Making a house of Gingerbread

Click on the photo below to see the Gingerbread House event.

Gingerbread House 2007

Kids with Santa

Santa stopped in the neighborhood this afternoon for some last minute adjustments to his list. Here are the kids dictating their requests.

 

December snow

The first trace of snow brought out all the gear for sliding, slipping, and chilly fun. Click on the pictures below to see large versions.

Chess anyone?

 

Trimming the tree

 

Little Native American

A belated Happy Thanksgiving from M.
 

One last Halloween post

Click the image below to see some pictures of Trick-or-treating.

Halloween 2007

Trick or Treat

 

2007 pumpkin carving

This year the kids asked for a haunted house themed pumpkin. This pattern was drawn free hand on the pumpkin for carving. Click the picture to see the before and after shots. Happy Halloween!

2007 pumpkin

2006 pumpkin carving

2005 pumpkin carving

Werewolves?

Just as dusk fell I thought I saw a gleam in their eyes, and something strange happened to their teeth.

Good afternoon Mr. Vice President

I'm uncertain why, but here is a shot moments ago as the President's Vice President's "Marine 1 2?" left the Leesburg airport. He was in town for a conference where he lectured Iran during his speech. He arrived just before 11AM, and I if I had known I would have a great shot as he flew directly over the house. His motorcade went by and then an hour later returned for his brief flight back to Pennsylvania Ave. If you click on the picture you can see the pilot in the front window. I'm sure I'm on someone watch list now with this picture.

Allison, Morgan, and Flat Brie

Aboard a hayride through the spooky forest.
 

First day of school

Catherine, Annie, and Morgan.
 

Allison and Shane get off the bus.
 

Summer 2007 Recap

While we've James has been lax at posting updates this summer, I'm hoping to make up for that today with this Summer of 2007 recap. The kids head back to school next week and it seems like a good time to reflect on the busy summer we've had.

Click on the images below to see pictures of the following:

• End of Spring 2007 soccer seasons
• New bikes
• Girl scout and 1st grade field trips
• Professional family pictures
• Train and horse rides in Lancaster, PA
• Leesburg, VA 4th of July parade
• Baltimore, MD zoo
• Visit by Kim, Hannah, and Holly
• Arrival of Brie, Denise, and Michael from Ireland
• Virginia Beach, VA trip
• Busch Gardens, VA
• Central New York trip
  

Summer 2007

But wait, theres more. At the end of June we visited Dutch Wonderland and I created a seperate album for some pictures of that fun day.

Dutch Wonderland

In Virginia Beach we spent a day at Ocean Breeze waterpark:

Ocean Breeze Waterpark

We took in some animals at both the National Zoo and Baltimore's zoo:

zoos

In mid-August we had a fun filled at Hershey Park in PA:

Hershey Park 2007

Two fire fighters

 

Dianne and her new green friend

 

Camel ride

Allison and Morgan take a trek on a camel in Baltimore.
 

Dutch Wonderland

Some pictures from Dutch Wonderland, in the heart of Amish country.

Strasburg Railroad

Yesterday we took a steam engine for a ride in Strasburg, PA.


Can you spot the girls in the picture below?

Allison got a new bike

Allison upgraded to a 20" bike on Tuesday. Here is a shot of her giving it a ride. She's most excited that it has a kickstand. Go figure.

Morgan poses with Spring flowers

We've upgraded to a Nikon SLR digital camera, and while we try out fumble through the myriad of features, Morgan is a happy model for us. Here she is posing on our porch with some flowers in the background.

Soccer shots - Spring 2007 season

We've got some action shots of the girls playing soccer for you. You can click the picture below and see them in a larger format.

Annie Ant by Allison

Today is National Teacher Day, so we have a special update for you.

Allison has been working on a short story that she delivered to her teacher today to tell her how "perfect" a teacher she has been. She had no help from us until she asked us to staple it together. We were quite surpsied at her secret gift which she has been working on for a couple of weeks.

You can read the entire story and see the wonderful cover drawing right here.

Take your children to work

Allison eating lunch at AOL, during "Take your children to work" day.

Morgan starts her career

Morgan began her soccer career on Saturday as well. As you can see her "jersey" is a tad long. She plays once a week on Saturday's after Allison's game.

Allison warms up for Soccer game

Allison kicked off the soccer season with her first game this past Saturday. She has practice twice a week and games on Saturday. They play 4-on-4 with no goal keeper, but are learning the various positions.

The bunny brings some presents

Morgan's birthday party

Morgan returns from her birthday party and ready to open presents