Top 10 Moments of 2011

10. Spending time with family and friends at Bergemuda.

9. Mountain biking (Tom) and playing roller derby (Julia).

8. Enjoying a September snowstorm and building a snowman with daddy.

7. Going to Dutch Wonderland.

6. Watching Sydney excitedly feed her brother a bottle for the first time.

5. Visiting the Chabots at the beach!

4. Going to Atlantis to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary.

3. Hearing that our new niece, Evelyn Beatrice, had made her grand arrival.

2. Watching Sydney learn to swim by herself.

1. Getting a handle on Cole's GERD and learning more about his allergies so that he is more comfortable and happy.

Merry Christmas!

We had a very low-key Christmas this year. As always, we spent Christmas eve and Christmas day with our families (so thankful that everyone lives so close by). The kids were able to spend time with both sets of grandparents, and we were able to get in some downtime too! Really - I can't think of anything better - besides being able to catch up with friends and family who live far away. Santa was very good to both kids - but not too good - it was a modest Christmas, which was nice too. Here are a couple pictures from the festivities.

I'm a Real Roller Girl!

In December, I participated in my first roller derby bout. I was so nervous, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to finish. But - I managed to pull myself together and not only participate, but actually score a couple points. I played every position: jammer, pivot, and - even - blocker! I'm proud to report that my team won. I definitely have a lot of work to do before the next bout this spring, but it was fun to get the first one under my belt.

People continue to be very surprised that I play derby. I guess it's because I don't fit the stereotype. Last night, a friend asked me why? Why do I play? Well, here goes (in no particular order). I play because

- It's fun

- It's incredible exercise, and I'm probably in the best shape I've been in since before I had Sydney

- I've made many awesome new friends

- It's an amazing challenge that's teaching me a lot about myself

- It's a great departure from my mom-of-two lifestyle

- I get to wear fun clothes (let's be honest, this was one of the reasons I joined to begin with)

There are probably a hundred other reasons, but those are the reasons that come to mind at the moment. Anyway, it's been a fun ride so far. I can't wait to see what happens with derby in 2012. In the meantime, here are some more pictures from my first bout.

The head cheerleader of my fanclub - her derby name would be
Major Anxiety, but it's already taken.

Time Machine: Sydney's Christmas Pageant

I really feel blessed to be able to send Sydney to a Christian preschool where she can celebrate Christmas! In fact, her school really goes all out and hosts a very nice Christmas pageant. Last year, I was a little behind the curve and missed the memo on appropriate dress for the pageant (you'd think I'd get it from the name Christmas pageant, but I can be slow sometimes). Anyway, this year, I sent her in her best dress, and she sang beautiful Christmas songs with the best of them! She even celebrated her awesome performance with her BFF Avery after the pageant. Congratulations, ladies!

Time Machine: Dutch Wonderland Take 2

You might remember that back in August, Syd and I went on a girls trip to Dutch Wonderland with Avery and Elyssa. You might also remember that during that trip, we were lucky enough to receive rain date tickets for a free return trip to DW! Well, the year passed quickly, and we ended up visiting DW for our free return trip in December. Who knew DW would be just as much fun in December as in August. And - bonus - warm funnel cakes are especially yummy in cold weather. A special thanks to Elyssa (and Avery) for driving us to Lancaster and for being the best DW date(s) ever. Can't wait until our next visit!

Time Machine: Welcome Evelyn Beatrice Goldberg

On November 27, 2011, Lorraine gave birth to our beautiful niece Evelyn Beatrice Goldberg! She's a fighter and a girl with her own plan. I can't wait to see what she's got in store for us - I have a feeling she's not a girl to be messed with or told what to do. World: you've been put on notice - she's here, and we're just along for the ride.

Time Machine: Roller Derby Update

My roller derby career continued to progress over the fall. I passed assessments and was drafted onto the Vineyard Vixens roller derby team. Really - if you think about it, this accomplishment was almost a miracle. Before April, I'd never really been on skates before in my life. In basically 6 months, I developed enough skills to pass the assessment test and be drafted onto a team. My first bout was scheduled for December! I was excited and scared and proud of my accomplishments - all at the same time.

Time Machine: Happy Birthday Sarah!

Back in November, Sarah celebrated her 11th birthday! It seems like just yesterday, Jodi was a year 2K mommy, and now Sarah is 11 years old. Time flies! The birthday celebration was complete with a taco binge. I mean really - after Sarah's birthday party, I would have been happy not to eat tacos for at least a week, and that's saying a lot. Only two years, and Sarah's going to be a teenager. Only four years, and she's going to have her learner's permit. Virginia drivers best start preparing now! We love you, Sarah!

Time Machine: I Got a New Job!

In September, I left my old job and started a new job. So far, it's been a great learning experience. At my old job, I specialized in recruiting. At my new job, I do everything and anything HR - including, but not limited to, recruiting, benefits, employee relations, and labor law compliance. My first day was a lot of fun. Instead of doing your typical show-up-to-work-and-fill-out-paperwork deal, I went to the local municipal airport. Then, Scott, our COO flew me in his private plane to Virginia Tech to do a little college recruiting. It was the first time I'd ever been in a private plane - and I gotta say, it beats commercial flying any day of the week! Anyway, it's been three months at the new company, and I'm glad I made the switch. They've been great about my schedule (I still get to work part-time and put in most of my hours from home), and I've been able to expand my skillset - what could be better?

Time Machine: Happy Anniversary!

In October, Tom and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniver-sary. And - to celebrate - we took a KID-FREE vacation! The kids went on a weekend-long sleepover to mustache papa and bella grandma's house, and we went on a Bahama's cruise. Besides sleeping in, interruption-free meals, mid-afternoon naps, and plenty of adult conversation, the highlight of the cruise was definitely our day trip to Atlantis. We had full use of all the amenities, including the water slides! We even went on the water slide that goes through the shark tank. It was so much fun - we had a blast. We will definitely be back! Thank you so much to mustache papa and bella grandma and all their reinforcements for enabling us to get away.

Time Machine: Halloween

Because I'm way behind on the blog, I'm going to have to go back in time to cover some of this year's highlights. So - here goes the time machine...

Halloween 2011

This year, Sydney went as a ladybug, and Cole was a bat (with fancy bat shoes). Cole caught on very quickly, and he actually hung in way longer than I thought he would. Both kids are usually in bed by 7:00 pm, but they were still out trick-or-treating past 8:00 pm. Tom took them all the way down the gravel road and around the corner, which is quite the hike - especially for Cole. I stayed home and manned the front door. Each year, we get more visitors. This year, I think we had about 20. Not bad!

Neglect

Neglect [ni-glekt] verb used with object:
1. to pay no attention or too little attention to; disregard or slight
2. to be remiss in the care or treatment of
3. to omit, through indifference or carelessness
4. to fail to carry out or perform
5. to fail to take or use

I think the word neglect pretty much sums up how I've treated this blog the last few months. I promise to be better (I realize that's what I said in the last post). I've got some great pictures and stories to share. And - I've got a little extra time this week. Stay tuned...

Wow Mother Nature!

Mother Nature has really outdone herself lately. In September and October alone, she's managed a hurricane, earthquake, and snowstorm. Although I don't have pictures of the hurricane and earthquake, I do have pictures of the October snowstorm. I also have pictures of Syd and Tom flying her kite after the hurricane moved out (plenty of rain for a couple days equaled a little girl with lots of pent-up energy, and the winds that followed the hurricane set up the perfect kite-flying day). Anyway, it's been a wild couple of weeks, but way fun!

It's Been a While!

So - for a variety of reasons, it's been a while since my last non-recipe post. Anyway, I'm back. I'll be catching up over the next couple days. I've missed blogging!

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

I thought I'd posted this recipe before, but I can't find it, and Sarah wanted a copy, so here goes:

Cake
1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist butter recipe chocolate cake mix
Water, butter, and eggs called for on cake mix box

Filling
6 cups green mint-flavored ice cream with chocolate chips or chocolate swirl, slightly softened

Frosting
1 1/2 c whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
4 drops green food color

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only on 2 9-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with waxed paper. Make cake mix as directed on box. Spoon evenly into pans.

Bake as directed on box. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooling racks. Remove waxed paper. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Line 9-inch round cake pan with foil. Spoon and spread ice cream evenly in pan. Cover with foil; freeze until completely frozen, about 2 hours.

On serving plate, place 1 cake layer with rounded side down. Remove ice cream from pan; peel off foil. Place on top of cake. Top with remaining cake layer, rounded side up.

In medium bowl, beat whipping cream, powdered sugar and food color on high speed until stiff peaks form. Frost side and top of cake with whipped cream. Freeze about 2 hours or until firm. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes before serving.

Apple Crisp with Walnuts and Caramel Sauce

The cooler temperatures got me in the mood for apple crisp. Here's my take on Blue Ridge Grill's Apple Cobbler with Caramel Sauce. Warning - this will definitely make you fat as a pig.

8 apples peeled and sliced
juice of half a lemon
1/2 c sugar
2 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg

1 1/2 c flour
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 c rolled oats
1 t salt
2 sticks butter - OMG - diced
1 1/2 c chopped walnuts

pre-packaged caramel topping

Combine the first five ingredients and put the mixture in a sprayed 9 x 11 dish. Combine the next six ingredients - use an electric mixer and have patience. Let it go until the mixture actually looks like crumble topping - at least a couple minutes. Once it looks good, cut in the walnuts. Scatter the topping over the apple mixture. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 40 minutes. At 40 minutes, take out the dish and pour pre-packaged caramel topping on top. Bake again for another 5 minutes. Serve hot with ice cream. Try not to oink.

My Nocturnal Cutie

For some reason, Syd's been a little insomniac lately. A couple nights over the last several weeks, she's woken up and been unable to fall back asleep - at all. Instead, she plays in her room. Last night, she started crying, and I went to her room to find the light on and her dresser drawer pulled out of the actual dresser. Also, she had changed pajamas - apparently several times. Oh yeah - one more thing... she took off her diaper (which she still wears in case of accidents at night). I don't know what's going on, but the whole scene made me laugh.

I almost forgot... When I asked her why she wasn't wearing a diaper, she immediately threw her daddy under the bus. "Daddy forgot to put it on me again." Then, she changed her story and said, "There was an earthquake, and it shook my diaper off."

Best Oatmeal Cookies Ever

On this rainy, hurricane day, I figured cookies were in order. I tried this spicy variety. They are awesome.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls (don't try to make large cookies - they are better small) onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely.

Original source: http://www.allrecipes.com/

Dutch Wonderland

We recently visited the most fun, confusing amusement park ever. Syd and I went with Avery and Elyssa to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The place was awesome and fun because the girls could ride nearly every ride in the park. It was a little confusing because I'm not sure they have a strong understanding of their theme. The main entrance is a castle, so they had a lot of princesses and knights around the park. But they're in Lancaster, so there were also Mennonite tributes and random dairy cow sightings. Anyway, the girls had a blast. We went on many, many rides - some two or three times in a row. Syd rode her first roller coaster - and in the very front car, too! There were very few long lines, and we even got to see a couple shows. We stayed nearly all day. Right around 5:00 pm, we were trying to decide what to do next, when the skies opened and it started pouring rain - at which point, the park attendants started passing out tickets for free admission on another day! So - we'll definitely be back to re-live the magic that is Dutch Wonderland. Can't wait!

Best Friends Forever

A couple weeks ago, we were lucky enough to spend most the day with Syd's BFF, Avery, Avery's mommy, and Avery's brother Cooper (Cole's soon-to-be BFF). We spent the morning at the Four H Fair and the afternoon in the pool. It was a fabulous way to spend a day! Here are some cute pics from our adventures.

Petting Spike the Bearded Dragon Learning About Poultry Syd's Coined this the "Friendship Jump"

Personal Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

Today, I made mini pineapple upside down cakes for Papa's birthday. I've posted the regular recipe for pineapple upside down cake here before. I made the following adjustments:

Replace
1/4 c butter for 1/2 c butter
1 can pineapple rings with 1 can pineapple chunks
9 x 13 pan with 12-cup muffin tin

Instead of simply melting the butter and then sprinkling the brown sugar in the pan, I melted and sprinkled in a small pot on the stove. Once everything was mixed well, I put about a tablespoon of the mixture into each liberally greased muffin cup. Then, I added two chunks of pineapple and two cherries to each muffin cup and covered with cake batter.

When the cakes were cooked, I immediately turned them upside down on a cookie sheet. Everything worked out well and tasted delicious.

Catoctin Creek Distilling Company

This week, as part of NOVA Roller Derby, I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in a bottling event at Catoctin Creek Distilling Company (CCDC). CCDC is owned by Scott Harris, who also happens to work for Argon ST. Anyway, as part of a sponsorship opportunity, Scott invited me and the girls out to bottle whiskey at the distillery. We had so much fun learning about how whiskey is made and bottled. We even got to sign our own bottles!

Chug-a-Chug-a...

Today, we took a day trip to ride the Walkersville, Maryland, Southern Railroad. It was a quick drive to Walkersville, and we got to ride in a vintage 1920s passenger car. The ride was about an hour long and billed as a "scenic excursion." We saw plenty of corn fields, a couple creeks/streams, and the new Wegmans parking lot! Overall, though, it was a fun day trip, and the kids enjoyed their time on the train.

Beach!

This week, Sydney, Cole, my friend Carolann, and I were lucky enough to be invited to the infamous Chabot beach house for an awesome beach vacation! We spent our days on the beach and our evenings chilling out in front of the TV. It was incredibly relaxing, full of good Pat Chabot cooking, and beer-garitas! Cole even took his naps on the beach so we could enjoy many hours at the beach (one day, we spent more than five hours on the beach - with a 1-year-old! Are you kidding?). We went out for ice cream, Cole chased seagulls on the beach, Sydney swam in the ocean, and - did I mention - we had beer-garitas? Beer-garitas are Mrs. Chabot's new famous drink: half a glass of Mexican beer with a frozen margarita on top. It doesn't sound delicious, but let me tell you - they are spectacular... think Corona with lime, but frozen. We laughed, we vegged out, and we got tan!

No Cavities!

We had another spectacular trip to the dentist. This time, we tried a new dentist that our mommy friends had really raved about. And - now we know why! The most awesome part of the visit was that Sydney got to pick out her very own movie to watch during the cleaning. Then, she got to lay back, relax, and watch the show while the hygienist did her work. Sydney was very impressed and couldn't really be bothered to pay any attention to anything other than the Backyardigans (her movie). Before she knew it, she had cleaned and flossed teeth and was on her way!

Happy Birthday America!

This fourth of July was a blast. I was in Leesburg's Independence Day parade in the morning (as part of NOVA Roller Derby), and then we came back to the house for a barbecue and pool party. For as long as we've lived in Loudoun County, we've never attended the fourth of July parade, let alone participated. I was amazed at the amount of people and all the friends I saw along the parade route. With all the excitement and swimming, Syd was in bed asleep by 5:30 pm. Maybe next year, she'll finally get to watch the fireworks!

Pre-parade group photo

My personal cheering section

Three generations

Mommy and Cole chillin in the shade

Lazy Day at the Pool

Yesterday, we had a wonderfully lazy day at the pool. We had visitors come and go. Sarah Fram stopped by in the morning. Mom rode her new bike to the house around lunch, and Grandma, Big Papa, and Sarah stopped by in the afternoon. Tom and I have said many times that we're so thankful to have the pool. It attracts all our friends and family, and we end up spending more quality time with them over the summer because of it. We're really looking forward to tomorrow's festivities. I'll be walking in the Leesburg parade in the morning, and then everyone is coming over for a big barbecue in the afternoon. Stay tuned for pictures.

Mommy's Beach Vacation

This past weekend, I was the luckiest mommy on earth: I got to enjoy a mommy's beach vacation! Jodi, Nina, Becca, and I headed to Bethany Beach for a spectacularly relaxing weekend. We ate, we drank, we sat on the beach, we read, we played Scrabble, and we got pedicures. We did not have to take anyone to the potty, cut anyone's food, forget to drink our coffee, eat our food cold, or have to wake up in the middle of the night to help someone go back to sleep. My only worry was whether the tide was going to reach my chair. I enjoyed every minute of it, and the time away made my heart grow even fonder of my two darling children and wonderfully supportive husband. I'm a lucky gal!

Doing Papa's Hair

When Lorraine and I were little, we loved to "do" my dad's hair. I don't know how it came to be, but we had an understanding: if we were quiet while dad watched football, we could do his hair. We would comb it, put in barrettes, put in little pony tails - the possibilities were endless! I'm pleased to announce that the tradition of doing hair has continued to the next generation. Check out this picture of Sydney doing Mustache Papa's hair! Unfortunately, he has much less hair now than when I was little, but she still got to do some serious combing.

Best Daddy Ever

We celebrated all the wonderful dads in our lives on Father's Day! Sydney was especially excited to help her daddy celebrate. She made him a special card and got him a gift card to Best Buy. Cole contributed by letting daddy take him for a dip in the pool. Even Mustache Papa got in on the Father's Day action with a poolside nap. I'm not sure, but I think Big Papa celebrated by sneaking a real beer! We love all our dads - thank you so much for all you do and for being there when we need you most.

The Nuttalls Are Coming! The Nuttalls Are Coming!

We always have a great time when the Nuttalls visit. A couple weekends ago, we were lucky enough to have Alex and Stacie and the kids and Aunt Alice. Aunt Alice (Alex's Aunt) is *the* Aunt Alice that hosts Tom and Alex in New Hampshire each year for their snowmobiling adventures. Anyway, it was great to be able to return the favor for once. Somehow, Aunt Alice escaped my camera, but I will catch her in action next time. As always, the kids had a blast swimming!

Cheers!

Wait a second... What exactly is Cole doing? Waving - of course!

Herndon Festival

I grew up in downtown Herndon. So - for years - the Herndon Festival was a huge event in our family. As I got older, it turned into a weekend-long party. Anyway, it's been a while since we've made to the Herndon Festival, but this year we did. In fact, we parked near my childhood home, threw the kids in the stroller, and enjoyed the festival family style. It was an overcast day, which was good because it was hot! And - I managed to catch some cute pictures of Tom and Syd. It was fun to see all the vendors and ride the rides. A good time was had by all.

Catching Up...

Wow. It's been a while since my last post. We've been really busy between work, the end of school, swimming lessons, and the beginning of summer. Here's quick recap:

We celebrated mother's day with a Bergemuda-style pool party. It was too cold to actually swim, but the day was perfect for playing at the water table, enjoying a good barbecue, and relaxing. The moms were lavished with wonderful gifts, and I even got a kid-free shopping spree!

We've been lucky enough to be invited to some really fun birthday parties. At this one, Sydney got to jump off some energy in the bounce house and get her face painted like a butterfly.

Sydney finished the first year of school the Thursday before Memorial Day. I'm so thankful for her wonderful teachers and the great staff at her school. She really learned a lot over the last year and is becoming quite the character!

The kids and I spent half of memorial day weekend at the beach with the Chabots. Although I ended up getting sick, and we had to come home, we had one really awesome day at the beach. The Chabots were fabulous hosts - as usual - and went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and the kids were having fun. We are so very lucky to have such a wonderful relationship with the Chabots. I have a feeling Jessie would be thrilled.

Roller Derby

Somehow, I've become a roller derby girl. It all happened so quickly, and before I knew it, I was wearing knee socks. A while back, my friend Misty, who I originally met through mommies' group, suggested I do roller derby. At first, I had mixed feelings, I thought it would be fun, but a little scary too. Then, it turned out that Loudoun County was getting their very own team, and the first "meet and greet" was in Leesburg. How convenient. It couldn't hurt to just go watch... right? I showed up in flip flips and khakis. Within minutes, I was loaned socks, skates, a helmet, and pads and was shown to the rink to start skating. What? Wait a second... And that was all she wrote!

I've been going to practice twice a week for two hours each time since then. People who know me know that I did not skate when I was growing up. All my time was spent in the gym doing gymnastics. Anyway, it's been extremely challenging. I believe everyone else on the team did some amount of skating growing up or had previously belonged to another roller derby team. Anyway, the girls have been very welcoming and patient with me. I've learned to skate, do crossovers, walk on my toe stops, stop, and fall correctly. I've eaten pavement more than once. But - on the bright side, I get to wear knee socks, short skirts, and hot pants - an awesome departure from my mommy-of-two-under-the-age-of-three lifestyle. And - the practices are brutal, so I'm getting in two great workouts a week! What could be better?

This weekend, Jodi, Bret, and I took the kids to see roller derby in person at the DC Armory. It was actually a lot of fun. It wasn't nearly as violent as I thought it would be. And I could see myself participating at some point in the future. For now, I need to practice staying on my feet and off my hiney!

Oh yeah - one last thing... my roller derby name and number:

Mary Lou Wreck'em, 10.0

Let's Go to Avery's House!

One of Sydney's favorite things to do these days is to visit her friend Avery. Avery's house never disappoints - there's so much do to and see. Usually, the girls start off playing with all Avery's fabulous toys. Then, Avery's awesome mommy makes them a wonderful snack. Then - it's time for a walk - my favorite part of the visit! As you can see from the following pictures, the walk near Avery's house is just spectacular.

Time for a walk! As you can see, Avery is very fashion forward and not afraid to take chances with her wardrobe. She looked great on this day with the rain boots, tutu, and pajama top. Awesome!Stop to take a peek in the creek!Cole usually naps on my back during our walk, but on this day, he was wide awake and enjoying the scenery.

If you look really close in this picture, you can see Avery's dog, Butters, swimming in the creek. She swims while we walk.

Could this be any more fun? I don't think so. We're so thankful to be friends with Avery and her family! We can't wait for our next visit.