Mount Vernon

Since we were just sitting around, waiting for baby to show up, I thought I'd better take my Mom to do some fun, local things...so she wouldn't get bored. :)

Annika had been trying to get us to Mt. Vernon ever since her 5th grade field trip there, so off we went to visit George Washington's historic home.

James, with George....

....other kids, rudely standing in front of Martha.

Cozette kept asking, "Why are we visiting this guy? Why are we at his house?"

...even after numerous explanations and an orientation video about George Washington. (Maybe that's because she thought it was terrifying and was hiding her face for most of the movie.)

I don't think she gets the whole president thing yet.

Sofi took a mental health day off of school to come with us...and thank goodness! She did a lot of Cozy carrying.

I could barely get my big, pregnant self around the plantation.

We toured the house. It was lovely.

Sofia plans to replicate it some day on her own estate.

Lucky for her that George was a little thrifty: the stones you see on the side of his house are actually planks with shaped edges and a coating of paint and sand.

Faux finish.

Grandma Linda, on the river side of  the the house.

Some hooligans, looking out over the Potomac River.

Looking at the ferry that we didn't go on.

I loved the farm-y parts of the estate. I may, in fact, need to purchase a sheep. Check out the amazing job she's doing cutting the grass! It's nice and trim everywhere she can reach. On the other hand, I do worry that any sheep we got might suffer the same fate as the the sheep in Cheaper by the Dozen, who likely died from being ridden too often.

..and the lovely walled kitchen garden! It was full of cherry trees and peonies.

Climbing roses!

The whole thing made me want to go home and garden...but I was too gigantically pregnant.

Grandma bought Annika some artichoke seeds from the gift shop, so we'll see what comes of it.

We had a great time, in spite of the heat, and I didn't give birth at Mount Vernon. 

All in all, a fairly successful field trip.

James

Yay, James!

You made it to age 8!

Happy Birthday!

I don't know what happened to all of James' birthday pictures. Somewhere out there are images of our family destroying a "Bad Piggy" pinata. 

James liked Sofia's cake so much that he wanted the same kind. Ah, DQ ice cream cake. 

So yummy. So convenient. 

James was my most easy-going baby by far. He always had a smile ready for anyone. Really, he's still that way...slow to get angry, quick to forgive, and loves to make people laugh.

Here is a picture of my baby James, being held by my brother James, next to my father James (or Jim).

...and if my Grandpa Jim were still around, he could have been in the picture too.

James, at age 4, out to lunch with Mom, Dad, and Cozy.

Somehow, James being an easy baby didn't translate to him being an easy toddler.

Instead, he was uncommunicative and a runaway to boot. (Ususally to be found at the park down the street.)

He was very lucky to have a big sister who embraced his unique personality and could connect with him (even if their communicating was sometimes through acting out movie scenes).

...and now he now that he's big, James still tells Sofia that he loves her more than me. Stinker.

(At least she's taught him to deny it publicly.)

James, with my Mom, after his baptism.

He has grown so much, but he's still as happy and sincerely sweet as ever.

Harrassing the Cat

We found Matt buried in a tote full of stuffies.

You'd think he would leave, but he was just purring....

...and happy to be petted.

Sofi's Birthday

Sofi was our last April birthday.

We had chinese food and a big ice cream cake.

Silly kids.

...and we went to a friend's play that night.

We got Sofi some pretty random gifts. An itunes giftcard, her latest favorite Pokemon (which, lucky for me, her siblings knew and pointed out), chocolate (of course), and Tony's gift....

...that he had been assembling for quite some time. 

The zombie apocalypse survival vest - chalk full of helpful things like water filters, fishing supplies, and first aid kits. She was super excited about it.

I thought it sounded like it might be useful for your more run-of-the-mill emergency situations too.

(knock on wood)

Happy 15th, Sof!

Storybook Quilt

I finished baby's quilt.

I wanted something scrappy-looking, with cute pictures for a little kid to look at 

when they are supposed to be napping.

Hand-quilted, with love in every stitch (Sponge Bob reference for the kids).

I used a "Wee Wander" fabric for the back and a Denise Schmidt fabric from my stash for the binding.

...and tied it with some embroidery floss too...but just a bit.

I think it gives it a home-y, young look.

The color scheme is actually from a children's book by one of my favorite illustrators....which I'll post about once I get those dang pictures hung above the crib.

More nursery goodness to come....

Annika's Birthday

Annika was our next birthday.

We spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa. There you can see the roller coasters at Hershey Park in the background.

No. We didn't go there. Instead, we went to Hershey Chocolate World. Fast. Free. Not exhausting.

...but it still has a ride...the chocolate factory tour that we all love. :)

Since Annika's birthday fell right near Easter this year, we also dyed eggs (a tradition we skipped last year.)

Some kids - who claimed to be totally uninterested in egg dying - where the most involved.

...and we had a barbecue (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!), accompanied by gross things like shrimp for the birthday girl. Yuck. She didn't get that from me.

Costco cheesecake. Much yummier than nasty shrimp.

Annika is always both easy and hard to shop for. This year, she wanted a rose bush for her birthday. Well, we bought one and planted it....but you can't exactly wrap up a bush and open it on your birthday.

...and it's mostly a bunch of thorny twigs at the moment anyhow. 

Not very impressive.

So, we upgraded the birthday girl's ipod from a shuffle to a nano.

The biggest part of that gift is me tolerating the birthday girl's constant use of ear buds and her never having any recollection of anything that I say to her, while claiming to always be able to hear me.

Pretty appropriate for this birthday milestone.

Happy Birthday, you teenager you!

Cozy's Birthday

Cozy turned 5 this year!

I'm not thrilled about it, but she it. 

Why must babies grow up?

Tony made us rainbow cake with cotton candy frosting.

It was sugarlicious.

...and we gave Coze the new bike that we had been denying was for her for weeks and weeks.

She loves it. Now she and James can actually ride at the same time. ;)

Since she had a friend party last year (we were cruel, cruel parents and stuck with our "every other year" policy), Cozy got to spend the day at the Zoo with her family!

Brushed some goats.

Got pushed around in a stroller (by strong teenagers, not by pregnant mother).

Rode the train. Woot! Woot!

...and the carousel...multiple times.

Got really cranky about looking at animals and wanted to be carried instead of pushed.

Decided the zoo was not nearly as fun as a birthday party.

Lucky for her, she has a sweet big brother, who was happy to give her a shoulder ride.

...and by the time we got home she was recovered enough to eat cake and open presents. 

Little cutie. Welcome to not being the baby anymore! :)