Preparing for Sandy

The wind is starting to pick up and the kids are starting to get jittery...after the two, multiple-day power outages this summer, they don't like the big storms.  Hurricane Sandy (a.k.a. Frankenstorm) is poised to come in late tonight, and we may lose power for a few days.  The public schools are already closed Monday and Tuesday and I assume our parochial school isn't far behind in that decision.  What a complete nuisance.  We have candles and water, canned goods and the camping gear all set to go, plus flashlights and tarps and all the rest of it.  We didn't get around to getting that chain saw after the last big one...nor a generator when I learned how expensive whole-house generators can be!! Let's hope the tulip poplars don't feel vindictive tonight. 

Eight years ago today S and I ran our first (and only) Marine Corps Marathon.  I eked up a sub-5 hour run (less than a minute under 5 hours!). I cannot believe it has been EIGHT years since then. 

The kids are learning about baptism at school, so we were looking at the old photos of Z&C and their cousins A&M from 2007.  They were so small back then! And so much has changed.  But they are doing great and enjoying playing make-believe games with sticks and string and stickers, drawing pumpkins and witches in advance of Halloween, and are making friends at school.  

First day of Kindergarten

So proud of them!

Hot hot hot

Last week's freak storm knocked out power from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. We had some big branches come down and it was quite the workout dragging them out to the curb for pick up!

We have had temps over 100 F for a while now so have mostly kept the kiddos indoors. They enjoyed planting some flowers before the heat rolled in, though.

Pre-K Graduation

We were amused, but in a good way, by the big deal that Pre-Kindergarten graduation on May 24 ended up being at the kids' daycare. There was a service which included songs and the National Anthem, and then a certificate ceremony out in the playground, followed by a sandwich lunch and pot-luck sweet treats from parents.  Our little ones are all set for Kindergarten at big-kid school in the fall! 

 Exited to be headed in...more than 100 children "graduated" from the center's morning and full-day programs.  

 Hi mommy! [funny how kids know how to paste on the fakey smile at all these things now...]

 Zoe with Miss Lori, one of the best pre-school teachers ever! 

 Class photo...it was like a red carpet Hollywood event with the cameras and excited buzz 

 Caleb and Mr. Jason...and the Star Wars shoes that are all the rage with his age-mates 

 Pretty girls! Zoe, Kacey, Lauren

 All smiles! 

 The monkey bars are always a huge hit

One of the few family photos...

 She looks so grown up! I love the serious look on her face, giving us a glimpse of what her high school graduation photo may be like...

My mischievous boy with a mile-wide smile!   

Hanging out

It's good to be a kid.

The doc

I made the massive mistake of taking the kiddos in on my own for the 5-year-old well-visit with the pediatrician. Everything starting out smashingly...neither child fussed for the temperature-taking, blood pressure cuff, height (Zoe is 46" tall, Caleb is 44" tall), weight (Zoe is 51 lbs, Caleb is 42 lbs), reflexes, and the rest of the physical.  The kids sat nicely together on a single armchair in the exam room watching the Smurfs up on the TV, waiting patiently for the nurse to come in after we'd covered all the other bases.  And then she came in with two little trays that had three shots each on them. Three. Once the kids got wind of what was coming, they completely and utterly lost their minds.  It took me and two nurses to basically hold each of them down, and my ears were ringing for the entire day with how loud they hollered.  Every. Single. Person. was staring at us when we went to leave...all the nurses, the doctors, every single person in the waiting area, and I swear people in the parking lot, too. I felt so bad for them!! Next time, I'm coming in with reinforcements...I may even schedule to appointments at entirely different times.  It was as bad for Zoe to watch Caleb get stuck, and then I had to get her to sit while she pleaded with me to take her home. Thank goodness it's only once a year!!!!

Easter 2012

Easter came and went, with three Easter egg hunts, two brunch outings, and one awesome Filipino food feast. 

 We got in through the lottery to attend the 2012 White House Easter Egg Roll on the day after Easter.  

The metro is always a lot of fun! 

 At first, all seemed well.  We waited on line on the ellipse for ...oh... an hour or so just to get in. 

 There were characters in costume once we got in (and were held on a path for another 15 minutes for no obvious reason). 

 The bizarre part with the costume-wearers is that the majority of them it seemed couldn't see at all when in costume. Each had a handler, who ranged from being enormously helpful to unbelievably pushy and snarky, who would move them around and get people with their kids and cameras into little lines waiting to have their picture taken with the character.  

 Zoe really liked meeting Dora and Scooby, though we ended up never making it to the Easter egg roll part at all, given that the line wrapped all around the lawn, seeming without end...and probably outside the timed window one is given in the lottery...

 30 second Easter egg hunt with real baskets, and real eggs! 

 Unfortunately, we waited for about an hour just to leave.  The President came down to the lawn to shoot

 hoops on the basketball court, so they closed the one exit...

 ...I was so proud of Zoe and Caleb for being such little troopers, standing for so long in a compressed space, and felt terrible for so many other parents with small kids with no snacks or potties anywhere to be found.  It was wildly disappointing, to say the least and I wouldn't recommend anyone waste their time.  As one guy we saw said, as he sported a suit and was trying to soothe a 2-year-old who was tired of waiting; "I took a day off for this?! I'd rather be at work." 

 We finally left and walked all the way around the Ellipse, then back up and around the White House via 16th Street (Caleb fell asleep while on piggyback...) to the Old Ebbitt Grill.  Yum !

Angry Birds distraction. 

 Hello, blue eyes! We all enjoyed Dogwood Tavern for Easter brunch. 

 After mass, hubby headed into work and I took the kids to my aunt's house...the weather was perfect for outdoor fun and games. 

 Found one!! 

 Opening the loot. 

 Thank you Tita Girlie!! The baskets were a huge hit. 

 Sharing with little cousin John, who got an afternoon away with daddy as mommy settled in at home with the new baby brother.