Camp Bowden

Daniel turns 3- November 24, 2011

2012-01-04T15:21:00.000-05:00

Since Daniel's birthday was on Thanksgiving Day, we opted to push the actual celebrating to Friday. We did let him open a few presents on his actual birthday, however.

He opened presents from Aunt Gene & Bubba first.

This was the first time Daniel seemed to enjoy opening presents.

He loves his new Gamecocks shirt!

Sarah crocheted a ball for him since he loves to throw balls.

Thanksgiving- November 24, 2011

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We had a full house on Thanksgiving with Papa, B'dette, April, Lonnie, Gabriel, Luke, James and baby Nicholas! The food was delicious, and it was the first Thanksgiving I have spent with my dad in a really long time. I was taken back to my youth, waking up early to rub Crisco on the turkey, but now apparently we use olive oil!

Emily loves to scrub potatoes. I can not explain it.

Sarah opens a birthday gift from cousin Andrea.She loves the shirt, and wears it often.

We had a lively table full of food and laughter!

Emily took this picture. I think it is a piece of pumpkin pie under all of that whipped cream.

April & Nicholas (also a photo by Emily)

Nicholas is Baptized- November 19, 2011

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Sweet baby Nicholas was welcomed into the Catholic church on November 19, 2011. I forgave his parents for planning his baptism on a Saturday afternoon (I missed the Carolina-Citadel game, but it was worth it!) in November. After the baptism, April & Lonnie had a fabulous party, and I enjoyed hanging out with several of the siblings, many of whom I had not seen since the night before Daniel was born! Of course, we hope to all be together again at the big wedding in November 2012!

Science Center- November 13, 2011

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We had a fun day at the Maryland Science Center with Nana. The girls laid on a bed of nails, Sarah wowed the planetarium speaker, and we had fun playing with all of the different exhibits.

Making Cookies- November 12, 2011

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Nana, Sarah & Emily made some delicious red velvet cookies while she was here for a visit!

Nana Love- November 11, 2011

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Daniel loves to look at pictures and videos on Nana's computer. I think he was watching a video of everyone sliding down the hill at Aunt Chris & Uncle Bill's house from this past summer!

Snuggle buddies!

Sally Cotter & the Censored Stone- November 10, 2011

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We were very lucky to have Nana in town for Sarah's big stage debut in Sally Cotter and the Censored Stone. Sarah did a great job, and hopes to be in the Spring musical next.

Sweet Caroline- November 5, 2011

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Our neighbor Caroline celebrated her birthday, so we made cupcakes after dinner to celebrate!

Halloween- October 31, 2011

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Our pumpkin

Sarah quickly decided her costume was not conducive to
the stairs and paths in our neighborhood!

I have never seen a spider like this. It is a Marbled Orbweaver.
I knew Joanna would want to see it, as she loves spiders so very much.

Painting- October 31, 2011

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A woman knocked on my door and dropped off this painting she had done in 2001 of the Japanese Maple tree in our yard. Titled Scarlet Lace, she decided to give us the painting, and I showed it to the previous owner, who had seen it at a gallery showing years ago.

Halloween Gathering- October 30, 2011

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The kids on our tiny street all go trick-or-treating together each Halloween, and then their is a gathering after the candy collecting. Since Halloween was on a Monday, the neighbors opted to have the gathering the day before Halloween. Several of the kids wore costumes, and the adults gathered around the fire pit as the kids played capture the flag.

Emily as Bellatrix Lestrange

Sarah as the Queen of Spades

Daniel as . . . Daniel. He opted not to wear his firefighter costume, but he did wear his boots.

We also had an angry bird, and a scary Caroline . . . I can't recall what she was.

Snow! October 29, 2011

2012-01-04T11:59:00.001-05:00

We've had some freaky weather since our move (hurricanes, hail, torrential rains), but nothing prepared me for the predicted October snow! Thankfully, it was not nearly as bad as predicted. We've yet to have anything more than flurries (thankfully!), but I suspect that will change any day, especially since it is 22 degrees as I type this!

Emily and Caroline were the only brave soles to venture out.

B&O- October 25, 2011

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Papa, Daniel and I enjoyed Free Fall Baltimore at the B&O Railroad Museum. The trains don't run on Tuesdays, so we didn't get to ride on any of the routes, but we still had a great time!

What's a train museum without toy trains?

Daniel loved the trains, but was a little nervous. He held tight onto Papa's hand most of the time.

When you push the button, the train lights up and the wheels move.

While taking a picture of the ceiling, a worker came over and told Papa he could go under the ropes to get into the center. You can look below and see the mechanism that turns the floor of the roundhouse.

Daniel loved the trains outside, but he loved the trains inside one of the train cars even more!

The Woodwards Visit! October 22, 2011

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We had a great afternoon/evening with April, Lonnie, and their four guys. Gabriel and Emily had fun on the Wii, while Sarah worked on Emily's hat. Luke, James, and Daniel had a ball playing with cars, and sweet Nicholas was quite the cuddle bug!

Daniel and James, born just a month apart, share a hug.

Walking to the Library- October 22, 2011

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Daniel wouldn't walk on the sidewalk. He loved shuffling the leaves with his feet.

2011 Christmas Letter

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We went semi-paperless this year, opting to publish our 2011 Christmas Letter on the blog instead of putting it in our Christmas cards. Click here to go the the letter.

Squashing Papa! October 20, 2011

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Daniel, Papa & Emily

Sarah & Papa

College Football Lives Here- October 15, 2011

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Yes, we love our college football at Camp Bowden. Week 7 games included South Carolina at Mississippi State and Clemson at Maryland. Daniel and I enjoyed watching the Gamecocks whoop up on Mississippi State on ESPN3. That night, Greg and Emily cheered on Clemson in an amazing comeback game.

Go Gamecocks!

We didn't get the game on TV, so we had to watch it on ESPN3.com

Go Tigers!

Happy Girls- October 14, 2011

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We were thrilled to receive a yummy fruit basket from Granny Gayle and Grandpa Charles! Caroline was here for a sleepover, so it was the perfect treat for snacking! Even Daniel enjoyed the strawberries and grapes.

Fun with Nana- October 11, 2011

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Watching ESPNUs

Reading Game Day by Tiki & Ronde Barber

Birthday Date- October 10, 2011

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For my birthday, Daniel made plans to take me to Miss Shirley's for lunch. Then, Nana made a trip just for my birthday, so she came on our date. She snapped this photo of me and my cute date.

Later that day, in Target, I saw this very cute baby outfit. I sent a picture to Debbie and Kathe, my two beloved sisters-in-law, asking for a new niece or nephew since my current ones are all old (but still cute as buttons), but their comments are not fit to share on a public blog. Thankfully, I did not buy it.

Ricky Myers Day of Service- October 1, 2011

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Sarah and I braved the chilly winds and planted what seemed like a gazillion trees with the St. Pius Youth Group. It reminded me of a chilly day I spent in Hampton Park down by The Citadel in the early 90s with my service fraternity at CofC. For years, every time I would drive by (usually during out trip to the Citadel's Candlelight Christmas Concert), I would look for the trees I helped plant. I wanted Sarah to have that same sort of memory.

Mr. Mark and his tiny backpack!

Our first tree is planted. The trees are on a golf course, so I was convinced I would be hit by a golf ball. Thankfully, I was not.

Tree number two is much taller than the first one!

Sarah is just the right height for tree number three!

Tree number four is just by the road.

Greg's Penn State Profile! September 29, 2011

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Greg was selected as a super-cool alumni to profile on Penn State's World Campus blog. You may recognize this photo from December 12, 2009, but you'll see it again on the Penn State World Campus blog.

Hersheypark- September 24, 2011

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For Sarah's birthday, instead of a party, we went to Hersheypark with the Marusaks for a day of fun. We figured we would stay as long as Daniel could handle it, and that ended up being a solid 12 hours! The park opened at 10:00 AM, and we closed the park down at 10:00 PM. It was a fabulous day of fun!

Emily was a Jolly Rancher

Sarah was a Jolly Rancher, but somewhere someone (perhaps Sarah herself) decided she was not a Jolly Rancher, but a Twizzler. This seems to indicate she is a Jolly Rancher, however.

Daniel was a Hershey Kiss. Yum.

Daniel said, "No, thank you" to riding on a horse.

Daniel & Puppy

Sarah, Aunt Debbie, Emily & TJ

Daniel's first roller coaster!

The whole gang! Scott, Kristen, Daniel, Greg, Sarah, Debbie, TJ, Emily & Julia

Aunt Debbie & Daniel

Julia & Emily

Scott & Kristen

Daniel & Aunt Debbie

I will take any opportunity to embarrass my beloved nephew TJ!

Debbie & Kristen

TJ & Sarah

College GameDay- September 23, 2011

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Daniel's favorite thing to watch . . . ESPN's College GameDay from October 9, 2010 in Columbia, SC. He watches it almost every day.

Walking Home- September 22, 2011

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Sarah, Daniel & Emily walking home from school

Navy vs. USC- September 17, 2011

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I headed down for a quick 48 hour trip to go see the Gamecocks play Navy with Dad, Bernadette, Jeff & Kathe. While I took the awesome easy cheese picture and the cell phone picture, the rest are from Dad. Thankfully, his camera was not "professional-looking" enough to keep them from letting us in this time.

During our walk-about before the game, I was tickled to see Mrs. Preston (her daughter is a cheerleader for the Gamecocks) and Tommy Fechhelm and his son Ian. We even managed to see the team coming off of the buses, which I have never seen before. We were right in front of the Defense bus, and I am telling you it is hard to tell who's who without the uniform!

Of course, the Gamecocks were victorious, as they always are when I am present. It was touch and go for a bit, but I knew my team would pull through. Go Gamecocks!

After careful list-making and packing for our shrimp & grits tail-gate festivites, it was noted that the cheese was left behind. Jeff and I were sent on a mission to find cheese. FYI . . . Subway will not sell you just cheese. After two gas station searches, we came back with Easy Cheese, and it worked just fine.

Before the game, Kathe, Jeff and I hung out by Dad and Bernadette's seats. Everyone was on their phone, so I whipped out Pete to take a picture of them! By the time I took out my phone, Jeff was done doing whatever he was doing, but I made him pretend.

Richard (a.k.a. Bubba) was at the game with Howard. Dad snapped this photo while I was talking to him on the cell phone. Howard is waving while Richard is standing next to him on the phone.

Jeff, Kathe and I were sitting further up around the 40 yard line. While you may have heard rumors that I knocked the little boy next to me down, I can not confirm or deny the said rumor. I don't think I did, but I can't be sure. He was as excited as I was, so it could go either way. He was fine, by the way. You can't see the boy in the photo, just his dad.

Go Gamecocks!

Run, Latti, run!

We had lots of fireworks during the night.

It's no secret that I am Stephen Garcia's #3 fan, after Mr. & Mrs. Garcia, of course. I like to think Dad took this picture just for me, as he does not share the Garcia love.

Go Gamecocks! September 10, 2011

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Penn State was on the big TV, so Daniel and I were sent to the sun porch to cheer for our Gamecocks on the Bowden Bowl Bash TV. Go Gamecocks!

Crabs- September 4, 2011

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We decided to have crabs at the house since we didn't think Daniel would hold up for the length of time it takes to pick crabs (about three hours this particular evening). Since some people were having shrimp & grits, the girls decided to decorate the paper with a North & South theme. The crabs and crab-eaters were on the North side, and the shrimp and shrimp-eaters were on the South side. Now, please spare me the Mason-Dixon line speech. Virginia is the buffer, people. This is the North. Note that I had placed plates on the North side. These were discarded quickly.

The North side of the table

The South side of the table

Daniel sat on the North side, but he had chicken

We had three dozen crabs, so we had plenty of leftovers for Debbie's delicious crab dip

Emily started on the South side, but moved over to the North side after her shrimp & grits

Chess- September 4, 2011

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Zoo fun with Granny Gayle & Grandpa Charles- September 3, 2011

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Emily, Sarah, Granny Gayle & Grandpa Charles on the tram

Grandpa Charles, Granny Gayle, Greg, Emily & Sarah look at a yellow and black striped snake

Emily & Daniel on a turtle

Sarah, Emily, Daniel, Greg & Grandpa Charles enjoy the animals

Everyone enjoys the play area

Sarah & Emily were happy to get in the turtle shells for a cute picture, but Daniel was not!

After the turtle picture, the girls were ready to be all done with the pictures! Daniel was much happier with this one.

The petting zoo had lots of goats

Everyone needed a little rest because it was pretty warm outside. This was Greg, Sarah & Daniel's second zoo trip. The last time they went, they had to close down because of the heat! Thankfully, it was not that hot during our visit.

Emily rides a camel, waving to her subjects

Sarah enjoys the camel ride

School Starts, Finally! August 31, 2011

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Getting ready to walk up the hill . . .

Hurricane Irene knocked out power to many of the city's schools, including ours. School was cancelled Monday, and then Tuesday. Sometime Tuesday power was restored to the school (many schools were not so lucky), so we were all set for a Wednesday start. We had friends on the other side of the neighborhood who didn't get power back until Thursday night! We were never without power, thankfully.

Dance Trophies- August 29, 2011

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Thank you for sending the girls their trophies, Planet Dance!

Scrapbooking! August 25-28, 2011

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Our annual scrapbook weekend was threatened by Hurricane Irene, but we didn't let a storm dampen our spirits! Despite the constant coverage, the hurricane missed us completely on our trip, and my flight was not even in the slightest impacted by the weather. We even landed early! It was a great weekend, and I managed to get quite a few pages done. I'm almost into 2010 . . . yes, 2010. Sadly, that is not a typo. At least I am a little better on the blog! I referred to it frequently while scrapbooking for dates and journaling.

Sharon & Mom at the Thursday afternoon crop

Joanna & Gene at the Thursday afternoon crop

Having dinner

August 19, 2011

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All tuckered out!

Still in Love with Puppy- August 18, 2011

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Michelle, Neal & Hazel- August 11, 2011

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Hazel and Emily play peek-a-boo around the bubble tubes!

We had a fun visit with my dear (not old) friend Michelle, who I have know since, honestly, I can not recall. We took dance lessons together with Miss Ellie, and we also went to high school together. Thankfully (for both of us), my scanner has not been connected since the move, so I won't add pictures of Michelle and me in some pretty interesting dance costumes through the years!

I hadn't seen Michelle since her wedding, and I had never met the adorable Miss Hazel, other than her adorable photos and videos on facebook. Needless to say, the girls were smitten with Hazel, and Daniel also thought she was pretty special. He continued to say good-bye to her well into the night. Sadly, we failed to take a picture of the two of them together. Neal and Greg were also under-represented in the pictures. I'm sure Emily took a zillion pictures, so I must find her camera and check!

Sarah and Hazel discuss the fish.

Michelle & Kristen

Happy Birthday, Sarah! August 8, 2011

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Sarah loved the knitting needles and supplies from Grandma in Washington.

We had a quiet day celebrating Sarah's 12th birthday. She opened lots of presents from family & friends, then we had dinner at Bahama Breeze (her choice), and cake. We decided we would celebrate a little later in the year with a trip to Hershey Park once we had settled in from our big move.

We each get to pick where we want to celebrate our birthday dinner, and Sarah picked Bahama Breeze.

We had a delicious cake for the birthday girl!

Lollipop! August 3, 2011

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This is one of those posts that might not seem like a big deal to some, but is a HUGE milestone for us . . . Daniel had a lollipop! I don't know what inspired him, but he was given a lollipop at the bank (along with his sisters), and he decided to lick it. He has a very poor tongue mobility. He never sticks it out or licks something off his lips. I tried to get a picture of him licking it for his beloved OT and speech therapist (Heather and Ashley), but alas, he was too quick for my phone's camera.

Family Fun- July 31, 2011

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Nana and Sarah play with her new Chess set.

Emily and Aunt Chris try to get early entry into PotterMore.

Uncle Bill tries to escape the chaos!

Aunt Chris & Uncle Bill- July 29-31, 2011

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We had a great weekend with Nana at Aunt Chris & Uncle Bill's house. While we were there, we celebrated Sarah's 12th birthday. She usually has a pool party at Aunt Gene & Bubba's, but we downsized a little this year! The festivities included a Slip "N Slide down the mountain (yes, the instructions specifically say do NOT place it on a hill), and a visit from Ashley and her beautiful horse.

The birthday girl takes a break from the Slip 'N Slide

The pool and the crowd may have been smaller, but the fun was super-sized!

Sarah was not as thrilled as we were about the Birthday Girl hat.

Emily was in charge of the decorations, and she did a super job!

Daniel loved to watch the "Wipe-Out" video of everyone on the Slip 'N Slide. Perhaps we'll get the video posted on Camp Bowden one day!

Ashley brought her horse over for a visit. Daniel wasn't a huge fan. He would not pet the horse.

Uncle Bill could not resist the party hat!

Nana! July 30, 2011

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Josh Groban- July 27, 2011

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Mom and I went to see Josh Groban to celebrate her birthday. It was a great show, even if I only knew one song! I took these pictures with my phone (who knew you could take a camera?), so they aren't that fabulous!

Coloring- July 21, 2011

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Emily loved having her cousins here while she was recovering!

Emily's Bone Graft- July 19-20, 2011

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Emily had the cleft in her gum line closed on our 14th wedding anniversary. Debbie, Scott, TJ & Julia came down to take care of Daniel & Sarah while we spent the night with Emily in the hospital. This was our first surgery in our new state, so we were curious to see how things would be different. Everything went smoothly, and Emily was a trooper!

Aunt Debbie braids Emily's hair before we head to the hospital for her afternoon surgery

Hugging Bimble while waiting with Daddy

We had to take this picture and email it to Sarah H., which I lovingly did. I didn't ask why, I just did it!

Emily had bone taken from her hip and put in the cleft in her gum line. She also had a cyst removed from her nose. The cyst ended up being the biggest challenge because it was huge!

Emily was so happy to have food since she couldn't eat all day Tuesday!

The view from her room

The Gergicks! July 16-17, 2011

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We were thrilled to have the Gergick family come for a visit! Emily had made "awards" for visits, so the Gergicks won a "First Full Family" visit and "First Pet" visit. It was great to see them, and they even brought Cheerwine!

Harry Potter- July 15, 2011

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Emily and Caroline celebrated the release of Harry Potter's 8th and final movie! Sarah and Emily were excited to get to see this movie in the theater!

Greg- July 8, 2011

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You might recognize this photo if you read the Fall issue of Healthcare Philanthropy, the Journal of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. Greg's article, entitled "Game Theory: One Tool for Understanding Donor Motivation," was featured as the AHP Professional Paper Competition Winner for 2010.

Independence Day- July 4, 2011

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We had a great time at the neighborhood parade, which ends with Popsicles and the fire truck spraying the kids! Emily was the only one brave enough from our family to go in!

Skyping with Nana- July 2, 2011

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June 30, 2011

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Emily loves Harry Potter! I never did get to read this issue.

Michael (the previous owner) had planted a garden that included many tomato plants, egg plant, cucumbers, various herbs and some lettuce. When two cherry tomatoes were ready to eat, I snapped this photo to send to him. Sadly, that was the highlight of my gardening skills. I think we harvested a total of 4 cherry tomatoes and two cucumbers. Oh, and lots of basil. I have managed to keep that alive!

Lite-Brite! June 29, 2011

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Debbie was so excited to play the Lite-Brite with Daniel. She toted it across several states to do so!

Travis! June 28, 2011

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On our way home from our trip, we stopped to pick up Julia and Debbie for a visit. After lunch at Fat Daddy's (yum!), Debbie drove and took us on a slight detour to see Travis. I had no idea what we were doing until he walked out (neither did he)! It was a great surprise!

Friendship Day- June 27, 2011

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While Emily celebrated Friendship Day with Bailey, Sarah, Daniel, Papa and I had a fun day at the beach. Emily's day of fun included skating and a movie.

Back for a Visit- June 25, 2011

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After two weeks at the new house, we came back for a brief visit. We had weddings, birthday parties, friendship day, a beach trip and car repairs all in the span of a few days!

Jeff lovingly changed the headlight in my car, which oddly involved removing a tire. What a good brother!

Nana, Emily & Sarah at Javier & Christy's wedding reception. Emily was an altar server during the Mass.

Lincoln's 5th birthday party!

Cousins and Cards- June 17, 2011

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TJ, Sarah, Emily & Julia play cards on the sun porch.

Home, Sweet Home- June 10, 2011

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After a long day of driving on the 9th, we arrived while there was still daylight, which was good since we had no lamps. The house only has a few overhead lights, but I found some vintage lights on the sun porch and plugged them in on the mantle. This proved to be exciting, as I blew a fuse and caused a nice spark show. Burning down the house would be bad. Then, we had a hail storm. Such a welcoming state.

The movers arrived bright and early on the 10th. They wisely added another man to the team. It was over 100 degrees, and we have no A/C, so those guys were troopers. They finished around 6:00 PM, and we were left with the daunting task of unpacking.

Daniel has breakfast in the kitchen while we wait for the movers to arrive with our furniture.

Emily's room came with a complete bed, a desk, a bookcase, some spiffy shades, and Hedwig. Michael, the previous owner, was moving to a much smaller house, so he left most of the furniture in his younger son's room for Emily. They had discussed this over breakfast one morning in April.

Sadly, we scared the birds away that had worked so hard building this nest.

Here comes the truck!

Wallace greets us with a huge smile! The guys all live in the area, so it was great fun talking to them about our new city.

The first thing off the truck, chairs for the girls. Thankfully, Greg had a TV up here already, so we had that to occupy Daniel (and the girls) while the movers unloaded.

Krispy Kreme- June 9, 2011

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Our final breakfast was a good one!

Pack it Up, Pack it In- June 8, 2011

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Oh, how naive we were. The plan was to load up the truck and then head out on our way to the new house, stopping to spend the night at Debbie & Scott's house. The movers arrived that morning, and started working hard labeling non-boxed items and taking furniture apart. Around 1:00 PM, we started thinking maybe we underestimated the time frame. Wallace the Mover told me this would be an all day task. So, we figured we'd get to Debbie's later than we had anticipated, no problem. Well, at 10:30 PM, they were wrapping it up, exhausted. We had a great team of four hardworking guys, and we bid them farewell, with Friday set as the delivery day.

Daniel's 2 Faves- June 7, 2011

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Daniel said good-bye to two of his favorite things . . . the dishwasher and Miss Ashley. It was a sad day.

Boxed In! June 6, 2011

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The packers arrived on Monday, June 6th. They packed for two days, then on Wednesday we were scheduled to be loaded, with our stuff arriving sometime between Friday and Monday. Needless to say, we were hoping for Friday! The girls spent the two days with the Harrelson family, enjoying the pool and fun with friends. They also went to see a movie with Nana and had a sleepover at her house. Daniel just wandered around wondering where his toys were.

Bye-Bye Bowdens- June 5, 2011

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We had a wonderful going away party to say good-bye to our wonderful friends and family. It started out as a small gathering at my mother's house, but quickly grew to a much larger event. We had a great time, sharing lots of laughter, tears, and hugs.

Andrea Graduates! June 3, 2011

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It is almost impossible to believe that Andrea is old enough to graduate from high school, but I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. She is an amazing niece, and a loving cousin to Sarah, Daniel & Emily. I can't wait to see what greatness becomes of her.

Daniel & Daniel- June 2, 2011

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We love to take Daniel's picture with other Daniels. When my Daniel was a few weeks old, he met my friend Daniel who works for the City. I foolishly did not take a picture, and for 2 years, I kept saying we needed to get the picture. With the move looming ahead, I finally took Daniel up there for his picture! After, we went to Papa's office to enjoy some Gamecock pictures!

Sarah- May 31, 2011

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When I took Sarah to school to drop off her scale house (she normally took the bus), I learned it was Awards Day. Sarah received awards for the highest average in Math, Science, Social Studies & Language Arts. She also had the highest MAPS scores for language and math. In addition to the A honor roll, she was also awarded the President's Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence. I was so glad I was able to be there to cheer for her!

Coloring- May 30, 2011

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Many years ago, Nanny made this crayon carrier for Sarah. For years, she carried it every Sunday to Mass. Now Daniel uses it, and I know Nanny is smiling down on him.

Measuring Day- May 30, 2011

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Our annual measuring day was bittersweet, knowing it would be the final measuring day in our beloved home. Greg traced the chart on a roll of paper, so we'll be able to find the perfect spot to transfer the measurements in our new house.

Emily- 59 5/8"

Daniel- 37 5/8"

Sarah- 58 5/8"

The Last Piano Lesson- May 26, 2011

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Sarah, Mylene & Emily

Daniel & his Ladies- May 26, 2011

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Miss Mindy (EI), Miss Ashley (Speech) & Miss Heather (OT) with Daniel.
Daniel for the longest time called Mindy and Heather "Not Miss Ashley."

Kailee's Graduation! May 20-23, 2011

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Kailee & Andy demonstrate the huge size
capacity of her gown.

After five grueling months of chaos, I was thrilled to take a much needed vacation to beautiful Colorado to see one of my favorite families! Kailee was graduating from high school, sniff, sniff, so I had to celebrate with her. While I was there, I was charmed by her Calculus-loving boyfriend Andy, and pampered by my beloved Patti. Complete with Scotcheroos and Lucky Charms, I was one happy camper. Dave even made sure I had fresh coffee in the morning, not the day old stuff he drinks! The weekend was way too short, but we packed a lot of fun into our time together!

My beloved Maggie!

Dave & Patti went to the field before dawn to score us some sweet seats! Graduation was at 7:30 AM!!

Dave's dad tried his best to get Kristina to smile!

Patti's parents and her sister Deb made the drive from Nebraska to celebrate. I had breakfast each morning with Mr. Marr since we were both still in earlier time zones!

Congratulatory hugs from Mom!

We sent this picture to Greg since he was unable to attend . . . it is a picture of him and me with Kailee from her kindergarten graduation.

Kailee & Kristina

My favorite picture, other than how old it makes me feel!

After the party, Andy (who also graduated with Kailee at 7:30 AM) was too tired to feed himself!

Andy & Kailee

Cookie! May 18, 2011

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A two and a half year old holding a cookie and eating it might not seem like a newsworthy event for most people, but in our house, it certainly was cause to celebrate! Daniel was able to pick up the cookie and bite it independently. Usually we have to break his food up into small bites. Also, he rarely enjoys picking up food. So when I handed him a cookie and he ate it instead of dropping it, I was thrilled! I then had to take a picture to send Heather (his OT) and Ashley (his speech therapist), since it was their hard work that helped him reach this milestone. He managed to eat about 2/3 of the first cookie before it was too much of a mess for him to handle. Then he ate about the same amount of a second cookie.

Bus Stop Buddies- May 17, 2011

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Andy, Emily & Sarah H. sit at the bottom of our driveway waiting for the bus. Daniel loved Sarah H.'s backpack because it had a Gamecock on it.

Piano Recital- May 15, 2011

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Sarah- In the Hall of the Mountain King

Emily- Carmen

Carowinds- May 14, 2011

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For Christmas, Papa gave Sarah and Emily a day trip to Carowinds. Early Saturday morning, they headed out for a day of fun. They had an amazing time, and Sarah even braved an upside-down roller coaster (Emily is a pro at these). Being the loving folks they are, they decided to bring Daniel a souvenir. Yes, Daniel, we do hear that sound.

Mother's Day- May 8, 2011

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With Greg in Baltimore, the girls were left to their own creative devices for a Mother's Day breakfast. They wisely employed the assistance of Nana, and made this fabulous breakfast for me. Later in the day, we headed to Nana's for a great dinner with Jeff, Kathe, Andrea (whose gift of 2 bags of pretzel m&ms was amazingly awesome), Joanna, Lincoln, Gene, and Nana, of course! We went to visit Bubba after dinner and took him some tasty treats. It was a great day!

Baseball- May 7, 2011

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Daniel's love of baseball is only surpassed by his love for Papa and Uncle Jeff. So imagine his delight when he had all three together, along with some chicken & french fries. He sat with Papa and Uncle Jeff and watched the game with much more excitement than his two sisters! Now he loves to try and play his own version of baseball, swinging anything that looks like a bat, yelling, "Strike!"

Camp Rock- May 5, 2011

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Sarah's chorus program was a production of Camp Rock 2. She did a great job! There was lots of singing and dancing, so I was too busy watching to take very many pictures!

Daisy- May 4, 2011

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Emily's best friend Bailey had a cat named Daisy. Sadly, Daisy died, so Emily made this cute clay cat for Bailey to have.

Aquarium- April 29, 2011

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On Friday, we headed to the Inner Harbor for lunch at the Gypsy truck. Greg raves about this truck that parks outside his office every Thursday, so we tracked it down. I had some delicious chocolate covered bacon. Yum! Then we signed up for our aquarium membership and went for a stroll through the aquarium. FYI . . . no strollers allowed. Insane. Emily took a picture of almost every sea creature in the joint, but I am only sharing one. I'm sure if you e-mail her she'll happily send you more!

Too Big! April 28, 2011

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Our New Cleft Team- April 27, 2011

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One of the hardest parts of moving was saying good-bye to our cleft team. With all three kids in various stages of repair, we've known our team for almost 12 years, and knew we would be with them for at least another 12 years. I was crying when I told Duke we were leaving, and he put his hand on shoulder and said, "In a year from now, you'll see this is the best thing that ever happened to you." I am holding you to that, Duke Hagerty. He did his undergraduate work at Hopkins, so he was confident we would be in great hands. We met the team, and I am sure they will be great, but I will still miss Duke, Olivia, Sally, Ashley, Dr. Vincent, Dr. Strauss and the rest of the crew.

The Search is Over- April 28, 2011

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We had the worst or the best luck finding a house for our big move, depending on your outlook. We started early, making a list of potential houses in late November when Greg accepted the job. While we knew we had "plenty of time" and it was "a buyer's market," we were eager to see where we would go. We met with our new agent Mike, and he took us on a tour of several suburban areas. We made lists, we researched, and we finally found the house . . . or so we thought. The following houses are the ones on which we made offers, not just houses we were interested in buying. It would take way to long to go through that list!

House: The Doll House, a.k.a The Gingerbread House
Year built: 1890
Style: Victorian
Location: City
Who saw it: All 5 of us
What I loved: Original transom windows, stained glass, mail slot
What I hated: Killer basement, no central a/c, tiny kitchen, no master bath
Did I care? NO! My love for it surpassed any concerns I had about my list of negatives
What went wrong: We could not agree on a price. They wanted about 6% more than two houses on that very street had gone for, and both had extras this house did not have.

House: Miss Shirley's House, a.k.a the Foreclosure
Year built: 1896
Style: Victorian
Location: City
Who saw it: Greg
What I loved: The stove in the kitchen, mail slot, the yard & garage
What I hated: Corner lot on a main road
Did I care? Not sure. I never saw the house, only pictures. Greg says it is better this way.
What went wrong: The bank accepted an offer the day before Greg saw it, making us all wonder why they let us see it.

House: The Red Roof Inn
Year built: 1852
Style: Farmhouse
Location: County
Who saw it: Greg, but then all of us after our first offer
What I loved: kitchen sink, roof, carefully restored, laundry room
What I hated: Daniel's "room," no mail slot, tiny dining room
Did I care? Yes. I had reservations about this house.
What went wrong: They wanted to close July 1st, and I thought it was too small.

House: Country Estate
Year buit: 1877
Style: Farmhouse
Location: County
Who saw it: Greg and Kristen
What I loved: At first, nothing, but in the end, everything, but especially the kithcen, dining room & master suite (the picture shows the side & part of the back of the house)
What I hated: No mail slot, electric stove
Did I care? No, I loved it.
What went wrong: They literally sold it out from underneath us in the middle of negotiations.

At this point, we went back to The Red Roof Inn, whose agent had called Mike several times while we were working on Country Estate. Allegedly, her clients were willing to move mid-June. After agreeing on on offer, they verbally accepted on a Friday, stating their relocation company had to sign the offer since they were selling the house to them. On Monday, the letter was still unsigned, and the agent said they were waiting on another offer to come in Monday evening. I wanted to immediately withdraw our offer, but Greg was much calmer, and we aggreed to give them until noon on Tuesday (it had been a full week since we started negotiations). At noon, we said farewell to the Red Roof Inn, and I was not sad.

Meanwhile, The Doll House was still on the market, and we had a back-up house in the city that we liked. He tried one last time to see if Sherwood wanted to sell (this was the first house we liked, but only Greg saw it and we never placed an offer on it since it was pulled from the market). Sherwood was a no, The Doll House was still asking too much, and we were running out of time. We decided to pay for an appraisal of the Doll House just to see what it was really worth, then, out of nowhere, a house we had wanted to see from our original list came back on the market on Friday, April 15th. Greg couldn't be there to see it until Tuesday, but he and Mike went ready to make an offer. The house was great, and our offer was accepted. Now, the rest of the family needed to see it! We had to wait until Thursday, April 28th, and it was torture, especialy since we arrived on Monday! In the end, it is the perfect house for us. It took us some time to find each other, but it was so worth the roller coaster!

House: Camp Bowden, North HQ
Year built: 1907
Style: Center Hall Colonial
Location: City
Who saw it: Greg (but we have all seen it now)
What I loved: Location, mail slot, the seller, scrapbook room, bulter's pantry, large dining room
What I hated: Tiny kitchen (I am going from about 40 linear feet of counter space to about 6, maybe less)
Did I care? Not one bit!
What went right: Everything!

April 26, 2011

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Daniel loves to sit and watch the light rail "choo choo train" outside the hotel. Since it is the second to last stop, he is often rewarded with a second train a few minutes later!

Jolee's Egg Hunt- April 24, 2011

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Debbie's friend Jolee puts on an amazing egg hunt every Easter. After a delicious potluck meal, the little ones (Daniel & Jolee's one year old grandson) had their own egg hunt in the front yard. Then, the dads and the older teens hid probably more than 300 eggs in her backward. Some eggs contained candy, and others contained numbers. The numbers are the order from which prizes are selected from the prize table. With about 150 prizes, everyone came home with quite a bit of loot!

Daniel

Sarah

Julia

Emily

Crepes- April 24, 2011

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We spent the Easter weekend with Aunt Debbie & Uncle Scott. We packed a whole lot of Easter fun into a few days, but it was so worth the exhaustion! We arrived late Friday, as traffic was a nightmare for the kids and me, so Greg actually made it there before we did! Debbie, Kate, Julia and I went to the Easter Vigil Mass, and Greg, Scott, TJ, Sarah & Emily went Sunday morning. Before Mass, but not before the hillarious Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt, Sarah & Aunt Debbie made us all some delicious crepes!

Happy Easter!

April 23, 2011

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When I finally gave Kate her present, about five weeks after her birthday, she did indeed love it.

April 22, 2011

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Daniel was so excited when he spotted this snazzy Gamecocks outfit in the store, so of course, I had to indulge him. I imagine he'll be in Gamecock withdrawal once we move north, so I have to support the habit now. He does spot virtually every Gamecock sticker on I-95! It is his favorite car game.

Easter Eggs at Aunt Kathe & Uncle Jeff's- April 20, 2011

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Every year we head to Aunt Kathe's house for the decorating of the eggs. While Aunt Kathe was make the best french fries ever, Sarah, Emily and Andrea did the eggs. Nana and I took lots of pictures while Uncle Jeff & Daniel had some "male-bonding" with various cars, motorcycles (or motorbikes, as Daniel calls them), and other toys.

Egg Hunt- April 17, 2011

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We headed to Papa's house for our annual Easter Egg Hunt. This was the first year Daniel seemed to understand the game. His eggs (green and blue) were on the deck, while Emily's eggs (orange and purple, of course) and Sarah's eggs (pink and yellow) were all over the yard. He would not hold the bucket, but Papa helped him with that. Everyone had fun running around searching, and Emily was the first to find all of her eggs. Daniel's favorite toy was the bouncy balloon ball!

Art- April 17, 2011

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Sarah and her self-portrait at the mall.

Andrea's Prom- April 15, 2011

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Andrea was so beautiful for her Senior Prom. I posted more photos on facebook, but here are a few of my favorites

Emily's Concert- April 14, 2011

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Emily's chorus concert celebrated Broadway. The kids did a great job under the direction of Ms. Canfield. After the show, Emily, Bailey & Caroline had to have a picture with their chorus teacher!

Caroline, Emily, Celeste & Bailey

Emily & Cookie

Ken & Nancy- March 28, 2011

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Greg's Aunt Nancy & Uncle Ken took one of their amazing journeys around the country this past winter. You can read Aunt Nancy's journal by clicking on the dodgecitykitty link to the right. On their latest trip, they were in our area so we spent a great afternoon together. This was their first opportunity to meet our Daniel (they have a Daniel, too). It was great to visit with them!

Aunt Nancy, Uncle Ken, Sarah, Daniel & Emily

March 25, 2011

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Daniel loves to color. His favorite thing to color is Gil from, can you guess . . . Bubble Guppies. Today, he settled for Nonny and Bubble Puppy since he has already colored Gil!

Emily's New Bike- March 21, 2011

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March 16, 2011

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Daniel loves traffic!

Regional Spelling Bee- March 14, 2011

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Sarah's spelling success ended at the regional level. We are very proud of how well she did, and she is excited to have another opportunity next year! We couldn't take pictures during the competition, but Nana managed to get some before and after, thankfully.

Scrapbooking- March 11, 2011

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For 6 years, we have gathered every month (well, almost every month) for dinner and scrapbooking. While some nights are more productive than others, we always have a great time looking at pictures, comparing products, planning scrapbook trips, and sharing tips and tools.

We had a yummy cake to celebrate our anniversary. Sharon was kind enough to serve us in between layouts!

Daniel was not feeling the scrapbook love, so Nana let him color on her lap. He'll color on anything, so we figured we'd better keep a close eye on him with all of our good paper around! The girls always play on the Wii when we scrapbook, enjoying an opportunity to stay up later than usual!

Gene worked on some Christmas pages with Lincoln sitting on Santa's lap from their family trip to Disney World last Christmas.

Joanna worked on a countdown calendar for Lincoln for their next trip to Disney. She had a zillion little numbers and Mickey-shaped cut-outs!

March 7, 2011

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Daniel's new favorite toys are the hammer and screwdriver from a tool set he received many months before from Lincoln, Michael & Joanna. He loves to hammer while watching Bubble Guppies or Handy Manny! We spend a fair chunk of time searching for these two tools all over the house, too!

All County Chorus- March 5, 2011

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Emily

Sarah