LemmonBuggParty

After a weekend trip away for me and William, we returned late last Monday night from a long day of travel and great times with friends.  Meeting him at the airport, I could see the swimmy (is that a word or a "mom"word?) eyes and dry cough were a sign of trouble...William ended up home sick the entire week.  Towards the end of the week and his 5th day out of school, I think we realized he had had a mild case of the flu. William and friend skiing  To add to the already topsy-turvy week, Thomas turned SIX on January 23rd! We had a nice family dinner of Thomas's choice(breakfast dinner) and opened presents and had brownie ice cream cake.  It was a nice evening. new pjs and Lego Star Wars watch We made plans for his friend birthday party which would be on Sunday. I was running just a bit behind! Friday, upon picking up Thomas and James at school, Thomas complained he was not feeling well and started crying. So, not normal for him. We got home took his te...

Thomas as a shepherd James as the innkeeper William as a wiseman - not wanting to smile  Great book opened early from Cousin Katherine & Erich With Lemmon Cousins Tree at the beach Christmas Eve Christmas Morning Trudy and GrannyB My little monkey - Thomas Wiliam and new ski gear James - super excited about REAL bow and arrow set Bugg cousins at play in messy kid room - Trudy snuck in! Thomas and Cousin Carter Mom and Dad Boys on the beach Sunset from the rooftop - my favorite spot beach artwork William James Thomas

We are back from "vacation" at our house at Sunset Beach.  We had a wonderful time and it was great to be amongst the familiar at the beach. We stopped in Raleigh, NC on the way down and visited with my brother and family. Our parents were there too so we were all together for the first time in almost a year and a half.  Hard to believe it had been that long.  It is great to be together and the kids just fell back into comfortable relations and energetic play. With two big moves for our families in the last two years - I think we are now settled for a bit! kids playing lovely table opening! LED golf ball for Uncle Jim Much time as passed since I last wrote and there is now snow on the ground! An odd warm front is coming through this weekend so I hope it will still be there come next week. The boys jumped back into the school routine but had the added bonus of the school ski program starting the day they went back.  They have a half day of ...

I have always loved horses. I learned to ride when I was in elementary school. I am not sure why I stopped riding, but I have picked it up again here and there with my longest stint as a wrangler for a summer after college. While perusing the local listservs (that might be another blog entry!) I noticed a post about very reasonable horse back riding lessons. So I called.  I think we are doing something based on a 4-H program but whatever and however it worked out, it has allowed me to introduce riding horses to the boys.  The horses we are riding(I rode briefly on Tuesday) are Icelandic horses and very different from horses I have ridden before.  They are four and five gaited which means they have extra speeds. I am used to walk, trot, cantor, gallop. The horse we rode this week is a champion horse that came over from Iceland about a year ago. She is five gaited. Apparently their top speed is 40 miles an hour!  It was a sweet but short ride. William ...

 Lovely Thanksgiving Dinner with Maureen and Chris Dant, neighbors two houses down. A lovely table and roaring fire! Black Friday Hike! Boys in their day-glow orange - need the hunters to see us! Amazing Tree  Out to get our tree! Is this the one? I think this is it! Add caption It was a lovely setting and even more amazing that we cut our tree down and I mailed the check to the name on the poster! Trimming the tree

Thanksgiving is almost upon us and I have spent the evening baking brownie bites, chocolate chip cookies with espresso powder and for the first time, I made pecan pies from my grandmothers recipe.  Tomorrow morning will be for the turkey and the preparing of the asparagus casserole, another recipe that I remember so fondly that my grandmother used to make. When I think of Thanksgiving, I immediate think of going to my grandparents in NC. I can't think of a Thanksgiving we didn't spend with them. I can still see the buffet set with all the wonderful food at my Great Aunt's house in Monroe, NC. We would drive up to Southern Pines, NC to see my grandparents and then drive over the morning of Thanksgiving to be with all those in Monroe. There used to be a parade that we would go out and watch right outside of the house. I think my memories of the parade are intertwined with the photos I remember seeing of me and my brother watching it. For dinner Jim and I were at the "k...