Lord, help me on beautiful days!

Just a brief snip-it of Andrew's natural energy when it's beautiful outside... and so I pray, "Lord, help me be patient on beautiful days and know what to do with this 'thing', which I no longer believe is just a boy."

Andrew Post-Nap Ritual

Hide 'n Seek has provided our family hours of entertainment the last 6 months or so. Even Margaret is quietly in on the action. In fact, she has started playing in the playroom closet on her own initiative. She'll tuck herself away, carefully pull the doors closed on herself so as not to smash her fingers, and will stand there alone, silent in the dark FOREVER until we play along singing, "Where's Margaret? Where could she be?" She makes us call out several times before she'll gently push open the door to reveal herself. The proudest giggle you've ever heard ensures, followed by countless rounds of the game.

Andrew enjoys Hide 'n Seek so much that he's taken to playing daily in his bed after nap. We’re not sure what the addition of “Woof, Woof” is meant to signify, but why not go with it?! This particular day shown below, Andrew provided us instructions on how he
believes that he and Margaret will not only share a room some day, but his
bed! will share his bed when Margaret grows up.

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"My Classmates"

Andrew’s wonderful teachers this year, Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Buford, made the most precious book for the kids’ first day of school. They put together an alphabetical book with pictures of each child and their name. It was fun to see how proud Andrew was as he worked through it at the beginning of the year. Now, it's entertaining to hear him go through it and tell stories about each of his classmates. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall!!!

Giggle, Woof Woof, "Where's Margaret?"

Assuming the position to be tickled and play “Where’s Margaret?”....

"The Binky Game"

“The Binky Game” has become a favorite lately. Though she has never taken a binky a day in her life and lives by the comfort of her left thumb, Margaret now thinks that chewing on a binky is the single most entertaining and soothing thing she can do. So, as parents of toddlers often do, we’ve made a game of it. Icing on the cake? Andrew LOVES to run the game, too!

Out with the old, in with the New...CAR

Michael picked me in up in his brand new Audi A4 for our second date. While that was not a condition that I put on whether or not I would see him again after our first date, I'll admit that the new, Duke-blue sedan was indeed more romantic than the old, teal Ford that he had previously loved. It was good timing for me to start hitching a ride:)

The backseat was typically Daisy's domain (and a couple of lacrosse sticks, a bag of balls & cones, and too many stinky jerserys), but that's what made it HIS car.  Truthfully, though, if Daisy had to choose between being with Daddy and riding in Mommy's "top-down" car, she would have chosen the Mustang every single time. When his office moved and we started carpooling downtown, it became the home of our daily debriefings. When Andrew came along, Daisy and Molly fell down the totum poll and were forced to squeeze on either side of his carseat...or hitch a ride in the top-down car.

Andrew helped Dad take his license plates off of his Audi as it sat dead, all 145,000 miles, in our garage awaiting towing from the organization to which we donating it.  The shots here prove that a boy in the driver's seat of a car just can't help themselves.  Wonder how Dad will feel in August when he gets to race a REAL racecar on a REAL racetrack!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this shot!

Checking out the new car, freshly delivered on a truck...

A BIG truck comin’ round the corner.  What do you think it is? 

Andrew:  A car!  That’s Daddy’s new Infiniti car.  Yahhh, Yeewww!!!  It’s gonna be FUN!”. 

Andrew: "That’s the coolest car I’ve even seen…even cooler than Lightning McQueen!"

"Margaret, do you believe it?!?"

Andrew, to the truck driver: “Excuse me.  Excuse me!  Uh, that’s my Daddy’s new Infiniti car."

Truck Driver, with awesome accent: "It is???  I thought for sure it was Mommy’s.” :) 

And FINALLY...checkin' out "the new Infinity caaaaaarrrrr!!!!!"  It is natural instinct for a boy to HAVE to touch every single button he can get his fingers on (and so, of course, Margaret follows suit)!  It's just in their DNA.

 

February's Follies

Hawaii-Day at school was something else! Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Buford got the kids all decked out for their Luau. Imagine our surprise when we picked up Andrew sporting a skirt...made out of a paper grocery back, no less. Brilliant!

Watching a movie with Daddy. Best buds. (Note the Christmas lights still adorning the back deck...Mommy sees no reason to remove that brightness from our dark, cold, winter evenings when the post-holiday lull has set in. She instated a "March 1 or Day Light Savings rule" for herself...whichever comes first:)

It was nearly March, but we finally got a decent 4"-6" snow!

Of course it was a school day----bummer for ALL---but at least it was a Monday and

Daddy was home to take us all out to play during lunch.

Time to build a snow man!!!

So proud!!!

Thinking about another snowman under the basketball goal.

Little Miss came down with something and was sporting nothing more than some Duke sweats and a fever that would eventually rise to over 104!

It's no fun just watching from the inside, but she was remarkably patient, and sadly lethargic.

Margaret's desperate plea to be put down for a nap after church, even before lunch.

Perfectly posed sucking on her left thumb with the index finger substituting for the bulb syringe.

Pizza Night, with Sarah and Abby! What else do you do while you're waiting for it to cook than take turns pushing each other around in the big yellow dump truck?

Saucy smiles all around...

Apparently Abby prefers her turn at rolling to watching others roll.

What a look!

Fixing the edges just right.

Digesting Michael's next instructions.

Who knows...still cute!

First scraped knee...does that mean she's all grown up now?

She certainly thinks she's one of the big kids.

Bingo Dancing

I challenge you not to laugh at this “Bingo Dancing”!

Greeting Margaret After Nap

Getting Margaret up from her nap can be one of the most precious times of the day. Oh, the things she has to say! She is often playing with her Mozart Magic Cube, which includes hysterical dancing (i.e. swaying) in her crib. These days, she also typically has a story about Clifford to share and is eager to ensure that she knows exactly where Andrew is.

December 23 - January 28 was a difficult stretch for us...too much death in our lives. More on that later when I can express it, but for now I will say that the first of week of February brought with it a much needed trip to Colorado. To us, Colorado is Heaven on earth...or least the attainable Heaven in America. Tahoe is sublime, but the water too cold. Elk River is divine, but too unrealistic for this stage. So off to our "possible right here, right now" we flew....childless (which has its pros and cons, naturally).

Dody and Grandaddy kept Andrew and Margaret happy as can be in Richmond:) Both sported new haircuts by the end of the week and Margaret got a new pair of shoes! We hear Mexican after church on Sunday was a special treat, too!

Our two nights in Vail were delightful (mountains, views, hot tubs, naps, and massages!), but the snow was lacking, to say the least. Never before had we seen completely dry roads up there, with no signs of fresh powder. Rather than fork over a small fortune for rentals and lift tickets, we opted for Snow Shoeing. Get out in the fresh air? Check. Get our hearts beating? Check. Get some elevation and wonderful views underneath Colorado blue skies? Check. It may not have been the adrenaline rush that down hill skiing is, but it accomplished our goals. There is not a picture of me peeing in the woods in my snow shoes:)

Ironically, we had to drive back to Denver to get out snow fix. An unexpected 2' snow storm hit the city the Friday that we arrived...and by unexpected I mean that it was forcasted AFTER we packed out bags in VA Monday night!

Emily was kind enough to host us again, so the least I could do was my share of shovelling.

After reaching the table on her patio...

we were able to measure 19" at her house.

After an awesome meal at a new restaurant in the Highlands that Em was up on, we all split directions on Saturday afternoon. Michael scalped a ticket to the Avs game, Emily went to a baby shower, and I went shopping ('cause there are REAL shops in Denver!!!).

After I picked them both up Saturday, we hit a sky bar of sorts downtown---since NEITHER of them had been drinking at ALL yet:)

Views from the Hyatt...

Sunday we enjoyed a beautiful service at Wellshire, as usual, and then were fortunate enough to join our Family Ties crew for a Super Bowl party. How much fun to have both parents and kids together in such a great atmosphere! The McQueen's, whom we had criss-crossed paths with, were kind enough to include us and the entire crew for a wonderful chaotic evening. It was the perfect way to catch up with our old peeps.

After sleeping only a wink Sunday night, we departed Em's not-so-bright-but-indeed-early at 4:30. Sadly, it was still after 5:00pm ET before we were reunited with our completely content kiddos at Dody & Grandaddy's in Richmond. We need to take the kids out/back, but it was perfect timing for us to have some adult time...some time to reflect on life....some time to decompress from the realities of life...and death.