"Chicken Lauren"

The girls call her "Chicken Lauren" and she graduated from the Marines Officer Candidate School last Friday.  She was Platoon Commander and in the top 10% of her class. Our girls worship her! When she was preparing for the Marines she ate only chicken, hence the nickname they gave her.  We are all so proud of her!  Love that our girls look up to someone who sets her mind on something and lets absolutely nothing get in her way.

White Christmas

What could be better this time of year than simplicity and white?

(immages from pinterest)

Christmas Fun...

 Tree 2011

Ernie the elf has been dutifully watching the girls for Santa.

Every morning he is in a new location in our house and the girls hunt him down.  If you look carefully you can see him in our tree above.  

Last week the girls found a sleigh at the park by school.  

GG took a whirlwind tour of the city with Daddy today.  Here she is posing with the tree in Rock Center.  NG went to Radio City yesterday with Mama & Papa and also saw the tree.  Lucky little ladies!!

Philadelphia

Go Aggies!

 Feldman 101

 The chapel.

 

Daddy's old dorm window.

Last weekend we took the girls to the old alma mater.  Yup! We were Aggies... I guess we still are, and always will be.  Anyway, we spent four years of our lives in Bucks County, PA at Del Val, and it was so nice to go back.  It was where we met, then became friends, and the rest is history :) The girls were so into touring the campus and the farms.  They loved to hear silly old stories about our college days, and kept asking where they were.  Haha! We enjoyed being back in the area and fondly reminiscing, as well as expressing shock that it has been 12?!?! years since leaving. 

Christmas Card Rejects

The card shoot got pretty silly, but we definitely had fun with it, and I think I got one good picture.  

Last Gator Ride

 A gaggle of girls...

The weather last weekend could not be beat, so we took advantage and went for one last gator ride.

Christmas Parade

We have attended our local holiday parade parade for about 6 years.  It is always the Friday after Thanksgiving.  This year we got together with good friends of ours and whipped up a float last minute for some fun.  Their gator + our boat and voila we had what we thought was a very unique float...until we pulled up to the school to line up and there was a bigger boat right in front of us :( Who would of thought??? Somebody had the great idea to put the oars on and a string of blue lights around to mimic water, and Jess rowed down Main St., which was pretty funny.  If the kids got too close chasing candy, she could whack them :) 

Baby Love

GG cannot get enough of baby Brooke and baby Reese!

According to my phone...

This is what we have been up to...

A Laverne Black photography exhibition titled "Manescapes."  Very cool!

GG's last soccer game.  She was the only girl on the team this year, and had a great season.  She held her own and even scored some goals.

A rocket launch with Daddy.  The first launch was successful.  The second launch the rocket disappeared. We found it 6 days later in a tree.  It's still there and will be for a while because it is 40 ft up! 

Playing with new cousins, Brooke and Reese, or Reesie and Brookie, as CC calls them.  To say our 3 ladies are comepletely smitten and totally ga-ga over their cousins is an understatement!

GG's first bus ride.  She begged us and we finally gave in.  Two days a week she gets to ride the little bus to school with a handful of friends.  Saves time, saves gas, saves my sanity :) and gives her some independance.  Win-win...so far...

Happy 4th Brithday NG!

Our little spitfire turned 4 on November 3rd! I cannot believe she is 4 because she seems so much older to me.  I think it is because we often treat her the same as GG.  They are the same size so we, and others forget she is 2 years younger. NG is full of spunk every second of everyday.  To say she keeps us on our toes is an understatement.  She is determined, funny, strong-willed, social, brazen, athletic, and a born leader.  There is no drama with NG.  She is who she is, like it or not.  She is a take charge kind of girl.  The one who gathers the children at the playground and creates the fun, and get this...they ALL listen to her?!?! 
When we met with her teacher the other day our one concern was her behavior in school.  (She can give us a run for our money at home.)  Her teacher's one concern was that she is the youngest in the class, but way beyond her age in so many ways.  They, like us, just try to keep her busy, and challenged.  I foresee many years of this with NG :)
So for her birthday NG asked for a Princess cake and spaghetti and meatballs. The top pic is of her with her new basketball coach clipboard.  It is dry erase, which she thinks is really cool.  We are planning to attend a NBA game as soon as the lockout is over...hopefully soon.

Mischief Night

It's a tradition...
This year we froze when GG hysterically announced from the back of the van, "I cannot wait to tell my teacher about this tomorrow!!!!  Uh-oh...
Sorry for the blurry pictures.  They were so excited they could not stand still.

Pumpkin Carving 2011

Fairy Houses

Nana and PopPop gave the girls this book a while ago.  It's been in the car and the girls have been studying it.  A couple weeks ago they decided they really wanted to make their own fairy houses, so I gave them a bottle of white glue and they went to town.  They worked hard for over an hour, hunting for supplies and creating houses.  Here are some pictures of the process.