Let it snow!

Guess what was happening this morning?  Yup...snow!  The kids walked to the bus...Joey while it was snowing!  Luckily it stopped when it was time for Justine to leave for school (and Gracie to go out to do her thing).  Here are some pics I took on our walk...enjoy!

 She swears she's ok with just that light jacket and a scarf.  Jeez!

 Our "Aunt Bea" statue.  Looks like she's sporting a snowy bouffant and stole, huh?

 Our back deck and the woods behind our house.

 Wooded trail to the river.

 I just love snow on all those skinny branches!

 Ducks on the river manoeuvring around the icy parts.

 Toes still toasty inside my hand knit socks!

This plant stand is on our covered front porch and it still got a sprinkle of the white stuff.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Happy Wednesday

Tell your mom thanks for teaching us how to knit all those years ago, I've knit so many scarves to get me through the cold winter here.

This was a message to me via Veronica's FB page from one of my Camp Fire kids.  Back when they were in 5th grade, I taught them to knit. I'm so glad to hear this one remembers how and is putting her skills to good use! That comment just made my day!  Thanks Athena!

No Power...No Problem!

 So next time the power goes out and we need to charge our cell phones, we'll have this handy gadget that Joey made from a video he saw on YouTube.  How cool is that?!  Mike helped him order all the parts from Radio Shack and he built this device.  It runs on a 9 v battery and has a handy switch on the outside too.  You plug your phone charger (USB end) into the box and viola! your phone starts charging.  Awesome!

And just for your entertainment, here is the monster sized pill (antibiotic) I'm taking to get rid of my sinus infection.  Horse pill indeed!

Bye till next year...

Well, I'm finally getting around to taking down the Christmas decorations.  Here they are all piled, oh um, I mean assembled neatly, on the table. The ornaments are back in their box as well as the garland and lights.  I'm going to delegate disassembling the tree and packing it away to the kids today after school...little do they know.  Mwaaahahaha!  (evil laugh)

The most difficult part of the holidays is taking down the Christmas decorations.  I put it off till I really can't put it off any more.  So bye-bye all you cute decorations and ornaments that hold so many wonderful memories.  See you next November!

We got a new computer over the weekend.  Yeah!  It has Windows 8.  Very cool...all those "tiles" for a desktop and all.  The transition has been somewhat painless. New technology is so nice.

Veronica starts her classes at UF today!  I can't wait for an update on how the day went for her.  I wonder if I'll ever get used to the fact that she's an adult on her own (mostly).  

I heard on the news that this weekend, the temperatures could go as high as 60 decrees!!  

Now, where did I put those shorts?!

Veronica's Visit

I trust you had a nice Christmas?  We did too.  In fact, Joey declared it was the best Christmas yet.  Certainly it was for him, he got a drum set...yup, 5 drums, all the hardware and 3 cymbals.  Yes it's very loud but so far, no complaints from the neighbors.  Mike came through with some fabulous knitting stuff for me...a kit from Brooklyn Tweed, a book and some lovely light pink sock yarn.  Then my dad, who had be in the gift exchange, got me a gift certificate for my LYS.  So I'll be yarn shopping soon, as soon as I can make up my mind which sweater(s) to knit.  But it really was a nice Christmas, the best part was having Veronica back home! 

We did alot of hanging out, cooking, baking, playing and just enjoying having the family all together.  We did venture out to see some of the sights around town, too!

We drove into Washington DC and mostly walked around, enjoying the city and freezing our Florida tails. 

 We also went to see Fort McHenry in Baltimore.  It's where Francis Scott Key saw the American Flag and was inspired to write The Star Spangled Banner.  The wind was blowing and it was very cold, but we made it from building to building and walked out to the water to see the grounds.  Burr!

The best thing was that it snowed while Veronica was here!  Not a white Christmas but wonderful all the same. Last Saturday it snowed all morning. It was the perfect amount of snow, enough to throw snow balls and play in...then it was all gone by late afternoon. All fun and no trouble.

Maybe I should buy Gracie a winter coat?

Our dock...just look how wintry it is on the river!

Our Florida baby bundled from head to toe!

Burr! 

Happy New Year everyone! 

Christmas Stuff

This year's tree...chuck full of ornaments! Now there are presents under the tree...I did some wrapping last night!  woohoo!  

Mike and Justine after her Winter Concert this week.  She's missing her bow tie and cumber bun. The concert included Jazz Band, Concert Band and Symphonic Band.  Justine plays trumpet in Jazz and Symphonic Bands.  The really sounded good...for a Middle School Band that is.  ha-ha

Anyone know what these orange sticks are for?  I didn't.  I saw them all through our neighborhood, mostly on corners.  Mike, who as skied before, knew exactly what there were.  They're to guide snow plows and cars when the ground is covered with snow.  Right! Cuz when every thing is covered with the white stuff, you can't see curbs etc.  Duh.  It's a whole new world, this state called Maryland.

By the way...no sign of snow in the near future.  Keeping fingers crossed for a White Christmas anyway.

A Wonderful Day!

Yesterday was such a wonderful day!

It started with everyone up early, and by early I mean the kids were up and dressed before ten. Justine had a date with some friends from school to meet so one of them could use the others as subjects in her science fair project.  Nothing sinister...listening to music and take pulse rates.  In the end, Justine thought her pulse rate was highest while listening to country music, "Because I hate that music!"  But I digress.  So we dropped her and a friend and their friend's house and Mike and I were on our way to Christmas shop.  Well, mostly.  We made a quick trip to Target.  "A quick trip to Target" during the holidays?!  I told you it was a good day.  Then we went to Joann's; Mike in search of felt for a Christmas project and me in search of buttons for my newly finished cardigan Miss BB. I'll probably sew them on today and take pictures. Then we were off to do some department store shopping, which we both despise.  BUT we found the perfect gifts in the shortest amount of time and exited the store before the crush of shoppers dampened our Christmas spirit.  Mike suggested we get some lunch, always a great suggestion in my book.  We ate lunch at Baja Fresh. They have a wonderful salsa verde...yum!  The weather was nice, too.  Temperatures in the mid-50's so just enough for a sweater, not a big coat.  I wore my warmest sweater, which I haven't worn in a couple years due to the non-winter we had last year (even in Florida).  It's a sage green cardigan type coat with a wonderful lattice stitch, pockets and shawl collar to keep the cold off my neck.  Very comfy and cozy...but not so hot I need to peel it off every time I step into a store.

Anyway, back to pick up the girls, drop off Justine's friend and home to get Joey.  We need to hurry because we're going to see a play.  The Colonial Players of Annapolis' production of A Christmas Carol.  This tiny theater just off the State Circle in historic Annapolis is in the round.  The production was a musical too (which probably bummed Joey out, but who cares). It was a lot of fun to watch...the gentleman who played Scrooge was so good.  I have to admit, I liked him better before his "transformation".  He has the best scowl I've ever seen!  haha

After the play we did some shopping in town.  A quick stop in Starbucks for some hot drinks then a walk along the City Dock to see the boats preparing for the light parade that night.  It was late afternoon so the lights were on and we could see them in all their glory.  One was "A Christmas Story" themed!  Too funny!!  I giant "major award" leg lamp with lights spelling out: FRAGILE! I think that's Italian!  haha  And another panel of lights, which alternated between yellow and red lights spelling out "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!" and "I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU!"   Another boat had a mermaid made of lights about 30 feet in the air, attached to the mast.  Cool!

We then went home.  I made my amazing Potato Chowder for dinner and we ended the day by watching two episodes of Haven.  It really was a fun day.

Today is starting with rain and fog.  I can hear the fog horn going (somewhere on the Chesapeake).  It's cold, too.  Colder than yesterday.  Gracie isn't moving...she's curled up on the couch and has made no attempt to tell me, "Let's go out so I can go!"  Oh well, I don't blame her one bit!  I think it'll be a good day...lots of football and knitting.

Hope your day is wonderful and your Christmas Spirit is with you.