Christmas at the Beach

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This year, we spent Christmas week in Emerald Isle, NC.

We headed down a night early to try to beat the Blizzard, but met up with it in Richmond where we waited almost 3 hours in near standstill traffic before we got our turn to attempt to cross the bridge across the river. Several cars and all semi trucks were stranded at the bottom of the large incline of the un-plowed bridge. (The plows couldn't make it to the bridge through the traffic.) We made it across. Thankfully we were full of people, luggage, and Christmas presents, and had new tires. As we made our way off I95 onto I85, we stopped to call a tow truck for a stranded minivan and family who had plowed into a ravine - it was a pretty nasty drive. Patrick is a very skilled driver, and I'm thankful he was the one driving.


By the time it was nearing 3-4 in the morning and we were just out of the snow and finally in the rain, we stopped to get some sleep at an old gas station. Sleeping in the car was just fine at that point. However, should you attempt this, please remember to call those expecting you, even if it IS 4 am and there is a sleeping baby in their house (oops!).

After a few hours to freshen up and refuel our minds and bodies in Raleigh, it was smooth sailing to our beloved 3 Palms - the house we also rented in September 2008.




We started the week with a bad cold for Mia and while we passed it around , we fit in fun filled days of cooking, relaxing, cookie making, gingerbread house decorating, sea shell collecting, and even a birthday party for Jacque! What a blast.

Thanks to Neil and Jessica, I took a much-needed break from the kid-chaos for a half-day spa experience with Amanda and my mom - ahhhhh.

Although weather systems seem to try to keep us from going, I love Emerald Isle and can't wait to go back in the summer - hope you all had a Merry Christmas, too!

Seven Traits

Well, I don't have all that many blogger friends who haven't done this yet, so I will tag Laura O, Amanda M, and Cerissa to be the next in line...

How does it work? I tell you all seven things about myself, then pass it on to seven other bloggers to share seven things about themselves.


Seven things about me:

1. I love the design work involved in remodeling our house. I do most of the drawings myself, and I absolutely love being able to take a room that is not functioning well and figure out how to move a few walls to make it better. I have a whole accordion folder of ideas and sketches for our house, though we will only complete a handful of them before we put the place on the market. The actual completion of the work is not my favorite, however I do like to see the end result. This will be the only we do this on a house we live in, as it's a complete detriment to life/work balance.

2. I shop at the Thrift Store. Almost exclusively for the girls, believe it or not. My Takoma Park friends will think this is completely normal, as it's almost a trendy thing to do here, but I'm sure some of my other friends would gasp in horror. Granted, we have a very large selection of gently worn clothes to choose from in name brands like Gymboree, Hannah Anderson, Gap, Lands End, etc. And, I particularly like it that one mother donates her twin girls' clothes all the time and her girls' stuff is almost always a perfect fit for Mia. (I assume this because there are often two of one outfit that I really like in the same size.)

3. I HATE being pregnant. I don't like how I feel, I don't like the changes that take place in my body, I don't like maternity clothes, I just don't like a thing about it. Lucky for me I don't really have a lot of pregnancy complications, I just don't like it much. The attention is nice,(and some days I like it that I get kicked from the inside), but overall, it's just a means to an end.

4. I do not like to talk on the phone. I much prefer email or instant message. I have pretty much always been this way, and thank goodness for me, I was born in an age where there are other means of communicating. I don't know why, so if you feel like speculating, let me know what you come up with. Similarly, I really really like gadgets, and though I thought my husband was nuts to give a stay-at-home-mom an iPhone, I absolutely LOVE it.

5. I really like to bake, but don't do it very often. For some obvious reasons such as the impact it has on my waistline and that it takes time and usually uninterrupted time at that.

6. I love to sleep in. Though sleeping in has changed definitions since the birth of Mia, I still love to sleep in when I can.

7. I make my own gift cards lately. They are tiny and I only use them on packages, but I really enjoy making them and I think they are really cute. A while back I painted wooden knobs for sale in my mother's hair stylist's salon and I used the name Little Fox Designs so I've been writing that on the back of my cards. It makes me think they seem more professional that way. :) (These are some I didn't use due to a centering issue with the words, but you get the gist.)

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Patrick's birthday was yesterday, and he took the day off work. (Yippee!!) Mia was delighted that he was available to see her "tricks" on the monkey bars at school during drop off, and Laney was not so delighted to have to go to the Nanny even though her Mommy and Daddy were BOTH home for the day. But both girls were very happy to make cards and to make and eat chocolate cake and pumpkin pie, and they were absolutely GIDDY about getting to go out to a "restaurank" for dinner.

Happy Birthday, Honey. We love you.

Whew!

What a Weekend! (Still recovering...) Between Halloween, a Bar Mitzvah, a Birthday Party, an Election Day Bakesale, Election Night festivities, and a Time Change, I'm beat! But what fun!

Halloween night was kicked off with a Pancake Dinner hosted by our good friends and neighbors, then we all headed out to purge the neighborhood of their goodies and admire the carving skills in the area. Turns out political pumpkins took the cake this year, with all but one in some way referring to our new President Elect.

The night after Halloween, Patrick and I attended a Bar Mitzvah for our next door neighbor's son and we had a really nice time. Neither of us had been to one before, so it was really fun and also very interesting to learn about the customs and traditions involved in this coming of age milestone as well as the Jewish religion. David did a great job with his Torah readings, and though he shared his night with another Bar Mitzvah, he definitely shone brighter. (Don't tell the other family that, though.)

The following day we went to a Birthday Party at Pump It Up, an all inflatable jumping place (what a great idea for a party place!) and the girls just wore themselves out. Though I was a little unnerved by the bigger kids pushing by and over the 2 year olds, everyone had a great time. Happy 2nd Birthday, Elliott!!

THEN, Election Day the girls' preschool had a bakesale to try to take advantage of the extra voters and some potential school donations, so Monday was spent baking. I love to bake, but the kids had the day off of school, so I didn't really get to make as much as I wanted. This was a good thing, however, because we didn't sell all the things that we made. (Can I gloat? My banana bread was all gobbled up- yippee!)

Lastly, that night Patrick's company had a huge Election Watching Party in typical Accenture style. It was fun! There was a huge room decorated with one side in Blue Donkeys and one side in Red Elephants showing CNN, and there were satellite rooms - one Red showing Fox News, and one Blue showing MSNBC. Other rooms held human statues, a raffle drawing, food of course, and meandering ex-presidents. Lots of fun for us all.

Carving Pumpkins and Building Walls

This past week we spent a good chunk of time working on our front yard and new kitchen. It's been a long time in the planning stage, but this week, we finally were able to begin on the actual building (and demolishing) process. My dad and mom came up and now we have new wall studs that will become one of the walls for the kitchen, as well as a new retaining wall and sod in the front. Woo-hoo! You would understand my enthusiasm if you could have seen the front yard just prior to the work - old rotting railroad ties, dirt and weeds. It was lovely - not. But now it is! (Going to add pics tomorrow - I can't believe I didn't take any!)






Sunday evening, we spent family time carving pumpkins. Both girls drew their own jack-o-lantern faces and neither one was even remotely interested in getting gooky pumpkin and seeds all over their hands, so Mom and Dad had to do that part. (When I was a kid, that was the best part! Well, that and the toasted pumpkin seeds!) The result was fun all around and some great spooky jack-o-lanterns on our porch.

Sick Weekend

Well, Laney came down with the Coxsackie virus blisters Friday. No wonder she was so cranky last week. Mia was disappointed because that meant we would be missing a Halloween party on Saturday that she had really been looking forward to.

No worries - Mom to the rescue! I happened to have a few things in my bag to make our own party. First Mia made cookies.


Then, we hung decorations we had made earlier in the week and donned Halloween Costumes. (Thank you to Travis for lending his hat.)

Then, we made Halloween cards, ate spooky snacks and the cookies, applied creepy tattoos, and had orange milk.

Then, we got to play in the dark with glow sticks - Mia bit into one and we worried a bit about poison. (So far, she's still normal, aside from HER Coxsackie blisters that showed up yesterday afternoon.)

We had an uninvited visitor or two, asking for treats (almost like real Halloween!)
and then we went to bed.

Phew! Crisis (and disappointed 2 and 4 year old meltdowns) averted.

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night...

...and Patrick was out of town for work.

The house was quiet, the kids asleep, and I was trying to sleep.

I could hear every creak and bump as I tried to rest in our old and creaky little house and pretend that this night was the same as every other night when Patrick is home.

2:00 a.m. I heard something.

A distinct thump.

Then again.

It was coming from outside the house, JUST outside the house.

Man was I getting freaked out.

There was someone, or something just outside our back door!

Just like the not-so-bright victim in a scary movie, I grabbed the flashlight and went to investigate.

On the way down the stairs I could hear scratching noises!

Now I was really freaked, I also grabbed the phone, with 911 dialed but not executed.

Just in case.


Then I shone my flashlight right into the beady eyes of the burglar who would threaten my family (and our trash). When he saw me, his cockiness allowed him to simply push over the garbage can, look at me for a photo op, and casually saunter away.

Back to Life, Back to Reality...

Ah, we're back. What an absolutely WONDERFUL week we had in Emerald Isle. The amazing house, the ocean waves, and the company of extended family was just what the doctor ordered. Hanna did not interfere with our trip and we swam, chased crabs, acquired some new freckles, dug for clams, built sandcastles, watched dolphins, celebrated an anniversary, and saw a few rainbows. I couldn't have asked for a better time. The kids were even extraordinarily well-behaved. Bliss.

Summer Flu?

Well, yes. It's a case of the Summer Flu for me. I guess I was just doing too much. (right- in the summer?!?!?) Anyway, I'm pretty much through the trenches and only the nagging croupy cough remains. If history has taught me anything, it's that a lingering cough can stay with me for many weeks and annoys even the most patient of acquaintances.

On a lighter note, Laney is now in a BIG GIRL BED!! We found wonderful beds on Craigslist for a great price, and I'm so excited about them, but I don't have pictures yet. Hopefully tomorrow you can see them, but for now I'll try to describe them. They are actually a girl's bunk bed set in white wood that can be made into two twin beds, using a tall head board and a short foot board each. We have them set up right now as the bunks, but not on top of each other. Basically, Laney has the top bunk: two short foot boards as her head and foot board and we attached the rails as well to keep her from falling out of her bed; and Mia has the bottom: both headboards as her head and foot boards. Again, both on the floor, not on top of one another, lest you think we'd put our two year old on a top bunk in bunk beds. No way.

And, just as Mia got to pick out her bedding when she got her first Big Girl Bed, Laney and I went shopping last Monday to pick out hers. I had no idea she was so opinionated about design. It came down to plaid or Hello Kitty, so I steered her towards the plaid, which matched better with both Mia's spread (they share a room) as well as my general dislike of licensed characters in bedroom decor.

PS: Mia now has a bedrail as well. We switched the girls' sides of the room in order to fit the taller headboards in the taller space, and Mia fell out of her bed. She didn't wake up! I had to wake her. Anyway, amid all sorts of protesting, we put the old guardrail up until she gets used to her new setup. Poor sweetie.

UPDATE: Here are the girls in their new beds!!

Infrared Paint Stripper

Or, as our neighbor calls it The "Hot Swedish Stripper". This gizmo is so COOL! I have to admit, I'm nerdy in many ways, so you may not think this as cool as I do, but look how it takes off all that paint in one swoop! I would definitely do a commercial for this thing. I love peeling things as it is (yes, I know, OCD and gross and stuff, but I do) and this just is so, well, satisfying!

So, this is how it works. I guess it's like one of those space heaters you can get to heat a room in your house, but it's smaller and mounted on a handle with guards to make sure the heating elements don't actually TOUCH the wood. You place the contraption over the wood you want to strip (or hold it up to it, if said wood is still attached to your house), you wait about 30 seconds to a minute, and then you just peel the paint away with the scraper. The best part, of course, is that there is no nasty chemical smell (well there is a little "hot metal" smell), AND there are paint chips and huge paint globs (<-- see picture), but not the paint dust that you can get with sanding. Since we live in an almost antique house likely ridden with lead paint and especially since we have small children, that is extremely important, too. Anyway, if you were thinking of getting one and you wanted to know if it really works like they say, YES, it does.



Oh, and here are the boards after one final sanding to remove remnants of linseed oil: all clean and ready for re-installation.

SSNS Truck Touch Photos

Mia's preschool, Silver Spring Nursery School, has a creative and wonderfully preschool-centric fundraiser every year called the SSNS Truck Touch. What a fabulous event! Saturday, we enjoyed face painting, live music, truck-related arts and crafts, food, a book fair, and of course TRUCKS. Besides a UPS truck, tractors, a cherry picker, a police car, a school bus, an ambulance, a hang glider, and various other trucks for the kids to climb into and onto, the local fire station lent us its hook and ladder for the affair. Like any star, the engine arrived with fanfare about an hour into the event, and rushed off an hour later to a real emergency. The parking lot was noisy with children beeping horns and adjusting seats, squealing and flying UPS frisbees - just what every preschool aged child would want a truck touch to be.

Brilliant.

Mother's Day Memory Making

Happy Belated Mothers' Day to all my Mommy friends! I hope you all had sleep-in, breakfast made for you, no diapers to change kind of days like I did. I woke up to the smell of coffee, bacon, and banana-pecan pancakes with fresh strawberries, and to a little sprite named Mia begging me to finally open the present she made at school. She had been requesting the same every day since Monday, when she made it, and waiting is just SO hard for an almost 4 year old.



This year, we resurrected the Stepping Stone making tradition, in honor of the fact that Laney was too young to participate last year. I'm thinking we can do this every year and eventually create a garden path filled with memories. Of course, we will need a bigger yard to handle the bigger path, but we're working on that one day/project at a time.

In the meantime, we will continue to dig up worms, save caterpillars from the birds, save the trees from the caterpillars, and continually hide and find treasures in the sandbox.