Strawberry Pickin'

I took the kids deep into South Jersey to pick their own strawberries.  I have to admit that it is a lot faster to get strawberries than blueberries.  We weren't there long but we managed to take away 20 pounds of strawberries.  Ed overheated pretty quick and decided to hang out by the van.

Christmas 2010

I thought I should put a few Christmas pictures up of the kiddos before we get too far into the new year. Aida worked hard making 3 D cards for everyone. They were framed like a book and when you opened them she has a different quote for everyone. It was fun to share them around and hear what everyone had on their card . Ed's read "smile". Mark's was "Be happy, happiness is valuable. Don't be sad, sadness is worthless." I can't remember the rest off the top of my head those are just the ones I have sitting on my desk right now.
As a child I never believed my parents when they told us they loved the homemade stuff the most. Now as a parent, I really do enjoy seeing what they come up with and seeing how they can appreciate and love the effort put into it all.

Christmas Eve reading while Eddie waits to open his eve present.

What Aida has always wanted.

He didn't really know what to do with this until we got home but he loves it.

Aida's homemade doll for Maya.

I love how these girls make things for each other.

Maya's American Girl Doll FINALLY.

The most patient one in our family. .

I hope Tess enjoys it while it lasts.

Lucy was most excited to give Tess goodies on Christmas Day.

No Offense Eddie

Hello Charlie sorry… hi its Aida here I edited a picture of Eddie my mom took and I would say I did a pretty good job so here it is Charlie.

Snowmageddon

“The biggest winter storm in nearly 90 years walloped the Mid-Atlantic states on Saturday, dumping up to 33 inches of snow that shut down the nation's capital, left thousands of people without power and caused flight cancellations nationwide.

President Barack Obama, a snow veteran from Chicago, joked that he encountered "snowmageddon" as he ventured out for a meeting.” The storm was severe, with white-out conditions for much of the day. I did not get a picture because I was too busy staying in my warm house watching the girls play in the blizzard and Mark shovel snow several times throughout the day. It really looked too cold for me so I just left them all to it. Today it was much clearer but still cold so I had Mark snap these pix for me. Most of the snow already melted from the trees taking away from some of the “whiteness” but this is THE Shore people! Plus, I was disappointed because the postal service ceased service so I was unable to get my Red Plum Savings and Atlanticare Medical flyers. I guess I will just have to wait and feed my fixx on Monday…maybe Tuesday.

Science Idol Debut

Aida's Science class had the option of doing a project or participating in Science Idol. I am proud of her for writing her own lyrics, taking the pictures and most of all for having the courage to sing a solo.. Thanks to Mark for taking the time to help her edit the movie. It is okay to laugh at the slo-mo Tess shots around 2:50 and the drama of the frog in the net.

Board

Christmas 2 Double 0 9

Well another Christmas has gone by and I believe that it was a success. For the second year in a row we have been able to spend it in NH with family. A little less snow than last year but enough to satisfy the kids needs to sled and frolic. The unfortunate part of the holiday was that Mark, Ed and I were hit by a flu of sorts. I honestly haven't been this sick in a long long time and it has been miserable. Luckily Lucy and Maya only just got it so they could enjoy their Christmas. The kids were happy this year. I think everyone got what they wanted but as the story goes we were just happy to be amongst family. One of the things that we learned to appreciate during our time abroad was having family. We were fortunate to have kind friends that really took us in and let us become a part of their families during the holidays. During this season I miss our friends, NZ, mince tarts, fish and chips the same old BUT I am also glad to be surrounded by family, to be a homeowner and to celebrate Christmas in the cold. One thing that I realized is that families can drive us crazy, unintentionally make cruel comments, make passive aggressive criticisms, perhaps we are even the instigators but they are our family. Family also can make us laugh, pick us up when we are down, forgive, and they care for one another. While my friends were kind to invite us over I couldn't help but feel a little homesick watching them tease, argue or rant about scarce food. I guess what I mean to say is sometimes those moments that we are with our family that drive us the most crazy are in their own way the most tender and intimate ones. They show us that we are surrounded by people that we are comfortable around enough to cause a stir. There have been a lot of changes in the Berg family this year-enough to reflect on the past year and think about how relative time really is. I am grateful to be where I am at this moment in time because circumstances can really change so quickly and it is important to look to the future but it is equally important to appreciate the moment. With that here is Sara signing off--

Ponies

Homemade Garland

Moonshoes


Mark-made Puzzle Box for Ed

Surprises

Giant Gumball Machines (Ed super duper wanted one)


and of course a Dancing Grandma

Snow Dayz

Poor sick Ed and his snotsills. We are jut glad he got out there in the snow for a bit this year. I think he is getting over his snow/sand phobias.

Building Snow Castles

This is when without uttering a word, Danielle and Ed just decided to randomly take off and head down the road.

Danielle was very attentive to "snow babies" as she called them right up to the point when she decided they needed to be hurled at me while I was trying to take a picture of her. A mother's rage I guess.

Aida coming out of one of her tunnels.

I know it is Christmas Eve and I should post something Christmassy but I guess I will save that for tomorrow BECAUSE I have these snow pictures to share from our big storm. The biggest snowstorm to hit New Jersey in 100 years. Well, you know how people like to make a good story so I don't know how much is exaggerated but it was quite a bit of snow. Lucky for us the snowplow plowed everything in front of our house so our kids could construct snow tunnels and caves. One strange thing about sending our kids out was that they would multiply. I think one time we had like 12 kids in front of our house and we were going through hot chocolate like nobody's business. After a few days we were fortunate to have the Madsens once again grace us with their presence. Janae wowed me once again with her mad sewing skills by making me some more of her choice kitchen towels as well a big queen sized quilt for Aida's new room. Who does that? I have finished one quilt in my lifetime and it took me YEARS. Janae whips things out like I sweep floors. So thank you thank you thank you Janae. They were also nice enough to take Tess the wonderdog with them for the holidays. Lucy was very very sad but she knows it is for the best so Tess wouldn't freeze in NH.

Recipe for the Best B-Day Party Ever

I am not one for birthday parties. They make me nervous-even when I was a kid they made me nervous. I am too worried about whether people are going to have a good time or not. Will the activities planned be deemed "lame" and if no activities are planned will boredom prevail? Aida on the other hand does not shy from a party. So, I put aside my own insecurities and planned away. She wanted quite a big group of girls and I didn't want to deal with a sleepover so we did a movie night from 5-10 and watched the premiere of Wizards of Waverly Place the movie. The night went absolutely perfect! I am actually going to go as far as saying that I had fun as well. It was the perfect balance of the 10-year olds having some space but me still being present. Here is a breakdown of the party-you know in case any of you would like to throw the most talked about party of the year.

I printed out these faux movie tickets on business cards I had lying around and we mailed them out.

From 5-6:15pm Guests arrived and we made personal sized homemade pizzas. The kids loved 'em. I made and prebaked the crusts the night before as well as the sauce so it was easy.
From 6:15-7pm We had set up the front room to be a disco with a mini laser and lights. I cleaned up the pizza mess-which wasn't too bad since the messy stuff was done before.
7-7:15pm Aida opened her presents.
7:15-7:30 Ahhh THE cake. Also had the kids decorate their own goody bags for their sushi and any snacks they buy during the movie. EASY!
7:30-7:50 I set up our kitchen island with Sushi ingredients. Kids made sushi while i cleaned up the cake mess from the table.
7:50-8:00pm Kids bought concessions and entered the cinema for the movie at 8pm.

I know you are all speechless. "But Sara" you say- "Where is the pastel?" Thank goodness for the good folks at wilton that sell decorator icing that fits your metal cake tips! The "popcorn" is actually formed from marshmallows. After YEARS of making cakes that only left a creepy mark in peoples minds, I finally made one that impressed albeit 10-year old girls. They were all AMAZED. That's me amazing.

Proof that the above cake was mine and not pulled off the internet. Oh and Aida is cute too.

Candy sushi-kids loved doing this. The ones with the "groovy" fruit roll-ups were really cute.

The snack station. When the kids handed their tickets over to Lucy to enter the cinema she handed them each 10 "puppy bucks" to spend on snacks. We had popcorn, a huge bag of those mini candybars, and sodas. They decided how to spend their money and yet were still limited to how much candy they could have-genious right?
We hung up a sheet to make a "big screen" for our cinema. Also we closed the curtains when I wasn't taking pictures. :)


Lucy got to be in charge of selling the goods. She LOVED doing it and it kept her involved with the party but gave Aida some space with her friends. They bought stuff on commercials.

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Happy Birthday Aida

I know this is late, but this is one of those "special birthdays" for Aida. It is hard for me to believe that I have a daughter that is in the "double-digits", a daughter that seems to be moments away from being taller than me-a daughter that is immensely talented in so many ways. I could go on and on about all the ways that she amazes me but I have written many of those to her in my yearly letter to her. Mostly I am proud of the person I see her well on her way to becoming. A girl that is not only smart, beautiful, and talented-but a girl that has an incredible amount of compassion for others, empathy and patience. I have seen her voice her opinion and stand up for what she believes in-a higher "good" and decency that I am not accustomed to in my own personality. It never ceases to amaze my how much we can still learn from our children. It started out with a great humbling that now, at times just becomes a sort of jaw-dropping awe. I love you Aida and here is to being 10 and moving on to the next phase of life as you enter middle school. Here is a bit of Aida through the years. Keep a look out for pix of her ROCKING Party!


Aida at 2 months in her blessing dress made by her Grandma Penney. I can still remember all that hair-it just kept growing and growing. Aida looked like a little doll and was an inspiration to many to have their own children-she was THAT cute.

One Year Old
Still cute-one of the dresses I stressed over making for her. Look at those cheeks!

Two Years Old
Aida always loves the beach. Here she is learning "muddy mountain" building from her cuzzies.

Three Years Old

4 Years Old
The year we moved to New Zealand and had Maya. What a big help Aida was!

5 Years Old
Full of Idears.

6 Years Old

8 Years Old

7 Years Old
Finally got her nerve up to hold one of our butterflies.

9 Years Old
Aida was into monkey bars in NZ BIG TIME at this age.

The Big One-O
Celebrating her actual birthday with family.