spring has sprung, as they say, and the spences have been taking advantage of the great weather! we kicked off the season with a trip to conyngham for easter. the kids were anticipating the weekend for a long time, talking about the impending egg hunt and spending time with nana and pop pop, their cousins, and aunts and uncles. (jackson said one day: “you know what? i think holidays are so fun because we get to see all our family and hang out together.” our thoughts exactly!) here’s the kids in their easter finest (with a shout-out to aunt lynne for finding phoebe’s adorable dress, which she did not want to take off – ever).

we couldn’t resist including this nice family portrait of the fitzgeralds. is it possible that colin has gotten even taller this year?! can’t believe he’s finishing up his senior year of high school. yowza!

and we’ll finish off the set with queen phoebe. after an impromptu trip to burger king, the miss decided that she should now always be called “the queen”! whenever someone comments on her crown (which she wore for several days, absolutely everywhere she went), she told them “i’m the queen!!”

it took us a while, but we finally made our trip up to the state college area a reality. molly and the kids last visited penn state on labor day weekend. they got to see joepa in person one last time during the friday night pep rally. and jackson was the only spence who got to see an actual football game live, coached by joepa in his final season. so, naturally, one of our first stops when we visited last weekend was to the joepa statue at the stadium. we didn’t bring the flowers. amy told us they have been omnipresent since the fall.

we arrived on friday afternoon and kicked off the fun with a nice dinner out with aunt amy and uncle nick! then we squeezed into one car, leaving uncle nick behind, and headed to campus for a gymnastics meet.

phoebe was especially thrilled to be there. it was like a circus, with girls jumping and flipping around, and so many places to look for action!

it was an exciting competition, and penn state pulled out a win with the team’s final event, the floor exercise!

 on saturday, we walked around downtown, did some shopping, had lunch at the corner room, and topped off the afternoon with a trip to the creamery, of course!

on sunday, it was the bryce jordan center and some men’s basketball action! (yes, we know jackson’s wearing a football jersey. don’t judge.)

phoebe kept chanting … “we are…”

we are??

penn state!

thanks to amy and nick for their never-ending hospitality. we all had a great time, and can’t wait for blue-white weekend so we can visit again!

many months ago, during one of my pinterest browsing binges, I discovered the most creative, cutest little valentines I had ever seen. they showed a smiling kid, extending his hand, with a real, live lollipop stuck into it. what an awesome card! as soon as I saw it, I knew we had to make it happen for our own kids’ cards. I could never do this on my own. thank god I married a professional photographer…

here’s what I love about my husband – I have an idea, I show it to him, and he always finds a way to make it happen. whether it’s a new patio in our backyard, a window-mounted seed starter kit for our vegetable garden, or silly-cute valentine cards for the kids, he looks at it, figures it out, and then does it! what a guy!

jackson handed out 34 of these babies to his classmates, teachers, and principals today, after hand-writing his name on the back of each. it seemed daunting at first, but when he was finished, he was so proud!

and speaking of proud… phoebe was pretty excited about her valentine breakfast this morning – heart-shaped pancakes with red, ripe strawberries! hooray!

happy valentines day, everybody! we love you!!

when I was a little kid, halupki were a staple in the fellin family’s diet. pretty frequently, the little beauties would be boiling away in a pot on the stove, and the ketchup would be set out on the table, and then it would be time to stuff our faces with stuffed cabbage. it wasn’t until high school that I realized many people had no clue what halupki was. and in college, I got a few strange looks when I would bring up the topic. but when I think of halupki, I always think of family, especially my mom. even though I love to eat them, I have never actually made halupki myself. enter my mother, who asked in a phone call whether I’d like her to make a batch when she visited in late january. she didn’t even have to ask the question!

I wasn’t the only one excited when patsy got working in the kitchen. dave has always been a big fan of all of my mom’s cooking. and halupki is no exception!

my mom was working so furiously, it was all I could do to scratch down the ingredients and directions as she worked and talked. I grabbed the closest piece of paper and tried to keep up!

we ended up with something like 3 dozen halupki.

and when she was all done, and the halupki was either eaten or put in containers in the freezer, nana got on her cozy pajamas and snuggled up to her little friend, phoebe!

it’s wintertime, and we all know what that means — swimming! seriously. for some reason, we always seem to sign up for winter swimming lessons for the kids. thank goodness the hood college swimming bubble is back in action. we love taking the kids there for lessons. the college kids who teach them are always super. patient, kind, and knowledgeable. this year was no different, as we enrolled phoebe in her first set of lessons. we were a bit nervous for her — she hasn’t been around water much, and judging from her brother’s first swimming lesson at hood (which you can revisit by clicking here), we weren’t sure if she’d flat-out refuse to go in the pool, or jump in and love it! guess which one it was …

while phoebe was all smiles in the pool, molly and jackson were busy posting photos online and playing games.

the only part phoebe didn’t like so much was being on her back. but she toughed it out, and really enjoyed herself! next, it was brother’s turn…

jackson walked right down the ramp and into the pool, no problem!

when it was his turn to jump into the pool, he was super-apprehensive. but his teacher talked him into it, and he jumped… about one inch from the edge, but still!

and the important thing is, he kept doing it. kept jumping even though it really scared him. what a guy!

we anticipated our trip to idaho for a long time, and finally, in mid-september, we boarded a plane at dulles at an ungodly, early hour and headed west. we ended up in salt lake city, rented a car, and after a super long day of traveling (including a visit to the golden spike national historic site in utah), we finally met up with matt, naomi, and ginger in hailey, idaho. they were the reason for our journey, and it was so great to finally see them.

we spent a little more than a week hanging out with the idaho spences. we spent a lot of quality time together. the kids got to play, a lot. and the grown-ups got to talk, a lot. we did some fishing (another post to come from dave about his super-secret adventure with his bro). we did some touring. we did some rock-throwing. we spent a great few days at the gorgeous redfish lake near stanley, idaho. we did some hiking.

but the best part of the trip was simply spending time with our family. phoebe, jackson, and ginger became good friends quickly, and really enjoyed being around each other. and that’s priceless.

and the second-best part? on the way home, we spent an overnight in salt lake city, where we were reunited with molly’s high school friend karyn. she showed us around salt lake (including a great hike up ensign peak, where we got a super view of the city) and she and molly caught up on the many years since they last met (over some awesome mole at a tasty mexican restaurant).

all in all, it was a wonderful break from the everyday. thanks to matt, naomi, ginger, cooper, camo and simon for inviting us into your home. we hope you all can come to maryland some time and soak up our sites soon. and best wishes to karyn and justin, as they prepare for their wedding in december! hope to see you both again soon (definitely in less than 15 years!).

when we were in idaho, aunt naomi introduced jackson to gymnastics, which she loved to do as a child. she took us to an open gym at a club at the end of her street, and jackson loved it. so, we signed him up for classes here in frederick! the first class was on thursday, and jackson was so excited! when he and molly walked into the gym, though, molly panicked. every other kid in his class, and every other kid at the gym was a girl. not just a girl, but a girl wearing a fancy, professional-looking gymnastics leotard. jackson was wearing a t-shirt and mesh shorts. molly started to panic a little — would jackson feel weird, want to leave? the answer was no. he loved it. and his teacher ended up being a teenage boy, so no problem at all. jackson did ask at the end of class about why there were so many girls, but he just shrugged. he’ll be back next week! (please forgive the images’ quality – they were taken by molly’s phone from an obvious distance. we’ll send the pro next week!)

today, jackson became an official kindergartner! he’s now among the oldest students in miss heidi’s class at monocacy valley montessori public charter school, where he has attended for the last two years. he has the same teacher, and is in the same classroom, but now he is the “big man on campus,” and gets to stay all day, eat lunch with his friends, and help the younger students get acclimated. he’s in school from 9 to 3:45 every day, and now has music, gym, spanish, and art classes as well.

it’s hard to believe that only 2 short years ago, we pushed jackson in a stroller to his first day as a preschooler at mvms! today, he rode a two-wheeler the whole way to kindergarten. he’s gotten to be such a big boy!

when molly asked jackson how he got such big, strong legs to be able to bike all the way up big hills to school, he replied, “from santa!”

on his first day of preschool, jackson had the jitters. on his first day of pre-k, he was shy and nervous. today? no nerves at all! he just strode right into school, all smiles.

ms. king, the principal at mvms, hands out a carnation to each student as they arrive at school, and asks them to give the flowers to their teachers. it’s a nice little tradition! jackson hung up his backpack in his new kindergarten spot, then headed into the classroom without a second glance. he truly felt at home there, and that’s an awesome feeling for us, too!

while big brother was at school, phoebe was a little lost. she asked “where did brother go” several times, but generally she had a great day, playing and pretending. she even helped mom bake up a special surprise just for jackson!

mom’s special chocolate cupcakes with orange icing and a “k” for kindergarten! (yes, molly did use tweezers to position the sprinkles. don’t judge.)

jackson couldn’t have been happier about the cupcakes. he said it was his favorite part of his first day! but he did have a pretty great day, in general. some highlights? he ordered lunch from school for the first time (chicken nuggets and green beans with chocolate milk), he enjoyed Spanish lessons (“hola, mom!”), and he couldn’t stop telling us all about “PE” (“that means exercise, guys!”). we think this is going to be an awesome year for our little learner! and next year, when jackson graduates into 1st grade, phoebe will be a student at mvms, too!

what better way to celebrate the 4th of July than to go blueberry picking? well, to be honest, we tried to go picking up in thurmont on july 3rd, but were turned away! apparently, their bushes were all picked out?! so instead, we headed in the total opposite direction, to a new blueberry farm in southwest frederick county.

this time we called frog eye farm before we headed out, and asked if there were enough blueberries to pick (smart, right?)! and the farm’s owner assured us there were enough gigantic blueberries to pick for ages! and boy was he right. some of these blueberries were the largest and juiciest we’d ever seen!

we left grandpa kurt at home to work on the bathroom renovation project, but grandma joined us! she was intent on picking the very best berries, as these are her favorite fruit! jackson was helpful, as always.

it was seriously humid and super buggy, but the kids powered through!

jackson couldn’t stop picking! even on our way back he kept drifting over to what he thought was a good bush to pick (and eat!) some more.

nice berries, dave and marcia!

for the last several weeks, phoebe had been climbing into her big brother’s bed, laying her head on his pillow, pulling up the covers and giving us a huge smile. we took that as a message that she was ready for a big kid bed herself. so, the whole family piled in the car and headed out to our favorite kids’ furniture seller — ikea!

the irony here is that phoebe didn’t actually get a new bed, jackson did! always the younger kid, phoebe took the hand-me-down toddler bed that we bought for jackson almost three years ago at ikea. jackson, meanwhile, finally got the bed that matched with the starry tent cover that molly bought a while back, thinking it would fit on his toddler bed (it didn’t).

first step was to dismantle the crib! sniff sniff!

this being ikea, the new bed came in tons of pieces, of course!

jackson and phoebe were daddy’s helpers, and jackson’s excitement level grew as each new piece was put together.

patience is a virtue, jackson!

taking possession of her new bed already!

happy girl! phoebe has slept in her new bed every day for her nap and every night for her long sleep with no problems. she loves it!

as for jackson, well this photo and…

this video say it all. the kid is thrilled!

and here’s the bed, with a nice little built-in ladder and plenty of room underneath for both kids’ mini armchairs. a great spot for reading with giant pooh bear!

when our favorite local toy shop dancing bear toys and gifts blogs about something, we listen. this has lead to lots of great toy and game finds, of course. but this week, our friends at the bear blogged about a special crafty art project that could help teach kids about helping others. so, naturally, we headed to the bear this afternoon to get involved.

the bear’s owners, marlene and tom, are offering free kits for kids to help them create original artwork. the projects will be auctioned off in late april to benefit hope alive, a frederick county nonprofit that offers transitional housing and support services to homeless mothers and their children. according to the group’s website, hope alive’s children’s programs “are committed to providing a safe, stable, nurturing and stimulating learning environment for children while their mothers build a more stable life by working, attending school, seeking counseling or obtaining a GED.”

several different kinds of kits were available to choose from, but jackson and molly chose a paint-your-own birdhouse!

jackson loved the idea of painting the entire birdhouse red, but, as you can see, the paint tubs that came with the kit were rather small, so we had to get crafty in our planning!

jackson grabbed a bunch of his old national geographic kids magazines, and he and molly clipped out photos of some of his favorite animals. then, they grabbed paintbrushes and mod podge, and the house took shape!

here it is, in progress…

… and here’s the finished project, full of skunks and frogs and gorillas and zebras and meerkats and elephants and more!

thanks to marlene and tom at dancing bear for always providing inspiration and for letting us know about this project. we are excited to submit our finished birdhouse, and to see whether it brings in some big cash for kids in need!

this year’s theme for jackson’s valentines is “let your love grow!” and the whole family got in on the act, creating 33 valentines for jackson to distribute today to classmates (30) and teachers (3) at school!

molly found mini white seed envelopes on ebay, and jackson helped her buy sunflower seeds at home depot. dave modified the growing directions from the back of the seed packets and printed and cut them to fit on the envelopes.

jackson’s main duty was to pick out two good seeds and deposit them in each envelope. he also helped with gluing and did a GREAT job writing his name on many of them. (he’s had challenges before with writing small in a small space, but this time, he did such a nice, neat job!)

phoebe didn’t want to be left out, of course, and created her own artwork. then she promptly bit the head off one of the (thankfully) washable markers! she’s a crazy little girl!

and here they are! we hope you “let your love grow” this valentine’s day!

jackson had a big idea today — let’s bake something! so he got out his “favorite cooker’s book,” also known as paula deen’s cookbook for kids (don’t ask!), and found a cinnamon bun recipe. of course, paula wanted us to use a can of crescent roll dough, and not only did I not have any, but I also took offense! I mean, how hard could it be to make them from scratch? well, we found out — not too hard at all! time consuming, yes! messy, yes! but worth it? yes!!! so worth it. special thanks to one of molly’s favorite “cooker” blogs — the pioneer woman — for the recipe and great instructions. deeeeee-lish!

our favorite toy store, dancing bear toys and gifts in downtown frederick, hosts santa each year for one day only. and we’ve missed him every year we’ve lived here! that is, until this year! we marked it on the family calendar and arrived at the bear promptly at 4 o’clock.it took a whole lot of prodding before jackson would approach the big guy. the kid’s just painfully shy. no surprise there. but phoebe’s reaction? well, that was totally unexpected.phoebe was all smiles while we waited for santa to arrive. she chased jackson around the store, made friends with marlene and some of the girls who work at the bear. but when we said, “ooh, phoebe, look who’s here. it’s santa!” the look of terror and dread on her face was pretty intense. lots of crying, yelling, and running for mom ensued. the photo above was the best we could manage. when santa came within a few feet of her, all she could do was yell “mama!!!!” eventually, our big boy jackson got on santa’s lap and managed to mumble a few things he wants for christmas (a pillow pet is at the top of the list). when we asked him afterward why he had such a hard time hanging out with santa, he said, “mom, I just want to hear his boots on the roof, I don’t want to TALK to him!” oh, jackson…

halloween came early again this year in frederick, as hood college’s annual safe harvest trick or treating event was held wednesday night! jackson and phoebe were so excited, and even more so when we bumped into our friends zach (also known as the pirate) and kim (also known as the mom who had to carry all the pirate’s costume pieces)! jackson’s costume was a year in the making. since last halloween, he has said he wanted to be a “ghost tiger.” so, we made that freaky dream happen. phoebe’s lioness costume and molly’s tiger ears just fit in with our jungle theme! jackson has gotten even better at the trick or treat game this year, and wasn’t shy at all. phoebe was a natural from the start. she loved walking up to each dorm room door and putting out her bag so the students could fill it with candy. she just stood and stared up at each person for a good minute or two after they gave her the candy. she was in awe!

for the second year in a row, jackson celebrated international children’s day on the friday before halloween along with his classmates and teachers at monocacy valley montessori public charter school. this year, jackson was at the head of the parade line, but he forgot to put on his sunglasses! uh oh!

here he is, representing the country of bangladesh, as a bengal tiger!and here’s miss heidi, leading her class, as jackson tries to shield his eyes from the sun. (and there’s his buddy, garrett, right behind him.)jackson’s good buddy, daniel, represented germany. love those authentic lederhosen, daniel!!once inside the school, jackson and his friends sat onstage and sang a song about all the continents in the world! he had so much fun, and was glad he didn’t have to step up to the microphone on his own to talk about bangladesh. always the shy guy!

dave’s big plan is to get molly interested in shooting photos again, with the master plan being she’ll become his second shooter/assistant at weddings. we say “again” because back at good, old penn state, molly took a photojournalism class, and loved it. of course, she was working with a film camera and much of the class focused on darkroom tasks. and that class was, oh, 10 or 12 years ago. yikes! so, molly was a bit intimidated when dave handed over his d700 nikon and said “have fun.” but she did have fun, shooting pics of phoebe and jackson at some baker park tennis courts during jackson’s lessons. here are the results…

a few weeks ago, dave and molly had the pleasure of participating in “sushi 101″ at the kitchen studio in frederick. if you live around frederick, but you’ve never heard of the kitchen studio, shame on you! it’s a fantastic little space that has been around about 5 years. it’s run by the fabulous chef christine, also known as @frederickfoodie, who is nothing if not supportive and entertaining throughout the class!dave’s a pro! seriously, after a short while, we both really got the hang of rolling our own sushi. it’s not so hard, especially when all the ingredients are chopped and ready for you in little bowls!

(please forgive the quality of these photos, as all were taken with our camera phones!) these are molly’s favorite to make, and to eat — love the electric orange roe!

there’s chef christine, giving dave some pointers.

mmm… shrimp and cucumber! delightful!

and the best part? we got to have a sushi-eating feast at the end of class! hooray! thanks to chef christine and all the others in our class for making it a memorable night. we will surely be back to learn more at the kitchen studio soon!

dave turned 35 on 10/10/10 and to celebrate the occasion, we picked up some live lobsters at the grocery store! the original plan was to go surf-and-turf, but the lobsters alone posed enough of a food challenge for us novices!here’s the birthday boy, getting ready to dig in!

it wouldn’t be a spence birthday without homemade cupcakes! this time it was snickerdoodle flavor. the kids couldn’t wait to dig in!

what could be more perfect – as we brought the lobsters inside, jackson noticed a rainbow up in the sky! happy birthday, dave!

to continue the 2010 theme of “pick-your-own,” we headed to baugher’s in westminster to see what kind of apple crop they were offering. and we were not disappointed! what a great farm! they had tons and tons of apples, hanging low enough for even the kids to grab and fill their bags. these red delicious (above) were so tasty, and so easy to gather!

we brought along our friends zach and kim on the super sunny day. we spent hours at the orchard, taking a hayride down to the apple trees and back, then waiting in a really long line to pay. luckily, they had delicious homemade ice cream for sale, and a big play area with a wooden train for the kids to stretch their legs!

even phoebe loved eating the apples!

thanks, grinevs, for joining us on our adventure!

yay for the crazy apple guy!

jackson met his good buddy, garrett, last year in miss heidi’s class, when they both started preschool together. jackson loves to have playdates with garrett and he was so excited to hear that garrett’s birthday party was coming up in late august. the fact that it was held at the urbana volunteer fire department? unbelievable bonus! that’s garrett above, in yellow.

what a super party! all the kids got to practice spraying the fire hose, and then got a tour of all the fire engines, and even got to smash up a pinata! and, of course, they all enjoyed pizza, snacks and a very cool firehouse cake.

thanks for inviting us to your party, garrett! we all had a great time! happy 4th birthday, and many more.

after their long cross-country trip this summer, grandma and grandpa met up with us at wintergreen in virginia for the annual spence family reunion. from there, jackson camped with them in the RV for two nights as they made their way back to maryland. we picked up jackson at cunningham falls state park, with a cookout and campfire. fun way to wrap up the summer, just a few days before school started!

jackson began his first week of pre-kindergarten by boarding his bike and heading off to monocacy valley montessori public charter school with mommy. as a pre-k student, he’s still in miss heidi’s room, and he still attends 9-11:30 daily. but he’s one of the “big men on campus” because six new 3-year-olds have entered his class, and three new pre-k students entered as well.

a small amount of anxiety on day one (“mommy, I don’t want to talk to any of the new children who don’t know the rules.”) gave way to lots of smiles when jackson saw some of his buddies from last year, including daniel, garrett, and cayman and collin. jackson really likes that he can show all the “new kids who don’t know the rules” how to get along in the classroom. and he’s proud of himself, because he sees how much he’s grown since last year.to celebrate, jackson, phoebe, and daddy met mommy at work after school and we all had lunch at la paz, jackson’s favorite spot to get quesadillas with sour cream!

little sister enjoyed a quesadilla of her own, and a big-kid drink! she’ll start pre-k 3 at mvmpcs in only 2 years!
unfortunately, jackson was so exhausted from his big day, he slammed his fingers in the door at the restaurant. so, he soaked them in a cup of ice. poor guy.
all in all, it was a “delicious” first day, and a really successful first week back at school. jackson has had no trouble adjusting and he’s excited about all the new things he will learn this year!

our sweet phoebe has been with us for a full year, and to celebrate that milestone, molly made a cooler full of cupcakes and plenty of homemade icing, and we headed up to pennsylvania. all of her fellin-side cousins, aunts, uncles, and nana and pop pop, came to eagle rock for a cookout, swimming, and eating, of course! what a beautiful day – the weather was perfect, the food was yummy, and the company was awesome. phoebe had such a good time, especially once she finally got her hands on her special strawberry “smash cake” with strawberry icing!

we had two kinds of yummy martha stewart cupcakes — devil’s food (chocolate) and strawberry. some included plain white buttercream icing and others were topped with a strawberry buttercream, created with strawberry preserves from jill’s freezer! awesome.

but phoebe wasn’t the only one we celebrated that day. her godfather, colin, turned 16 on aug. 2, and so we all got to tease our favorite teenager by singing the happy birthday song to him, too! (how about those awesome cupcake toppers? another super-fun etsy find!)

in case you couldn’t tell, the “theme” for the party was ice cream! the kids’ favors were ice cream bowls, phoebe’s headband had a cone on it, and we all enjoyed some awesome homemade ice cream that jill brought along. afterward, phoebe tried out her pink howdy cow, which we found at our favorite toy shop, dancing bear in downtown frederick.

our little princess enjoyed all the attention!

big brother jackson couldn’t wait to show phoebe the present he had picked out for her. his love for his little sister just keeps growing, and it’s a joy to watch.

thanks to everyone who made phoebe’s 1st birthday so special. here’s to many, many more lovely birthday celebrations for her!

usually we wait until the end of summer to make a trip to the beach, but this year, we did the opposite, kicking off the steamy season with a weeklong trip to ocean city, new jersey, june 20 to 26.

we started our journey on fathers day by boarding the cape henlopen, one of the larger ferries in the cape may-lewes ferry fleet. what a fun way to start our day: a 90-minute trip across the delaware bay! once we, and our packed car, were back on solid ground, we made our way to ocean city to check out our rental. the barainyaks — beth, paul, sarah, jake, and josh — had already checked in. what a great, little place in a super neighborhood, very close to the beach! score!

we were fortunate to have beautiful, hot weather all week, with almost no rain or cloudy skies! we spent many days relaxing on the beach and playing in the waves, rented bikes and a surrey to ride on the boardwalk, checked out “toy story 3″ to escape some sunshine, played boardwalk mini-golf, visited the cape may county zoo, ate lots of tasty meals and desserts, and just generally enjoyed ourselves. check out the last three photos in the gallery below for a sneak peek at a beach portrait session for jackson and phoebe’s birthdays!

thanks to the barainyaks for sharing our vacation this year! what an awesome trip. the only downside? it’s already over!