7th Day of Christmas - A.K.A. New Year's Eve

Have a beautiful New Year's Eve ~ Be safe and happy!

6th Day of Christmas

On the sixth day of Christmas, Mama gave to us . . . a trip to Hanover, PA!  We met up with my dad and headed north to the hometown of our favorite Utz Potato Chips.  We ate a nice lunch at Dutch Country Restaurant, shopped a bit at Big Lots, and then headed a tad south of town for a quick visit to the Hanover Shoe Farms.  Anyone can visit the barns as they are open to the public during all daylight hours.  One of the handlers told us to come back in two weeks when the mamas we saw would start having their foals.  Since they have over three hundred mares, they start early!

On the way home, we were treated to some beautiful skies ~

glowing Harpers Ferry

4th & 5th Days of Christmas

On the fourth day of Christmas, poor SG got a trip to the dentist.  Apparently, the kid is "high risk" due to her infant issues with GERD.  According to Dr. Newman, the acid caused deep grooves in her molars, which are now filling very easily with little cavities.  So, yesterday she got another filling.  In any case, we highly recommend Dr. Newman's practice in the North End of Hagerstown for all your pediatric dentistry needs.

On the fifth day of Christmas, we spent over an hour with Grandma's gift to Sylvie making snap circuits!  Fun!  

 

It's hard to see, but the fifth day of Christmas brought us some snow flurries, too!  I think this is first snow we've seen since the freak Halloween storm.  

Innies and Outies

Since it's the end of the year, I'm seeing these annual In and Out lists.  I hardly get any of the WashPo's, so I thought I'd make my own -- ha!

Out                                                                               In
Junie B. Jones or Captain Underpants books       Poison Apple books or Teen Bop mags

Soccer                                                               Guitar and Violin lessons

Complaining about Stink Bugs                            Killing Stink Bugs

Basketball shorts                                                Jeans

Brushing teeth                                                    Complaining about brushing teeth

Silly Bandz                                                         Homemade braided/macrame bracelets

Shoes                                                                 Boots

Spongebob, iCarly                                              So Random, ANT Farm, Jessie

Vacation plans                                                     Pool plans

Chicken nuggets                                                  Steamed Mussels/Clams

Being a housewife                                               Being an engineer

Drawing pictures                                                 Keeping a diary

Wanting an iPad                                                   Loving a Xoom

Blackberries                                                        Any other smart phone

Job stability                                                         New superintendents

Kidz Bop                                                             Taylor Swift, Adele

Cartoons                                                              Latch hook

Nursery Rhyme pictures                                       Posters of Justin Bieber

School lunch                                                        Packing

Voddy                                                                 SoCo

Driving to work                                                   Riding the Canal to work

3rd Day of Christmas

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . . a trip to West Virginia . . .

Yah, this is where blogging seems a bit, well, boring.  Not for me - I love to write about whatever - but for you, poor reader.  Alas, all we really did today was go out as a family (for once), eat, do an errand, and then grocery shop at Walmart, of all godforsaken places.  And then we came home, put away the groceries, made drinks (because we're on vacation - duh!), made dinner, and attempted to entertain our kids without too much effort on our parts . . .

So, the eating part -- we ate at Martinsburg's La Trattoria - the highest rated restaurant for that fair city on Tripadvisor.  Our young waiter Sebastian was a gracious gentleman, who catered to our every need -- want a meatball instead of meat sauce?  Sure, kid - not a problem.  Want french fries instead of salad or the yummy house Italian Marriage Soup?  Sure, sir - I'd be happy to.  Want me to heat up half that cake to make your girls happy while you get your cold cake and eat it, too?  No problem.  Seriously, the best little before-dinner rolls EVER.  We threw down two baskets-full before our steak-n-cheese paninis and spaghettis came.  The decor was - um, very peachy and Kelly green - but its location (on Rt. 9 just off Rt. 81 around the corner from the Girl Scout shop) and easy parking made up for that.  I think we'll do that joint again.

And the shopping part -- I thought G had made a wrong turn toward Hagerstown's Walmart instead of Martinsburg's, but, no, he was headed to Spring Mills.  I know - Walmart-talk on a blog.  Geez.  But seriously, of all Walmarts, this one is worth the chatter.  It's very new and very convenient and I always forget about it.  Apparently, so do a lot of people because it's never busy.  Love it.

And, finally, the child entertainment part:

They are making their "goal posters" -- SG hopes to sell at least 175 boxes and Sylvie hopes to sell 250 boxes . . . eeek!  Want to help??  Just let me know - Go, Girl Scout Cookies!  :)  (Latch hook work can be seen in the background . . . no, we haven't finished yet!)

On the 1st & 2nd Days of Christmas

 Truly He taught us to love one another, 

His law is love and His gospel is peace. 

Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.    
And in his name all oppression shall cease. 

O Holy Night, 1847  

On the first day of Christmas, Santa gave us . . . wayyyyyy too much stuff . . .

 and a visit from the Bussards and Grandma!

On the second day of Christmas, Santa gave to me a latch-hooking session with Mom.

Christmastime in Sandy Hook

These bikes (and a third unseen on the left) are an annual feature in downvillage Sandy Hook ~ yes, they are suspended with lights enveloping them

 While Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown get all the Yuletide attention, quiet Sandy Hook sits across the Potomac with her own festive appeal.  On my drive through today, I couldn't resist  getting a couple of shots of the fun.

The Sandy Hook Grocery's Tasmanian Tire ensemble - precious!