Taberg Tower Tubing...

In a tiny town outside of Rome, lies a hill of magic and wonder...

Here's Kaleb going up the tow rope for the first time! You can either go up the tow or hike up the hill, mostly he hiked, as it is much faster to get to the top that way! And here he is coming down...
and again...and again...and again...

Then we had some hot chocolate! I was frozen but it was a lot of fun to see him, well, having so much fun! It was too cold for the other three kids to be able to hang, and I couldn't let him miss out on this! What a tough boy to brave this cold for adventure! (that's MY kid!)

Warm up and Chill out...

Most of our time in NY was not spent outside. The temperatures got down to below zero, so keeping warm was a priority! The kids had a great time together playing. Madison and Kaleb had a really nice time playing WAR...it was great seeing them play so nicely and hear the laughs keep coming!

Aliza and Seth had bonding time over his new Leapster game that she thought was the cats meow! He was great at sharing his brand new toys too. Another favorite was getting online for Webkinz, something they all loved to do!

Both of the girls are fans of Fancy Nancy and her books, so I set up a tea party for myself and the kids. We all had to keep our pinky's up, fancy style and say "Ooh La-la!" and other fancy words. We talked about our fantasy adventures in the jungles and drank kid champagne while eating the fanciest jello EVER! It was alot of fun, even Seth must've thought so because I got a hug from him that night before bed time!

Kaleb and Seth had a really fun time wrestling and Kaleb loves giving Seth piggy backs around the house and they both practiced their crazy dances and compared muscles...boys! We also played a few games of checkers and Memory, there's more to do on blustery days than I remember as a kid! I hope they will look back as fondly on their inside time as they will there outside adventures!

Snowday Version 2.0

I hate children...when they are bored. So when these kids complained about having nothing to do I trucked them to the park! It's a whole new world when it's covered in about four feet of snow!

Madison frolicked and Seth hit the slides! Slides are especially fun in deep snow!

The kids made a "club house" in this hide-away at the park. Jumping off of high swinging swings was another favorite!

I like trees and skies...here are the two...right before more snow.

Trip to Rome, NY...

After the festivities were over, and before we had to get back to the post-holiday grind of life, I figured we should take advantage of the timing opportunity to go up to NY to see our family. So Monday morning Kaleb, Aliza, Matilda and myself all jumped into the car and headed up to play in the snow!

We weren't dissappointed when we got there, that's for sure! On our first snowy outing it started blizzarding! I packed up my Mom, who was already up there for Christmas, and Madison and Seth and headed to the country to play in some pristine white snow!

It was a great time! Matilda pulled the kids on their sleds and was free to run, tracking any and all squirrells in the vacinity! Snow angels were made, forts were created and woods explored! It was a winter wonderland! We all romped and played until visability became an issue and fingers were cold...time to go home!

Christmas Morning '08

Somewhere along the line on Christmas Eve, these two decided to exchange pj's...why? No one knows exactly but it will make for treasured bribery photos for years to come for Kaleb David! The kids were up at a decent hour and rearing to go! To Kaleb's pleasure Santa had made a circle indeed...and it read "Yes", now to find the blessed game amongst all the gifts!

They opened movies, games, clothes, shoes, toys, a play kitchen for Aliza and a baby in a stroller, just like she'd asked for! Then came the much wished for box of Cheese it's! You may think this is a silly Christmas request, but when you ALWAYS have to share your favorite crackers, Santa understands completely!It was such a hoot to watch him open that wrapping! The pure joy was priceless! They both got all they dreamed of and Kaleb did eventually find the game that Santa had promised. The magic of Christmas for children is amazing, and quite possibly addicting! I had to add, King Neptune on his first Christmas morning! He had quite a good time with the paper all over the place and got a great game of hide and seek going with himself! We hope your family had the fun that ours did!

Christmas Eve '08

On Christmas Eve night it is tradition that the kids exchange the gifts from each other. Aliza was really excited to stop opening her gift from Kaleb and take this photo, can you see it in her "smile"?Kaleb was tickled to get a snow globe from his sister as they both really love collecting them! At first he was a little hesitant to give her the thing he most wanted, but after realizing how much he loved them he became excited at the thought of her loving it just as much, and wrapped even faster! Learning the pleasure of giving is coming along nicely in the young'uns.
Aliza loved her snow globe too...which was an ornament to hang on the tree. They had a good time loving their snow globes and then it was time to get to the nitty gritty of Christmas Eve! There were cookies to put out and don't forget the Reindeer food, and a letter! Aliza was pretty exhausted from playing with Gramma and Pop, and all the intense anticipation of Christmas night, and of course the high expectations of impeccable behavior from the man himself! Needless to say she wasn't up for the process and dedicated her pre-bed time to thumb sucking and petting her silky pillow.

Kaleb, on the other hand, had work to do. Work that was not to be taken lightly! He sat right down and got to business! Kaleb sat at the table and thought long and hard about what he wanted from Santa. It all boiled down to a Crash Bandicoot video game that he had a million years ago, and wanted to own again, and a box of Cheese-it's!

The intensity on his face is astounding! The letter was a riot too...it even had the classic request to circle "yes or no"...I LOVE my kids! They are soooo funny!

Cookies for Santa...

My children love their Eema for many reasons, but her love of cookies may be quite near the top of the list~! When Mom is too busy to think about chilling and rolling dough, Eema get's on it without hesitation, there will be no pre-made cookie dough in Narleeville! After mixing, chilling, rolling and cutting the sprinkles get to be added...JOY! Kaleb and Aliza had a great time mixing colors and deciding on weather to use the Snowflake confections or the Christmas Trees! These silly kids! They decided on exactly which cookies would be left for Santa based on the amount of sprinkles, size of the cookie and the color that it baked to, very caring!

Look at these faces! Happy kids living a magical time with the people they love the most...pretty close to perfect I'd say.

Happy 13th Birthday Izaak Michael!!!

This year we celebrated Izaak's 13th Birthday...can anyone help me believe this? I mean I know he's almost 6 feet tall, and wears a mens size 13 shoe and all, but 13???
This year Izaak birthday wish list included nothing but tickets to see the Cirque Du Soleil show Kooza. For months he investigated the show times and the story lines and the character skits and the...again, you get the idea! So, he opened his new digital camera, and he opened the camera case and batteries, and the clothes, and the book about Cirque Du Soleil...and then he got to the huge box that didn't weigh much...what could that be? Of course it was the tickets for the March show in Baltimore, one from Pop and one from us, together we made it possible for him to have the experience he was so hoping to have the opportunity to enjoy! Happy birthday Baby!

Adventures in Gingerbread - '08

Tradition abounds in Narleeville around the holidays. We assembled and decorated a ginger bread house again this year and again - success! Eema, Kaleb and Aliza are so meticulous when it comes to the application of the candies, it's hilarious! We had a great time assembling and decorating and trying not to eat all the yumms! This year Kaleb was dexterous enough to attempt icing application...quite the feat!

This year we learned the legend of gingerbread houses, thanks to Eema's online research! Turns out that Santa only leaves his home once a year, Christmas night. You'd think he'd like the new scenery, but apparently he gets extremely homesick, so making a replica of his home in the north pole makes him feel better. Only after Santa has seen and taken comfort from your candy laden replica is it safe for you to eat! Of course by this time it is dusty and stale...I couldn't resist pasting candies to Kaleb and Ali's noses...it's just too cute and they still let me!

Bright Minds Congregate...

The middle school Izaak is attending very actively promotes science and technology. It is required that all students participate in the science fair at the University of Maryland, and this was Izaak's first year to do so. His project was classified as Behavioral Science and it focused on the behaviors of three types of animals placed in front of their mirror reflections. He studied their reactions and how/if they reacted in a similar way that he predicted in the hypothesis...well, you get the idea! He did great!

The day was spent investigating others projects, socializing with friends and taking a tour of the Chemistry Labs at UoM, which I found to be extremely interesting. Izaak and I both had a wonderful day! I met his friends and their parents and got to see my eldest in action explaining his project. The event was attended by Maryland Senators and other prominent figures, as the school is the only of it's kind in the state, and it's successes are being carefully scrutinized by the educational leaders. Chesapeake Science Point has beaten the county and the State of Maryland in every measured aspect of schooling possible.

The day ended with awards being given out to the winners of each class. Although Izaak did well, he didn't win an award, as some of these were extremely advanced... in fact one of the children in Izaak's class won fourth prize in the nation last year and actually solved a major pollution issue from coal run-off in West Virginia. Amazing what young minds are capable of isn't it? Age does not limit imagination or curiosity that is for sure, if anything time jades it and weakens your resolve, I think. It was a great day and a wonderful experience to share with Izaak!