Birthday Party for Dennis (and his "twin" sister Amanda)

As I previously posted, Dennis turned 10 on January 16th while he and I were still in Ukraine, and we celebrated with friends in Kyiv. Well, our Amanda turned 7 on the same day, and she got to celebrate with Daddy and the other siblings at McD's for breakfast AND lunch ... and a family friend joined them for BBQ dinner and Blizzard ice cream cake later.

Me and the "twins" before the party
(Troy needed to be included, too)

Fast forward a few weeks ... many of you know about the big snow storm that hit the east coast last week ... we got caught in the traffic that resulted from the main HWY (Rte 7) being closed down in both directions! What should have taken 35-40 minutes to get home from Ashburn took seven and a half hours and that included sitting on Rte 7 not knowing it was closed down for a couple of hours first!!! It was Brian and me and Dennis ... we had no food (well 2 snack size Larabars but you really don't want to eat those without sufficient water), no water, no pit stops (that last one is a miracle all by itself)!

We would not have otherwise gone out this day, but we had already rescheduled Dennis pre-school enrollment health screening for a day that the other kids would be in school ... only to have school closed for another snow day! It could not be any later than Wed because his TB screening results must be read in 2-3 days and he was supposed to start school on Monday. So, we dropped of the other kids with a friend and took D to the doc. He got a clean bill of health to start school, pending clear TB screening, and referrals for specialists. We made a quick stop by Target to pick up the photos I ordered to mail to Snezhana, and we were on our way home just before 3:30pm ... at this point a 30 min drive from Leesburg ... not to be the case!

The birthday bunch about to have some burgers

Ok, so we survived the snow storm and them it was time to plan a party! :) Approx 25 guests, church friends, family friends, co-workers joined us for the celebrations! Dennis had chocolate cake with Toy Story theme. Amanda had yellow cake with Tinkerbell theme. Of the 25 people, only 5 boys were there, including our 2! Oh well, Sam is used to it by now since he's only had sisters up until this month! :)

Hurry up and take the picture -
we want cake!

Brian BBQ'd burgers and we had salad, fruit salad, chips, and soda ... and of course I bought way too much food so the rest will be headed to the super bowl party next weekend - GO STEELERS!! While waiting for dinner, the kids played downstairs with the new ping pong table, and friends (some new and some old).

For more b-day party photos, visit my B-day Party for Dennis and Amanda facebook album.

Opening gifts with dear friends
(Stephanie and Melodie)

Yeah for technology - my inlaws in California were able to skype into the party and view it while we just went about our business. Actually, I think it was quite a hit for most of the kids at the party. I saw Dennis at the computer quite a bit of the time ... Ashley and some of her friends were chatting with the cousin(s). The adults also stopped by to say "hello" and meet the folks! :) We could turn the camera to view the table during dinner and view the family room during gift opening time.

Oh yeah ... another noise making toy!

Well, with school closed 4 days last week, we were unable to get Dennis registered or meet with his teachers, so we will be doing that on Monday. Hopefully they will let him stay the rest of the day, but if not then he will just ride the bus to school and start on Tuesday! The start of week 3 at home! :)

.