Memories

 One of Dave's fondest memories of his Poppop was going down to the car show with him. Last week Al took Alex down to the car show. They were there for so long we were starting to get worried that they weren't back yet!
Alex was inside every car that he was allowed to be in. He had a great time; they both had a great time!
It was funny because the first thing my father-in-law said once he got back home was, "Boy am I tired!"

Keats Lane

In 1990 my parents bought this mountain house. In 2000 they sold it.
For 10 years we came up here faithfully. It was great! The house is situated 10 minutes from Big Boulder Ski area and 15 minutes from Jack Frost. We were only 10 minutes from Hickory Run state park as well. It was ideal.
In the summer we played at the lake/beach with our friends who also had houses there. In the winter we would ski & snowboard.
We drove past it on Sunday and I didn't recognize it at first because the trees my dad had planted grew so big.
We have so many fond memories or jumping off the loft onto the couch, puzzles, forts, a zip line out back, riding around on the back of my dad's tailgate looking for deer, and one year we even spent Christmas at the house.
I wish my parents still had it, but Matt and I got into our teens and wanted to stay home and play with our friends on the weekends. Bummer. At least we have something fond and wonderful to look back upon.

Mountain bound, Lake Harmony Style

Ben & Ben are starting a fire while Lilia and Alex watch and help.

 Every Thursday night our Community Group (Bible study) from church meets across the street to study the Bible together and pray with one another. This past weekend we headed to the Poconos and rented a house.
28 people (including kids), 6 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms. It was a blast!
Some people came overnight, some stayed the entire weekend and some were somewhere in between.

We made an awesome sledding run out back of the house. There were about 15 or so steps that were coated in snow. The hill was a perfect slope. We gathered snow from all around and packed it down into a great sledding run. It was so much fun! Lilia and Dave went down quite a few times. I went down before I ran off shopping with the girls.

Open Sky

I couldn't get enough of the beautiful open sky in the mountains all weekend. The sunset Saturday night was exquisite! Pinks, purples & oranges blanketed the sky as the sun lowered behind the trees. Wow! That kind of thing restores my soul.

Hawk Falls in Winter

 So we hiked Hawk Falls. I couldn't even count how many times I've walked this trail, yet I've never hiked it in the snow. It was so beautiful and fun!
I'm so happy I got this great picture of Alex. He put on Dave's biking hat/neck warmer. I told him he looked like a ninja. He let me take his picture so he could see himself. That smile is so beautiful!!!
Our friend Colin from church had hiking poles that adjusted in size. Alex refused to walk at any point during the hike (not surprising) so Colin let Alex use his poles. It worked for a bit. Thanks Colin!

Dave and Lilia looking out over the cliff.

Colin & Alex using the hiking poles

Valley Forge takes away the blues

Lately I've been in a funk. It happens every winter. I was really scarred from our year in China and this is one of the ways it comes out. Our city was similar to Philly weather, only the sky was very gray in the winter. So picture gray skies most days, an almost 2 year old and a first trimester pregnancy (I was sick every day). Oh yeah, I had a sinus infection for 14 days too. I was very depressed. Well the past 4 days have been very gray around here and it literally gives me that depressed China feeling. I wake up knowing I'm in Philadelphia, but feeling like I'm back in China - depressed, lonely and sad. I wish I could explain it better or understand the psychology behind it.
So in light of "warmer" weather we spent Saturday afternoon hiking at Valley Forge. Alex was down right miserable for the first 1/4 time of our hike. He doesn't enjoy using his legs. Well once we found this teepee and vine swing, he was fine and dandy and hiked well.

  Lilia was so convinced this teepee was left here from the Native Americans. We ended up building a small one next to it. Well we started a good bit of it. We'll see if it's still there next time.
So Lilia also discovered this vine. I tested it out and we all (except Alex) had a blast swinging on it. (My picture is here on facebook.)

Alex's Quote of the Day

Lilia has been having a hard time going back to school. She had almost 3 weeks off. Yesterday she really didn't want to go and fussed and cried quite a bit. Eventually we got her on the bike and off to school. Her teacher texted me around 10:30 saying that Lilia was doing just fine.
In light of this I wanted to treat her (and Alex) to popsicles from Lil Pop Shop near school. They have super cool and unique flavors of gourmet popsicles. Well they are closed until Feb 1st. We decided to go to Ben & Jerry's instead.
So we pull up a block and a half away when Alex in the back seat asks, "Are we at Tom & Jerry's house?"
(you know the cartoon)

Besties

 Saturday we got together with our two best friend couples from college, The Manni's & The Hudzina's. All together there were 9 kids and 6 adults. (The Manni's just had their 4th and the Hudzina's have 3 boys.)
The kids had the best time running around the house and playing. After pizza and smoothies, the adults had their turn for a nice Thai dinner. The Manni's were celebrating 11 years of marriage that weekend.

The Hudzina boys got a candy machine from their uncle on Christmas morning. The kids each got a quarter if they ate a good dinner.

Jack (8 this month) & Alex above.













Jude Manni (4)

1st Missing Tooth

My little girl lost her 1st tooth on Monday; exactly 2 months before her 6th birthday.

It came out at school on the basketball court. She wasn't playing basketball, just playing.

Weirdo's and Face Paint

Don't ever waste your time commuting into the city on New Year's Day just to watch the Mummer's Parade.
Do come into the city to have fun at the Kimmel Center's free events on New Year's Day!

The parade is super weird. We walked past some of it and it's a lot of really drunk (mostly men) in Halloween costumes. Somehow you are allowed to openly drink alcohol in the city that day. We saw most people with an open bottle or can of something. Keep in mind this was about 10am. I think a beer is best for a hangover - right?
So one dude spotted Alex on Dave's shoulders as we were walking past and stopped parading to wave at us. Then he gave Alex & Lilia beads. I felt just as creeped out as you do reading this. Thankfully the kids have no clue!

 Ah yes, face painting. We stood in line for about 15 minutes. Lilia went first and got this beautiful butterfly flying to a flower.
Alex wanted Spiderman. Well I guess he was really tired that morning because he just couldn't go through with it. What you see in the picture is as far as the women could get done. Oh well - next time?
The Kimmel Center was pretty cool. Everything was free! Face painting, balloon creatures, origami, a photo booth and music. Our friends, Drew & Kim McCorkell joined us with their 18 mo old son Athen. We all had a really great time!

Fun in the Snow

Dave was away at Radiate (a conference with CRU for college students). The day he left is the day we got a decent amount of snow. The kids and I were packed up and staying with Dave's parents for 2 days.
Lilia was so eager to play in the snow, who can blame her? I love this picture on the left. Al has rolled up two huge balls of snow to build a snowman while Lilia just plays.

 I love the snow like a "fat kid loves cake." (Remember that song? I was reminded of it recently.) Anywho...I am like a kid when it comes to the snow. I love to play, build and create. I made a cool snow fort that only I played in and enjoyed. What's wrong with that?
Lilia wasn't that interested even after I showed her how cool it was to spy on cars and people passing by. Alex didn't even venture outside. Read the "Snow & Children" blog entry to understand why.
I got to be outside. I got to create. Therefore I had fun!

The snowman turned into a snow bunny, not the sexy kind, the animal kind.

Snow & Children

I have 2 very similar, yet very different children.
Lilia LOVES the snow and playing outside. She happily bundles up and makes snow angels.
Alex very much dislikes all of the layers. I have to convince him to put them on. Once he's bundled up here's what happens; he steps outside in the snow for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then comes back in and quickly strips down to a shirt and pants - no socks.
This picture on the right captures them so perfectly. Alex watches Lilia playing in the snow from in the house, content to just watch in the warmth of the indoors.
The picture above captures Lilia so well. If you click on the picture it will show up larger, but she has a huge smile on her face. She basks in the innocence, beauty and joy of fresh white flakes falling around her.

Morris Arboretum

  Are you impulsive?
If so you'd fit right in with our family. Dave is impulsive, I'm impulsive and my mom is as well.
Impulsivity is how we landed at Morris Arboretum the day after Christmas on a bitterly cold day, just before the snow & sleet fell.
A friend of ours gave us 4 free tickets & Dave gets in free with his Penn ID card. We grabbed our cameras and remotely warm clothing and ventured off. My dad was dying to see the model trains they set up every year. It's pretty amazing. If you like trains or have kids that do; check it out...next year.

Lilia's Quote of 2012

Happy New Year!!!
Yesterday morning I told Lilia how that day was the last day of 2012 and that tomorrow is the start of a new year, 2013.
She replied, "That's good. I'm getting sick of 2012."