Locks of Love and Lego awesomeness

Our newest addition...Lillian Jean Fadness......(ok...not ours, but Alissa's...I claim both of my nephews and my neice as my own!! Love them immensley)

Michael, Libby and I went into DC to a lego exhibit with Michael's friend Ryan, his mom Brenda and his little brother Will for our last adventure before school started...there were replicas of famous buildings out of legos and then at the end of the tour was a whole bunch of legos for the boys to make their own creations!

Libby got a new look just in time for the beginning of the school year...she donated 10 inches of hair to locks of love and got pink extensions in return!

Updates, updates and more updates!

Michael and Destiny...can you believe they both turn 7 in September!!

Jason's sister Diedra and niece, D'Asia...lake fun in Webster.....

......Artz Family......................

STorybook Land, Aberdeen SD....................................cutie patooties!

Here's Jason and Braedon attempting to play soccer! Harrison is of course the center of attention! The next photo is Christopher and Harrison playing at Great Gramma Artz's on the 4th of July at the big reunion.

Water fun at Uncle BT's in Pierre......

Six Flags over DC....season pass holders....

Hello...it's been a long while and I apologize...we've been busy as everyone is. This summer we spent or vacation roadtripping to SD and had a marvelous time with or family! Now, school has started and the kids are busy again...Braedon tried out for the JV soccer team at South River High School and made it through the second round before he was cut. He had to do a 3 mile run in 24 minutes and he did amazing with a time of 24:48. Unfortunately, he was cut that night, but he did an amazing job. He is currently on two local teams...one traveling and one county where he will get plenty of playing time and hopefully be ready for next year!

Libby started piano this summer and is sailing right through..she loves it! She started fall Volleyball and is doing great. Her first game is on 9-11, her team is ready for a win! Now to find her some sewing classes....that's a little trickier~ Her and Michael have birthdays coming up and are very excited to be another year older~!

Michael brings up the rear...as always. He is trying out fall soccer and has his first practice 9/7 and match on Saturday 9/12. He also wants to try karate and it's on mom's list of things to do... :)

Spring

Hello all....it's been awhile....Here are a few updates:

Jason is back over in Iraq for the time being....he left last Sunday and will be gone until Easter or so....he will come home then go back (as is the plan now) for an indeterminite amount of time....

Braedon is playing Spring basketball and soccer...they had their first basketball game today and got killed....but in the end, they started playing like a team, and therefore I am hopeful they can only improve the rest of the season. He made the honor roll in school....his mama and daddy are very proud of him and all the hardwork he's doing this year.

Libby is still doing figure skating...she's getting to be quite the 'Dorothy Hamil' on the ice. It's so awesome to watch her progress. After that's done for the season, she wants to take sewing lessons and piano lessons to keep her busy this summer....

And finally, Michael is taking hockey lessons. He also has improved on his skates two fold since he first started. He just might be ready to play on an actual team come the fall...during his summer break he wants to pick up karate/tae kwon do...that should be interesting~

I am working and chauffering...that's my life right now. We enjoy our down time just as much as our busy nights. So far, my job is going ok, it's flexible, which is the one thing i love! We are looking forward to summer and all it has to offer!

"Snowmageddon" 2010

Hi all...it's been awhile, but we haven't done anything really newsworthy. I finally found employment...I work at Arundel Lodge, Inc. I am an employment specialist-I assist those with Mental health issues find employment. We have day classes for them to attend, a clinic and therapists onsite...I assist those that feel like they can work in finding employment. It's a new arena for me, but it's going very well.

Jason is back to work...and he has officially made the Major's list, so he shall pin on Major within the next year or so. His family is OH so proud of him! He is also a candidate for major's school, which will be a big change, especially if we have to move so soon.....AGAIN!

We also got hit with another blizzard...only our second this year...but when it snows...it SNOWS! It's either a little, or a lot..no in between.

Christmas 2009

Braedon's Gingerbread Tree

Rice Krispie houses...they were delish!

Libby's keyboard...now to find someone to give her lessons!

Not quite a PS3, but it takes a lot to compete with his hook em' horns tshirt!

Michael loved his pirate Mickey set we got him on our cruise...he thought it was 'very cool'.....

We spent Christmas Eve here at the house, with some friends that we cruised with. We had a yummy dinner of scalloped potatoes and ham.....and cookies that I had baked...the kids opened gifts, we played games all afternoon, had some wii fun....ended the night watching The Grinch (Disney)....Christmas Day we went into DC to Jason's cousin's house....his aunt, uncle and cousin had flown in from Aberdeen to celebrate with them. We had a delish lunch of German roast with Potato dumplings and some more yummy desserts...figgy pudding was a first for me and it was delish with rum butter...we cleaned up, found room for the gifts recieved and fell into bed, exhausted!

Today, we had a lazy day, cleaned up some more and made rice krispie houses and a gingerbread tree with the kids....and yes, we're still exhausted!

Mt. Vernon

We visited Mount Vernon (G. Washington's family home) on Wednesday, since the kids' school this week was cancelled due to our big snow storm we got a week ago today...we were snowed in and after taking turns shoveling for 6 hrs, and only getting half the driveway done...I called someone to plow the rest out...we survived our first snowstorm and am looking into getting a snowblower...our 200 yards of driveway is just too much if it decides to snow 24 inches again!

The water is a view of the Potomac River from the back of Washington's house...they used to catch alot of fish to eat/sell from the river...George entertained alot at his house...weary travelers used to stop and stay the night on their travels through the area...that's Virginia hospitality!

They also had a gingerbread replica of WAshington's house on display by a former white house Chef...I forget his name, but he's got a book out, yada yada....it was very cool!

The tour was very interactive, the house was interesting...the kids loved it. There were quite a few out-buildings that were closed due to snow/ice removal...so we plan to go back and really enjoy the view of the Potomac when the trees are all leafy and everything is green and lush! Washington's house grew as his status grew, he did not live there while he was the president, matter of fact, he only came home twice during his presidency, both I believe were during the Revolutionary war on his way through, mission planning with his lead generals.....anyway, to walk through the original house that he once lived in was amazing...his wife was also actively involved in Washington's presidency, she came during the long, cold winter months to the war site to help nurse those that had fallen ill and feed/cook for the soldiers....what a great woman, at 4'11 she was almost half the size of George, who stood at 6' 4"......I'll have to read up on her....anyway, George had no kids of his own, but he was stepfather to Martha's (who was widowed)...he provided for her children as they were his own...also interesting, Georgie never finished school....he only completed like up to 4th or 6th grade; that's around the time his father passed away and he had to help provide for his family...he is largely self taught, his own personal library contained somewhere around 900 books....he studied everything and education was so important to him that he provided for the education of his step children and even some nephews.......whew.....great place to visit.....we're looking forward to a weekend touring Monticello and Montpelier homes to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison about an hour and a half from here.....this spring or summer!

It's Winter in MD

It has finally snowed in MD....it's wet, and heavy and doesn't stick around (at least on the pavement).....the kids had a blast sledding and throwing snow balls...their clothes are sopping wet, but they had a good time!