Happy Holidays!

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Happy Birthday, Dada!

44th birthday dinner :)

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Fun reminder of the kids at the beach: an outdoor banner

Took this photo on June 11th, 2011 as the kids approached the beach on the first day of vacation.

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Stone Harbor Top Ten (more or less) 2011

Nat:
Going to the pirate golf course
Going to the beach
Going on bike rides
Going on a walk
Playing frisbee with dad at the beach
Playing football with dad
Watching that big claw thingy (army corps of engineers' beach reclamation project)

Lizzie:
My favorite time is swimming in the sand
Building sand castles and playing with my friends (Fiona and Natalie)
My other favorite part of the day is um um going under bridges
Playing frisbee with Nat and Daddy
Flying kites

Jeff:
Swimming in the ocean
Bike rides
Mini putt putt
Food
Playground
Weather was awesome
Kite flying
Smell of the air
Trip to bookstore with Lizzie
Hanging out with family

Amy:
Late afternoon @ beach, Lizzie on my lap & digging in sand
Jumping waves with Nat
Riding our bikes to Avalon for lunch and mini golf
Watching Lizzie make beach friends with Fiona & Natalie
Collecting seashells
Enjoying dinner @ the house with the whole gang - Chris, Tiziana, Christian, Mom,Paul, Adam, Jeff, Nat and Lizzie.
Checking out the Wayward Gardener and finding an antique wooden doormat and 3 little birds.
Listening to Jeff play the guitar on the porch while enjoying a glass of wine
Being surprised with a Hershey's chocolate pie from my bro and Nat.
Seeing Nat, Lizzie and Christian play.

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Lizzie playing by her own rules @ age 3 1/2

Stone Harbor 2011

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Clean Slate

It's been one of those weeks where I'd like a rewind button or, better yet, a clean slate. A fresh beginning.

At times like this, I love a good project that involves physical labor and a visible reward in a reasonably short period of time.
One afternoon, I tore out the green indoor/outdoor carpet that I have abhored since we bought our home almost seven years ago. (I placated myself by thinking that it provided a safer, softer surface for our babes.)

After a lot of scraping and washing and scraping and Home Depot consults and scraping, I chose to forgo muriatic acid to remove the mastic (carpet glue...I'm a project geek!). I committed to a coat of Behr concrete & masonry primer, followed by two coats of Behr porch & exterior paint in "pebbled path".

Voila! A fresh looking porch with a crazy new Mad Mat in a Turkish design and what our friend Pam calls "Wahoowa" colors.

Thank you Pam for your help and patience with this (and that).

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Can we pet the stingrays?

Yes! Nat was obsessed with petting the stingrays @ the Pittsburgh Zoo. While the quality of the photo is abysmal, the joy on Nat and Alice's face is clear.

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Megan, we miss you!

Megan graduated from Westminster in May and will be off to Disneyworld soon for an incredible internship. We are simultaneously happy for Megan and sad for us. Megan started babysitting for Lizzie and Nat in the 2nd semester of her freshman year. She became part of our family and, in Lizzie's eyes, a real life Disney princess. In this case, I completely approve of Lizzie's choice of a princess to emulate. Megan, we miss you and know you will be a loving and intelligent force in this world.

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Do giraffes say "cheese"?

Lizzie is documenting the wildlife that the Mayers sent her for Christmas. Photo taken in mid-to-late winter of this year.

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Nothing like a good game of "Pass the Salt"

This photo was taken after dinner one night in early April. We were so desperate for Spring weather that cabin fever was at an all time high. To amuse ourselves, Nat, Lizzie and I asked one another to "pass the salt" and then proceeded to roll the wooden rooster on wheels (it holds our salt & pepper) around the table. I'll post another photo of Lizzie cracking up over this game. Belly laughs all around!

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Here's to being a kid again!

Congratulations on your retirement, Dad! It's playtime for you! May you enjoy each and every day!

We love you!

Amy, Jeff, Nat, Lizzie & Buddy

(And a belated Happy Birthday!!!!)

yummmmmmmm

Microwave smores!

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Fetishes

A list:

• comfy, cozy bedding (particularly flannel and percale)
• children's book illustrations (must admit that I purchased Babar and Father Christmas at the age of 26, way before giving birth to our first child)
• maps (not to follow, just to admire)
• tables (not really, I just added this one for my husband's sake)
• rugs (see above)
• baskets - especially ones made from elephant grass!
• sterling silver charms
• white candles
• Simon Pearce glass
• red wine
• handmade pottery
• felted wool
• cast iron bookends or figurines

The Sound of Music

St. Louis here we come! We are on the road and headed to Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Tom's house for a long overdue visit. Last night, we stopped at a Hampton Inn for a rest and stumbled upon Maria and the Von Trapps (on the tube of course). Lizzie and Nat were mesmerized (and Jeff and I couldn't stop grinning like fools over the fact that our children froze in their tracks when they heard this beautiful music).

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Odd Confession: Forty is Feeling Pretty Darn Good

Forty is feeling pretty darn good and how could it not?

I celebrated this milestone of a birthday with family and friends and capped it off with the kind of dinner that I dreamed about for my 40th: candlelight, fabulous friends, my loving husband, and wonderful food (I did have a nasty cold but, as Ruth would say, I "bucked up" for the big night). Life is good.

Zizzie's Tree

My husband has been generous in the tree department: he had terrible allergies as a child and grew up with the tradition of an artificial Christmas tree. Despite this, he has approved my annual pilgrimage for a real, formerly live, Christmas tree. In response, I have given up the notion that all four of us will set out together, merrily singing carols, to find the perfect tree. (I have yet to give up my romantic notions of a tree decorating party, but maybe next year.)

This year, Lizzie and I swung by a tree farm on the way home from our little friend Luke's birthday party. We didn't have a saw, a checkbook or cash, but that didn't stop us. After trekking to the back of the woods, identifying our tree and asking the kind gentleman to please cut our tree down, we proceeded to the farm's office. Uh oh. No credit cards. However, they had a W&L/UVA worthy honor system and we were able to take our tree home with us.

This year our Christmas tree is "the girls' tree". We may not be pioneers, but Lizzie and I still know how to get the job done. Wooohooo!

P.S. Although this is Zizzie's tree, I must admit that my smart and beautiful daughter has started to pronounce her name with the "L" sound. Darnit.

Deck the Hall with Advent Calendars

Like my friend Nora, I am of the belief that one cannot have too many Advent calendars. The Garnet Hill calendar that I have been coveting these past few years was marked down to a ridiculously low, "couldn't make it for less myself" price tag. So now we are enjoying both (a) placing a felt ornament on our Advent tree and (b) discovering a special note/activity of the day in our mini Advent buckets that line the balustrade (oooo, "balustrade", doesn't that sound grand? ;) )

Now, if I can just get Lizzie and Nat to stop trading stomach flus so we can enjoy Advent activities like hot cocoa, gingerbread and other baked goodies on a regular basis. Jeff, the laundry machine, the babysitters, and I are wiped out.

Shhhh....it's a secret until the 25th

I've been having a blast, staying up late and making little toys for Lizzie and Nat for Christmas. Yes, my muscles are atrophying, but hey, it's winter and those cozy sweaters, tights and long pants will cover for me until the New Year.

Away in a manger or a sleepover at Santa's house?

Today I noticed our new Nativity set and the fact that the whole manger crew - Mary, Joseph and all Three Wise Men - were staring down at an empty "no crib for a bed". Where was Baby Jesus?

I asked Lizzie about this and she told me that Baby Jesus was "in the house". Playmobil Santa's house that is.

Thankfully, I was able to talk Lizzielou into reuniting Baby Jesus with his crew. (I must admit that I am having an awful lot of fun watching my daughter play with the new Nativity set - call me irreverent, but it's a hoot!).