Princess Tea Party Photos and Footage

Portraits of a 7 year old...

I had the most fun birthday in the world! The disappointing thing was that I didn't have my birthday party on my birthday because we were supposed to get 4 inches of snow. We didn't get that much snow, but we did get some snow, as you can see in my picture. On my birthday we went to Toys R Us. I got a unicorn stuffed animal that is very big, and a beauty set. Then I went to the mall and I had a soft pretzel and apple juice for lunch. Then I was going to pick out a toy with my birthday money. But instead I wanted some frogs. Mommy said that they are easier than fish to take care of. They are called a very funny name... they are called African Dwarf frogs. I got 2 of them. Their names are Laslo and Lewis. I also got a snail named Wilbur. It was fun because I was with my family. I had Ritz Chicken for my birthday dinner and a cupcake with a 7 candle on it. We watched Ella Enchanted. It was funny and a little bit creepy. I had a Princess Tea Party on Monday. I wore the Enchanted Dress that I got for Christmas. That was the story of the best Birthday in the world.

Snow Day!

It's been big news here... we were expecting a "wintery mix". I laughed over this with my PA sister... a wintery mix is hardly newsworthy up there where a small snowfall is 2 inches. Down here in W-S, that is deep stuff. But, I digress...

Ron and I told the girls that there was the slightest possibility that they would be out of school tomorrow (today), but told them not to get their hopes up too high. With baited breath we watched the 10 o'clock news and were informed (much to our great glee) that schools were going to be closed the next day. As I kissed my slumbering girls before heading off to bed I whispered in their ears that they had a snow day... no school in the morning!

Ahhh, there is nothing quite like a snow day here, rare occurances that they are. We got a grand total of approximately 3/4 of an inch (and I am likely being generous) but it was enough to cover the ground and tempt the girls outside. So dressed in an odd assortment of clothes (the winter snow suits seen in the previous post were borrowed from friends) the girls headed outside and trounced around in the snow with their friend from next door, Noah. When they came in about 40 minutes later, wet and cold, they changed back into their warm, cozy pj's and were treated to hot chocolate. A snow day just isn't complete without the chocolately concoction! It made me nostalgic for the winters of my own childhood, when my dad would pull my sister and I around the neighborhood in a sled and my mom would present us with warm cups of the glorious stuff to help us defrost.

We had such a nice, cozy, low-key, pajama-wearin' day. As Molly likes to say, "It's a peaceful day, Mama." And peaceful it was. A day to be savored and remembered. And perhaps one day our girls will be nostalgic for the "snow days" of their childhood as well. I hope so.

A Snowy New Year

Yesterday Ron woke me up with the question, "Do you want to take the kids up to Pipestem to see some snow?" Two hours later, after a "flurry" of activity we were on the road to West Virginia, eager to see some of the cold white stuff. We weren't disappointed! The place we stayed (Pipestem State Park and Resort) rented sleds AND had a heated pool, so we got to go from one extreme to the other. We all had a wonderful time (as you'll see below) and it was a memorable way to end our Christmas holiday and begin the New Year!

On the clip below, the snow has just started to come down, and Molls is excitedly attempting to catch snowflakes on her tongue...

Here's Ron and the girls the next morning (today) in the approx. 3 inches of snow that accumulated overnight...

Ron and Molls sledding!!!

Bundled up to the eyeballs!

Mommy and girls sledding...

Flurries...

Our little Snow Angels!

Wishful thinking... snowball fight!

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Happy Halloween!

Happy Post-Halloween everyone! Here's some photos of our little Disney "princesses". As you can (hopefully) see, McKenna went as the Little Mermaid, Ariel, and Molly went as Tinkerbell, in keeping with her love of all things Peter Pan.

Our trick-or-treating got off to a not-so-great-start last evening... We were coming home from our church meal and decided to "quickly" stop off to say hi to our friends, the Pedersens (of Andrew fame). Turns out it wasn't a quick drop-by. Ron and the kids decided to trick-or-treat with the Pedersens, and I was going to head home to hand out candy in our neighborhood. Well, as I hopped in the car and prepared to be off, the car wouldn't start. So, here we were with 2 very excited children, geared up to go door to door with their friends (amid the sheer mob of children in this very well-to-do neighborhood) and Ron and I are stuck trying to jump the car... all to no avail. And still it sits outside our friend's home this very minute.

Despite our car trouble, and me not being able to go home and hand out candy (which I had a big guilt complex over... we never wanted to be THAT kind of house on Halloween!) we did end up having a nice time trick-or-treating with our friends. Though, admittedly, it was a bit hard to shake the feeling that we were the "poor" neighbors who bussed ourselves in to take advantage of the "better" treats in this extremely nice neighborhood. :-) Oh well. I guess it's one for the books... or at least the blog.

Fall in the Mountains

This past Sunday through Tuesday, we travelled up to Bear Den Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway and met Ron's folks. We all enjoyed being together in our rustic cabin and getting to visit with one another. We also enjoyed the gorgeous fall color the mountains offered on the parkway.
Of course there is going to be hiking when Ron is involved, and these photos are from the hike we took to see Linville Falls, in the Linville Gorge area. The sky was robin's egg blue, the air was crisp, and the reds, yellows and oranges of the leaves were simply beautiful. It was a wonderful, relaxing couple of days, and we all came home refreshed and ready to take on Halloween! More on Halloween to come...