First Day of School

Last Friday, I was interviewed and hired to teach 2 sections of senior Government/Economics (yikes) at a nearby high school. The position is for the second semester which was SUPPOSED to start today but ... it snowed last night!! I tried not to be hopeful or at least set my expectations on a mere delay but it snowed about an inch, and here in South Carolina, that means CANCELLATION!!

Cady could hardly wait to get outside but even her excitement couldn't keep her warm! We bundled up and tumbled outside, stomped around, threw some snowballs and then got COLD. The girls lasted about 10 minutes. We just don't have wardrobes that are designed for long-term play in the snow. But I did snap a few photos (which blogspot is telling me that's it's uploaded but they're not showing up) ... stay tuned.

Daddy's little helpers

When my folks came down for the holidays, they brought with them 2 very sturdy wood stools, much appreciated hand-me-downs, as the girls were always fighting over our one kitchen stool. The only thing ... the "new" stools were emblazoned with Winnie the Pooh. I am not a Pooh fan, so we bought a can of Colonial Red spraypaint and Ray was ready to spearhead a new (and easy!) project. He gave each of the girls some sandpaper and showed them what to do. Don't worry, he didn't let Maddy use the spray paint!!

Naptime activities

As Cady has dropped her nap for the most part (I'm SOOOO sad about that but I'll refrain from whining!), we are now seeking alternate activities for those few hours when Maddy is sleeping and Cady is not. As a former anti-princess mom, I've now come around and see the value of 90 minutes of Cinderella. I can get a lot of cleaning/napping done in 90 minutes! Some days, we work outside or do art projects. Yesterday, however, Cady had a different idea ... washing dishes.

I completely approve.

Our second Christmas in Spartanburg

We stayed at home for Christmas again this year and were lucky enough to have both of our parents come to us. Ray's parents were here the week of Christmas and my folks came down from Maryland the following week. We had so much fun having the grandparents here.

Christmas day was wonderful! Ray is a great (albeit last-minute) Santa. It is becoming his tradition to go out Christmas Eve afternoon and doing his shopping. Crazy, in my opinion, but it works for him! So after staying up until 2 am (without me!), Ray had the living room ready for the big day. And it was BIG. I think we've decided not to buy our children any gifts next year. Kidding ... kind of. Seriously, Maddy didn't even open all her gifts. She just quit. No quitting for Cady however. She was up to the task of all the present-opening (see picture below of Cady clutching all her "stuff"). She did receive her #1 request from Santa: a kid's digital camera. Maddy loved her dress-up attire most of all! And Santa was thoughtful enough to get Ray yet another accessory for his tool belt!!


Christmas afternoon and evening were all about food, FOOD, FOOD!! We had the traditional Christmas ham, mashed potatoes and other fixings, as well as ambrosia courtesy of Daddy Ray. Ray also decided to make homemade cinnamon rolls and they were mmmm, mmmm, good, as demonstrated by Cady licking the spatula!

A quick visit to Atlanta

A few weeks before Christmas, I traveled down to Atlanta with the girls to attend a baby shower for Ray's cousin Jenn. We discovered that to travel to most places on "this" side of Atlanta, it's less than 3 hours. Not bad. Not bad at all. OK, I had to pack snacks, books, and other car activities (i.e. DVD player!), but the girls traveled great!

We stayed the night with another of Ray's cousins who live in the suburbs of Atlanta, Ron and Resa and their lovely children. Their youngest is Cady's age and she was so excited to spend the night at her cousins' house. The girls loved playing with new toys and new playmates, and Mommy loved doing a little shopping. Oh, driving to Perimeter Mall made me miss Northern Virginia! Not that it looked like NoVa but it FELT like it, busy, busy, busy and I loved it!! I have a feeling we'll be visiting Atlanta again real soon!

And I should mention that Resa took over 100 pictures of our girls, in an attempt to help me get some usable photos for a Christmas card this year. The pictures of Cady and Maddy on our card are courtesy of Resa ... thanks for not giving up, Resa, even when I was ready to quit trying!!