Singing Sunday

The big kids sang two song in the service today. They did a great job.
Chris preached, I taught Sunday school and Esmé had a great time in the nursery.

After church I went on a 5 mile walk with some girls. Then even had a chance to lay down for a few minutes before we woke Esmé up and came over to the playground at the school to take advantage of the sunny day.

I hope everyone had a good weekend.

Rainy Saturday

Well February is being its icky old self with rain and cold grey days. We have had to occasional sunny warmer days to tease us. We are so ready for more days outside!
We have had plenty going on.
Zaven has started back with lacrosse. Practices are Mon and Wed from 5:30 - 7. That translates to leaving home at 5 and getting back at 6:45. I stay just half the practice and then practice then Party comes and stays the second half and brings Zav home. It works out well but leaves me needing to have dinners that can be made ahead or that can be cooking while I am away. It is very cold at the practices but Nell and Esmé enjoy roaming around.
A few weeks ago the quick dinner I had was veggie burgers. Sadly I did not check the label and there were walnuts in them. One bite caused Nell's throat to feel spicy and like there was something stuck in it followed y her tummy hurting and me deciding to use the epi pen. From tere we ha to go to the emergency room and stay for 4 hours or observation. She was fine thank goodness and now we have used the epi pen. I think we will find a local allergist.
The kids also celebrated their 100 day of school. Zaven dressed up as a 100 year old and Nell did a project with 100 stitches. Just 80 days left!
Esmé and I have been doing a lot of walking in CW. Esmé really loves to see and pat the horses. She also just enjoys roaming around and getting dirty.

Last weekend there was the dioceses council and I went to the clergy spouse luncheon at the Williamsburg Inn that included a behind the scenes tour. I was able to get Isabel to pose on the "queen's staircase". We had a nice time.
Last night Zaven got to spend the night at the library at school as a reward for having read more than 5 books for his "battle of the books" competition. He has really gotten into reading a earned the most "AR" points in the 4th grade last quarter.! He had a good time at the sleepover and won an award for best imagination.

The kids have decided they want a Guinnea pig. I have set a high bar of two weeks of good behavior as a team to get to talk about getting one. We are not much closer, but they have visited some at the pet store.

I got a haircut last week. It feels good to have less hair.

Today we are rattling around the house after a trip to Barnes and Noble. Tonight Chris and I are going to a fund raiser.

Catching up

We are having a good winter. This weekend we had a great visit from Julie Toland. The timing was great as she missed the big storm. We had a dinner party on Friday and it was fun. Saturday morning, Julie taught Zaven and Nell to knit. Zaven has really taken to it and is working on a scarf. Then we went out into CW and went to the weaving shop. Julie took us to dinner at Plaza Azteca. This morning church was nice. The kids sang and it was beautiful. After choir Nell's teacher told us that Nell has an excellent "melodic memory" and that we should be sure to start her on piano lessons in 2nd grade. I have no idea what a melodic memory is but I am always glad to hear something nice about the kids.

I realize I never blogged about many things. We had a great trip to SC. We spent the weekend on Folly with Lexie and Quinn. We went down on Thursday. Todd cooked us a great dinner and then the next day we went out to the beach. Vinson had hooked us up with a great house. We had a blast. The kids all were so cute together. Lexie gave the kids these cool crowns and read them a sweet story. We played on the beach. Took naps. Kendall and Kevin came over. Patricia and Annabelle came by. Vinson visited. It was great. On the way home we stopped in Spartanburg to see the Morrises. That too was a great visit.

School is going well. Although report cards come out tomorrow. So hopefully I am not speaking too soon.

Other big news is Nell's first lost tooth. She was excited by the loose tooth and enjoyed playing with it until it finally fell out. The gap is quite cute.

2013! happy new year!

Wow, what a fun and joyous Christmas and New Years and Anniversary celebrations we had!
The fun all began way back about mid December. We got our tree and had a great time decorating that. It took all three kids to get the angel on top, then Nell and Zaven slept beside the tree. Then Milla and Poppy came, we Started getting ready.
I had a group of girls over for a party, it was really fun, although I will say 10 am is a hard time to throw a party, when you don't do much the night before to be ready. But I was a success.
Poppy treated us to a great dinner at 2nd street and took Nell and Zaven to a William & Mary basketball game.
Then the real fun began.First, Brice, Christie and Bea came. We were thrilled to have Bea sleepover. She Nell and Zaven all wore matching pjs and went to sleep great.
Then Berk and family arrived.
It was really fun to have all if the cousins together again. Everyone is growing up so much so quickly. It was awesome how well everyone got along.
We were really lucky with the weather and there was lots of time outside playing and exploring acW.

Luckily Milla had done some cooking ahead and brought many great meals. Feeding 16 people is no joke! Especially out of my kitchen. The paper plates that we bought were a welcome addition to many meals.
We enjoyed showing off the Colonial experience with Fifes and Drums, lighting of the crescents, signing carols, plenty of trips for hot chocolate etc.
The Christmas eve service at Bruton was great, Nell and Zaven had fun doing the pageant. Mom and dad were kind enough to stick around that evening and I was able to attend the 8:30 service and hear Chris preach and hear the choir, it was a real treat.
Christmas day was a lot of fun. The gift exchange worked well and there were many happy givers and receivers.

We were sorry to see everyone leave on the 26th. Chris quickly fell ill. Armen arrived and we were happy to be celebrating with her. Esmé has enjoyed all the new and extra attention of her grandmothers.
Zaven sang a duet of the 1st verse of "Once in Royal David's City". He and Garrison did a great job.
On NYE Chris and I celebrated our 16 th anniversary. We had a great time going to see a movie and going out for Thai food and dessert. It was a fun date.mwe also reviewed all of the albums.
Then i got sick. Thank goodness Armen was here and I was able to sleep and sleep and sleep and I got better in a few days, but it was rough, I am calling it the flu. We are all well now.

The kids are back in school. Activities are starting up.
Zaven started piano lessons and went to a swimming practice to try that out.

Esmé is still napping twice a day so no activities yet.

Happy 2013 to you all
(lots of photos below, they get a bit jumbled as I upload, sorry.)