10 minutes carefully titling her notebook with a marker. She likes to open her "diary" and practice writing letters and numbers on it's pages. The "diary" went missing somewhere in our house. Chloe sat on the couch the other day and found it behind a cushion. She was so excited, as she came running to me I heard her shout, "Mom, I found my diarrhea."

Chloe likes to help me find a parking spot when we go places. She didn't understand why we were passing up so many available open spots every time we went shopping. So, a while back I showed her the handicapped spaces, the signs, the stick figures in wheelchairs painted on the pavement, and explained what this meant, and why we didn't park there. This week as we walked into Wal-Mart, Chloe said, "Look, they're in the handicapped parking, they must use a wheelbarrow."

Happy Halloween

Halloween night was fun in our neighborhood again this year. Hannah and Rachel came home with unbelievable amounts of candy as usual. They have a tradition of trick or treating every house in the neighborhood, so we did. Chloe went out with us for a while, but really had more fun at the house with Lance giving out candy.

Happy Birthday to You

Lance's 40th birthday was Monday, October 29. He was home all day, so that made the surprise gathering I had planned for that night a little bit difficult. He was able to get some much needed rest all morning (after a couple of busy work weeks, including an ALG retreat and The Hunt). That afternoon the girls and I gave him our presents and later we went out to dinner.

By the time we got back to our house, he had an idea that something might be going on. But, he says he wasn't sure. Anyway, there was no way to tell that our house was filled with about 25 friends until the door was opened. We ended the day with some great people, Lance's favorite party foods (these include: poppy seed cake, Little Smokies, salsa, queso, Tostitos, and Fritos) and an incredible birthday cake.

The Hunt 3: Dr. Z's Final Move

Agents of the UGR gathered at headquarters Sunday afternoon for information on a new plan to stop Dr. Z and his G.O.F.E.R. (Global Offensive for Evil's Renaissance) forces once and for all. The Duke arrived via helicopter just in time to rally the agents. Next, Earl von Strausenberg laid out the plan, Operation Check Mate.

During von Strausenberg's presentation Dr. Z broke in with a video feed showing his latest destruction. His goons had been busy kidnapping the wives of the staff and elders of LifePoint Church. The footage of these abductions only fueled the fire in each agent present and made them all more determined to put an end to Dr. Z. Agent Lurch regained control of the room, reminding the agents that his wife was there with them and had not been taken. At that very moment, two G.O.F.E.R. goons burst into the room. Surprising all those present, they grabbed Lurch's wife and dragged her away.

The agents quickly received their final orders and sprang into action to locate the wives and bring down Dr. Z.

Thanks to the hard work of many UGR agents and undercover field agents, the wives were rescued and Dr. Z was once again captured. Agent XYZ, The White Knight, escorted Dr. Z back to UGR headquarters. While waiting to be transported back to Blackheart Island, Dr. Z made a daring escape in the helicopter and flew away into the night.

We soon heard from Dr. Z again through video and watched as he celebrated yet another escape. Little did Z know that The Duke was there waiting, poised and ready to pull the trigger. His celebration turned into maniacal laughter and we watched as Z choked to death on a hot dog. The Duke confirmed his death and agents of the UGR returned home to their families, no longer worried with the looming chaos of Dr. Z and G.O.F.E.R.

Fall Fun

We are enjoying the fall and all the activities that come with it.

We spent Sunday afternoon at Baugher's. We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins, enjoyed some Baugher's apple cider, and spent some time with the farm animals in the petting zoo. Next we went to Hoffman's for a treat. I tried their pumpkin ice cream and it was great.

We also went to the fall fest at Rachel's elementary school last week.

Dolphins, and Turtles, and Sharks . . . Oh My!

I spent a day with Hannah last week on a field trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

We enjoyed the dolphin show and the new Australia exhibit.

But, I think that Hannah's favorite thing about the day was the slime she bought in the gift store.