Shrek the Halls...

We always joke that Josh can be a bit of an ogre come holiday season.  He even has a Shrek ornament on our Christmas tree!  The holidays: Too many people.  Too much fuss.  Too busy.   (Of course, it's all a bluff.  He's the biggest softy when it comes to the kid's excitement.)   But keeping with his cold facade, we just had to go to see SHREK on ICE.  

The Gaylord at National Harbor hosts an amazing ice sculpture show each year.  Last year it was the Grinch, and Shaun and Debbie said it was incredible.  This year, Shrek and Fiona took center stage - and we were there to see it.

It was 13 degrees inside where the sculptures were, so part of the admittance fee covered the use of thick, warm coats for everybody. Not only was it a chilling 13 degrees, but the pumped the air in so it felt like air conditioning blowing on you at 13 degrees!!   The thermal coats were a great idea, except as Josh pointed out, it was very hard to tell which kids were ours--they all looked the same as they all ran about the place.

 

 

Nathan could barely walk in his big thermal coat.  He stayed pretty warm thanks to Mommy's layering of clothing, hats, mittens, winter coat, and thermal coat.  His cheeks, however, were bright red when we finally left the frigid air!   

 Kate with her boys:  Brenden (left) and Collin (right)

I have to give props to Debbie, who has proudly taken on the role of Gallagher family activity co-coordinator.   Without her, I would never get around to buying tickets to anything.  It was a fun morning.  Thanks, Deb!!

Are we in Maryland anymore??

I posted a few weeks ago about how mild our winter weather has been this year. Did I sleep through January and February and March, to awaken in April?   I keep finding myself asking if I am still in Maryland?  I think my dear friend Peggy has been having similar temperatures in L.A. as we've been having in Maryland.  Maybe our wind is a little nippier here, and the occasional flurry does awaken us from the dream that winter has disappeared from the calendar completely.  But in all my years of living in the Old Line State, I have NEVER experienced such a mild, beautiful winter!!  Today I just had to get out in the sunshine and fresh air.  So inspite of a little bluster here and there, we ran (or drove as the case may be) as fast as we could to a park to meet up with some friends.   Kate, Georgia and Laney quickly settled in on the tire swing, and there they stayed for most of the time we were there.  They called it their "girl party", and they screamed and yelled and sang as loud as they could. It was a picture of pure joy!   Have at it girls!  

While the girls dizzied themselves with laughter and circles, I chased after a very mobile Nathan!  That boy is fast!   But I loved that he got to get outside and run around today.

 
I did finally find a way to confine him, but much to my disappointment he wasn't too thrilled with the swing.  He was off and running again soon!

 

So I hear they are calling for snow on Sunday.   Snow. What's that?   I'll believe it when I see it.

Monday at the Soccerplex!

We've been going a little stir-crazy.  After a weekend of bitter cold weather and arctic blasts of wind, we needed to get out of the house.  A friend of mine introduced me to Monday morning playtime at the Soccerplex.  The kids can run wild in one of their indoor "fields"; and they have piles of balls, toys, scooters, and fun things for the kids to play with.  Here a few fun pics from our morning today:

 (not sure if you can see the static in Kate's hair; apparently astro-turf and winter hair are highly incompatible!)

The parachute is always a huge attraction for all the kids.  Today my kiddos managed to score a lot of parachute time.  And since that usually means mom dragging them around the field, I got a great arm workout too!

 After awhile, Kate took over the dragging.  Apparently, she can do it better than I can.  Of course, she can.

Oh, and time-outs still work at the soccer-plex.  Kate found that out a few times this morning!  All in all, it was  fun morning for everyone.  It's nice that they are contained and can feel some freedom to go where they want and do what they want.  As long as you dress them in bright colors or vivid patterns as to easily spot them, it is a pretty stress-free morning.  Thank goodness!!

Where is the snow?????

Poor Katie!  She has been waiting and waiting for the snow to fall.  She wants desparately to make a snow angel and a snow man.   She wants to catch snowflakes on the tongue. But the snow has eluded us all winter!  We had one day in January when the snow fell for a few minutes, and I scooted the kids out as fast as I could so they could feel snow this winter.  I think it was Nathan's first time really being in a snowfall.  They enjoyed it, even if it was only for a few minutes.

 

 Kate got the chance to catch a few snowflakes on her tongue.  We'll have to wait for another day for snow angels and snowmen.

 It did get a little cold, so the kids found shelter in Kate's play house.   And after a they had enough, we went inside and made hot chocolate, curled up under blankets, and shared an afternoon snack.  

This was a good day.

Goodbye Autumn...Hello Christmas

I was able to capture the last few moments of fall before the cold air blew in for good.  One day last week, Josh took advantage of the nice weather and took Kate outside for a few minutes of kite flying. Kate is actually airborne in the first photo. 

A friend of ours lives in an older neighborhood with the most beautiful red maple trees.  We snapped a few photos knowing the leaves were going to drop to the ground in the next few days.  And I was right, by the weekend they were gone.  :(

Yesterday, Josh and I bundled the kids up after dinner and headed out the CVS parking lot to see the official lighting of the Montgomery Village Christmas tree.  There were musicians playing holiday carols and families huddled together in the cold singing along.  The tree was lit and the kids were in awe.  Moments after Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived for a surprise visit with the kids.  Kate was excited to see them, but very perplexed at where the reindeer and sleigh were parked.  Not to mention that Santa looks 25 and so fake.  Nothing gets past Kate!  (Sorry about the poor picture quality.)

Is it really still October?

 

Well the calendar says it October, but outside it looks more like December.   Here in Maryland, we have never seen snow in October, at least not that I can remember.  Kate was so excited to wake up with big fat snow flakes falling.  However, she didn't quite understand that we couldn't put up the Christmas Tree just because it was snowing outside.  She also wasn't happy that the snow didn't stick and snow angels were not to be had either.  However, we did make a big cup of hot chocolate and ran outside to catch a few snowflakes on our tongue.  I guess that will have to do until the next snowfall.  It was pretty though! 

Blizard of 2010

Welcome to what is quickly becoming the snow capital of the U.S.

Snow keeps coming! Most of you have probably heard about the 2 1/2 - 3 feet of snow that hit our area this past weekend. That was on top of a few inches we got the weekend before and another inch or so early that week. I'm afraid to tell people that Kate recently prayed and asked God to please send more snow so she could make a snow man and snow angels. I think it's safe to say He heard her prayers. Now we are praying that the snow would stop! However, we are in for another storm tomorrow threatening to bring in 12 - 20 more inches of white powder.

This weekend was certainly memorable in many ways! I (Kim) had planned a scrap booking weekend with my sister-in-law Debbie and friend, Holly. We are booked at a local hotel with dozens of other ladies ready for a little getaway. Josh encouraged me to still go despite the threatening weather, and since Holly drove down all the way from New York and our weekend was already paid for (no refunds) we decided to make the best of it and get snowed in at a hotel! Why not? We left for the hotel around 1 p.m. on Friday just as the snow started to fall.

Josh and Kate were home on their own. However, around 7:15 p.m. on Friday, our house lost power. Josh, had he been a single man, home alone, would have braved the elements and stayed home with the best hopes of the electricity coming back on soon. However, being the responsible dad that he is, and hearing the concern in his wife's voice, he packed up little Kate and as many belongings as he could find in the dark and headed over to Paul and Peggy's to weather the storm. The snow was coming down at a rate of 2 inches an hour, so Josh only had a small window of time to make a decision about leaving the house. He and Kate were snowed into Peggy and Paul's until Sunday afternoon. He had hoped to head home on Saturday afternoon, but it was still snowing until about 10:00 p.m. on Saturday. And due to the state wide snow emergency, plows have not made it to most of the local neighborhoods even today. (This is one time I am grateful that we pay exorbitant amounts of money to local HOA for private snow removal!)

On Sunday, my dad and father showed up in a 4-wheel truck to the hotel to dig out Holly's car and pick up Debbie. The local highway had exit ramps closed, cars were flipped, even the main roads were in bad shape. Josh and Kate picked me up in Josh's excellent snow car - once he shoveled his way to some tire tracks and worked is way out of Paul's neighborhood.

We got home to find that my incredible dad and brother, Shaun, had shoveled a path to our door and a small spot to park Josh's car. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! As soon as we got home, Josh to the business of finishing the shoveling. It was hard to get picture with perspective, but take our word for it...there's a lot of snow here!

Josh shoveling out his parking spot in front of our house.

Josh shoveling out a path in the backyard so Shayla could do her business.

The view from our front door - the walkway to the driveway.

Our little snow angel! Thanks for praying for all this snow Kate!

Blizzard of 2009

Well the snow started to fall about 9:30 on Friday night. And as we went to bed last night around 11:00 p.m. the snow was finally abating. The grand total at our house was 22 inches! It's been more than 10 years since I can remember having a snowfall of this magnitude! It is so beautiful to watch falling, and today's bright blue sky makes the snowy wonderland look magical!



We had such a wonderful day as a family! Josh did not work. And at about 10 a.m. Saturday morning (with only 4 or 5 inches on the ground) dear friends Paul, Peggy, and Zachary came over so we all could hunker down for the day and enjoy the storm together! Kate wanted to go out in the snow all day long. When we finally went out she wouldn't really cooperate for pictures. Zachary was more photogenic.




Zachary waiting for his ride in the "sled". Kate wasn't too keen on climbing in. She just wanted to pull Zachary through the snow!

Peggy playing with Zachary - while Zachary contemplates why we are outside in this very cold weather.

Shayla loved running around in the snow too. However, it was a little deep for her. She had a hard time finding her way in the backyard to go to the bathroom.

We spent a good part of the day indoors as can be expected. Paul and Peggy (fellow foodies) came over and started cooking within the hour! We had Peggy's chili for lunch with homemade corn bread from Paul. Paul made fresh bread that we later enjoyed at dinner on panini sandwiches with butternut squash soup that I made (care of Peggy's recipe). Our neighbor Jonathan tromped over for dinner and a movie too. We pretty much ate our way through the blizzard. Oh, and I should mention the Bavarian Hot Chocolate we had while playing a game of Apples to Apples while the kiddos napped (at the same time even!). and yes, Josh willingly played a game - and I think he kind of enjoyed it too!

Paul making his yummy honey oat bread!

Peggy prepping her delicious chili!

Baby Zachary - always happy and content!

Josh pulled out his violin and mandolin for some music. Kate and Zachary enjoyed listening to him play. Kate tried to join in too! Paul pulled out his guitar and they jammed for a little while. It was really nice to hear Josh playing again. It's been awhile.

Both the kids slept through the night, and we all awoke and had a yummy breakfast together before Paul and Peggy ventured home. Wish they could have stayed longer! It was such a fun day. Thanks, Lord for sending so much snow and making so many people happy!