A week in paradise (AKA The Virgin Islands)

Dave and I left our kids with my parents and spent a week in the Virgin Islands. Dave's sister, Kristin has lived there for the last year, and we decided it was time for a visit. We had a great week: spent mostly on the beach and in the water. We visited 5 different islands, all of them beautiful. St John was probably my favorite. Click on the slideshow to see a few pictures.

Ahoy There!

Benjamin turned 7 this month! He had a wild and crazy pirate party! The boys had a great time! Ben thought it was great! Here are a few pictures.

The cannonball fight. Always a popular game among 7-year old boys.

Walk the plank relay. They were pretty fast!

Joseph and Kathryn came for the festivities. They were an amazing help! Joseph is keeping Kathryn safe during the pinata time. She had the dangerous job of spinning the blindfolded batter before he hit the pinata! She is very brave.

Dave swinging the pinata .
The pirate ship birthday cake. This was so easy to make, and Ben thought it was great!

Uncle Joseph and Joshua taking a rest.

Happy Birthday, Benjamin! We love you!

Spring has Arrived!

We're jumping for joy! Spring is finally here, and the weather is, well, spring-like. We have cold days, rainy days, and the best of all, warm, sunny days! I actually like rainy days (like today), because I don't feel like I have to work in the yard, and can actually catch up on things like organizing closets and updating our blog.


Here is our house with the beautiful blossoms that I love. We also captured a bee, doing his job, as well as Benjamin, pretending to be a bee.

Emily finished her third session of gymnastics. She enjoyed the workout each week, but mostly liked wearing the fancy gymnastics outfits! She learned a lot.

Benjamin started spring soccer on the black dragons team. He loves to run after that ball! Emily was disappointed to learn that she cannot start until the fall. She was looking forward to the snacks!

Benjamin got a much needed haircut, but the interesting thing about this photo is that you can actually see the hair being cut and flying through the air. At least you can in our original one. Dave bought himself a new camera, and we are all the subjects of his new hobby.

The first week of may we went to Indiana so I could run the Mini. We stayed with some old friends, the Pitchers. The kids had a great time! Here are Bethany and Emily, soon after waking up. They hadn't been up for long, but it looks like Emily has already found a princess dress to wear!

Here are Joshua and Jared.

Benjamin and Joey are exploring the world of webkins.
It was nice to be back and Indy and see so many old friends. Thanks for your hospitality!Benjamin's first grade class incubated chicken eggs for 21 days. The day after Ben's birthday, they hatched! Emily and I went in to visit the new arrivals. They were so cute! I almost wanted to take one home!

John Hoopes visits Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina!

We had a great visit with Dave's dad just after Christmas. Thanks for coming!

If you come to Dayton, you'll probably end up at the Air Force Museum, like it or not. There isn't a lot to see here, but this is big, and free. Here are Dave and his dad enjoying the planes.

The kids and I finally caught up with them!

John brought Pirate stories and toys. Here the kids are listening to the story while playing with their new toys.

We spent one night at the Great Wolf lodge, a hotel and waterpark. Everyone had a great time! And what a great picture of us in our swimming suits!

We made Thai and Indian food while John was here. Dave and his dad shopped for ingredients at several local ethnic markets.

We drove south to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It was just after a snow storm, and was unusually cold for the south. The scenery was amazing! The waterfalls were frozen, and there was snow on all the trees! Perfect day!

We did a short hike to a famous waterfall.

Emily and Benjamin take a little break.

Here we are at the top. It was pretty and quiet up there.

Christmas Traditions

Waiting on the steps Christmas morning. It's almost time to visit the Christmas room!

Emily got some princess books. Dave read them out loud.

The kids were excited about their presents. Too bad they didn't open their new pajamas earlier on in the game! Here is Benjamin with the walkie talkies that santa brought.Emily loved her fancy new dress!

Joshua got a race car set, and was done with Christmas. He didn't need anything else!

Here we are on Christmas Eve. The stockings are hung...
I love our Christmas traditions. We have a nice mix of the Osmonds and the Hoopes. We eat a traditional meal like my family had growing up: Norwegian meatballs, mashed potatoes, rolls, creamed rutabega, green cabbage, corn, and carrots. We had rice pudding for dessert, and Benjamin found the almond and won the chocolate santa. Then we dressed up to put on the nativity play (Dave's family), and finally, we all "laid in a star" (also Dave's family). You can see the picture below. It was fun to have Joseph and Kathryn around to take a picture of our star!

This is just a cute picture of Emily in her winter gear.

On Christmas Eve this year, we made candy trains. The kids (and Joseph and Kathryn) did a beautiful job. The trains looked delicious!Here is our rendition of the nativity play. Emily was Mary, Dave was Joseph, Benjamin and Joshua were wisemen, Joseph was a shepherd, and Kathryn was the angel. They did a great job!

I went in to Ben's class for their Christmas Party. We had a great time. Here is a photo of Ben with his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Smith.

We met Joseph and Kathryn at Clifton Mill for an amazing light display. Fortunately is was fairly warm, and we had a really fun evening.

Being a Mother

Snow day! Benjamin was so happy to have a day off of school! He played and played in the snow. Here is his first snowman. He made a whole family of them!
Emily liked making snow angels. It looks cold to me, but she thought it was worth it!
Emily and Joshua under the tree. Joshua looks innocent, but he has been unwrapping at least one present a day. You'd think his mom would wise up and MOVE the presents. But, no harm done. He mostly just unwraps a jack in the box over and over. It's for him, anyway.


Some comments about my children.

Since I am, afterall, first and foremost, a mother, I am going to take a minute here and tell a little bit about my kids. Here is a funny quote from Emily.

Megan (in a big hurry): Emily, you can't go out in those shoes. You look like poor white trash.

Emily (indignant): I'm not white trash! ..... I'm PINK trash.

Does this translate well? It was really funny when she said it!

Also of note, Benjamin's art work can be seen online, now. The website is www.artsonia.com/Benjamin765
He got his 150 patch for reading that many books last month. His goal this month is to earn both 200 and 250. This is a big goal for him. Wish us luck!

Joshua is potty training. I have this glimmer of hope that there will come a day in my life that I won't have a child in diapers. It has been an expensive 6 years.

BAOTAP

BAOTAP stands for "Books Are Our Thing At Parkwood." BAOTAP is a robot that encourages the kids to read. Benjamin got his patch for reading 100 books this month. Here he is with his certificate. They have an assembly each month to award the kids their patches. This is Ben's 3rd. We sew the patches on to their school shirts. It is really cute, and it sure gets Ben reading!

Thanksgiving

We went to the Dawson's for Thanksgiving dinner this year. They have a variety of pets that we are going to model for you in the next pictures.

Benjamin with the corn snake (a constrictor)

Emily with Angelita (a tarantula)
Emily really loved these animals. She held them for the longest, and kept begging for more.

Joshua with a spider for a hat.

And finally, me with the snake, tarantula, and rabbit. The rabbit I enjoyed holding. He is very soft. The snake I could tolerate, although it was a stretch. The spider was way over the top. I am smiling in this picture, but I am also hyperventilating. Even Dave admitted that the spider made him feel a little nervous.