New Year, finally a new post!

So, instead of fervent apologies and excuses, I'm just going hope for blogger amnesty and jump back into the fray!

All has been well, just busy, busy and more busy.    The holidays were great--Christmas calm and quiet, New Year's spent with my parents and wonderful friends.

Hannah's ornament this year was a firetruck.  She wants to be a firefighter when she's older.

We Skyped with Kate on Christmas morning!  This is the closest as I could come to getting a picture of all my kids at one time! (Good news is that I'll get the real thing in 10 days!!)

We had a white Christmas! 

Yesterday was our local Bone Marrow Drive!  Lois made an appearance to the joy of many.  

Lois received a SuperLois cape!  Look, she used her amazing powers to make her Daddy disappear before our very eyes!

We raised $2,500 and registered 53 new people to the registry in honor of Lois.    If you haven't joined the registry yet, go here to find out how easy and painless it is.  There are about 5,000 bone marrow transplants in the US each year, however, there are 10,000 people who need them.   You could save a life.  

After the fun and excitement at the marrow drive, we were up to more Shenanigans at our house.    We hosted the Funquest group for a mystery dinner last night!  Twenty teens/young adults with Down syndrome spent the evening socializing, playing games and having a mysterious dinner.  It was lots of fun, and they all did pretty well navigating the menu.  Everyone got a menu with items like "Moo Juice", "Oink Oink" and "Don't Stab Me With That!".   The wrote down their orders which were filled in the kitchen and brought to them in the dining room.  Some were surprised to have ordered a knife ("Slice and dice") and a cube of Jello Jiggler ("Wiggly Butt") and some carrots ("Bugs Bunny's Favorite").    Fortunately, we had 6 courses, so everyone eventually got a fork and a napkin.   It was messy and fun chaos, but everyone had a good time.

 (some crazy dancin'!)

It was great fun.  I asked Hannah what part she liked the best and she said, "Hanging out with my friends!".  I thought for sure it would have been the "You're such a sweetheart" (cupcake).

I'll be back soon--I promise!  Hannah's starting in a new research study and I'd like to share it with you.

01-01-10

Ahh, the first post of the year!

The first activity of the year was a little bit of clean up from last night's party. We had a smaller, gathering this year (after last year's overwhelming guest list of 57 people...). My parents arrived from NYC just as the party got underway. We moved the clocks ahead as usual, so we had the countdown at 9:00 "Midnight".

Somebody is TOO LOUD!!!

It was a fun time for everyone!

The second activity was dropping Chris off at the Medical College of Virginia to shadow a doctor through a day of work. As a pre-med student he has to start exploring various medical arenas, and this was his first foray. He came home excited and is ready for another day at the hospital tomorrow!

My mom and I took Hannah to her riding lesson this afternoon--BRRR!!!! It was cold and muddy, but fun watching her navigate her horse through imaginary street intersections, stopping at a "stop" sign, looking both ways, picking up "mail" from the mailbox, and "running errands". She did a great job handling Tappie.

Tonight my mom's cousin came for dinner and we had a full evening of visiting and catching up--we're all tired out and ready to cozy ourselves down for another long winter's nap.

Rumor has it that Cookin' with Nan will be airing a new episode soon--be on the lookout for your favorite internet chef!

Happy New Year!

Computer agony! I just lost a long entry and now I'm not too thrilled to begin anew...but yes, you are worth it, so I'll press on! (Yes, I know I should work in Word or something else...)

We had a very nice Christmas, with just enough joy and just enough relaxation. Hannah's favorite gifts were her very own digital camera and a Playmobil hospital. I should have chosen a camera with a rechargeable battery--this girl likes to take pictures!

Katie's winter break from college has been filled with doctor's visits to complete her Peace Corps paperwork. She has been offered a nomination to work in Special Education the Mid-East, and we are very excited for her! Kate also has found time to visit with friends and spend plenty of time with Hannah.

(photo by Hannah)

Chris is spending the week with friends in North Carolina, so he missed our big party last night! We have a history of hosting a "New Year's @ Nine" family party. Everyone arrives about 7:00, but we move the clocks three hours ahead and celebrate "midnight" with crazy hats and noisemakers. Everyone can get home to put kids to bed at a reasonable time and nobody is on the road when the crazy people are driving. This year we were a little ambitious...we were expecting 47 people! And 27 of them were kids!! I never took a complete headcount, but I think we were only one person shy.


Our house has had a revolving door of guests for the past two weeks. It's been fun to see family and friends. We've also had a longer-term guest--a tiny two year-old girl with Down syndrome. We are providing respite care for her and it is a joy! She is a delightful baby, crawling, cruising, and starting to talk and use sign language. She's about the size of a 10 month old. I'd love to post her picture, but really don't think I should, so here is a series of pictures that don't show her face but do show how cute she is!

Time for Jammies.

I think I can do this myself.

Somehow I don't think this is quite right...

Ahh! Much better!

Look at that little snowman on the bum--could it be any cuter?

Wishing you wonderful blessings in the New Year!