a merry little kitty christmas

leko is still enjoying the christmas tree skirts so we haven't taken down our two christmas trees yet.  we'll let him get as much enjoyment out of them as possible before they are all packed up for the year.

love, laurie

obsessed

noah has been obsessed with this black stool ever since we bought it at ikea in the summer.  it lives in our dining room for him to eat a the table, but lately it has been moved all over the living room as his "tractor ride."  this kid is a nut.

love, laurie

ringing in the new year

we celebrated the new year with our family with lots of meals and lots of running after noah.

we kicked off the festivities on new year's eve in the afternoon at a neighbor's house for a kid-friendly "noon year's eve" party.  we all had a good time.  after that, we went to ryan's parents' house for dinner on new year's eve.  then we got together for more eating on new year's day for dinner at my parents' house.

happy new year!

love, laurie

hello, 41.

today's my birthday.  i'm not sad to see 40 go.  i'm kicking it to the curb and screaming "don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

i had high hopes for 40 and was very much looking forward to it, but it disappointed in every way possible, and was by far the hardest year of my life.  i'm determined to make a change and 41 has to be better.

so, hello, 41.  welcome.

love, laurie

14 years with leko

yesterday marked 14 years since we adopted leko!!!  our hearts always burst on january 4th since it marks the day we brought our little fur baby home and we love him so much!  of course, he's going to be spoiled all week with extra kisses and tuna!  

love, laurie

. . .

one year with leko / two years with leko / three years with leko / 

four years with leko / five years with leko / six years with leko / 

seven years with leko / eight years with leko / nine years with leko / 

ten years with leko / eleven years with leko / twelve years with leko

preschool artwork

noah made some christmas artwork at school recently.  his teachers keep telling us how much he loves the arts and crafts time each day!

love, laurie

happy new year!

happy new year!

love, laurie

2025: our year in review

another year has come and gone and it's that time again for another annual year-in-review post.  i enjoy these posts each year because they are such a great way to close out the year and look back on all of the things that we packed into the past twelve months.  

here are our highlights from 2025 . . .

in january, we rang in the new year, i turned 40, got noah a big boy bed, did some artwork with noah, took a trip to the discovery center, took a trip to an indoor play place, cooked with chef noah, and played inside to stay warm.

in february, noah helped in the kitchen a lot, we all did our best to stay warm, we celebrated valentine's day, noah helped out with our big musical a whole lot, and we finally survived the musical.

in march, noah became a master chef, noah helped with costumes for children's theatre, noah discovered homemade pay-doh with his grandmas, noah helped with more costumes, we did lots of shows, we celebrated the first day of spring with free rita's, we made our first trip to billy beez indoor playground, and we survived children's theatre.

in april, noah played with lots of tools, continued to help in the kitchen, we celebrated ryan's mom's birthday a bit late, noah experienced hibachi for the first time, noah went on an easter egg hunt, we celebrated easter, and we visited a trampoline park for the first time.

in may, noah helped us work lots of shows in the theater, we visited the tulips at lakeland orchard, we celebrated mother's day with tulips and dinner, noah helped with lawncare, we spent a lot of time at lakeland, noah got a big boy bike, and we celebrated memorial day.

in june, we went strawberry picking, went to lakeland so many times, enjoyed local parks, took a trip to woodbury commons, celebrated ryan's dad's birthday, did even more strawberry picking, and celebrated father's day.

in july, we visited the trampoline park, picked raspberries, went to great wolf lodge, celebrated the fourth of july, took a train ride, picked blueberries, visited the crayola experience, splashed around in the kiddie pool, tried out the new balance bike, and took a trip to king of prussia.

in august, the boys found four-leaf clovers, i was back on pa live, we went to the wayne county fair, celebrated ryan's birthday, went to the harford fair, took a trip to knoebels, noah turned 3, we threw noah a lawn mowing themed birthday party, and noah started preschool.

in september, we took our annual trip to the italian festival, picked apples, visited the crayola experience, celebrated leko's birthday, saw the dinosaurs at roba farms, and rode on every tractor in sight for noah.

in october, we rode the halloween train to see the light display, survived the fall main-stage play at the university, noah got his school pictures, visited roba farms a lot, picked more apples, and dressed up as ice cream cones for halloween.

in november, we accepted an award for the theatre, noah had his first cleaning at the dentist, celebrated thanksgiving, and survived the 50th anniversary of the nutcracker.

in december, noah played in the snow, we sent out our annual photo christmas cards, went to see the festival of lights, and we celebrated christmas with our family.

happy new year!

love, laurie

. . .

previous year-in-review posts: 

2024 / 2023 / 2022 / 2021 / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016 / 2015 / 2014 / 2013 / 2012 / 2011

last show of the year!

2025 was jam-packed with shows.  we did our last show at the theatre on the saturday before christmas and noah asked me to take his picture with one of the nutcracker decorations to mark the occasion.  now we get a little break from shows until mid-january!

love, laurie

christmas 2025

we celebrated christmas eve and christmas day with our family and noah sure enjoyed himself.

we went to my parents' house on christmas eve for a festive dinner followed by dessert and noah diving into presents from grandma and grandpa.

on christmas morning, noah had a good time finding something under the christmas tree at home.  he played all morning and then everyone came to our house for dinner and dessert with even more present opening!

love, laurie