Margaret's 10th B-Day (in reverse order!)

The boys played basketball and did Dance, Dance Revolution!

The girls tumbled, did the balance beam and climbing wall!

Porter and James got Margaret a Zhu Zhu pet- that was a big hit!

Some of the neighborhood children joined us for pizza and ice cream before we headed back to EHE for family gym night. The best part is getting them out of the house and letting them run WILD through the school!

After school, Kayla (our new neighbor) came over and played with Abby and Margaret. They did manicures and played office...

Passing out strawberry cupcakes at lunchtime to her classmates with the help of some friends. (It was hippie day at the school!)

We started the day with the third grade breakfast at EHE. Abby came with us and it was a special treat to eat breakfast with Margaret in the cafeteria.

More pics of Abby from MLK Day

Dadu and Abby spent some quality time together when he came down last week. Dadu even took her out to eat at Chick-Fil-A (just the two of them!)

Abby also got to spend one on one time with her daddy while the big kids were in NY. Patrick took her bowling on Saturday afternoon and then over to the school to practice on her bicycle on Monday since it was a holiday weekend.

My dad came and picked the big kids up last Thursday and drove them to Endicott, NY to have a long weekend at Aunt Holly and Uncle John's house. They did it last year, and I am surprised Holly was willing to host our children again! Nonna met them there and the whole family enjoyed skiing, bowling and playing together for a few days.

AP and cousin Timmy posing in front of the Greek Peak sign. The most fun they had was when the boys got to stay late and do some night skiing...

Margaret and cousin Lisi had fun skiing the "Magic Carpet." AP was very proud of skiing this black diamond trail... good thing he is a natural at most sports!

Meanwhile, Abby and I headed south to Fredricksburg to spend a night at Bubby's. We shopped at Jo Ann's and Macy's, painted our nails and baked noodles and tuna fish- my favorite!!

We also took Abby to "Fire House Subs" since, like her buddy Josh, she claims she wants to be a firefighter when she grows up!

We also took Abby (and her ballerina bear) to a princess party at a local dance studio... but we didn't know when we signed her up that they would not let the moms (or grandmas) stay in the room! That didn't go over well with Abby. She only lasted about 45 seconds... then watched the remainder of the classfrom the safety of the doorway! She looked so adorable... I just wish she would have joined in!

Skating Rink and Dress Up

Enjoyed a trip to the skating rink with the kids last Saturday. It's been so cold lately, it was a warm/cheap place to be ( and we had some free passes) other than the library! It

s been so cold lately, our pipes were frozen Sunday and the one in the laundry room burst. I had to heat the pipes up with a hair dryer... As it turns farmhouse living isn't too far from ghetto living! I remember my mom having to do that on Grand Ave! Consequently, I found our neighbor's name listed in the police section of the Sunday paper...

A.P. is doing a good job watching Abby after school while I run on the tread mill. In the warm weather, they can play outside and stay busy... but with it being so cold, he's had to get pretty creative. This week, they dug deep into the dress up boxes and the results were pretty amusing!

(Abby's "bad guy" face...she's showing her hand cuffs...)

Russian Christmas and Grandfather's 75th Birthday!

A.P. made Grandfather a wooden medal with his new wood burning kit.

Abby made him a tiny red pot with the new pottery wheel. Bubby hosted us again for Russian Christmas this year and explained to the kids all of the traditions... like dipping bread into honey and garlic to represent the sweetness and bitterness of life...

I bought the kids some authentic Russian folk costumes to celebrate Russian Christmas this year. They looked fantastic! Now we'll have to do some research so we know more about the traditional clothing... Never thought that someday I'd be dressing my children in Russian clothes instead of Irish ones!

They looked like a million dollars and it's nice to teach them about their heritage. Now we'll have to start doing something bigger for St. Pat's Day so Abby can learn more about the Emerald Isle. She already does the jig each night in the kitchen, so I guess that's a start!

Babushka Baba Yaga left presents this year again for the children...

Thanks Bubby and Grandfather for the yummy food and good company...

Happy 75th birthday, Dick and Happy Russian Christmas everyone!

Gingerbread House- a Christmas Tradition- in Reverse Order!

After weeks of work, we are finally finished with our gingerbread house! I will take it to work this week (like I always do) to put on display in the library while I do my gingerbread boy unit. Then I'll take it to Bubby's for Russian Christmas before it gets the ole toss-a-roo. Glad we did it, and glad it's done!

New Year's and Thank You to Santa Claus

We attended a children's program at Ellwood Manor this morning in Locust Grove, VA. Ellwood was built in 1790 and served as a Confederate Hospital during the War Between the States and served as Union headquarter's in 1864. Stonewall Jackson's amputated arm is buried on the site.

The kids got to make paper chains, cut paper dolls, practice writing with a quill pen and make an orange/clove ornament. They also got to see Santa before he retreated to the North Pole and thank him for the gifts he left at our house on Christmas night.

We finished our gingerbread house on New Year's Eve and I'll post pictures soon. We will be celebrating Russian Christmas next weekend. This year we are combining it with Grandfather's 75th birthday!