Christmas Chapel

Today was Bella's last day of preschool before Christmas break. It was also the day of her school's Christmas Chapel. Above is a video of one of the songs her little 4-year-old class did. Needless to say, Bella was one of the loudest voices there. If you have 2 mintutes to spare, check out the video. I apologize in advance for the shaking - I had to laugh at what turned into a volume contest between three of them!

After the service, we went to Bella's class for some of Jesus' birthday cake. Luca just walked in and sat down at the table with her classmates! It was really cute. He really can't wait to go to school!

It was a very nice time, and Fredericksburg Christian Preschool's Stafford Campus did a great job at kicking off Christmas!

Winter Wonderland

This past weekend we decided to take a little jaunt through some nasty weather to spend some time at Nonna and Pappy's house. We were so glad that we did, because on Saturday morning we had a great time playing in the snow!Did you know that my parents lived across the street from Clark Griswald?

Keith and I got in on the fun, too!

Bella is always so excited to see her cousin, Jilli. This was a reunion shot - the first time they'd seen each other in weeks!

This was Luca's first time playing in the snow. He had a blast! His little cheeks got all rosy and cute!


Let's plow, Pap!

Christmastime!

I've been a bit sluggish on the blogging... can't believe I let Thanksgiving go by without even 1 post! We were very thankful to have our family from Brownsville, PA come and stay with us for a few days. We had a houseful and it really was a lot of fun! We stayed up to late, drank too much, ate too much, and basically needed a week to recover - but fun!

I wanted to post this picture for 2 reasons - one, becuase I wanted to show off the ginormous solid poplar shelves that my dad painstakingly made for our grand room niches. Don't they look great? Now all of our medical books have a good sturdy home! The second reason is the Christmas tree, of course. This year it's our only one but we think it fits the bill!

This weekend we're off to Nonna & Pappy's for some before-Christmas preparation. After that it's going to fly! Merry Christmastime!

Rainbow

Maybe I have been living in a hole,
but I don't recall ever seeing the entire arc of a rainbow!
I took this picture outside of my house at 5 pm today. This was the kids' first rainbow, and they were pretty excited to see it.
I was, too. It was a great reminder to me that God is always in control. It was like He was giving us a little sign, saying, "I am still here..." That's reasurring!

The pictures don't do it justice, is was beginning to get dark - but I really wanted to share it!

Fall Fun

Dont you just LOVE fall?
We sure do... especially here where fall looks like fall! I'll get over having seasons again, soon - I promise.
Anyway, here are some pics of the kids having a great time outside. The cold doesn't seem to phase them one bit (I, on the otherhand, find that my best friend is now my down vest!)

Sibling LOVE!

Luca just doing his thing.

Bella and her best friend of 3 years - Baby.

Yes, mom... I'm using my good eye.

Pretty in pink!

100th Post

I've just noticed that this will be my 100th post on my blog. I honestly never thought I could stick with it this long. Although the posts get fewer and farther between, I'm still at it.

Anyway, I wanted to post a couple of pictures of Bella taken yesterday at her school. She really doesn't have much to say about the Firefighter's visit, except that when she grows up, she wants to be a firefighter. I guess he made a good impression! She still loves her school, and every time Keith and she leave to go, Luca cries. He wants to go to school, too! I've investigated a couple of two's programs (yes, actually school - not daycare), but there isn't any space for him. I'm actually kind of glad... I'm not ready to let him go just yet! (Although HE seems to be chomping at the bit!)

We're doing pretty well here - the leaves are slow to change in our neck of the woods, and that makes it nice. I'd say they're at their peak right now, and very beautiful. Soon they'll all be on the ground... especially after the wind we've been having here. These winds are COLD (nothing like the warm Santa Ana's we had gotten used to!) We are looking forward to a trip to PA for the weekend. The kids will be happy to get back to Nonna and Pappy's for a few days!

Moving right along....

Well, I'm finally getting a minute to post on our blog. The past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind for our family, but we're settling down and taking a minute to breathe!
It all started last Saturday when our moving truck arrived with all of our things that have been in storage since May 23!
It was a long, hot day, but thanks to the Vesley Bros. crew (who we love, by the way), it all went pretty smoothly. We also had a huge furniture delivery scheduled so that Luca and Keith and I would have a bed to sleep on, but that didn't happen. Oh well... for that to be the only thing that went wrong, we consider ourselves blessed!
It was like Christmas for the kids when we started unpacking things. They hadn't seen their toys for 4 months, so they were very busy and excited.




















My parents and Aunt Lisa were here for 5 days to help with the unpacking and organizing... and I must say - they were GREAT. My dad also did some major projects here, which I will display as soon as I get things all pretty! He's awesome.
We got pretty much everything put away, which is unheard of in 5 days.


We also had a little 33rd birthday thing for me, because my birthday was on Oct. 6. I'm totally quitting counting.
























October 6 was not only my birthday, but also Bella's first day of preschool at Fredericksburg Christian. I can't believe that I just couldn't hold it together! I was a mess, but she did absolutely great. She loves her school as well as her excellent teacher, Mrs. Hoilman. We're so happy and relieved that she's happy!

Well, that about sums it up (the short, painless version, at least)!
We are finally here and extremely happy! We think our new neighborhood (which is mostly trees and big pieces of land) is great, and we are loving that Keith is so close to the office.
The kids can't get enough of riding their quads, digging and exploring in the big back yard. We think that we couldn't have picked a better place to call home!