Merry Christmas, everyone!

It is getting late and boy, it was a long day, but before I go to bed, I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. I hope that you had as much fun with your family as we did. I will post pictures shortly. But before I sign out for the day, I would like to send a special Christmas message to the four missing members of our family -- Meg, Tom, Emma and Harrison -- who are in England this holiday season. We love and miss you, but we also hope that you are having lots of fun with the Massey clan. Say hello to them all for us. Hugs, kisses, and oh so much love from us to you. Enjoy!

The baby is not a baby any more...

Want proof? Point 1. Last night Marc and I were relaxing, enjoying having both kids in bed, when we heard a thump from upstairs. It wasn't Santa, but rather Anna waking herself up by hitting her head on the crib. When I went up to soothe her, I asked her where her boo boo was. She pointed to her left temple, and as clear as day said "here". (Until then, she's been able to mimic back to us what we are saying and point to a few things and call them by it, but that's a big step in communication right there!)

Point 2. Anna and I were reading a book about Curious George. In it, there was a smallish bird sitting on an elephant's back. I said to Anna, "Look, Anna, there's a bird!" Anna said, "Yeah, baby bird!" I don't know if technically it was a chick or not, but it was awfully small... esp. in comparison to the elephant!

Aw, what a clever 18 month old my little girl is turning into! Nate seems to be really enjoying her more too. He is always "reading" books to her, which is especially helpful when Marc is away and I am trying to take a shower in the morning!!

Back by popular demand!

I am so sorry, everyone, that I have slacked off in the past month with this blog. There has been so much going on and we've been extremely busy plus Marc has been working like crazy. His field (energy efficiency) is taking off. I am not sure if it is because energy costs are rising, the growing acceptance that our climate is changing, or other factors, but he's been working around the clock. Just yesterday I told him that being a single parent was tiring. At least he is doing good things for this world! And the big bonuses help.

This past month I've been spending time with family, addressing Christmas cards (a few a day), organizing a family photo shoot (after last years debacle, I decided to go with a pro), chopping down our Christmas tree, decorating our house, doing Christmas shopping, going to Christmas parties (including an overnight date in DC with my husband!!!!), taking care of sick kids (I gave Anna motrin this morning ... otherwise I would have missed work for 3 days this week), preparing food, doing mounds of laundry, and sleeping. But I can't do everything and so something has to give! And it's not going to be food or sleep! :) Every year we strive to be the tackiest house in the neighborhood. This year, our decorations have not left the porch. Ugh. One more thing to do.

Here are a few photos to catch you up with how our December is shaping up!!

Happy Halloween!

I hope that everyone had a fabulously spooky Halloween! The day for us started with a breakfast at my work, then a party at school in the afternoon, then trick or treating around the neighborhood with some friends. Phew! What a long AND fun day!! Both kids were in a sugar coma tonight. I am just hoping that they partied hard enough so that they'll sleep in tomorrow morning.

Halloween is definitely one of my favorite holidays. Once I get a photo of the entire family, I shall post it. Marc and I dressed up as Indiana Jones and Amy Winehouse. Next year we'll have to get a theme together!!

as a followup to the last post....

Last weekend Nate got a hair cut. As soon as he got home, he ran to me to show it off. When I told him that he was a really handsome fellow with his new short 'do, he said to me, Yeah Mom. Now I'll have FOUR girlfriends at school!!! LOL.

Nate is quite the lady's man

When I picked him up today, one of his teachers told me that there were 3 girls (Amanda, Gretchen, and Mahala) who were fighting over who was going to be Nate's girlfriend. In the end, Nate told them that they could all share him. Quite a little harem he would have there!! I am just happy that this time it was all talk and no action. About 6 months ago, I got a call from the head teacher at Nate's school that he was found french kissing Gretchen on the playground equipment. I thought it was hilarious, but apparently Gretchen's mom didn't think that it was too funny!! In the meantime, he's already got one little girl who totally adores him. His sister!

hmmm... i wonder why my computer is so slow

I have a little problem. My computer is running very slowly and I keep getting these messages that I am running out of space. And it is quite clear why. This weekend we took the kids to our annual pumpkin hunt at Cox Farms. And, in the span of 3 or 4 hours, I managed to take almost 200 photos. No, folks, that is not a typo. I really did take about 20 photos of the same pose. But I am a big proponent of taking 50 pictures in order to get 1 great one. But now I have almost 8,000 photos stored on my hard drive!! I need help. Or at least more memory.
Anna eating an apple. She ate about 2 that day! (They had barrels of apples all over...)

Nate takes such good care of his baby sister.

I tried to replicate the baby-on-a-pumpkin picture from last year, but Anna wouldn't cooperate. She was happy sitting on one, tho. This one is especially for you, dad!

The older one is a goofball!

They are starting to look really alike. Like they came from the same genetic stock or something.

Anna was chewing on the crust of a pizza for about half an hour. Her back molars are coming, so it probably felt good.


Nate taking a tumble. He didn't get far on the rope swing!


The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I let Nate borrow my camera and he took about 15 pictures in 3 minutes. He did take a photo of Anna and me, the only one of me from the day. I rather liked it!

I love that kid!

Here's a family collage that Nate made in school last week. He could have chosen a myriad of women, but my little guy thought that I looked like Catherine Zeta Jones. How flattering! I really needed a little boost since my pride is still stinging from being compared to Christopher Walken a few months back.

The happiest place on Earth...

We had so much fun in Orlando last week! It was truly a wonderful, family-oriented vacation with loads of fun and even some relaxation thrown in the mix. Both Nate and Anna had a blast at Disney. Nate's favorite ride was by far Peter Pan (which we rode about 5 times) followed by Pirates of the Caribbean. Anna also had a great time and in fact, there were only two rides that Anna wasn't able to come with us on. It took us 3 days to get through Magic Kingdom and we spent our last day in Animal Kingdom. Even tho it was the end of September, the weather in Orlando was bloody hot and humid so we were all pretty much done right after lunch time. I don't think we got our money's worth (the cost of tickets for the 3 of us for 4 days was a shocking $650!), but we all had so much fun and it was really nice to go back to the hotel, take naps, and then swim until evening. The kids almost had as much fun at the hotel as at Disney itself! There were 2 swanky pools, activities for the kids pretty much every hour, a nice trail around the resort, and a pool-side bar for the two adults of the group. Of which we partaked every night, of course! When we got Nate to actually nap during the day, we were able to take him swimming under the stars after Anna went to bed. Nikki and Quinn joined us on Saturday from Tampa and it was really nice to see them. Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip. I took over 400, so believe it or not, this is the pared down version of a slidesh. Enjoy!

Quinn and Nate in front of Cinderella's castle. They were so excited to see each other, they held hands most of the day!

Anna playing in the waterfall in Animal Kingdom. Other parents wouldn't let their kids get wet, but I figured that she would get dry in that heat in about 30 minutes so I let her go crazy!

Wild animals need to go into cages, don't you agree?

Anna and Daddy playing in the pool.

Anna loved the water fountains!

Waiting to get on the plane in the airport.

Nate-o relaxing in the water. He learned how to swim without floaties this week! He could swim about half way across the pool all by himself. We were so proud of him!

Eating snacks at the pool.

Getting snacks at the very bottom of the bag.

Holding on to mama's legs.

Family picture at the resort. It had an Italian design so there were fountains everywhere!

Nate and Marc outside of the castle.

Meeting Pluto at a character dinner.

Riding Dumbo. Anna and I were in the elephant just in front.

Meeting the fairy godmother. Bippidy boppidy boo!

Walking down Main Street.


Feeling the heat on Tom Sawyer's Island.

Big feet, little feet.

The last day we were there, I dragged the family to Celebration, a new urbanist town. (Actually, it was Marc's idea.) But they had alligators swimming about 10 feet from people lounging on rocking chairs!! Alligators!!!!

Anna looking for Nate. Where is he??? she is saying.

Some days I feel like I just need to get away from it all...

And today is one of those.

Perhaps it was the constant rain and having to come up with things to do inside. Or perhaps it was 2 kids who have insisted on waking up at 5 every morning for about a week and a half. (YES!!!! THEY ARE NOW WAKING UP AN HOUR BEFORE THE SUN EVEN RISES!!! IT WAS NINE THIS MORNING WHEN I HAD THIS THOUGHT... HEY, I'VE BEEN UP FOR 4 HOURS NOW. I'VE JUST PUT IN THE EQUIVALENT OF HALF A DAY'S WORK AND MOST CIVILIZED PEOPLE ARE JUST NOW WAKING UP. NO WONDER I AM TIRED AND GRUMPY!)

But seriously, have you ever had one of those days when life is just too overwhelming and every day obligations push you to the edge of insanity and you have to make such an effort to not sit on the floor of your bedroom hugging your knees, keening "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" and plotting your escape from this existence by running away with the guy who works in a gas station's convenience store because residing in a beat up trailer with some guy named Hank and cooking hot dogs on a camp stove in a housecoat while chain smoking Marlboros sounds better than having to deal with one more whiny preschooler meltdown or wiping one more poopy butt?

Just me? Yeah, thought so.

But I do have to say... I do have some of the cutest kids in the world. Especially when they are sleeping. Phew, I feel much better after this little bit of therapy blogging. Although it may have something to do with both kids being in bed and for the time being, quiet. Marc in fact just said "silence is so nice."

To end on a brighter note, here are some pictures from last weekend when we went to the Great Country Farms and then painted in the house.

The other day I was in the gym...

working on my arm muscles. I was doing free weights and noticed that my left arm was just getting started at the same time my right arm was about to fall off from exhaustion. Then it hit me. I usually end up carrying Anna around on my left hip, holding her with my left arm. Why? I don't know why. It just feels unnatural to hold her on my right side. But methinks I am beginning to to look like that guy from Lady in the Water with one well muscled arm and one, um, not.