January-March!

Settle in, this post is a biggie! As will be the next several as I continue my catch-up game with the ridiculous amount of pictures I take. To help get caught up, I'm doing lots of combining so this post will have photos from the first few months of the year!

Starting with January-

Hot cocoa with friends

 Their favorite painting books.

Snow day! With more cocoa with the neighbors!

First day of school!!!

We were so thrilled that Ollie was able to start Pre-K at the same school Maelee went, and he LOVES it! And is thriving there.

Praise the Lord!

First day of school treats:)

More winter day fun.

Crazy hair day!

Always happy to have Gracie over:)

Making home made pizza with the kids-
one of the MANY ways Steve was a rockstar during a very tough January.

More pics from January  HERE


Onto February!

Day off from school meant indoor play fun with friends!

Sadly, I didn't get any pics of the great company we had to enjoy the Superbowl (Nana & Pop-Pop and Mandy & Holland), but at least I got some pics of the football sweet cream cheese dip covered in chocolate chips!

  So proud of his garage creation!

And so excited to find her picture in the city summer activities booklet! 

Valentine's cookies on Valentine's Day!

Celebrating Chloe's birthday!

Loves playing in the leaves!

School dance!

Girl Scouts "World Day."

I love that Maelee's troop chose Japan as their country to present!

Birthday party for one of Ollie's classmates!

He was SO excited to be there!

Just a crazy night with one of our other favorite trio of kiddos!

Impromptu block pizza night!

It's also hard to think back to February without mentioning another event that took up a lot of my time.  Less than a week after we got home from South Africa, I decided on a whim to submit an application and recording to perform at the Flute Society of Washington's Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair.  My proposal was for a program featuring African composers, including a couple pieces that were on the adoption fundraising recital I gave last spring.  In mid-December, I found out my proposal was accepted, which was both very exciting but also very stressful!  I got in as much practicing as I could and in some ways, it was a helpful distraction during a very difficult season.  My performance was bright and early so attendance was small, but I was so grateful for the opportunity! (And the resume building!)  Here's a recording of one of the pieces.  It's pretty funny at the end as Steve tries to manage filming me while simultaneously handling a very bored Ollie!  Like I said, he has been a multi-tasking rockstar!

Click HERE for Performance

More February pics HERE

Time for March!

After school mommy & Maelee date!

Making the most out of when we didn't have electricity for over 24 hrs during a major wind storm!

We piled on the blankets and the girls loved snuggling with Ollie before heading to their room.

Excited to be matching with her doll.

Pizza in Old Town with Nana & Pop-Pop!

Ollie loves to ride the trolley!

 Pajama day at Pre-K!

(No rhyme for this one, haha)
One of our sweet friends from our church community group had offered several times to treat Steve and I to a date night by watching our kiddos and we were finally able to take advantage of it. I surprised Steve with dinner at Ruth's Chris! So grateful!

First of hopefully more pizza and movie nights with our neighbors!

It was a packed house but super fun.

Mommy & Lilee date!

Open mic night at GM!

So proud of my girl and her pals for their routine!

Celebrating with ice cream afterward!

The neighborhood crew taking a break from the snow.

Ollie loved the pseudo-sledding!

Making rock candy with daddy! 

While Steve was gone on a work trip, Maelee watched them crystalize!

It took a while before they were finally able to try some, but they thought it was tasty once they did!

Selling Girl Scouts cookies!

Special afternoon with Nana for the girls!
They saw Peter Rabbit and loved it!

More March pics HERE

And that is a very brief summary of some of the fun from the beginning of the year. More posts to come with pictures from Easter and our quick trip to Williamsburg, plus Maelee's birthday, and wrapping up April/May! Let's see if I can be caught up by summer!

Ode to my Too-Dad

Since my goal is to keep this blog chronological, (no matter how far behind I get!), I couldn't continue documenting the beginning of our 2018 without writing about my Too-Daddy, as difficult as it still is... It's hard to believe it's been a full three months since we lost my dear grandpa. His health deteriorated quickly, shortly after we returned from South Africa, and we are so grateful to God that he and Ollie had a chance to meet briefly at Thanksgiving. 

An infection that hit in December kept him in the hospital for weeks and so much of January was a blur with the emotional roller coaster of reports of good days and bad days.

Steve was a rock star, pulling major dad duty so I could go up to DE and spend as much time with my Too-Dad as possible, but it still wasn't enough, and time with him slipped away too fast...

And as painful as it was to be with him the moment he left this earth on January 31st, it was also such an honor to hold his hand, with my mom and dad, and sweet Mary Catherine surrounding him, telling him how much he is loved.

He was such a huge fixture in his community and it's amazing to me that he was able to have such a big impact on a large scale, yet still have the biggest impact on a small scale, to his family. We heard countless stories during the services of the positive influence he had on so many, which offered such sweet encouragement and condolence.

I could go on and on about what my Too-Dad means to me, but will end with a few pics and a little, light-hearted "poem" I wrote for the burial service.

A little collage of sweet moments with this special man over the years.

Special Recognitions

Lilee's sweet, comforting love to her Too-Mom.

So grateful to be able to see Uncle Dan again.

The faces that brought joy in the midst of our sorrow.

Without our patriarch, but so grateful for this family he created and loved.

Ode to Too-Dad

Tritty-trot to Granny's house.

Do you have a little souse?

Fire-bumper, eye-winker...

He called us ornery; was I a stinker?

Four grandkids- 3 boys and a girl.

Too-Dad, you were such a huge part of our world...

Rides on the plastic frogger and on the back of the moped.

Just some of our sweet, early memories, so fresh in our head.

Fishing on the Terri-Tom, Funland's laughs and screams,

meals at the Wild Quail Club, Friendly's ice cream...

Niel and Sam had you in their everyday life,

Daniel and I had special overnights.

Your relationship with each of us was cherished and unique.

You taught us all more than we could ever speak.

You made me feel beautiful, you made the boys feel strong.

Your proud "Posty's team-" you encouraged us all along.

We may have sung, "I'm getting nuttin for Christmas,"

but you always blew us away with your generous gifts.

You and Nana loved us so well.

Oh, the fun stories we can tell!

And while our hearts broke with you over her passing,

we rejoiced with you when you found love in Mary Catherine.

Though you two may have walked to a different beat,

you made each other's lives richer and so much more sweet.

And when the great grand-kids arrived,

how your pride and joy multiplied!

More tritty-trots and fire bumpers, and your special way.

You loved to just watch them, even in this loud, crazy phase.

Oh, how missed you will be,

my dear, sweet Too-Daddy.

Such an important part of all of our lives,

but there's comfort knowing this isn't really goodbye.

In our hearts, you'll remain till the very end.

And we look forward to when we will see you again.

More pics HERE

How I loved my sweet Too-Daddy. I miss him everyday.