They fill my heart...

Date Night

I took the whole two weeks off that the kids have off of school to play. A while back we started planning out fun things to do. I asked my mom if I could have a "date night" with the kids and stay at their Loft downtown. Hilariously,  Frances said the city is "too noisy for her to sleep" and she wants to have a ski date instead. Henry, on the other hand, sprinted for the opportunity. Per his guidance, we went to Piazza Italia for dinner - an amazing Italian place that has soccer stuff EVERYwhere; a movie;  and then parked at the Loft and went to Powells at 9:15. He was hilarious. He couldn't believe he was out walking around so late..and gitty with excitement...and my favorite part...strutting, and holding my hand. The slightly hilarious part is there was Santa pub crawl going on. So drunk Santa's EVERYWHERE. Kind of funny and kind of scary.  When he walked into Powells he said "Ahhh...my third home...behind my real home and a soccer field". The kid is hilarious. On the way home we found a big mistletoe and took a selfie. This am I woke up and got him one of the best croissants in the city - his favorite food. He told me his favorite part was snuggling at night and reading in bed.  SO priceless. 

MAC Children's Party

Another favorite tradition is the MAC Children's Party. I was REALLY interested to see if Henry would go for this year...given "tweenness" seems to be approaching. Thankfully, he was still game. Thank god for clever, crafty people that come up with the fun ideas. My personal favorite part was the Reindeer. So cool.

Epic Golf Day

My cousin Jeffrey was in town all weekend. He is Maggie's godfather. We had a great time...although he may be "kid-activity out".  He went to Family Friday and a Jamboree" -- aka, five basketball games straight. It was gorgeous out, so took him golfing. It was so fun....no matter how horrible some of us..aka me.. played.

One of our FAVORITE Holiday Traditions

Janis's concerts are one of our favorite holiday traditions. I look forward to it every year. It is always BEAUTIFUL, makes me cry, and puts me 100% in the holiday mood. This year was special as since Janis retired, it was a double-event ... her concert...AND...we got to see her. We had so much fun...I only took one picture. Grr.

Family Friday Buddies

One of our favorite things in the winter is to go to our club for Family Fridays. Toys and games for the kids...and beer for parents. Thankfully, Dan and Emily come along too.  They had some sick kids, so Dan came with just Josie (my wonderful goddaughter). It is so cute seeing Maggie and her together. ADORABLE.

Oh Christmas Tree

We also made our annual trek, with Gordon, to get our Christmas tree. At the farm, we named our tree "Ugly" as she wasn't the prettiest, but she drew us in. That said, now that she is in our house, we think she is glorious.

Wreaths and Gingerbread Houses

We did our annual trek to the farm to get wreaths. I love those alpacas...like, abnormally. we also made gingerbread houses. Ho Ho Ho!

Tree Lighting at the MAC

Another favorite holiday tradition is the tree lighting at the MAC. Just gets you in the mood. They have carolers,  decorations, temporary tatoos- festive right?- and hot chocolate for the kids and wine for the adults. They have Santa -- who is AWESOME - and he is pulled in  a horse drawn carriage. They had a balloon person there making candy canes and reindeer for the kids....Frances asked for a lion...I told her it had to be holiday themed....she then asked for Jesus.....the look on his face...priceless.... She got a Santa hat with a blue beard (her request) and Maggie got a present. 

Thank God for No Power

October and November were incredible intense for work and my kids felt it.  I had a business trip to Baltimore for work - and from there, pretty much turned in the grant - and came back at 1am on Weds night. Maggie woke up with a nightmare at 5am and I noticed the power was out...and then prayed it wouldn't come back on . It didn't. School had no power, but they kept classes on, that said, they said it was up to the parents. I skipped with joy that I could keep my kids home and play. So, Henry and Frances went with me to take Maggie to school. She LOVED showing them her school and they loved going down memory lane and I loved getting my kids back to myself and skipping work. Henry and Frances and I decided to stay at the museum and play. They are seriously so funny.