03/52 Abandoned

I spent the weekend cabining with friends at Smith Mountain Lake in VA.  I cannot recommend the park enough.  The cabins were clean and well appointed.  The rangers were super lovely and helpful.  The hiking was beautiful even in the fog and rain.  I will definitely be taking the kids back in the summer or fall. 

On the way, we found an abandoned store.  It was so interesting to me.  It literally looked like someone locked up one day and just forgot to return.  The things out were things I would expect to see left on the porch in a small town store.  It was all the things you leave out that you 'mean to pick up later.'  I could have spent hours taking pictures at this little store...but I am pretty sure my car mates would have left me. 

02/52 - Two of a kind

These two are amazing.  I love watching Anthony when he is choosing to be a great older brother.  He is kind and generous and encouraging.  And William thrives on it.  I don't think Anthony realizes just how much of a bench mark his brothers see in him.  They strive to keep up with him.  They bask in his praise.  I am grateful that he chooses kindness most of the time.

The snow hit this week.  These two spent a few hours sledding in the last remnants in my drive way. 

I lucked out with this picture.  As any parent knows, catching a kid with a genuine smile is hard...two nearly impossible.

01/52 - A New Addition

***My goal for the year is to do One blog with one nice photo a week.  In the end, it will become a book for the kids. 

We are now the proud owners of a Hamster.  For Christmas William received his very own pet...a hamster...named Humphrey.

Humphrey is positively Hamsterific.  He is named after the main character in book series...Humphrey.  There was no need to reinvent the wheel in the whole pet naming arena.

Humphrey survived his first week in the Rossi household, although it was close.  On the day William got the hamster, Humphrey took a huge leap from William's should. 

The animal literally made a 'SPLAT' sound as it hit the floor. 

Then he didn't move.  Oh he was still alive, just not moving.  And he was acting injured. 

All I could think was I seriously just ruined the Best Christmas Ever and turned it into the Worst Christmas ever.  Not only was the hamster injured, but I would likely actually have to kill him to put him out of his misery.  And then William...so many tears!!!! 

We sat and rocked.  And cried.  And cried.  And said a prayer.  And cried some more. 

And by a Christmas miracle and the fact that rodents are ridiculously resilient, he was up and running around when we went back to check on him.  The hamster was mad...he hissed at us when we tried to pick him up.  After all the excitement wore off, Humphrey settled in nicely and William is turning into a very responsible pet owner.

This shall now and forever more be known as the Christmas Hamster Incident (#chi)

I'm Baaaaaack....

 

 
I know it has been an almost 4 year hiatus.  I would say things got crazy or I didn't have time, but the truth is that I just didn't want to write anymore.  As things are now settling in, I feel joyful about sharing our adventures and mishaps again. 

The last few years has brought a lot of changes.  In that time, we moved from Savannah to a Raleigh suburb.  The kids are in public school here after a few years of homeschooling.  Rob retired and we made the difficult decision to divorce.  The kids are flourishing after some bumps and I am proud of the way we choose to co-parent. 

The kids have gotten so big.;&nbspI am amazed how long the days are, but how short the years are.

Anthony is nearly in middle school.  He is passionate about nature and animals.  I love that he is willing to be outside no matter the weather.  He is a strong student with an excellent work ethic. 



Gabe is following so close behind but blazing his own path at the same time.  He is an avid reader and I love the way he weaves a story.  He is a creative and warm soul.  I so enjoy the silence and still that he brings to the house of extroverts.


William...oh William.  In the blink of an eye he has gone from toddler to 1st grader.  He is forever working to keep up with his brothers.  He is outgoing, independent, and funny.  I love that he is still willing to humor me by pretending he is small on occasion. 

I am excited as the boys and I settle into the year.

The Fix

So I decided to try something new for clothes shopping Stitch Fix.  A friend tried it and loved it.

Here is how it works.  You fill out an extensive online profile and start a pinterest page of things you like.  They charge you $20 up front for a shopping fee.  Then they send you 5 pieces from a personal shopper.  You pay for what you want and send the rest back.  Your $20 is applied towards your purchase.  If you keep all 5, there is a 25% discount.

In my box this month, I received 2 tops, 1 light weight cardigan, 1 dress, and 1 bracelet.  The jury is still out for me.  I am not sure I love any of it.  I do like 1 top and another is a maybe.  I have 2 more days to decide.    I will also update my profile to hopefully get a better box.  This time everything was dark.  Those who know me, know that black is not my favorite color and not one I wear often.

Here are a few pics of what I got.

I will tell you other friends love them.  So this is likely user error on my part for not getting 5 great items.  If you want to try them out, go here.

Little Leprechauns

Here are some St. Pat's day pics.  Some from William's parade to include a bit of video of him singing and the news clip on them.  

And the News Clip.


Because Rob isn't here this year, we are NOT going to the big parade.  We did however spend Friday at Forsyth park enjoying the beautiful weather and the flowers in full bloom.

Running 1/2 way there

"The real purpose of running isn't to win a race; it's to test the limits of the human heart."

Let's be clear, I am not a runner.  In college I ran because the AF made me.  When we switched to the bike test, I was elated.  Now, I only run to the store or the bank or after a small one.  I own a hat that says, "I thought they said RUM."

The logical question then is "Why in the name of all things holy would you chose to run a 1/2 marathon less than a year from back surgery when you haven't run in nearly a year and a half?"  Because Traci asked me to.  Yes, it is that simple of an answer.  When she said, "so your running right?"  my mind drew blank of all the reasons I can list for why I would never do this and the only thing I could think to say was "Sure."  Traci doesn't ask people to do things for her, she asks how she can do for others.  And with that, we started to run.

But this is not the only story, although it would be enough.  The rest of the story is that I found out that I am a runner.  For the fact is that simply stepping onto the track makes me one.  I don't need to be fast, or strong, or the best, or anything.  I simply must move forward to be a runner.  In college, I thought if you walked at all, you failed.  But that is untrue.  There is a whole strategy that involves running/walking in intervals.  And no, you don't look weak doing it. 

I learned that the company you keep makes all the difference.  The women I run with are fabulous.  They are crazy, and funny, and overwhelmed, and inspiring, and uplifting, and crazy (that bears repeating).  I love it.  I look forward to it.  They make me believe the impossible...that I am capable of doing this.

And Finally, I learned that even though I am not the runner in this family, I can teach my kids to run.  We had a blast running the kids race.  Anthony is hooked on getting medals ( I am assured this is normal in the running community).  They learned that a mile is a long way, and more importantly, that running 13.1 is a ridiculously long way.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This year we drove to TX to visit family.  We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's house celebrating her Birthday and just relaxing from the two day drive out.  We sat by the fire and make Gingerbread houses from Grandma Harriette.  William mostly ate the candy and licked the icing.

On Christmas we had a whirlwind.  We opened presents at home.  Then we drove to my aunt's house about an hour away and opened more gifts.  But the best gift of all was the White Christmas.  All the kids (8 boys all between 13 and 2) all played out in the snow throwing snowballs and generally just being boys.  It was great to see my cousins.  I wish we all lived a little closer.  Maybe with the next PCS.

Boat Parade

We went to the Savannah Boat Parade and watched from the Westin Harbor Resort.  We had a blast.  First we found Santa.

Saw some boats as they prepared to leave

Found two grinches with two new stuffed animals (insert sarcastic AWESOME)

Looked at the Gingerbread Houses

Found our friends

Watched some fireworks

William was done with fireworks by round 3

Roasted marshmallows by the fire

Christmas

We are finished decorating.  Even though we are not going to be here on Christmas day, I am glad we decorated.

Hot chocolate at the end is the best part.

Redneck Germany

This weekend we hiked and enjoyed a fun Oktoberfest in the town of Helen.  We had a great time.  The neat thing about Helen is that it tries to maintain an alpine village look.  But best of all we found Fall...and brought it back to Savannah, at least for a little bit.

We hiked at Unicoi State Park and Ana Ruby Falls.  The kids had a blast...especially William who had the best view of all.  We had totally forgotten that National Parks are free for Military.  AWESOME!!!  But we would have happily paid.  Of course we let Anthony fish one day.  They didn't catch anything, but had a great time fishing on a real lake.  The other two boys spent their time throwing rocks in the stream and playing on the playground while I read a book.  Again, a winner of a day.

A little tired maybe?

Here is the town of Helen.  We found some neat craftsman.  The boys actually got to see someone blowing glass. But the best of all was that the beers were not cheap crappy redneck beers.  They were yummy beers made by large craft brewers or imports.  Now only if they had the liberal open container laws of Savannah.