Ellie's new favorite snack ...

PEANUT BUTTER & HONEY on CINNAMON GRAHAM CRACKERS!

Aunt Lisa and Josh visit us in Charlottesville

We celebrated their arrival with Mello Mushroom pizza and a cookies and cream cake for the birthday girl(Ellie 3/22) and boy (Josh 4/13)! We watched The Blind Side after Ellie went to bed .. which was much too late for Bill to stay awake for the whole thing. We had bagels and waffles for breakfast as Ellie and Josh played Wii!

Picture Day at School

This is the outfit worn on Picture Day at Ellie's school. We'll have actual pictures soon ... the pictures were taken Friday, March 26th .. now you know what she wore!

New Bike

Ellie's 4th Birthday!

Ellie brought cupcakes to school on Monday, March 22 to celebrate her 4th birthday with Miss Kim's class. Since we wanted the whole school to celebrate, Bill brought Bodo's Bagels for all the teachers! They were SO happy! After school/work we picked up Ellie at ABC and Grammy from home and headed out to dinner at The Boat House Restaurant. Ellie remembered going there with Papa, Uncle Pat and Bill the end of last month. It's also the spot Grammy and Papa went to lunch on their trip to Charlottesville after Thanksgiving. Then it was home for cake and presents! Ellie's big gift this year was her two-wheel bike with training wheels! Her cake featured a princess castle, princesses and foundant just like she sees on her favorite tv show, Cake Boss.

The Jefferson Hotel - Richmond, VA

Bill & I enjoyed a wonderful night away at the gorgeous Jefferson Hotel on Saturday, March 20th. When Bill called about 9am to inquire about an early check-in so we could use the hotel ammenities, he was able to upgrade us to the Governor's Suite which was available for check-in at any time.

We toured the hotel in the afternoon, took advantage of the pool and patio area, and relaxed in our huge room! We were driven into the downtown area for a drink at the Tobacco Co in an old warehouse building. You'll see a picture of a "Wicked" martini since the Broadway production was going on across the street!

Our dinner was at the 5-star restaurant at the hotel called, Lemaire. Bill's dinner consisted of: ahi-tuna tower, amazing crab cake and bison rib-eye steak with polenta and smokey swiss chard. Mine was goat cheese and beet salad, cornmeal crusted oysters and beef tenderloin with horseradish potatoes and steamed asparagus. It ranks up there with one of our BEST meals ever. We celebrated out 'anniversary' with Bill's poundcake and caramel sauce and my Chocolate Grand Marnier terrine and awesome coffee!

After a great night's sleep in a big feather-topped bed, we enjoyed breakfast in our room! Our drive home that morning was a gorgeous sunny morning! So nice to get away ....

Grammy's here ....

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Sunday, Sunday ...

Ellie and I made St. Patrick's Day cookies shaped like shamrocks with green and white sprinkles. She LOVES the sprinkles! And, of course, afterward Ellie loves to Swiffer the floor. She'll use multiple sheets until I tell her she's done. Too bad she doesn't like the vacuum, or housecleaning would be a snap!

Spring is arriving ...

Although the calendar still gives us a couple weeks before it's arrival, Spring is poking through the ground in Virginia. With temps in the low 60's and the family outside raking .... it's coming soon!

Movie Night

Many of you may know that Friday nights are "movie nights" in our house. Here you'll see Ellie enjoying "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" with her BIG BOWL of POPCORN!