Gobbler IV

We joined some friends for Thanksgiving, the fourth (I think) that they've hosted at their house, hence "Gobbler IV."


They have an 11 month old daughter who is crawling around, pulling up, and just standing up all over the place! It was a little disconcerting to see how mobile she is, and that she is only a few months ahead of Little Man.


We were a little late, but they had built in some wine and cheese time so dinner went off on schedule. Of course, LM decided he needed to eat right around the time that we sat down to eat, but that is life with a little one!


I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I know we did!

Turkey Trot

The training didn't really happen...but I managed to pull it off anyway! I'm proud to say that I ran most of the race, walked a bit in the middle, my guess is about half a mile.

Coming up the hill, almost to the first mile marker

It was a lot more fun than I expected, so now I'm on the hunt for my next 5k and someone to run it with me! I started out with my neighbor and her friend, but they were planning to walk so I lost them after about the first half mile. Then two of my friends and their dogs caught up to me, but they only stuck with me for about a quarter mile because they are supper fast triathletes and there was no way I could keep up with their pace. Finally, another one of my friends skipped ahead and caught up to me and we ran for a while longer.

Yes, that is an old lady in front of us.

I don't think I'm going to start running all of the time, and I don't think I want to run much farther than 3.1 miles (maybe up to 5?) but at least now I know that I can do a 5k and be happy about it!

This is us passing the old lady. Boo-yeah.

Little Man was along for the ride and stayed awake the entire time - I think that is due to the number of people and dogs to watch.

We finished! Yay!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, from our little turtle man!

This is his first Halloween, and I made his costume!

As I put it on him, I realized that I forgot to cuff the pants...but he didn't complain.

We love our little turtle!

Mother's Day Weekend

This was my first Mother's Day and it was great! I heard from lots of friends and family, got a sweet card from my husband and son, and did lots of fun stuff on Saturday and Sunday!

Saturday began with a Mother's Day weekend treat for me, breakfast at Bob & Edith's Diner! We strapped LM to Frank with the Moby and walked down to Columbia Pike. The breakfast was tasty and it was fun to be out with my two men! The rest of the morning was spent doing something I love...cleaning, reorganizing, and moving furniture! My wonderful husband, who knows that accomplishing tasks makes me happy, happily assisted me with the various projects.

After getting good and gross, we decided to clean up and attend a Derby party at our friend Anna's apartment. I'm SO glad we went! It was nice go get out and socialize, and with Little Man being as easy going as he is he was a dream the entire time (he mostly slept, per his self-ascribed nap schedule). I don't have a hat, and keep meaning to get one...maybe by next year!

Saturday night was the first time that he almost made it through the night, but that meant lots of waking up to squirm and fuss, which means lots of awake time for me as I gage the situation and decide if he really needed me or not (usually it was not).

Sunday included a little more moving/organizing, then we took another long walk to meet an old friend for lunch. We plopped LM into the Bob (our first Bob outing!), leashed up the hounds, and took off on the 1.3 mile walk to Baja Fresh. It is a nice distance and it was a perfect day for a walk, warm enough without being hot and slightly overcast.

Waiting for us at Baja was my friend, Elizabeth! We grew up next door to each other in SC, and lived together one summer in Chapel Hill after college. We don't get to see each other often as she is in Atlanta, so it was a great treat to get to have lunch with her while she was in town! We also got to meet her boyfriend (finally!) that I've been hearing about for years now! I will say, he lived up to the hype - AND no one ever mentioned that he works for chick-fil-a...that is what Frank calls "burying the lead"!

It was so fun to visit with them, and I'm glad that they got to meet LM when he is still so little. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll get to see them again this summer when we go to SC!

We walked back home and ended the day with a few episodes of Cheers (we're watching the entire series on Netflix - I LOVE Coach!). All in all, a great weekend thanks to LM, Frank, and my awesome friends!

I hope all of you other moms had a great weekend, too!

Happy Presidents' Day!

Did you know that Presidents' Day, originally celebrated as "Washington's Birthday" never falls on Washington's birthday? President George Washington was born on February 22nd, but Presidents' Day is celebrated on the third Monday of February, which ranges from February 15th to February 21st.

Did you also know that it is not officially called Presidents' Day? While some states have officially named the holiday that - a nod to both Washington and Lincoln's birthdays, Lincoln's birthday being February 12th - the federal government still officially calls it Washington's Birthday.

Many states have their own name for the holiday, but the most common moniker is Presidents' Day.

What does your state call it? Here in Virginia, the home of George Washington, it is officially "Washington's Birthday."

In any case, happy Presidents' Day - enjoy the day off and the many many sales!

Christmas!

I LOVE Christmas! It is my favorite holiday, by far.

I've decorated our house slowly since 11/28, because while I am a major lover of all things Christmas I am also a firm believer that Christmas doesn't start until after Thanksgiving.


We're still building our decoration stash, and I try to be a frugal shopper and only add to it during post-Christmas sales. Tough to do when you love the holiday as much as I do!

Luckily I have some Christmas-loving relatives that have pitched in to help out over the past couple years, so it isn't all left to me.

This year I'm hoping to pick up a few things: mistletoe (we have a great archway between our living and dining rooms that is BEGGING for mistletoe), a stocking for Rutledge, and maybe a couple of throw pillows.


I'm willing to wait for post-Christmas sales for all of it except for the mistletoe. I've already started shopping for some on Amazon!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Where Have You Been?

Took a little holiday hiatus from the blog - sorry about that. Mom, Dad, and Patrick came up to VA for Thanksgiving so I was busy off having adventures with them.

On Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner with Tina and one of my friends from high school and her husband. It was fun to get to sit down with everyone and then hang out digesting for a while. There was a lot of football to be had, as well as plenty of food (even though we had one casualty - the green bean casserole didn't make it...moment of silence for the casserole dish that also didn't make it). We mostly lounged around after dinner and then everyone hit the hay.

Friday consisted of more football, this time of the college variety. We all watched as Alabama choked against Auburn, none of us really knowing what to do since we strongly dislike both teams. In the end, we were mostly rooting for Auburn to get knocked around enough that they might be a little slow next week against the Gamecocks in the SEC championship game.

We decided to venture into the city on Saturday to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery/National Gallery of Art (same building...two names). The Rockwell exhibit was really cool, and is made up of the two private collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The one question that was left unanswered for me is, do they have these pieces on display somewhere all of the time? Or do they live in storage?

We also got to see one of Dad's sisters and her family. Frank and I see them on occasion, but my parents only see them every other year or so, so it was a nice visit. The four of us went back to the gallery afterward, I wanted Dad to see the Presidential portrait exhibit. It is a permanent exhibit, and one of my favorites in DC. If you've never been, I highly recommend it! They have at least one portrait of every president as well as some other cool paintings and artifacts throughout the hall.

Saturday night was, of course, highlighted by the sound beating that the Gamecocks delivered to the Clemson Tiggers. Nothing says 'quality family time' like gathering to watch the sad faces of Clemson fans on a big tv. 29-7. Lovely.

Today was brief; church then departures. The SC crew hit the road around 11, hopefully beating a lot of the other traffic on I-95 S.

Things I'm thankful for, looking back on this weekend:

1. Dad kept on top of our dishes. With 5 adults in the house and no dishwasher, it was a life-saver to have such a vigilant dish washer among us. I think I thanked him 100 times, but I'm not sure it was enough!

2. Success in hosting the family. I know my family, and I generally can anticipate their needs, but there is always that nervous "what if we forgot something important" feeling just before the arrive. My parents and brother were great guests, helpful, happy, easy, and I'm glad Frank and I had the opportunity to host them for the holiday.

3. The Gamecocks pounded the Tiggers. 'Nuff Said.

4. The hounds behaved....mostly.

Seriously?!

When did it become mid-November? Thanksgiving is next week, real winter weather is headed our way this weekend, Macy's windows are all covered up because they are doing their big Christmas window display reveal next week.

When did this happen?? I need a week off to catch up with life or else I'm going to be ready for Christmas some time in February.

Anyway, the good news is that my parents and younger brother will be making their way up to our house next week for Thanksgiving! I'm looking forward to spending some down time with them up in our neck of the woods. I really do love where we live, I just get so caught up in life that I often forget to take advantage of it. Hopefully I can do a little DC living while the family is in town.

A New Twist on "Leftovers"

We didn't have nearly as many Trick or Treaters as we thought we'd get, so we've been left with two very large bags of candy. I had heard of something a while ago and decided that I'd give it a try.

Halloween Candy Pie!


One pie crust, one pie pan (or small casserole dish if you are me), and a bunch of candy is all you need. I filled the pie crust with M&Ms, snickers, twix, etc and popped it into the oven for about 45 minutes on 350. Let the pie cool until the chocolate sets, then, go for it!


It is sweet, and a little bit chewy from all of the melted caramel.

Who knows how much of this we'll eat, and how many cavities we'll get in the process, but it was a fun experiment and I'm glad I did it!

Halloween

This little owl showed up on our doorstep tonight - what a fun Halloween surprise! I just cannot get enough of this little girl and her amazing parents. We are sure going to miss them when they move to Cameroon!

Happy Independence Day

Did you know that the Continental Congress voted to legally separate from the UK on July 2, 1776 and two days later they voted to approve the Declaration of Independence? It took 2 days to agree to the wording that would break us away from tyranny and lead us into a self-governing republic!

I dare say I miss those days.

In an excerpt from a letter to his wife, Abigail, John Adams wrote:

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

He was referring to the day that they voted to leave the UK, but the celebration part is spot on!

I hope you are celebrating today with "solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty" and with "illuminations" galore! Happy Independence Day, and God Bless America!

Easter al fresco

After the Easter services we invited a handful of friends over for dinner. And when I say a handful, I actually mean 22. Technically we invited 26 people, but 4 people had plans already.

Hamilton figured it would be a tough day so he took a nap to power up.

No, he isn't dead. And yes, that is a tennis ball right in front of him and he couldn't care less.

My flowers knew it was Easter Sunday and they cooperated.

And when I say 22 people, I really mean 24 because there were two babies - with a combined weight of 17lbs! One of them is about 6 weeks old and was wearing a darling pale pink dress...

And the other one was born on Wednesday - yeah, like this past Wednesday - and she was wearing green eyelet! They are both adorable babies and they got passed around like hot potatoes!

We had so much fun playing bocce, eating amazing food, and just hanging out. Seems that Easter Dinner at the Webbs may catch on and become tradition - we've done it two years in a row now, so check back in a year and see if we can keep it up!

Easter at Cherrydale

Easter Sunday was our first day in the new sanctuary at Cherrydale, and it was beautiful! Here is a glimpse of our new sanctuary from the balcony.


I played my violin in all three services - I was terrified because it has been so long since I played - so I spent about 5 hours at church and got to hear the sermon and testimony 3 times. It was fantastic! I love a good Easter sermon, and Pastor King really knows how to give 'em.


I love Easter Sunday for so many reasons, but one of the things I like best is that every church is packed to the gills for every service.

The message we get to hear at Easter every year is one of the best! I know that many churches have members that can't come every week; missionaries, shut ins, some who are too sick or elderly, and I love seeing so many of them at the holidays. Some people just aren't church-goers for any number of reasons, but I love seeing those people, too! Having a full church didn't help my nervousness on the violin, I just hope I didn't scare anyone off.


If seeing a large crowd that morning, or knowing that it is one of the High Holy Days, or having family in town, or plain old curiosity is what brings people into church for those holidays, that is fine with me. Easter is such an amazing opportunity for the church membership to reach out to others in the community and to give them the chance to hear the Good News, to maybe have a seed of faith or hope planted in their hearts.

The sounds of metal folding chairs being brought in is music to my ears on these special days. I loved seeing a full house this Sunday! I thought it was crazy that we had to bring in extra chairs in the brand new (bigger) sanctuary, and I'm so glad that that many people came to hear the Good News!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday full of hope and joy. And I hope you took time to say 'hi' to a couple church visitors, you never know what a smiling face and welcoming hand shake can do when God is involved.

This is a picture of our new sanctuary from the outside. There is more work to be done, but we're so grateful for the new space and the growth that Cherrydale has been experiencing that made this new space necessary! I hope we keep growing and growing and growing - and as many babies as I saw on Sunday I'd say we're growing!


I hope that Frank and I can share this great church with more and more of our friends here. We've made so many wonderful friends at the church, I think it is time we start sharing our church with our friends! Let me know if you are looking for a good place to worship, cause I've got one for you - and they won't let you off easy, either, get ready for a new wave of friends when you come!

Happy Groundhog Day

Am I the only one that thinks this should be a federal holiday? I bet Punxsutawney Phil would agree.

The DC area is celebrating Groundhog Day with rain, freezing rain, and snow...again. We're expecting anywhere from 4-6 more inches tonight and tomorrow, on top of the 1-2 inches we still have on the ground.

The good news is we're already moved into our home and we have plenty of unpacking to do should we get snowed in. Also, more good news, our dog loves snow! He's content to romp around in it, dive into banks of it, and sometimes try to eat it, and now that we have a fenced in back yard he can do all of that without one of us being outside with him!

My awesome boss just came and broke the weather news to me, but he also told me to head home early so for that I am grateful.

I hope it is more snow than ice, and I hope there is at least a 2 hour delay in the morning to make all of the worrying and driveway-salting worth while.

Happy Groundhog Day, here's hoping your 6 more weeks of winter are dryer than ours!

Ditto

I've read a few friends' blogs that say how they were bad holiday bloggers, so I'm just tagging along with that.

Frank, Hamilton and I went to South Carolina for Christmas. It was great to spend some quality time with my brothers and parents, although the weather was not as heavenly as I had hoped. We saw a handful of high school friends and lots of friends at church.

Hamilton had a blast playing with Barnabas, though at times I think Barn would have liked it if Hamilton had an "off" switch. They ran and played and wore each other out over 5 days.

Our next big adventure is Las Vegas in January and then moving at the end of January/beginning of February! I'm really excited about the move, Frank is really excited about Vegas. I've started getting ready for the move - a little packing here and there and priming the rooms that we painted. I have a feeling it is going to be awful no matter how early I start, but I'll give it my best shot anyway.

For now I'm up to my neck in work, I still haven't unpacked, there is another room to prime, an apartment to clean, and endless packing to do...

Happy New Year to everyone (and Happy Birthday, Dad!), I promise to try harder in January than I did in December! xoxo

And just in case you thought your December/January was even close to being as crazy as mine, let me list the birthdays/events for you:
Dec 6: Papa's Birthday
Dec 15: Frank's Birthday
Dec 25: Christmas
Dec 28: Chuck's Birthday (Father-in-law)
Dec 30: Webbs' Anniversary (In-Laws)
Jan 1: Dad's Birthday
Jan 3: Mom's Birthday
Jan 21: Rob's Birthday (brother)

This year you can add in MOVING to Jan 28, too. No one in our family is allowed to have a wedding or a child in the months of December or January.

oh, and I left out all of the aunts, uncles, and other anniversaries because I didn't want this blog post to go on forever - but if you think you can challenge me, I'll be happy to post all of the Dec/Jan dates for you.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

I don't know if you've heard, but President Obama's speech to the nation is officially bumping ABC's airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The audacity that man has!

It got me thinking that it was time to decorate for Christmas in the apartment. The good news: it didn't take long. The bad news: our apartment doesn't look very Christmasy.

It kind of comes back around to A Charlie Brown Christmas! Our apartment is the equivalent of the sad little Charlie Brown tree, pre-decoration. We have our stockings hanging over the fireplace, two red-sparkly-ornament-shaped candles (from Nana) on the coffee table, holiday towels in the bathroom, and the Holy Family in the center of the kitchen table surrounded by red/crimson place mats....and that is it.

No tree because we're spending Christmas in South Carolina, which means no lights and no ornaments, no tree skirt, no presents under the tree.

I'm hoping to get a wreath for the door, but that won't help the inside of the apartment. I think I'll pick up some fake garland to drape somewhere and put lights on it. This place needs some twinkle!

Maybe I'll remember to do some discount shopping for Christmasy things after Christmas this year so that next year I won't have the Charlie Brown problem.

Merry Christmas to you and yours - I hope your house twinkles!

I'm excited about

Date night! Frank and I are going on a date in Massachusetts, either tonight or tomorrow night and I can't wait! And there is more...

We're making it a double date, taking Frank's parents on a date with us - so they are having date night too! And there is more...

We're going to see The Blind Side which very well may become my favorite movie of 2009, or even make it into my 'favorite movies of all time' list! I love a good sports movie that runs on themes of overcoming circumstance and racial tensions. I'm also a big fan of it being based on a true story. Overcoming the kinds of things that this family did wouldn't be nearly as impactful if it weren't true - anyone can tell a nice story, but these people lived it.

So, there is my 'I'm excited' post for the week - looks like this will become a Friday tradition.

I hope you had a wonderful Turkey Day!

I hate this picture

but I promised...

here is my complete Halloween costume:

I will never stand like that ever again, ever ever ever. I'm not pregnant but it sure looks like I am - awesome.

There you go - Happy Halloween!!

Every Monday

I stay up too late to watch the Monday Night Football game - and it is driving me nuts! I should have gone to bed an hour ago, but I have to sit here and wait and hope that stupid Vincent Jackson does not get more than 4 more points tonight so that I can win in my fantasy league!

It is driving me crazy, it seems that every week I either have someone playing in the Monday night game or I am up against someone in the Monday night game.

I hope that next week I've either already won or already lost by the end of the Sunday night game. I love love LOVE football, but I can't keep staying up this late (this stressed out) every Monday!!

On a happier note I got a lot of work done on my Halloween costume tonight at the church. The next step involves installing the zipper - which is something I've never done before. Hopefully I can figure it out so that I can be finished with my Dorothy dress before next week's sewing class/gathering.

I have a second costume to create for my Legislative Politics class - I don't really want to do it, but it can lead to homework passes or extra time on the term paper so it is at least worth a good effort. I have a great idea for my costume (it has to relate to Legislative Politics) but I'm not going to advertise what it is until after the class.

ok, back to trying to not bite my nails through the last 8 minutes of this game - RUN OUT THE CLOCK DENVER!

**Update - I hung on to win by 2, I'm 6-0 on the season and still holding onto first place!**

Crafts, Decisions, and Dress Up

I've started some serious crafting lately. With my sewing circle at church I've made two aprons, hemmed pants, sewn shirts shut, and the list goes on! I'm making my own costume(s) for Halloween this year and I've started on one of them already.

I went to Walmart and bought some simple silver flats. Then I painted them red

Next I used these things...

And now I have these!

All for less than half of what it costs to buy costume ruby red slippers! Hooray! They will get a treatment of aerosol hair spray when they are dry so that I don't leave a trail of red sparkles everywhere I go.

Then I held auditions for Toto

Um...don't call us, we'll call you?