Southern Long Island Tour

On Saturday morning we left Charlie and Judy's to go have lunch with Adam's Aunt Valerie in Patchogue. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures while we were with her. We also stopped off to see Adam's cousin, Jason, at work before we headed back west.

Before we left Long Island entirely, we stopped off at Uncle Steve's house in Levittown. This is the same house where Adam's grandparents raised four boys ( I won't repeat any of the stories I was told). Apparently, the house doesn't look much different on the outside than it did in 1954 when they moved in.



It was good to see everyone even if it was a very quick visit, but Adam had to be at work on Sunday. As Drew told me on the way to church, we need money to pay for the house and buy food. See what his father is teaching him?

Happy New Year!

Nana and Grandpa's House

We got to Charlie and Judy's house around 2:30 on Thursday afternoon. We made a critical error by stopping at a shopping center in East New York to have lunch before we got there. It turns out that we weren't in the best area, and Adam's car got hit in the parking lot (while he was sitting in it). The response of the woman who hit him was "Too bad. I'm going shopping" and she left. The police were almost as helpful -- sort of a "Wecome to New York" type of response. Oh well, at least no one was hurt.

After that excitement, the trip was pretty tame for Adam and me. Drew on the other hand had a belated visit from Santa who left several LARGE (Judy-sized) toys for him. One of the toys he got was a My Grandpa's Briefcase which he got to take along to work with Grandpa on Friday. He had a great time (I'm not so sure it was so great for Charlie, but he was a good sport), and I enjoyed the quiet while Adam got to sleep until almost noon.


I had to post the next two pictures, because Drew actually took them. Since I'm taking so many pictures now, he wants to take pictures too. We'll probably have to get him his own camera soon.

Here's Drew in some of his Cars attire (did I mention he got a lot of Cars stuff for Christmas?)

I managed to get a picture of Adam, Charlie and Judy all together, but Adam didn't seem to be taking the situation seriously.

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, we went to church and then went over to Andy and Carole's for their annual Christmas Eve Open House. We came home around 9:30 so we could get ready for Santa Claus. This morning, this is what we found when we came downstairs:


Drew was very excited about all of his presents, but he was very polite when he was opening them. When we would tell him that a present came from Mommy and Daddy, he would say "Thank you Daddy. Thank you Mommy" while he was opening it.

The movie "Cars" was a recurrent theme this Christmas, Cars cars, Cars bubble bath, Cars pajamas, etc. Thanks to Santa and everyone else for the wonderful presents!

Tree Trimming

Last night was Brian's (& Sue's) annual tree-trimming party. The kids did a great job of putting the ornaments on the tree even if they did sort of lob the ornaments toward the top of the tree.
Of course, the food was wonderful, and we had a very good time. Drew wasn't the youngest one there, either. Sue has a new nephew, Steven , who was keeping everyone on their toes. He tends to walk a 10 steps or so and then throw himself at whoever's leg is handy.

Trains and More Trains

Today we took Alex and Drew to the B&O Train Museum in Ellicott City to see the Holiday Festival of Trains. I am always amazed at the effort that goes into creating these model train displays--I would never have the patience to put all of those tiny pieces into place. The museum wasn't very crowded, probably because the weather was lousy. Last week, Andy and I took the kids to the Ellicott City Fire Station to see their train garden, and it was hard to see because it was so crowded. I think the favorite thing today was climbing all around inside the caboose rather than looking at the trains.

When we got home, I finally set up the train to go around our Christmas tree. This train set was Brian's and he and Sue were kind enough to pass it on to us. The track is much larger than we have here, but it would take up our whole living room so I just made it large enough to go around the tree.

How many candles?!?!?

Tonight was Dad's birthday dinner (his birthday is actually tomorrow). We had a very kid friendly meal -- baked ham, macaroni and cheese, peas, applesauce and rolls. Everyone enjoyed their food and the kids actually ate (although I vote for a return to roast beef next year, but it's not my birthday). We had shortbread instead of cake for dessert (a nod to our Scottish heritage) as well as ice cream and cookies.

The kids behaved fairly well and enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to Granddad.

Unfortunately, Carole had to work late and didn't make it, but Adam was able to get off of work early so he was the surprise guest. Jodi and Robert and the kids couldn't make it this year, because they just arrived home from Disney World this morning. We missed them, but a good time was had by all!

Dinner at Andy's

These pictures were taken tonight on Andy's new Palm Treo. The picture quality isn't as good as my digital camera, but it's so handy to have a camera with you at all times (especially if you're like me and forget it half the time).

Both Carole and Hailey had other plans this evening, but the rest of us enjoyed a delicious steamed shrimp dinner. Alex and Drew got along amazing well tonight, too -- wonderful if unusual. Tomorrow night I better have my camera handy because it's Dad's birthday dinner, and I'm sure there will be photo ops galore.

Christmas Cookies

Adam made it home last night in time for my 8 year celebration. It was a wonderful evening spent with good friends. Drew was happy because Anna came over to babysit (for the second time in a week!) Apparently, she was looking for a re-match of Candy Land since Drew kicked her butt on Monday night.

I've finally started my Christmas baking. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies and a batch of jam thumbprint cookies. My biggest problem is keeping Adam and myself from eating them all before we can give them away.


I took this picture of Drew just a few minutes ago. I don't know why we even have a bed in his room--he's completely uninterested in sleeping in it. You can see his new Lightning McQueen lamp in the lower left. It makes the whole room glow red when it's on, but you can't tell with the camera flash.

Decorating to Bing

We've finally got the Christmas decorating finished. As you can see, our tree is not very tall (about 5 feet), but it was the one that Drew picked out. He really enjoyed helping to put on the ornaments, but he didn't understand that they needed to go ALL OVER the tree instead of just one spot. We listened to Bing Crosby while we decorated, because that Adam's one requirement. After Bing, we listened to Jerry's 2006 Christmas mix CD which is outstanding (as usual).

Adam is on his way to Pittsburgh for flight training until Wednesday night. We already miss him and can't wait until he's back home!

Oh Christmas Tree

No post for over a week. What is going on here?!?!? I actually haven't taken any pictures, either which is another reason for no post. The prose is not all that interesting without some other visual stimulation.

Well, it's the holidays. So that means peace and joy and time with family, right? Or rushing around trying to do the seeminginly hundreds of self-imposed tasks by an impossible deadline? I don't want to think about it right now.

Anyway, last Friday (December 1st) was our 5 year wedding anniversary. We had a lovely dinner at Louisiana in Fells Point (Thanks, Pat!). We practically had the restaurant to ourselves -- Friday night is not a big night for them plus the weather was nasty.

Yesterday, we went and got our Christmast tree. I tried to get a better picture of Drew helping to put it in the car, but it was so cold that no one wanted to linger (including me!) Tomorrow we're going to decorate it before Adam heads to Pittsburgh for his flight training.

Camping Out

Adam and Drew were reading "Just Me and My Dad" by Mercer Mayer the other night (for the 1000th time or so), and Drew got camping on the brain and wouldn't let it go. Since late November is not the best for camping outdoors, we decided to set up his tent (the one from Aunt Sue!) in his room so he could go camping in the house. I have a feeling we're going to have a really hard time taking the tent down anytime soon since Drew has decided that he's going to sleep in it from now on.

You can see that he built his little nest in here with his sleeping bag, his required blankets and various stuffed animals.

Home Safe

Today we all went to Lincoln, New Hampshire to the Hobo Railroad to ride the Santa Train. It was a beautiful ride, and Drew really enjoyed both the train and seeing Santa. He managed to spill hot chocolate all over himself and me near the end of the trip, but we were able to get this picture beforehand.

After the train ride, we had lunch at Peg's Family Restaurant in N. Woodstock and then took off for our trip to Long Island. Unfortunately, Drew had been running a slight fever, and Judy hasn't been feeling well, so we had to change our plans. We were going to spend the night in Connecticut, but by the time we got there, we decided just to push through and get home. So now we're home safe and sound (at midnight).

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, we made it up to the woods in New Hampshire for Thanksgiving. We had a fairly uneventful trip from Massachusetts to Grandma and Grandpa George's house on Wednesday morning. We did have some excitement at our hotel in Sturbridge, though. The fire alarm went off sometime after 10 (about 1/2 hour after Drew went to sleep, of course) so we had to troop down to the lobby until the fire department came and gave us the all clear. Just as we were getting to sleep around 11, the alarm went off again and off we went to the lobby again. Some people just stayed in their rooms, but I don't fool around with fire or fire alarms (lingering childhood trauma).

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, and we didn't get the torrential downpours that the weather people were predicting. Drew was lounging by the fire before dinner.



Adam and his step-brother, Christopher had to have their annual session of man-love (or wrestling -- whatever.)

Drew and Grandpa George went for a bear hunt (it's something Drew has been doing in school, but this time he actually got to go out in the woods). The rest of us ate too much and watched a lot of football (I read my book "The Devil Wears Prada" as an alternate activity).

Santa brought the movie "Cars" to Grandma and Grandpa George's as an early Christmas present. He's been trying to watch it non-stop ever since.

Road trip north

I figured I'd post a few pictures before our big trip north. I managed to start this post before we hit the road this morning. This picture was taken at the start of our trip to West Virginia last week.


Drew was helping me do some baking the other evening. He continues to be fascinated by the Kitchen Aid mixer. He doesn't actually want to help me, except he wants to turn the mixer on and off (and on and off ...)and lick the spatula.

Adam caught Drew reading the Examiner yesterday. No great loss that he can't read yet.

We're in Sturbridge, Massachusetts tonight. I'm actually sitting in my pajamas in the Business Center just off the lobby. There are about 10 other people in this fairly large hotel and conference center tonight so I don't really care who sees me in my penguin flannel pjs and slippers. Tomorrow, we're off to New Hampshire to see Grandma and Grandpa George!

The Best of Broadway at Worthington Elementary

Last night, Drew and I went to see Hailey perform as part of the Worthington Elementary Drama Club, The Best of Broadway production. Hailey had solos in "Magic to Do" and "I Enjoy Being a Girl" and sang in the closing "When You Wish Upon a Star". She did a great job!

Unfortunately, Drew and I were unable to stay until the end of the show. Drew didn't want to be quiet so we had to leave early. I won't get into the details of the aftermath, but it was ugly.

Hines, West Virginia

We made it back from West Virginia tonight around 11. I was really proud of my family -- they really showed up to provide support for my uncle and his family. I tried to get pictures of everyone, but not everyone would cooperate.

Here's Annette and Campbell:



Andy and Scott (It's Salmon!!!)



Uncle Jack and Uncle Gary



Drew, Campbell Halttunen, and Kyle, Connor and Mallory McCllelland



It's too bad we had to get together for this reason (I know people always say that), but it was good to see everyone (and everyone was on their best behavior!).

Raymond McClelland

I got word today that my 20 year old cousin was killed in an auto accident early this morning. Unfortunately, I don't have a recent picture of him, but I have several when he was a little boy. Raymond was my youngest cousin and was the apple of my Grandma Nina's eye. We will all miss him very much.

Drew and I will be headed to West Virginia on Saturday to stay until after the funeral. We're not sure if Adam is going to be able to go or not.