Happy Valentine's Day....

Jason had a very important date over the weekend....the Daddy-Daughter Dance! It was SO adorable to drop Jason and Claire off at the door to the "White Ballroom" at Masonic Village, and see all of the other little girls and their daddy's dressed to nines like Claire and Jason! Yes.....almost all of the dad's were in suits and ties, and the girls were in fancy-pants dresses!! Claire took it VERY seriously and had her hair curled, she wore her flower girl dress, and her special-occasion coat! They had a GREAT time, but Jason is not prepared for her to be so independent. She loved that he was there with her, but really could have cared less when she was dancing with her girlfriends! Poor Jason...he has no clue what he is in for!



The kids and I went to Grammy's house for our annual Valentine's- Day- Cake -making! YUM! Of course, Ayden's favorite part is eating while he "works"! He has enjoyed making these cakes since he was really little...he LOVES cherry pie filling! What a funny kid.

So, Jason spent Valentine's weekend doing the backsplash....well he put it up, and then we grouted together. How romantic! It looks great, though and we are super glad to have it done. Next up.....finish the island. No sweat!

WOO-HOO!!! LET"S GO TUBING!

We had a sleep over this past weekend. It was A LOT of fun. These are some sleepy kids, who of course, were not at all ready to go to bed. It was a good thing that we had some bribing material to work with! Our plan for the next morning was to go snow tubing at Ski Round Top, so they all agreed that they would need extra energy for a day filled with activity.


Claire was without a doubt the bravest of tubers! The boys have conceded to this fact and have been able to admit that a five year old girl can/is adventurous and brave. She was the first to go down the hill by herself and also the first to go on her belly, rather than sitting in the hole! GIRLS ROCK CLAIRE!!!













Trent and Ayden were the most concerned with looking the part. They were very independent when riding the lift up the hill and there hesitation to go down the hill quickly diminished when they realized that it was actually fun to take the risk!!




Eli had a great time. He is the littlest of them all, but he hung in there smiling and laughing the whole time. He thought maybe Pop-pop would scream the loudest. I'll let you wonder whether he did or not!!











So, at the end of the day I am not sure who was more tired. Gabby and Pop-pop, or the kiddos! OR ME....we're the ones that had the sleep over, remember?








Some nice cold beverages (and many many of snacks) made a perfect ending to this adventuresome day! Thanks for a coming along everyone....we had a GREAT time!

CLAIRE'S NEW HAIR

Okay, here is my baby girl with a new hair style. Some of you haven't had the chance to see it yet. Yes, she looks like she is 10 years old and she acts like she is 15 years old. It is truly amazing how fast these kids seem to be growing right now! Every week it seems like another piece of clothing is too small, or a new pair of shoes are a must.
As you can see, Claire thought it important to include a shot of the back of her head, to (Just so no one is confused as to how long her hair is now)!!

WELCOME TO OUR HOME, SPIKE!

What a cute little turtle, right? So everyone knows, Spike is Brian and Erica's (brother-in-law and sister-in-law) lone pet that is being left behind as they journey to Japan for an undetermined length of time. Poor Spike...I am sure she misses her real mom already! I think I am the hovering step mother that she is tired of seeing and the kids are like her annoying step siblings that always want to play a game she doesn't like!!
No, really, she is doing very well...today. Let me explain.
Day 1 without Mama Erica and Papa Brian must have been a bit traumatic. Her little eyes were swollen, probably from our not-as-good-quality-of-water, like she used to have in NYC. We put drops in them and she seems fine. She then tried to escape the tub, BUT hovering step-mom was there to catch her!! So I rearranged her rocks, which apparently I did not do right, because she continually knocked them over. I did, however, find a suitable arrangement and she has since let them be. whew!
Day 2 without Mama E and Papa B was probably even more traumatic. She seemed so lethargic in the morning, and of course the hovering step-siblings were extremely concerned. Oh, I reassured them that everything was fine...."she's just getting used to everything, " I said. Well, the kiddos went to school and I started noticing how tired she seemed. So, I watch her hiding in her little cave that is under water. Her eyes seemed okay, but she really hadn't eaten anything. I figured she wants something special to eat...I'll teach her to depend on food when she is stressed out. You know, just like the rest of us. So, I put some romaine in her tank and feel the water and....HOLY COLD!!! This poor turtle wasn't tired, she was freezing! (not literally, don't worry). I look to see if the heater is plugged in and it was, but I find a crack in the glass casing around the heating coils. It must have shorted out. ANYWAY, I am just thankful that Spike wasn't electrocuted on Day 2. If that would have happened we surely would never be trusted with any of Erica and Brian's other offspring EVER!!

So, Day 3 has begun, and Spike is swimming and playing as a normal turle should be, in a tank warm and cozy. She, of course, has a new heater that I am hoping makes things better between us. Food brides haven't worked, but maybe I could buy her love.
Thank you Brian and Erica for adding this little bundle of joy to our family! We love her.






And this...well....this is Ayden's fashionable combination of "get-up" from Aunt E. Claire, of course, was the histerically laughing photographer. He looks like a...well, you know what he looks like. I have to admit, he is a funny guy!

SNOW

Sunday, it finally snowed!! Okay, it was only 1 or 2 inches, but it was pretty and fun to play in and that makes ALL the difference. Friends of ours, the Ethridges, invited us to play on the ice at a pond by there house. It was alot of fun, and Claire was able to try "iceskating". Ayden and his pal, Dalton looked more like penquins belly flopping and sliding on the ice. It was pretty impressive!

Dalton is in Ayden's class. We have had a chance to get to know the family through their friendship. They are alot of fun!











In all honesty, the kids played in the surrounding woods more than they played on the ice. I don't have any complaints, but I think the Daddy's shoveled snow for their own enjoyment!!

So this was our one day of playing in "real" winter weather!! Yay!......
I think I'm ready for Spring, anyway!!!

Back to the Basics!

Well Christmas has come and gone, New Years was lots of fun, and now we are all thankful for some normalcy. Ayden is especially happy when we can get back to our routine! He's so funny that way.
So for those of you who do not know, our holidays were great! It was such a fun year. The kids were very gracious about all of their gifts and were equally as excited about giving as they were getting! Of course Santa brought new bikes! It was very fun. The elves were very sneaky this year and had "stolen" Ayden's old bike and gave it a PINK paint job! Claire was ecstatic, and thought it was AMAZING that the elves were able to be so tricky, as well as thoughtful of REDUCE ~REUSE~RECYCLE! Santa also used newspaper this year to wrap presents which was also important to the kiddos.
Now that I've told you all about Christmas you are probably wondering, "Where are all the pictures?". Well, Claire received her very own camera for Christmas, which is now LOADED with pictures, however Mommy still hasn't worked with it enough to get our computer to recognize her camera. SO, there will be more pictures in the very near future! In the meantime, enjoy these pix from the school website. They are both totally into school this year and love learning, which I think is a huge blessing! I am so happy with their enthusiasm to learn and their teachers' eagerness to make it fun!
Above are CLaire and her friend Cole reading books in the class library.
Our school has spirit days....this happens to be Blue and White day to show your spirit for the E-town Bears!
Ayden is enjoying science class. They just ended their unit on Matter. What floats and what sinks, and why?
The last spirit day was dress as your favorite book character day. Ayden loves listening to the Harry Potter books, but decided he looks a lot like Draco Malfoy (Harry's nemesis). He really does look like him, and had a great time dressing up and practicing his british accentl "I'll get you, 'Arry Potta!"





Here is the "real" Draco Malfoy....I am sure you can see the resemblance!!

ANOTHER WEDDING!

Well, as you can see, we have been VERY busy this month. Not only have we been trying to prepare for the holidays, but we also were involved in a BIG wedding event. It was so much fun. The kids had their bout of nerves Saturday afternoon, but by the time the wedding came around that evening, they were calm, cool, and collected! And I must say, Stewie and Elizbeth held it together too! They had a very nice wedding and reception and, of course, we wish them all the happiness in the world.
Before the wedding began we had time to kill, so leave to the wonderful Aunt Erica to entertain...thank goodness there were games to play in the basement of the church!
Let me introduce you to Mr. Cool. It was such a relief to have Ayden be happy for the ceremony. He really took the job of ring barer seriously and had some nervous tears throughout the afternoon. I was so proud of him for being able to relax and enjoy this experience! How cute is he?
Claire, of course, was ready for the job of flower girl. She did a great job and looked amazing! She always seems to be smiling. She did, however, have and emotional break down later that night at the reception....anything past 9:30pm is kind of pushing the limits of a five year old!

Unfortunately, my camera is starting to die...I really don't have any other "good" pictures, and is a shame, because everyone looked SO fabulous! Some proofs are already on line at blog.hofferphotography.com. They shot some outstanding pictures. I can't wait to see more of them in another week or two.

Although this picture is a few weeks old, I still thought I would share it. Let me take moment to explain how grateful I am that I have two kids who love each other SO much. They might not realize that what they have is sibling affection, but they have playing together so well lately! Maybe it is the whole "Santa-factor", but I will take what I can get. Ayden and Claire have truly started to recognize that they are friends. Sometimes, even best friends....what else could a mother ever want?
Claire has been taking pictures of everything lately...Our tree, our decorations, these snowmen, her artwork...the list goes on and on! If she can't find my camera, she is taking pictures with my cell phone. She hasn't asked for it, but I think Santa may have a good gift for her for Christmas!
Ayden has been playing basketball the last couple of weekends. He LOVES it. His good friend, Ryan, is also playing, which makes the game even more fun. So far they have not had any games, but have done a lot of practicing and drills. Next weekend the boys will be divided into teams and will have real games! How exciting! Claire, Jason and I will be the cheering him on...at 8am!! So much for sleeping in on the weekends!

PREPARING FOR WINTER

This is my wonderfully ambitious daughter cleaning all of the windows in the first floor of our house! She is such a great helper! At least I think she was helping me, or she may have been in a dramatic moment of pretend, playing Cinderella. hmmmm ...what would that make me?

As Winter approaches, I have already noticed a change in our daily activities. You know.... replacing all of our healthy and active routines, with ones more conducive to staying inside, like making cookies! Okay, okay.....I am exaggerating a little bit! We cannot make cookies too often or Jason would be sick from over indulgence!
Of course we still play outside, when it is sunny and warm enough, but it just isn't the same as warm evenings of playing basketball and riding our bikes with our neighborhood friends. The kids have found plenty of ways to entertain themselves now that it is dark and cold after school. Let's hope they continue with their creative streak!


Ayden has become VERY serious about drawing. He is always in deep concentration while illustrating his masterpieces. This picture is a rendition of "KUNG FU Panda". As a side note, the movie is really funny...we all laughed out loud during a number of parts. Jack Black is pretty hilarious.











Let me introduce you to Chez Claire. Claire has decided that she lives behind the couch! She colors, obsessively in her little "cave" and hangs her works of art in her space. It has now spewed forth onto the walls of my house! We actually think Barbie and Princeses fit in nicely with the rest of our decor.

IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG!!

Okay...I know a blog is supposed to keep everyone updated on our lives, but......well, life happens at a rapid pace, so I haven't been able to keep up!
Now that winter is around the corner I should be able to do a better job of it! SO, let me just pick up with Halloween pictures. ENJOY!
Obviously we went with a Star Wars Theme....Ayden is Luke, Claire is Leia, I am an ewok, and Jason is the tall scary guy!! The little ninja and the big football player are my nephews. We had a GREAT time trick-or-treating around our neighborhood!

Ayden, was most concerned with his "cool factor". He was, indeed, the coolest Luke I have ever seen! He has great jedi potential!







Claire was quick to point out that Leia does, in fact, have VERY red lips, so it was important to have the necessary make-up at hand!






It is VERY serious work being Luke and Leia. After all, they do have the job of saving the entire universe! This is all very heavy stuff for a 5 and 7 year old!