Martin Luther King Jr

Just visited the MLK memorial. It's really a wonderful memorial. I feel lucky to live so close and have such amazing things to do after work.





My favorite





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Crazy Hair Day

Everyone loves a good crazy hair day! Unfortunately with the humidity during the summer mine is everyday 😀



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Take your daughter and sons to work day

Yesterday was "take your daughter and sons to work day". I took Leo.


Aidan actually brought it up on Thursday but when he realized we had activities planned at USDA for the event and there was going to be learning going on he decided to go to school. He really reasoned it out. Apparently half his class was going to be gone, including many of his friends, but then he realized that with all those kids gone he would get his teacher mostly to himself so school won out.

Leo and I had a great time! We took the bus to the metro then got off at metro center to walk to the Starbucks and then across the Mall to my office (I do this on nice days).


We did a little work in my office until 11am and then we went to the activities where we learned healthy eating through the my plate initiative


We planted lettuce. Leo loved that it was planted in a container made from cow manure.


We learned that USDA has beehives on its roof and the honey is collected and transferred to jars by volunteers (maybe me next year!). We saw animal skins and skeletons...


And we got our picture taken with a cow and with milk mustache stickers under a sign that said "got milk?".


We colored masks and got pens, pencils and magnets from the forest service and saw USDA OIG police! We also inspected eggs and learned about the grading of eggs!


After the fair we went to potbellys for lunch and went to meetings in the afternoon. Leo met 20(!) of my work colleagues--we counted them. We left at 5 pm with a full day of work under our belts. He said he had a great day and so did I!!

We met Doris at metro center and road the metro home with her and she got to hear all about our fun day and check out Leo's swag!

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Aidan's Poetry

Kick Me

I am a soccer ball.
I love to be kicked around.
Inside of me is a world of soccer balls.
I am the color of black and white like zebras.
I make the sound of a lion's roar.
I dream of traveling the world.
I wish I had human size feet.
I fear dogs chowing on me.
My home is in a bag.
At night, I want someone to come play with me.
Will you play with me?
--Aidan Holma

Guinea Pig Talk

I wish people in Peru would stop eating my kind.
I wish people would stop mistaking me as a rabbit or an overgrown hamster. Oh no, my cousin is going to Peru.
Well maybe he'll make it back alive. Uh oh. There's a person, he's picking me up, he's putting me in a cage. Good bye cruel world.
We're in a car. This may be my last breath of air. What? I'm in this house.
He gave me food and water. I'm still alive.
Oh what's this fluffy stuff under my feet?
There's toys and brick.
What's that brown thing over there?
It's another guinea pig.
This is better than the wild.
I'm going to eat.
This is a guinea pig paradise.
--Aidan Holma


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Uncle Jack and Aunt Sue's Visit

We were so lucky to have Uncle Jack and Aunt Sue visit Washington DC! We met them for dinner at Clyde's in Reston. Clyde's has great crab cakes.



Uncle Jack and Aunt Sue have been running around strong visiting so many places in DC! It was great to meet them for dinner, hear a little bit about what they've seen and done here, and a little bit about the family at home!

We ended the night with some Gelato from Pintango. Yum!

Safe travels home!


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Aidan's Dance Moves

I'm going on a scrapbooking trip in West Virginia this weekend and Jason was helping me select pictures for me to work on. I'm super far behind on our family chronological album but I'm still focused on making scrapbooks and trying not to think too hard about how far behind I really am.

In looking through photos from 2007 (I'll be working on April and May 2007 -- Boston trip! along with another project), we started to reminisce about the boys when they were very young. We went back to look for one of our favorite videos of Aidan. We found it and we all started laughing so hard we were crying. So we thought we would share it with you, so you could get a good laugh too!

Here it is! (January 2005)

Happy 40th Birthday!!

Jason turned 40 today! (GO HAWKS!) He managed it with grace and poise.

The boys planned this skit for him, "People Older than Dad". Aidan got the idea from an old Cosby episode (when Cliff turns 50: season 3, episode 20). Aidan saw this episode over a year ago and he has wanted to do this for a year. They planned it all themselves but I helped facilitate it.

We had dinner at Clyde's and it was delish. After dinner we came home and had dessert.

This is what happens when you are 40 (or 6)!


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Chocolate Pie Success!

Sunday I was brave and attempted the chocolate pie baking again! And this time I had great success. So, on thanksgiving I'm going to attempt the chocolate pie backing again just this time I'm going to make Auntie M's graham cracker crust because that is really what was missing. Thanks for all of your encouragement!

In December, my good friend Marcia and I are taking a living social baking class. Clearly just what I needed it. Backing is not easy but honestly the most rewarding. Yum!

Chocolate Pie Failure #1

We are having friends over for Thanksgiving this year. They are French and I wanted them to experience a traditional American Thanksgiving. Turkey, smashed potatoes, stuffing, Jason's famous green bean casserole, football, the works. Of course we will have pumpkin pie. I will buy one from Whole Foods because they were rated as having the best Pumpkin Pie in the DC area. But, not everyone likes pumpkin pie so I thought I would try to make a chocolate pie à la Auntie M. I don't have Auntie M.'s recipe but I googled "best chocolate pie recipe" and this one was rated 5 starts. Trust me, its not the recipe, its the Baker!

I, smart as I am, thought it might be best that I try to make one before Thanksgiving so I gave it a go today. No beating around the bush...it was a big, fat failure! My home made whip cream, à la Auntie Pam, on the other hand was pretty delish. Of course not as good as Auntie Pams but good nonetheless.

I shall not give up! And my friends and co-workers will love me by the end of it all because they will be fed chocolate pie testers!

Happy (Early) Thanksgiving ya'all (I can't help that i watched Paula Deen today).

Aidan's Karate Belt Exam

Tonight Aidan and his best friend Max are taking their first karate belt exam. Aidan feels good. He's practiced a lot to prepare. He's ready to trade in his white belt for a yellow belt.












Aidan getting his yellow belt! He and Max skipped the orange belt and went right to yellow.

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Location:Norbeck Rd,Aspen Hill,United States

VOTE

Exercise your right! Get out there and vote. We did! We took the boys with us and they joined us in the polling booth. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait to cast our votes. Now we just sit back, wait and hope for the best.


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Halloween

Hi ya' all. I meant to add Halloween pictures last weekend but the weekend passed me by. At the expense of being late, I'm going to post them any way.

The boys both had Halloween parties at school. They got to dress up and play games. They had a good time.

Aidan looking cool as a storm trooper (kinda Luke Skywalkerish) as he parades throught the school parking lot.

 

Aidan and his best bud Max at school.

 



 

Leo chillin' in his class party. Clearly he is having a rockin' good time (*ahem*)

Leo leading the way through the Halloween parade parking lot walk. Don't ask me why they walked through the school parking lot.

 

Halloween night, I took Aidan, William and Leo out trick-or-treating. We hit up our neighborhood and the neighborhood down the street. They came home with their bags full of candy.  They ran from house to house trick or treating.

 

Doris and Jason stayed home and gave out candy. We always have the best decorated house so I heard from our neighbors that their kids couldn't wait to go to our house. It was really cute!

 

Two ninjas and a Toronto Maple Leaf



The weekend after Halloween we were invited to our friends house for a Halloween party. We all wore costumes and had a super fun time. They had the most awesome spider webs through out the house and the table was decorated fabulously. Our menu consisted of:

Devil drink

Witch fingers

Slug and spider soup

Human arm with mashed toda and mashed slug

Mold

Dirty cup

It was super fun!

 

 Trampire a la Kristen Stewart. My red fangs were my favorite!

 

 

 It's a bird, it's a plane, wait...no it's super Jason!

 

 

Look at these two awesome women and the spider webs!

 

 



After the Storm

We were lucky. So far, so good. We still have power.  Phew! I went to bed around 11:30pm and it was really windy. At one point, I thought I heard a tree branch splitting. It sounded like a loud crack or tear. We also heard the trash can fall over which scared the bejeebers out of me. It wasn't from the wind...it was from a big, wet raccoon trying to get in our trash can!

We slept in the basement again. The boys were happy about that. I'm going to have to get them to shower and dress today (not an easy feat). I've heard from a few friends and Marc and Cindy and we all luckily have power. I haven't heard from Dorisita this morning and she is notorious for loosing power during storms.

Apparently, there are 7 million people across the eastern seaboard without power. The other danger is down trees and wires. We got a list from our county of road closures separated by those that were closed because of a fallen tree with downed wires and those with just downed trees. They also broke the list down by roads closed because of flooding. Truth be told, I'm quite impressed that the county has the information and in a timely enough manner to send it out over the county listserv.

We're all doing great and I think a little ambivalent about what the outside world holds. Jason wants to go drive around but he is resisting because it's safer to stay home.

Thanks for checking on us and making sure we are safe. We feel super lucky to have weathered the storm so well, especially as we watch some of the devastation on the news especially in NY and NJ.

Love to all!

Here is a quick video of a walk I took in the neighborhood. When we woke up I checked our car to make sure no trees feel on the big red car and then checked the backyard to make sure our deck was okay. After that I walked down through our complex to make sure everyone else was okay.

Hurricane Sandy Update

It's about 4:30 pm and we are doing well. We still have power. The boys are enjoying their 4 day weekend. The federal government just announced that we will be closed tomorrow. The worst of the storm is supposed to occur from now until 2am but I think more so between 6-8pm.

Here is a little video of the storm from our backyard. It was really cold recording the video and I got quite wet! We'll update you in the next few hours. Our lights just flickered. Let the fun begin...

Frankenstorm

We are waiting for the arrival of Frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy, the worst hurricane since Isabel...and what ever other name she has taken.

There is no water, no bread, no candles, no ice, and no big batteries to be found. Well the only water that still rests on the shelves is Fiji water which runs about $6 a bottle. People have limits you know. Apparently it is spending $6 for a bottle of water. Some people started preparing on Friday. We couldn't really even think about it. We found a couple gallons of water at the target early this morning and ice at a small gas station near our house. Why do you need extra gallons of water in a hurricane? Is the water system somehow disrupted during a hurricane?

As a precaution we're camping out in our basement (we have a walkout basement so we are not really worried about flooding). We have a lot of large trees in our back.



Aidan and Leo's school is closed tomorrow and Tuesday (10/29). They announced it at 2:36pm today before it even started raining. At 5:38pm, when we started getting a little sprinkle they announced that the Federal Government would be closed tomorrow. Everything is closed, closed, closed.

We'll make sure that we update you via the blog. As long as we have telephone service I will be able to update the blog. We're keeping in touch with all of our friends in area and Marc and Cindy. They are hunkered down as well. We will stay safe and keep in touch. Right now, all is quiet on the eastern front.

Getting ready for Halloween

Last week we decorated for Halloween. This weekend we got skeleton and pumpkin lights to line the walkway. They are so awesome! 👻 I think we have best decorated house in the neighborhood. One that would make Crow proud! Aidan says we have the best decorated house because its the only decorated house. That little Turkey--it may be true but it's still pretty cool.



The only thing we needed were Pumpkins! So today we went to homestead farms to pick pumpkins. We went with Aidan's best friend Max and his family. They are especially awesome so we had a super great time. We played in the hay, took a hay ride to a pumpkin patch, and ate caramel apples!









Stay tuned to find out what Aidan and Leo are going to be for Halloween. One costume requires mom to hand sew! Ack! I really should have worked harder to learn how to sew when Auntie Pam tried to teach me.

Jayson Werth

For the last couple of years, since we started going to the Nats games more and more, my favorite player has been Jayson Werth.  For my birthday I even got my first baseball jersey to wear to Nats games and yes, it says "Werth" on the back!

 

And boy did he show his Werth last night! Woo-Hoo!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/jayson-werths-redeeming-moment/2012/10/11/0aea502a-1411-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_story.html

GO NATS!!!

Charm City

I ❤Baltimore




We're in Charm City celebrating Aidan's birthday. And the Ravens and the Orioles. We stayed in a fantastic hotel right on the Harbor. We had dinner at an Irish pub and had the pleasure of sitting at Governor O'Malley's table. (He wasn't there)



This morning/afternoon we had brunch at Mother's. If you ever visited us in B'more you have been to Mother's. I had a bacon Bloody Mary and a shrimp and crab omelette. There are some serious Ravens fans in this city. its fantastic! Did I say I ❤ Baltimore?





We're walking around our old hood in Federal Hill watching a Columbus Day parade.



We've had such a great weekend!

Go O's!
Go Ravens!
Go Nats!




Raven's cheerleaders at Mother's. Ravens are in KC.

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Location:S Charles St,Baltimore,United States

Two Down

Well that's two! Leo lost his second tooth today. It was just hanging there but he didn't want to pull it out. This morning at breakfast it hurt and got in the way of eating his waffle but he wasn't ready to pull it out.

Finally at about 11am he'd had it with the darn tooth and agreed to let me pull it. It was the easiest tooth I've ever pulled and it was out before he knew it. He was stunned but very Happy!






I like this one but he wanted me to take another!

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A glimpse into my morning commute

In the morning, to get into work, I take the redline train about 30 minutes to metro center, a major connection hub, and switch from the redline to the blue/orange line for another 5 minutes or so.

On nice days, I get off at metro center, stop at the Firehook or Starbucks for coffee and walk in. Today, is a beautiful day! Below is a glimpse into my morning commute when the weather is nice!





It makes me feel lucky.

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Location:12th St Expy,Washington,United States