New York City, May 8th-12th, 2010

Law & Order: Criminal Intent-The Finale Episode!!

Nana took Skylar (and me) to the American Girl store to get her a doll over Spring Break. We tried to eat at the cafe, but it was booked up, so we "settled" for the dessert bar and got a sweet treat. Skyar was too excited to eat her sundae because all she really wanted to do was go get "Julie", her new doll. Strangley enough, they do not make a blonde with green eyes and straight hair (they do have a new Lanie doll with long blonde hair and green eyes, but her hair is curly. Guess we could use a straigtener if we wanted!!) Julie has long blonde hair and blue eyes. The store is so cute and they even have a place where the dolls can get a new hairdo! Skylar had the best time and on the way home she said to me "Mom, you are fun without dad!" Todd was away on business, and I think they were concerned I wouldn't be as fun as dad!! Thanks Nana for a great time. (Pop-Pop took Trevor out to the toy store and he chose a Monster Jeep and some Mighty Beans. A happy boy, for sure!)

Great Wolf Lodge-January 2010

We took a quick trip out to the Great Wolf Lodge and stayed one night in a "Wolf Den" suite. The kids loved it-the kids had a little "room within a room" all to themselves complete with bunkbeds and their own TV. We had fun exploring the room, then we went to the pool for a bit and then to Cracker Barrel for dinner. At 8pm, the hotel has a story time for the kids and a little animated show. Afterwards, they played "MagiQuest" for awhile before bed. It is a virtual scavenger hunt using special wands where you collect certain information throughout the hotel and earn points to advance to different levels. Of course, they got a kick out of it! The next day we swam for a few hours and headed out early afternoon. The kids had the best time. We'll go back when the kids are tall enough to ride all the rides. Hope everyone is well!

Christmas Eve 2009

We had our annual Christmas Eve at Nana and Pop-Pop's! Trevor got "Spike" the dinosaur and Skylar got a My Generation Doll. They also got a bunch of other stuff from Santa and Nana & Pop-Pop! We had dinner and opened presents and visited, but we had to leave earlier than usual because of the weather. We had snow and some ice and it was really pretty. Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas!

Snowfall in Dec 2009

The kids loved playing in the snow this afternoon. It started snowing about 3pm and we went out at about 4pm. They made three snowmen, had snowball fights, Maggie made a snow-angel and we even had snowcones with freshly fallen snow! The picture of the house at night was actually taken on Christmas Eve! Afterwards we had a hot bath and pizza for dinner-what a great day. Hope everyone is well.

Skylar received the Principal's Award on Friday, December 11th at the Celebrate Smith assembly. Skylar was the recipient for the 1st grade class. Each 6 weeks one child is selected per grade to receive this award and it is given in honor of those students who show expemplary student qualities. Mrs. Foster, Skylar's teacher, wrote a poem that describes Skylar:

"The Principal's award winner goes to someone,
Who is not only a great student, but a load of fun!
This 1st grade student is from Mrs. Foster's class,
Although with her great behavior, a 2nd grader she could pass.
She is hard working, caring and helpful indeed,
I can always count on her to take the lead.
Her smile and attitude will brighten anyone's day,
Her love of learning and ambition make me say. . .
That I'm so very proud of my 1st grade friend,
You deserve this award Miss Skylar Sutherland!"

Skylar enjoys getting a picture with Principal Kimball!

How did we get so lucky as to have had the best Kindergarten teacher ever (Miss. Beakley) and now the best 1st grade teacher ever?? Thank you Mrs. Foster!

Just a side note: The children were arranged Kinder to 5th grade and Skylar was about a head shorter than the Kindergartener! Too funny!

Halloween 2009

Trevor was a shark and Skylar was Taylor Swift for Halloween. Todd got creative on both costumes because Pottery Barn was sold out of Trev0r's-so Todd made a shark costume! He also made Skylar's guitar using a piece of wood and he and Skylar colored it. Very cool! Hope everyone is having a great Fall so far!