January Recap

 Well, nearly a month of 2012 is in the books and I've had zero posts about what's been happening in our lives this month.  I think that is mostly because there hasn't been much to report.  I also feel like I have changed my blog writing sometime in the past few months, or maybe even few years...I feel like I used to wax poetic about life, instead of just writing about life's events.  I seem to only blog now when something has happened, separating different events into different posts.  I'd rather get into a flow of writing more consistently...but then again, I don't want to write just to write.  I think I am searching for a balance and I haven't found it.

Anyways, January has come and gone pretty quickly.  Here are some of the high (and low) lights...

Annie and Greg came to visit on MLK weekend.  It was a blast!  We went downtown on Saturday and visited the Museum of the Native American, walked around the Capitol, and made a quick trip into the National Arboretum (mostly to stay warm).  We took Metro down and back, and it was a fun day in the Nation's Capital.

We also had some fun at home - we played The Game of Life, charades, Sing It Karaoke, and Hide-n-Seek in the basement.  We went to the Tysons Corner Mall and browsed a bit, some shopping as well.  It really was a fun weekend and I hope they come back again soon!





Quinn's hermit crab, Shelldon, died about a week ago.  Quinn was pretty devastated but has bounced back quickly.  He made a Lego memorial to his beloved crab...a Lego hermit crab atop a plaque of sorts displaying his name.  He had this crab since his trip to Maine in the summer.  He took such good care of it, chopping up fresh fruit and vegetables for it often and buying special water to bathe it.  He really believed it could live for 20 to 30 years, as the books said some were known to have done.  He says he wants to get more crabs, and it's pretty simple now that we have all the supplies.  A lot of people complain about the smell, but it really never bothered us because Quinn kept his cage so clean.  Overall, this was a great pet experience for Quinn and I'm sure he will get another one soon...but we hope that Shelldon is resting in peace!



We have continued on with Cub Scouts.  Quinn got his Bobcat badge, and we prepared for the Pinewood Derby.  It really turned into a family effort.  Keely made one too, as siblings get to race.  Hers is an iPhone and Quinn's is a drag car of sorts.  We'll see how they do in the race tonight!

Quinn participated in his first Spelling Bee with his class.  He barely studied, first saying that he didn't want to participate (he had no choice) but making a last ditch effort to prepare the night before.  He advanced to the school wide event in February!  He must have it in his blood - he does come from a lineage of spelling bee champions (ahem, his mother - yours truly - the 2nd Grade Spelling Bee champion!).  At the school wide event, there will be 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders and he will have to deal with harder words - but I think he's got the bug now so we'll see if it continues enough for him to prepare better this time.

Today is the end of the second quarter at school, meaning they are halfway done.  They have Monday and Tuesday off for Teacher Work Days.  They have barely had any full weeks in January, and that trend continues into February.  I'm sure the end of the school year will be here before we know it!

That's about all I can think of.  See, when I type it out it doesn't seem like enough to separate into multiple writings.  Hopefully February will be more eventful :)

Holiday Recap

As usual, the holidays came and went too quickly.  I could have used a few more days off, but back to work I went.  This year was different than years past, mainly for the reason that we are now much closer to all of our family.  Being closer meant being busier, but I think it also meant being blessed with much more family celebrations.  I've counted five different Christmas celebrations over the course of 4 days!

We ushered in the holiday season with the North Carolinian Donovans visiting us for one night on their way to New Jersey.  We enjoyed their visit, albeit short.  Two days later, we anxiously awaited the arrival of the Floridian Donovans.  They arrived on a relatively empty plane to a relatively uncrowded airport on Christmas Eve night.  We were all so excited to see each other, and the fun ensued.  Putting out cookies, getting the kids settled, wrapping presents while chatting and drinking wine late into the night.  We celebrated a wonderful Christmas morning in our house.  Quinn's prize gift from Santa was a Kindle, and Keely's an American Girl Doll (Julie, of the 1970s era).  They got lots of other gifts as well, and we spoiled Adelia probably a little too much but the gifts were a hit and they gave her a few things to play with over the week she was at our house (we're not flush with two year old appropriate toys anymore...go figure).  Christmas dinner was simple, yet delicious - ham, sweet potato casserole, asparagus and Hawaiian rolls.

On Monday morning, we headed north to continue the festivities and on to the aforementioned four remaining celebrations.  We had dinner and presents at Grandma & Grandpa's on Monday night, breakfast &presents (a 2nd Christmas morning, if you will) with Nana, Papa and Annie on Tuesday morning, and headed up to Staten Island on a very rainy Tuesday night to celebrate with Great Grandma, Aunt Donna & family and some other SI family.  On Wednesday night, we traveled the short distance to Aunt Gail's for a delicious dinner and yet another celebration.  On Thursday, we rounded up the troops and traveled back home to Virginia - exhausted, overloaded with presents (mostly for the kids) and ready for a few days of break from the hub bub.

The rest of the long weekend went fast.  We went to see ZooLights at the National Mall, visited Hidden Oaks Nature Center, Iwo Jima and a bit of Arlington National Cemetery.  We rang in the New Year with a competitive game of Harry Potter Scene It, a bit of Love Actually and SNL Christmas Edition before watching the ball drop in Times Square.  Keely made it until about 11:56 PM, and then was asleep for the big event.  We tried to wake her but she was passed out!  I guess next year maybe she will make it until midnight.


New Years Day was quiet, we took a trip to another local park and James made a simple yet delicious pasta dinner.  I also couldn't not mention that we tried our first Vietnamese food on NYE for lunch from a restaurant called Pho Hot.  Very tasty, and thanks to Uncle Ryan for helping us navigate the menu and try a few new things!

Early Monday morning, our guests departed for warm sunny Florida.  We all enjoyed each other's company, and we were all sad to see them go.  Their time with us went too fast, as typically happens but we can't wait to see them again soon!  Next time in that warm sunny location, preferably on a beach :)

So on we go into 2012, another new year.  2011 was a big year for us, a huge cross country move and our first trip abroad were the major happenings.  I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!

Blast from the Past

When we were in New Jersey for Thanksgiving, we took advantage of a nice warm day after the holiday to explore Holmdel Park with Grandma and Grandpa.  The kids haven't been to Longstreet Farm before and we walked around to see the horses, cows, pigs, sheep, etc. and all of the historic buildings.  After the farm, we headed up to one of the many playgrounds to let the kids play.  While we were there, I wanted to do some investigation of times past.  James and I used to visit HP when we were dating, often having picnics there and hiking through the woods.  On one trip, we carved our names into a tree as many teenagers do.  I've always wondered if it weathered the years, and if we could even find the exact location.  So as we walked through the woods this November, I looked at the many trees and read names hoping to find ours.  After a few tries, and a bit off the beaten path, I found it!  I was so excited.  We hadn't dated the carving, but I estimate it to be about 19 years old - sometime from 1992 or 1993.  Thank goodness Grandma had her camera to snap a few photos of our historic find!  The kids wanted us to carve their names below, but we didn't have a knife so we will have to go back another time to add them to the record.

What a fun record of our relationship - as James and I embark upon 20 years together, I am glad to see that it has survived the test of time and I look forward to going back in another 20 years to see if it's still there!

35 and Other Ramblings...

On Monday, I celebrated the 35th anniversary of my birth.  35 seems significant, but as usual I feel no different.  Since it was a work day, that is how I spent most of my day.  After work, we went out to dinner.  Keeping in spirit with last year's birthday we found a Japanese Hibachi restaurant not too far from our house and really enjoyed it.  The chef was very funny and we all laughed a lot during the meal, plus the food was very good.  The bad part of a great dinner is that I was too stuffed for dessert...but the kids still sang to me, and I managed to fit in a few bites like a good birthday girl should.  My gift from James and the kids was a Kindle Fire, totally unexpected (well, until last Friday when I got a mysterious e-mail from Amazon welcoming me to the Kindle Club...oops!) and is turning out to be a lot of fun - not only can I read books, but it's a full blown tablet so I can watch Netflix, check e-mail, play games, search the web and lots of other things.  All in all, a great day and I am thankful to be starting another year of my life.

The rest of December has been fairly uneventful as we have been busy preparing for Christmas.  The tree has been decorated.  The stockings are hung by the chimney.  The house is decked out with Christmas decorations, and things are in all new places this year which somehow makes them feel new.  Gifts are purchased (not quite done yet, but there's still a few days).  Cookies have been baked (with more to come).  Cards have been mailed out.  Despite all of these preparations, I have been having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year.  I am not sure why, but I think it has to do with the weather.  It's not been cold at all here, even balmy some days.  Any precipitation is wet, and not white as it feels like it should be in December.  Yes, I miss the snow.  I said I wouldn't but I do.  I miss it now because it makes it feel more like Christmas.  In Utah, even if there wasn't much snow on the ground at our house we could always look up at the gorgeous snow covered mountains.  Not so much here in the flat lands of Virginia.  Luckily, my bah-humbug attitude hasn't rubbed off on the kids or James.  We've gotten pretty prepared despite the lack of good winter weather.  The kids are really excited, especially Keely.  Quinn even summoned a steadfast belief in Santa this year, making his list and leaving it by the tree for Santa's elves.  Keely chose not to make a list, saying she wants to be surprised.

I feel like today kicks off the Christmas week as we await a visit from the North Carolina Donovan family who are stopping in Virginia on their way to New Jersey.  Then we anxiously await the Florida Donovan family who will join us on Christmas Eve until after the New Year.  We are all very excited to have a little one underfoot for this special holiday season. On Monday, we will head up to New Jersey to spend a few days celebrating with the grandparents on both sides, and other extended family.  It's going to be a wonderful Christmas for sure, with the most important reason being that we get to spend it with family - both immediate and extended - and we are truly blessed!

A Trip Back in Time

We traveled back from New Jersey on Saturday morning so that we could have the balance of the weekend to spend relaxing at home.  That's one thing that I love about being so close, and there so much more often - there is no need to stay the entire holiday weekend, or pack as much in as we can - like we used to have to do when we were traveling from 2,000 miles away and only visited about once a year, if that - because we know we will be back soon.  So we had the best of both worlds with this long weekend - two days with the family, and then two days at home. 

Because of this, we found ourselves at home on Sunday looking for something to do on yet another gorgeous Fall day...sunny with highs in the mid 60s.  We decided to head to Mount Vernon, a destination we've intended to visit since we arrived back in Virginia.  James and I had visited when I was in college and I knew the kids would enjoy it.  It turns out they've added some features and you could really spend all day there, depending on the season.  We started with a 20 minute movie - an introduction to the estate with all of the places to explore, then a docu-drama about GW and his war times.  The mansion tour was great, we had some fun tour guides.  Keely wants to live there, although the next day in retrospect pondered where the bathrooms were :)  The only complaint was that we couldn't actually enter each of the rooms, only view them from hallways - the kids remembered the tour of Muckross House in Ireland where you could be in each room.

Because we were visiting in the holiday season, we got two special treats with regular admission - one, the house and grounds were decorated for Christmas (though I imagine that's more interesting at night) and two, the 3rd floor of the mansion was open.  About a million people visit each year, and only about 10,000 see the 3rd floor.  Martha lived on the 3rd floor after George's death, and you get also get a view up into the cupola which was used to cool the house back in its days.  Aside from the mansion, we saw the slave's quarters, various outbuildings, graves of both Martha and George as well as a few other Washington family members, and some of the farm animals that reside on the land.

Also a perk being that we were there after Thanksgiving was seeing the turkey pardoned by President Obama, as well as a camel that is residing there for the holiday season (apparently, George Washington had a liking for exotic animals).  We spent about 3 hours, a bit longer than I thought we would - and I could see being there longer if the gardens were in bloom.  We ended in the gift shop where we treated ourselves to some authentic 18th century chocolate - which was honestly some of the best I've ever had.


So we've checked another place off the to-do list (we don't actually have a real list, it's in our heads) but this is one I can see visiting again and again depending on the season.  We're even considering an annual pass, especially since I know this is a place we will take visitors.  It was a wonderful way to spend a warm sunny November afternoon!

Thankful

I wanted to write a quick note about our Thanksgiving.  It was monumental in a way, definitely different than most of the past eight years that we've lived out West.  With the exception of last year when Lois, Ryan and Adelia visited, we have spent the holiday either as just our family of four, or with friends and neighbors.  I didn't mind it, but I knew with the move back to the East Coast that would be changing.  So for the first time since 2002, we celebrated the holiday with both sets of parents, along with Annie and Joe.  The day was simple, the food delicious, the company delightful and we are very thankful for the opportunity to get back to these types of celebrations.  We continued the festivities on Friday, Italian style with Uncle Joe and J.R.  Again, a delightful evening with family.

The holidays may be a little more hectic, but days and years pass too quickly, and in the blink of an eye life can take unexpected turns - I never thought we'd move out West, and then I really didn't think we'd be back East, but here we are and we are taking advantage of all the perks that come with it - as evidenced by the first big holiday spent with those we love.

First Quarter Review

The first quarter of school actually ended earlier this month before the 4 day weekend when we visited NYC.  We had conferences a couple of weeks ago and report cards came out last week.  I have to start with Keely, who has the biggest news - not about her but her teacher.  We were informed shortly before conferences that her teacher was leaving.  We knew she'd gotten engaged but her fiance took a job in San Francisco so she was moving there.  Keely was quite upset, she really liked Ms. P even though she'd only been in her class a short time.  We met the new teacher at conferences, Ms. Gialouris and she seems nice.  So far, Keely seems to like her.  So in just one quarter at school, the kids have had 4 teachers combined.  Hopefully things will settle down on that front.  In academics, Keely is doing great.  She's reading well and doing great in math.  Her report card grades were all S (satisfactory), G (good) and O (outstanding).  Nothing to complain about there.  She is a social butterfly in class as usual and has made a lot of friends, both in her class and others in the second grade.  She needs to make good choices for math games (some friends and/or games can cause more distraction than others).  All in all, she's adjusted well and loving second grade. 

Quinn has also made an adjustment throughout the past month or so in Ms. Ta's class.  She said it's like he has always been there and has really been an easy transition, for both her and Quinn.  The conference was very interactive with Quinn heavily involved.  It was really impressive to see him sit there and answer her questions, looking so grown up.  That said, he's a chatty cathy in class but really didn't have too much to say in the conference.  Too many adults to child ratio I suppose.  The interesting thing is that she had each child grade themselves in each subject, and then she showed up his grades compared with what Quinn thought he would receive.  On the whole, he was so hard on himself - with at least a whole letter grade low in most subjects.  When asked by Ms. Ta if he would not be so hard on himself next time, he said he still would be.  I think it's just in his nature...he most definitely gets some of that from me.  So he's doing great in his new class, all of his grades were A's and B's.  He needs to work on time management and not procrastinating his work.  He needs to find quiet places to work in class so as not to be distracted by friends.  The level of work in this class is much more than his other class, and we have to force him at home to sit down and do his work.  He'd rather play of course - but we're trying to teach him to do work first, then have time to play - and this is hard to a 10 year old to grasp.  The class had to read 'A Wrinkle in Time' in the 1st quarter and then write journal entries - this was hard for Quinn because it's wasn't his favorite book and he didn't remember to write anything down while he was reading each chapter - so when it came time to journal, he had a hard time finding things to write about.  We spent the better part of his last day of the 4 day weekend working on it, he worked hard and got most of it done.  The first book in second quarter is 'Bridge to Terabithia' - much more up Quinn's alley and he's finding it easier.  Plus he knows the expectations so it's not all new to him.  Fourth grade is going well...Quinn has adjusted well, and now has many friends in the 4th grade since he's been in two of the three classes :)