So, we had a lot of rain a couple of weeks ago & I'm sure I've mentioned this before on here, but Aubree loves - like, LOVES Earthworms! 

Well, I was taking her to school & because it was so rainy, I drove her and when I pulled into the driveway I saw a couple of worms... But then I noticed more & more... and even more! Like hundreds of worms all over the driveway & street & thought "ohhhhhh!!!! I always remembered seeing worms after a rain! How strange!". Anyway, Garrick was home for lunch, so I went in to get Pres & told him I had a surprise. So, in the rain... we stood for a good 30 min. looking at all those worms! I'm a researcher at heart, so when nap-time came, I looked it all up & yeah... sure enough those little creepy crawlers just loooove the rain & come out when it's moist, to mate! (Interesting fact too!!! Earthworms are Hermaphrodites, so they all have babies!!) So, I figured I might as well gather up my crew & get those earthworms picked up & put in my garden! I'm glad I had Aubree & Preston to do the work! Because, I don't really like touching them! Hahaha! :)

And they do....

I let the kids keep them for the night; and at that point all 86 of them had names... They were pretty much family, you know? But I was thinking of the sole happiness of our beloved pets & told the children that they simply must be released, you know?! ;)

Well... This was a bit more difficult then I had anticipated. There were tears... Yes, actual TEARS from Aubree! She simply did not want to release these worms. It took a bit of convincing & some threatening from Preston (HE would release them himself!!)

And, then it was finalized, Aubree would do the releasing....
Goodbye Maddie! (pictured above - she was an especially tough release!)

Goodbye Trish! (Preston's favorite worm)

Goodbye Andrea!

Goodbye Drew!

Goodbye Joe!

Goodbye Victoria!

Goodbye Laurie!

Goodbye Charlie!

Goodbye Eli!

Goodbye John!

Goodbye LuLu!

Goodbye all you worms... (Name, after name!)

And, Baylee had no idea what the heck was going on! 

She was just a bit mad that she couldn't get into the garden area...

(Everyone always does her dirty!)

 Some of our pets for 16, or so hours...

Hopefully they help my soil!!!! :)

My little sister said to me today, "Hey! What the heck, you haven't updated your blog in a loong time!" & I feel bad about that... Unfortunately, it is not just my blog that is behind, but also ALL pictures & everything! Actually, everything has been put on hold (more or less), while I have been concentrating on designing my website!!! I have decided to take the next step forward & turn my current hobby into a business - and so, I am going into business as Dana Javidi Photography. My new website is danajavidi.com - I will also be doing a blog of my work... which I actually like better then this one because the pictures look better (more clear) - then this blogger one. So, I am at crossroads... Not sure which to keep up with, or to keep up them all(?), I suppose as time goes on & I start to get going, I'll find some sort of happy median.

So, this year in NJ - we have had a REAL winter, compared to the one last year, which everyone said was just bizarre. Snow falls almost weekly, still scattered here & there on the ground now as I write... It generally is, just really cold & sometimes beyond cold... while taking Aubree to school, sometimes I don't know if I can survive long enough to make it up the path... Ok, that's totally dramatic! :) But, the wind chill - brrrrr!!! It just feels/smells icy & I start to freeze up. 

I know we're adapting to this weather, because when I look at the weather reports (daily), I'll see 39 as the high & whoo-hoo!!! Warm weather!!! :) We just had a nice semi-sunny 39 degree afternoon yesterday & so, I got the kids bundled up & we did our 1/4 mile walk to pick up Aubree at school & man! It felt goooooood! :) I told the kids, "Wow! This is awesome, you guys wanna play outside after we get home?" And, they all say "YEAH!!!" And, so we got out all the bikes and driveway toys & had some outdoor fun... It's been awhile since we have played outside & also awhile since I snapped some pics of the kids. These days Aubree is too quick & crazy for me & Preston is too whiny (because he refuses any sort of naps), so I got some pics of my little 16-month old Jersey girl who NEVER complains about the weather... or life! :)

 (she still hasn't figured out how to use her power wheels)
 These two... up to no good!!! ;)
She is so funny!! :)

The weekend before Christmas weekend, we spent a Saturday afternoon in NYC. We went out to dinner, walked around, saw Rockefeller Tree, the Macy's light show... Drank hot cocoa & ate those big pretzels, that the kids can't get enough - Oh, and we saw thousands & thousands of Santa's! We unfortunately went the day that NYC was having their annual "Santa Con" where a good majority of the city dress up as Santa, only to stumble around as they bar hop, starting early in the morning.... So, by the time we got there at 3pm - it was a little crazy!

Here are a few pics of some of the drunk Santas....

And, now on to some of the nicer parts of our evening...

NYC - always so busy & bustling! 

The big tree!
(I love all the people facing me, they're looking at the Macy's light show!)

The Rock...

Kids cruising around...

Sweet Garrick, the only one would would be still enough for me to take a non-blurry pic! :)

B - cruisin' 

I took these back in early December, but just edited them with my new 15.4 inch Macbook Pro with Retina screen!!! My old Dell laptop was 4-years old & had seen much better days! My screen was so dull - and I didn't even know! Now that I have this new computer, I can see that I over-saturated pictures in order so that it was appeasing to my eye on that old computer - now I'm curious how these pictures look to others, versus the previous ones... Please shoot me an email or let me know how they compare!! :)

Anyway this laptop is a HUGE surprise from Garrick for Christmas! I almost died!!!! I would have NEVER dreamed of owning it, or buying it for myself! Hopefully it only makes my pictures better!! :)

Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas ~ we sure did!! :)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Our barbaric tradition continues.... :)

Last weekend we drove about 30 miles west to a nice Christmas Tree farm (Wintergreen(?), Garrick was feeling a bit under the weather, so we cancelled our plans of driving 100 miles north to CT, and just stuck with a Jersey Tree!

It was really nice, we had snow about 5 days prior & it was still here & there on the ground...Which was kind of cool because, it seems like that's what Christmas is all about... Cold, cozy & white! :) The trees even had chunks of snow on it - that was real fun when it started melting off in the house! :)



Here's our girl Baylee, she was not wanting to be held...

Preston was checking out the saws...

B... walking in the snow!

Looks like a winner!

In front of the choosen tree...