It's never too late for Christmas Gifts

A surprise package arrived yesterday with presents from Aunt Sylvia!  It's never too late for Christmas!  So sweet of Aunt Sylvia.

Christmas Break

Boy, we had a great 2 weeks off over Christmas and New Years.  Some highlights, but no pictures:

-Lots of parties...before christmas, after christmas, new years, and after new years.  Some with kids, some without.
-Trip to the Baltimore Aquarium
-Visiting Santa at the National Harbor
-Snowtubing and waterpark at Massanutten
-Fun play dates
-Lots of game playing
-Finding and hiring our new au pair, Melina from Germany!  She's amazing!  We are so happy!  


 

Christmas

Grammommy and Gramps spent Christmas with us.  We had a great time, including a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium, playing the girls new xbox, and opening lots and lots of presents.  On the 26th, we took off for Massanutten and enjoyed the water park and snow tubing (no pictures).  Monty has become an awesome dog and can do way more than go up and down stairs.  He's a cutie.

Cookie Time

The girls have already made gingerbread houses - twice - now it was time for cookies!

New Family Member

We adopted a dog this weekend!  A pure breed Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  We got him from a rescue organization in Smithfield, PA.  Apparently, they were shutting down a puppymill and when they went to get the dogs, the owner brought this doggie out by his leg.  Poor boy.

We've named him Montgomery, but call him Monty.  He's 3 years old and incredibly sweet.  He sat on my lap the entire 6 hours home (through a terrible storm!).  He is learning steps (he can go up, but not down). He hasn't had an accident in the house and while he hates the cold, he loves to run through the yard.  He's sooooo sweet and Sylvia carries him around all day.  He snores like a big, old man.

The girls had to test out his crate before we got him.

Snow Days

The girls had two days off of school.  They loved playing in the wet snow and even built a snowman and got in a lot of fun sledding.

White House Christmas

I had a fun time taking Carolina and two of her Swedish au pair friends to the White House.  I thought the decorations were really beautiful this year.  I was mostly taking pictures of them, but here are a few,  including one of the huge National Christmas tree.

We Will Miss You, Uncle Kirk

The girls' Great Uncle Kirk, Mommy's Uncle, Grammommy's only Brother and Granny's Son passed away on Wednesday, November 13th.  We are all so sad, but he passed peacefully and had a chance to say goodbye to everyone.  Our big hugs go out to Laura and Nicole, his daugters (my only female cousins).

We will all miss him.

Cast Is Off!

Sylvia did so well with her cast.  It was no big deal and 4 weeks flew by.  She's so laid back and such a great sport.  Now she wears a brace for 2 more weeks, but the bone is growing back great.

She says "it fees funny, Mommy."  She looks at it like it's a foreign object and unsure how to move her wrist and fingers.  It's really cute.

Carolina's First Visit to the White House

Tours of the White House reopened (closed for 6 months due to sequestration).  The girls and I showed her around on a White House Garden Tour.

Budding Artist

Evelyn LOVES to draw!  This is a picture of fall trees (leaves are falling off) with a rainbow, sun, clouds and birds.  I was seriously impressed