For the Grandparents and Great Grandparents

What do you give them for Christmas? Pictures of the kids of course! How cute is it to get all the cousins together for one group shot? Luckily it wasn't that hard to get them all looking happy.



Here's my side.....




And here's Rob's side....

Drew Church Christmas Pageant

Sunday was a big day! Melody was in her first Xmas Pageant at church. She had to learn a song and sing it with all the other kids. She actually did real well and learned the words quickly. We were not sure how she would like having to go up front with her drum and sing it to everyone but she seemed to enjoy it.

There's a hole in the bucket....

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my new wood stove? As it gets colder and colder outside, it just gets warmer and warmer for us inside. We had a fireplace insert put in our never used fireplace so that we could "assist" our heating budget this year. Let me just tell you how great it is to be 75* inside in the middle of winter! And not really us our heat! Granted, there is some smell of smoke, and we notice when we go to others houses we can smell a hint of a campfire, but I'll take it for the warmth it gives.
With that, there is some maintenance. The never ending ash that scatters in front of the fireplace as well as inside. So, every couple of days we need to empty it out and clean it all up. Rob has on his Christmas list to get a metal ash holder bucket type thing. But, in the meantime, we have been using a regular old bucket. We put some water in the bottom of it, put the ash in after the stove hasn't been burning for a while, and then outside in the yard. Not a great solution, but a temporary fix.
There was one morning when I was emptying out the fireplace I noticed a spot in the middle of the fireplace that still had some red embers. So, being the fire conscious woman that I am, I left that spot in the fire, and put the rest of the ash (that I had mixed around and found no red spots), in the bucket and outside. I get the new fire going, warm as can be. A few hours later, Melly and I have to run out to the store. So I leave the house, and actually say out loud, "I wonder why it smells like burning plastic out here?" I look at my Sanford & Son ash bucket in the yard and see a big hole in the bottom, with ash pouring out, and smoke coming out. OOPS!!!
So realizing the hose has been turned off, I grab the only other thing I can think of... my watering can! I fill it up with water, and pour it on the ash pile. Only to find out that when you pour water on ash, it sizzles, smokes more, and blows more ash all over the place. So 3 trips to the kitchen sink, and a few gallons of water later, the smoke and sizzle have stopped. The whole bottom of my bucket is completely melted, Melly and I are covered in grey ash dust, and all I can say to Melly is, "Daddy's going to be so mad at me!"
I'm not cleaning out the fireplace again until after Christmas in a metal bucket!

The true meaning of Christmas

Not every day are we able to make a difference in someones life. Today was my day. I ran around doing 5 billion errands this morning, including a really nice "lunch date" with Melody. She was overly cooperative and happy all day, so I took advantage of it and kept dragging the poor kid to the stores. I was debating whether to go home, or hit the grocery store as one last stop. I asked Melly if she was up for it, and she said yes. So, off we go and do our shopping.
I'm leaving the store and I see the Salvation Army guy ringing the bell. I give Melody a couple of quarters and felt good about contributing. "A good lesson I'm teaching her" I thought all proud. So I get to the car, put her in, and start adding the groceries.
At this point, I see a man looking at a piece of paper, looking around the streets, and kind of wandering around the parking lot some. He comes up to me and asks if I know where Catholic Charities is located. Sadly, I didn't know. I guess it was something he saw in my face, or fate, or this guy was getting his one streak of luck that he picked me to ask, because he looked in my eyes and burst into tears. In this sad world, you never know who is taking advantage, who is pulling a scheme, or who is out to hurt you. Here is his sad story and think about what you would do if you were in my shoes.
He lives in Florida and had to come up for his fathers funeral with his 3 month old son. He has no other family up here and his money is gone. He was only planning on being here for a few days, which turned into 2 weeks due to legal paperwork with his fathers affairs. He didn't have any more money for gas, food, or more importantly his son. He had a list of charitable organizations that are designed to help people, yet each one he went to closed the door in his face. Each one sent him to another organization because he didn't qualify. WIC is only for mothers, Danbury Hospital can only give him one small bottle of formula per day. The Salvation Army is only for Danbury residents, YMCA didn't have anything they could do for him, the fire department referred him to Catholic Charities, which have moved buildings and the sign on the door did not say to where. I remember being in the Human Service field long ago, this problem came about often. Some families needed help, but they didn't qualify the right way and the money could only be spent a certain way. The only thing he asked me is if I could help him buy a container of formula for his son. So I did.
Now, looking back I have more questions, like who was watching his son, and couldn't he have asked a neighbor for help, and all these different scenarios. All the skeptics that are reading are probably saying this guys was full of it. But then I think about if I was in a strange town, didn't know anyone, what would I do? Not everyone has the same abilities to deal with adverse situations. Also, what harm can be done with a can of formula? I don't believe it can be melted down into drugs, nor can it be sold on the black market for something else. And, if you could have seen this grown man burst into tears as he's crying over his fathers death, and what he was going to do, it just broke my heart and it felt right to help him.
I then told Melly in the car, that was what it's all about. Helping people when they need it

Not a good way to start the morning...

I was just getting out of the shower when I hear the phone ring. I have a problem of not being able to just let the phone ring... I have to answer it. So I make the mad dash from shower to phone. As I'm dashing, I hear Melly yelling at the top of her lungs, "Wow, Mommy! You have a big, BIG tushy!" Aww, come on Melly... wouldn't one big have been enough? I decided not to answer the phone, because I was afraid who would be on the other end hearing my daughter yelling about her Momma's tushy!

We caught a tree

We went to get our tree today. Nothing big, no grand plan, just go to the section marked $19.99 and pick the one that seems to be the most straight. The tree we happened to pick was already wrapped up in the netting to take home. We ask Melody if this tree was good to take home and she says, "Yes. It's caught in a net".

We have in the past gone to hunt down and cut our tree, or to find the "really nice = expensive" tree, and have never found any one to be much better. So, we put up the cheap tree, decorate it with all of our family ornaments, and 'ooh and ahhh' about it with the lights off. Melody looked at it and just plainly says, "Mommy, it's so pretty".

Christmas is in the air at the Jackson house! Although, with the stove on, the house was 78 degrees, so it really didn't feel too much like it!

Congratulations Claire!

I want to give a shout out to my niece Claire (11), that, with her Southern Dutchess Packers Cheerleading Team, have placed 3rd in the National Championship! Way to go! To place 3rd among God only knows how many teams across the country is an amazing accomplishment! If she can do this at 11, think of what she can do at 20!

Oops! I'm late with Halloween!

Yes, I realize it is a month after Halloween, but I just downloaded the pictures from my camera and found them. Melly was a cowboy, and quite frankly, I have no other stories of Halloween because it was so long ago!

Melly and Ashley both as cowboys. Ashley was actually a princess, but she had to go with Kerri to work that morning and a cowboy was more practical than a princess for that!

Melly on the farm!

Melly all alone on the Cool Bus this year!

Our Mom's group all decked out!

Even before Halloween during a camping trip, all the kids got to Trick or Treat. Here's Claire with Emilie dressed as a basket of laundry and a bottle of Tide.

Mushy Mommy

We were looking at all the pictures that we took on vacation, and when we got to this one, I "oooh'ed and aaaaahhh'ed". Rob said that I was all mushy. Melody put her hand on my stomach and said, "Mommy, you are kind of mushy".

It's really a great picture though!

Disney World! (Part 2)

More pictures of Disney!

Melody picked out her own ears... Minnie! She won't wear them though...

How gorgeous is this?!?!

Getting ready for the fireworks!

Melody hung her light stick on Rob's hat and thought she was very clever to do it.

Disney World!

What can I say.... it's Disney World!!! We had a real rocky start, due to a very nasty old man (I'll tell the story in person if you really care to know), but it ended very well because it is the Happiest Place on Earth! Even though it's November, it was more crowded than it was the last time I was there in the summer. During the day, we didn't really go on any rides, we more walked around and saw all the sights because the lines were too long. Even the Dumbo ride had an hour wait! Once night came, the lines were much better and we took Melly on the rides that she would get the most out of. Melody was a trooper and laughed and smiled the whole day. Her favorite part was Minnie's house, and of course, Pirates of the Caribbean.

Melody hanging out in the Hundred Acre Wood

Even our seasoned amusement park girl needs a rest!

Hey! Rob actually looks like he's having fun and that he likes me!

There are no words that can describe this!

Florida with Gigi & Grandad

The Jackson clan took our first airplane trip with Melody to Florida to visit with Gigi & Grandad (Rob's grandparents). Not sure how Melly would be on a plane, we prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. She was a dream on the plane (thanks to JetBlue and their TV's on each seat), but an absolute nightmare in the airport. I guess all little kids get overwhelmed with all there is to see, the open space to run, and the parents trying to keep them calm and in one place. But, we were able to get there without too much trouble.

We spent 3 days with Gigi and Grandad, and they were thrilled to have us. All their friends in the dining hall where they live couldn't wait to see this little ball of energy bounce in to eat. Melly made herself at home and found lots of things to play with. Oddly enough the most exciting thing she found to do was to sweep Gigi's floor with the broom and dustpan. Not that the floor needed to be cleaned, but that's what Melody likes to do best... clean!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We are thankful to have such wonderful friends and family that care enough to see what we're up to here. We wish all of you safe travels and enjoyment with your family.

Mommy's Job

This morning Rob tried to get Melody out of bed, and she screamed, "NOOOO!! My Mommy gets me out of bed." Then later on in the morning Rob tried to get her a juice, and she said, "NO!! Mommy gets it." So, I had to ask her what Daddy does. She answered, "Daddy plays and hugs." OK..... so I asked the next obvious question of what does Mommy do? Her reply, "Mommy gets me out of bed, goes in the kitchen and gets me food."

Playin' In The Leaves

Saturday was "Jump in the leaves Day".

Mel really liked running down the hill and landing in the pile of leaves and rolling around.

Her favorite part was running around the pile and having Daddy throw leaves at her.

When Mommy Goes Out

This is what Daddy does.

She did it!!!!

I am now a proud Mommy of a little girl that is using the potty. Here's the rundown without giving you all the dirty details. About a week ago, Melody was in the bath and she announced that she had to go to the potty. I tried to whisk her out of the bath onto the potty, and she said to me, "No Mommy, I'll hold it until I'm done with my bath." Hmmmm... so she can tell me that she has to go, and she can tell me she wants to hold it, AND she can hold it? So I decided to give it a try. We really haven't done any potty training since the last attempt over the summer that didn't go so well. She would sit on the potty then, but nothing would ever come out.

So, I picked a day and said that it was going to be "No Diaper Day". I really revved it up and made a big deal about it. So, when that day came, we went into cotton underpants and I brought out the Clorox wipes ready to go. The whole morning was chaos. We were watching Ashley that day, and Melly ended up peeing on the floor a bunch of times (hence the Clorox wipes), but Melody still would not do anything when she would sit on the potty. I set a timer to go off every hour, and if she didn't go on the potty, I'd set it for another 20 minutes, then 10 minutes and so on. That whole morning though, we never made it to the end of the 20 minutes really, because after she would sit on the potty (with books and stuff), she'd leave the bathroom and pee on the floor in the hallway. Kerri came to pick up Ashley (as luck would have it, both girls were on the potty), and I was talking with Kerri as to what to do because Melody wouldn't go when on the potty. As the words were coming out of my mouth, Melody screams from the bathroom, "Mommy!!!!! I did it!!!!" And she did! Clearly talking about it is all I needed to do!

The rest of the day I had her in cotton underpants (and for a good portion of the day naked), and she didn't have any more accidents on the floor. I was still setting the timer though, and she willingly went into the bathroom each time that timer went off. There were a few times she would tell me she had to go before the timer even went off. I put her in a pullup for the night, and awaited what would happen the next day.

On Friday, we had a difficult start. Her pullup was dry (surprisingly), but she still wouldn't go on the potty. Apparently being retentive is my daughter through and through, in all aspects of her! So the first part of the morning she kept sitting on the potty, but we had nothing. After about an hour, she started crying because it was hurting her, but she couldn't let it go. Finally, after a couple hours she happened to not be able to hold it anymore while on the potty, and she put all the pieces together on how her body feels and what she needs to do. Since then, the only accident she has had was #2 one, because I don't think she got how that felt.

We keep putting the pullups on her when we go out of the house, but they always stay dry. Last night, she woke up in the middle of the night to go on the potty, but sadly I didn't know that's what she was trying to say and she went in the pullup before I could get her in the bathroom. Then today at Mom's group, she did super well, and actually went #2 on the potty. So it would seem that she has all the pieces of this mysterious potty training puzzle together, and now we just have to keep practicing it.

It sounds so simple, but I can honestly say, that I have never been so proud!

How did she know?

We went to a local High School football game last night. Melody was on Rob's shoulders as we walked through mobs of teenagers to get to the field. One particularly loud group of boys walked by cursing up a storm. I cringed as we passed them, hoping that Melody wasn't paying attention. I mean, she doesn't really know what curses are, right? Wrong! We got past them, Melly giggles, looks at me and says, "Mommy, that boy said bullshit!" Thank goodness she didn't pick up all the "F" bombs they were throwing around!

Happy Anniversary to us!

We had our 4 year anniversary this past week. It seems like so much longer because we've known each other and have dated on and off for the past 14 years (OMG!). We went back to where we got married and had a real fancy dinner. It's so not us to go and eat fancy, but we figured we should do it every now and then. Sadly there wasn't another wedding there that day (we were hoping) but a Sweet Sixteen party instead (can it be that there was a wedding type party for a kid???) So we couldn't look fondly at a new couple starting their lives together, but we did talk a lot about everything which we don't get a chance to do often anymore.

My very romantic and ever so frugal hubby brought me to Ocean State Job Lot first (as I was all dressed up wandering around the discount store), then to our dinner. We once again forgot to take a picture of us all dressed up, so please, anyone, if you see Rob & I together, dressed up or not, please take a picture of us! I think we have about 5 pictures of us together, and they're all from our wedding! LOL!

Here's a recap of our wedding and honeymoon!

Rob having fun at Canyonlands National Park

I'm climbing out of a dwelling at Mesa Verde

A very rare and gorgeous rainbow in the depths of Death Valley after a rainstorm!

Hanging at the Grand Canyon (it was bitter cold!!!)

Awwww!!!!

My BFF

The other day I wasn't feeling well, so I was laying low and not playing as much as I usually do with Melly. She desperately wanted to play, and my heart broke as I rested trying to play from lying down on the couch. There were 2 things she said that really tugged at my heartstrings. The first, was, "Mommy, please play with me so you can feel better". She definitely understood that I was sick, and it really upset her to see me that way so she kept coming up with ideas that she thought would make me not sick.

The other thing she said was while she was sitting with me on the couch right before nap. She was hugging me, she pulled away a little bit to look in my eyes and said, "Mommy, you my best friend!"

The Sleepover

It's hard to believe that our little Melody is old enough to have a sleepover, but she is! Well, it wasn't really the kids ideas, but it worked out very well regardless. Kerri & Carlo had tickets to a concert and wanted to have a nice date night. Now, once you become a parent, you realize that it's not the trouble of finding a sitter that keeps you from going out, it's the waking up early the next morning, needing to be bright and perky with a toddler after you've been out all night. So, Ashley slept over our house and Kerri got a chance to really have a blast!

Neither of the girls are particularly mischievous on their own. I did find out that the two of them together are very clever and they can do things that they would never dream of doing alone. If only we can focus that into a constructive way....

I'm not sure how it started, but it was definitely a group effort. I pulled a plastic tote in front of Melody's fish tank so they could watch the fishies. The little angels watched and talked to each other about the fish, and all was right with the world. I used that moment to run to the bathroom. The 35 seconds I was gone proved to be quite eventful. I get back into Melly's room to hear, "There you go fishies! Food for you!" So I peek in the room to see that the entire bottle of fish food was now floating around the fish tank, and the two girls are happy as can be. I try to not scare them, or get them in trouble because they really thought they were doing good, but I couldn't leave all that food in there. So I try and scoop out all the fish food and I try and figure out what exactly happened. Here's what I came up with....

Melody showed Ashley where we keep the food. Melody showed Ashley where you put the food in. Melly is (or at least was) unable to unscrew the cap. That's where Ashley's skills proved useful. So she unscrewed the cap, and they both put the food in to the fish tank.
So, after a very funny laugh at the fishies (don't worry, they all survived just fine), we moved to bath time. I got prior approval from Kerri to give the girls a bath together. Some people may think that's weird, but I remember being a kid and a group bath with friends was always fun. So, here's the girls having a ball in the tub!

During bath, they had so much fun playing with the toys. This was a good thing since Melody doesn't usually enjoy baths. Ashley was flopping all over the place laughing and screaming "I'm swimming!" I would find out later that she has only been in the tub insert at home, so this was like going into the ocean for the first time! They played and laughed and somehow I was able to actually get both of them clean too!

After bath we made and ate cookies. Each of the girls got the chance to decorate some of them, and waited somewhat patiently for them to cook. The best part of making the cookies is eating them, and they both already had that skill down.

For bed, I decided to put both of them in Melody's room. My hope was that they would talk to each other to fall asleep, and then to wake up talking to each other in the morning. We put them to bed without problem, then Rob & I snuck outside the bedroom door to listen and see what happened. We were amazed at how well they talked to each other. Not at each other, to each other. They actually had little conversations. This is a new skill so Rob and I giggled outside the door as we heard some cute things. We turned the light out in the hallway so we wouldn't get caught peeking. Here's what happened after that:

M: Someone did that!

A: Did you did that?

Did I did that?

M: My Daddy did that!!

Then after we cot caught peeking, we heard Melody telling Ashley how things work in the house:

M: When you wake up you yell "MOMMY" just like that and then my Mommy comes and picks me up.

A: Oh!

M: Maybe my Daddy come and pick you up!

A: Yeah!

Then of course Rob & I woke up to hear all the girly jibber-jabbering that girls do. It was so funny and sweet to hear. I think everyone needs to have a sleepover so that they can see what it's like. Kerri and Carlo were able to have a great night out, but I think Rob & I had more fun watching the girls!

Stampin' Up!

After raving about the products to anyone that will listen, and making many beautiful things, I've finally become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I'm really excited about this, because now I get to have my business be something that I really enjoy doing. I added my SU website to my list of favorite sites on this blog so please look at it. With only a few stamps, ink pads and paper, and a little imagination, there are so many things to create. Scrapbooking and greeting cards would be enough, but there are many other crafts (a lot great for kids!) that you can make. I just can't talk enough about this stuff. I absolutely love it!

I'm going to start a club (which I know, sounds awfully corny), where anyone that would want to come could and make about a dozen greeting cards for much less than it would cost to buy them. Plus, you get the fun part of making them while hanging out with friends.

I can also demonstrate at a party for anyone that wants to host (similar to a pampered chef party), and I can also do other events and even birthday parties. If there's anyone that's interested, contact me and I'll set up what's best for you! If you do want to host a party, there is the ability to earn a ton of free stuff, and let's face it, everyone loves free! If you're not into hosting a party, but after looking at the catalogue you find something you'd like, there is a "shop now" feature that you can just buy something for yourself if you want it.

I hope to hear from you!

Who's wrinkly???

Some time ago, shortly after visiting Rob's Nanny in the nursing home, Melody finished her bath and was looking at her hands. We told her that her hands were wrinkly. She added, "Oh, I'm wrinkly like Nanny!" Since then it's been part of our bath time routine. I ask her, "Who's wrinkly?" And she says, "Me! I'm wrinkly like my Nanny!"

The other day I got her out of the bath and asked her who was wrinkly. She smiles a little too mischievously, and says, "Mommy!"

Time to clean the floor!

Melody walks into our kitchen in her socks and says, "Mommy, the floor is sticky like an old apple". Don't ask me how she would know that an old apple would be sticky, but I guess I need to clean my floor!

The cake

For those that read our Mom's group blog, this may be old news because Aimee is so much better at keeping up with the blog scene than I am. Regardless, I think this is pretty amazing. I have a love for baking, especially cakes. I have an awesome butter cream frosting recipe from my Mom, which I love dearly, but I have the hardest time always making it do what I want it to do. If the weather is too hot, or too humid, the frosting frizzles. If the consistency isn't right, then it gets crunchy. I have always loved the way fondant looked, but hated it's taste. I also heard rumor that it was a real pain to make. So, on to the web I go to find a recipe that I could handle that would taste good. To my avail, I found it! (and no, I'm not giving it up... find your own recipe!). The result was amazing. I not only made fondant, but was able to color it, shape it, and make this cake for our friend Meridith's baby shower. It may seem odd that this is a cake for a baby shower, but it matches her room decor, so it worked.

Take me out to the ballgame

As baseball season is coming to a close (thank goodness!!!), we salute the very long season that it is with a little song. Let's just hope we can get past this month where we have baseball, football, and hockey all on at the same time! I feel like I live in the ESPN office!

Jack is Back!

Part of the Howl-O-Scream fun is the show they perform a few times a night called Jack is Back. The back story is about how people centuries ago would carve jack-o-lanterns to scare away evil spirits. Well, Jack is not scared, and he's here to party. The show starts off pretty scary with Jack talking in an scary voice, then there's an explosion from one of the rooftops where he comes from. There's scarecrows on stilts that come out. It's pretty scary for a lot of the kids and many don't like it. But, after Jack comes out, he starts playing fun songs that everyone (including the scarecrows) dance to. Melody LOVED Jack! She kept asking to see the show, and would sit on our shoulders and dance her little heart out. We must have seen the show at least 6 times!

The picture's a little blurry, but there's a lot of lights and pumpkins around when Jack comes out.

Melody's watching and dancing!

Look! Here's Jack! I can make a face just like him!

I love running around with my pumpkin necklace!

The other show was Monster Stomp. It's like regular stomp, but the characters are all dressed up and spooky. The music in this one was really loud, so I thought she might be a little scared, but she wasn't! She asked to see this one a couple of times too. At one point Melody got all excited because she has a shaker like the characters do. As soon as we got home all she wanted to do was play Monster Stomp. So the whole family has to grab a stick or a shaker and stomp around the house making music. Ahhh, the fun things we do in our house!

Now, I've mentioned before that I'm a pansy and get scared really easily. There's one section of Busch Gardens that they call Werefolf Alley. During the day, there are stuffed werewolves all around hiding behind trees, crawling through the woods, etc. Well, at night, they change the stuffed ones for real people, and their job is to scare the pants off everyone walking by. I'm an easy target, but a lot of screams can be heard there because they really catch people off guard. Whenever we had to walk thorugh this section, I tried myself to be brave, but I didn't want Melody to be scared. The staff really try to not scare the kids, but sometimes they can't help it. Well, Melly would go up to the werewolves, and scream at them to scare them away, and then laugh! At one point she yelled at one of them, "Don't scare my Mommy!"

Vacation Recap (FINALLY!!)

Day 8, 9 & 10:

Back to Busch Gardens! We didn't spend full days there, but most of the day. It's just so much fun! Melody wouldn't go on any more of the rides in the kiddy part, only run around on the obstacles. Nana even went on the rope climb gym and made it through!

Melody loves all of the dragons in the kiddy section.

She can even be one!

Now THIS is the kind of ride she's waiting to be big enough for. The seat fits her good enough!

Vacation Recap (FINALLY!!)

Day 7:

It rained almost the whole day. We needed the down time anyway, so we headed off to the library. We spent a few hours there, and got some different books to read to Melody. Nana has one book about being afraid of a monster, and how you tell it to go away. Melody loved it, and had Nana read it, without exaggeration, 60 times. Maybe even more. It was a sweet book, but I could probably recite the entire thing from memory. Later on, we had some arts and crafts of making the monster in the book, and making some pumpkins with construction paper. Melody has a flair for the crafts, so it's always nice when you can actually take the time to do it.

Another funny thing involves one of the gourds from the pumpkin patch. She was playing with one, and I guess she decided it looked like a bird with it's stem, because she named him Pecker. I'm hoping it was short for Woodpecker, but she never called it that. So, we're trying to keep our composure as Melly is walking around with this funny looking gourd, asking everyone to play with her Pecker.

She was in a reading mood, because she grabbed my book that was on the table, and page by page, told a big involved story of what was on the cover. She must have "read" this book for about 10 minutes and had an entire story about what she felt the book was about. Pretty imaginative!

Vacation Recap (FINALLY!!)

Day 6:

We had a special treat of having The Today Show filmed right in Williamsburg! Carol told me about it while we were driving down (although thankfully we looked up the info, or else we would have been hanging out a few days too early!) We had to wake Melody up to get there for 7:00, and even Nana & Grandpa were up in time! Unfortunately, the entire campus of William & Mary were also there, so we didn't really get very close to anyone. Matt Lauer did come close to where we were, but I didn't' want to push people out of my way with a toddler on my shoulders. Melody did wave and say "Hi Matt Lauer" when he came around, whether he saw her or not, I have no idea. I'll tell her he did when she gets bigger though.

We had to make a sign!

Poor Rob & Melody were not very thrilled about being up and about so early.

Here we are when Matt came closer to us. Nana's holding up our sign and Melly's on my shoulders on the right side of the picture.

Since we were up and about so early, we walked around the town of Williamsburg. Whenever you walk through the streets, you always have to be mindful of the horse droppings that end up there. They try to keep the town authentic, and apparently colonial people had an issue with horse poop. I remind Melody to look out for it, and not step in it. She does a fantastic job of that, but then yells at everyone she sees to not step in the poop. I had her on my shoulders later on, and there was a wet spot on the ground. Could have been from a horse, could have been a spilled soda. Who knows. But, Melly yells from on top of my shoulders, "Mommy, that horsie pissed on the ground!"

After Williamsburg, we drove to Jamestown. I don't want to down play all of that, but we've done it a bundle of times. It's still enjoyable, and I'm always amazed at how much history is right there. The start of our country as we know it is in Williamsburg. If anyone has never been there, it's a great place to go.