Snow Day Part II

So today I had the privilege of doing what we, "on the hill" or "in the District" call...telecommuting.  Have you heard of it?  It means you get to work at home...in your jammies...with no make-up...listening to Christmas music...Lovin' it!!
Anyway, while this was a planned telecommute day for me, the timing was perfect with all the snow outside and me not having to drive in it.  BTW, I use the term "all the snow" in the context of being a Texan.  I realize that those of you from Minnesota are laughing at me!
Anyway, I actually was pretty productive from about 0600 until 1330 (that's 1:30 pm for you civilians...who had to work...in an office..with your clothes on...wearing make-up) when I looked outside to see all three boys (yes, that means Jay) pulling a sled around the yard and throwing snow at each other.  Right about this time, I was regretting not having real clothes on, so I just took pictures.  However, at about 1600 (4:00pm) we did dash out for a family run/bike in the snow.  Our plan was for 4-5 miles but only got about a mile before Cael crashed on his bike for the fourth time and exclaimed that he now hates snow!  So we made snow angels, which he thought was pretty cool, then had a snow ball fight until everyone was cold and wet, but laughing hard...then we walked back home.  Great exercise, I say!
Below are the pictures from the first event today (the back yard was not nearly as snowy as the front), followed by hot chocolate to warm up.  There's nothing that warm chocolate and melty marshmallows won't solve.  Wish you were here!

December

December has been wonderful...we have had so much fun decorating and baking...and NOT doing War College!! That's right I FINISHED the War College...YEAH!  We're now waiting for Jay to finish one more paper before  he is out of school for the semester so we can ALL do some relaxing on the weekends....until he starts up, again, in the spring semester.  Me...did I mention that I'm DONE with War College...YEAH!!
Meanwhile, when my folks were here, we tried to set up our big, beautiful fake Christmas tree and discovered that it will not fit in this house.  So, off we went to the local Christmas tree stand to find a skinny 5 foot tree that fits just right in the Bolling house.  We then took the boys to get their picture taken with Santa and I think Cael was a little nervous.  (weren't we all on our first visit to Santa?)  Last weekend, we walked around downtown and took some pictures of the National Christmas tree and the White House.
The big news is that today we received about 3 inches of snow and proof of the power of prayer.  You see, Cael has faithfully prayed for snow every night for two weeks and today his prayers were answered.  It was so pretty.  Enough to make it look nice but not so much that commuting was entirely miserable.  I took the opportunity to wait out a bit of traffic and go for a run on the National Mall before I came home and took a few shots of the sites while the boys and the next door neighbors had an awesome snow ball fight....

Pretty psychedelic cookies, eh?

One can NEVER have too much sugar...

Santa, we've been VERY good this year...trust us!

Wish you could have all been here!  I'll try to be more faithful in my posts...did I mention that War College is done!!  YEAH!!!  Merry Christmas, everyone!!

November

November started with Cael first of three surgeries.  He was so brave through the whole thing.  This first surgery took about 6 hours so it took awhile for him to wake up and he was pretty sick when he did wake up.  However, our surgeon is wonderful and everything went very well.  Next surgery will most likely occur in April.

Waiting in Pre-op

Practicing breathing through the mask

Cam comes for a visit on the ward

What I failed to mention in our October post is that our wonderful friend, Ginnie, came for support and child care during the marathon and while Cael had his surgery so that Jay and I could tag-team at the hospital...THANK YOU ANYI GINNIE!!

Geese and Pop (and Meg, Tucker's daughter) came for Thanksgiving and we had a great time playing tourist for a couple of days.  It was also having "mom" help cook for the big meal.  There were many things that we were thankful for shared around the dinner table.  I think Cael was completely overwhelmed with the amount of food that was available during the day...God Bless America!!  There's nothing like my mom's dressing and pumpkin cheesecake.  While they were here, long walks were taken along the Potomac and we made a trip to the big Smithsonian's Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum out near Dulles Airport.  Good times were had, but it is always hard when our family leaves :-(

That about wraps up November...next up, December!

October

All,
I know it has been a LONG time since I posted so I decided I better start updates by months...beginning with October.  Let me first start with letting you know that we have been busy, but God has blessed us more than we deserve!
We enjoyed slightly cooler temperatures in October as we continued to train for the Marine Corps Marathon that occurred on Halloween Day.  My brother, Cole, came for a visit and we had the opportunity to go to a Naval Academy Football game...fun, fun, fun, and we won, won, won!

Cam started back to Cub Scouts and both boys played soccer.  During marathon weekend, both boys ran the marathon mile and stayed together the entire time!

Jay and I did finish the marathon and actually felt pretty good at the end!  I will say that age DOES require training...no matter how many marathons you may have run.  That night, we both hobbled around the neighborhood with boys while they trick-or-treated.  Cam went eclectic as Darth Ironman and Cael was Obiwan Kinobi.  Also posted are pictures of Cael's first pumpkin carving...he did great! As we prepared to take him through the neighborhoods for candy, he asked why the people just gave  us candy for saying "trick or treat".  I could not really answer other than..."they just do, so go with it."  He did and had a blast!

That about sums up October...next up November!

Fall Fun!

Happy Fall, Y'all!
We are getting into the spirit if things with a train trip through the Alleghany Mounains. Because of the unseasonably warm temperatures, we thought we may have arrived way too early.  While it was not the peak of color, we were not disappointed.  The warm temps were great for the kids.  Our next door neighbors joined us for the trip and the four kids had a great time!
On the way home, we stopped at the Luray Caverns for an adventure below ground, then made our way to the Shenandoah Valley for a hike on the Appalachian Trail (my personal favorite!)
On another note, the boys are growing like weeds.  I think they have each grown at least 2 inches over the summer.  Cael had some repeated blood work to check his anemia and he is GTG! (good to go) No more vitamin deficiency and no more anemia.  He was able to recover on diet alone.  We had tried the liquid iron and he just did not tolerate it...just good ol' healthy eating!
School is in full swing.  Cael has informed us that he does not like school because it is not "fun" like China school where he was able to color and play all day.  HMMMM...no wonder.  But he is doing great!  He has beautiful hand writing and has already memorized 3 Bible verses.  He has also told us that he does not remember how to speak Chinese.  It makes us sad, but we have been looking for a Chinese school that fits our schedule.  Both boys are playing soccer and we have practice every night of the week, plus Jay has to drive into Maryland for his evening classes twice a week (he is also doing great!)...Oh yeah...and war college is back.  It is my last class, but requires SOOO much reading.

For those asking about Tucker in his old age (13 now)...he's also doing well.  He still lays in the school room with the boys and every now and then, says the Pledge of Allegiance with them (note his picture below).

I think that catches y'all up for now...how are things in your neck of the woods?

High atop the Alleghany Mountains

Ridin' the train!

Campbell was telling Cael all about how trains work.

Well, hello, there!

The color was just starting...

I will NOT smile...

Alex, Kendall, Campbell, and Cael

Deep inside the Luray Cavern...very cool...literally!

Heading up the Appalachian Trail

I pledge allegiance to the flag...

Happy 8th Birthday and 4th Month-aversary!!

We have had a big couple of weeks, so I have a lot of catching up to do!
On August 5th, Campbell turned 8!!  I can't believe my oldest baby is 8!!  Where did the time go?  He has grown so much this summer and the time is flying by.  We threaten him weekly that we will put him in a shrinking machine, but he is so grown up, that he now understands there is no such thing:-(  So, he opted not to have a party, but still wanted to have a "theme'.  So (like Thomas the Tank Engine way back when...) he wanted another Star Wars cake.  I thought that EVERYONE around here would make a Star Wars cake (chocolate with chocolate icing), but it turns out, not many bakery's do!  Of course then I felt silly, when I realized that I am capable of making such a thing...and one of his favorite cakes is a Texas Sheet Cake with fudge icing: part one covered.  Unfortunately, decorating a cake is NOT my strong point, but Jay said, "I can draw a Darth Vader on a cake."  So part two was covered, as well.  You can see from the pictures that the cake turned out great and Cam had a great day!  Thanks to all of you for sending exactly what he wanted!  Cam is such a special boy.  I love the young man he is turning out to be and love how his heart has grown to accept his new brother.  He wants to teach Cael all of his tricks (good and bad) and is very protective!
Later that week, on Saturday, we went out for marathon training.  Jay and I happened to look up and see Cam standing on his bike seat cruising down the path.  Now, this is not unusual for him as he is a quite a hot dog on wheels...but Cael was also standing on his bike seat cruising down the path.  With GREAT trepidation, I asked them to do it, again, so I could get their picture...so now we have two hot dogs on wheels.
Speaking of Cael: On August 12th, we celebrated his 4th month as a Ferland!  He is doing so well and his resiliency never ceases to amaze me.  I can't think of a thing that we say that he does not understand, and he communicates so well with us!  In fact, on today's run, he told me that he wanted to stay in Texas forever (I don't think he quite realizes that we are not living in Texas, anymore).  He said that he would build us a house and a Taco Bell and that Campbell and Tucker (the dog) could live there, too.  Now of course this is sweet on SOOO many levels.  First, we really don't go to Taco Bell very often, but he does love quesadillas and wants to be able to share them with us, anytime.  He also has heard us complain about the "smallness" of our house, and wants us to know that the house he will build, will hold all of us and our things.  He is a very sensitive boy and we are so blessed to have him in our family!
On Friday, Jay flew back to Texas to pick up our truck and the boat.  We are so anxious to cruise the Potomac!  His dad is meeting him there and will share the ride back to Washington, so Jay is looking forward to some one on one with his dad.  Meanwhile, I'll be bachin' with the boys.  After we dropped off Jay at the airport, we went to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport.  It is the companion facility to the Museum on the National Mall. but WAAAYYYY bigger.  We saw a SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest jet in the world;  the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay; the Concorde, and the Space Shuttle Enterprise.  Of all of those, Cam was most impressed by the Corsair hanging from the ceiling and the Enola Gay (he is really into WWII aviation).
Finally, on today's 14 mile training run, we looped back through the Washington Navy Yard and the boys wanted another picture on the USS Enterprise anchor from WWII.  There is also a picture of the boys underneath the T-28 that hangs at the entrance of our base.
I think that about catches you up on our end.  How are things in your neck of the woods?