Snow Day

We thought we'd get through this winter with no snow, but here we go...



I bundled Rosemary up so she should get out and enjoy her first snow.  She bore it well, but really just had no idea what all the fuss was about.  

The county delayed school and Ben's office started late -- BUT, Tim's school was not in session and Ben had requested the day off.  So not an official "snow day," but the kids had fun.  They started playing at 7:30 this morning and then came in for hot chocolate.  Good thing they started early because it was all gone a few hours later.  

Half a year

My little Rosemary is 6 months old. She seriously has been an awesome addition to the family. Super sweet and smiley and can handle three older siblings with style. Everyone, including her three year old brother, loves her. The smiling and cooing never, ever gets old. I used to call Joe my little runt.  But she has definitely taken over the title.  At her well-child this visit, she weighed just 13 pounds 9 ounces and 25 inches long.  That safely puts her in the 5th and 25th percentiles

Don't you love the warm winter?  We walked to the park one afternoon:




My sister Mary took some great pictures of the kids right after new year's:

And here is a picture of me as a babe.  This one popped up on the screen saver a few weeks back and I was stunned by how much it looks like Rosie (or Ro, Ro-Ro, Roey, etc)

Five Years Old

My little girl is five years old.  I watched her wake up on the big day last week and she asked if she looked older.  Five is a big birthday.  She requested a "pretty cake," so I let the experts take care of that.  I did make cupcakes for her little preschool class. Originally, she requested Chuck E. Cheese for dinner (we haven't been since she was a baby probably), but when she found out they mostly just have pizza, she requested Lonestar.  She loves their mac & cheese.  She got a bunch of fun gifts and late in the day admitted that she didn't really feel like she was five yet.  Ben took two days off work to celebrate which made everything extra special.

Testing

Just wanted to see how the iPod app works...

Thanksgiving 2011 (fixed!)

I better post a few pictures before Christmas comes. It was a real treat to have family drive the five hours down to visit us. My brother Jim, his wife DeAnn and two cute boys, my brother Greg, and my parents. We took a few shots before they left.

Santa wasn't busy at the mall, so the kids were able to have a quick chat.  A visit with Santa is free, it's just the pictures that cost an arm and a leg.

Thanks to the tremendous help of my sister-in-law DeAnn (and my mom, Ben, & Jim) we really had a yummy, yummy meal.  I'm already craving those stuffing balls.  Amazing.

Halloween 2011

We really enjoy Halloween costumes.  We think about it for months and then on October 1st the kids tell me their choice and no changes are allowed.  (Joe tried to tell me this morning that he wanted to do be yoda, but I reminded him of the rules).  I made the watermelon costume for Rosemary and Tim's dog costume (glad he liked it).

The rain let up for trick-or-treating and we had a great time.  So different than our old neighborhood where all the kids from our part of the county got dropped off.

Pumpkin Patch

Mike's Farm in Beulaville, NC.  We had been a few years ago when Tim was our only child (five years ago!).  Times have changed.  For the Farm too.  There were throngs of people there.  Lines everywhere and the parking lot completely full.  We're gladly we went though.  Beautiful weather and the kids now have pumpkins!