Signs

Do you believe in signs, signals or messages from above? I DO...I believe I received one late this afternoon.

We were getting ready to eat dinner around 5:30p. It wasn't quite dark out...Tank and the Monkey were home, but Banana was playing at a friend's home two doors down from us. I walked out the front door, and heard a lot of fluttering...so much that I jumped over to the driveway from the front landing.


There were two plump birds flying and sputtering in Ned & Nora's tree.

[Ned & Nora's tree is a VA dogwood that was given to us after they died from my colleagues at work. We had it planted in our backyard at our townhouse, where it thrived. When we put the townhouse on the market, we stipulated that the tree was coming with us. It was transplanted beside our front door, and it continues to THRIVE.]

Anyway, these two plump birds flew from that tree to another tree in our front yard, and watched me walk down to check on Banana. I so wish I had my camera or iPhone on me to snap a picture. They were so beautiful!!!

When I walked back, there was no sign of the birds. I promptly went inside, got a lot of bread, and spread it over the front lawn. I hope they come back!!!

Happy Eighth Birthday, Ned & Nora! Banana, Tank & the Monkey enjoyed your birthday cake tonight...

Love, Mom.

02.20.02

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NED & NORA!!!

222 is still my favorite number as it was 20 years ago. It's ironic that my firstborns, Ned and Nora, were born on 02.20.02. Unfortunately, they were born prematurely at 24w, and lived only 10 and 15 hours, respectively. A morning has not gone by in the last eight years upon wakening without praying to them to watch over us.

Today, they will celebrate their 8th birthday in heaven! And, I KNOW our great friend, Meg, will CRASH their party!!! Meg passed on this past week after fighting a courageous battle with brain cancer for the last 7 years. We will miss her dearly as we do Ned and Nora.



Laugh with all the angels and saints today, Ned and Nora!!! We love you!!!

Surprise Visitors!!!

On Wednesday (02.10) we spent the morning and early afternoon at Magic Kingdom in Disney World...our first bonus day courtesy of the DC Snowmeggadon.


We drove back to our rental for some down time. Even though the weather was in the 50s (that was the high), the kids had a blast in the HEATED pool...there was NO way Mr. O and I were going to take a dip though!

We cooked dinner at "home" early that afternoon, and since everyone was in high form, we decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom for the SpectroMagic parade (7p) and Wishes fireworks (8p). We got the kids all bundled up, then shooed them out the door to get strapped in the car. They took 2 steps out, then tumbled over each other to get back inside. WHY?

They were being attacked by Ospreys! I didn't know what they were then; I had to send a picture of them to my aunt.




T

Out of the mouths of Babes...

This past Tuesday, we spent the day at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We were situated at our preferred spot for the 3pm afternoon parade by 2:30p. Once Mr. O and the kids were settled, I set off to get ice cream for the kids. This look from them made me RUN!

When I got back, the kids were happily ensconced in their seats slopping away at their ice creams. Within minutes, Mr. O jumped up! An elderly man was having some sort of attack behind us. Mr. O went to help him...I ran to a Cast Member to call 911, then back to help Mr. O and another lady lay him gently on the ground. We're not sure what happened to him, but we think it was a stroke or a mini-stroke.

The kids were never more than 5 feet from us...and they watched it all. Tank & Banana seemed to be okay with our explanations that the man was ill and needed to be checked out by the doctors at the hospital. Our Monkey was all out of sorts. She had more questions than any answers we can give her. I told her, "Let's pray for him that he gets well."

Monkey: Will you help me pray?

Me: Sure! Dear God....

Monkey: No, I don't do God!

Me: What??? What do you mean you don't do God???

Monkey: (proceeding to bow her head and fold her hands) "Dear, Lord, Thank you for watching over me and my family and PLEASE take care of THAT man!"

How endearing is that prayer from a 4.5yo...It made my heart swell!!!

Snowmeggadon extended our Disney Vacation!!!

Last Thursday, we were back home in Northern VA. I recall sitting down to write a note to Banana & Tank's Kindergarten teacher & aide that they would be absent Friday, Monday and Tuesday as we were going away for a long weekend. I didn't tell them WHERE, but I'm sure the kids told them. :) I felt awkward that I was taking them out of school to have a fun family getaway.

As I was packing up for our trip, which was difficult for me as I've never flown with children, I received an email from the County that school was closed on Friday because of the impending snowstorm. I was pumped up since that was one less "unexcused" absence.

We left early Friday morning...well before the Storm started. It snowed Friday through Saturday.

THIS is the aftermath on Sunday!!! This is our Acura parked in front of our house.

32.4" of snow fell at our local INTERNATIONAL airport.

Mr. O and I saw this picture and knew there was not going to be any school on Monday and Tuesday...what a relief!!!

Another snowstorm was forecast (possible 10-20") for Wednesday. We were scheduled to fly out on Tuesday, arriving at 7p. Monday evening, we received a call that our flight was CANCELED. We also received an alert that schools were canceled for the WEEK, and would not resume until Tuesday, the 16th, since Monday was a holiday, Presidents Day.

Now, what to do? We had to be out of the place we rented on Tuesday. We found another house right down the street. We got confirmed seats on a flight for Sunday. We upgraded our Disney tickets...4 more days for the 5 of us for the grand total of $63! Awesome!!!

So, here WE are, having FUN!!!

Epcot passports for kids!!!


Epcot...
Animal Kingdom...
Magic Kingdom...
Hollywood Studios...Streets of NY...♥ We head back to DC on Sunday and hope we can dig out our Acura before Spring arrives...

We are fortunate that we were able to park in a covered garage at the airport....AND...We are THANKFUL that...

We have awesome neighbors that plowed our driveway for an easy pull-in from a long time away!!!

A Work of Art....

Tank loves to draw, and many of his drawings amaze me. I think that is because whenever he hands me a drawing, I can instantly tell what it is. Take this picture for instance...

I can tell you that's a picture of Tank and his friends playing football...not bad for a kid in Kindergarten, huh? Do you notice the purple jerseys? Since his Vikings flag football team was UNDEFEATED last Fall, he is now a fan of the professional Vikings.

So, this morning Tank hands me his latest drawing...

...I had absolutely no clue what it was...I was totally stumped!!!

When he told me it was a drawing of our fireplace, I busted out laughing...


I think it's hysterical that he drew the Angel of Hope, the rubber duckie and the mouse. This drawing inspired to dress up the mantel...LOL! I mean, what is a mouse doing on the mantel???

Much better, right???

So tired...

Although I love seeing my children out gallivanting in the snow, I'm really getting tired of it. Even so, I was still mesmerized when I woke up this morning and looked outside. How beautiful!!!

Read-a-thon!

I started off 2009 wanting to spend more time reading and less time in front of the tube. On my blog I listed 17 books I read during the course of the year. I probably read a few more than that but never got around to listing them...So, I'm guessing I read at least 20 books or so.

In 2010, I want to do better than that!

And, so far, I'm on track to doing that. Yesterday, I started my 7th book of the year.

If you see any books listed here that you might be interested in, shoot me a note. I'll be happy to give you a review or maybe even send you my copy.