Christmas 2013

We had a fantastic day today. We didn't get out of our PJs, we enjoyed each present that was opened (a process that lasted until 3 pm), and we are finishing the day with a great meal.

Below are some pictures from the gift opening process. I find it very difficult to enjoy a moment and simultaneously record it with a camera. Therefore, I chose to forgo an excessive number of shots and instead snap a few at the beginning and then sit back with my cup of coffee and enjoy.

I hope all of you (all four of you) that are reading this had a great holiday. We certainly did!

Checking out the Barbie "Glam Jet" that Santa left for her

Thanks, Santa! We now have every Barbie accessory known to man.

Putting together her Lego sets

Attempting to lose as many pieces as possible
while I try to put together her Lego set

I want to squeeze her cheeks in this picture!
She thanked me tonight for giving her the best
Christmas ever. She got me with that one ... she
should have asked for a pony right after. I
probably would have said yes!

Merry Christmas!

We're ready for Santa!

Annapolis Revisited

When we headed down to Annapolis for Thanksgiving, the kids had a chance to go swimming with a local instructor. They all had a great time, including Caroline who put her head under water for the first time. This is quite an accomplishment, and she kept saying, "I was so brave." It certainly helped that the instructor was basically dunking her head :-)

Snow Day!

Today we had a snow day and it was good for everyone. It was certainly good for me mentally - I spent all weekend at an away tournament, Steve was away all week at a conference, and the entire family wasn't really together until Monday evening. It was a long and stressful 8 or so days, and I admittedly was not handling it well. I was cranky and tired.

But enough about me. We woke up to no snow but a cancelation of school given the impending "storm." I use quotes here because it was only 4 inches, but around here that is a BIG DEAL.

Anyway, we headed out at 7 am to get breakfast supplies and to buy a tree. Then we came home, ate, watched some Christmas shows, played in the snow, decorated the tree, played in the snow again, and now we are all by the fire and relaxing. Here's to going back to work tomorrow refreshed!

Throwing snowballs at the snowman ... and eventually each other.

Thanksgiving Day

On Thanksgiving Day we got on the train and headed to the Air and Space Museum in DC. A great time was had by all, and we finished the trip with lunch at McDonalds. The Soden ladies were certainly excited about this :-)

Waiting for food

Cousin Cate

Goose

Sweet Caroline

The whole crew on their way out the door. Interesting to compare it to last year ...

One Day

They will be very annoyed with us one day for the pictures we took of them in the tub, but come on, how precious is this?

Vacation

On Tuesday we headed down to Annapolis to spend Thanksgiving at Uncle Bert, Auntie Emily, Cousin Cate, and Cousin Cooper's house. It was a long trip with some annoying traffic, but we got there on Tuesday evening in one piece.

We woke up on Wednesday and headed to the Amish market for breakfast. Late in the afternoon we headed to the bowling alley and had a great time.

Snuggling with Dad

Cousins being naughty

Accessorized

Chuckin' it

Coop!

Excellent form by Cousin Cate

Watching the cousins bowl

Is your bowling so bad that you have to lay down and cry? Yes. 

Happy Anniversary

Nine years ago today, Steve and I walked down the aisle. I have said many times that we probably didn't know quite what we were getting into, but it has been marital bliss ever since :-)

As I grew sentimental thinking about our days as young love birds, I looked back at a few pictures that I have posted below. So young, so in love. While we didn't know where we were headed, we knew we were doing it together. And that was (and continues to be) enough.

The first night we met at Feb Formal

9 years ago with the Fleischman side of the family

During my first trip to Marion to meet Jim and Marthe

Our junior year of college

Walking down the aisle at the end of the ceremony.
We look happy and relieved.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so much fun this year, though I will admit that I went into it with an overtired Debbie Downer attitude. This past week was insane - lots to do at work, lots of social engagements, homework, housework, coaching clinics, blah blah blah. The list goes on. And this unending list made me feel very overwhelmed, especially going into Thursday when both girls needed to have their costumes ready to go for school and I needed to have packed everything they would need that evening to go trick or treating. Long story short: I overreacted, everything was great, the girls had an awesome time, and in the process I totally forgot my camera.

I had my phone on my camera, but the camera isn't that great and it was dark. So we have no pictures of the girls dressed up as cowgirls. I suppose the silver lining is that I could totally convince them to dress up as cowgirls tomorrow and take pictures and pretend like it was Halloween. No one would know but me ... and the five people who read this blog (Hi, Mom!).

Anyway, the girls ate pizza for two minutes before convincing me to get my show on the road and go out trick or treating. We went with another family who had a similar goal: get the kids out early when it was still daylight, trick or treat for about an hour, and head home before things got crazy. We accomplished our goal and ended the evening by visiting a house that handed out toys instead of candy. While that may sound a bit lame, Lucy got a mini Slinky that she loves, and Caroline got these glasses that were an absolute hit:

It was a great Halloween!

Days Are Long

The days are long, and sometimes opening your email can be the worst part of your day.

Then again, sometimes you open your email and find pictures of your daughter happily playing, having lunch with "the big girls," painting, and learning to write her name at school. Those are the emails that you are happy to open: