This summer has been a busy one. Let's see...we went to Hershey Park for a long weekend, Cecelia did swim team (last minute decision), I rean VBS at church, both girls did a fashion camp, and Jeff traveled quite a bit for work... More on all that later. For now I'm going to write about our first actual vacation...it was awesome! We ventured to the Homestead in Hot Springs, VA. Just under 4 hrs from our house (I sound like a travel guide), we quickly left the hustle and bustle (and humidity) of suberbia and arrived in the quiet mountains of southern Virginia with all that cool, fresh mountain air. The view from the pool was wonderful!

The kids had fun at the "kiddie pool" !! You can see the three of them in the sand in the way back...

They all had a horseback ride (a "must" for Cecelia)!

Cecelia and I had a "girls" morning which included a spa treatment (Fancy Feet and First Manicure for Cecelia and a Pear Blossom Pedicure for me!) and lunch on the porch in the rocking chairs! Caroline, Cecelia and I took tennis lessons. Caroine had a mini private lesson, Cecelia did tennis camp, and I took a few private lessons (finally got my serve back -- I really haven't played that much since high school!) We had wonderful meals in the Main Dining room (men had to wear jackets) with their three piece jazz band. Check out Colin and mommy dancing the night away! (Need to post picture)

Oh -- did I mention they had a babysitting service? Because of this Jeff and I had a wonderful dinner out by ourselves and took a golf lesson! Watch out all you pro-golfers! Just kidding! That sport is way harder than it looks! My final though on the Homestead? When will we be going back??? :)

Livin' on the edge...well, kind of

Do you ever do something without thinking about it? ...like a "gotta have it" or "gotta do it" feeling? I tend to download mp3's from amazon if I hear a song and then instantly hvae this feeling that I have to have it. For example, tonight I was watching Marley and Me and I heard this cover of "Lithium" -- and I just had to have the song. So, while it was still on TV I walked over to my laptop, found the song on amazon, and downloaded it. It instatly charges our credit card without asking -- that's how much I do this "bad habit" as Jeff calls it!

Anyways -- sometimes it's not a bad habbit to do things spontaneously. We've been doing spontaneous things with the kids lately and have been having a great time. They are all finally at an age where we can just pick up, go, and know they will be happy. Let me mention I do keep spare diapers and wipes in the car for this very reason :)

Three weeks ago, Jeff took a "spontaneous" day off of work (he was over his 40 hrs already), Cecelia skipped school (don't judge -- sometimes even 6 year olds need a "mental health day"), and we headed to Baltimore to the National Aquarium. We saw a 4-D Dora/Diego movie, dophin show and some other cool "sea creatures." We then took a boat tour and had dinner on the inner harbor.






Two weeks ago we woke up on a Saturday morning and after looking at my usual blogs that morning, I saw that the Air and Space museum was having a special day (with kids activities) for African American History month -- it was great!






Last weekend my mom was over to do something at church with me, and then she "spontaneously" grabbed the two girls and met my dad for dinner! Colin got to spend some quality time with Jeff and I for a few hours! That same weekend we snagged a free pingpong table, and an hour later went and picked it up (gotta love craigs list!) -- let the compitition begin!

Finally -- who would have thought I'd say "yes" to watching our neighbor's dog? She asked on Tuesdy and then Wednesday we had a new member of the family!



A little spontenaeity is sometimes good for a young family of five!

Dancing with Dad at the Father Daughter Dance!

On Friday Cecelia and Jeff headed off to the annual Father/Daughter dance at school. Complete with a flower corsage that Jeff picked up, a red dress, and dressy patent leather shoes -- Cecelia was ready for a night on the town with Dad! The really cute thing is that Jeff is 6'7" and Cecelia is just under four feet! The really bad thing is I only have one good picture of the dance -- and it's Jeff and Cecelia right before they left. Once I get the professional picture (yes, it was like the prom for little kids!) I'll post that :)

According to Jeff, it was very loud, and most dads (Jeff claims he was not one of them!) were on their smart phones, but Cecelia had a blast!

What does your gut tell you?

Sorry my title isn't more "sweet" or "wonderful" about how my three little kids are doing...that's because we've all been bugged by the stomach flu over the past week.

OK -- long story short -- Cecelia came down with the stomach flu last Monday, Jeff came down with a HORRIBLE cold on Monday night -- both were down for the count until Thursdayish. Caroline came down with the stomach flu on Saturday (early morning -- ugh!) and then Jeff, Colin, and myself came down with the stomach flu very early Monday morning. I've heard that it was bad when both parents were sick, but I've never experienced anything quite like this.

I won't go into much more detail, but let's just say I'm glad it's over! And HUGE thank you to Jeff's dad for helping out on Monday.

And since it is all over...until the next bug comes along...here are a couple cute pics from today! Colin just got is hair cut and looks more like my "little man." The two girls just simply wanted their picture taken -- don't you think they look like sisters?

New Year = New Resolutions

Happy New Year! A new year of course means the fun of coming up with some resolutions. As for me I have a few that I hope I can keep!

1. Keep the house clean. For those who know me, my house is some what of a disaster zone 99% of the time. Having people over gives us an excuse to clean up. I hate when neighbors come to the door and I cannot invite them in because my house isn't in tip top shape. This year it's my goal to get my kids to clean up their toys more, keep dirty dishes under control, and keep on top of my clean laundry (folding it an putting it away immediately instead of leaving it on the couch).

2. Be a better mom. I tend to lose my patience with my three little kids and not be as adventurous for selfish reasons (too much work on my end). This year I'm hoping to change all that. I am going to try and be more patient, listen to what my kids have to say, and attempt to involve them in some activities even if it means going out of my comfort zone.

3. Stay organized. I guess this goes hand in hand with keeping the house clean, but nevertheless, I want to stay on top of things. That means, sorting the mail as soon as I get it from the mail box, going through cecelia's backpack and keeping it hung up in the laundry room, and finally...making cecelia's lunch the night before so I'm not running around like a crazy person in the morning!

4. Stick to our budget!!!! Self explanatory!

What we've been up to!

It's been a while I know...but we've been busy!

Starting back in October...

We visited a few pumpkin patches -- the few pictured below was with my parents on a mild fall day. The kids had fun doing all the activities like the corn maze, hay ride, a cute boat/water activity, cow train ride, etc.






I co-chaired the All Saints Party at church for the kids -- a lot of hard work, but it seemed to go well! Check out all the pumpkins in my car from Cox Farm for "pumpkin deocrating."



We hit Port Discovery in Baltimore -- and discovered a really good pizza place...Joe Squared (if you are very there give it a try!)



A huge amount of family came in for Thanksgiving...and we got to meet our new niece, Ruby!



We did quite a few Christmas activities including the US Botanical Gardens to see their train display, the National Christmas Tree (which had trains, of course), and Union Station to see their train display. Did I mention that Colin LOVES trains?



We had lunch with Santa at Lansdowne Resort -- really good food if I do say so myself!



A few days before Christmas we had a "winter vacation" and ventured to Lancaster, PA and had a blast! We did things like hit up Hershey Park for their Christmas Candylane, went on an Amish buggy ride, had dinner with Mrs. Claus -- did you know there is a very nice spa in Amish Country? Cecelia and I had our nails done :) The highlight was meeting a young Amish family (just around our age) and conversing with them one evening.





We then headed a little more north on Christmas Eve to spend Christmas with my 95 year old grandmother (as well as my parents and maybe 30 or so other extended family). Santa even visited our annual Wigilia (Polish Catholic meatless meal).

It's been a great two months -- and I promise to update more regularly from now on :)

Merry Christmas to all!

By the way --- my favorite show is on tonight -- Kennedy Center Honors! Wooohoo!

Fall Is Here!

So, I snapped a great photo of the kids in front of our neighbors house -- they have this huge tree and the leaves are just gorgeous on the ground!

I thought I'd take this chance and say a little about what each child is up to these days :)

Colin -- he is almost 2 1/2 and tells you everything! If something is exciting to him he'll let you know! And this can be anytime and anywhere (including a quiet church, driving in the car, or just playing in the basement." For example, he just found his monkey backpack in the basement and I heard a "Mommy! Mommy! Look! Monkey Backpack!!"

Caroline -- she is loving preschool! Her favorite thing is to play "beauty salon" with her best girl friends. They brush each other's hair, dry it, style it, put on nail polish, makeup, etc. The teacher said they brush their hair so hard their neck muscles must hurt!

Cecelia -- she is acting like a 1st grader. So much more mature from last year. It's amazing! She helps me out with the younger kids, makes little books (printer paper and markers) every day, and loves to play outside with her friend next door! She also will smart mouth us when she's tired -- but luckily that hasn't gotten too out of hand yet!