Potter sledding

Molly sledding

More snow action

Just to give you an idea of how big the pile of snow was. Now multiply by 4 and that is the norm for when we are there. Cool shot of Potter doing his hang 10 and then the kids in the backyard on the playset with the girl from next door.

Trip to see the Trippes

We made a trip over our three day weekend to Maine to visit Jeff, Laura and Alex. As you can see, they have a lot more snow than we do here (we have none left) and so the kids were able to spend tons of time outside sledding on the snow (and mud) in the sunshine. The mountain of snow is so huge (and this is smaller than normal since we usually are there in February and a lot of it has melted) that everyone has plenty of space to mountain climb, sled and build. Caleb decided to throw ice balls at everyone as they came down the hill.

Caleb's big transition

The day that I came back from Arlington, we turned Caleb's crib into a big boy bed. That entails taking off the front side that comes down for the crib and using a small piece on the side for a bedrail. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is, if only for the mere fact that now the child can get in and out of bed by themselves. That can be both a good and bad thing, but Caleb has adjusted really well to this and did even better on our trip to Maine (see above post) when he was sleeping on a twin mattress!!! Molly helped ease Caleb into things, as you can see, showing him the proper form for getting in and out!!

While I was gone......

in Arlington, the kids had fun with Daddy. Some playmobil, some shaving cream and life was good!!! Notice how Molly even did her name.....

My trip to Arlington, VA

The weekend before last (March 12-15) I went down to Arlington to visit Wendy for a girl's weekend. Sadly, I took my camera everywhere, but didn't take really any memorable photos. We did do a lot in our days together. The day that I arrived, Wendy picked me up and then we headed for Moe's for lunch (one of our favorites) and then we went to Trader Joe's. I have been wanting to go there for some time and it didn't disappoint. An intriguing grocery store with lots of organic items and products you won't see in most stores. After a brief stop at her apartment, we went to the Clarendon neighborhood which is a very trendy spot, lots of shopping. We hit the Container Store, Potter Barn, and Williams-Sonoma (should I be getting royalties from these companies for the free advertising????), and then had a coffee at Barnes and Noble. The notable aspect of almost every building in Arlington, D.C., etc...is that they are two stories, even the grocery stores which have elevators for your grocery cart!! I just somehow cannot get over that. We were worn out from the day, so we opted to eat dinner in and relax.

Friday we had decided to go to the Holocaust museum, since that isn't something that I could do with Dave and the kids. We spent 6 hours at this museum and it was the most rewarding and difficult 6 hours you can spend at any Smithsonian or other government building in D.C. There are several floors of exhibits, some you can just wander through and others you must have a timed ticket, which are free, but used to limit the number of people who go through at one time. The special exhibit took us three hours to go through, and that wasn't dawdling around. It was something that I think all visitors should experience. I know that I left as a changed person.

Saturday, we decided to hit the Ikea in Maryland. Wendy loves Ikea (as do many people) and I had never been. Boy, that is another experience. Ikea makes Lowe's and Home Depot look tiny!!! I was under the impression that Ikea was expensive, but the opposite was true. It too, is an all day sucker, as we spent hours wandering through the showrooms. They also have a full service cafeteria with some yummy Swedish dishes. Had we known that, we may have eaten there instead! I bought a few small things, Wendy got her new dressers. A very successful trip there! That night we did go out to eat at a restaurant called Vapiano's (which for some reason I kept calling Flippianos). It is also trendy (I have to say that I am not overusing this word, there are truly gazillions of trendy spots in big cities, and I am just a small town girl, so this impressed me) and has cool lighting, communal seating, just a nice Italian place. I would love to go there again.

Sunday I returned home to my family who I had missed very much, but they seemed no worse for the wear and managed just fine without me. As I walked out of the terminal at the airport, I just clicked my ruby red shoes together and thought 'there's no place like home.'

Binghamton Bearcats make their first NCAA appearance!!!

In case you have been living under a rock the last few days, you will otherwise know that the Binghamton University Men's Basketball team won the America East conference and will be, for the first time, in the NCAA March Madness playoffs!!! They are ranked 15th and will be playing #2 ranked Duke. The energy in our area is palpable and marquees all over town express good wishes to the Bearcats. Who knows who will win, stranger things have happened. So here is a picture of Baxter the Bearcat, who will undoubtedly make the trip to Greensboro, N.C. to cheer on the guys to victory!!!

Caleb loving the kitty

Caleb was enjoying loving on the kitty and until the very end, she was really liking it (despite how it may look.) She always will come back for more, even when the kids are a little rough with her.

North Carolina vs. Duke

Potter doesn't have a North Carolina shirt, so he improvised. Granddad will be proud of his allegiance!

Caleb climbs his first tree

This was just too cute not to share. I use cute a lot, but darnit, my kids ARE cute!!!!

Cute picture of Potter

I just love this. It is my new desktop on my computer.

This proves I am not Ansel Adams

I was trying for some pictures of everyone in the woods, looking through trees with a wispy sort of misty look. I didn't succeed in this and Dave didn't like the fact that I was a) taking his picture and b) going to post it on the blog.

Tree climbers

The next installment of almost spring time playing.....

The kids love to climb the trees we have in the backyard, although they really aren't true tree climbing quality trees. Caleb even started to try his hand (or foot as it should read) at climbing and went for the low, mostly rotten tree branch. The other kids can climb much higher on the other trees, but they have to be careful for some really skinny branches that won't support even their meager weights. Always it is 'Mom, watch me', 'Mom look how high I am', 'Mom, I have a small concussion from falling off'. That sort of thing. We just smile and tell them to rub it off and it'll be ok.

Blech!!!

This week we have all been under quarantine at our house, with the little two being sick most of the week. There has been fever, congestion, coughing and general malaise. Today, finally, everyone was back in school and I had a little time to myself to try to regain my composure. And as a special bonus, Caleb slept in today until an amazing ten of seven. Some of you might think this is on the early side, but after what seems like an eternity of 5:30 or 5:45, I'll take the 6:50!!

This is all to say that there are no new blog pics this week. Well, I guess I can post the one of the kids on the sofa, Molly in her feverish state and Caleb drinking some milk, while they watched Cinderella. (Thank you sooooo much Cathy for that DVD!!)

Kids on the swings

The kids were on the swings, a happy sight to see here on the first day of March. Spring is just around the corner, uh, right????

Kids outside in the cold

I got some perspective on the kids, I took pictures of them from the deck, 15 feet above them. And Molly is in the last stages of her Spiderman (see next post).

Beginning of Spiderman

This is something that the kids do, they work their way from one end of the playset to the other. I just happened to catch Potter through the whole movement.

Potter is Spiderman

Sunday playtime in the woods

Today was equally as sunny and cold!! The kids enjoyed playing out in the woods (our backyard has a fairly decent sized wooded area) and jumping on the large branches, using them as yeehaw trees (as Granny would have done) to go up and down. I can see them all out there this summer, doing this for hours and looking all over for backyard treasures.