Let it Snow........Again!!!

We have a Winter Wonderland here!! What a shock for us to wake up this morning to about four inches of new snow. It snowed ALL day and into tonight. It was still snowing at 8:30 tonight. Now at 10:25 pm the snow has stopped. I don't think they (meaning the weather forecasters) thought we would get this much snow. I haven't heard the totals for today yet but I think we at least got 6 inches or more. So we had another snow day. The girls and I spent most of the morning cuddled by the fire. They took some time to go outside and play. I have included a picture of Jingle who didn't even resemble a snowman this morning. The girls cleaned him up a bit and then played on the snow hill that Todd made for them. We are hoping there will be school tomorrow as the girls have their parties. Callie's class is having a pancake breakfast and Emily's class is having a Harry Potter party. I will be finishing up my shopping.

Let it Snow!!

It has been a couple weeks since I have blogged. Things have been crazy busy here as usual. Today we woke up to a blizzard outside. Our snowman, whose name is Jingle, has gained a few extra pounds and isn't so round anymore. He is more cone shaped now. Every time it snows the girls go out and dust him off to make him look a bit better. But this snow storm today really did a number on him. The snow is supposed to taper off late this afternoon but then turn to a wintry mix with a possible quarter of an inch of ice on top of the snow. We are all anticipating what will happen in the morning. Will we have another delay start to school or another snow day. Time will tell.

Todd is outside now with the snow blower making a sledding hill for the girls in the front yard. The snow in the yard is up to his knees.

We spent this past week and yesterday trying to get our shopping done. Still have a few things to get. The tree is up with lights but is yet to have ornaments on it. The stockings are hung and the Christmas cards are sent. Still have to bake and more wrapping.

As some of you know, we will have some family here for Christmas this year. Ann (Todd's mom), Bob (step-dad)and Allison(sister) will be spending Christmas with us here in New Hampshire. We are all very excited!! In addition to them we will be able to spend some time with my grandparents who will be staying with my Aunt in Mass. So we will also spend time with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. We are very blessed!!

That is all for now! Love you all!

Happy Snow Day

Today was our first snow day of the season. Some people here will say it is the first of many as we are supposed to have a bad Winter. Some here will say according to the woolly bears this Fall, that Winter will be bad the first half. Who really knows! All I know is that the girls and I had a fun snow day today filled with playing in the snow, making a snowman, hot cocoa and watching movies. We even put up Christmas decorations. Things are looking quite festive around here.

Not much new here. Callie and I were in the Merrimack Holiday Parade yesterday and we were very cold. I think we all had fun though. We were right behind the Merrimack High School band so we had some fun music to listen to. Emily and Todd watched the parade. I think the best part for Callie is throwing the candy. We marched with her Brownie troop. Emily's troop did not participate this year.

So that is all for now. I included a picture I took today of the girls and our snowman. We haven't quite decided on a name for him yet. Callie wants to name him Larry but Emily didn't like that name. So he remains nameless for now. As for Bugsy at the top of the page....Doesn't he look cute?! He was not very happy but I do love him. I feel very lucky that we still have him with us. He is old and grumpy.

Christmas Time is Here!

Happy Friday!
It has been almost two weeks since I blogged. We have been busy as usual. Our Thanksgiving and time off was very nice. Thanksgiving day we stayed home and enjoyed a nice day relaxing, eating and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The girls helped me make cheese puffs, rolls and a couple pies. They really enjoy being in the kitchen and helping me prepare meals.

We had Wednesday off from school so the girls and I went ice skating with some friends. The girls really enjoy it and are getting better. I enjoy watching them. I skated too but I can only hold myself up so they are on there own holding them selves up. Callie counted how many times she went around the rink. So much more than last year, apparently. Emily was able to keep up with her friend, most of the time.

Friday we were all off so we went to a ski and skate swap and were able to buy some very nice used skis for the girls and me. Boots too so we are all set for ski season. We got a very good deal that was better than leasing the skis for the season which is what we had planned on doing. Now the girls can't wait to ski. I am actually looking forward to it. I think this is the first year that I am anxious for the snow to come.

So this week was back to school and work for all of us. The girls had their last D.I. try out and both will be put on a team this year. I will be coaching Emily's team. Boy, I am not sure what I got myself into. I will not be going to the workshop but now I have to spend some time going over a ton of information so I can get my team up and running.

Today Emily is on a field trip to the State House in Concord. Todd went along as a chaperon. I am sure they will both enjoy it. This is the first school field trip for Todd. (He has gone on Girl Scout trips but not school.) So...I am going Christmas shopping with a friend today.

We got out the Christmas decorations and the girls are dying to get everything up and in place. Callie found her Santa hat and is already wearing it 24/7. Last year she wore it all the time and even went to sleep in it.

So happy Christmas Season to all and happy shopping.

Wow, this week went faster than last week. Todd was gone all week but he is on his way home now.

As you can see I have posted some pics. I didn't have any new pics from this week so I posted some pics from the girls birthdays. The one at the very top with the blog heading was taken on the NH coast on Emily's birthday. She wanted to spend her special day there with a picnic lunch and open her presents there as well. It was a beautiful day. The next picture is Emily with her birthday cake. Then Callie on her birthday with her birthday cookie cake she took to school to share with her class. The last pic is the girls on Callie's birthday dressed in their special outfits they picked out with Mama Ann, Papa Bob and Auntie Allison. They wore them out to dinner to celebrate Callie's birthday. Ignore the dates on the pics as they are wrong.

So this week the girls were busy doing some projects for Destination Imagination. It is a school activity run by the gateway program open to all children interested. You can Google Destination Imagination if you want to know more about it. It starts out with three "tryouts" mainly for the kids to "try it out" to see if they really want to do it. Emily tried when she was in second grade and after the second try out she decided she did not want to do it. She didn't even consider doing it in third grade. So this year when the papers came home about it Callie right away said she wanted to do it and Emily said no. But after I read out loud the information sheet they both responded with a loud, "Yes, I want to do it Mom." This past week they had to pick one thing out of five things to do. Callie picked "trash heap" which she had to create a toy or game out of trash and/or things lying around the house. She ended up making a puzzle out of a cereal box. It was very nice! Emily picked "straw tower". She had to build a tower out of straws that could hold up one volume of an encyclopedia off the ground 6 inches. She built three towers but none of them could hold the book. She worked on it for three nights until I said she had to quit because it was after 8pm. The impressive thing was that she never gave up, never got frustrated and never cried! That is big for Emily. She took her towers to school and the gateway teacher was very impressed and told her it can't be done. Emily was the only one who even tried the straw tower. They only have one more try out to go after Thanksgiving. I have signed up to be a coach and will be going to a workshop about it. The thing about D. I. is that everything they do is their own. Adults can't help AT ALL!! It was very hard for me to just walk away when they were working on their projects this week. Between skiing and D. I. the girls will be busy over the Winter. It will make the Winter go by fast.

Well that is all I know for now. Have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, another week has flown by. I don't know where the time goes. First thing I want to do is wish Papa Bob Happy Birthday last Tuesday. I have included a picture of Bob and Ann that was taken this summer when they visited us. The picture was taken in York Beach, Maine. It was a beautiful day!! We had a wonderful visit with them!! We went berry picking, took a trip to Boston and spent a day along the Maine and New Hampshire coast. It was a tearful goodbye!!!

The other pictures I posted are from Saturday on a Girl Scout troop trip with Emily's troop. We toured an animal hospital, talked with a Veterinarian and even made necklaces with a jeweler. It was a fun day. The pic of Em with the cat was so sweet. She walked up to Romeo and they went head to head and Romeo kissed her. The pic of the necklace is what Emily made that day.

This past week is a blur to me. We have all been sick. I was home on Monday but the girls made it to school all week. Today we are home for Veterans Day and Em still has a sore throat so we will be visiting the doc today. Todd is on his way to California as I type. He will be gone all week. Home Saturday evening if all goes well out there.

Callie had a special field trip this week to see a play put on at a local college. She really enjoyed it! Her all star soccer game was canceled again. So we are done for the season. She is talking about playing soccer in the Spring instead of softball. She would like to play indoor soccer this Winter but with skiing and other school activities I don't think we can fit it in.

That is all for now. We miss you all and please remember that there is a standing invitation to come visit us anytime!!

Happy Veterans Day to all the Veterans out there and especially those who are deployed right now.

Well we did it!! We hauled and stacked two cords of wood in ONE day last Sunday. Something that usually takes us about a week took us one afternoon/evening. We started about noon and finished after it was dark. The girls were awesome! They stuck it out until the end working hard. The picture you see of the girls in front of the wood pile is only part of the wood we stacked. Needless to say we were all tired and sore that evening.

It was a busy week of Halloween fun! The Halloween parties at school went well and trick or treating was a blast. The girls pooped out way before I did. I was ready to go on to another street and they were ready to go home. It was a nice warm evening with crisp Fall leaves all over the ground. The smells outside were wonderful. We were all tired the next day. I think we could have all used a day off. I have included two pics of the girls on Halloween night. Todd stayed back at the house playing spooky music out into the neighborhood and passing out candy.

The girls have been fighting some kind of bug. At this point I think it is just a cold but I am watching them closely b/c strep is going around the school right now. The weather has changed drastically in the last couple days. Now we have hurricane Noel knocking on our doors or like Brooke said, "Hurricane Todds Dad". We have lots of wind and rain.

Despite the weather, we got in the soccer games today. It was pretty nasty out but the girls were able to play and have their pizza parties and get their trophies. Callie was supposed to play again at 3pm today. They took two players from every team in her league to form a team to play against the travel team. The game was cancelled due to the weather. We were told it will be rescheduled for next Saturday. Emily's team went all out today and painted their hair and faces green. They looked fabulous on the field!!

That is all for now. This week will be colder. It is time to hunker down and prepare for the colder months ahead. Ugh! Changing of the clocks will make it feel more like Winter is coming. Have a great week!!

Soccer pictures from merrimackonline.com

Rainy Day Saturday

It is a rainy day here in New Hampshire today. Soccer games were canceled so we are just enjoying the lazy morning at home. Made some yummy cream cheese french toast, thank you Papa Bob for that one!! We think of you every time we have it.

This week was a good week. It was the last week of soccer practices. Wednesday night the parents played against the kids of Callie's team. It was a nice crisp Fall evening and we had a good parent turnout. Of course the kids won the game. It was a good fight though to the finish.

Speaking of Fall, the leaves are just about gone on my tree in the front yard. We now have a blanket of leaves underneath the tree. It is so pretty all around even though most of the leaves have fallen off the trees.

Last night Emily went to her first Halloween party without me. A friend of hers invited her to join her and a few other friends to dress up and go down to Nashua to a big Halloween festival. Emily dressed up as Cleopatra and she had a blast. She was talking a mile a minute for about an hour all about the evening. Pictures will be coming later.

For the first time since we have lived here, Reeds Ferry school will have a costume party on Halloween Day. Up to this point the rule for the school was NO COSTUMES. So the girls will be able to dress up on Wed. at school. Callie is going to be a Vampire Cheerleader. She came up with that all by herself. I was happy since we have all the things for her costume here at home. All I had to buy was black pom poms. Emily chose Cleopatra because in fourth grade if you are in Gateway (gifted and talented program) you have to participate in Eminent People night. So she has to pick someone to research and present as if she were this person. She decided over the summer she wanted to do Cleopatra. What better way to get into the character than to be her for Halloween.

We had our wood delivered this week so we will be busy tomorrow and the week following, hauling and stacking wood. This has become a tradition since we moved here to have us all do this together. When my dad was here the first year he got in on the act and we miss him every year at this time wishing he were here. Maybe next year, right Dad??

The only other thing we did this week is sign us all up for the ski club that will start right after the New Year. Todd and I will chaperone again and I will be able to actually ski this year!! Fun times!

I can't sign off without saying that the Cleveland Indians put up a good fight and we really enjoyed watching the games and rooting for our team up here in Red Sox Nation. Monday at work I was presented with a sympathy card and two black balloons from a friend. We always have next year!

Have a good week!
p.s. The photo on top of the page is from the first day of school this year.

Remembering Noah

I just wanted to take a moment today and remember my cousin, Noah. These pictures were taken at our family reunion in the summer of 2003. Noah is no longer with us but I think of him often. Today would have been his 21st birthday. He was an incredible person and I always looked forward to seeing him. The last time I saw him was the summer of 2004 at our family reunion in Ohio. (Thank goodness for that reunion!) Noah and I had a wonderful conversation about school, football, friends, his girlfriend and what he wanted to do after high school. I can't even imagine what he would have accomplished by now at age 21. Amazing things I am sure! We miss you and love you Noah!!!

This week the colors have finally come out. The tree in my front yard is at its peak! What a beautiful sight! Makes me remember why New England is known for their Fall colors. I took this picture of the pumpkins last year when we went to our favorite farm, Parlee Farm. It is a beautiful place to go all year long. This summer we went there with Mama Ann, Papa Bob and Auntie Allison and picked raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. This time of year we go and pick apples and pumpkins. We went a couple weekends ago and picked huge apples. I am still making apple crisp. The pumpkins were kind of scarce this year so I wanted to share this photo that I took last year.

This week was another busy week and it went by so fast. In between school, girl scouts and soccer we were busy watching our favorite team, the Cleveland Indians. It has been a very exciting series. We will see what the next two games in Boston will bring. Go Tribe!!

The weather here has been very mild and this week brought lots of sunshine. Today we had fog and rain and it feels very balmy outside tonight. Haven't had to pack away my capris just yet. Emily has been very concerned about global warming. We have had some great conversations and I have urged her to do some research on how we, as a family, can help. We have started a compost pile and have been very good about recycling since we moved here. So don't be surprised if you have a conversation with Emily about this in the future.

Callie is sleeping over her friends house tonight. This is her first sleepover without Emily. She has stayed over at our neighbors house with Emily but not by herself. I think she will be just fine. It is 10:30pm and we haven't heard from her.

Fall has arrived!

I thought I would blog more often but I am having trouble posting pictures. So for now I will just blog.

Fall has finally made an appearance here in New Hampshire. The cooler temperatures have come and the colors are starting to come out. I don't think we will have a very colorful Fall this year due to its late arrival. This past week we didn't see the sun all week and it was down right depressing. But this weekend the sun came back and we had a great day yesterday for watching soccer games. Today is the same and I think we will have a pretty good week of sun and Fall like weather.

As for Soccer, Emily has really improved. She is getting in the game more and making more contact with the ball. Callie is still an animal and is now practicing with Em's team on Fridays as well as her team on Monday and Wed. Soccer is consuming our lives at the moment but it is fun.

The girls had a good week. Thursday they went to "Buddy Day" with a friend to her dance classes. They took a Lyrical (combination of ballet and jazz) and a Jazz class. They loved it and it was so much fun to watch them. They really enjoyed the Jazz. Now they want to take dance classes. This studio is awesome. They have so much going on and seems to be very well run. They are expanding at the moment and building a new facility.

Emily just finished two weeks of state testing at school. I think everyone is glad that is over. State testing starts in the third grade. Em said it was pretty easy but the first day of math was hard.

Todd is busy with school and seems to be very busy at work at the moment. I am still enjoying my job and have been able to pick up some subbing jobs on Fridays. The girls are already looking forward to ski season. It is hard to believe that it is almost here. The ski program forms came home on Friday. Todd and I will be chaperons again this year.

We have been very excited about the Cleveland Indians!!! So fun to wear my Cleveland Indians sweatshirt to work on Friday. I was a bit nervous as the Red Sox fans here are very obnoxious. I got a few snide remarks and surprised looks but I came out unscathed. I was called a traitor several times. Of course I had to say that I was never a Red Sox fan therefore I am not a traitor. The game last night was awesome and I look forward to watching the games at Jacobs Field. I love to see those night shots of Cleveland!!!
Go Tribe!!!!

Soccer and Fall

Fall in New England hasn't really happened yet. We have had some unseasonably warm weather. Breaking records all over the place. I am not complaining. I love the warm weather but the colors are just not here. The leaves on my beautiful tree in my front yard are dying without the brilliant yellow and red colors.
Today we have cooler temps and finally rain. Rain is in our forecast all week so maybe the colors will start to come out.
Soccer is in full swing here and the girls seem to be enjoying it. Emily has been a bit more aggressive this year. She is playing on an all girls team this year and has a great coach. Callie is very aggressive in this game and loves it. Her coaches and parents on the sidelines are starting to call her an animal. Not sure how to take that yet. Emily's coach has pulled her to play during their practices and she seems to be able to keep up with them just fine. He has asked if he can pull her for a game if he is short players.
Soccer seems to be consuming our lives at the moment. Dinners are early and rushed with practices starting at 5:30 but I think we are all enjoying it. Somehow we find time for homework as well.
Today we are home for Columbus Day and I am hoping we can catch up on some much needed work at home. Todd is at work but the girls and I will be busy at home today. Perfect rainy day for it. Enjoy the pics. Hopefully I can remember how I am supposed to post them.
Happy Columbus Day!!

I finally did it! I successfully posted a picture on my blog site. It has only taken me three months to figure it all out. Now maybe I can start my blogging. I started this because I thought it would be a good way for family and friends to catch up with us now and then. Especially our families in Ohio. I can post pictures of the girls so our families can see them grow and feel more a part of their lives. It can be so hard living so far away. After our summer visits this year it was tough saying goodbye to everyone. My girls especially had a hard time. So here we go....I finally posted my first blog.