Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas from the Wahrmund's

For the past few years on Christmas we have had people to see, places to go and things to do.  But this year was different for us.  With the loss of my dad still so fresh, having moved across country and hardly getting settled in before the holidays came, all we wanted to do was take it easy and just be together with our little family.  Christmas eve we made a nice Thanksgiving-esque dinner with chicken, opened one gift and then read Christmas stories before bed.  Christmas morning came very early (5 AM!!) and it was Scotty who came in to wake us, he who sleeps til 9 AM most mornings.  I tried shooing him back to bed, but then remembered what it was like as a kid on Christmas morning just dying to see what Santa brought, so we gave in and headed down.  The boys were so surprised that Santa brought them both dirt bikes!  Scotty had his from before and Jay basically took that one and put all new plastics on it and made some changes to it so Scotty thinks its a "new" bike, but really its just updated.  Zacs is just a little thing and I definitely had my reservations about getting it for him, but I trusted Jay on this one and so far it has been great.  Jay took them out and let them ride around our yard that whole afternoon and they had a blast.  I can't get over how cute they are.  Zac is fearless and zips everywhere he goes and Scotty is slow, steady and very cautious.  I guess this means we will be looking for a bike for Trev by next Christmas....

Santa was here!

Excited boys

Trev and his Glow Worm

Trev got an ATV, but he'd rather push it than ride it

First Lesson

Dirt Biker #2

Heres some video of Zac on his first day riding....lessons from Dad AND lessons from Scotty...

Advent Activities

Have been so preoccupied with the move that I felt I was neglecting the magic of the holiday season and opportunities to share it with the boys.  They are all three at a fun age right now where everything is exciting.  So even before I had all the boxes unpacked and things on the walls, I made a point to decorate for Christmas.  Even talked Jay into getting up on the roof to hang the lights outside.  Had to make a nice impression on all our new neighbors :)

I also stole an awesome idea from my good friend, Monica Acosta, in an interesting twist to the advent calendar.  Every year we do the advent calendar where they open the little doors and get candy.  But this year, instead of candy, they got an activity...

So every morning the boys took turns opening the day's envelope to see what exciting new thing(s) we'd be doing that night once Scotty got home from school....they had a lot of fun with it and it gave us all something to look forward to each day. 

Some of the activities included decorating Christmas cookies...though mommy couldn't get the dough to form with the cookie cutters, so they got to decorate plain old round sugar cookies...but at least they were homemade!

even dad joined in...

They made little reindeer and snowman projects

And helped make Christmas rice krispie treats...

And decorate the tree...I am usually meticulous when it comes to the way the decorations go on the tree, ensuring adequate spacing between ornaments. But this year I got over myself and let the boys do it.  It wasn't perfect, there were a few ornament casualties, but they had fun.

Instead of heading into DC to the National Zoo for zoolights, I took the boys through a festival of lights parade at the Bull Run park.  They got a kick out of it but I have not mastered the night-time photo shooting trick, thus the pics didnt turn out, but you get the idea.  Next year definitely gonna do the real zoolights :)

First Trip to DC

For this year's Christmas card, which ended up being a New Years card, I was determined to get a pic of the boys in DC.  And the only place that I wanted to take this blessed picture was in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.  However, I had no idea where I was going, what it was going to be like when I got there and even if I'd find parking.  But I was determined, so I loaded the boys up and away we went.  I knew it wasn't going to be a full family shot because there was no way I was getting Jay to go downtown on his day off.  So for those of you planning to visit, just know that Jay will never accompany us downtown to see the sights.  Battlefields, yes.  Washington DC monuments, no.  It was a beautiful sunny day in DC and we really couldn't have picked a better day to go.  It was not crowded and the traffic was kind.  Thanks to my handy DC map, I found the place I wanted to go.  Just driving by it was breathtaking and surreal...was I really in this place I'd only ever read about?  Was that really the Washington Monument before us?  Problem was, I couldn't find parking.  Ended up getting caught in the roundabout and headed over to Arlington National Cemetary on accident.  BONUS!  Turns out there was a parking garage right at the cemetary and that is where we started out.  I can officially say we were at Arlington National Cemetary, but we hardly saw it.  We walked into it far enough to take a few pictures, but there is so much more I'd like to see there. 

It will have to wait for another day because I knew time was limited with these little boys and had to stick to my task at hand.  We were already further away from the Lincoln Memorial than I wanted to be so we had a lot of walking to do.  I was very impressed with my boys, they walked what seemed like several miles and were such troopers!  We definitely saw the Lincoln Memorial, but sadly the reflecting pool was empty and under construction.  Talk about disappointment!! 

But I got my pictures anyway!

We walked around the pool over to the WW II memorial which was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  So much detail...I could've probably spent longer in there, but again, had little ones with me and was more concerned they were going to dive into the pool of water...

I loved these quotes they had displayed in the memorial 

The boys got a kick out of finding each state they had ever been to, even the recent ones we passed thru on our trek across country

The detail was really impressive

Just across the way from the WWII Memorial was the Washington Monument.  We didn't go over to it, but we got a pretty amazing view of it.  Something I'd like to see even closer up someday.

We ate lunch at a little corner hot dog stand and then headed back over the bridge that crosses the Potomac River to the parking garage. 

Lots of walking for little feet, but all in all a fun experience for a first time in DC...and what a beautiful day to be outside enjoying it.  I think next time I bring the boys, I will look into the double decker tour buses that you can hop on and off at any location.  Can't wait to go back for more!

Our New Digs

The house from the road, it sits on an acre lot.

Tomorrow is the big day, after a trip across the country and living in a trailer for the past four weeks, we finally get to move into the house we will call home for the next 3.5 years.  I looked at a lot of houses and some were practically brand new; some were more and some were less rent; some were closer to DC some were further.  For whatever reason, this 26 year old colonial in Virginia just had my heart right away and to think I almost called to cancel the viewing because I'd thought we'd found "the one" in Maryland.  Granted, we are just renting so why am I getting all excited about a house that isn't even ours?  I love to make the houses we are in "home" no matter where we are and this house has so much character, it will be easy to do.  Even though it is hardly "out in the country", I feel that way when we are there.  It is away from the hustle and bustle that is the DC area and I feel comfortable there and secure for my boys.  Yes, some of the light fixtures and window treatments could stand an update, but I'm not complaining.  There is a ton of room, more than we need, but plenty of room for Diane in the lower level.  In fact, its almost as if she has her own apartment down there, and still enough room for guests....so start planning your trip to our nation's capitol and come visit us :)  Will update with interior pics once we get settled...

This is a little shed...at first I thought it was a little one bedroom house (Diane...)

But, it houses the riding lawn mower that is included with the property.

Back of the house