To my mother

Tobin and MomMom.  I love this picture.

The sites of New York.

Tobin with his cousin Luke at Ground Zero.  I am so glad Tobin got to see this.

Mom, you said you couldn't wait for me to blog about your trip to New York with Tobin.  But you see, that's just it, it's YOUR trip with Tobin.  This is your story to tell.  Email it to me and I will put it here.

Here is her story:

New York! New York! It's Tobin's kind of town. We arrived in

Manhattan on cold, blustery day at 2:30 pm. We had a list of things a
mile long to do and 3 hours to do them in, Yikes! Decisions are
always difficult, so we decided to just get started. Our first stop
was Ground Zero. I thought it was important for Tobin to see a
most sacred place since it is the burial spot of 3000 people. We saw
the newly installed monument to the firefighters, but that was about
all. Construction was everywhere else. My disappointment was that
the very poignant messages left by people on 9/11 were all gone. I'm
certain they are somewhere and will show up in a museum, but those
messages really brought home to me, the first time I was there, the
agony and suffering of so many people. It is hard to be there and not
be moved!

Next we headed up to Time's Square--the essence of NYC. Tobin and
Luke spied the ESPN Zone, and no way was I going to keep them out of
there. After all, this trip was about what Tobin wanted to do! The
highlight of that was the quarterback football toss. Tobin was
awesome--tossing the ball through a moving target about the size of a
tire. Next we wandered around Times's Square and ran into Elmo and
The Cookie Monster, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Mickie and Minnie Mouse
before arriving at Rockerfeller Center. It was most picturesque with
the 37,000 lights on the Christmas tree (5 miles of wiring), the ice
skaters, the life size toy soldiers. How could anybody not love that?

We wandered by the NBC studios but alas! not enough time to tour
them. (Next time Tobin) Then on to meet Beth, Luke and his daughter
Kamea for dinner at Sardi's before the show. Sardi's is the place to
be seen in NYC, I might add!

Then on to the show, the reason we were in NY! BILLY
ELLIOT!!!!!!!!! I saw it this summer and loved it so much that I
wanted everybody I know to see it! It is my all time favorite
Broadway show. It's about a 13 year old boy who wants to dance, not
box as his father wants. The dancing of the kids will knock anybody's
socks off.

To Tobin--I hope we made some great memories for you. When I am dead
and gone, I hope you will always remember our Billy Elliot experience
together.

Mom, I am soooo glad that you are an active, involved grandmother. I am grateful for your involvement in my kids' lives and that they can learn from you. I know that you are a softer version of me which my kids so need right now. Please stay involved. I love you.

Some things that are going on in our lives but I've been too busy to write about it...

Noah threw up all over me last weekend in the middle of the night!!  He came in around 2:30 am saying his stomach hurt.  He climbed into bed with me and I was rubbing his back when I felt him get all clammy.  Then he promptly sat up and threw up all over me. Yep, all over me.  Aren't 10 year olds supposed to be able to make it to the bathroom?  It's ok that he didn't though; he would have if he could have.  This I know!

After I took the girls to the gingerbread making hour, they wanted to go sledding.  So, I called the moms of the other girls and said, "I will take them sledding if....if you're fine with me sitting in the car in the heat while they're sitting on the hill sliding down it."  They said that was fine and off I went with the girls in tow.  About a half hour into it, one of the ohter moms called me to chat about Christmas presents.  And when I got off the phone with her and looked up, the girls were gone!  Gone, I tell you!  I paniced as I got out of the car because I didn't know where they were and Bre knew my rules!  But I got mad as I walked across the hill and fell.  I got muddy, I hurt my knee and I wasn't dressed for being outside.  Not a good look for me.  And then I got scared.  I yelled at the top of my lungs and there was no answer.  I imagined one of the girls sliding into some ditch and then the rest fell in trying to help her get out.  My mind went crazy.  It wasn't until I walked all the way ACROSS the playground that I found them on the back side of another hill.  I didn't want to yell at them, but I needed them to know what they did wansn't great.  So, I compromised--I talked sternly with a smile.   I didn't let them leave my side again.

Brenna had a gymnastics meet on Sunday.  It was my first time getting to see her compete and I was really excited.  But the days before she didn't want to go.  I finally got it out of her that her coach was having her compete in level 5 and she didn't think she could do the pull over, the first move of the level 5 routine!  I really didn't know because even though I stay and watch her I didn't know what the move looked like.  I really didn't think her coach would want her to do it if she couldn't.  I tried many different things to build her confidence, I had her aunt call her who in turn called on her gymnast daughter to call Brenna, I told her to visualize it, told her to think like the little engine that could, etc.  I told her that at the very least we would go for the practice with the elite coaches who were at the gym.  Brenna had a pretty good practice, but during her practice I talked to her coach and he was so happy to put Bre back in a level 4.  Bre was ever so much happier and excited to perform.

The superintendent presented his budget today.  His first proposal is a flat budget--no growth involved but it stays status quo.  whew!!  I can take that in this economy.  But if Plan B comes to fruition, my job will also not be cut!!!!  There were no proposals of media specialists this year being cut from their jobs!!  Yeah!!  I am so happy and greatful. 

We finally caught our first child sneaking for Christmas presents.  In years past I seriously have been able to leave packages out, literally, right in front of their faces and they wouldn't have peeked or shown any interest in the presents!  I mean this.  But, the other day Andy caught Brenna sneaking around, looking for our hiding places for presents!!!  She claimed that the boys were with her too!  Yeah, something didn't quite sit right when she said that as Tobin wasn't even home at the time.  Then she really claimed that she was looking for them because she loved them so much and that Tobin was with her!!  As if he would protect her.  Funny.

Holiday parties are coming....

Brenna's baptism is coming....

Packages are coming...

Christmas is coming....

*Wooden* Gingerbread Houses

I got a message from a friend on last Thursday that she had signed up her daughter for a workshop at Lowes to make gingerbread houses and would Bre be interested in doing that with her? Sure I thought, Lowes has gingerbread houses for the girls to ice; how nice and fun for them. So, I arranged for another friend to go with Mac and Bre.

Mac spent the night on Friday and we woke up to snow--big, white flakes of snow. The girls couldn't contain themselves. I quickly fixed them breakfast and off we went to pick up Kate. Walking into Lowes was fun and I could tell the girls were getting really excited as I asked for directions to the gingerbread decorating station. As I turned the corner, I saw tables set up with several people already there. I only saw one man in Lowes apron and thought surely there should be more workers here. I walked up to the man and said, "Hi, we're here for the gingerbread DECORATING class. I have three girls with me."

He replied, "Here you go, here is the stuff for the gingerbread house MAKING class" and he proceeded to give each of the girls aprons, goggles, hammers and a wooden gingerbread kit. He looked me and said, "Do you want goggles too?" Seriously, whose he kidding, he can't possibly think he's talking to Martha Stewart here.

"Uhhhh, I guess so.
As we walked to our spot on the table laden with our supplies, I tried to tell the girls, "Listen girls, you need to be patient. I can only help one at a time. I will help all of you though, you need to know that. Why don't you read the directions while I read them and get situated."

The girls had no interest in reading the directions. They looked at the pictures of the directions and I couldn't keep up with them!! They began with no hesitation! So, I decided to get out of their way and do what I do best: take pictures!!

Bre didn't really like it, but the other girls didn't mind it! I can't explain how fun it was watching those girls make *wooden* gingerbread houses!! They hammered, they placed their nails, they connected their wood together. It was absolutely fabulous. It was interesting to watch. Kate worked the fastest, Brenna was steady in the middle, and Mac was on the other side bringing up the rear! But they leaned over to give encouragement and suggestions. There was one point where Kate put her wood on wrong and I heard Mac and Bre saying, "It's alright, it will still work. You can't even tell." And with the snow falling outside it was such a perfect holiday thing to do.

Their houses looked great!!

Choosing the Christmas Tree

After last year's tenenbaum search we decided to play it low key and go to Lowe's to find our tree. We had gotten a tree there once before and actually ended up liking it a lot. So, we thought we'd give it a try--a nice family outing. What really happened was this:

A game of hide and seek ensued between the kids and Andy and I searched for the perfect tree, which was harder than normal because all of the trees were tied up. It's kinda hard to tell what its shape is like when it is all pressed together. Plus, I was constantly saying to the children, "stop running," "no more" and "I'm serious about what I said, stop, please..." We should have left them at home and made a date out of it! Please remind me of this next year!

A family of Lindleys. All of our middle names are Lindley.




"We couldn't have Thanksgiving without crab pie!" It is so amazing to me that crab pie has come to be the dish that we can't do without at Thanksgiving/Christmas time. Buff introduced it to us, I think it must have been ten years ago, but Wow has that time gone fast! He found the recipe in a traditional Chesapeake Bay cookbook and thought he would try it out for Thanksgiving. We scoffed (I did, crab pie--who was he kidding?), we laughed, we jested, we tried, and we were hooked, just like green eggs and ham!! I should have known all along. And now, Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it!! So, after we commiserated that the Colchagoffs wouldn't be able to come to Thanksgiving because of a sick child, Andy jumped in the car and headed to the store! He needed himself some crab pie materials! While he was making the pie, I was making the green bean casserole, the recipe that I discovered last year. It was nice being in the kitchen together. Although with our smallish kitchen we definitely were feeling the love!!

I was excited to be going to my mom's house because my cousins were there. Luke and Brianna came to visit for Thanksgiving. So, even though the Colchagoffs were really missed (and we did skype them in later in the evening), Luke and Brianna were a great diversion. Brianna lived with us a few years back for a few months and holds a place in our hearts! Brenna was really excited to see her. It was fun getting to know Luke better too! I never realized how funny he is.

The kids did a great job playing and we really didn't see them all that much. When I checked in on them, they were playing nicely together, mostly on electronics, but occasionally with other toys. Tobin loved playing with Jake and Brenna and Julianna were inseperable, (of course)! Noah played with Drew and Kyle, Tobin and Jake.

The kids ate and then we ate! It was very nice. The turkey was really good and the crab pie was a hit and had its place of honor. My green bean casserole wasn't as good as last year, but it was still quite tasty. I think our table was missing cranberry relish! Now that I'm writing this, I really don't remember it on the table. Of course, I don't like it so it could have been there. In the end, dinner was a delicious affair full of food, fun, laughter and storytelling. I have said it before, and I will say it again, Al's laugh is infectious and everybody starts laughing when he begins. It's fun to have that gift and I am grateful Al has it and brings it to our family gatherings.

On Saturday, Brianna came over to our house and she was able to play soccer with Brenna and Mac. Brianna has a soccer scholarship to a small school in Arkansas. I loved that she was happy playing with Brenna and her friend, because I was hoping she would give them some tips for playing.

5 Below hits a New High with Birthday Glee

5 Below, 16 girls, 4 moms, and 10 dollars each make a great birthday party.

In the early fall I started asking Brenna what she wanted to do for her birthday. We thought of several ideas and rather off handedly Brenna stated, she wished all the girls at her party could pick out a toy...which gave me the idea to do some sort of shopping birthday! I thought we could take a car full of girls to the shopping mall and they could each pick out a toy. Thinking it through, I thought I could have the girls pick 3 stores they would like to visit and shop for a toy. For a while I thought this was going to be it.

But then...an upscale dollar store called 5 Below opened in our neighborhood and became all the rage with the tweens. Tobin's friends loved it, Noah received a gift card to the store for his birthday and loved it, and Brenna loved it. So, walking into 5 Below one day, I realized this was the place to bring the girls to shop! Give them each 10 dollars and let them go wild in the store. It was new, it had a lot of hype, and it had lots of stuff for the girls to choose from! It was perfect! Carpe Diem!

I was excited to see how the girls would shop. I know some of Brenna's friends pretty well and thought I might know how they would shop. For instance, Kate would walk around the store and see everything before she chose anything, Brooke would put the first thing in her basket she saw, Mac would chose something and then have to put it back when she saw something else she really wanted, and so on. I thought I knew, but I knew there would be surprises along the way.
I talked to 5 Below and they were great about helping me manage the party of girls. The manager agreed to open a special cash register just for us that day. I mean great ideas like that don’t just grow on trees. They were also open to the idea of putting a pile of $1 bills at the register so as they needed it for tax they could just use it and the girls would be none the wiser. (I thought about including the tax in the $10 bill I gave them, but I could just see one of Brenna’s friends coming to me and saying, “You gave me ten dollars and this toy is $5 and this toy is $5. Why don’t I have enough for them?”—yeah, not going to work, so I simply decided to take care of tax. The other decision I had to make was to give the girls their $10.00 or hold onto it till they got to the register. I really felt that some of the fun for them would be to have the money in their hands, so I ended up giving it to them before entering the store. I only had one girl put it down to look at something and forget to pick it back up. Thankfully, the shopper realized what it was and gave me back the $10.00. And I found out whose it was and gave it back to her.
The actual day of the party was really nice. We met outside and waited for all of her friends. They had so much fun shopping. Luckily, I had three moms volunteer to help me out. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay with all of them, once they were inside the store. The girls sort of divided up by what they wanted or what caught their eye. The girls had a great time and I had several other shoppers in the store ask me with enthusiasm if this was a birthday party. I felt happy answering “yes.” It took about 30 minutes for the girls to spend $10.00 and about ten minutes to go through the line. It was perfect and I knew everyone had had a great time!!
Then we headed for pizza and cake! It was a great birthday party for Brenna!

Brenna's Birthday

It is a tradition to lightly decorate our children's rooms on their birthdays so that when they wake up they know immediately they have been wished a happy birthday. It is always unspoken between us and the kids. It is just a known, a given. But on the eve of Brena's 8th birthday, she leaned over to her daddy's ear and whispered, "Don't forget to decorate tonight when I go to sleep."