Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve eve, the girls and I rode the metro into DC and met Kent after work to see the national tree. We saw our cousins there and had fun running around in the dark.

On Christmas Eve, we baked cookies. This year, I only had two days off before Christmas rather than the week I am used to, and that made for a very busy weekend!

Madeline decided she would make a list for Santa on the morning of Christmas Eve. So while I baked and baked, Kent visited a few stores . . .

Making Memories

Earlier this week, the girls decorated gingerbread houses. We used kits, and this year, Maddie and Sophie each got to make their own. They concentrated very hard, and the house was fairly quiet for about two hours. They turned out cute!

Here's our elf! He is getting ready to return to the North Pole on Santa's sleigh. See ya next year!

We made this gingerbread garland, too. I'm not sure why they decided to make the girls smiling and the boys frowning. It's cute even with the frowny-face boys.

December Fun

Early in December, we were making the birthday party rounds. Sophie was invited to two parties on the same weekend. On a Saturday, we joined her preschool friends at this indoor pool/mini-water park. It was something fun for the girls to do on a cold winter day, and it gave me some time to work on my Christmas cards.

The very next Sunday, we met up with her friends again. This party was at Chuck E. Cheese which is not my favorite place. But, I am happy to report, that we manage to escape without anyone getting sick.

Winter . . .

It's beginning to look and feel like Christmas! For the first time ever, our stockings are hung on a mantel, and Santa has a chimney to come down! The tree has been trimmed. Ethan, our elf, has been making daily appearances, and the weather is cold enough for snow.

Possible Christmas card pics . . .

Thanksgiving, the Good and the Bad

Kent and I were really looking forward to Thanksgiving. We were excited to have four days off, a Thanksgiving meal at Dawn's, and a quick trip up to New Jersey to see Josh and family and Dad and Mel. Well, we made it to Dawn's. How pretty is the table? She prepared a seated meal for 25 guests!

Kent wasn't feeling great that day, but we went ahead and went. He felt really bad Thusday evening and all day Friday with fever, chills, and headache. We decided to postpone our road trip north, but luckily, Dad and Mel decided to drive south and spend Friday night with us. It was a quick visit but a very special treat. The girls were really disappointed about not going to Jersey, but with Dad and Mel coming to see them, they were Ok.

By Friday night, I was feeling pretty terrible myself with a fever and headache (understatement) of my own. Saturday, Kent went to the urgent care and was sent home with the diagnosis of some kind of virus other than the flu. Kent and I stayed in bed most of Saturday, and Madeline took over taking care of herself and Sophie. By this time, I was also nauseous, and Saturday night was horrible.

Sunday morning, I decided if I could get out of bed, I would drive myself to the ER, which I did. In the ER, I had a spinal tap and was diagnosed with meningitis. Boo. I was admitted to the hospital and started an IV round of antibiotics. The meningitis was viral, thankfully. Kent had the same thing but never went in to the ER. I missed four days of work before the doctor cleared me to return, and now I have used half my sick days for the year. Boo. Luckily, the girls stayed healthy, and Kent and I are feeling better.

At the Ballet!

We started off the holiday season with a trip to the ballet. We went to see The Nutcracker, and one of my students performed in the show. She takes six classes a week and is a very talented ballerina. Madeline and Sophie were both impressed and now want to dance in The Nutcracker next year, too. Maybe Santa will bring some dance lessons.

My coworkers and I with our student. She used to live in Redondo Beach of all places!

Maryland

We spent a very relaxing Sunday with Grandma Connie in Chesapeake Beach. We just caught the tail end of the leaves because today, just four days later, the trees are pretty bare. We went to Brownie Beach, found some fossils, and the girls played in the low tide.

Early November Leaves!

Capturing the beauty of the early fall leaves and my two girls!!!

A Crazy End to October!

The last week of October started off normal enough . . . As always, I pointed out the changing fall leaves and forced my little ones to pose with them in the background . . .

Then, I got a surprise party at work by my co-workers and 76 enthusiastic fifth graders . . .

Then, Saturday rolled around and . . . IT SNOWED!!!!!!!

On Sunday, we bundled up, bought the girls boots, gloves, and a sled before heading out to Cox Farms . . .

Where Sophie posed with this snowman . . .

and some pumpkins.
We went on two hayrides, rode down several slides, and picked out our own pumpkins,

and we came home and carved em!!!!!