Snow Boots

For the past year Whitney has not had any snow boots...I guess last year she didn't need them and was fine with her shoes, but this year we decided to get her some real snow boots. I had the hardest time finding any..but finally success! Wal-Mart met my need this time, in pretty pink with white fur inside!



I can remember having snow boots when I was a kid. They were white and blue with a Charlie Brown scene around them. I think they got passed around between me and my sisters...but we LOVED them! I was so disappointed when I finally could no longer squeeze my feet in them anymore.

We had a need right away for the boots....December snow #3!

Christmas 2009

We traveled to my mom's house in North Carolina for Christmas this year. It was an opportunity to see Blaine and the rest of my immediate family...MOM and Lisa. We even got to see my dad on Blaine's birthday!

it took us about 9 hours total to drive down with traffic and stops...we brought the dog this time.

On Christmas Eve, the kids and I made LOTS of goodies...rice krispie treats, peanut butter blossoms, and chocolate covered pretzel rods!



I cooked dinner for everyone and we headed out for church.


After we got back, the kids each opened one present. Blaine was SUPER excited to see he got a replica Steelers football that had all the players signatures on it.


Whitney added to her Littlest Pet Shop collection. Before bed, Blaine read the classic, "Twas the NIght Before Christmas"



Christmas day was great too....The kids had a great time opening presents and spending time together.







Later that afternoon we traveled to Lisa's to celebrate Blaine's birthday!




I set up his presents like a scavenger hunt to build the excitement.

All the gifts were related to each other, so he had some idea of what the final one might be. I think he was excited to finally open up the iPod touch!



He and I had been talking about it for a few weeks, but I kept telling him it was too expensive :)

We had a great time together this year. It was nice to go home and be able to see everyone...can't wait until next time!

More December SNOW!!!!

This is beginning to be a trend! It has been SO COLD here! The temperatures are in the twenties with wind chills in the single digits! Friends and family in North Carolina saw snow as did we this Saturday. The city of Philadelphia had the second largest snowfall in history!!! A full 2 feet of snow!
Here you can see Whitney standing in one of the snowdrifts...


We totalled about 6-8 inches, but had some major drifting because of the snow. The snow was light all day, but since it was ALL day, boy did it accumulate!

Whitney loved playing in it...as you can see!



This one was not a wet snow like the one two weeks ago, so we couldn't make a snow man or throw too many snowballs, but we could make snowangels and write in the snow!





Whitney is counting down the days until Christmas and with that...the days until we go to GRANDMA's house! We are all very excited about going to NC to visit for the holidays. I have lots of big plans for making cookies, reading books, and spending time together on Christmas eve. I have also planned a birthday party for Blaine on Christmas afternoon. He is going to be over the moon, let me tell you!!! I cannot believe I will be the mother of a teenager...he is growing too fast :)


Santa came by on the firetruck tonight! We waited outside in the freezing cold, but it was worth it to get that candy cane! It was another fun Christmas tradition in Richlandtown!

December Snow

Today is December 5th...a year ago tomorrow (6th) we moved up here to Pennsylvania. It snowed on our drive up that day and true to form...it is snowing again at the same time a year later. Lots of people have asked me whether I like living up here in PA. My honest answer is yes. I do like living here. I love the weather....FOUR actual good seasons. Lots of snow, for sure...more than we ever saw in NC. I love my job! That is a major plus. I enjoy the two sides of it...working with kids sometimes and working with administrators and teachers the other times. I do miss Blaine...that will never go away. Yet, please remember that he wanted to live with his dad before we even thought about moving up here. We talk on the phone often and have worked out our visits. It is not enough, but it will do for now. This is the best fit for ALL of us right now.

So, here is the snow...beautiful, glorious, white powdery fun! The forecast called for about 1-3 inches, but we have already gotten about 2 and it is supposed to snow for another few hours yet. It is coming down pretty good and covering the roads...which they said it would NOT do! OH what fun, that it is on SATURDAY!



Whitney had a ball playing in it...trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue:)



Eating snowflakes off her gloves!



Throwing snowballs.



We miss our friends and family and that will always be, but we do our best to keep in touch and always think of those we miss.
stay warm there...we will still be watching the snow here for another few hours!

Thanksgiving

We had a very nice Thanksgiving holiday. It started off with me getting sick, but we were still able to enjoy our time off work and with family. We spent Thanksgiving day at home cleaning up the house, rearranging things, and putting up the Christmas tree. We took the big bookcase from the living room and put in Whitney and Blaine's room. They have SO MANY books (a good thing!) that we were running out of room for them all. We were also able to put some of here knick knacks on it and get them out of the way of other things. The smaller bookcase that was in her room, we moved into the living room and put the small scrapbooks and some of her smaller toys on. It was another good solution to an ongoing storage problem!

Here are a couple of pictures of us decorating the Christmas tree.

On Friday evening we headed to Sandy and Charlie's house to spend the weekend. Joe's High School reunion was Saturday night. It wasn't an even number like 5, 10, or 20....it was 17 1/2 years! They had not had one before...so why not start now! It was a good time and I even had fun talking with the wives of Joe's HS friends :)

Sunday marked our Thanksgiving feast day! Joe's brother Jeff and his family came over and we enjoyed a feast of turkey, filling, my sweet potato casserole, creamed corn, mashed potatoes...we even had WAFFLES! The kids had fun playing together and we even got some formal family shots. Joe brought his camera equipment and he did a fantastic job getting some good pictures of the family.

We hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as we did. Sooner than later it will be Christmas!!! Take care