Another Sims night. 364/365

Just Dance. 365/365

It would have been too easy to post a pic of the kids playing this new Wii game. I decided to post my sisters and I attempting to follow the "dance coach" on this hilariously fun game. Everyone in the house tonight played this game. It was especially fun watching the men dance to "You Can't Touch This". I don't have photographic evidence of that as I was busy trying to keep my video camera steady all the while laughing so hard I was crying.

Wii Sports. 363/365

Which team do you think is winning?!

Derby Ready. 362/365

Maddie (wearing Jordan's new roller skates) getting some assistance from her big sis.

More Cousins. 361/365

It was nice spending time with all of the cousins!

SIMS 360/365

It's great that they love hanging out together and even better that they're interests are similar.

Merry Christmas 359/365

The grandkids. 358/365

The first time we've had all of them together!

Breaking the law. 357/365

According to one Minnesota state law, it's illegal to cross the border with a duck on your head.

On the road. 356/365

On our way to Minnesota!

Jolly Fella! 355/365

This is the masterpiece of the day!

Army of snowmen. 354/365

The snow finally melted enough to pack together so now we have an Army of snowmen. The life-size snowman is still in the works.

The weather outside . . . 353/365

Well, it's not really frightful except for the fact that we're unable to pack the U-Haul truck or even back it out of the driveway. This is what we woke up to this morning and snow continued to fall all day long. The girls had fun in it even though it wasn't wet enough to build a snowman. You can see them in the top of this photo making snow angels.

The snow is here! 352/365

We could have up to 15" after this storm moves through. I bet we have half of that on the ground already.

You are Special. 351/365

Maddie left this inside Jordan's school laptop.

It takes a village. 350/365

We don't have many holiday decorations out, but we did manage to get the village put in place.

5th Grade Presents . . . 349/365

Once on a House Top. This is Maddie performing "Big Red Fella in the Chimney" with the rest of her class.

Little Hoodlum. 347/365

Maddie found a pack of candy cigarettes the other day and had them in her purse. On the way to the mall tonight she asked if she could have "a cigarette". It took me a minute to remember the candy. Then she said, "Mom, you should take a picture of me leaning on a wall smoking." Good thing there were no other people around when we took this photo.

More rain. 345/365

We had rain all day. Too bad the temps hovered just below 40 degrees. We could have had a couple of feet of snow if the temps would have cooperated. The girls and I went to the [outdoor] mall anyway and needed a warm drink after an hour walking store-to-store in the cold rain.

Hugs. 346/365

We had our family Christmas today since we will be packing a moving van next weekend and, as I mentioned before, we'll be in Minnesota for Christmas. Maddie loves to give gifts. Her gift to me was a coupon for "free hugs". So I cashed in on a hug and Pete did, too.

The stockings were hung . . . 345/365

in anticipation of our early gift giving tomorrow.

SPCA. 344/365

Every other week I drop Jordan here so she can help anywhere she's needed. She's part of the Richmond SPCA Animal Brigade. Maddie is now old enough to volunteer, too. She'll start in January. I can't wait to have two kids telling me about the cute cat or dog we need to adopt!

Jilly. 343/365

She is staring intently at a squirrel. When she's not sleeping, she's stalking birds and squirrels (through the windows).

The Tree. 342/365

Since we're going to be in Minnesota for Christmas this year, we decided to put up one of the smaller trees. And rather than pull out all of the decorations, we just threw all of our Mardi Gras beads on the tree. It looks quite nice.

Letters from the Pole. 342/365

It's a great day at our house when Santa takes time to write a letter!

Gingerbread. 340/365

Unfortunately, there was no snow on the ground this morning. That's okay, though, the gingerbread houses needed building.

Snow!! 339/365

It was the first snowfall of the season today. This snow has been anticipated for more than a week now. All day today Maddie was watching for snow and when it finally came around 4:15, she found Jordan and they went outside together to play in it, even though there wasn't anything to really play in. We have hopes for tomorrow that there will be more and it will stick!! I wish it to keep snowing so that we can have no school on Monday!

Written By: Jordan

Ocean Project. 338/365

This was actually a fun homework assignment. I still had to remind her to work on it everyday, but she was proud of her project today when she had to turn it in. She was happy that hers was made of newspaper covered with plaster, coated with paint and sand of different colors and a little grass and shrubbery when most of the other kids used play-dough.

Rescue Mission. 337/365

I don't like spiders. They give me the creeps. However, I know they serve a useful purpose which is the only reason I don't kill them. This guy was crawling across our family room floor tonight and it took all of the courage I could muster to capture him and set him free outside. Once he was outside though, he didn't move for several minutes. Long enough for me to run back inside, grab the camera, and set up a few good shots.

More rain. 336/365

I'm beginning to realize winter in Virginia means rain - not so much cold and definitely not snow. Just lots and lots of rain.

Favorite Holiday Books. 335/365

We'll read a book a day until Christmas. On Christmas Eve we'll read the one with the big gold bow. Yeah, I know it's weird I took the picture outside - the indoor lighting is awful.

334/365

We found this cute little garage on a country road near our house. We drove down this road in hopes of finding something like this.

Ocean Floor. 333/365

Hard at work making a model of the ocean floor.

Pointsettias. 332/365

We stopped by our local nursery this afternoon to pick out a plant for our next-door neighbors. They don't have young kids so we don't have much interaction with them, except to say "hello" on occasion. They brought us a very nice welcome basket when we moved in. At Halloween they gave our girls candy bars even though they spend All Hallows Eve at church. This past summer, the wife brought over the loveliest basket of flowers from her garden. I wanted them to know that we are grateful to have them for neighbors. I let the girls deliver the plant and the holiday message. They love giving gifts.

He's Back! 331/365

Pepper Minstix is our elf (on the shelf). He visits every day and returns to the North Pole every night to let Santa know if we've been good or bad. We can't touch him or he'll lose his magical powers so he just sits and watches.

Thankful for . . . 230/365

these two beauties. We spent some time at the mall today because we knew nobody else would be there and we could take some pictures with high hopes of one them being good enough for our Christmas card. I wasn't thrilled with the family photos, but I did like a few of the girls, particularly this one of Jordan outside of Hollister and of Maddie outside of Urban Outfitters.

Fine Carpentry. 329/365

I wish I needed some remodeling done so I could call this guy. I noticed the sign while at a stop light on the way to school this morning. It made us all laugh. Maddie wondered aloud if the guy knew the initials he used in his company name spelled a bad word.

Hugs. 328/365

These are the moments I live for. Jordan loves to hug Maddie, but Maddie's amount of hug time (with Jordan) depends on how much sleep she got the night before. She was done with hugs right after I snapped the photo.

Lemur Crossing. 327/365

One of our first days in Richmond last year while driving Jordan to school, we passed a gaggle of these guys and Jordan said, "Look at the lemurs." I don't really think she thought they were lemurs, but out of the corner of her eye she caught the white stripe on the head and maybe thought of lemur tails. I don't know . . . but ever since she said that we always say, "look at the lemurs." These guys were pretty brave just stepping out into traffic this afternoon. I laughed when only one stepped into the street at first. It was as if the others were waiting to see if he'd get run over before they all stepped out.

Fuji Applesauce. 326/365

We peeled, sliced, cooked, crushed, and canned the last of the Fuji apples. We had some good 'ole girl time today working so diligently on making this applesauce. There were three of those big bowls full of apples which made eight quarts of oh-so-delicious applesauce. I am still surprised at how easy this process is of picking and preserving our own food. As we worked we discussed the fact that years ago this was the only way to have fruits and vegetables available for winter consumption.

Maddie's 25 Days. 325/365

Maddie's ready to construct her "25 Days" book. I wish I was more like her - she just jumps in and makes decisions. While Maddie chose her papers and embellishments, Jordan went to see New Moon. She said it was better than Twilight. We'll all go see it Wednesday before Thanksgiving when the girls have a half-day of school.

Multi-tasking. 324/365

Maddie and Amanda picto-chat and talk on speakerphone while looking at each other through their bedroom windows.

Hangin' around. 323/365

She's been hanging (or doing exercise) since preschool. She called it exercise when she was younger because she'd break a sweat after a while. Ten years later she hangs every chance she gets and she's got some great abs because of it.

My plan for my photos for the rest of the year is to capture the everyday moments. My girls often ask me to tell them about things they did when they were younger. I think this sort of activity fits the bill. I just wish I could capture her "rocking" in photos.

How did I get so lucky? 322/365

She raked the seven leaves from the back yard, scooped the cat litter boxes, vacuumed, and set the table for dinner all while I leafed through a magazine.

JDRF Awards. 321/365

The big news of the evening is that the Richmond chapter of the JDRF Walk for a Cure raised a half a million dollars this year. Tonight several corporations, teams, and individuals were recognized. Our team, Jordan's Journey, won a bronze award and Jordan won the Golden Sneaker award for the money raised for the cause. Thank you to all of our friends and relatives who generously donated $4,300 to help find a cure.

I know the picture is a bit blurry, but it holds the sentiment of the day. I didn't consider the horrible banquet hall lighting when I threw my camera in the bag without the external flash.

America Recycles Day. 320/365

From trash to fashion. The students were encouraged to make something wearable out of items from their recycling bin. Many more kids participated than I expected. Maddie, however, was the most talked about with her newspaper skirt, Capri Sun bag, gum wrapper necklace, and her Mad Hatter hat. Unfortunately, even with the spirit of the day, she wasn't allowed to wear the hat. But she was happy with all of the gushing about her skirt.

A fine autumn day. 319/365

Today was 72 degrees and sunny. After the previous week of cold and rain, it's a welcome change. We spent most of the day making recycled wearable art for tomorrow's America Recycles Day (the day was Saturday, but at school they'll celebrate tomorrow) and the remainder of the day at the outdoor mall. This tree stands just few yards from the huge Christmas tree in the main courtyard. Both are beautiful, but I'm not quite ready to begin my Christmas celebration yet. I have to wait until Thanksgiving has had a chance.

I'll give you a dollar if . . . 318/365

It's wonderful how a simple task of tearing up old bread for birds can turn into a game. The three of us were tearing up two packages of old bread and throwing it from the deck when Jordan decided to go into the yard. The only obvious thing to do would be to throw the bread at Jordan which then turned into "I'll give you a dollar if you can catch a piece of the bread". Thanks Rachel. She caught five pieces.

Tredegar Iron Works. 317/365

An interesting and informative fifth grade field trip to learn about the Civil War. This foundry supplied the Confederacy with their artillery, ammunition, and other war-related materials.