NCAA Bracketology

HA! Well after a strong start in March Madness, I am out... The only team of the final four that I called is North Carolina. And I have them losing in the Championship game to Kansas.

There's always next year.

Ben, on the other hand, is going strong. He had seven out of the Elite Eight and four of the Final Four. He's got North Carolina slated to win it all.

I'm excited to see how it all turns out!

NCAA Tourney

Although I don't follow sports, I do enjoy filling out a college basketball bracket each spring and following along as my picks go down.

Tonight, I'm feeling quite gratified: 8 of the 8 teams I've picked so far have won!

I don't expect this to last long, though. I have 3-seed Kansas slated to win the tournament.

Robins!

While James was eating lunch today, he announced, "Red birds, Mommy, red birds." I looked up expecting to see a cardinal on a branch in the woods behind our house. Instead, I saw three robins' red breasts as they danced from tree to tree.

Spring is coming! Spring is coming!

Christmas 2008

Now that I've announced the arrival of spring, it seemed an appropriate time to post pictures from Christmas 2008. Haha!

This year, we enjoyed the sweetness of a 2 year old's wonder and excitement in all the festivities related to the season. From the train around our Christmas tree to the presents on Christmas Day, the trip to Lancaster and the lovely visit with Uncle Andy & Aunt Lizzie and their adoreable dog, Lily, what wonderful memories we made!

On Christmas Eve, we hosted Ben's family for dinner. James and his cousins sat at their own table. And when it came time to say grace, these three held hands without our prompting.

Before Ben and I went to bed on Christmas Eve, we set up the living room.

It's not really clear in this picture, but there is a very small electric train on the table in the left of this picture. Ben's mom had found it among some things that belong to his grandparents. We decided to make a little train board and set up a circle track for James on Christmas morning.

Here is James coming down with Daddy on Christmas morning - hardly a surprise to anyone who knows this boy - his eyes lit on the miniature train instantly.

Enjoying a brief coffee and apple cake break in the early-morning present opening.

And back to more presents...

Helping James open his big present...

What is it, son?

TRAINS!!

Hmmm... this is a lot to process... there are 130 piece to put together. Where do I begin?

Here is our attempt to capture James and his cousins on Ben's side... Ha! 5-year-old Anna was very cooperative. James, who NEVER sucks on his fingers wouldn't take them out of his mouth for anything. What can I say? He's two?!

After Christmas, we enjoyed a wonderful visit to Lancaster to spend the weekend with my mom and dad and my sister and her family. We were sad that my brother and his wife and two boys couldn't be with us.

We came back from Lancaster so that we could have an evening with Ben's sister Lizzie & her husband, Andy. James adores their dog, Lily.

Oh the fun of the new train set! With some help from Mommy, James' wishes for bridges and "tunnels" came true!

Random Pics

I haven't posted pictures in forever. So today, I'm adding quite a random selection from last December, prior to Christmas. Enjoy!

All by himself, James brought all his farm animals to the feed trough.

Shortly before Christmas, James developed another set of ear infections. He spent a lot of time sitting on the couch, "reading" books - even by himself.

Gotta love it - James stomping around in Mommy's brown boots - on the wrong feet of course!


In the beginning of December, we went to my nephew Devin's birthday party in Hershey, PA. This is James with his Grammy & Papa and cousin Lani.

And this is my Mom & Dad with eight of their grandchildren (left to right: Lani, Devin, Camden, Halle, Garret, Weston, Braeden, James). My sister's five are dressed alike. My brother Greg's two boys, Devin & Garret, are standing beside my dad.

James with his daddy enjoying a warmer day in December.