Hershey VFD

You might wonder what the V stands for if you are not from Hershey. When we first moved here, I would randomly here these sirens from somewhere. I'd look around and it was blue skies, or overcast or whatever and would run to the TV to see if there was a weather warning on, but nope NOTHING.
Until one day I asked, What are those sirens for? I was told that all the Fire Departments here are Volunteer, so they use that as a "calling card," so those who can help will stop what they are doing and go to the station.

As one of our PIM playgroup activities we visit the Hershey station each year. The guys there are great and the kids love running and playing on all the different engines.








This year one of the dads had the day off and he volunteered to try on all the gear to show the kids. (I think he's a little taller than this particular person?)


I know now that this is not the job for me, I'd be way too claustrophobic!


Liam now says he wants to be a fire fighter when he grows up. Glad it will be some time before his head actually fits into this helmet then!


Looks pretty good though.




And his trusty sidekick!

My how things change.

Ten years ago, if you asked my what a bobbin was, I would probably have thought a new flavor of ice cream at BR's, but now days, you will find me threading a bobbin quite often. I still don't have the straightest stich or the steadiest hand, but I had a great teacher, (thanks D!) and now I can get by making most things if I really try. I haven't ventured into clothing yet, but we'll see.



I made this for a friend of mine out here in PA. You can also see some of the other things I've done on my craft blog,

Magnoliavali

The Terrible Twos...

So my baby is offically 2? (Most peopel would guess 3, due to his height. I like to call him the Jolly Green.)

But here are a few shots of him, and I just look back at these when I find magic marker on my walls, or my ipod in the toilet.








What's with the tongue you might ask? Didn't you know he's part dog?































"GO..."



"Cougars!!!" That's my boy!

PUCKER UP!

Buttercup...




Nana sent the boys some shirts to fit their personalities.



I'm not sure why, but cupid hid the boys gifts this year...Oh I remember Dad was at work that day and Cupid thought that'd be more fun?


"Hi, I'm Doug. SQUIRREL!!!" Is all I heard the rest of the day.

Liam is slowly turning into his father and will only wear "comfy" clothes, so I got him a new play outfit that fit the description.


Since Dad was working, Mom said there had to be some kissing so the obliged and, then shortly after wiped their faces so there would be no evidence.


And what holiday would be complete without a package from Nannie and Papa???

And a Little more winter...

Those last pictures were from only ONE of the many snow storms we had this winter. They say it's the worst winter they've had in over 6 years. Not surprising. It seems wherever we go there is some kind of natural disaster, worst ever's, or some kind of calamity.

But I relished in all this snow most of the time. I would rather it be freezing and have there be snow on the ground than freezing and no snow, but it could have stopped at about um well, 2 ft...



NO kidding the snow once piled by little bulldozers onto our lawns stood about 15 feet high. I think you could see the Poconos from the top.

Liam jumped from the top and was stuck waste deep.













We liked to call this, the whale. You can't tell from the picture, but it has a curled fin at the top. It was a snow drift,that was across from our house and stood about ten feet tall.


But here is where I would like to add the most awesome video of the year!!! Careful, you might pee your pants. I almost did. Nate didn't find it as funny as I did???






Not far from the whale you could see grass??? Crazy how it would pile in some places and be only a dusting in others.


It made for many days stuck inside enjoying our pseudo tent. But they will be some of the days I will always remember, just playing with my kids, hearing them laugh as they made snowmen, forts, and just got to be kids.

The winteriest Winter

This winter we got more snow in one storm than we've gotten the entire time we have lived in PA.

It was nice to have some snow to go with the chill, but by the end of the 4th or 5th big storm I was ready to see the mountains of snow melt and welcome spring with open arms. Here are a bunch of pictures from different days of snow playing. Oh and the oh so famous Nate and Liam video just in case you haven't seen it yet. Sure to make you laugh, cry, pee your pants...

These are from the first storm we had. They cancelled most everything so the neighbors were out and we did it all. REAL sno cones, painting the snow (not the boy way,) I filled up bottles with water and food coloring and let the kids go to town. Nate got the job of building Liam a snow fort. This was not a light snow, and he kept getting the, "are you done yet?" response from Liam every five seconds. But really not a bad fort.

I've decided sledding is not as much fun as I remember it being. Wait, I remember why it was fun.
Notice that the snow is almost up to Nate's knees. It was really deep! And it was only going to get deeper...


Nothing like a kool aid sno cone to hit the spot!
Not sure where my neighbor is going exactly? Or if he noticed that there is a 3 foot block of snow on the top of his car? Just hope the person behind him notices. I think it's against the law in PA to drive with snow on top of cars now. Can't imagine why they made that law?

Working on his name. Just happy it's with green and not yellow.

Just right for a little Liam to fit inside.

Once they were chilled to the bone, it was inside for play. We made a fort out of the couch and ottoman, popped some popcorn and let the boys limbs defrost.

They were happy little campers!

There is not much that tires Owen, but all this snow playing did the trick!

And back AGAIN!!!

I am not sure why I have been putting off my blog for so long? Maybe because I have two kids, one that I have to take and pick up from school, playgroup, soccer practice, work, and a number of other things on my plate, but my goal is to catch up today...Lets see how far I can get before the kids wake up and I won't be able to finish since ole sticky fingers will want his try at the keyboard. So here it goes!

What is the ONE thing Liam wishes for every time he sees a star? More trips to Utah. Well he got his wish. Shortly after our last visit to Utah in December, we got to go back for the wedding of Nate's brother Justin.

We have always told our siblings to get married when we are off break so we can get an extra trip out of it, this time Justin and Kristin did as we asked and got married in January.

Lucky for Nate they gave him the weekend off so we could go to this happy occasion.

Nate and I were asked to help with a last single song (They had their reception the night before they got married.) It actually turned out really well. We sang the song Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard. Her friend played the piano and her cousin the violin.

Liam was a little sad that he didn't get to perform with us, so her cousin let him try out his way to big violin which seemed like a good compromise to him.

He is getting so big. Where did my baby go?

Although it was a short visit, we got to see Claire and Andrew our cousins on the Poulson's side.

The kids had so much fun playing together an event that happens rarely due to both of us living in different sates other than Utah and having it work out for all of us to meet in UT at the same time.

Liam and Claire had one eventful night of playing mom and dad. Which ended in Liam cutting his face with a razor. When asked what happened, He said he didn't want to tell. So his cousin volunteered the info. (Claire told Nana that they were playing Mommy and Daddy and Liam said that Daddy's shave their faces. Seems logical right?) It could have been much worse, and the next day I happened to find a pretend razor kit at target that was on clearance from Christmas.

We thought we were timing the trip perfectly. We left for the wedding January 14th and came back the 17th. Owen was turning two the 16th, so we figured since we were leaving BEFORE he turned two, that we could still get in one last lap child flight for FREE.

WRONG!!!! At least if you fly on Southwest. At check-in in Baltimore the agent asked to see his birth certificate which I happened to have on hand and always do when we fly after hearing horror stories of people missing flights or having to pay day of fares for not having one. BUT I have NEVER been asked to see it, with either child.

I handed it to her, pleased that I had it. To which I get the response, "Did you purchase a return ticket for him?" uh NO! "well he will be two by that travel date." yes well we are leaving BEFORE that date and it's a round trip flight. "No mam, I'm sorry, but two is two. You can either purchase one here, now with me, or when you get to your final destination, but I have put in the computer that he will need to have a purchased ticket for the flight home." Fine.

So upon landing Nate called to speak with customer service and was told, "It's not a Southwest policy, it's an FAA policy that anyone age two whether by two minnutes or two days be required to be in their own seat," Blah Blah Blah. They told him the could give him an infant fare of $300. No, not good enough! So in the end they let us buy it for the same price we purchased ours at when I booked.
So know now that you will have to purchase a ticket if they are even a minute over two.

It wouldn't have mattered cause we couldn't have left any earlier, so we made the most of it and had a birthday party complete with candy, balloons, an ice cream sundae bar, and a lightening McQueen cake.

It was fun to get to spend time with our cousins and see some of my aunts and uncles while there as well.

New Year!!!

Ok,
So I know it's almost April and all, but in the spirit of keeping my blog as my journal, you are going to have to read about Christmas and News years until I get caught up to the present!


Nate has always chosen New Year's eve as his holiday to work since we don't drink, have two kids, it's too cold to be outside longer than a millisecond, and we're rarely awake past 11pm, it's not a holiday we are too sad to give up to those who do take full advantage of this evening of wild and craziness.
The same held true for this past year, except that we had planned to stop by a friends for a bit to let the kids play.
That was until I got a better offer (LOL, sorry Eden. But in my defense she was the one who told me to go!) my neighbor works for the Hershey lodge, and I guess each year they have a HUGE indoor new years eve party for their hotel guests and their families. Sad that I would have never know this even happens since it's not open to the public and they don't have to advertise for it since the package sells out by August each year.
Well lucky for us and this little connection, we were invited to be our neighbor (Donna) and her son (Christian)'s dates for the evening.
I wasn't really sure what this was going to be like, but NEVER did I imagine that it would be a full fledged carnival.

That's right an entire carnival inside of the banquet and ballrooms.
There were rides, (a carousel, bouncing cars, and this huge sliding boat ride.)
Food, (your common buffet items, plus Philly cheesesteaks,we do live in PA you know.)
Snacks, (popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs, cookies...) and my personal favorite, chocolate fountains with all sorts of fresh fruit for dipping!
Then there were the bouncy fun houses, a magician, a balloon man, and carnival games where the kids could win tickets to exchange for prizes.
It was AMAZING!!! Nate was finished with work early and met us there, but unfortunately one of us had to take one for the team and take Owen home to bed since he was melting down past about 10.
We stayed until the end and had a great time. Seriously one of the BEST New Years Eve party/event I have ever been too.
So thanks Donna and Christian. We hope we will get to be your dates again next year!