Oh the weather outside is frightful...

but hot chocolate is so delightful,


and since we love playing in the snow,


let it snow,

let it snow,

let it snow!


You know it's a REAL snow storm when even the snow plow gets stuck! Ours sure did, while trying to plow our street. Katie came running down the steps from where she had been watching it, to inform us that the driver was shoveling out his truck. We didn't believe her, so we went to see -- sure enough, there he was, poor guy, digging out his tires. Finally he was able to move, although his wheels spun a bit at first. I don't know if he attempted to finish our street -- I wouldn't blame him if he quit right there! All the streets are a MESS. Northern Virginia just is not equipped to handle this kind of weather. Mr. Pickles (who is after all from Minnesnowta, where they probably wouldn't have even canceled school for snow like this) tried going out to mail some packages, and everything was whited out. You couldn't tell that the snowplows had been through recently -- you couldn't see the curbs or medians or anything, and there were even a couple 4WDs that had gotten stuck in the sides of the road. He says getting back home was an adventure -- he had to barrel throw a snow drift to get back in our neighborhood (because of course the plows hadn't bothered to come down our neighborhood street yet, and there was a wall of snow blocking the entrance to the street!), skidding and fishtailing the whole way. I'm so glad I didn't try to go out -- I might have been like one of those driving down the middle of the road, going 5mph, with their hazards on. (Okay, if you feel you have to drive with your hazards on, you shouldn't be on the road!)

So, no errands for us today! (If you don't receive your presents from us before Christmas, you'll know why!) Instead, we all got suited up to go outside and PLAY!

Joseph took this part much more stoically than last year. He maneuvered around in his boots pretty well, although he kept getting stuck whenever he fell over.

I love snow like this. It covers everything so gently, and turns what was once dead and barren into a thing of mystery and beauty.

Anyone for a swim? What, you don't see the pool? It's that indentation thing right there... oh never mind. Well, how about some grilling? (Actually, for an ironic twist we had hamburgers and lemonade for dinner tonight.)

It's been doing this for 24 hours. The snow is even deeper in the hours since I took these pictures -- our van is completely buried! I had to walk one of Miriam's friends home -- that is, I had to blaze a trail through the snow for her, since it already came up to my knees. Wow, was I tired when I got back home!

It's going to be a chore digging everything out tomorrow... but meanwhile we had lots of fun and got all thoroughly soaked and cold and tired. Time to go -- the fireplace and hot chocolate await!

Nine years!!

Mr. Pickles and I celebrated our NINTH anniversary the day before Katie's birthday. I KNOW! Where do the years go? Since this will be our last chance to escape from the children for a while, we made the most of it and got our dear friends to babysit that weekend while we spent the night at a hotel. This is where we stayed. I KNOW! Does Mr. Pickles know how to spoil me or what? After dropping the kids off we checked in. Apparently there were a couple weddings going on (why yes, it IS a good time of the year to get married after all...) so the room we had reserved was taken. So they HAD to bump us up a level and give us a loft suite. Oh, darn. Well, we're used to hardship! :) The room was AWESOME. Because the bed was upstairs in the loft, we were far removed from the door, so it was really REALLY quiet. Probably the quietest hotel stay I've ever experienced. The bathroom had a jacuzzi tub which was cool (although it made the loudest, most horrible gurgling noises while it was draining!). Oh, and we had a goldfish in a bowl in our room. (Why did I not take a picture?)

For dinner that night we walked around the corner to a crêperie and had crêpes for dinner! Fun and yummy. The next morning we had breakfast at a french-y cafe, then walked around the farmer's market. In the afternoon we went on a Food & History walking tour. THAT was fun -- in between visits to 5 different restaurants (which were all FABULOUS), our tour guide shared all kinds of interesting historical tidbits. For one thing, we got to walk past George Washington's townhouse, in addition to the tavern where he was first introduced as president of the United States! We also got to browse around the Torpedo Factory, which we've always been curious about.

Afterwards we brought pizza from this cool gourmet pizza place to our friends who were sitting, and hung out with them for a little while before we headed back home to reality. It was such a wonderful weekend together, and a great way to celebrate 9 years. Here's hoping for a cruise (with baby) for #10! :)



9 years and we still like each other. :)

Happy Birthday to the Bearcakes!

Well, it's been a month since Katie's 5th birthday, so I figured it was okay to blog about it now. :)

For those keeping score, Katie just turned 5. Yes, 5. As in, a WHOLE HAND. Didn't Miriam just do this recently? Like, 2 months ago? Sigh. I can't believe what a big girl Katie is getting to be. Well, maybe "big" isn't the most accurate description -- she'll still itty bitty. But she is getting older. There is a big difference between 4 and 5. For one thing, I can play the ol' "you're too big for that" card whenever she's pitching a fit or acting especially naughty.

Aw, but how could dis widdle face ever be naughty?

Katie with her new "Hug a Pug" with removable tutu and princess crown. :) She loved all of her gifts this year -- they were all perfect for her. I'm sure I'll forget something (WHY did I not write her gifts down? did I think I'd actually be able to remember them all? HA!), but I know that in addition to the hug-a-pug she also received a playground set for her Calico Critters -- with which she and Miriam played the rest of the day, a good book, a fun "I Spy" game, and from us, a hobby horse. Or should I say, hobby unicorn.

Is that not the girliest horse ever?? Katie loves it. It sleeps next to her every night. Joseph loved it too -- and didn't understand why HE couldn't have it all to himself, since he helped me pick it out at the toy store.

It makes noises too, which so far haven't made me regret buying it for her.




Katie wanted to help decorate her cake.


She is getting to be very particular about things. (some might even go so far as to say "picky." or even "fickle." can't imagine where she gets it...) Her preferred cake decoration kept changing several times a day leading up to her birthday. Finally when we were at the store choosing her cake flavor, a box of My Little Pony "fruit" snacks caught her eye, and her cake theme was finally decided upon.

Note the ponies frolicking in the meadow?


Happy Birthday to our princess.

Can you jump rope better than a 12-year-old?

This was 8 minutes well spent. I think this might have resurrected Miriam's interest in skipping rope.

Chuh!

Or, to translate from Josephspeak:

TRUCK!

Remember me whining about how our beloved HOA saw fit to tear up all the sidewalks just before Halloween? Today the construction crews came through and poured all the new sidewalks. It was a BIG day for the resident small fry. We halted school so we could all watch.

Even if they watched from safe distances.

Amazing to think that this disgusting glop turns into beautiful, smooth, bike-able, non-litigious sidewalks. It was interesting watching the workers get right in the middle of it and smooth it all down, over and over. They must have spent a good 10 minutes just on that little stretch there.

Making sure they got it right.

The only annoying thing was that I had to park like a half a mile away, because you weren't allowed to park anywhere near where they were going to pour, unless of course you WANTED to be towed (as I was hunting around for a spot, I thought it almost might be worth it to have THEM find me a parking spot!), and of course all the free street spots were full b/c everyone else for two blocks had to park somewhere else too!

But now we have a beautiful new sidewalk, poured just in time for the afternoon rain shower...

Here we go again

blah blah Halloween blah blah sewing blah blah HOA blah blah...

Let's get to some REAL news.

Drumroll, please, Maestro......
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Introducinnnnng,

for the Very First Time on the Internet,

(and surely not to be the last),

the Newest

Member

of the Pickles Family!!!

Toot-ta-toot!

(c'mon, it's the fourth kid -- it deserves a little pomp!)

(and WHY do doctors always give you the ultrasound that makes your baby look like a peanut-shaped lump, and never print out the cute teddy-bear ones where you can see their little hearts beating? WHY?)

So, here we go again! We officially have Too Many Children (depending on whom you ask). I'm going to get a little notebook and carry it around with me, so that when I inevitably get asked the inevitable questions that everyone believes it's their business to ask, I can tally that particular question, and respond with the handy previously-decided-upon answer. (Like, "No, I guess we DON'T know what causes that! Can you please explain it to me?")

Well, all the rest of you are so nice, ONE of us has to be snarky and shut the busybodies up. Or at least make them go home and re-think their purpose in life.

So, the pregnancy is going really well -- all hormone levels where they should be (praise God), baby's heartbeat looks good, it wiggled around for us on screen, so now we can draw a collective breath of relief and really start to feel glad. A miscarriage really changes you forever -- every rejoicing at a new pregnancy is carefully measured, until you feel you're "safe." Still, prayers are much appreciated.

So far I feel pretty good -- the nausea is really understated this time (again, PRAISE God!) and I haven't noticed any true moodiness -- but I am unbelievably, overwhelmingly, t-i-r-e-dddddd. I could get 11 hours of sleep at night and still wake up tired, need an afternoon nap, and go to bed early. (I actually did that once.) I am sleepy ALL the time. This is making driving reeeeeally interesting. I'm happy though -- I will take crippling exhaustion over mild nausea ANY day. Tiredness, I'm used to -- I'm a mom who likes to stay up late, for goodness sake. But nausea I could easily, happily, joyfully live without. I haven't escaped it completely -- it still likes to creep up on me, particularly whenever I'm making dinner.

So, stats -- I'm about 8 weeks along, due date mid-June-ish. (Happy Birthday, Uncle Dave!) It will be nice having a summer baby. School will be finished, PLUS I can spend the last few weeks of pregnancy floating in a pool! Ah, bliss.

It's going to be a busy summer for the family -- there will be baby cousins born in March, May, and now June!

Life is a beautiful thing.

(art credit: "Hope: Baby Hands and Feet" by Laura Monahan from art.com)

So how did YOU spend the last week of October?

Well, I spent it chained to my sewing machine. Because, total shock to all of you who know me, I put off starting Halloween costumes until the last minute. (I know! SO unlike me!) However, nothing helps you focus better than a mild case of panic, I've found. And I'm happy to say they were ALL done in time. I may or may not have finished the last bits that afternoon, and Mr. Pickles may or may not have had to child-wrangle independently for several nights in a row. However, we all agree it was worth it.

Two colonial girls (with non-period turtlenecks), and an elf (with non-period glowstick doubling as a sword). I just want you all to admire the elf's hat for a moment, because after all my hard work adjusting and redesigning the resizing the pattern and then putting it together, said elf allowed it to grace his head for all of .024 seconds (or however long our camera's shutter speed is). (I'm not the numbers person in the family.)

This is how Joseph feels about hats in general. Oh, going outside in winter is going to be SOO fun!

Like the good community-minded citizens we are, we supported our local high school's athletci boosters and bought their overpriced pumpkins to carve. I let the girls choose their own pumpkins (with the caveat that they had to be able to carry them off the lot -- with Katie I compromised by having her carry Joseph's while I took hers -- she's such a lightweight most of the pumpkins weighed more than she did). They also designed their own faces, as is pretty obvious.

Sorry, no Homestarrunner themes this year. I thought Katie's white pumpkin was pretty cool. It smelled like cucumbers while we were carving it.

I need to remember to take Halloween pumpkin pictures while it's still daylight out.

For dinner we had ghouled cheese sandwiches and gory soup. The previous night we had kept up family tradition by having Witches' Brew, with heads of lizards, tails of swine, chicken gizzards soaked in brine... that sort of thing. Although Miriam said she wasn't fooled and insisted it was just plain chili. But what does she know, she's only 7.

When it was dark enough we headed out to load up on more sugar than should legally be allowed in the possession of 3 children. I don't think the 3 children would agree with that, though.

(Joseph is pretty good at raiding the pumpkins for loot.)

Joseph was a very cute trick-or-treater. He figured out the loot-for-cuteness pretty fast. He's in the parroting stage, so after about the third house, he began to chorus with the girls, "Tweeeat!" Then he would blow kisses as he was leaving. Naturally, this earned him extra from all the middle-aged ladies in the neighborhood.

The kids were troopers. Amazingly, Joseph walked most of the way himself. For some inexplicable reason, our HOA chose the week before Halloween to tear up the sidewalks -- in between rainstorms -- so getting around the neighborhood was... interesting. And muddy. Katie's arm gave out towards the end and we had to carry her pumpkin for her. It drizzled almost the whole time -- and at one point it even opened up and began to pour -- fortunately we were close to home, so we ran home and were able to wait it out in comfort while we sampled some of the haul. We brought one of Miriam's friends along with us, too, which made things even more fun.

Ahh, just desserts!

The next day our homeschoold group had an All Saints' party with a parade, games, and again, more sugar than should be legal. Because of course no kid got enough the previous night. We ran a game called "St. Martin's Mice" in which contestants would race to push a "mouse" (small balls) across the room with a push broom. This was a big hit with the boys, especially. Mr. Pickles dressed up as St. Martin, in a white bathrobe with an old black T-shirt he had cut up to look like a Dominican habit. It was awesome. And naturally, I forgot the camera. RRRGH!

On the way home we picked up a pizza for dinner. I offered to go in and get it, since I'm not sure how many locals would recognize a Dominican habit when they saw one, or know it was All Saints' Day. :)

It was a fun, fun weekend. And now we are all flossing obsessively.

How soon before ThinkGeek comes out with a T-shirt in Cosmic Latte? (if they haven't already)

My new favorite beverage

Goes nicely with our new favorite TV show (to which we are quickly becoming addicted -- thank the Lords of Kobol for our friends' DVD collection, so we don't have to wait 2 whole days for the next disc to arrive from Netflix!)

Communing with nature

Miriam making a new friend.