Happy birthday Scottie, Peter and Christiana!!

We were fortunate enough to have 3 birthdays close together in my family. My hubby, son and sister are all born within 5 days of each other, Peter and Christiana on the same day! We had a celebration for all three on the Saturday between the actual birthdays. In attendance was Stephen, Mom (me), Peter, Scottie, Christiana, Dad Cole, Granddaddy, and Grammy Pat. It was a great time of fellowship, football and of course with our family, food. Scottie was so cute. Every day after his real birthday, September 15th, he would get up and say "Birthday, Mine!" Then when he got his second round of birthday, he was super excited! He was extremely happy opening gifts, which included two trucks (thanks Grammy and Granddad), Buzz Lightyear (thanks DadDad, MomMom and Nana) and some Buzz and Woody toddler bedding! His highlight though was his cake, a Wiggles car! It was a fun cake to make but what made it all worth it was to see the excited look on my baby's face when he saw it for the first time. Christiana was surprised to come and have a dolphin cake waiting for her and of course Peterhad a German chocolate cake. It was a special day.

Happy Birthday, Scottie!!

Wow, how time flies! Scottie celebrated his 2ond birthday yesterday and I can't even believe that my BABY is now a full blown TODDLER! We celebrated his happy day with balloons, park, cupcakes, and friends. It was the perfect birthday. We started the day off coming downstairs to a decorated house with banners and balloons. Then we headed over and had a birthday breakfast of yummy eggs with Mrs. Alisha and Matthew Myers. After that we had lunch and played whatever Scottie wanted to until lunch and nap. Then it was "party time"! We headed over to the park and set up a table with some muchies and drinks then played for a few hours with our friends. We sang "Happy Birthday" and had cupcakes. We opened some gifts and then played some more. I think this kind of party is perfect for a 2 year old. He wasn't overwhelmed, he wasn't the center of attention for too long, he was totally happy! Hope you enjoy some pics of this special occasion.

September 11th 2010

.Today marks the anniversary of a very sad day in our history. But one of the great things about living in a small town is that we celebrate life and get together as a community. Maybe it just coincided with September 11th this year, maybe it was a fall kick-off, I am not sure but it was a blast!

We went out this morning to go to the farmer's market and found a street full of sales, people and music. The Farmer's Market was busy as usual, with yummy produce. This is where I normally get my fruit, since I enjoy the time with the boys, love fresh locally grown fruit and want to support our farmers. We then headed around the streets hitting up some "yard sales" which lined Main Street and we found some great deals. Next we went home and found Dad going to play golf so I decided to take the kids to the park.

While at the park, we found a bounce house, games, local vendors, free hot dogs and pop corn, and a singer performing on the stage. Stephen and I decided after playing at the park for a little while and having a snack that we would try our hand at some of the games. Little did we know that there was going to be a "Minute to Win It" official game going on. Stephen and I both played and I won for the women, competing in the games of "junk in your trunk" and "Separation Anxiety". Our times were the best in the region so I am looking for an NBC casting call. :) Stephen came in first for the boys in "volcano drop" with a time of 5.42 seconds! It was so fun! Scottie played in the duck pond and fishing games and got some fun prizes with his tickets. We had a blast!! Hope your day was as good as ours. Enjoy the video of Stephen in his "Minute To Win It" glory.

End of Summer fun

So the week of Labor Day is considered the end of summer... How I am sad to see another season go, but look forward with great anticipation to my favorite season, autumn. As we said our good byes to summer, we did a lot of great things. We went swimming a couple of times, hung out at the park, went to the Reston Zoo with Lisa and Julia, had a women's night out at pottery, saw family and went to an air show!

Stephen and Scottie enjoyed going to Sherando park for a birthday party and learning about light sabers. They had lots of fun battling in the woods with the other boys and had a blast on their play equipment.

Later in the week, Lisa and Julia had us out to their house to go to the Reston Zoo. It was a fun time with the kids. We went on a ride in a wagon pulled by a tractor into the "Savannah" and was able to feed an ostrich, see Stephen's favorite animal, zebras, and see a camel up close and personal. There were many other critters to see, monkeys, kangaroos, goats and sheep in the petting area, pot bellied pigs, porcupines, and pythons just to name some of the bigger ones. The kids liked being able to get close to the animals, closer than normal. It was a fun time, but very hot! Then we went back for naps and headed to the pool. We had fun at the pool, swimming and playing. Stephen has grown so much over the summer. He is doing so well with swimming. I am sure next summer he will be swimming without floaties.

I had a great time out with my girls and we were creative with our time. Becca, one of my best friends has been taking pottery classes with her boys as some fun mom time and decided to see if we would like to go and make some fun things also. I have to say that I really enjoy working with my hands and being able to create fun and useful things while having some great girl time.

The air show was fantastic. It was up in Martinsburg, West Virginia and the feature was the Air Force Thunderbirds!! Peter was able to get us some passes because one of his bosses is the sister of the #2 pilot and we were fortunate enough to be able to eat with the pilots, talk with them, and get some autographs. The Army Golden Knights parachute team was also there but due to high winds they were not able to perform. We saw my favorite aircraft, the A-10 Warthog, and the Navy's F-18 along with many other smaller aircraft. On the ground we were able to see a C-5, Black hawk helicopter, and a really cool plane that takes off like a helicopter but then rotates it's propellers and becomes an airplane called a Osprey. Caleb was home from the Air Force Academy so he was able to join us and this was an added treat for the boys along with me since we don't get to see him so much and we all LOVE Uncle Caleb!

So as summer comes to a close, we look back with fond memories but look forward to many more that will come this fall. Many park days, exciting trips, and birthdays are just around the corner!!