Eight is Great!

Leah turned 8 on January 4, and this precious Peanut had a great birthday!  She chose to have her three best girl friends over for a "non party" after school, which was a perfect solution for our sweet girl who doesn't love being the center of attention at large celebrations.  I took donuts into school to celebrate, and we had signed up to have Kiwi for the weekend, so all was right with the universe:

Class guinea pig + BFFs = perfect birthday!

And then the power went out.  Again.  The past six months have been unbelievable in terms of weather events, and we've lost power and water more times than I ever remember.  This time, the townwide power outage seemed to be caused by heavy rain, so I picked up these 4 cuties early from school (which was also without electricity and dismissing students whenever parents could arrive to pick them up).  They happily played games and did crafts in the dark, and were positively giddy about this adventure :

Mommy had the fun idea of encouraging the girls to make fingerprint animal art with Leah's stamp pad/ink set, which was brilliant... until we realized that had no water to wash off their hands afterward.  Ha!  

We had planned an ice cream sundae celebration, and as the minutes ticked away, I could picture the ice cream melting in the freezer.  Luckily, power was restored later in the afternoon, and, much to the girls' disappointment, we weren't forced to eat ALL the ice cream before it melted!

We had Leah's family party that evening, and our special birthday girl opened her presents.  Leah asked for "Trader Joes' Chicken" and homemade mac & cheese for dinner, and we celebrated this precious eight year-old:

Leah Grace, we are your biggest fans.  You are kind and thoughtful, intuitive, and incredibly smart.  You are a great friend, a loyal teammate, an adoring sister, and a beloved daughter.  You continue to display wisdom well beyond your years, and are a blessing to all who know you.  Although Daddy and I still think of you as our baby girl, you are evolving into a strong and beautiful young lady right before our eyes.  We have watched in amazement and wonder as you've grown into the person you are today, and we're watching with great anticipation to see what you become.  Happy 8th birthday to the sunshine in our lives.  You are pure sweetness and joy, and we love you so very much!          

 

Cousins' Christmas

After our PA Christmas, we a brief stop at home in NC for a day to unload the car and visit the pediatrician for Leah's broken finger.  The verdict is that she will wear her splint for 3 weeks and that no follow up x-rays or treatment are needed.  She's delighted about not having to practice piano, but sad that she'll miss her basketball game next weekend.  Leah has been quite stoic and brave about her broken finger and is eating up all of the extra attention that she has been receiving.

  On the Friday after Christmas, we repacked and drove to Williamsburg for Cousins' Christmas weekend.  That afternoon, we attended a lovely memorial service for Mark's grandmother, who went to heaven the week before at the age of 96.  Great Grammy had a long, full life, and leaves a wonderful legacy of family, love, and traditions that live on in her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  We are so thankful for the many happy times that we shared with her and have so many precious memories.  The kids said that they knew that she was celebrating Christmas in heaven with Winnie and Great Granddad, and that thought made their hearts happy.    

November 2017.

On Friday afternoon, the six Winterhoff cousins exchanged and received presents, and this is always such a joyful, fun time:

We had our annual dinner at Sportsmans' Grill, and the next morning, it was time for Bean & Poppy gifts:

Snuggles with sweet cousin, Hailey.

Saturday afternoon brought the annual Offutt Christmas party (Offutt is Great Grammy's last name).  Each year, Great Grammy's children and their families gather for a Christmas celebration, and years ago, gifts were exchanged in the basement of their house.  Since their move to Williamsburg, Kathy and Bob have graciously hosted this event in their neighborhood clubhouse, which is a great place for the large number of young children in attendance.  The kids play on the playground, run around outside, and there is plenty of room for games and crafts.  Every year, the children look forward to this time together with second cousins and it's another example of one of Great Grammy's wonderful family traditions that is being passed on to future generations:

On Sunday, we had a birthday party for Baby Jesus and Leah, which even included ice cream sundaes!  It was a great start to Peanut's birthday week, and eased Mommy in to the thought that my baby is turning 8:

What a perfect Cousins' Christmas 2018!  

Pennsylvania Christmas

We drove to Mimi's house the Saturday before Christmas, and we planned to take L&L skiing for the first time while we were in PA.  However, Leah fractured her fingertip on Saturday evening playing "pool ball" (a billiard ball smashed into it), so Sunday was spent in Urgent Care and at the hospital getting x-rays instead.  Sweet Peanut didn't let her broken finger slow her down, and her splint was an adorable fashion accessory as we decorated cookies the next day:

We decorated lots of sugar cut-out cookies for Santa, and went to see Mary Poppins Returns in the afternoon, which we all loved:

On Christmas Eve, we continued our morning tradition of going to Chocolate World.  Gawa came with us and we breezed right through the tour, as there were no lines.  The best part of Chocolate World are the yummy milkshakes at the end of the ride, and Leah was thrilled about this extra dose of calcium at 9:30 in the morning "to make my broken bone strong!". 

House made entirely of Hershey's candy!

Christmas Tree at Chocolate World.

Santa rode around Mimi's neighborhood on a fire truck in the afternoon, and these sweet girls were excited to see him!

Mia and Leah.

We donned our holiday best and attended Christmas Eve church that evening...

 ... and when we got home, it was time to sprinkle reindeer food in the yard.

More pictures with family before putting on Christmas pjs:

The kids left a BIG plate of cookies for Santa this year: 

Daddy read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, 

and these kiddos were all smiles before bedtime.

Once everyone was sound asleep, Santa came:

After a few middle of the night wake-ups (but promising not to come downstairs before 7:00 a.m.), it was Christmas morning!

We opened stockings and checked out the special gifts that Santa left for the children:

 Christmas Day was filled with lots of wonderful presents, and we watched "The Star" in the afternoon, which is one of our favorite Christmas movies: 

This kid was SO excited about his ukulele!

Lots of crafts and games for this little girl.

Laser Tag for the WIN!

We were jumping for joy about all the new HP Legos this year!

Turquoise + talking stuffed animal = Peanut's perfect gift!

Right up Luke's alley.

For our skee ball champ!

 Merry Christmas!