Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas!




All A wanted for Christmas was a roundhouse for his trains. We were also introduced to our first remote-controlled toy this year, which not only scares the animals but C too.




Can you kazoo?


Our tough little guy - no smiling when riding his "motorcycle".


It's difficult to tell from this angle, but C is carrying the ball with her teeth. She wants to be just like our dog Cassie, I suppose.

Happy 1st Birthday, C!

Ah, the Say-Cheese smile of two years olds.


It snowed on C's bday!

Boxed In

Not content with my answer of "No, we're not going to blow up any balloons with the helium tank right now," A proceeded to take the tank out of the box and create his own entertainment.

2nd Child, 1st Steps

Today C took her first steps!

Her Brother, Her Rock

Halloween 2008

Our community trick-or-treats on a scheduled day. This year, it was Thursday the 30th.


Our little Steelers cheerleader


It took a lot of coaxing to get A to wear this "smock", but once he had it on and once people started saying, "Hey! It's Thomas the Train!", he was all about wearing it. This was also his first year in a cumbersome Halloween costume: This wasn't a stepping-up-on-the-curb-friendly outfit.


A and his friend Sophia




Our last stop was at Nana's house, where the kids like to sing (and play!) along with her at the piano.

Fall Foliage 2008

I had raked up most of the leaves already, but this blustery day provided us with more dropped leaves and Fall color. I love Fall!



A (2.5 yrs), C (11 months)

Family, Friends and Fall Festival

Mother and Daughter


Play date jam session


We took the kids to the KidsPlace at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg.






Enter "stage left"


At the National Apple Harvest Festival in Arendtsville, PA


A's 1st pony ride where he rode "side saddle" in that the saddle was sliding off the SIDE of the horse. M has a white-knuckle grip on him.


C's latest thing is to get everyone to look under the table.

Old House, New House

We are finished! Whew! We are finished with our latest round of home improvements, adding to our list of previously-completed projects (1st bedroom, living room/dining room, new floors, 2nd bedroom) since we moved in 2.5 years ago. It's time for a nice long break and many freed-up weekends before we start on the next round of renovations (kitchen, basement, attic...gulp!). Steve did all the work and has learned so much in the process.




The Brown Room, formerly known as "The Room on the Way to the Attic", is a miscellaneous room: part TV room, part sewing room, part guest room when we need it, or perhaps someday a home office.


Bedroom


Foyer






We didn't have any good "before" pictures of the stairwell, but you can kinda-sorta see the change. If anything, you can see how much A has grown in a year. :-)

September Stuff

A's 1st day of preschool. He loves it, esp because they have Thomas & Friends trains at school.


Off to pick tomatoes out of our garden with Nana


C is 10 months old.




New raincoats, although C has a couple of months before she'll fit into her coat.

Misc August

We're up to our necks in construction dust as we renovate the last two bedrooms upstairs and replace carpeting on the stairwell. Pictures of that to come. Meanwhile, the kids are adjusting well to our torn-apart house.



C is 9 months old.



With some of the cousins at Grandparents Kretzing's 50th anniversary celebration


C's Latest Tricks: Wrist-shaking maraca-playing and mimicking "uh-oh" (Perhaps, I say that too much.) :)

Penn State

We took a trip to visit S's alma mater and met up with one of his landscape architecture classmates and his family. What a scenic drive to State College, PA and what a beautiful campus!


Kristi, Matt and Molly (5 months) on the lawn in front of Old Main




The new architecture/landscape architecture building at Penn State. Too bad the l.arch. building didn't look anything like this when S and Matt were earning their degrees.


The kids before their morning coffee


Nit(tany Lion)-picking






C's first PSU duds


They were drowsy heading to bed, but then giggles and a second wind came about once A and C realized they were going to sleep in the same bed together. A sleepover? Hooray!!!




Finally. It was peaceful for the first few hours until the baby-toddler 90-degree-turn-kick-mom-in-the-back-all-night began.