Magnus' family tree birthday cake

For his birthday today, Magnus said he wanted his cake to be his family... then he changed his mind and said he wanted a tree. So I put it together and made him a family tree cake with the help of some cut out photos. Here is how the cake turned out!

Magnus' 5th Birthday

 Magnus turned 5 this year, and we celebrated it at the Long Branch Nature Center.  We had a naturalist that came and did  30-min presentation on snakes.  It was fabulous.  Then we enjoyed eating Magnus' bulldozer cake!

Feeling the snake skin

Comparing the length of all the bday party kids to the longest snake in the world!

Naturalist presenting the snake

Petting the cornsnake!



Giving Snake good bag gifts to friends



Ella's Laugh

Ella thought that Mom's squats were very funny! (my form isn't that bad!)

Ella's hands

Whoa.. there they are again!

WHAT is this... AMAZING!

Ella is amazed at those things that are at the end of her arms... those fingers and hands are incredible!

Snow Day

Winter storm Pax dropped 9 inches of snow on DC on 13 Feb.  And it caused Mom & Dad and Ella, to get stranded at the Minneapolis airport as we were returning from Colorado Springs, CO.  Therefore Grandma Newman got to enjoy a snow day with Magnus and Maliah (on top of the 3 previous days she had been watching them.) When Mom and Dad finally got back (after getting a re-routed flight to Richmond VA at midnight, and then renting a car and driving 3 hours home...where we got high-centered on the snow bank in front of our driveway, and then had to shovel snow at 3am just to park)... but after we got home we enjoy some winter fun!

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day we made heart-shaped personal-sized pizzas.  The kids had a blast making their own pizzas.  But apparently they didn't make them taste good as the didn't eat much of them...or perhaps they were full from Valentine's Day candy. 

We had Ella dress-up in her Valentine's Day heart outfit....

(which is better white or dark brown background) 



Ella isn't the only one who dressed up.  Deborah & Dylan dressed up in their mess dress for the annual AFCEA Valentine's Day Ball (days prior on 8 Feb).

Promotion

Deborah was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col / O-5) in the Air Force on 1 Feb!



Family helping to 'Pin' on the new rank

Reciting the Oath of Office

 

Popcorn Project



Add kernels

Maliah's classroom was doing a popcorn project.  The teachers asked for the kids to make popcorn at home, and bring in pictures.  Popcorn is one of Mom's favorite snack so I was all for doing this project!!!!!

Popin' HOT



Add salt, but not too much

ENJOY!

Magnus Mountain Biking

I found this short clip, from back on 17 Oct 2013, of Magnus having a blast riding his bike down the hillside, instead of down the sidewalk.  His enthusiastic 'Wha-HO' yells truly show how much he enjoys his new found ability to go off-road on his new 'big' bike!

 

Grandpa Newman's Visit

Papa Newman came to help watch Ella during the day while Mom & Dad were at work (as we were waiting for Ella's spot in daycare to come open).  And Papa Newman really took on the role... he handled Ella and Magnus and Maliah all at once!

Before he left we got the kids to pose for some pictures with Papa Newman.

Maliah's 3rd Birthday

 

For Maliah's 3rd birthday we had a little dance party.  And as requested she had a princess cake.  Two in fact, one on the day of her birthday, and another on the day of her birthday dance party!!

First Hike

The kids love to play outside, even when it is cold (NOTE they made snow angels on the back porch with just t-shirts on and no shoes.)  When we saw a new clip about going hiking on the first day of the year, called 'First Hike' we thought it was a great tradition to start. 

 

We enjoyed a hike in Dumbarton Oaks Park.  It is a 27-acres park located in Georgetown.  http://dopark.org/  It was a fun little hike.  As with all hike that our family most enjoys, it followed the course of a stream.  We had lots of water play, but amazingly enough no one got wet this time!

 

This new tradition couples with our other New Years tradition that we started last year, which is going out to a Hibachi Grill for New Year Eve dinner.  Maliah is still a little un-nerved by the flash fire that the hibachi chef creates, but hopefully next year she will be more comfortable.

Stay tuned for posting of pictures from the Hibachi restaurant... great photo of Magnus trying to eat with chopsticks!

New Year.. New Family

Our new family on New Year's Eve

Dylan's birthday

There is no better way to celebrate a birthday than with a banana football player cake!  When deciding what sort of cake to make for Dylan's birthday I asked the kids... and Magnus said to make a banana football player cake!  I think it had something to do with the fact that Dylan was wearing a shirt with a banana on it at the time and they had just gotten done playing a round of football in the living room.  Nonetheless that cake was yummy and enjoyed by all!

Additionally, the night prior Dylan and Deborah had a birthday eve date night and enjoyed some great food a Chimas Brazilian Steakhouse
 

 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve photo of the kids, all dressed up for Church.