Disney: Day 1

What's better than a trip to Disney World?  A trip to Disney World with your grandparents, that's what!  We managed to meet up with both Grandma & Paw-paw (Dermodys) and Grammy & Grampy (Sheas) for a week at the Happiest Place on Earth.

First, check out the awesome room we stayed in at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort:

 

Our kids tried to make the magic carpet work, but it didn't want to fly.

Our folks didn't have the magical beds (they seemed OK with that), but their rooms were pretty too:

That's Princess Tiana and her prince in the picture above.  So cool!

After we settled into our rooms and got a good night's rest, we headed out for our first day in the parks -- Hollywood Studios!

Madeline's party

Madeline really wanted to have her most recent birthday party at the American Girl doll store (Claire too, but more on that later...).  She invited a couple of her besties and we headed to the mall for lunch at the American Girl Cafe!

Mostly they behaved like little ladies, but they did get a bit silly after that second glass of pink lemonade.

Madeline couldn't decide which doll to bring, so she brought two.  

This is what a happy birthday girl looks like:

 

Another first day!

Colin had his first day of pre-school today.  And he gets to carpool with his best friend--Sarah!  It may only be three days a week, but it gives me a break to do things like grocery shop.  Or mop the floors.  Or clean the toilets.  But I'll take it! 

 

Back to school, back to school

The summer felt so short!  But it was time to send the kids back to school...

We have one second grader, a brand new kindergartener, a pre-schooler in waiting, and a soon to be very relieved mom!

First day on the bus for Madeline -- she's excited and has a big sister to show her the way

Madeline on her way to her first day at kindergarten

Cousin visit!

The kids got to see a their cousins a bunch this summer.  First in Illinois, and then the Rhomberg clan made a trip to DC!  Emmalee and Andrew got to soak in some of the DC heat and see the sights.  They really loved spending so much time with the expat family. 

 

A visit to Monticello

With all the history in the area, we hit another must see.  A visit to the house and grounds of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, was really amazing.  The weather started a bit dreary, but turned into a beautiful day to see his home, gardens, plantation, and amazing museum.  We really enjoy being so close to George Washington's home, Mount Vernon, and we visit often--but were really surprised by the uniqueness and thought that Jefferson put into his homestead.  

 

 

 

The drive through old Civil War battlefields and horse farms of Virginia made the trip there and back a treat, too.  This includes seeing markers which commemorate General "Stonewall" Jackson's final days and where he lost his arm!

Colin-man turns 3!

Our little man sure is growing up!  Colin just turned three -- this was his second birthday in this house.  That's a unique event in this little guy's well traveled life!

 

Katie made an awesome Cars cake!

Nothing like a crazy party with some of your best friends...

 

A happy guy, opening a nice collection of one of his favorite toys!

Silly

The kiddos have been wanting to take this picture for quite some time now.  We ended up taking it at the last possible time - the last day their numbers would work out a nice math problem!  Tomorrow Colin will be three and it'll never work out again.  So here they are:

Alaska bound with Sam

After a brief stop home to see the fam, Phil took off to help his brother Sam move back to Alaska.  As Sam said, it was 4,700 miles in nine days and a great experience for the brothers--probably got to spend more time together than ever in the last 15 years!  Check out the movie that Sam put together from some of his thousands of photos from the amazing road trip! 

Clyde update

We've spent the last few weeks getting to know our new dog. Adopting an adult dog is much different from adopting a puppy. In some ways it's much easier (no whining at night!) and in some ways it's more difficult (not sure how he's been treated in the past so not sure how he'll react to situations). He's proven to be a really loveable dog. We have discovered, though, a few little quirks:

1. He loves to eat dolls. Mostly Barbies and Madame Alexander dolls, but he'll take any kind. (On a positive note, this is motivation for the girls to CLEAN UP THEIR ROOM)
2. He thinks all stuffed animals are put on Earth for him to chew on.
3. He does not come when called unless he feels like it.
4. When he's on a scent he becomes deaf.
5. He would love to try squirrel and chipmunk meat (this has endeared him to Phil).
6. He likes the great outdoors.

That last little tidbit has been the most work for us. Our backyard is fenced, but he has found several ways around that. And due to quirks number 3 and 4, above, it's a bad thing when he escapes.

We think he may have been an outside dog before.  The TV really threw him for a loop the first time we turned it on.  He was also very interested in the doggie he found in our full-length mirror.

And he really wanted to eat two of his family members:

But I think they're all past that little misunderstanding now.

He likes his crate, but if he had his way he would probably sleep in the girls' room.

And he occasionally forgets that he shouldn't go potty in the house. This is mostly the result of us not letting him outside whenever he says he needs to go. But seriously, this dog would be outside ALL. THE. TIME. if we let him! So sometimes we tell him no and then sometimes he makes us sorry.

But mostly he's a great dog. We've been doing some basic training with him, especially working on quirk #3 (coming when called) and he now knows how to sit and lie down.  And he comes to us when we call him AND he knows we're holding a treat.  If he feels like it.  So yeah, he's a bit stubborn.  Fits right in here!

Baroooooooo!

Recitals 2012

It's that time of year again: recital time!  The girls have been in recitals in Oklahoma, New Jersey, and now here in Northern Virginia.  They sure do a professional show here!  Or I guess I should say "shows".  They have recitals on Thursday, Friday, and three of them on Saturday.  Our girls were in two different shows, so we spent ALL DAY doing recitals yesterday.  Fortunately, all of the dancers were really fun to watch!  I wish we would have taken video of some of the older girls dancing.  They were amazing.  There was even a talent scout at Claire's recital (I felt like we were in an episode of "Glee"!). The studio's competitive team won a national title at their competition at DisneyWorld, and we could definitely see why.  Of course, our attention was mostly focused on these two routines (and they were pretty amazing too, if we do say so ourselves!):


Madeline (she's in the front row on the far right)


Claire (she's in the front row on the far left)

Colin's Super-Awesome Sticker Chart

Sweet Colin.  He's such a wonderful, loving, fun little boy with a smile that melts your heart.  He's generous with his hugs and kisses. 

He can sometimes be a tiny bit stubborn.  And by that I mean really, super stubborn.

Time for potty-training.

All of the parenting books will tell you to just wait and the kiddo will 'get it' when he or she is ready to 'get it'.  Well that ain't cool.  This little guy has to go to preschool this fall so his mommy doesn't lose the last of her marbles! Plus, he understood the concept.  He just didn't have the motivation. 

Then one morning I was having some gals over and was busily doing the requisite pre-company cleaning scramble.  Colin was still in underwear because I hadn't remembered to put him in a pull-up.  It was a rookie mistake -- I wasn't going to be paying close attention to him.  Right after I damp-mopped the floors he had an accident.  On my clean floor. 

ACK!  Why, oh WHY???  WHEN was he going to 'get it'???

Then, as I pondered what I was doing wrong (while re-mopping the floor) and thinking that the negativity probably wasn't helping ("ACK! NOT ON MY CLEAN FLOOR! It goes in the POTTY!"), I remembered something from waaaaaay back when I used to have a job: behavior charts fix darned near everything for little kids!  Especially when the thing needing fixing is motivation-related!  While my brain was working I tried to remember something else that I used to know back then.  Nope.  Nothin'.  Oh well. This was a useful tidbit so I'll be thankful. 

Within 20 minutes I had a sticker chart printed up and a reward for him to earn and just like that Mr. Man 'got it'. 

My chart was a little crappy, though, so when Phil got home he printed him up a nice personalized one.  Side note: my man is good with the graphic arts.  Check out Colin with his completed chart! 

He's only had a handful of accidents since we started the sticker charts.  I love me some sticker charts.  They keep everybody positive and put the control in the kiddo's hands, which makes my stubborn kiddo happy.  And I love that little big guy there. ^