Blizzard!

Christmas vacation started with big excitement here in DC. We got 23 inches of snow on the very first day of vacation which made for fun times playing outside! It's a rare treat to get that much snow and the girls don't remember the last time we did. They are such snow bunnies that they didn't want to waste a minute of it. The only downside was that we had tickets to see the touring version of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular which was canceled. We were all looking forward to brining in Christmas week watching the Rockettes but I guess we'll have to do that in NYC another time.

Nativity

Both girls had little roles in nativity pageants this year.

Gr. 2 always does a little one in school for the parents and I swear it doesn't feel like Christmas until you've seen 7 year old shepherds with dinner napkins for headwear and kings in red bathrobes! They were so precious and beside themselves to present their show in the classroom. Molly was Elizabeth and then slipped in the back as part of the angel choir.

Brenna pitched in again this year with the pageant that was done in Church at the Christmas Vigil. It's tough to get 5th graders to pitch in but she was happy to be the lamb. (I had to laugh at this picture from rehearsal. That's one bored looking red sheep!) She enjoyed it but mostly I think she was just happy that she didn't have to wear a dress to church!

Horseback Riding

Brenna's scout troop had a riding lesson in preparation for a trail ride we're planning in the spring. I wasn't able to use flash for photos but I was able to capture a little bit of Brenna's excitement riding for the first time. What I was not able to capture was my big body on the horse behind her!

That's probably for the best though. . .

We had a great time and I'm excited to ride with them again soon.

Band Concert

Brenna is in her second year playing flute with the school band. It is something she really enjoys and has made a great deal of improvement. They had their Christmas Concert just before school dismissed for vacation and we all enjoyed watching her perform.

I'm so glad she's learning an instrument - music is such a beautiful talent!

Dancers

I always love Visitor Day at the girls' dance classes. They have been dancing for several years and it's always great to see how much they've progressed and to meet their friends. This year they all wear class leotards which look really nice.

And as you can see, they get their flexibility from me!

Brenna (you can't miss the blonde ponytail dragging on the floor!)

Molly (in the back)

Halloween Revisited

Here's a cute photo of all my little Girl Scouts at an event just before Halloween. Molly is the artist (3rd from right in the black beret) and Brenna is to the right of her in the back reprising this costume.

Halloween

Backtracking a bit because I realized I never posted the girls in their Halloween costumes.

Brenna wanted to be Robin Hood and that turned out to be pretty easy to make (God bless her!) . The hat took the longest because I made it much too big the first time!

Molly was another story entirely. She was adament that she wanted to be a bagpiper. And not just any piper - one who had a bagpipe "that will play real music while I'm walking around." Nothing was going to change her mind. Uhhh okay . . . how on earth will we do that? Having visions of the leopard costume all over again, I forged ahead with whipping up something for my highland lass. And I must say, the results were quite good and the bagpipe contained an iPod with a speaker so it really did play music!

Brenna went trick -or-treating with a friend's family this year so Dean was left to take Molly while I gave out candy (so I didn't have to listen to that bagpipe all night!)

End result: He declared this the worst costume ever.

What?!?! She rocked (literally!)

From his perspective though, it was awful because they were gone for 90 mins and "only did, like, 7 houses! Every single stop took forever because everyone in the house had to come out and see her and then make her play it again. How on earth are we (notice the "we"!) going to get lots of candy this way?!"

All's well that ends well though. Halloween was a rainy night so we got very few kids at our door and I wound up with lots of leftovers for my disgruntled hubby!

And let's go out with a bang - enjoy the show!

Report cards

Both girls brought home wonderful report cards yesterday. They are hard workers and naturally we're very proud of them. Today we had parent teacher conferences. It's always interesting to hear the teachers' thoughts about kids though.

So here's a game. Which of my children did the teacher say:
"has a great attitude"
"wants to make everyone happy even at her own expense"
"is a great role model to other kids in class"
"shows more maturity than most"
"is always on task"
"relates unusually well to adults"
"can be counted on to work with anyone without complaint"
"is well-liked by every child in the class"

Family Love

Though she started as a baby that didn't like to be snuggled, Molly has done a complete 180 and loves to curl up with me. Today we were on the couch and she was full of hugs

Me: I love you.
Molly: I love you more.
Me: How come I was so lucky to get a girl like you?
Molly: Because God knew you wanted me.
Me: I guess so because you're my baby.
Molly: And you're the best mommy.
Me: And I wouldn't be happy if I didn't have you in my family. . .
Molly: Because you love me. . .
Me: And you wouldn't be happy in some other family. . .

Molly: Well, it depends on which family . . .

Gee thanks Molly.

I think the thing I will always enjoy most about having kids is listening to their often hilarious renditions of songs, poems, etc when they get the words wrong. I still can't say the Pledge of Allegiance without giggling at Brenna's Kindergarten version which included her pledging her support "to the republic of Richard Stands." I'm not sure who Richard Stands is, but I'm sure he's a wonderful leader!

Today we had another doozy to add to the list, courtesy of Molly. She's getting ready for First Penance and her class has been reciting the Act of Contrition each day. She dutifully started to say it for me (while wearing a former Haloween costume angel halo which made it all the more hilarious!) This is what we heard: "O my God, I am HARDLY [heartily] sorry for having offended You . . . I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near VOCATION [occasion]of sin."

God help me because if ever there was a child with an unrepentant vocation for sin it's this one!!!

On the Banks of the Canal

One of the greatest features of our area is that our towns and neighborhoods run along the banks of the Potomac River and the C&O Canal. One part of the canal still has working locks and there is a replica canal boat that is towed by mules. We took our Girl Scout troops there on a gorgeous fall weekend to learn more about the C&O Canal and why it so important to the growth of our area. The girls enjoyed the trip and learned a lot from our guides. We were the last ride of the day so we also got to stay on the boat as it was lowered in and passed through the lock. Very cool!

It was an absoluetely beautiful day, the girls were wonderful and we were able to have a great experience at a local treasure.

9/29

9/29/99 - 11:59 PM

It's not often that I'm speechless but . . .

My little girl is now 10!!

Happy birthday Brenna Rose!!!!

Back to Business

The school year has started and that means we are back to the usual amount of craziness with activities. I tell the girls that they may choose 2 afterschool activities but somehow that always manages to balloon to 22!

Currently they both take jazz/ballet/tap lessons on Mondays. They've been doing this for a few years and love it. Tuesdays are reserved for Irish dance which Molly is starting this year as well. So that's it - their 2 activities.

HA!

This is where the rationalization comes in. We have a school/parish choir. I have told Brenna that I think it's important for her to do that (and altar servers) as a way of giving back and participating more fully in the church - especially since she's at the parish school and we're going to be at Mass anyway. So that practice is on Wednesdays.

Brenna also takes flute lessons at school. That's no imposition because the lessons take place during the school day. Well, except that evidently (why are parents the last ones to find this out?) anyone beyond the beginner level participates in the full band which meets after school. So that's Thursdays.

And then there's scouts. Who can say no to such a wholesome activity? And since - oh yeah - I co-lead two troops so it's probably good for my own kids to belong! And it's only a few Fridays and nothing conflicts with Fridays.

So there you have it - 2 activities that keep us on the run every day!


The one thing Brenna has begged for for the past few seasons is to play soccer. Umm . . . when do you think you can fit that in? Last week she was able to do a special one day clinic that the women's team from American University ran for some of our school kids. The college girls were wonderful and Brenna really enjoy finally getting to play a bit.

Lucky for her is was on a non-scout Friday! :)

More Molly

Last weekend we were having dinner with my in-laws and somehow we got talking about the names we had considered for each girl when I was pregnant. (For the record I wanted Brenna to be Ainsley but everyone hated it. Our other options were Erin and Meghan which I then decided were too popular. So here she is as Brenna Rose. For poor Molly we never really confirmed anything. We came up with hers on the exit ramp to the hospital! I was convinced she was a boy anyway.) I commented to Brenna that her father originally wanted to name her Dean like him and his father but that I didn't want to. Molly piped right up and said "I would have liked the name Dean. You could have called me 'Dean S'." I told her that actually she would have been Dean M. since their middle name is Michael. She brushed me right off and said "But he (pointing to her grandfather) is Dean Senior, he (pointing to her dad) is Dean Junior so I would have been Dean Sophomore."

I think my father-in-law is still laughing. Molly always has a unique way of interpreting things. :) I guess the only time she's heard the words senior and junior have been in the context of high school, so in her mind if you work backward, sophomore is the next logical suffix to use!

Crazy kid. And one more Mollyism . . .

Yesterday I had to run to the Girl Scout store after school and be at a school board meeting at 6:30pm. Zipping between the two places I saw a McDonalds and decided to grab that for the kids' dinner. I was joking with them going in that they were not to tell their dad what they had for dinner.

Our conversation while standing in line . . .
Me (winking): "Okay, so no one breath a word about this pit stop. It's our secret right?"
Brenna (grinning): "Pinky swear" We all stick out pinkies
Molly (being devious): "Can I say 'Guess where we went?' and then tell him the Girl Scout store?"
Me: "No! You'll give it away because you can't keep a straight face"
Molly (indignant): "I can! I won't tell!"
Brenna: "No way - You can't keep a secret for anything!"
Me (pretend threatening): "If anyone lets the cat out of the bag then they're in trouble!"
Molly (dead serious) : "Oh thank God that won't be me. I don't have a cat."

I burst out laughing. Her facial expression made it a riot because she was so incredibly serious. She truly had no idea what I was talking about but she knew she was in the clear since she didn't even have a cat - much less one trapped in a bag for whatever crazy reason her mother was blabbing about! The man next to me had been listening and he too was laughing out loud. He later thanked Molly for the best laugh he'd had in a long time.

She still has no idea why we were laughing or why a cat had anything to do with it. I forget sometimes that kids really take things literally while we take these phrases for granted!

Back to School

For the past few years now we know that September brings a new start to the school year for us. Brenna is off to Gr. 5 this year and is very excited to have a well-loved teacher as well as 2 new girls in her class. Molly is off to Gr. 2 and if they don't start cursive within the first few days, she's going to rise up and revolt! Forget that she will have 3 great teachers we all love (Brenna had the same 3 teachers when she was in that class) and has all the excitement of First Communion and such. She just wants to learn cursive!!

Another special tradition for us is our first day of school pictures wit hthe girls' best friends. Conveniently these girls are also sisters and they even celebrate their birthdays just weeks from each other. They are great kids and I couldn't ask for better friends for us - because Dean and I enjoy hanging out with their parents too!

Another bonus for us is that both girls will have Fr. Ivany for Religion once a week. He's an awesome addition to our parish and my girls adore him. Here he was playing Sorry with them on a day just before school started when they had to come in with me while I worked.

He also informed me that Molly cheats! :)

Davis Farmland

Yesterday we gathered up a pile of little cousins (Mine, Shannon's, Sharon's and Diane's) and headed off to Davis Farmland for an awesome day of feeding the animals and enjoying the splashpark and playground. Brenna (almost 10) is the oldest followed by Nolan (9), Michael (almost 8) Molly (7) Aidan (6) Nick (almost 6) Jackson (almost 5) Brody (2) and Kathryn (21 mos.) The kids were fabulous and, as always, have the best time hanging out together.

And oh please - will you take a look at this little darling? Good God I could EAT her!

Boston Harbor Islands

The weather was predicted to be hot and humid in the city today so we took to the water instead! It had been ages since I was out on the harbor ferry so that's what we decided to do today.

First stop - George's Island and Fort Warren

Standing on the ramparts Evidently Molly doesn't like dark corridors!!

View from the top of the fort

Little Brewster lighthouse off on the left - First in the country - since 1716

Then we hopped over to Spectacle Island to do some swimming.
There was a nice display at the Visitor Center there

So there you have it - more of Boston explored!