Christmas

Hi everyone! It has been a while.  Have you missed us? With travel and holidays, baking and celebrating, the blog wasn't very high on the priority list. But now we're on in to 2014 (2014?!?!), so it's time to get back to the usual, like blogging. There are a few posts from the fall that might appear in the near future, but for the moment, let's stick with recent events - Christmas! We had fun, as you might expect with three kids in the house. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking about our holiday adventures... enjoy!

Our one photo with Santa - we waited in a long line (at a Y event) b/c E deperately wanted to see him. Then we finally get our turn and M freaks out (not pictured) and E stays in his lap long enough to snap this (notice she is reaching to get down). She refused to speak to him.

our house light display (yes it's a terrible pic but J got the lights really high!)

at the Parkwood Christmas parade - we waited a whole hour for it to start. We were literally walking to the car when we heard it coming (over H's tantrum about leaving) and decided to stay. It was (mostly) worth it!

Christmas tree head!

cutest dimpled Santa ever!

Breaking from usual holiday tradition, we picked out our tree in 70 degree weather. (and matching polka dots!)

tree decorating got a little out of control when the Christmas plaid ran rampant...

curly girl!

and finally it was Christmas morning! Santa brought a lemur.. and a zoo!

opening stocking presents

fruit strips from Santa - yay!

J got Dragons love Tacos (picked out by H at the school book fair) and he had to read it RIGHT AWAY. (yep, my kids interrupt present opening to read books. that's how we roll.)

hat and mittens! thanks Monnig family!

and guess what I got for Christmas - a new camera lens! (but I still have lots to learn...)

an unwilling (yet smiling) practice shot that turned out well!

After Xmas, Lacey and family came up. We got to meet Chili, their new dog.

Helping Popop open presents.

 and now for some practice shots with my new lens...

Hayden!

Jay!

Charlotte! (snazzy boots!)

Molly! (check out that blurry background, yay new lens!)

the cousins, taking a break to pose for me (yet unable to all hold still all at the same time)

taking picture of all 5 while they watch the Grinch. Well one of them was watching me...

 Now a quick montage of 5-cousin-pictures taken the last day...which one is your favorite?

top of the steps (love Molly's "cheese!")

down the steps - almost age order

middle of the steps

all hug Molly!

down the steps in age order.

 Merry Christmas everyone!

Dooley Dog

Yesterday was a bit of a sad day. We had to say goodbye to Dooley. She was put to sleep after battling bone cancer for the past few months. Dooley, if you don't know, was the dog of Grandma and Popop. She hasn't really appeared much in this blog, but she was almost always there behind the scenes.  What should you know about her? She loved to swim, even to dive through the waves. She was a fan of pancakes and all other food treats you would share. She was often an over-licker - once she got started, it was hard for her to stop licking! She could eat her dinner very, very fast. She would greet you at the door with as many toys as she could fit in her mouth. She was an awesome dog!

Dooley Dog

blending in with the Christmas presents

They got her just a few months after Blizzard joined the family, a roly-poly fuzzy happy yellow lab puppy. (I wish I had a picture to share but my digital files don't go back that far.) She and Blizz quickly became fast friends, though Blizz made sure to always remind Dooley that Blizz was the alpha dog. But Dooley didn't mind.

at the beach (with the almost indestructible alligator)

in the snow

Dools and Blizz play

 She loved Blizzard, other dogs and all kinds of people, anyone and everyone. I think everyone in my parents' neighborhood knew Dooley by name and happily greeted her.  The grandkids all loved her, even as they learned to walk holding their hands over their faces to prevent a walk-by licking. Even Molly would greet Grandma and Popop with great enthusiasm, to follow up with "where dooley?" when she was starting to talk.

Blizz and I were snuggling on the couch - Dooley decided to join us!

chasing her doggie ice cream at Blizzard's 10th birthday party

 Dooley made trips to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Georgia. She would have traveled to Oregon and Idaho if Katie could have figured out how to make that work. She and Katie had a special bond. Dooley was her "princess" and they both wagged their tails like crazy when they got together!

Dooley kisses (yes, Katie is holding her 80 lb princess off the ground!)

Dooley love

She let Blizz stay with her when we went out of town and we happily hosted her whenever Grandma and Popop went traveling. She loved to give kisses and be petted. She was forever patient with the grandchildren. She was always up for a walk or a hike, ready to explore the woods or play tug-of-war with Blizzard.

grappling with a frisbee

waiting patiently for pancakes

It seems a bit silly to me at times to post about a dog, but Jason reminded me that Dooley was indeed a family member. She was well loved and she will be sorely missed.(PS. Her name comes from one of the best children's books of all times - Dooly and the Snort Snoot. Look it up!)

family photo with Dools, 2006

Dooley, March 2013

Halloween Stuff

As you might imagine with three little kids in the house, we did some Halloween stuff at the end of October. We went to a festival, we marched in a parade, we carved a pumpkin, we dressed up for school activities and we went trick-or-treating. Throughout it all, we had fun! Not much I can say about it, you just have to see the silly costumes!

the weekend before Halloween, we went to the fall festival at church/preschool. The kids dressed up for trunk-or-treating. a dragon, a cat, a butterfly.

Hayden doing a dance at the end-of-quarter showcase in ballet.

a pumpkin at the Farrington Village Pumpkin festival. where EVERYONE in Chapel Hill went the night before Halloween! the take away? neat pumpkins, WAY WAY too many people!

Molly's school costume. pink skeleton fairy!

Molly loved joining Eliza's class for the Halloween parade after her class was over.

Halloween parade at preschool! They walked all around the church. E is the butterfly!

the skeleton fairy even flew in the parade (at least for part of the time). 

even Jason got into the Halloween spirit. How many mustaches do you see?

dressed up on THE night for trick or treating. We now have a cat, a dragon and a fairy princess!

casing the neighborhood. All the girls had fun, H especially had a blast!

the loot!

 Molly still talks about Halloween and somehow it's become linked to her birthday in her mind. So we'll talk about Halloween, and then she'll say "my birthday?" and I'll say, your birthday is in August, but I don't think she gets it. Also, we've been letting them have one piece of candy for dessert some nights and Molly actually requested one BY NAME - butterfinger! Of other note, Hayden dressed up as Angelina Ballerina for Camp Read-a-lot at school on Halloween. E got hot while trick or treating and was ready to strip down naked while in the middle of the street. The girls got 5 large size candy bars between them (they are tucked away for grownups). Grandma and Popop did a great job helping with trick-or-treating and candy-handing-outing. It was a good Halloween!