Christmas Card and Video 2011

Here's our Christmas card for 2011.

And be sure to check out our year in video at this link, or scan the QR code here or just watch it below...

And if you're interested, what a difference a year makes! Here we were a year ago...



God Bless you all this Christmas!

We were in a Flash Mob!

Mommy learned about an opportunity to be in a flash mob right here in Lancaster a few weeks ago. She received an invitation from a Facebook friend to come to the Hallelujah Chorus Flash Mob in Lancaster, PA event. Oh my, she was so excited! She's been watching YouTube videos of flash mobs across the world for years now and always wanted to be a part of one. This was her opportunity. Plus, she's been singing the alto part of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah since she was in the 10th grade!

We came along with Mommy to 2 rehearsals and by yesterday, she had her part memorized again and we knew some of it too! So yesterday morning we all headed down to Central Market as the 'mob' was set for 9:30am. We've never seen the market so crowded and on cue it went off without a hitch. What fun!

Here's a video of Mommy singing along:



Afterwards, we were interviewed for a newspaper article and lo and behold, this morning the article is on the front page! Mommy is quoted... how exciting!

Also, a professional video of the event was posted. Don't look for us, we're not in it. There were SO many people!



Here's a shot of us after the fun from the new balcony of the market. The market was recently renovated and it is just beautiful to see the original ceiling as well as many other upgrades. We are so lucky to have such a great market!

Hope you are all enjoying your last week of Advent and getting ready for Christmas Day when we can all sing.. Hallelujah!

UPDATE: so many videos keep popping up... someone posted this one to Facebook. If you go to time marker 1:37 you;ll see us :-)

Mommy Takes a Retreat

Hey, Mommy here. From Friday 3/11/11 through Sunday 3/13/11 I enjoyed a retreat in Ocean City MD. I have known some of these people for almost 11 years during my journey to a life of peace and serenity. Plus, I always like being in my old stomping grounds of OC, MD! I lived there the summer of 1990 between my junior and senior year of college. It's hard to believe that was 21 years ago!!

Here's a shot taken early Friday 3/11/11 evening from the balcony of my hotel room. I could see the beach!

On Saturday 3/12/11 I took a walk on the beach during my morning break:

Had to make a movie for the girls:



And take a picture for them:

My friend Kaye had twisted her ankle pretty badly before the retreat. So, we asked the hotel staff if they had some kind of wheelchair for the beach. They did!! It was so amazingly windy when we went for a walk during the afternoon break on Saturday 3/12/11. Here are some pictures of those of us who braved sand blowing us in the face! And I braved pushing that big honkin' chair. Boy was I sore after that walk.

Debbie, Manuel and Kaye:

Manuel, Me and Kaye:

Kaye getting her groove on in her chair we started calling a "Moon Chair" because it looked like something you would push on the moon!



Here are pictures of the sunset on Saturday 3/12/11 from my hotel balcony:

I woke up early on Sunday 3/13/11 to see the sunrise:

Then I drove to one of places where I worked way back when that summer - The Fudge Factory. Ironic since I was at a retreat for Food Addiction Recovery - you gotta love that. No more fudge in my life!!

It was a wonderful retreat and I left feeling refreshed and renewed. I'm so grateful for the life God has given me!

And what did the girls do while I was away...

Isa ran around the living room in circles on Saturday 3/12/11:





And she put on a show for us when I got home on Sunday 3/13/11:



And she and Xia had a blast with the shopping bags on Monday night 3/14/11 after I took Xia to dance and she and I had bought groceries on the way home. It was late and we were all punchy!

Mardi Gras 2011 and Bats...

On Tuesday 3/8/11 we celebrated Mardi Gras with the Volpes (just like last year).

Here's Jim, Silas and Heather enjoying the feast of pizza and cheese curls (what else would you eat before Lent begins?):

And here's Gianna (well the back of her head anyway), Isa, Xia and Isaac enjoying the dinner:

Daddy is READY for the King Cake!

After we ate, Heather and Mommy needed to head off to Praise and Worship at the church where they would be singing with their band, Sound Doctrine. Well, you've heard of bats in the belfry, but have you heard of bats in the chapel? Well, apparently at St. Mary's Chapel where they do Praise & Worship with Eucharistic Adoration the 2nd Tuesday of each month, there are bats in the chapel! Just look at the proof:



I love how John uses a dust mop and Tim has the ultimate bat swatter (or is that a lid to a tub?) Anyway...



The good news is the bat was gone by the time Jesus was brought into the room! Definitely a Mardi Gras to remember!

Monday 3/7/11

Xia here. On Monday 3/7/11 I made a great mask (have I mentioned that orange is my favorite color?):

And here's Isa relaxing on the futon:

Xia is Fifty Months Old

On Saturday 3/5/11 I turned 50 months old or 4 years and 2 months old!

Use the links below to see how I've grown by clicking on the number of months...

49, 48,47,46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, birth.

Isa had to get in on the act again and oh, yes, I did spill some water on myself right before the picture was taken!

Happy 45th Bday Daddy!

We had fun making Daddy's birthday cake again this year for #45! on Thursday 3/3/11. It looks a lot like last year's.

And here we are singing to him:



Don't worry Daddy, you're not really getting closer to 50...

Xia Visits Joey

On Tuesday 3/1/11 I got to go over to Grammy's house and play with Joey. I love Grammy's doggie. Grammy picked me up and took me over for the afternoon. See how much fun we had?

Hi Joey...

Pose for the camera...

Here's a treat for ya...

Do you smell more treats?

Licking it all off are ya?

Really Joey, that's all I have...

Man, now I gotta go wash these hands. But this was fun!

Isa is Twenty Three Months Old

On Monday 2/28/11, Isa turned 23 months old!

Use the links below to see how I've grown by clicking on the number of months...

22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, birth

Xia's Dance Practice Instructional Video

On Monday 2/28/11, Mommy decided to take a video of my dance class. She focused mainly on my teacher, Miss Vicky, so that we could learn all of the moves. I'm all the way on the left side in a black leotard and skirt. I'm mostly just enjoying looking at myself in the movie. That's why Mommy figured she better learn this dance since I wasn't really paying much attention to it...

Help Get Mommy Out of Jail!

WANTED!

Please Help Us!!! Mommy has been arrested and will be put in jail for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Lock-Up at 9:00am on 8/24/11. Don’t even bother asking what crime she has committed – it’s not really that important (though it might be failure to update this blog in the last 5 months!). We just have to try to raise her bail to send 5 kids to summer camp ($3,000) before the Lock-Up and they will go easy on her, but we need your financial assistance to post her bond. C'mon, we're just little kids, we don't have that kind of money!

Please lend your support by going to this Website to help our Mommy. We don't want her to be in jail for a long time!

Your 100% tax-deductible donation will help MDA continue research into the cause and the possible cure of the 43 neuromuscular diseases they cover. Your support of the MDA Lock-Up will also help MDA provide wheelchairs, clinic visits and summer camp for the families served by the Association.

Take a look at this moving video that helped Mommy to decide to be locked up. Maybe it will help you to decide to give!



We really appreciate your help. And who knows, if enough of you donate, Mommy can get out and just maybe update this blog!!!

SUSPECT MAY BE
DANGEROUS(LY) FRIENDLY
AND
HEAVILY ARMED WITH KINDNESS
PLEASE APPROACH WITH CAUTION!!!!

Happy President's Day

Xia here. We really didn't do much to acknowledge Washington and Lincoln today, Monday 2/21/11. It was nice to have Mommy home for an extra day. Our excitement was big time grocery shopping at Costco and Giant. It can actually be fun...

Here I am ringing the doorbell to a VERY cool playhouse we saw in Costco:

And a little movie Mommy took too (she's having fun with her new iPod Touch):



Then it was off to Giant where we love getting our free cookies (they give them out to kids, all you have to do is ask!):



By the way, I just have so much fun since our store was remodeled. We weigh all of our produce, label it, then scan all of our groceries using self scan, bag them as we shop, and check ourselves out. I help quite a bit and am getting really good at aiming the scanner.

After such a busy day, Isa was mighty cranky by the end of dinner. Here's a clip of Daddy getting her to laugh amidst throwing a fit in her high chair:



And more fit throwing when Mommy and Daddy were trying to clean up. "Up Mommy Up" or "Up Daddy Up" is her battle cry (Sorry, Mommy still getting used to taking movies on the iTouch):



I'm thinking she'll sleep pretty good tonight!

Have YOU Ever Cracked Open a Double Yolk?

Mommy was a little freaked out on Saturday 2/19/11 when she cracked open an egg into her waffle batter to see this...

Yep, that's 2 yolks out of one egg! Have you ever seen such a thing? She had never seen one of these in all of her years of egg cracking.

Of course, she had to do a Google Search and apparently it does happen. This site explains...

Double Yolkers appear when ovulation occurs too rapidly, or when one yolk somehow gets "lost" and is joined by the next yolk. Double yolkers may be by a pullet whose productive cycle is not yet well synchronized. They're occasionally laid by a heavy-breed hen, often as an inherited trait.

Better that than a "dwarf" egg = no yolk at all!

Xia Steals the Snowman's Hat and Scarf

So, our poor snowman finally melted away. I thought I would model his hat and scarf on Friday 2/18/11:

PS - Bonus points for the first person who knows where this hat is from. Put your answer in a comment. Oh, and don't ask me where you can use the bonus points...

Xia Sleeps Some More

Yep... Daddy loves to take pics of me sleeping! Here are 2 more taken on Sunday 2/13/11. Note I'm surrounded by toys and wrapped in Mardi Gras beads...:

We Finally Have a Dishwasher!

Mommy here. May I just say that life will NEVER be the same again. We have lived in this house almost 8 years without a dishwasher. It was one of the things I did not like about this house when we bought it (along with no central air). It wasn't so bad until the girls came along with all of their bottles and sippy cups and little containers, etc. I believe Daddy is even more excited than I am as he took over most of the dishwashing duties about 3 years ago.

Kudos to Leonard E. Good (Woodworking - Home Improvements) who created a totally matching cabinet with butcher block top to put the dishwasher in and Martin's Appliance in Brownstown who sold us the dishwasher and recommended Leonard. Leonard arrived at our home about 9am Friday 2/11/11 and everything was done by 7pm!! Amazing work and an exciting day at our house. Xia and Isa told me all about it when I got home from work.

So... here are some photos of our wonderful, newly installed dishwasher. In just 24 hours our lives have completely changed!! YIPPEE!!

Peaceful Xia

Now that I'm 4 years old, I can really tire Mommy and Daddy out sometimes with all of my energy and questions and running around and teasing Isa and not listening and... well you get the idea. So I guess it's hard to imagine how much work I can be when I look like this. Daddy snapped these photos on Monday 2/7/11:

And though I can give them a run for their money, Mommy and Daddy would not have it any other way!

Smash-Up Derby

So, Daddy still has a bunch of toys from when he was little like me. On Saturday 2/6/11 he figured I was ready for some Smash-Up Derby. What? You don't remember that? Maybe this commercial will clue you in (even Mommy remembers this commercial):



Though some of the pieces and one of the ramps are missing, it is STILL fun!!

Xia is Forty Nine Months Old

On Saturday 2/5/11 I turned 49 months old. I just had my 4 year old well kid check-up and I'm now 41 1/4 inches long (80th %) and weigh 36 and 1/4 lbs (75%).

Use the links below to see how I've grown by clicking on the number of months...

48,47,46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, birth.

Isa had to get in on the photo shoot of course:

Then we both joined in together:

Deja Vu...

(above pic from 4/20/09)

Okay, we're done!

The Headless Snowman

Poor snowman... With all of this icy rain this past week, our poor snowman has lost his head! Here is a picture taken Wednesday 2/2/11: