Last Day!

Last day of 2012!  A great year for us.  Got the new house, Myra started school, good times!  We will go to the Flanigans for a little while today, then dinner at Outback, and a movie.

Christmas in the 'Burgh

So we went to Pittsburgh on Thursday to see the Novaks.  So I had to take the opportunity to rub it in all those 'Stiller fans that my Seahawks are doing so well.  Nice jersey, eh?  Or n'at?

Kerry's Longtime Wish Fulfilled

It became a long running joke, but Kerry FINALLY got a chance to snowblow on our trip to Pa.  (-:

Snow!

 First snow!  We headed up to PA on Christmas Day to avoid the pending storm.  We got there, and it started on the 26th, as we headed home from shopping in Indiana.  Girls had a bunch of fun out in it!

Christmas at the Shearers

Lots of good times and gifts in PA as well.

Christmas at the Flanigans

Fun with Lucy's new Headbanz game!

Family Gift!

Girls playing with the wii, our family gift this year.  Quite fun!

Christmas Morning!

Just like last year, once Myra became conscious, she flew down the stairs!  Looking a little groggy, but she was all about the presents, as was Lucy!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

What a GREAT Christmas!!  Lots of great times with friends and family, presents, food...and my SEAHAWK jersey!

We Got Snow!

 Up in Pennsylvania and received about 8 inches of snow.  Cold and windy, but we still all went out to play in it.  Then Kerry got to FINALLY snowblow this evening!  Off to the 'Burgh tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

Santa has come (as has Mommy and Daddy!).  He was very generous this year.  Now we get ready for Grammie and Grandpa's and Nana and PapPap's.  Long day ahead, lots of Sheetz cuppocinio, but lots of fun!

Luminaries!

One of the things I was most looking forward to in the new neighborhood--they do luminaries!  I of course had my usual helpers!

A Winter Show!

Lucy, Myra, and Maeve put on quite the show for us last night.  Variety of new music and some favorites.  Our little Rudolph (Myra) stole the show.  Very cute!

Wilkerson Nature Preserve

I always like the holidays.  We get out to a bunch of parks and hang out.  We went over to the new nature preserve off Ravens Ridge the other day. Fun time!

Posing at the House

Ahh...my little monkeys, always ready to pose!

First Time in Two Years!

Keep going down, please!

Christmas Sheetz Cups!

It's that time!  You know Christmas approaches when you see the Christmas foam cups at Sheetz!  Soon to follow--free coffee on Christmas Day!  Should help me stay awake on the drive to PA!

Helping Others

On Saturday Night, Lucy and I, along with our Y Princess tribe rang the Salvation Army bell at Harris Teeter.  It was a cold night, but we were very excited and talked about how we were helping others at this time.  Pretty neat!

Christmas Lights, 2012

So a nice, tasteful start to the lights at the new house.  Next year, I plan to put more in the trees, icicles in the peak above Myra's window, and some on our other tree.

Awesome Christmas Find!

Oh my gosh!  I had these all the time growing up.  We found them at Kroger, and of course, I had to pick them up.  Yum!

Santa!

Went to see Santa last week.  Girls did a nice job talking to him, and of course, they brought their Santa letters.  Lucy wants this ladybug that shines constellations on the ceiling.  Myra wants the Ariel doll with Prince Eric.  We will see if Santa delivers or not!

Ahhh...Christmas Time!

Yup, my favorite time.  Loving the newish house and decorating for the first time.  If I say so myself, I like the looks of the mantle, with the fire burning in it!

Happy Birthday, Wife!

My wife celebrated her birthday yesterday.  I celebrated her--without which, I would not know what to do.  A fun day and evening.  Went to Twisted Fork with the in-laws, then some yummy dessert I made with the girls.  Now only Christmas remains!

Myra is French!

So I have said it many, many times, how I wish we could document all the neat/cute things the girls say/do.  Like recently, Myra has gotten into the habit of kissing us on both cheeks.  Bob and Grandma would be disappointed she's not 'dutch,' but she must be French.  She is so funny!

Christmas Time Is Here!

So it turned December.  And we are ready, quite ready, for Christmas.  Having so much fun with the girls.  Music, movies, wrapping, shopping.  So much fun with kids!  And Nick, our Christmas Elf came back.

Oh Christmas Tree

The girls, just getting started on decorating.

Christmas Lights

Kerry, her mom, and sister went out Black Friday shopping, so you know what that meant for me and the girls: Christmas lights!  New house, new lights.  We spent two days getting things right.  Then we also went and got our Christmas tree, decorated it, and decorated inside.  Christmas is ready at our house!

Our First Fire!

Yup, our first REAL fire.  Just one of those CRL logs, but we are ready for real ones, and just in time---24 degrees overnight.

Myra's Field Trip

Got to chaperone Myra's field trip to the Carolina Theatre to see Beauty and the Beast last week.  Myra really enjoyed the show, and I enjoyed seeing her eyes sparkle!  Fun memories I will always remember.  I then got to go back to school and see Lucy's science class by her great science teacher (Kerry!) They were studying caterpillars and COCOONS!  Heehee!! 

The First Leon

We pulled out Christmas decorations for the first time at our new house.  And one of the first things--Leon!!

Snakes, In November?

If you remember, about a year ago, we were hiking the rocks along Falls Lake last year about this time, and found a big snake sunning on a rock. Cold day, but a warm sun.  So in our driveway today, we found this guy, just sitting there, cold day, but warm sun.

Big Bike Ride!

Today we decided to load up the bikes, drive over to the Dump Playground, and bike along the Greenway.  We actually got on the Neuse River Trail and headed the whole way to the Bamboo Trees before Capital Blvd.  Pretty long ride, about 3-4 miles for the girls.  We were quite impressed!  Had lots of fun this Veterans' Day weekend.  Thanks to all that served!

Pumpkins

So not as good as the Skull and Crossbones, Mr. Meowkins, and witch from last year, but for doing it the day before, we're happy with our smirk face and bat.

She DID IT!

So Myra has had the goal that if she could ride her bike without training wheels, we would ride to our new McDonalds for a sundae.  She has tried off and on throughout the summer, then when PapPap came last month.  Well, about a week ago, she got the hang of riding, and on Sunday, we rode up to it.  She was just a little excited!

Lucy's Birthday

We finally had Lucy's birthday party yesterday at Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill.  We waited since UNC had some home games and they recommended not trying to party wiht home games.  Lucy had some friends, they did a craft, and overall, we celebrated a fun time!  Our eight year old--wow!

Leaf Collecting...Or Not...

Yeah, that's the girls under the tarp after some leaf raking.  I guess they help.  The verdict is still out.

Pumpkin Carving Time Again

Our saving girls

Yup, Myra finally got the car for Lily that she wanted.  She has been saving her allowance for quite awhile, so she bought it herself today.

Lucy as well has been saving her money.  The Targets did not have her walking dog, so she bought it online.

Pretty impressed with my girls!

Pilot Mountain Trip

Yesterday we made a day trip to Pilot Mountain.  I will share some more pictures soon, but we had a great time, and with the Frankenstorm bearing down, it actually turned out to be a nice day for a hike!

Camp Kanata: or The Day I Became Dehydrated

My Tennis/Guitar Hero!

Yes, fun weekend last weekend.  Busy, to the extreme!  On Sunday I woke up for a long 12 mile run.  Then we had the Y Princess Outing at Camp Kanata with our tribe.  LOTS of fun, but, phew, Lucy and I were exhausted afterward!

We camped out in the field, playing lots of games, then decided to go check out some of the stations.  We practiced tennis, went on a hike, and did some beadwork.

We came back, had our dinner cookout, and got ready for our initiation.  Had to wait for dark, then we walked through the torch tunnel.  Definitely a very fun day with my Little Bug!  Glad we're doing this!

Such a Sad Time...

Don't even have much more to say...

Y Princesses Begin

Had our first official meeting at our house yesterday.  Look like Lucy and I will enjoy all the togetherness this will bring.  Have a big event this month at Camp Kanata, and lots of other fun things this year!

Yard Sale Day

Phew, quite the busy Saturday.  It started with a community yard sale.  As you can see, I came up with an ingenious way to display the girls' clothes.  We started very slow, but by the end of the day...$62.00 profit.  Sold Myra's old bike, a bunch of books, lots of clothes...pretty good job.

Oh, The Tech Support We Perform...

Taken from Clients from Hell (http://clientsfromhell.net/post/17833351369/me-the-internet-isnt-working-but-dont-worry):

ME: The internet isn’t working – but don’t worry, we’ve called to get it sorted and they said it should be up in the next ten minutes.

CLIENT: We’ll just e-mail in Outlook then.

ME: That’ll be down too.

CLIENT: Fine! It’s unprofessional, but we’ll use Facebook.

ME: Do you understand what the internet is?

Andy Warhol

Yeah, my wife is too good to me.  She brought me home some of these--Andy Warhol soup cans!

How I Hate Apple

I hate them for so many reasons, but NONE more than the arrogance that they are such 'innovators.'  Mr. Higher than God Steve Jobs, recognized as a god...but just take a look at these things...and that's just some of their 'stolen' things...

Sheetz Fail

Oh Sheetz...first the BSOD on one of the gas pump menus, now a  'login with CTRL-ALT-DELETE' on a TOUCHSCREEN.  Only windows...

Major Roadtrip

Didn't get much time to blog last week, as I went on a day long trip to Bristol, TN.  One of my coworker's mother passed away, so I went up for the viewing.  Pretty long day, but saw lots of neat things.  In the picture is Pilot Mountain, which I hope we will all visit soon.

Munzees

So we stumbled upon something I think we can all enjoy...or at least Lucy, Myra, and myself.  It's a game similar to geocaching called Munzee.  You actually have a QR code (those squarish UPC looking things) that you scan with your smartphone and then you get points.  Munzees are everywhere too!  We found three at Honeycutt Park, and now we're on the lookout.  Myra and I found three today at Falls Village and behind the Six Forks K-Mart.  Then the three of us deployed our first three today along the Greenway.  Pretty fun!

Skate Queens!

Yeah, we went roller skating, and spent more time at the games.  But at least it was skeeball...