State Department Holiday Party

The kids and I had the opportunity to go to a State Department Holiday Party Tonight. It was hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Martha Steward/Better Homes and Gardens. It was to honor all of the unaccompanied families. At the end of the party, there were 4 party bags per guest full of wonderful Martha Stuart treats. The party had mingling, delicious food, gorgeous presentation, harps, bell ensembles choirs, and I felt very pampered and appreciated as we were graciously thanked for our time away from our husbands this year. This was the first year the Secretary of State had a holiday party for unaccompanied family members.

Yes, this was a special meet and greet with Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton. She was very gracious. In fact, Jonathan had already planned this special meeting so that the kids and I could get some time in with her in private. We met in a room and spoke about Baghdad and life here without him. It was very nice meeting.

These cookies were so finely decorated it looked like something Martha Stuart would have done.

Austin loved touring the Benjamin Franklin room and seeing the rich historical magic of these special buildings.

Martha Stuart. She was very kind and complimentary. She and I conversed about her talent, and what a fan I am of her work and about Jonathan. What a treat to mingle with these ladies. She even took a picture of us for her own blog.

Ash is ready to play the grand piano for the big dogs...

Downtown Washington DC at Christmas time is a wonderful place. I'm so glad my kids can take advantage of these amazing opportunities.

Ashley's 4th Birthday

Ashley turned 4 today. 4 years old! She had a great day.

We opened presents every hour!

She too got Cold Stone Reeses ice cream cake....

Austin was a great big brother on her birthday...making sure all the presents were unwrapped completely, and that everyone's piece of cake was the same size.

Who's 4?

At the end of the evening tonight, while tucking Ash into bed, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I really did have a great birthday." It made me so happy! I want every year to be as good as the past 4 years I've had with my spunky little angel!

My 34th Birthday

So I turned 34. December 3. I am still not 35, but I am 34. I feel like as soon as the thirties hit, I started falling apart. But I am still loving only being 34! I figure, if I can "age with my age" and only look 34, then I'm happy. I wish I did what my mom always told me to do (no tanning booths, always wear sunscreen even in the winter time...) I do that now. I didn't in high school/college. But I am aging happily, healthily and gracefully if I do say so myself.

On my special day, I woke up with Austin singing Happy Birthday and giving me a good foot massage! He then said he wanted to "take" me to McDonalds. Nothing like an Egg McMuffin to start out the day! So we went and it was a great time. The McDonalds in Haymarket, VA in the morning is very cute. In the afternoons and evenings it's just a stop for day laborors and drivers off of 66, but in the morning time, the inside of the restaurant was filled with cute little old couples! Like they just get up and come to McDonalds as part of their daily retired routine. It was then that I panged for Jonathan to be here. And ring ring ring..he called. I immediately got sappy and told him how I wanted to grow old with him because I was at McDonalds and saw cute old people together..etc and he thought I was crazy. I just missed him. So he sang me a rendition of Happy Birthday that was very sweet, even though he was in a remote location outside of Baghdad, somewhere in Iraq on a Satellite Phone. What a sweetie.

I then went to Target! Ash and I went to Target and had a great time. Then I had a special lunch that my dear friend Erika put together for me. Pei Wei Pad Thai, balloons, confetti, beautiful place settings, a special little luncheon! She even made this delicious heath bar yellow cake/choc frosting (my favorite) cake to take home with me and celebrate with the kiddos. What a great friend.

The cake was divine!!!! The kids stuck as many candles as they could in there.

I had many wonderful calls from friends, family, and beautiful visits. Thank you all so much for making this birthday super special! I have the best friends and family ever! And Jonathan did a great job sending specialty treats for me. Thanks honey!

Visit to Santa

Jonny cakes. This is my sis-in-law Jonny. She is great! I never showed a picture of the wreath she made me!! She is super talented and makes these and sells them at Farmers Markets. Isn't it adorable? This gorgeous wreath has been on my door since October 22nd when she came out here to visit. I still don't want to take it off!

So this week I took the kids to Chik-fil-A to meet Santa. And I think this was the real Santa! He took his time, talked to the kids, really inquired about them, what they liked, school, past times, he was great!

Ashley wanted a "Baby Alive" that really goes potty.

Austin requested from Santa, "I want Rudolph".

Austin confessed to Santa that he liked iCarly, but that he still has a wife. Madeliene.

Last week we went to the Gainesville Gateway tree lighting and enjoyed the local festivities. This is my most favorite time of year.

Christmas Pictures

So since Jonathan is gone this year, the Christmas pictures are only going to be of the two kiddos. And as soon as I staged the pic, the kids started wrestling. Tackling each other. Grass stains, wet marks on knees. Noooo!!!

So things looked so placid when I told them how to stand, how to smile, etc. So I decided to just not say a word and just let them goof around. Those pictures seemed to capture their personality best.

Thanksgiving

This year we were so fortunate to have Aunt Reghan and Uncle Rocco (Aaron) come up and visit us from Los Angeles! We went over to the Turners home for a monstrous Thanksgiving feast. They host the best dinners ever. After dinner we had a few hours to let the bird digest and the kids did a Christmas book exchange. We then dug into dessert.

There's no Thanksgiving like a LaBarbera Thanksgiving.

We even took advantage of Black Friday shopping!!

Only 10 adults and over 10 desserts....yum.

While Aaron was here we wen to see the Christmas Carol movie and the kids enjoyed wrestling with their Uncle and being together. We had a great time! Thanks Reghan and Rocco for making the visit. We love you guys.

Soccer Gal

Austin got his new orthotics we call his "boots" to wear everyday now so he can train himself to stop walking on his tippy toes. This is a habit that started when he took his very first steps at 13 months old. He never got off his tippy toes when walking from that point on. So now at 7, we're once again trying to break the habit. (At age 3 Austin had 2 sets of casts made, orthotics physical therapy and even botox injections in his ankles to relax his achilles heal.) So this time around, Austin has the desire to stop walking on the toes. We'll get there. He's doing great.

At Mountain View Elementary school, the PTO had a great little Santa's workshop where the kids could buy their own gifts for their parents, siblings etc with their own money. Austin loved doing his "own" shopping.

Ashley had her end of soccer season party at Wegmans with donuts and received her trophy.

This was a great group of kids she played soccer with.

Little Gym Birthday Party

Austin and Ashley had a small joint birthday at the Little Gym of Gainesville. They both did classes there and love the gym.

Ash received an electric guitar from one of her friends-or maybe this is Ozzy?

This year Austin wanted to be "special agent Austin" and "princess Ashley" on the cake.

Austin Turns 7

November 13, Austin turned 7. WOW! Being 6 still seemed so young. But 7? I wish they wouldn't grow up so fast. Pop and Grandma were here visiting during Austin's birthday. Yeah!

The Cold Stone ice cream pie....I asked what he wanted on his cake and he said, "Daddy..a Superhero!" And Snake Eyes from GI JOE. So I put their pictures on the cake!

Austin was really into GI Joe and LEGOS this year. And still has the love for the Bakugans.

Mom making the homemade LaBarbera spaghetti sauce. So tasty I had her make a huge batch and I froze half of it for later use!

So turning 7 years old, I allowed Austin to have his first friend spend the night. Of course he chose Cameron. His best little friend. They played all night long! I didn't think they would stay up past 11, since Austin normally goes to bed at 7pm. But they were up till , well, till 1 am. The boys had a great time! At midnight I told them they don't have to go to sleep, but that they do have to turn out the lights. So the flashlights were on. Then at around 1, I heard nothing. Everyone's asleep. Until 6 am..Then chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

Austin kept telling me all night as his buddy was there and it was his birthday, "Mom, I'm so happy." Ahh the words you always want your kids to say. It made me even happier.