Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me! I had a very nice day, starting out with breakfast at Paneras with mom and Claire. Then Claire and I had to go to Chesterfield to pay my delinquent personal property tax which I had no idea I even owed. (I could have done without that part of my day!) BUT it was $35 less than they had told me on the phone, so I guess you can call that a birthday-win.

Then Daddy and Claire's present arrived at my door....

Claire and I have a new favorite Wednesday treat - Rita's! Aunt Mere works there now part-time and we've been a couple times. This week we bought an ice to share and next Wed. we'll get our same order for free! (If only Aunt Mere had gotten a job at a health food store...)

All in all it was a very nice day!

We got to celebrate again this weekend - and Aunt Tara's birthday too.

First up was the JMU VCU basketball game. Andy and Tara babysat Claire for us while we went to the game with Mom and Dad.
Here we all are, supporting our Alma Maters!

It was a good game and JMU came through for me!

Claire had a blast with Andy, Tara, and Samara. They played soccer outside, made a nature tube, made a collage for Mimi and a card for me, read books, went on a bear hunt and played in a cave, and had lunch together. The best story I've heard is that at lunch Claire announced that "Rusberg" the bird was having lunch with them. And then Clyde Frog joined them too. I am cracking up - I have no idea where she came up with the name Rusberg!!

When we got back from the game we had dinner, presents, and cupcakes to celebrate the birthdays.

Claire was silent in the car and asleep before we even got out of Mom and Dad's neighborhood. She was wiped out from all the fun!
(Notice she's still got a grip on her nature tube and purse that they gave her!)

Just call me Nanny Katherine

I had gotten to babysit Samara twice recently and THEN I got to keep Katie last Saturday while everyone went to the UVA/Tech basketball game!! I am loving my babysitting time with these girls!!

When I got there the girls happened to be wearing their matching UVA shirts so I attempted to get a picture of them together. That never really works out very well.
I told Claire to put her arms around Katie and thus, we got this "choking picture."


We played outside for a while, but it was so windy I was afraid the trees were going to blow over. Every time it would get really windy, they would run under my legs to "hide in the cave." Katie was so cute following around! Then we played ring around the rosy a couple times and headed inside for lunch.

They were cracking me up at lunch - Claire would make silly faces and Katie would laugh. They were being so goofy, I think they both kinda forgot to actually eat.

After Katie's naptime (which I was so proud of myself for getting her down for a nap!!) we played a bit more until it was time for everyone to get home. Abu even stopped by for a visit and brought the girls some animals.

Fun day! I hope I get to do it again soon.....hint hint Matt and Alison. Same goes for you Andy and Tara!

Valentine's Days

Valentine's Day fell on a Monday this year so we woke Daddy up a little early and he had breakfast with us before work.


Claire had a couple surprises waiting for her - a little present from Mommy and Daddy and a card from Mimi and Papa.


(Fake smile, but we had to show off the valentine's outfit!)

The next day was the preschool Valentine's party. I was so excited because I got to be a "class mom" and go in to help with their celebration. Unfortunately something upset Claire during music time and when she came into the classroom she was fighting back the tears. I don't think I helped matters by being there! Regardless, it was fun to see the classroom and their routines. Even though she was upset, she still followed the directions and I saw her do her job (she was the light switcher that day). It was especially cute to see her buddy Ava comforting her, rubbing her back, and wiping away the tears. What a nice friend!

After school we headed over to babysit Samara for the afternoon. While she was napping, Claire got to see all her Valentines from her preschool friends.

We had a really fun day babysitting and loving on our niece/cousin!!

Christmas with Katie

Whoops - I got my posts a little out of order. On New Years Day, Katie, Alison, and Matt came over in the morning to celebrate Christmas with us. Katie was adorable as always and the girls ran off to play for a while. Katie didn't want to leave the wagon so we brought the wagon out for presents!


Claire wanted in on the action and "helped" Katie look at her new puzzle.

Claire got a fun present - lots of craft stuff! Foam stickers, pipe cleaners, glue, construction paper. We can't wait to make projects!

Thanks guys for the presents! We always love spending time with Katie :-)

Maison du Mason

We arrived at the "Maison du Mason" on New Year's Day to celebrate a late Christmas with Mimi, Papa, Andy, Tara, and Samara. A certain baby was napping when we got there (judging from the pictures, she had a wild and crazy New Years Eve!)


But when she woke up, she was in the best mood and so much fun to play with!

Santa had managed to deliver stockings for everyone and I couldn't believe that she didn't notice hers and want to open it immediately. After a while, we pointed it out to her and she got to work on her stocking. There were 3 beanie bears which Andy and Tara helped name - Chilly, Willy, and Nilly. Santa knew all her favorite snacks and even remembered that the Ring-tailed Lemur was her favorite animal at the zoo.


Of course Samara had a stocking too!

Then we started opening presents! Dad was excited about his poker game from Andy and Tara and I gave him YET ANOTHER warm-up suit. I think he gets one every single year.

Claire got 3 awesome dinosaurs which she barely even noticed also had tuition $$ attached to them!


One of Claire's favorite gifts this year was a little hedgehog from Ace and Deuce (those cats must know how much Claire likes animals!) She's been playing with Hedgie ever since.




Everyone gave us such nice gifts. It was especially fun to see the kids enjoy their presents. Samara got a glow worm, just like Claire did on her first Christmas. We tried to re-create the aunt/niece/glow worm photo...

After all the presents, Mom finished dinner while the girls watched a Frosty sing-along movie with Papa.

And then we sat down to a delicious dinner!

Happy Grandparents and happy kids! :-) Thanks for everything Mimi and Papa!


In case you haven't noticed the trend with our family - we like to celebrate holidays multiple times! You'd think by January 1 we'd be done with Christmas, but nope! We still have one more party to go to on January 8 with the Southards!

Smitten

Can we just say how smitten we are with our two nieces?! Rob and I have had so much fun with them both over the holidays and we are so in love with these girls. We are the luckiest!

xxxooo to Katie and Samara ;-)




And while I'm posting the girls in their "Christmas best" I'll include the official Christmas photo of Claire too!