Happy 5th Birthday Henry!

It's hard to believe that just 5 years ago today, Henry looked like this. . . .

Now, he has grown into a bright, funny, and creative little boy who we are SO proud of! Happy Birthday Henry! We love you very much!

Preschool Program

It's that time of year for all parents of preschoolers -- that wonderful day when you anxiously gather at your child's school with all sorts of AV equipment in hopes of capturing what might be a first glimpse of raw talent in your performer. That's how it was at Henry & Bradley's school this week. Parents elbowing each other for the best seats, cameras galore, grandparents galore. . . oh, the expectations were high!! Here are a few glimpses of our "performers."

So, for those of you who know our son, you know that he is NOT comfortable in the public eye as evidenced here. But, we all have our gifts, and his are numerous. . . just don't ask him to show you in front of a large group of people. Bradley, on the other hand, usually welcomes an audience but perhaps this gig was a bit too much for her.

Yes, they are real.

While I might make our new home sound picturesque in my blog, there are a few drawbacks that I have failed to mention such as the loud magnolia wallpaper in the kitchen, sharing a hot water heater with the neighbor upstairs, gold faux-painted molding with emerald green wallpaper in the bathroom, and oh, let's see . . . a NAKED mermaid statue in the front yard!! Norfolk has a mermaids all over town as part of their public art. You will find them in parking lots, on top of buildings, on the harbor, etc. Apparently, the owner of our house thought it would be really cool to have one in his front yard. When we met him, we discovered quickly that he took great pride in "his mermaid." He even went so far as to "enhance" her with the aid of Playboy centerfold models so that she was more voluptuous than when he originally purchased her. Yes, that's right - he performed ceramic surgery on this lady. He explained that the reasonings behind his augmentation was because he was a "T-n-A kind of man." Nice.

During our first few weeks here, we tried to brainstorm ways to cover her up to make our home more G-rated. But over time, we got used to her and now barely notice her as we pull down the driveway. A few weeks ago, we got home from a trip, and to our great surprise (and dismay) she had been repainted and spruced up! She was a bit more palatable when all the colors were muted, but NOW everything is florescent!! She practically gleams now -- especially with her spotlight that comes on at night. . . sigh. . . .

Let's end on a positive and say, that it's REAL easy for the pizza guy to find us! We always say, "We're the house with the naked mermaid," and people always know where we are. We're getting a giggle out of it, and isn't that a grand thing in life. Any creative ideas on how we should decorate her for Christmas????

Last row out

It is FREEZING here in Norfolk. I hear it is cold everywhere, but I feel like winter has slapped us in the faces with its arrival. Determined to keep fall alive, I spearheaded one last boat outing last weekend. It wasn't THAT cold, and besides that's why we have hats! Getting into the boat is a bit trickier now that you really don't want to get wet, and keeping the hats on with the wind is also a problem. Our last row out lasted about 9 minutes. Oh well. Looking forward to the spring. . . .

This is what we see everyday from our house before day turns to night. Have I mentioned before how much we love it here?

Halloween

I despise Halloween. I'm not sure why it has been deemed a holiday for children because it is anything but. Creepy masks, frightening porches, ghosts, and loads of sugar??? Any mother would agree that this is NOT a holiday for kids. . . or at least for pre-schoolers. We tried trick or treating for the first time this year, and it bombed. At one point, our kids were paralyzed with fear at the edge of a driveway, viciously shaking their heads indicating that they were NOT going towards that house with spiderwebs, scary music, and a sketchy clown handing out candy. We retreated and found a "harvest festival" at a nearby church. sigh. . . . twas a fun event with nice people, CUTE costumes, games and candy. Call me conservative, call me a party pooper, but my kids had a blast!

Our Halloween was made even MORE fun because we had my sister's family in town with us! Loved having them here, and the cousins had a ball together.

Have I told you that we have a giant mermaid statue in our front yard??? This was taken from the back of her. I'll get a picture in the next few days of her frontside. . . .

Burkes Garden

I'm slowly catching up on the blog. Thanks for your patience! Here are some pictures from our trip to Burkes Garden, VA. John's family has a house in this SW Virginia mountain valley. John remembers flying there as a small boy with his granddaddy and now has a memory of taking his own family here. It truly is one of the most beautful places on earth. Click HERE to see even more pics from the trip.

San Francisco

I know, I know. . . it's been too long since I posted last. We have had a FUN but busy October. I have lots of fun pictures to post, but only a few hours in the day of free time. I am NOT one of those moms who blogs with all her free time!

So, back to early October. . . John attended a conference in San Francisco, and I got to tag along. HUGE thanks to Grammy & Pop Pop (john's mom & dad) who (i won't just say watched) played with, fed, transported, read to, bathed, entertained and loved on our kids while we were gone. We could not have had this great time without them! I put a slew of pictures on flickr here, but posted a few on the blog. We loved everything about our trip. Highlights. . . . fresh, organic food EVERYWHERE, seeing the Blue Angels flying overhead as we crossed the Golden Gate bridge, uninterrupted days with no children, experiencing the diversity of California, and walking everywhere.