Some pictures

Nolan having fun with the Davenports on the carousel at the Museum Camp In.








Thomas at Nolan's violin concert. He fell asleep as soon as we sat down! He woke up before Nolan performed. Chris will post video soon.








Nolan all dressed up before the concert.










What I look like when I go out running on these freezing mornings. By best friend is a hot shower!








Thomas getting his Bobcat badge!

Will he see his shadow?

I'm starting to look forward to warm temperatures, so I'm hoping he doesn't! But, we don't get to choose the weather, so life goes on. And on it does! Since the Frost Faire last weekend, we've had a lot on our plates. We had a pack meeting where Thomas earned his Bobcat Badge...his first Cub Scout badge. He had to learn the Cub Scout motto, handshake, salute...all those little tricks that make a Cub Scout. The ceremony includes getting your face painted, so I'll be sure to post pics of that soon. The night after that, Nolan had his first violin/chorus concert. That was awesome! I never though Nolan would be musical, but he definately is. And it was weird for Chris to go to his high school auditorium and see his son up there singing instead of himself. We have video of it, so that will be up soon too.

And this past weekend, the boys had a blast at the New York State Museum Camp In. We joined another Cub Scout pack and slept in the museum Saturday night (actually, I left at 9pm and Chris slept with them. Lucky me!). There were all kinds of activities and free time for the kids to explore on their own. There was very little sleep going on, so we are still recovering. It was Thomas' first Cub Scout sleepover. A big success.

Other cool news is we did our taxes and our refund is paying for a trip to Florida! We are going at a very busy time-spring break. But it will be great for the kids. We are staying at the Nickelodeon Hotel and hope to see the new Harry Potter attraction at Universal Studios. The boys also want to go to MGM Studios at Disney and see the Indiana Jones show. We will be there for Thomas' birthday, so he will be spending it with SpongeBob. They are very excited. I can't believe we're really going! We went 5 years ago and it was not a good experience...Thomas was sick and Nolan was afraid of most of the rides. I think they were too young. So this time we are hoping to erase all of the bad memories and make some good ones!

Thomas seems to be doing well in art. He made a clay fish that is going to be on display as part of an Elementary Art Show for the district all this month! I hope to go see it this week. At the end of the show, he is invited to a reception for all the artists. He also is working on a poster explaining why basketball is good for our muscles. The poster will be on display at the school science fair this Friday.

Also this weekend is the final tournament for Nolan's basketball games. We are going to a River Rats game on Saturday night (Albany hockey team). And it's Super Bowl Sunday! I have a feeling February is going to go even faster than January...

Fun at the Frost Faire

I've written before about how much I enjoy going to theSaratoga Battlefield. It is just so awesome to stand amid such beautiful scenery and know you are surrounded by history.

We paid another visit to the battlefield today for their annual Frost Faire.

We started out by taking a horse-drawn wagon ride out to the big tubing hill. And when I say big, I mean BIG. There was more snow last year. This year there were actually some patched of grass on the hill that slowed things down a bit. But it still went pretty fast. Nolan and I went for a few good runs down the hill.

Thomas was a little intimidated by the steep slope. So he hung out by the campfire at the top with Kris, who was nursing a sore knee, and worked on a assembling a life-sized puzzle of a British soldier.

Then it was off to the warming tent for hot chocolate and cookies before taking the 3/4-mile wagon trip back to the visitors center. That's where Nolan got a lesson in how to handle musket (it was only a pretend one) and Thomas got to practice writing with a quill and ink. There were some crafts to work on and -- best of all -- one of the big canons was fired off a few times. I never, ever tire of that!

It made for a pretty fun afternoon, and every time we go to the battlefield we leave having learned something new.

New Year's Eve Pics

Happy MLK Day!

What a great day to celebrate the freedom and peace we have! Martin Luther King was such a brilliant man, and excellent at speaking such true goodness. My most recent favorite quote is, "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that." We are celebrating MLK today by eating a pancake puff for breakfast, going sledding on this beautiful new layer of snow we got last night, watch a movie from the library and have roast beef for dinner! Sounds like a good day to me, except Chris has to work. Always a bummer.

Chris and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in ages. We saw the movie It's Complicated which was laugh out loud hilarious! Until the end, which I won't spoil but we weren't thrilled about. Still a good movie. Then we went to Bellini's for dinner which was sooo good. Good wine, yummy salad, wood-fired pizza and we shared a piece of hazelnut chocolate cake. We groaned on the couch when we came home, we were so full! But we talked a lot about how we started dating 19 years ago, and we met when we were 19. So from now on, we will have lives where we have been together more than not. That's pretty cool! We have a great life. We're very grateful.

Chester seems like he is getting older and older. Of course, he is. He will be 10 in April. Lately his hips seem to be bothering him more, or maybe it's his paws--I'm not sure. I think arthritis is settling in. He may not be a mountain dog anymore. He spends a lot more time on the couch these days. But then there are other times that he's running around the backyard like a puppy again. So, he still has spurts of spunk. He's just the best, snuggly dog there is.

So we have a nice short week ahead of us this week. Thomas had the flu bug most of last week, so he's getting kicked back to school tomorrow. We continue with swim lessons and basketball. We're fighting the winter blues! I'll post pics soon.

Lazy Saturday

I'm enjoying a cup of coffee in my warm house instead of running in this below-zero wind chill this morning. Nolan and Chris are at basketball and Thomas and I are being lazy. We have to meet them at 10am at Lowe's so the boys can do a do-it-yourself clinic on making a coin bank. Other than a car appointment this afternoon and needing to cut Nolan's hair, we don't have many other plans today. Oh, there's a game night at church tonight. So I guess it isn't much of a lazy Saturday, but it feels like it right now.

So I don't have a lot to report about the kids. Nolan is doing a basketball clinic on Saturdays through the school and both boys are doing another basketball clinic on Wednesdays through St. Helen's. Thomas is loving it! There's a science fair at school next month, and Thomas is going to make a poster on how basketball makes you healthy. Thomas is continuing to do well with the swimming, especially the backstroke. We're hoping he moves up to Level 3 in the next session. It's a lighter month for Cub Scouts. But at the end of the month, we are all going to spend the night at the New York State Museum. This will be Thomas' first sleepover with scouts, although I don't think there will be a lot of sleeping. I'm still on the fence whether I might go home when it's light's out.

I wish it would warm up a little so we could play outside more. It's too cold to even go sledding. When's January thaw coming?

A New Year, a new hope

I thought this picture was funny of the cousins...together but either with an electronic device or a beer! :)








Thomas on Christmas night...a little too much fun!









Christmas morning-Nerf guns! Now they can really battle!








Thomas telling Santa and Mrs. Claus (What is her first name anyway?) what he wants for Christmas.


There is something very uplifting about starting a new year, despite what the howling winds outside say. Even just remembering to write 2010 instead of 2009 helps refresh us. It's a good time to shake the dust off of our bad habits and maybe start some healthy, new ones. My New Year's Resolution is to keep in better touch with family and friends. Even friends that live just a few miles away I sometimes don't see for weeks, getting too caught up in the routine of things. But we shall see at the start of 2011 if I actually get any better at it. I have to be hopeful. A new year makes us think about the new adventures that could happen in it...trips we might make, skills we might learn, relationships we may kindle. They are all good thoughts.

Christmas came and went in a flash. The highlights were the moments with family and friends...the Barsottis coming into town, seeing my parents and sister and her husband, and seeing our friends the Reeds. I had coffee with all of the running gang on Christmas Eve which was fun...so many different women yet all just varying degrees of being runners. The kids and I went to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. We saw a lot of movies at home too. There was A LOT of fighting this vacation, and they seem to be getting more physical with it. BUT, I guess that comes with being brothers. The VERY COLD temperatures kept us inside a lot, which didn't help. But all in all, it was a nice break from reality. And also nice to send them off on the bus tomorrow!