Christmas 2009

What a whirlwind of a month! We had a wonderful Christmas season. We got to spend a lot of time with our family.




Even had a visit from "Dziadziu Claus"!

All the school parties.

So much excitement that when school was out, we spent most of our break like this.

We were so excited that our break started with a BIG snow! We did a LOT of sledding, built snowforts, had many snowball fights, and built this snowman that was almost immediately tackled and destroyed. At least we got a picture first.

We had a memorable Christmas Eve at Grandmama and Granddaddy's house. A delicious meal, followed by a fun game, the boys' reenactment of the Christmas story as read from Luke...

and a sing-along led by the boys...

Jamestown

Had a great trip to Jamestown over Thanksgiving weekend! The boys LOVED it - especially Tad. We saw the Powhatan Indian Village...

The settlers' fort...

Worked on digging out a canoe like the Indians would have done...

And checked out the ships...

Thanksgiving

We had such a fun Thanksgiving! Pictures of the annual turkey bowl (football game) to follow soon. Tad really loved the preparations. All the kids helped a lot with cooking, but Tad really took charge of setting the table and serving the food. Here he is with his beautiful table.

Grandmama brought over materials for a Thankful Turkey project. The kids attached feathers and a face to a basket and filled the basket with fruit.

We all got a kick out of Matthias drinking with a straw from a crystal glass.

These are from last weekend's trip to Maymont Park. This picture really captures Tad's pensive nature.

And this one Andy's love of animals.

Family Tradition

What's even more fun than carving jack-o-lanterns? Bustin' 'em to bits!

Can you see the pumpkin pieces flying through the air in this picture???

OBX Trip

A short trip to the beach was relaxing. Sandboarding at Jockeys Ridge was the highlight of the trip!

October 2009

Halloween...



And football...

What more is there to say about October??

Stud

Tad asked me to get him a "tuxedo" so he could dress up for church. I found him a suit that he now wears every Sunday morning.

Getaway

Ed and I finally got to get away for an overnight together for the first time in years. It had definitely been since before Matthias was born, but we weren't sure how long before. We went to Virginia Beach for the Neptune Festival, and Tad and Matthias stayed with Grandmama and Granddaddy, and Andy stayed with Babcie. We all enjoyed ourselves! The only pictures we got were of the sand sculptures, but they were amazing! We got to watch some being built. It was definitely the highlight of the trip. We also enjoyed checking out all the vendors, catching a good band, and riding our bikes on the boardwalk.

Back to Life

And we are getting back into all our activities for the year. Here's Tad at hockey practice.

Crazy Part II

Tad and Andy decided to invite a couple of friends to go to Kings Dominion and spend the night for their birthdays.

Fall is Crazy!!!

September is always a very busy month for us. A couple of days after we got back from vacation, it was time for school to start for Tad and Andy.

And the next week it was time for Matthias to go.

Summer is Relaxing

The two weeks before school started were spent at Garden City Beach. We had to take a lot of stuff for two weeks!!

We spent the first week on the inlet, kayaking, fishing and crabbing.

Then a week oceanfront, which we spent boogie boarding, finding shark's teeth and playing in the sand. And of course visiting the arcade / amusement park a couple dozen times!