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Saturday, January 26, 2019

Concerts, a birthday, and lots of other end-of-year fun!

November & December always end up being pretty filled up with holiday activities but this year was especially full with a Benefit Recital thrown in, Steve's 40th bday, Ollie's birthday (which will be in another post altogether!), and lots of other sweetness in the mix.

There were Thanksgiving celebrations at the kiddos' schools, a family photo shoot in our little townhome community thanks to our neighbor, a date night with my hubby, a day date with all three kiddos and daddy, and an amazing experience for Maelee of seeing Pentatonix with Nana!

Onto the pics!



They love to climb this tree outside of our church!


Thanksgiving celebration at Lilee's school!

Ridiculously adorable video of Lilee singing  HERE!


So proud of this litte sweetheart!






A few of our faves from our little "photo shoot."


Turkey for lunch at Maelee's and Ollie's school!


The other big performance of November was my 4th Benefit Recital! This year, I wanted to highlight the accomplishments of several female American composers with all money raised going to a local non-profit that supports young women and girls who have been rescued from trafficking, FAIR Girls . These recitals practically consume me with the amount of work they require and as always, Steve was my anchor and the kiddos were tolerant! What really made it worth it was hearing from the FAIR Girls representative that the money raised would be put toward a Thanksgiving dinner for the ladies they serve. And it was such a special bonus to have the sweet support of so many amazing friends and family!


You can hear some of the last piece, "Valentine Trills" by Joan Tower
HERE!

My middle school band director made the trip again! So grateful for his support!

And so much sweet family!

So grateful for these musicians who partnered with me!


Date night in Old Town thanks to my folks' offer to watch the kids!





While I had an all day women's retreat at church, Steve took the kids to Teddy Roosevelt Island. He lucked out with a beautiful day and good attitudes!

Every year at the beginning of December, Steve has to travel for several days for a big conference. With a Saturday sandwiched right in between, we decided to start the day right with donuts!

And just a random photo of a hilarious scene of the dozens of plastic animals set up for some sort of imaginative play!

More photos from November
 HERE!


Maelee got the treat of her life to start off December with a date with Nana to see Pentatonix! It was certainly a night to remember and the icing on the cake was meeting three of the musicians afterward! She and Nana both loved every minute.













In the middle of December, we had the pleasure of celebrating my handsome hubby turning 40!!! It's hard to believe we're already at that stage of life! Steve took the day off so it was so special to celebrate with him over brunch and dinner! With some ice cream cake with the whole family in between. 
















Over the few weeks leading up to his big day, I collected a number of adjectives from friends and family to describe this great man and they did not disappoint! He is well thought of and well loved. We had our fill of good food that day and I think he also had a full heart knowing how special he is to so many!

More (non-Christmas related) photos from December HERE!

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Halloween & Thanksgiving!

Since Christmas Day is just a day away, I figured I better get all the photos up from Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Both were memorable days.

We decided it was time for our whole family to get in on the fun with costumes this year and Superheroes was what the kiddos hoped for most. So Ollie was Spiderman (again), Maelee was Wonder Woman, Lilee was Bat Girl, Steve was Hawkeye, and I was Black Widow. We probably won't be able to make family costumes happen every year, but I have to admit, it was fun. Steve expertly carved a pumpkin with each of the kiddos' characters represented and we enjoyed activities at their schools and even a trunk-or-treat in our neighborhood leading up to the big day.



School "Harvest Party" fun!







Halloween outing in D.C. at the Congressional Cemetery!





The Sunday before Halloween, we headed down the street to the local Cadillac dealership which hosted a neighborhood "Trunk or Treat," complete with a costume contest.







And Lilee won third prize!!!

T'was the night before Halloween...






Just in time for pumpkin carving!


Maelee was so tickled that our neighbor's boxer also had on a Wonder Woman costume!

Tickled to be a crime fighting family of five!

An adorable (and fierce) crew!




November didn't let up with my Benefit Recital right in the middle of the month, and then hosting Thanksgiving for 8 adults and 6 kids only a few days later!  Steve's parents came up for a few days and my folks came over for Thanksgiving dinner, plus we were able to have some of our favorite neighbors join us so it was a full house!  And we had lots of full bellies.  It was a great evening.













More pictures from Halloween HERE!


More pictures from Thanksgiving HERE!

And now it's just about time for the most anticipated holiday of them all!