Wrapping up 2010

Overall 2010 has been a pretty good year for us. We are all happy and healthy (knock on wood) and hoping for an even better 2011.

We have squeezed in some learning outside of our field trips but we've had a ton of fun on the field trips this year! Ms. Chanda gives an amazing class at the Clemson Children's Garden or more affectionately known as Pooh Park.

We even learned how to make animal balloons this year. We might have to study this again sometime. ;-)

 We loved going to Congaree National Park and learning about the things that grow here.

 But, the best part about the visit to Congaree was the canoe trip!

We discovered the Lexington Museum this year. They've brought together a lot of buildings built in the 1800s and learned how they farmed, played, lived and celebrated Christmas in the 19th century. (We've come a long way since then but they didn't do too badly either!)

I don't have pictures to share but I'm still with iVillage - it's been 5 years with them already! And Todd is now working for Long's Drugs (or Long Term Care.) Mr. Long was sweet enough to come by our table at the Christmas party and tell me how valuable Todd is to them. (I figured it was the wrong time to ask about a raise for him LOL)

We keep finding all sorts of projects that could be done around here but in Sept, our renters moved out and we've been working at getting that back on the market. We're close to being ready to put it out there for rent again but still have some work to do.

 Just a couple *minor* projects around here...

It's hard to put pics of all the fun things we've done this year but a couple of things we've done are...

Running the zip lines at the Central Florida Zoo. Thanks, Grammy!

Pat & Jan introduced us to 4 wheeling and the boys had a BLAST!

 This first is not from this year but, this is the first pic of tkd from June 2007. We're taking a break right now but the boys have come so far!

 Look what they can do!!

We saw a play at the Children's theater in Columbia- The Nutty Nutcracker. I hope we can get back to see more!

 We learned about pirates at the state museum

 We had a reading party thanks to iVillage and PBS. Author Mark Johnston came and read some of his books to the kids and answered all their questions and there were a lot of them! He was great!

 We hung out at the lake in Murdoc. Such a fun peaceful way to spend a lazy summer day.

 Christmas with the Weasts. Todd says.... If you get your family picture taken in front of the Christmas tree at Sonny's BBQ, two years in a row.... you could be a redneck. (Well, if we are, that's okay with me!)

 Todd reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas one more time. Even Hermione listened - for 3 seconds.

 Camping at Murdoc w/ the McKeon's.

 The first time I made the boys Halloween costumes - they were happy. Todd's awesome bow & arrows are still well loved.

Anyway, to sum it up again, we are doing pretty well and look forward to an even better 2011! I hope you and yours have a wonderful 2011 as well. Watch out for the crazies out there if you're celebrating the New Year away from home!

Camping in Dec? Are you crazy??

Well, since it's snowing outside and there's not a lot to do around here now that Christmas is over, it's time to tell you about our wonderful camping trip we took earlier this month.

We kept sort of thinking - what are we doing going camping in Dec and the weekend before Christmas?? Well, it was a little chilly but it was the perfect time to be camping! We headed down to Hunting Island State Park with our friends, Pat & Jan. This was the first time we got to try out their new camper and that was a good thing to have. Tent camping would have been miserable.

The weather could have been a little nicer, it was rainy and gloomy on our trip down but the rain stopped by the time we got there and it was sunny on Sunday.

It was not this dark when we got here but you know how these cameras change stuff like this. It was about 5pm.

Figured out the camera a little better - these are our friends, Pat & Jan. Thank you for taking us with you that weekend!!

The guys worked hard at getting the fire started and even tried some cooking oil! But the wood sucked up the water from the air and would not really burn worth a darn. :(

These little green birds were all over the ground when I got up in the morning.

Hermione's perch. She was pretty good while we were there. Luckily, there weren't too many people to bark at this time of year - or at least outside because the park was fairly full.

This horseshoe crab nestled into the sand a long way from the water. Pat actually dug him out and moved him into the water. Stubborn old guy didn't try to get out into the water anymore though. That tail was wicked!

I never saw a forest so close to the water before. Too bad all the trees were dead but it was really cool to see. Pat caught this cool picture with the birds in the background.

We saw a lot of cool things on the beach, like this tiny little shrimp and the horseshoe crab. We saw sand dollars, jellyfish, hermit crabs and crabs too.

I don't even want to know what this means! (I think it had something to do with the wall thing you see started in this picture but still! Couldn't they have named it something else?? LOL)

The lighthouse was open and some of us decided to go up to see what we could see.

It was cold up there but the guy that works there braved the heights to take a picture for us. (How do you work at a lighthouse and deal with the fear of heights??)

Todd, Jan and Hermione were a long way below us. Thank you, honey, for staying with the dog so I could go up with the boys.

We wore one child out. The other one would stay awake 24/7 if he could. ;-)

We ate good, and slept (pretty) good, played good and had great company. It was great to get away from the hustle & bustle of Christmas that weekend. We had a lot of fun but I'm glad we're not out there this weekend with all the snow!



I'm ready to go again! (In a couple months when it's a little warmer! ;-) )

Merry Christmas all!

I hope you are having as wonderful a day as we are having here! The boys kept telling us that they'd be up early and come busting into our room to wake us up. So, we were a little surprised that they weren't up by 7am. We got up and went downstairs, turned the lights on and went back upstairs to get them. Todd had me hang back a little bit and yell 'Santa's come! Get up! It's time to get up and see what Santa brought!' We heard one then the other jump out of bed and try to open their doors. It took a bit of effort because Todd was holding them shut. He didn't make them stress too long and let them out. They raced downstairs to find a new netbook that sadly doesn't seem to work and Guitar Hero which works a little too well. ;-) It's perfect because we have three remotes and all my guys are having a blast!

We all made out pretty well and had some yummy french toast w/ apple cider syrup for breakfast.

Oh yeah, we found out something new about Patch's pickiness in eating... He doesn't like french toast so I asked him if he wanted something else. He said he wanted cheerios in a little bowl. He hadn't eaten many when he asked for more sausage. He let us know that he likes cheerios better when it's darker out not so much when the sun is bright. Can this child find another way to be pickier about what he eats???

Merry Christmas to all of you and your loved ones!

PS. I will blog about our awesome camping trip soon!

Christmas keeps getting closer!

It always seems like I'll never be ready on time but here I sit on the computer putting off making Chocolate Chip Cookies of all things!

We have most of our presents purchased or made already. The decorations are up already. I don't have much more I want to make for treats. But, I'm waiting, waiting for the presents we ordered online to show up so I can wrap them, waiting to find out when we might see family and friends to give them their gifts, waiting to find out what else might come up that I need to get done...

We did get to celebrate Christmas with Todd's mom's side of the family. Some of it anyhow. We always miss having their brother Lane and their sister Amy around. Todd & Sheryl mentioned that... If you have your family Christmas picture taken in front of the Christmas tree at Sonny's BBQ... two years in a row... you may be a redneck...

(Todd was not suppose to be hiding behind me like that, he could have let me know I was blocking him so much!) The little girl is a friend of Sheryl's daughter, not our grandniece? Is that what we might call our niece's daughter someday?? LOL

But, we're having fun, doing things together with our friends and family and isn't that what this season all about? I wish those grumpy people out on the roads and in the stores would learn that!

I'm looking forward to going camping with our friends, Pat & Jan this coming weekend. Even if it might be a little on the chilly side. We get to explore more of South Carolina!

Signs of Christmas are in the air

There's still a lot to do but we're on our way to being prepared for Christmas. We finally found a tree! Yay, Todd!!

We enjoyed Todd's company Christmas Party on Saturday. They had the party at the local Marriott and lots of food, a great band, an open bar and an offer of a free taxi ride home if you needed it. The owner stopped by the table and bragged about Todd to me. I know he's wonderful but it's always nice to hear someone else agree with me. :)

Cool Nutcrackers at the entrance to the ball room where the party was held.

Martini ice sculpture. The bar tender poured the drinks through it. I guess it made the drinks colder or frozen? You had to hold your glass in the bottom of the sculpture to get your drink. I thought it was pretty cool.

All of the ice sculptures were pretty cool but I thought the Martini one was the best. It was a huge party and even Todd didn't know very many people but the people I did meet all seemed really nice.

Now, to work on shopping, decorating, cookie baking, getting cards ready to send and everything else Christmas done in the next few weeks! Time could slow down a smidge for me!