With all of the snow we have had plenty of extra time on our hands. Kate and Will are giving their classmates Valentine bookmarks this year. Kate is super into reading and is halfway through the Harry Potter series and Will is doing awesome in learning to read. So books are very big around our house these days. So I bought some cool heart fabric from Ikea and took a quick shot of each kid after school. I designed the bookmarks and ordered them from Overnight Prints. Kate and Will hammered the grommets and I tied the ribbon. It was cute to watch her write little notes to each of her friends on the back. 2nd grade is so funny. Well I guess Kinder is too. Kate says that a boy named Garth likes her and Will says a girl named Meagan thinks he is cute. haha!

On Friday night during the part 1 of the blizzard here on the East coast, we lost power. Fortunately it came back on in the middle of the night but the evening was the hardest part. It was super cold and it gets dark so early here. So at 6 we were sitting in the living room dark as can be with nothing to do but sit by the fire because our house temp was dropping. I had found some glow sticks in the cabinet left from Halloween so the kids had something to play with. Yup that is just how exciting we get. That night we all 4 snuggled up in our king bed with socks and sweaters on to keep warm. I do have to admit it was kinda fun but I am so glad the power is back on.

On Sunday while my parents were still here Josh arranged for us to go take a private tour of the Old Guard / United States Army Ciassion Platoon 3rd Infantry at Ft. Myer. This is just about the nicest barn I have ever seen. These horses have it so well. They do the funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. The horses are cared for and trained every day. Their riding bridals and saddles are polished every working day at 4am. The soldiers in this unit do everything for these horses, from cleaning stalls, to training to making horseshoes. So on our private tour we got to meet all of the horses and give them a few peppermints. The most exciting horse to meet was Sgt. York. We even got a few souvenir horseshoes one of which was worn by Sgt. York. He was the riderless horse at Ronald Reagan's funeral. That is the horse that rides with out a rider and with Reagan's boots in the stirrups facing backwards to resemble the soldiers last ride looking back on his troops. Nancy Reagan brought her husbands boots to the stable the day before the funeral. Being at Arlington is amazing being surrounded by so much history. We have been several times since we have lived here and each time I learn something new. Here are a few shots from the day.



Here is Sgt. York. The spunky black one. He is full of energy.

I just wanted to share my Christmas card. I only make my kids do a photo shoot once a year because they hate it and I hate it. I like capturing them randomly and informally. So I was making them get all showered and thinking of where I wanted to take them. Then I just decided to let them put on PJ's and climb in my bed. I even let them grab their favorite stuffed animals ( Daddy Bear, Mommy Panda, Horton and Saw-Wash). So 5 minutes was all I needed, just a few shots. Do you know how hard it is to shoot my kids? Well it is hard for me to shoot my kids. I never have problems with other peoples kids but mine are impossible at times! It was all I could do to get a few frames with Will's tongue inside his mouth. They are so goofy and just wanted to cut up. So this is them. My goofy kids. Merry Christmas!