Spirit Week

This week is Spirit Week at Aidan and Leo's school. Today is crazy hair or hat day. Our kids went with crazy hair!

Leo's been dying to spike his hair up and wear it to school! Viola!

Aidan's hair always looks beautiful because he has luscious locks! -- which I proudly take credit for. It's a Foster thang!




Word big bird!




Yesterday was pajama day which they loved and Tuesday was twin day. Aidan and his friend Max dressed alike.

This is the first year we've really been into spirit week. It's fun!

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1st Day of School

Well the day finally came-the end of summer and the beginning of the new school year.

Aidan started 3rd grade and Leo started kindergarten. Leo got the teacher we hoped for, Mrs. Stewart. She was Aidan's kindergarten teacher whom we adored.

Last night we let the boys choose the menu for their last night of summer vacation meal. Not surprisingly we had papa johns pizza and ice cream sundaes. Our friend Tina came over to celebrate the last night of summer vacation and we challenged her to bit of Wii dance party. She rocks the Katy Perry songs!

This morning the boys were up at around 7am got dressed in some new school clothes and we took a few pictures. Breakfast was a bit thin for both of them due to nerves but they were both in high spirits.

Doggy snuck away to school in Leo's backpack. When we arrived at school Leo got right in line with his class. You could tell he was a bit nervous because he got quiet and his face was serious but no tears and he was ready to go. He has dropped off and picked up Aidan from school for 3 years now, I think he was happy to get to do it all on his own this year too. Aidan wanted Jason to walk him to his classroom and when he arrived he had a few tears due to the nerves but marched into class like a real trooper. We are so lucky that his best friend William is in his class too and about 4 or 5 friends from soccer are also in his class!

Mom on the other hand had lots of tears when we left school. I know that Leo is more than ready for school but I still find it very sad for all that it represents, growing up, independence, separation, years if schooling ahead, etc. They have done amazing and we couldn't be more proud but the tears are flowing today. I'm at work for a few hours trying to keep distracted then will go home for pickup! I really can't wait!











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Success! We have two boys that don't need training wheels

Aidan and Leo both set their minds to learning how to ride their bikes with no training wheels and we had super success!
It started out a little iffy after they first tried it on Thursday. They were whining that it was too hard, that they couldn't do it, and that they were tired. I gave them a pep talk and told them that they had to have a positive attitude, that everything they did the first time was hard and that they have to keep practicing. And once they got it, they wouldn't even have to think about it. That day, I proclaimed that they would be able to ride their bikes without training wheels by the end of the 4th of July holiday weekend!

They didn't prove me a liar! By Friday, Aidan changed his whole attitude. When I said "you guys are going to be able to ride your bikes!" Aidan yelled "yeah!!" and guess what?? they did it! Leo's attitude changed by about Sunday but we went out everyday to practice. Their bikes are a little small for them but they mastered it! And their mother and father high-fived because we achieved another huge hurtle in parenting. It's up their with potty training, reading, and eating with a fork!

The look great on their bikes!

Aidan got a haircut!

Aidan has been growing his hair out for about 6 months now. It started out short and then he just let it grow and grow. He has beautiful blondish-reddish hair with a bit of a wave. His hair grew so long that it was so long that it covered his eyes. He liked it that way, mom didn't. He could wipe his nose with is bangs. Come on...he didn't...but he could.

We took him to Hair Cuttery near our house and he and Jason both got their haircut this afternoon. We went after school and he was not thrilled. I had to bribe him or threaten him..whatever (I told him his friend couldn't come over tomorrow if kept whining and complaining about it). He was pretty quiet after that. I just wanted her to style it a little and cut the split ends.

Aidan got his first grown up haircut! She shampooed his hair and trimmed it and he was smiling the whole time. When we were going home, he said he was trying not to smile but he couldn't help it. I promised him that I would not let her cut a lot off. I gave the stylists instructions right in front of him so he could hear and he seemed content.

He looks great and so happy afterwards. How come kids just won't trust that parents know best, especially when they are 8?

(Aidan with his new hair cut and his "whatever mom, bob of the head, i'm too cool for this" look)

Happy Halloween

We had a fun Halloween! We did so much today. Before lunch Leo and I went to Tuesday Morning looking for a new bath mat. On the way home Leo put some fun sunglasses on that Sarah bought me for Halloween and he looked like a Diva. Okay, maybe not a Diva but he is Cute with a capital "C".

After a little shopping we came home and carved pumpkins. We have some pretty great pumpkins. The boys got totally into it. For the first year Aidan actually got his hands dirty and cleaned out the guts of the pumpkin. Go Aidan. Leo designed his own pumpkin with fangs and everything.

After carving pumpkins, we made caramel apples. And after that we had some friends over for pizza, salad, snacks, apple cider, and a Halloween cookie! Doris came over, Aidan's friend William, his sister Queenie and mom Elsie. Also our friends Mauricio, Misty, Magda (the pretty fairy), and baby Santiago. 

Aidan was a clone trooper and Leo was Iron Man. William was Darth Vader and Queenie was a cheetah. Magda was a pretty fairy and is two years old. She was cracking me up because she left one house and said "that was trick-or-treating" and she said it like "Now THAT is how you trick-or-treat!"

Announcing Two New Members of the Holma-Ritualo Family

 Aidan and Leo have wanted a cat for a very long time. A couple of years ago Aidan and I made a bet with Jason that if I didn't watch QVC for 100 days and Aidan didn't watch Cartoon Network for 100 days we could get a cat. Well we moved to a new house and we can't have a cat in the new house so we didn't get a cat. I really don't like not paying up on bets.

We didn't get an animal and we didn't we didn't get an animal. It hit me hardest when this year at school Aidan had his picture posted outside his classroom with a paper that had information about him (i.e. his favorite food (pizza)) and one statement said "Name of Pet" and Aidan wrote "I don't have a pet." How sad right???

So for Aidan's 8th birthday we decided to get him a guinea pig. Since we went away for the weekend we gave him a book about guinea pigs and promised on Sunday when we got home we would get him a guinea pig. He was so happy! If we weren't having so much fun at the hotel he would have wanted to leave early. We read the book about how to care for guinea pigs and it said that they are social and like to live in families.  Aidan is quick! He asked if we could get two. Aye!

So on Sunday, October 3rd we brought home Edward and Biscuit. We went to the pet shop and bought their home and then we went to another pet shop and fell in love with 10 week old Edward (I got to name him!) and Biscuit. Aidan has a very kind heart. When he saw the two of them sitting in the cage he was more concerned about leaving one behind than he was about taking two home. I'm a sucker for animals and for Aidan so he asked me quietly two or three times while we were in the store and I said "yes".

They are a little hard to tell apart but Biscuit has the darker hair at the top and Edward is lighter. We took them to the vet and found out we have two boys (thank God). They seem a little scared and nervous all the time but we love them and we think they like us too.

First Day of Second Grade

Our big second grader did awesome at school today. He rules the school! (Like the "T-Birds"). We were a little concerned because when we went last friday to school to find out who his teacher was he didn't want to go and when we went to introduced ourselves to his teacher he got teary eyed and didn't want to go. He was ready to leave the minute we walked into the door. On the positive side, his friend William is in his class so when he saw him as we were walking out his face totally lit up and then both of them acted so cool like it was no big deal but inside they were ready to totally burst. It was SO sweet.

So this morning we all got ready to go, when we left the house he was a little quite but totally cool. I asked him if he wanted all of us to walk to the door with him or just him and dad and he said "just me and dad but you can pick me up." So we got to school, Jason and he got out, walked to the door, Jason said "so, do you want to go in here?", he said "yes" and they said good bye outside at the door and he walked inside to the gym. He was fantastic!

After school, I made it to the metro just in the nick of time. I seriously thought I was going to miss picking him up but I got there just before 3pm. I waited for him at the usual tree, anxious as could be and he came out smiling. I asked him "thumbs up, side ways, or thumbs down?" He said "thumbs up". I guess you can't ask for too much more than that. In his usual style he didn't talk about a whole heck of a lot. He said his teacher talked for a while, they went to gym, his teacher talked some more, they went to lunch and recess, his teacher talked some more and then they packed up. It's really what he said. I tried to ask about what she talked about. Math? Reading?  I got nothing.

After school we went to get ice cream to celebrate. It was a great day! He is growing right before our eyes.

I could end the post without sharing this picture of Leo with you. He fell asleep at about 6pm this evening before dinner. After dinner I came up stairs and this was how he was sleeping.

Aidan's Birthday and Christmas List

Aidan was constantly telling us all the things he wants. I want to get this...I want to get that. Not really demanding it or crying about it but he would see something on TV or at the store and say "I want to get that." At the same time he hasn't wanted to practice his writing much this summer. So to take advantage of the situation and put a little pause on the list of "I wants" I told him to make a list for his birthday or for Christmas in his notebook and every time he sees something he wants write it down and keep a list so he wouldn't forget. He seemed to go along with it and he made the following list. He asked me to put the list on the blog so I scanned it (truth be told Jason scanned it).

His penmanship is quite good and he has some interesting things on the list. I can't believe he put a "mattress pad" on his list. We got it for him this weekend because he actually did need it.

Questions and Answers

Aidan and Leo came up with some really great questions they wanted answers to tonight. Aidan suggested that we find the answers on the internet. So here you go...these are mostly Aidan's questions:

1. Why do mosquito bites itch?
A: Normally when you get a cut, the blood clots up. Otherwise, you would bleed to death from a little tiny cut. This is a problem for the mosquito, because the mosquito wants to suck your blood, not get stuck in a clot! So the mosquito injects some chemicals that prevent clotting. A side effect of those chemicals is that they cause itching. It is interesting that humans have more of a problem with this than, say, rabbits. Many animals don't have any sort of an allergic reaction to mosquito bites. -see Scholastic for answers to other cools questions about insects.

2. How long do ladybugs live?
A: A ladybug can live from one to two years, but the life cycle, from egg to adult, is about a month. - WikiAnswers

3. Why do horses wear horseshoes?
In the wild, horses walk on meadows, dirt and other softer surfaces. But horses in captivity walk on gravel, roads, rocks plus they are carrying an extra weight. The horseshoes provide protection to the hooves and maintain a relatively flat surface.  - WikiAnswers

4. Does marking an "X" in a mosquito bite stop the itching?
There doesn't seem to be much concensus on this one. At least that we could find in the 10 minutes we spent searching the internet. eHow suggests that you should "get yourself a butter knife and place it directly on the mosquito bite. Press down and make an X with the knife. This spreads out the protein in the bite and stop it from itching for about an hour or so. Works just like your fingernail, just cleaner. Unless of course you have completely sanitized your fingernails."  - Read more: How to Stop Itching Mosquito Bites. Other people have given other explanations like it distracts you from the itch and pain, spreads out the pain into q"quadrants" and all kinds of other silly things. For some (40!) great tips and remedies for mosquito itch see tipnut

5. How does liquid soap turn into foam?
A: The process is incredibly simple - the foaming pump works because it injects a bunch of air into a small amount of soap as it pumps. --And to discover how to make your own soap solution to refill the a foam pump click on the link.

Leo had some great questions too but much more difficult to answer:

1. Why is this (binder) clip so hard to push?

2. What is stuff made out of?

3. Why do airplanes have wheels?--Aidan answered this questions: so the bottom of the airplane does get scratched.




 

Favorite article of clothing

I am getting ready for bed. I undertook my usual ritual of walking in the door after getting home from work, heading upstairs to change out of my work clothes and putting on my comfy clothes, usually my pajamas. So I look into my closet and my go to shirt is an OLD, OLD shirt. It is a nursing shirt from when I had Leo! I know! It is totally OLD. I love it. It is black, loose but not long, light weight, three quarters sleeve and it is the softest cotton I have ever felt. I don't know why I love it more than any other shirt that I own but I wish I could keep it forever. I CAN NOT keep it forever. It is so much better than an old t-shirt. I have never really had a favorite old t-shirt.

What is your favorite article of clothing? The article of clothing that you wish would last forever. That you could wear every day if could?

I'm upstairs sitting on our bed. Leo is sleeping, snoring actually. He feel asleep at about 6:50pm. Jason is downstairs playing Wii FIFA Soccer with Aidan and he is losing. Aidan just ran upstairs saying he beat Daddy.

Weekend Update

FRIDAY: I was planning to stay at work a little late. Doris had left a little early to go to the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit. At about 5:55pm Becs sent me an email to ask if we wanted to have dinner at Mi Rancho in Silver Spring. I called Jason immediately and asked if he wanted to go too. Sometimes Friday's are tough for Jason to go out to dinner because he's had a long week at home but even though he had already cooked the boys a couple of burgers (though they hadn't eaten them yet) he was totally up for it. I sent an email back to Becs telling her "YES!!" She couldn't believe it. She thought it was totally a long shot and wasn't even going to ask us but I told her, "invite us to dinner where we don't have to cook and throw in margaritas and Jason and I will almost never say 'no'". Becs, Jake and I all rode the metro to the restaurant and Jason packed the boys in the car. Even with the rain, we had a great time. The pitcher of strawberry margaritas and Dos Equis helped but best of all it was the great company and Doris surprised us and showed up too (we texted her on her way to the restaurant).

SATURDAY: Saturday had it ups and downs. On the up side, we had a nice morning. Aidan and I played Wii tennis before breakfast. He said if he wins, I had to make him breakfast in bed. I took on that wager and ended up making him breakfast in bed. He loved it, took full advantage of me and acted like a king!

After getting ready we went into my office. Leo was so cute and asked "am I going to work with you?" I told him "yes" and his face lit up and he said, "thank you so much mommy. I get to go too? and Aidan?" He was so excited. The boys helped me clean up my desk. My cubicle was a disaster. It looked like a paper hurricane had landed in my cubicle. There were papers on the floor, on my desk, still sitting in my printer, in the overflowing recycle bin, everywhere! The boys had the run of the office and they loved it. They ran back and forth between my cubicle and the recycle, we filed stuff in the filing room (Aidan thinks the filing room is 'spooky'), we cleaned up my bookshelves, they washed my coffee cups, cleaned out my drawers, shredded papers, put books on other shelves and wiped down my countertops. Aidan and Leo loved it, Jason was a good sport and a super helper. Jason went to the potbelly's and got us sandwiches and we ate in our conference room. They asked if I had meetings in here and where I usually sit. The boys had so much fun that Aidan asked if we could go to my work on Sunday.

Aidan also had a birthday party to go to later in the afternoon. On our way home from work he asked if he could take a nap. I told him "yes" but that we were almost home and he had to go to his party. He started to cry and said he didn't want to go. Jason was frustrated because he hates it when Aidan rsvp's for a party and then the day of the party doesn't want to go. I hate it too but sometimes when you get there he warms up to it and ends up having a good time. I offered to take him but Aidan wanted Daddy to take him. So, nervously I watched them head out the door. Leo wanted to go to the party too but since he couldn't I promised him we would do something. We ended up making a St.Patrick's Day cake. Halfway through mixing the batter, I heard two car doors slam shut. I looked out the window and saw Aidan and Jason, unhappy as can be, walk up the stairs. Jason said Aidan cried when they got to the party and didn't want to go in so Jason took the present inside and said Aidan wasn't feeling well (which obviously is true). The birthday was at some sportsplex-a place Aidan had never been.

When Aidan came home, I told him he had to go to his room for a while. Surprisingly, he went without a fuss. I sent Jason to the book store and movies (this is clearly the only fun thing he got to do), Leo and I finished the cake, and I went up to talk to Aidan. I told him that the reason that we were upset was because he had told us earlier that he wanted to go the party so his friend's family paid money for Aidan to be at the party, they had planned for him to eat pizza and cake, so we had wasted their money and that most of all his friend was looking forward to him being at his birthday party and he was disappointed on his special day. If he RSVPs to a party it is important for him to go because people are planning on him being there. Jason said that even if they would have gone inside he would have hated it because it was loud and crowded and unfamiliar--all the things Aidan hates. I don't know if it was the right talk but it was the talk we had. The rest of the night went really well. They were all in a good mood, ate a super dinner (even Leo) and we frosted the chocolate cake with green frosting and put on green sprinkles.

SUNDAY: Aidan started swimming lessons again and again, it was another activity he didn't want to do. I didn't put up with that one. My whole shpeel about swimming is that once they can swim easily in the deep end of a pool without any help they can cut the swim lessons but until then they will go. It simply a matter of safety. No ifs and or buts. How parental is that? Sounds like something my parents would say.

After swimming the boys dropped me off at Doris' house for the monthly Creative Memories scrapbooking event. I had a great time but I realized where Aidan gets the anxiety of crowds and noise because there were lots of people at Doris' and lots of loud talking which towards the end gave me a little anxiety. I worked on Leo's first year album (no comments please) and made some great progress. I am on the very last month (February) and working on his 1st birthday party. I love the pictures. The boys are adorable and I can never get enough of looking at their baby pictures. They are too sweet for words. After I got home, as is tradition, we looked at the new pages I did and we looked at both their albums. They love looking at them too, maybe not as much as me but they like it.

While I was scrapbooking, Jason took the boys with rain boots and all to the airplane park. They walked around in the mud and the puddles for a little while. Jason sent me a cute picture of Aidan and Leo standing in the middle of a gigantic mud puddle.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Sorry there are no pictures.

Weekend Fun

It's Tuesday and it is shaping up like a crazy week. Last night I left the office at 7pm again. By the time the boys picked me up it was close to 8pm. Leo didn't have a nap (Jason doesn't consider sleeping in the car for 5 minutes a nap-go figure) so when they picked me up he was already asleep. Aidan was awake but it was already time for bed by the time I scarfed down a piece of meatloaf, some mashed potatoes, and a salad. Of course everyone had already eaten.

This week I have decided to bring my little netbook to work and take some time at lunch to eat a place that has free wi-fi (love Starbucks!) and spend some personal time blogging and searching the job announcements. Right now as I type I am at the Potbelly's close to work and using the Starbucks' free wi-fi (Starbucks is right next door to the Potbelly's).

This past Friday I left work early and after we picked up Aidan from school we headed down to Richmond for the night. Once we got down there we met Thotlady and Bogey at a local pizza place for beer and pizza which was really fun. After dinner, Jason and his brother, Bogey, went to the Alice in Chains concert. Jason's Dad is cousins with the father of the drummer so that makes Jason the second cousin to the drummer (I think). In any case, Dennis called his cousin and they got free tickets to the concert. They really wanted to meet their second cousin (the drummer) but it just didn't work it. I can't believe the drummer didn't want to meet Jason and Bogey! The boys and Cindy and I went back to their place and got the boys ready for bed and we all watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was a lot of fun.

In the morning Cindy went and got bagels from Einsteins (which we love!) and around lunch time we went Careytown Teas which has some super amazing tea choices. We bought a couple of different kinds (my favorite is vanilla rooibos (an herbal red tea grown in South Africa)). After that we had lunch at a sub shop and then we went for a nice walk downtown along the river. It was a beautiful day. I think we all enjoyed being outside and the boys loved throwing rocks in the river. After that, at about 4:30, we left and headed back up to DC. We had a great time and enjoyed the time away and the wonderful hospitality.

On Sunday, we had an appointment at Target to have Leo's four year pictures taken. If you recall from last year, Leo hates getting his picture taken and we barely managed to get a 3 year photo of him where he is not crying. This year, after a bit of preparation, he was all ready. The photographer managed to get 5 shots of him and that was it. Three shots were great and the other he had his eyes closed or he was on the verge of tears. She took a couple of pictures of him standing up, with his hand in his pocket, he smiled his ever charming smile with dimple, and after that he was done. She asked him to sit on a stool and he started crying. Thus ended the photo shoot.

After the photo shoot picked up a few things for Aidan's room. After a terrible night Saturday night of getting Aidan to sleep we offered to help Aidan redecorate his room to something that he loved. He was complaining and crying Saturday night that he didn't like his room so I calmly offered to help him on Sunday redecorate it. Don't get me wrong, I was not calm during the whole escapade. He wanted to change his desk and dresser around and we got him a small cube of shelves with baskets to store some of his things. He did a great job cleaning and organizing. By 8:30 we had to order him to stop cleaning and when he woke up on Monday morning he jumped out of bed and went straight to organizing his desk. He is so cute!

All in all we had a fun weekend. We hope yours was great too.

We also hope you all have a great week. It is sunny and 60 on our side of the continent.

Spelling Tests

Aidan's first grade class started weekly spelling tests. The tests are on Friday! He had his first one on December 11. He practiced all week long. His teacher sends a weekly packet which include daily assignments to practices like alphabetizing the words and practice tests (on Thursdays).

He got a 100 on his first test! He did so good and they were a little tricky like including "their" and "there" - on his first test! We are so proud of him. It has been a learning process for his parents as well. We learned that Aidan is a bit of a perfectionist. When he practices and he misspells a word he gets very frustrated and says, "I just want to get it right!" Gosh, where in the world does he get that from? It's a mystery.

It's also been a new challenge in parenting because we want to encourage him and tell him to study hard and do great but then we don't want him to feel too disappointed if he does end up getting one (or (gasp!) two) wrong. On his second spelling test this week he also said he got all of them right. He has done really, really great and we are super proud of him!

Surprise: Aidan and Leo

Hi Aidan and Leo. I have hidden a surprise for you in the house. You have to follow these directions to find your surprise: Good Luck, and Have Fun.

Start: Stand in the middle of the kitchen with your pinky finger on the freezer door handle.
1) Walk to the living room and look under the couch. Not there?
2) Walk down stairs to the basement
3) Go into the bedroom in the basement
4) Stand in front of the mirrors
5) Turn around 3 times
6) Run upstairs to mommy and daddy's room
7) Look in Daddy's dresser to find your surprise

I hope you love it.

I love and miss you so much!

A trip to the Dentist

Aidan and Leo went to the dentist last Tuesday. Aidan has been to the dentist a number of times before this visit but this was Leo's first visit to the dentist! Whoo-hoo! The day before (Labor Day) we were over at Doris' house for dinner and I remembered they had their dentist appointment and excitedly told Doris that Leo was going to the dentist for the first time. To my surprise he cried and said he didn't want to go! We stopped talking about it immediately! Uh-oh, this did not look good for Tuesday. Let's just say he was not impressed and there is a slim chance that Leo will aspire to be a dentist.

Aidan went first in the chair and as you can see he is an old pro. The dentist said that his teeth look great! She said that he is getting his adult molars and that soon his other baby teeth should loosen and fall out. That was pretty neat.

When the dental assistant came in and wanted to check out Leo's teeth he cried and pretty much refused. She was very nice and didn't force herself or her tools on him and said "let's just wait for the dentist."


When the dentist came, Leo layed on Jason's lap and the dentist's lap and he did really well. No crying and he let her look at his teeth. He allowed her to look at them just enough to count his teeth. She said the first visit is really just to get the kids familiar with the dentist and the procedures and so all they really need to do is just look in their mouth and count their teeth. That was done! So there was a major success there!

First Day of 1st Grade!

Today was Aidan's first day in 1st grade. We've been talking about starting school for the past few weeks. Let's just say that he was uninspired. Every time we asked him if he was ready to start school he would say, "no". Every time someone asked him if he was excited about going back to school he would say, "no". Plain and simple...he did not want to go back to school. Needless to say we were feeling a bit nervous about him starting school all the while trying to talk school up and say how great it was going to be (was it?), how nice his teacher would be (would s/he?) and how much fun he would have (would he?).


There were a few clues that gave us hope. He got this "snake eyes" shirt a few weeks ago and he said he wanted to save it for the first day of school. When we talked about his old friends from kindergarten he seemed happy and talkative. When we went shopping for his Marvel comics backpack and school supplies he was excited and into it. So we held on to these little pieces of hope and continued think things might go well on the first day.

This morning was fine (not great but fine). His mood was kind of up and down and bit sporadic but I think it was the nervousness and part excitement (yes, deep down in there I think there was some excitement!). He took a shower, put on his new snake eyes shirts and shorts and we remembered that we had a new pair of sneakers for him and he thought that was fun.


We got in the car and he did great. We got out of the car and I could tell he was nervous but still fine. He got a little clingy when we went up to the door and Jason said we couldn’t go in. I saw that there were parents going in so I said, "let's go in" and we all headed in. Leo was asking if we had to go in (yes, “had” to go in). Then when we went in Leo said, “can we go home now” – he had bike riding on his mind. Aidan was doing okay when we were waiting outside the door. On of his friends from kindergarten was also waiting outside of his classroom and she said "Hi Aidan" and he mumbled "Hi" back. The rest of his class came up from the gym and it was finally time to go in. Sadly, he hid his face in my shoulder and arm and cried. I felt so bad. I told him how brave he was, how big he was and how much fun he would have but he wasn’t buying what I was selling. I was trying to hold out until his friend William arrived because they were great friends (& Kentaro who he misses so much) and we found out on Friday that William sits in his quad of four desks (plus!). It was starting to get late and William had not arrived so I finally scootched him to the door and his teacher saw him crying and took him by the hand to hang up his backpack and sit in the circle with the other kids. His teacher and I gave each other the nod…mine indicating “he’s upset and nervous” and hers indicating “I understand. I got it from here. Go ahead and go”. After that I went out of the classroom and I told Jason “let’s go”. After we left, I cried too. I just feel so bad that he feels so nervous and unsure. I wish there was something I could do or say to make him feel less nervous, unsure and secure but I couldn't think of anything and anything I could think of didn't work. Jason gave Aidan a special coin to hold in his pocket and touch whenever he felt nervous but he still felt nervous.

After school we all picked him up and he was smiling and happy. He said he had a good day and only cried once in the morning. He said he liked his teacher and said his favorite part of the day was recess. He said he was tired at recess and had no energy because they don't eat lunch until 1:00pm and have recess first. This we thought was crazy...I'm hungry (seriously) by 11:30am. They have snack time earlier but the grapes we sent "were too sour" so he didn't eat too many of them. He said they did computer lab and he was quite talkative (always a good sign). After school we went to DairyQueen for blizzards (Aidan had M&M, Jason had, you guessed it Butterfinger and Leo and I shared Thin Mint). We came home and boys rode their bikes and played with the neighbor kids. Aidan is playing Wii for a bit, Leo is watching Polar Express and playing with a lego car and we will eat dinner soon.

All in all, it was a great day (no throwing up!) that got better and better. I'm sure tomorrow will be better!

Finally Something to Write About

Our week was pretty quiet. Besides Doris finally coming home from Puerto Rico on Tuesday we haven't really been doing very much. But that all changed on Thursday when Patrick arrived from Seattle. We were so happy for him to get here. He arrived in the early evening so we went out to dinner to Uncle Julio's a Mexican Restaurant. We hadn't been there since Patrick was in DC celebrating his birthday 2 or 3 years ago. The boys had a busy day, they all came in to town to have lunch with me and Doris and Becs and visit my friends and colleagues in the office. When I got home they still seemed to be pretty happy so we decided to go out and they were great at dinner too. By the time we got home, they were exhausted so putting them to bed that night was a piece of cake.

Yesterday (Friday) was also a very important day (VID). Aidan had his open house where he got to meet his new teacher (Mrs. Hornstein - Aidan got the good teacher!), see his new classroom, find his desk, and see what friends are in his class. He wasn't exactly excited about it but I have a feeling that this school year will go really well, especially the first day. There may be some nervousness, an upset stomach and possibly some tears but I'm confident there will be no throwing up! Mrs. Hornstein is great and we are so happy Aidan is in her class! We also went to see Mrs. Stewart his Kindergarten teacher last year-she is fantastic. Afterwards we went out to ice cream and celebrated the start of a great school year. Aidan seemed happy and talkative so I am happy for and proud of him.

Friday night I went out to dinner with some girl friends-we were celebrating a special birthday. We started off at the Russia House in Dupont Circle and then had dinner at Buca di Beppo. We drank great beer at the Russia House (maybe a little too much) and then had good Italian food but all together we had lots of fun. The Russia House is known for its vodka but after reading the reviews I was a little afraid of getting into the vodka so I passed and had some great Russian beer. Becs is my beerfriend. The boys all had Ledo's Pizza for dinner.

Today, Saturday we had bagels for breakfast and then we all went to Mt. Vernon, Washington's Estate. It was a bit hot and humid but great fun because we had not been there for a really long time. It has changed so much. They now have this fantastic museum and education center that was really fun to wander around in. My favorite part of the visit was sitting on the back porch of the house and looking out into the Potomac.

After a couple of hours at Mt. Vernon we all went to Elevation Burger in Arlington (don't be jealous Heid!). It is a great burger place that uses organic, free-range, grass feed cow meat and olive oil for its fries. It is all about the ingrediants they say. The have great milk shakes too! Plus it's nice that they buy their meat from humanely raised cows.

Tonight Jason and Patrick are going to get out of the house and see a movie. I'm not sure if they decided which one to see yet but let's see if I can convince Jason to write a movie review. Don't get your hopes up but I'll try.

One last exciting thing that has been going on over the weekend...BIKES! Jason finally put together Leo's Thomas the Train bike. Leo got his bike from Pa and Crow for christmas but his mom and dad have been slackers and only now put it together. The boys have been riding their bikes like crazy. They rode yesterday afternoon. The rode before we went to Mt. Vernon and they rode after we came home from Elevation Burger. We left Mt.Vernon because the boys were exhausted but in the same breath they asked if they could ride their bikes when we got home. Leo has only been riding for two days but he is already a pro and Aidan has really become much more confident on his bike. He rides fast, wants to ride up the curb, and while he disagrees, I think he is ready to take off the training wheels. I predict it won't be long. They are both super cute on their bikes.

Summer Holiday and Travel

I just wanted the family and our friends to know that we have made reservations to come and visit this summer. We really look forward to seeing everyone. We will arrive July 21 and return August 3. On a side note, it is extremely expensive to buy four airplane tickets especially in a one-earner income family. I know I totally should not be surprised. I travel pretty frequently, right? The tickets that we purchased on an invidual level were priced pretty well. I really should not complain but when they total it, it is still a bit of a shocker. Also the expenses just come at a difficult time when we are trying to get Aidan into summer camps. We could only afford one, one-week soccer camp. You can't believe how expensive it is. You don't want to get me started but it is REALLY, REALLY expensive. I don't know how other families do it! For families with both parents in the job market, they have to scramble to get their kids in camp and then come up with over $2,000 for camp and change their work schedules to drop off and pick up. I think we should have year round schooling (seriously!). We may try to get him into one more, one week camp but we will see.

Back on point ... we are really looking forward to Ethan and Aidan getting reacquainted and playing together. We are also looking forward to Leo and Riley getting to know each other again as well. I'm super curios to see how the boys all end up playing together. Leo is used to playing with Aidan and Leo is totally into being a "big boy". I'm working on his one-year scrapbook and he is not impressed because the album is full of baby pictures. He asked me where the pictures of him as a big boy were. Also whenever I have called him "my baby", he correctly replies "I'm not a baby". Of course I told him he will always be "my baby". But what I am wondering will Leo and Riley want to play together orwill they want to play with the "big boys" and will the big boys want the little guys to play with them. It should be interesting.

Aidan had his first day of soccer camp Monday. The drop did not go so well but on the pick up he said he had a great time. Yesterday's drop off went much better. He was EXHAUSTED both days when Jason came to pick him up. After camp on Monday, they went to pick up some soccer shorts and cleats and he did not want to take off his shin guards. Even after they got home and he was going to take a shower, he didn't want to take them off immediately. He asked if he could put them on after his shower, with is pajamas. It's so cute. Yesterday at camp they also had about an hour or so for swimming. He gets to go to the pool again today around 11:00 am. He is taking his soccer camp with his friend Willam. On the first day, William was really sweet when Aidan was dropped off. He wanted to hold Aidan's hand and walk and sit with him at the start. Here is a picture of our soccer champ.

He looks so big, doesn't he?

On Saturday, we spent the day at Doris' house. We brought lunch over, went to her swimming pool for a couple of hours, played a couple of games of Uno, did a puzzle, Leo took a nap, and then we ate dinner and played with her new video Flip camera.

We had so much fun. This is one of videos we took starring Aidan and Jason Holma with Doris as the Director.

Happy Birthday Grandma Joan

Happy Birthday Grandma Joan!!!

We hope you have a very special day! Eat chocolate, have a drink and let someone else cook for you or go out to dinner. We wish we could be there to celebrate with you. We love you very, very much!

Today is also Aidan's last day of school! He was excited that today was his last day and that he only had a half day today. We are going to pick him up at 12:35 and take him out to ice cream. I can't believe he will be in 1st grade next year.