Category: Marie

The other night, we were having breakfast for dinner. Brian dunked his bacon in his milk.
Then a couple nights ago, we had peas. The kids had theirs in little bowls. Brian added milk to his and ate them like cereal.
Today at lunch they both put peas in their apple juice.
At least they are eating! I guess.

I put Brian in his room for a nap, and he said he wanted to sleep in his nest. Your nest? Yes, he said, pointing to the red crate holding all his books. Ok then. We emptied it out, I lined it with two towels and sat him inside. It didn’t look too comfy to me, but he was happy as a clam so I said goodnight and went downstairs…
To find Marie sitting in the middle of the floor, box of crayons emptied out all around her, big pile of kleenex that Brian had emptied on the floor earlier next to her as well. She said “Mom, I laid 25 eggs and they all hatched into chicks and I’m feeding them chick food with whipped cream.” I missed so much while I was upstairs! She had taken a kleenex and wadded it up around a blue crayon (blue whipped cream) and was squirting it on some kleenexes to feed to her chicks which are actually the crayons. I said ok, then went back upstairs to see how Brian was doing in his nest. He is sitting in there reading a book to himself, happy as can be, didn’t even notice I stuck my head in the doorway. I didn’t disturb him. I’m on my way to help with the chicks now.

Hi, we’re back from a lovely trip to “Corolla Beach”:http://www.outerbanks.com/corolla/ on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with our friends. Marie and Brian both had a wonderful time, we got plenty of time on the beach and in the sand, and I think they are both still getting sand out of their various body parts.

By the way, while we were gone we got our floors refinished by “Nic-Lor Floors”:http://nic-lorfloors.com/ and we will happily recommend them to others. They did a great job for a great price.

Pictures will be forthcoming soon. I know I’m terribly behind on pictures. I try and update them on the website at the same time I send them to the “Ceivas”:http://www.ceiva.com but it doesn’t always work to everyone’s benefit…

Here it is, one week from Marie’s 4th birthday, and yes, we are still alive although haven’t posted in a while.

Today, we were at church most of the day due to rehearsals for the variety show. In the evening, we went downtown to Herndon to go to the “Tortilla Factory”:http://www.thetortillafactory.com for dinner. (BTW, the Tortilla Factory is the *best* mexican place in the world.)

After dinner, we went to the Herndon “Train Museum” which is a single caboose next to the town square. We then went to Dairy Queen with an entire girls’ soccer team, and had a good time eating ice cream, petting dogs, and just being a family.

This morning the kids were getting restless and the piano tuner had about 30 minutes to go, so I got out the body crayons (thanks again, Laura!) and we retreated to the kitchen. They are colored pencils made out of some kind of oil and wax and they wash right off. To make it even more fun, I let them write on me too. By the time Mr. Moore was done, we were all decorated – faces, ears, legs, fingers, bellies.

Yesterday’s weather was so nice! During Brian’s nap, Marie and I cleaned off everything on the deck and all of the summer water toys. That was fun all by itself, but then Brian got up from his nap so we filled the water table and they played and played and played. Then I gave Brian a squirt bottle with water in it and he quietly squirted everything in the backyard. Buzz bunny got to come outside and eat grass and dig, and the kids dug up a couple worms, and we saw butterflies and flowers. What a gift to have a day like that – kind of a preview of summer.

I’m so proud of my kids! Marie is such a big girl now that she 1. shared her Valentine’s tattoos with Brian and 2. was able to apply the tattoo all by herself! Brian is thrilled he has a dinosaur on his hand now. Marie has a kitty on her hand. Fun all around.

This morning, Marie got everyone’s toothbrush ready – slightly wet with water and loaded with toothpaste. It gets better – she brushed Brian’s teeth for him! He was very cooperative and she did a thorough job.

First snow of the winter yesterday… Just 2 inches, but enough to drag the kids around the yard on the sleds. Great fun was had by all. School is delayed today, meaning Marie’s preschool is cancelled–so more snow fun will be had today!

Christmas Day: Quiet celebration with just the four of us, followed by a nice dinner with the Arnolds.

12/26: Christmas with the Schneiders! That wound everyone up pretty well. Marie got a bit of stomach flu that night, and kept us all up late.

12/27: Pete’s surprise birthday party! Gammy and Grandpa came up from Florida for a couple days (after a great deal of airport delays). Also that night I came down with the stomach flu.

12/28: Trip to the spy museum with Laura, Pete, Jim, & Suebee. Dinner with the above, the kids, and Billy & Regan at our house. Still feeling a bit miserable.

12/29: I begin to feel better. We say goodbye to Gammy and Grandpa and they head back to Florida. We relax in the afternoon and Mommy gets the stomach flu late at night.

12/30: A lot of cooking was done. Mommy was feeling alternately fine and terrible. Went to bed still feeling bad. We’re all hoping she can play the organ tomorrow, because Becky’s out of town!!!

Forgive me for not getting pictures up on here recently, I promise, they are coming!