Long Overdue

If you are reading this post, I have to say THANK YOU, for not giving up on our little blog. I realize that it has been 89 days since my last post. What has happened in the past 89 days? A LOT! We are talking Christmas, New Years, snow, snow, and did I mention SNOW? Since my last post, I am chuckling because we have gotten about 70 inches of snow since. I'm not kidding...that's absolutely insane! Besides the snow, a lot of other things have been happening in our lives. As much as I would love to just skip over the past three months and just start from today, I'd like to one day print off this blog into a book. I'd also have later explain to my kids why Christmas 2009 didn't happen. So, I hope you can just bare with me, as we just play catch up for a bit. Sit back and enjoy the ride!

SNOW, You get the Picture

Here are some shots of our double hit with 33-36 inches the first round, and then 18-24 inches the second round. I truly love snow, but after this, I was sick of it.

Activities, Activities, Does it Ever End?

Here's just a glimpse of some of the stuff the kids have been involved in...

G was in Odyssey of the Mind. It was actually pretty neat. Every Friday since September, he met with his group. Together (without any help from adults) they wrote a play, made the props, and costumes. They had a competition a few weeks ago, where over 1,200 students were competing. For their props, they were required to be able to carry it to the stage with no help. They started out making a big prop out of wood and hinges (they had to screw everything on their own--scary when thinking about a group of 7-9 year-olds). Unfortunately, after painting it and spending all this time on it, the prop was too heavy, so they had to start from scratch again. They did a great job and scored pretty well...not well enough to make it to the state competition, but I'm proud of them. They had to perform in front of judges with strict rules and then they had to do a spontaneous exercise where they had to think on their toes. G is our reserved guy, so I know it took a lot for him to do this. Good job, G!

Here they are with their props ready to go on.

Here G is outside the school where the competition was held. What made it extra special was that it was my old high school! I loved taking a trip down memory lane and showing my son where I went to school!


M is in a dance class once a week. So cute.

G just finished up basketball, which was twice a week.

T just finished up cheerleading, which was twice a week.

M did gymnastics, which was once a week.

We now have a two week break before M and T start swimming lessons twice a week, G starts baseball twice a week, and T starts softball twice a week. Oh, and G will start cub scouts once a week too. I love staying busy, but sometimes I wonder what I got myself into!

Crafty Gone Coo Coo

I think that when I set a goal for myself, sometimes I get a little OCD about it. My New Year's resolution this year was to get more crafty and to learn how to sew. I'll list some of the things I've made and let you be the judge on whether or not I went overboard. I wish I had pictures to show you of all the items I made, but I'd like to share just a few.


2 Skirts
2 shirts
6 pairs of pajama bottoms
3 body pillows
7 hair bows
3 hats
2 scarves


My current projects include a blanket and dresses for the girls. I'm so excited! And by the way, if you do think I've gone coo coo, just don't tell me that. It has been way fun and I'm glad I've actually enjoyed doing it! I'm hoping ONE DAY I'll get good enough to sell some things.

Here's a crown hat that I designed for the girls. I made the pattern myself and then sewed it up. They love it!


I made G a dragon hat that I designed. I think it's cute, but it may be a little too cute for him...he barely wore it!

Here are the outfits I made for the girls. These were my very first projects and I had no pattern to go by. There are some imperfections, but I hope to get better with time!

So now you know why blogging has taken the back burner! Stay tuned for more projects to come!

Day Trips

I love living in this area because we are so close to so many great places. We have a blast taking our little day trips here and there. Here are some pictures of some places we have gone to in the past few months.

Hershey, Oh, how I love you!!!
The weather was inthe 40's, but no wind, and we bundled up, so we didn't let a little bit of cold stop us!

This picture makes me laugh because it looks like they are exiting a big coaster ride, when they actually were leaving from a kiddy ride.

All smiles....

The carousel

The factory where you can help "package" the chocolate. Here are the worker bees...

White's Ferry, the oldest running ferry...it takes cars across the Potomac River. The kids loved riding across, exploring in MD, then hopping pack over to VA.

The only thing we caught was algae :)

Downtown DC, we always love it there...

The Washington monument, or the "big pencil," as the kids call it.

The US Capitol, where our Congressmen are hard at work (NOT)!

What a fun day!

Christmas 2009

Finally, the big day has arrived! In a sense, I feel like I am planning my wedding all over again. Then when the day finally comes, you feel too exhausted to enjoy it. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. The looks on their faces were priceless. I will say, however, that I was exhausted. My hat goes off to all parents, who spend sleepless nights making sure Santa gets his cookies, everything is ready for his arrival, and that SANTA remembers to get everything he was supposed to give. I wish I could show the clips of when the kids woke up. G said he was so excited he couldn't sleep the night before. I asked him why and he said he kept thinking about Santa and Jesus. I'm glad he remembered Jesus. I know there's a lot of glitz and glimmer around Christmas, but I only hope that the kids know that it is to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

We started Christmas Eve at my brother's house. Here are the kids before dinner.

Then, on to a nativity. Here's T as a shepard.

The cutest Mary I've ever seen...

G was a wiseman...

This picture cracks me up. We actually put B in a basket and wrapped him up as baby Jesus. He went along with it for a while.

Here they all are, waiting so patiently to open gifts.

Now they are all dressed up in p.j.'s, ready to go out and see some Christmas lights (a Moran tradition)

The next morning, Santa came...check out those gifts!

Bubs was just happy to get a candy cane in his stocking. The look on his face says it all.

Here are the kids, before opening gifts.

Family shot, probably the best we could do!

All M wanted for Christmas was a "baby." Although she has a gazillion babies already, I guess Santa caved and got her another one.

The girls got this big dollhouse. It's pretty cool because it talks and makes sounds. My favorite is the toilet flushing.

Easy bake oven...a classic.

Strawberry Shortcake, another classic.

Some martian thing where you build your own martian. I guess I have to be a boy to understand!

Santa spoiled us this year and got us this...we were probably the last on our block to finally get one, but what a treat!

After a long day,we are all tired, but the part I love most is hanging out with family and enjoying each other's company.

Big Storm #1...Anniversary Day

December 19th...we were thinking of going away for the evening, or just enjoying a good dinner out to celebrate our 11 years of holy matrimony. Scrap those plans, because we were snowed in! At the moment, it seemed like a lot of snow (about a foot). Little did we know that we would later get hit with two more rounds of 2-3 feet of snow. Good thing we like each other, because we spent a lot of time together (indoors) on our anniversary! Here is how it all transpired.

The weatherman gave us plenty of notice, so we made sure we stocked up on food (and of course, stuff we probably shouldn't eat).

We woke up to some snow in the morning, and the kids were itching to go play in it. It was way too cold and windy, so I brought the snow to them. Each of them got a bowl full of snow to play with inside. We made pancakes for breakfast and played with snow. That kept them happy for a while.

Bubs enjoyed playing on my computer a little too much. This was right before he popped off several keys (the v button is still off, as I type this).

The kids snuck him licks of their lollipops throughout the day. They thought they were being sneaky, but little did they know that I actually got it on camera.

By night, this is what our front door looked like. Boy, oh boy!

Here's the start of the dig out. Cedric said that he learned a lesson from this storm...he needs to shovel in shifts next time. This took him about 3 hours, then helping neighbors, etc...it was about 5 hours after all was said and done!

M looks tiny on that heap of snow!

Daddy's little helper

Taking a much needed break!

M is holding on for dear life

Snow tunnels are the best!

The finished product...I think we all deserved some hot chocolate after this!