Dance and Scouts

It's hard to believe we are well into fall. Where has the time gone? The boys have been busy camping with the boys scouts, including one week at scout camp, white water rafting, beach camping on Assateague Island, and they will soon be visiting the Naval Academy in Annapolis. In the photos below, the boys were ready to head out the door for a week of summer camp. They were clean and well rested before they left. I wish I had a picture from when they came home...

By September school was in full swing. The boys began playing intramural football with some of the other local home school boys. I know they both like it even though they are sore for few days each week and walk with a limp on occasion. Stay tuned for football photos soon.

Not to leave Lily without something to do we were fortunate to have a couple of the big sisters of those football players offer to teach ballet. Lily was SO excited! She couldn't wait to buy her tights and leotard. I don't know how many times I heard her ask if it was time for dance class. Here she is on the first day of dance...September 19, 2010.

"Come on Mom! It's time to go!"

Dance class was a success! Lily is still going strong and loving her dance class with all her friends. It's so cute when she shows us her little routines and she spins around the house.

Fall also brought changes in the scout troop. Nate and Drew had been working very hard on earning quite a few merit badges which were given out at the fall court of honor.

Way to go boys!

One last item of business for Nate to take care of at the end of the court of honor was the official handing over of SPL duties to the newly elected troop member. Nate has a look of relief on his face, don't you think? Now he is ready to tackle his Eagle Scout project. Good job Nate!

It's time for me to download pictures from our trip to the farm and Halloween. Check back later!

New House

Our new house @ 10 days before closing. This was the day the kids and I enjoyed a fiesta sponsored by our home builder. We had a great dinner and I was able to sample some yummy frozen margaritas. We also met some of our new neighbors.

Papa Harry was able to spare a few days to help with the move and while he was here he put up quite a few ceiling fans. Thanks Dad!

Scott's parents were here to help as well. Thank you! I am so thankful for all the neighbors who helped pack the rental truck, Scott's co-workers who helped unload the truck, and our family who did so much for us during all the craziness.

Gram was able to visit in August. The kids had just started school but we took a few field trips and enjoyed some sites.

We had a nice day at Mt. Vernon. Lily was very busy working on the Adventure Map.

We all enjoyed the Steven Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Center. What a cool place!

Well, not all the field trips were totally educational. A ride on the carousel at the mall can bring out the smiles.

Look at those happy faces. Thanks for visiting Mom!

Summer happenings

Summer went by in a flash. Here are some random photos from our summer of fun.

Trip to the National Zoo. We did see the pandas before Lily came down with a fever and we turned around for home.

Scott is ready to ride ~ sippy cup in tow at the Clifton Park.

Everyone loves a little watermelon.....

Lily at a park in the new neighborhood. You've really grown this summer Lily!

Lily, the waterbug, at the pool in LRR.

Last lunch out together for a while.

Scott and Nate

Drew and Scott

Scott and Lilymei

My, what long legs you have Drew....

Everyone reading library books.....come on....earn those library summer reading program coupon books!

One great man gone, but not forgotten!

On July 2nd Scott's grandfather, Del passed away at the age of 99 5/6 years! We will all miss him greatly. "Papa" as we all knew him was great role model in all aspects of life. He truly exemplified the Golden Rule. It was hard to not have the family all in the same place, but we were together in spirit and prayer. Thank you to our family and friends that supported our family during this time of sorrow.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

April was another busy month. The boys worked very hard to nearly complete their schoolwork for the year. In exchange for their hard work Scott and I took the kids to Orlando for some much deserved vacation time. Scott was already going to be in Florida for a conference so we planned to arrive the weekend before his conference and stay a few days longer than his conference. We spent our first full day in Florida at Magic Kingdom. We had such a good time we decided to forgo Hollywood Studios for another day at Magic Kingdom later in the week.

Lilymei was enchanted with the castle. The boys were surprised to enjoy the day as well, riding all the big coasters.

Lilymei with 2 of her favorite characters.....Mickey and Minnie!

At this moment Lily was the happiest I have ever seen. She is captivated by princesses, especially Cinderella. I have a feeling I know who Lily is going to dress up like for Halloween this year!

Oh my goodness! Another Cinderella! This time at Downtown Disney.

Lily making a mask in Epcot's China. We had a great time watching the acrobats and the 360 degree movie in China. We even had a delicious lunch in China. Too bad Lily fell asleep before we had dessert in France!

Who doesn't like hanging out with Goofy and Pluto at Animal Kingdom?

The Tree of Life along with 3 wonderful children.

Last day at Disney with a few more lovable characters.

At least we wore out 2 kids in Florida!

Cherry Blossoms and Easter eggs

The last day of March my mom flew into town. We had a great week site seeing downtown DC. We toured Arlington Cemetery, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the Tidal Basin with the cherry blossoms in full bloom. The weather was perfect for Mom's visit this time, unlike her October visit in which it rained every day. Thanks for visiting Mom!

Look at those blossoms. Just beautiful!

We walked all the way around the tidal basin. We had some great views of the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument behind us. Nate is taller than Gram and me!

The gang from Ohio, our beloved Buckeye state.

Lily acting goofy.

Lily and Gram in front of the tree blooming in our backyard.

Coloring Easter eggs is FUN!

Easter morning in front of St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic church.

Kids dressed up in their Easter best.

Spring Break 2010

Scott and I really pulled the wool over the boys' eyes this year. Late last summer Scott and I along with our friends from Guam, the Littlefields, began making plans for a March 2010 Spring Break trip. The plan was we would meet at a beach home somewhere in between Virginia and Texas for a week of fun in the sun to remind both families of our time on Guam. The months ticked by and soon we had our reservation set. The best part of the whole planning was the fact our kids didn't know a thing about the trip and the Littlefield children didn't know where they were headed OR that we would be sharing the vacation with them.

As the day to leave neared Scott and I were secretly making lists of what needed to be packed and made arrangements for the newpapers/sales fliers to be picked up while we were gone. We also needed to let the Boy Scout troop and Nate's religious emblem class know that we would be gone, all while the boys were in somewhat close proximity to us.

The day we planned to leave Nate had a scheduled field trip to DC with his Confirmation class to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. After we dropped Nate off at church for the field trip we began the arduous task of packing suitcases on the sly with Lily and Drew still in the house. A couple of times we had to distract Drew, by asking him to help Lily with something (anything) so we could pull out the suitcases from the basement or by sending him outside to change the lightbulbs in the lamppost out front so I could drag the suitcases down the stairs and into the garage for Scott to hide in the van later in the day. It was tough trying to be so sly. Luckily Drew was oblivious since it was a Saturday and one of his two days of the week that he is allowed to play any type of video game.

Finally the time arrived to pick Nate up at church. I thought Drew would think it funny that we would ALL be driving the minute and a half to church so I asked him earlier in the day to try to convince Scott to take us to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Drew dutifully did what I asked and we were ready to go. Once Nate was back to church we packed him in the car and headed out for dinner. Mind you, Scott had to pack the van so nothing looked out of place for an ordinary drive out for dinner. Nothing unusual could be sticking out in plain view! We hadn't eaten at Cracker Barrel since before we moved to our new home so the boys had no idea which way we should have been driving. We were able to make a 5pm mass and then dinner at Cracker Barrel. We had been on the road for about 1/2 hour when something in the back of the van starting making some noise bumping around. Drew glanced back and ....."What are these suitcases doing back here?!" 20 million questions followed. Scott and I clammed up and didn't give a clue as to what was going on. The boys speculated that we were headed to Great Wolf Lodge. As we continued driving late into the night they began calling out city and state names trying to guess where we were headed. Scott and I stayed quiet. Around 2am, which was really 3am because of the time change, we pulled over into a rest stop and tried to sleep. Let's just say....it didn't happen. We promptly drove to a Hampton Inn and slept a few more hours. Now the boys are really curious. Drew still thought we were headed to Atlanta or maybe to Texas. Nate was guessing Louisiana. After nearly 16 hours of driving we made it to our Spring Break 2010 destination: Destin, FL. We were so ready to be out of the van! The Littlefield's were there waiting for us. Scott and I chuckled that we were able to surprise our gang once again.

Lily on the beach our first night.

She couldn't resist playing in the bright white sand.

It was a cool week in Florida; cool enough for jackets.

One day the guys took all the kids except for the little girls and went deep sea fishing. It was a cold, rainy morning but the trip was a success. Not to be left out Lily and I, along with Sheri and her daughter went to the salon and treated ourselves to a pedicure. Lily loved her first "real" nail visit. I think for 3 weeks straight Lily asked everyone in sight if they didn't just love her pink toes.

Ready for some action!

Great catch Nate!

Here is the gang with their take-home catch. Notice Drew's extremely large fish ~ his first ever catch. Way to go Drew!

Sheri and I "worked" on this vacation too. We didn't know if we could finish but we did!

Last day at the beach ~ Lily fell on the way and skinned her knee. She was miserable and didn't play much that day; she cried quite a bit and then promptly fell asleep on me. After awhile the boys dug out a hollow for Lily to rest in.

Drew and the Littlefield boys, playing again....

Kids in front of the beach house ready for fun!

What's so funny guys?

The boys found something to do.

Lily made some new friends.

Lily sharing a bed time story with her "bunk buddy".

While we were in Destin Scott, Nate, Lily and I took a day trip to Pensacola. We visited Pensacola Christian College and met with a few of Nate's ABeka Academy teachers. We walked around the campus a bit before we went over to ABeka Christian Academy, met a few more teachers and took a tour. Nate was really excited to see his online school in person. Scott and I were so happy for him.

Sunset in Destin..... I'm sure we'll be back!