Anna Grows

We finally made it to New York! After the Christmas flu kept us away over the holiday, we were able to make the trip over the January holiday weekend - Martin Luther King Day AND Joe's birthday. The trip quickly became an on-going birthday celebration for Joe with cakes at every stop thanks to his brother and sisters. Anna was all too happy to participate in the sugary treats, which were also offered to her at every stop. The first stop on Saturday was Uncle John and Aunt Yvonne's new home in Yonkers. They surprised Joe with a birthday cake following lunch. The big highlight for Anna - besides the cake and Uncle John attempting to give her rootbeer and cookies, was Cousin Rachel's dog, Sara. While Rachel may be the original owner of the dog, Sara clearly belongs to Aunt Yvonne now (it seems that Sara "moved" back in with John and Yvonne temporarily in what is looking like a permanent arrangement). Anna enjoyed taking Sara for a walk and tried to teach her how to j...

Happy 2010! Anna and family made the trip to Ohio to spend New Year's with Grandma and Grandpa. Fortunately, Anna recovered from her flu and was making up for lost nutrition (one morning she at three separate breakfasts). The looming ice storm also subsided so that everyone could hop a plane to the beautiful sub-zero winter weather of Ohio. The long weekend was full of family activity. Joe and Anna got to experience a traditional Kohler family New Year's day: non-stop college football games with the grand finale of the Ohio State victory in the Rose Bowl (Go Bucks). This was accompanied by eating mass quantities of junk food. It can be overwhelming - but Joe and Anna survived. Saturday the family headed out to have lunch with Great Grandpa and spend the afternoon. Anna played the memory card game with her 97-year old great grandpa (she won). She also impressed great grandpa with her running ability. The visit concluded with a trip to Columbus to visit Uncle Rod and Uncle Tim an...

Merry Christmas! Tis the season for traditions - hanging decorations, baking cookies, attending Christmas Eve mass, a delicious seafood dinner for Christmas Eve......and the holiday illness. We are not sure why it is that for the third year in a row, there seems to be some sort of illness thrust upon us during the holiday season (the season being Thanksgiving - Christmas). This year was no exception. It was a very nice Christmas prior to the flu descending on the house. We enjoyed Christmas Eve Mass followed by a delicious dinner. Anna is much more into Santa this year and we left cookies for Santa. Anna woke up Christmas morning and asked for her usual glass of milk. When she saw the presents under t he tree, she began looking for one and exclaimed "Rosie the train is not here. Santa said he would leave it under the tree." Mom located a package that contained Rosie the Train and Anna was happy as could be. She went off carrying her Rosie to watch some cartoons and was perfec...

I'm dreaming of a white christmas ....well not any more thanks to the record storm that dumped almost 2 feet of snow on the Greater Washington area Saturday. This is actually a bigger problem than a terrorist attack in DC and the fun began Friday evening. Since the storm was somewhat of a surprise without the usual two weeks of excited weather forecasters giving plenty of warning AND it is the weekend before Christmas, the end result was massive traffic. Theresa discovered this first hand when it took her twice as long to come home from work, thanks to back-ups around any place near a grocery store or shopping mall. The storm started Friday night and everyone awoke to a good 6 inches already on the ground. Joe grabbed the shovel and went to work on what would become an all-day battle against nature. The big event for Saturday was Santa's visit to our neighborhood com munity center. We are told that normally Santa arrives on an antique fire truck and goes up and down the neighb...

We did it (to quote Dora the Explorer)! Ms. Be returned from her European trip and Anna was very excited to go back to see her friends today. Thanks to Anna's grandparents (both from Ohio and locally), we managed to keep her entertained while Ms. Be was away. Anna spent last Monday and Tuesday with her Washington grandparents - Anna and Charley, who planned two full days of activities. They took Anna to the swimming pool and to the gym. On the second day, they took her to visit Santa Claus at the mall where Anna was happy to sit on his lap and tell him that she wants "Rosie the Train" for Christmas. She then went to the playground at the mall followed by lunch. In between, they read books, sang songs, and colored among other things. Wednesday and Thursday were spent with Mom, which included some Christmas shopping along with a visit to Pauletta and 2-week old Baby Grayson. There was also some cookie baking and a visit from Anna's friend Sara who lives down the street....

Ms. Be usually takes a couple weeks off each year. This year she decided it was time for a "vacation of a lifetime" with a two week trip to Europe, including a cruise home. While we all agree that Ms. Be and her husband truly deserve a vacation, this means finding someone to watch Anna. Who do we call? Grandma of course. This time, Grandma brought Grandpa along for a week of entertaining Anna (or perhaps it was the other way around). We think Grandma brought Grandpa along realizing that it takes a lot more energy to entertain a three year old as oppose to the infant days. Grandma came prepared with a suitcase full of activities and surprises. The first surprise was a set of hula hoops, which Anna immediately took to. Now, Grandma thinks she is funny because she knows that Mom & Dad will be forced to spend hours in the basement hula hooping with Anna. What she forgot was that she and Grandpa would also be hula hooping (or as Anna calls it "hoopty hoo.") Grandma...

Anna definitely likes soccer. Her final soccer game was held on November 21, and every Saturday since she has asked if we are going to play with coach. Kudos to the coach who somehow managed to get a group of 3 and 4 year olds to learn to dribble and do some different kicks. By the last class, he had them try to play an actual game, which was pretty entertaining for all involved. The game probably would have went smoother if the mats and other assorted gymnastic equipment were not i n the back of the room. They were not necessarily a physical barrier to the game, but more of a distraction for the kids who felt the need to climb on the equipment in between kicks. Anna was the only girl remaining on the team by the end and managed to get in and play with the boys. A good time was had by all. Anna will definitely be playing soccer again!