Xmas Tree from the Ticonderoga Farm

Joined by my brother's family and our next door neighbors, we all headed to a nearby local tree "farm" where we picked out this year's Holiday Christmas Tree. At the Ticonderoga Farm, we slid down the slides, rode on the tractor-pulled hayride, and roasted marshmallows over an open fire pit.

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Jake and Joey picked out the perfect Fraser Fir tree. Afterwards, Trina, the boys, and their cousins, Sean and Nick worked together to decorate a "Buckeye"-themed Christmas Tree. With all the presents bought and wrapped, and all the lights and decorations all put together, it's beginning to look like Christmas.

From Xmas Tree at Ticonderoga

Thanksgiving at Mark and Jessica's

For Thanksgiving, we headed east over the Chesapeake Bay to Mark and Jessica's home on MD's Eastern Shore. There, we were part of a cast of hundreds, okay, maybe not, but from the pictures there were at least 35 people at the dinner table.

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We had a great time playing with the DuHoffmann cousins, riding the John Deere tractor, and of course, chowin' down both the fried AND roasted turkey's. I'm still craving the corn casserole and stuffing...YUM!!!

From Thanksgiving at Mark and Jessica's

The dinner and the company of family and friends were superb, as always. Thanks to Mark and Jess for taking the monster task of hosting a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Joey's Thanksgiving Show

As if the Halloween show wasn't enough, Joey and his 2 year old preschoolers performed a Thanksgiving-themed show for the parents. Afterwards, the parents and the kids got to enjoy a meal together, Thanksgiving-style. Joey wasn't too impressed with the turkey and gravy (he spit out the mashed potatoes, too), but he really took to the Cranberry sauce and corn. Lucky for Daddy, I got to eat all his yummy leftovers.

Thanks Ms Beth and Ms Jen...

Jacob's Thanksgiving show

Jake and his kindergarten classmates put on a Thanksgiving show for all the lucky parents who were able to take time off from work. Prior to the show, Jake and Trina made arts and crafts, like a native Indian head dress, necklace, place mat, and decorated their shirts. Jake's Indian name for the day was "Barking Dog" LOL.

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Pardon the poor resolution. I forgot the camcorder and had to record the show using the Blackberry. Oh well, you get the gist of the cuteness and impressive showmanship talents of Jake and his fellow Kindergartners.

Jake's First Report Card

Despite the numerous parent-teacher conferences Trina has had with Jake's Kindergarten teacher, Jake did very well for his first report card. He outperformed the benchmark numbers set forth by the state school board and came within eight points of the maximum possible score.
(Click on the image to enlarge)

Not surprising, really. He is always eager to do his homework every night and writes his own "books" about cars, seasons, animals, and other things. Our favorite story is about a kid and his trampoline. Who knew he can read and write a whole story about anything and everything by himself already? He writes a new book almost everyday. Our collection of memorable items to save for him is growing. Truly amazing. To say that we're proud of Jacob would certainly be an understatement.

Autumn Along the Skyline Drive

With Paddington's failing health, we canceled our weekend trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, and instead headed west towards the mountains. We all boarded our family-moving behemoth with Jake and Joey in their seats and Paddi and Tyler right next to them. It was a beautiful day for a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains and marvel at the changing colors of the autumn leaves.

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During the drive, Paddi rested her snout between mommy and daddy, nudging our elbows occasionally to let us know she needed another affirmation of her cuteness. What a princess. Tyler cowered between Jake and Joey, waiting for the dreaded trip to finally end. The panoramic beauty was also lost to our two-legged boys who wanted nothing more than to watch a DVD of Fox and the Hound or sleep through the ride.

Autumn along the Skyline

We arrived at the northern tip of Skyline Drive around noon, and immediately soaked in the rustic views of mother nature. Jake finally looked outward and Joey awoke from his slumber. We stopped at the picnic area and allowed the kids and dogs to romp around the area - kicking leaves, picking up rocks and sticks, and workin' the ol' water pump.

It was good to see Paddi look alive and play like she did when she and Tyler were just puppies. She played fetch with Jacob, discovered new sniffs around the mountain, and acted like a happy, healthy Golden once more. A simple trip to remember.