Brutal Ride

We received a notice from school last week for Laura. As parents there is an initial cringe of "what now?". Only this was a pleasant surprise. Laura was selected as her class role model for the character of empathy. We are proud of Laura!
Laura at her assembly after receiving the certificate from the principal.
Friday night Laura had a friend over. Of course there was dress-up. With that comes little sister trying to play with the big girls. Sunday we ventured out on the sleds for a group ride. Our friends Steve and his son Nick came up from Cortland. The plan was to meet up with another group for lunch. We left our house around 10 and shortly into the trip Gary experienced some mud/water. Laura and I stayed behind with the other sleds. This is as close as I could get with the zoom I had. Just know the seat was a bit muddy when they got it out. They hooked a rope to the front skis and pulled and pulled and pulled.... We eventually made it to Parish 2 hrs later than what was planned. Attempted to dry some while having lunch. Set back to the trail to head home again. 90 miles in total and more of the same water holes along the way. Certainly up there in the top 10 worst rides. Laura and Kelly were truly amazing. They remained positive up until the very end when everyone just wanted to be home again.

Happy New Year!

Wow a new year! Before I can start the year I better make a resolution to finish last year. Christmas came in like the snow storm just before. Fast! Then it was over in a blink of an eye. I don't remember it being so fast as a kid.
Kelly posing with a new outfit she got for her bunny from Grammie and Papa.
Laura writing her letter to Santa on Christmas Eve.
Gary helping to prepare the famous sticky buns for Christmas dinner. Look at him with the spirit!
Laura at Grandma Sheila's house with the gingerbread house she made.
After Christmas, the girls got their hair cut. Kelly went for the much shorter, "comfy" look. Which was a compromise to the spiked look she first picked out. Laura added some layers to her hair and had it curled for the day.

Week in Review

Winter has hit Fulton! I think it snowed all but one day last week. The girls have had 2 snow days and it isn't even the first day of winter yet. With the snow comes one of my favorite things to do. Snowmobiling and looking forward to going to camp.
This year, we decided to trade up the sled I was riding. Not only a trade up in years but brand. Gary has always had Yamaha's, but we found this good deal on a 2005 Ski-Doo. I'll let you know how it rides after our first trip out. We have enjoyed it around the house and will put it to the trails soon.
Christmas time brings one of Gary's favorite things. Taking the family to pick out a tree. He and Laura found their Griswold tree.
Then we later found this perfect tree. It came complete with it's own nest. That sold it for the girls.
It wasn't quite time to decorate the tree. The girls decided to make their wish on the wish-bone while they waited.
While digging out the Christmas decorations, Gary found this treasure. Kelly and Gary attempted to race against each other. It was a little "rusty" after being stored in the attic.
On a snow day last week, I was surprised at work by these carolers. Our daycare had the kids create fun guitars. Then loaded them up and brought them to surprise some of the mom's. It was a hit!
Another picture with the kids and Julia. Julia use to work with me until she left to run her own business. The girls just love her and we are so very lucky to have her.
We ended out the week with Laura's holiday dance recital. Her first number was for ballet. She was beautiful.
Laura and best friend Jessica ready for the finale.
In Kelly news... She is still trying to keep her pants up around that itty-bitty waist she has. She had the idea of tying her sweat pants to a belt to hold them up this day. I thought it was pretty clever of her.

Gingerbread Man

Some nights are harder than others when it comes to waiting for Gary to get home from work.
I snapped this picture of Kelly waiting one night. She didn't make it long. It was around 6 pm when I found her, sound asleep. It must have been a hard day at school.
Over the weekend, Kelly had a family assignment. To decorate a gingerbread man with whatever we had in the house.
Laura and I helped her with this project. She was quite happy in the end.
We started with the cut out that Kelly colored brown. Added some Christmas wrapping clothes, with a glitter ribbon belt. Laura made a present for him to carry. Kelly stuck on the buttons for eyes, added some sticker buttons for the shirt. Then Kelly cut out a triangle for the hat, glued some glitter and stuck the pom-pom from her hat that fell off earlier in the day to the top. Made the snow (cotton balls) sparkle for him to walk in and..... What a beauty!

Thanksgiving Holiday

Happy Thanksgiving... A time to be thankful and remember those who we love. For the Thanksgiving holiday Gary remembers his Grandmother, Erma, by sharing her sticky bun recipe with the girls. This is the first in many years that he has attempted to make that special recipe. Which by the way didn't turn out half bad.

Grandma Sheila with her pilgrim helper Kelly. Laura giving the high-five in the back.

Making sure all the centerpieces were in place. We had a lovely fresh flower one in the dining room from Gary's aunt in Kentucky.
Gary and Bill (Amanda's Dad) preparing the turkey. The turkey all rested on the family platter. The bird was beautiful, to bad it wasn't quite done for dinner. Thank goodness for the extra turkey breast that was ready to eat.
Amanda and I resting before desert, while Eric goofs on us in the back.
In addition to pie we had birthday cake for our November birthday's. A fabulous creation from Grandma Sheila.
Our birthday girls practicing their princess wave from the castle. The cake was delicious.

The Magic of Disney

Our first family vacation to Walt Disney World. Gary and I always thought we would take the kids to Disney. We didn't realize how much fun it would be for us.
Our first day there we had lunch with Tigger and friends. Good thing because we were hungry after our early morning flight.
Little did we know, Pooh and friends had a little birthday cake waiting for Laura. She thought that was the greatest.
The girls taking in the sights along Main Street.
Day two, some kind person told us about the fairies being on site. We waited for the opening of the park and the girls had a chance to meet Tinker Bell as well as two other fairies.
Later that night we went to dinner at Chef Mickey's. I found this cute costume this summer just by chance. I picked it up and saved it to give to Kelly before we went to dinner. She thought it was pretty neat to be Minnie Mouse.
Both girls were excited to see Mickey at dinner.
There were many attractions in the parks that had 3-D effects. The kids found it goofy to wear the glasses to the shows.
Gary and I playing tourist at Epcot.
For Laura's birthday we had lunch planned with the princesses. Laura's favorite was Cinderella.
After lunch, Laura found a place that offered face painting.
Our motel room decorated for Laura's birthday. I was able to hang balloons and streamers the night before. It wasn't any problem for the girls to sleep at night.
Family picture at Animal Kingdom. Just before the black bag incident. A word to the wise, never leave a bag unattended at Disney.
An afternoon at the water park, Blizzard Beach. Kelly takes a chance on the ice blocks.
Our last night at Disney, we went to the show Fantasmic. Only 3 of us were able to see the show. Thank goodness for that stroller we picked up before going to Disney. Best purchase ever.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Friday was the day Gary and I spent at school with the girls. Kelly had a "spooky" concert before the school parade. The concert was such a success the local paper featured some of the stars. Can you find Kelly?
Laura, Cinderella, on her way to the ball.
Watch out, here comes Kelly the bear. Roooooaaaar! Our trick or treaters, ready to hit the town. The treat of the night was unveiling the Walt Disney trip to the girls. Aunt Amanda made some really fun "tickets" that the girls would understand. Laura was excited at the idea of going to Disney. Kelly studies her "ticket" to make sure it is real.