Too many friends, too little time

We're happy to be home, though we had so much fun at my parents' house. We managed to squeeze in some quick visits with friends, but didn't have time to see everyone we hoped to visit.

Here's a quick photo essay...can you believe I didn't get a single picture of either of my parents? What a lame daughter!

These are Hannah's lifelong friends. Their parents have been such a blessing to our family, with support, encouragement, love and friendship from the very beginning of our journey. Boy are we thankful for them!!!

This is Shea, a horse-lover, who is always ready to have an adventure.

Hannah and Cecilia watch a scary part in a movie...

Hannah adores Cecilia's little poodle. Daisy will tolerate any amount of dressing up in doll clothes, cuddling, squeezing or packaging! Here Hannah has her bundled into an impromptu blanket bag.

The Fearsome Foursome: Emma, Molly, Hannah, and Abby.
Abby is the only one who does not have the bonus chromosome.

Here's Emma, personality plus! LOTS of dress-up in this house!

One of the many animals that live in Emma and Abby's house...

Another animal in the same house. Oh no, wait, that's Michael, the Dad. Hannah has had a crush on him since she was three years old. She's fluttering her eyes for him.


While I was away, my friend Donna started a new blog! Check it out!

Here's my imaginative daughter first thing this morning. Apparently going out to save Roo from a disaster in the Hundred Acre Wood...


Wishing you all a wonderful holiday, with too many blessings to count.

Out of town again

Off we go to South Carolina! Over the river and through the woods (though there aren't many woods on Interstate 85)....

We'll be back before Thanksgiving, just in time to search through the remnants of the grocery store. Thank goodness I thought to invite a friend to dinner who is a chef!

My work's cut out for me

This was the view from inside my kitchen yesterday. See the light switch? That's the inside of my house. Then there is the outside.


Yesterday was the coldest day of the season so far! There was a light dusting of snow in the morning. Ice in the dog bowl. So of course, that was the day to install new exterior doors, dontcha think? It was a nice day for a cool breeze to refresh the house! It was 28 degrees when the installers arrived.

We ordered the new doors a couple months ago, thinking that they'd arrive in mid October, when the weather was reliably warm (even hot some times!). But Murphy's Law reigns, so today's the day.


And yes, it did actually snow in my kitchen! (But, I didn't get a picture.)

Here's the finished product:


Well, sort of finished. Now all I have to do is prime it, paint it and then paint the rest of the trim in the kitchen, and finally paint the kitchen walls! Sounds like it's time for Roxanne to come visit!!

It's been pretty funny to watch the dogs--they are trained to ring the bell that hangs from the doorknob when they want to go outside. The old door opened to the left. This one opens to the right. So when the dogs ring the bell, they go stand by the hinges. Then I open the door, and they just stand there, waiting for me to open the door on their side! I have to herd them to the center. Bunsen is getting better, but Hazel is a creature of habit and is rather stubborn about moving to the middle.

Jiggity Jig!

We're home again. It feels like we were gone for much more than one night...I guess because we packed so much in!

First we visited with Donna and her family. We had fun playing and playing and playing and talking and talking and talking! Hannah was thrilled to have two little girls with Down syndrome and an active seven year old boy (and all their toys) with whom to play. She was also happy with the cook(s)! You can't beat it when both Dinner and Breakfast chefs fix her favorite foods! Donna and I got some time to catch up (it's been about a year since I've seen her in person!). Of course, we didn't get any pictures of us together, only the girls. (rumor has it that Donna might start blogging again some time soon....)


After Donna's, we went to meet some new friends! My online friend Deb recently moved to Virginia Beach, and I was happy to have the chance to meet her and her family! Deb and her husband Tom have five children, with just two girls at home now. Meghann is nine years old, and Anya, who joined their family through adoption, is four. Anya has Down syndrome and is of Ukrainian heritage.

Hannah and I had a lovely luncheon with them all, and plenty of time for the girls to play and be silly!

Do you think they ate too much??

We scooted out the door in time to go see a show at the Scope in Norfolk. Hannah has had an ongoing crush on Handy Manny (from Playhouse Disney) for a couple years now. So I caved in and bought tickets to the live show. She was very excited!

Here she is doing the "Hot Dog" dance, like Goofy.

An appreciative audience member!

We're home and can't believe how quickly the weekend disappeared...(cue The Mamas and the Papas, "Monday, Monday, bahhh-bahh, bah ba-ba bahhh"). (don't blame me if you have that song stuck in your head) (well, I guess it is my fault, but it's stuck in my head now too, so I commiserate with you)

Proud to be his Mama!

Yep, I can claim bragging rights. (I think. I really don't know what this exactly means...)

Apparently this is a big deal.

Chris is the first Tauren to make it to the 80th level of WOW.

(If anyone wants to clarify this to me, I'd appreciate it. I'm guessing it isn't really something that he'd put on his resume or college application.)

Go Morendhil!

Gone visiting....

Hannah and I are taking a short trip this weekend. We're headed to Virginia Beach to visit some friends--both old and new! I am excited to see everyone. Pictures when we return!

Cretaceous Period

A few chuckles from today's school work. Hannah was reading about dinosaurs. She was trying to sound out the word "pteranodon". Good luck with that! She came up with "parent-odon", which cracked me up. Even after I helped her say it correctly, she still says, "parentodon". I have a feeling that it will end up being one of our favorite Hannah-isms, along with Teddy Rosabell.

She's been having trouble phrasing her sentences when she reads aloud, so I've been making her say "period" when she sees one so she'll stop and take a breath. So when she came to "They lived in the Cretaceous Period." she asked for help. She pointed to "Cretaceous" and I said the word. Then she pointed to "Period" and I said "period". She kept pointing to "Period" and I repeated the word, thinking she wasn't really paying attention. But, of course, she thought I was telling her to look at the "."

When she figured it out she laughed so hard! Me too!