"Is this what you do all day?"

We've moved!

2009-09-28T22:09:00.002-04:00

We finally did it. It's all about timing! We are out of Montgomery County and have moved an hour away, across the Bay Bridge to Kent Island, MD. We love it. Now, we are renting, so this isn't "home". This is

"transition" but we are eating up these views until our dream home presents itself. I snapped this pic yesterday after a quick rain. This is the view from our back deck.

NYC

2009-07-06T23:25:00.003-04:00

I went with a friend (from the Moms Group) to NYC for a night. It was nice to hang out in the Big Apple but it POURED buckets the next day for the Dave Matthews concert at Rockerfeller Center. So, we just shopped. And shopped. And shopped.

Great Wolf Lodge

2009-07-01T21:42:00.004-04:00

We took the kids to Great Wolfe Lodge (Indoor/Outdoor Waterpark) in Williamsburg, VA. We split the room with another family to save some loot, but we stayed 3 days and the kids were in hog heaven. Our Suite was fantastic and even the Adults enjoyed themselves!

Neat little place.

Smile, or else!

2009-06-19T22:42:00.002-04:00

If anyone has wondered where I've been, well I've been a little busy raising the seed of satan.

Vincent Graduation

2009-05-29T21:53:00.002-04:00

Vincent Graduated PreK yesterday. He requested TGI Friday's for lunch afterwards! Now onto Kindergarten in Sept. We still can't decide to continue on with Private $$$ or go Public=Free. Decisions, decisions.

Myrtle Beach

2009-05-08T22:57:00.002-04:00

The kids and I were on a Beach High from going to OC, MD. We did laundry and repacked the car and headed to Myrtle Beach for a few days. We got a Beachfront condo with phenomenal views of the pools and ocean and spent quite some time frolicking in the water. Weather was great, we got to see my Mom who lives there and a great time was had. The drive back was looonger than the drive there which took us 9 hours. Next time, we'll probably fly the blue skies.

Kite Fesitval

2009-04-28T07:56:00.002-04:00

We had a good run of beautiful weather and I figured we needed to get away. I packed up the kiddies and we headed east for the 3 hour drive to Ocean City, MD. Unfortunately, this trip took me much longer for some reason but we arrived just before sundown Friday night. The kids were on beachCRACK and obviously were born with the LOVE of the beach, that runs in both sides of our family.

We got hooked up with a Ocean front 1st floor room at the Hotel my Father In Law works at and got super lucky as there was a GINORMOUS weekend Kite Festival on the beach right in front of our Hotel. I heard the weather was HOT on land, but by the ocean it was PERFECT. We met up with cousins and family and the kids swam indoors and out, dug in the sand and played their little hearts out. There was also a live band next door and with the music, weather and happy occupied kids, it was paradise!

Stranger Danger

2009-04-20T20:30:00.003-04:00

We had an incident happen last week. It really threw me for a loop and I haven't felt much like blogging lately.

I had 4 kids all under the age of 5 playing in my fenced backyard. I was on the deck watering my plants, supervising, directing them to play nice, take turns blah, blah blah....

I was waiting to hear from the other two kids' mom, a friend of mine who went into pre term labor. Ray was home this day and yelled out to me that my cell phone was ringing. I ran inside to grab it, spoke with her for a little over a minute (she did not have the baby at that point) and returned out back onto the deck. I immed. see a car parked behind our fence and a man crouching and peeking behind our fence. Just so happens, Marina's back is against the fence on the inside, about 1 foot from where the man is standing on the other side. I FREAKED and yelled to Marina to get away from the fence! The man retreated and got back into his car and drive off. She was so close to getting snatched over that fence, it was insane. I ran inside to Ray and told him to come quick. He ran onto the deck and watched the car pull off. I told him what happened and he jumped into our car and headed after him.

He followed him for some time, observing him slowing down to look at young girls, making uncessary U turns, with basically no real driving pattern or destination. The man pulled into a strip mall and tried the doors to a Dance/Ballet studio but they were locked. He drove around for a bit more and then pulled into a plant nursery. Ray parked next to him and looked over into his car and saw stuffed animals and a suitcase in the backseat.

He confronted the man and asked him what he was doing behind our fence. The man stated his was "taking a piss" however there is a port-a-potty 30 yards from my fence for the ballfields, that he had to pass on the way in and on the way out.

We ended up calling our local police (Pedophile Unit) and gave them our story, along with the guys tag number. The Detective said that lots of times, predators often give that same excuse in case they are ever caught "redhanded" if you will. DISTURBING! We learned he was not a registered sex offender and he does not live in this area. I feel good that at least we started a paper trail on him.

We have been laying very low this past week and have been watching the kids like HAWKS. My friend had her baby yesterday and we are so happy for her.

Easter

2009-04-18T22:22:00.002-04:00

Easter was great. We went to my cousins house for an egg hunt and a special Easter dinner. Sadly, Ray had to work all day and night, so he missed all of the affairs.

Easter Eggs

2009-04-08T07:15:00.002-04:00

I am buying a crapload of dye when it goes on sale after easter, strictly for entertainment purposes. This kept them busy all afternoon! After the eggs dried they would hide them and find them and rehide them indoors and outdoors. These were much more exciting than the plastic ones.

Farwell Party

2009-04-06T08:43:00.003-04:00

There are lots of Military moms in our Mom's Group, so we attended a Easter Egg Hunt/Farwell party cookout for one of those families. They were given 10 days notice to move from DC to San Francisco. All the kids got to decorate plastic buckets, hunt for eggs, do an bunny craft and run around all over the place. The host had a nice yard and the food was yummy!They were so nice and will be missed.

Cruiser

2009-03-30T22:00:00.005-04:00

Ray got transfered from his Narcotics squad to another special unit. No more bringing Winter to work. No more take home undercover car. No more great schedule. No more plain clothes. No more Free Vet care or dog food.

In fact, since he hasn't been on the street in a number of years, he had to buy all new uniforms. We now have to get a second car because he can't take the cruiser out of that county. But on the plus side, PART TIME $$$ galore, he doesn't have to answer routine calls or write reports and he has a great new Sarge. He is overall much happier. The biggest hurdle is that we ALL have to adjust to the MAJOR schedule change. The kids love the new car and now think he is the "real police".

Tea Party

2009-03-24T12:22:00.002-04:00

Ray's sister Tiff gave Marina a real porcelain Tea Party set. It's her favorite thing on God's green earth right now. She made us serve her dinner in her room, on her tea plates last night. We played along because we know every last dish will be broke by next week.

Marina short hair

2009-03-18T21:22:00.003-04:00

I took Vincent to the Barber shop today for a haircut. I ended up throwing Marina in the chair and telling them to take it all off! Basically I'm living vicariously through her, because this is something I've wanted to do but I am to chickensh*t!

I think it looks cute and now you can see her adorable face but I think I want to go shorter!! I will keep some on top to sweep it up in a clip but I will have them taper it over the ears more I think.

She loves it. She really isn't the type of kid to sit and let me braid it or brush it. I was determined to win this battle one way or the other.

Roller skating/scootering

2009-03-14T22:15:00.004-04:00

Ray took the kids to a roller skating rink on a special day that they let kids bring in scooters and ride ons and zoom around on the smooth surface. He even strapped skates on them and let them try roller skating for the first time. They had a hard time with that and promptly went back too scootering. Of course Marina spent most of her time at the candy machines. When they got home she fell asleep in Daddy's arms.

Worms

2009-03-09T23:29:00.000-04:00

Marina discovered worms yesterday and likes them. Gross.

Vincent loses a tooth!

2009-03-07T15:56:00.003-05:00

Vincent pulled out his loose tooth today without warning. Looks like the Tooth Fairy will pay us a visit tonight!

Balt, Aquarium

2009-03-07T15:49:00.002-05:00

We found out from my friend Jen that prices for the (Baltimore) Aquarium drop to $8 after 5pm on Fridays and under 3 is FREE. That is a tremendous price reduction considering it's usually $29.95 per person to get in! We headed up there last night and even caught a Dolphin show while there. The kids had a great time but were VERY dissapointed that we sat in the "splash zone" and we did not get splashed.

Thank God.

Snow days

2009-03-05T19:58:00.002-05:00

I'd say we got about 5-6 inches of snow. Enough that the kids had a ball sledding and had more hot chocolate than you can shake a stick at.

It has pretty much faded all away now. Just the shaded spots of grass are still covered. It was nice today, almost 60 degrees. They are calling for 70's this weekend.

Motocross

2009-03-01T20:07:00.002-05:00

Ray took Vincent to a Motocross show at the Verizon Center last night. He had the BEST time. Before they left, Marina cried a river. She wanted to go SO BAD. Vincent promised to bring her back some cotton candy. At 4am, she woke me up and said, "Do you think Vincent and Daddy are back with my cotton candy?" I got her back to sleep but then I did let her have a pinch at breakfast time!

Elephant Bath

2009-02-26T21:16:00.002-05:00

After we dropped Vincent off at PreK this morning, Marina and I met some friends at the Zoo. They bathe the Elephants daily at 10:30am and we made it just in time. It was like a circus show. The elephant was standing, laying down, rolling over..it was really neat to watch.

Port Discovery

2009-02-23T20:09:00.002-05:00

We went to Port Discovery (a children's museum) in Baltimore on Sunday. It was our first time and it was HANDS DOWN one of the coolest places we've EVER been. And we've been around! They even had crocs and rainjackets in all sizes for the kids to wear in the water room. Vincent and Ray spend hours on the 3 level climbing structure and Marina even got on stage in the Studio room and sang Karaoke (Old MacDonald had a Farm) in a microphone all by herself!

We were there for over 4 hours. We took a break for lunch and went back for more. SO.MUCH.FUN!

Bass Pro Shop

2009-02-21T11:34:00.003-05:00

Ray's sister Tiffannie and her family live in Salisbury but came up our way to go to this HUGE hunting and fishing store called Bass Pro Shop. They have a ginormous fish tank in the back and we happen to be there around feeding time. They called some kids up (along with parents) to help feed them. Ray's sister Tiff went up with her son Spencer, Vincent and Marina so I could take pictures.

The kids thought this was the neatest thing except the feeder food was wet, slimy, cut up fish. It was so stinky.

Marina Haircut

2009-02-19T11:26:00.003-05:00

I took Marina to Cartoon Cuts to get a haircut and she sat perfectly still the entire time. Shocking, since at every Doctors and Dentist appt she is marked on the charts as a "knee to knee" patient.

I think she is quietly growing up. Or, it could have just been that Dora was on.

Disney on Ice

2009-02-13T07:23:00.002-05:00

I took the kids to see Disney On Ice yesterday at the Verizon Center in DC. The Mom's Group got us an awesome rate of $11.00 per ticket and our seats were great. If it wasn't for that rate, I probably wouldn't have taken them. Seats were anywhere from $30-$90 per ticket normally. The kids did great on the Metro for me and were little Angels inside the Arena. All that Metro riding in the last month really has paid off. They are little professionals now.

Air & Space

2009-02-09T11:54:00.004-05:00

We have been sticking to our New Years resolution and taking the kids to DC almost every weekend. Yesterday it was in the high 60's and gorgeous outside! We took the Metro downtown and went to the Air & Space museum and hung out at the Mall for a while.

When asked what their favorite part of the day was, they answered "ice cream" and "petting dogs". We could have done all that right here in our own living room. Go figure.

3-D

2009-02-09T09:42:00.002-05:00

The kids love receiving packages in the mail! Even if it's just stickers, or a note or whatever. This time, Vincent got 3-D books while Marina got a handmade hat and some hardback books for her own. Thanks Mom-Mom.

Sewing Machine

2009-02-04T21:01:00.003-05:00

My MIL upgraded her sewing machine and gave me her old one. I'm not very domesticated and literally had to take online tutorials on youtube.com just to learn how to thread the damn thing. Bobbins? WTF are bobbins?

I got frustrated and Ray came over to help out. How pissed was HE when I snapped a couple shots? The wrath I will face for this public display? Totally worth it!!!! Muah hahah hahaha!!!

Really though, he is my knight in shining armor.

Caps Game

2009-02-01T20:10:00.004-05:00

Ray and Vincent were invited to a Washington Capitals game today. It was Vincent's first Hockey game ever and Ray's first Caps game in a long time. They said it was wicked fun! Ray has taken V. to a Baseball game (Orioles- he lasted 2 innings) and Football (Ravens-he made it till halftime) but THIS game was very thrilling for him considering they were in the 5th row! He told Ray on the way home, "Sign me up".

Trained

2009-01-29T09:08:00.003-05:00

I don't think I've updated about Marina's progress on potty training. Well, she trained herself a WHILE ago. It was around Halloween, actually. I take NO credit, because I had nothing to do with it. I really believe that God decided to cut me a break and let ONE THING be easy for me regarding her upbringing.

Fish Head

2009-01-27T07:16:00.002-05:00

Ray went on a fishing trip over the weekend. He didn't have very good luck this time around, I think they only caught 5 fish total. Vincent requested he bring back a fish head so he could inspect it. He wanted to poke his eyes and feel his teeth. GROSS! Marina was right in there with him exploring. The smell became too much for them and we threw it out!

Swim center

2009-01-23T21:26:00.002-05:00

Ray and I took the kids to the local indoor swim center the other day. Marina was being so clingy and wouldn't go down the slides by herself. We kept nagging her when finally she said, FINE! and she marched up the stairs, cut in the front of the line, got her self situated and slid down just to prove to us she "could" do it, and that she just didn't "want to".

She's a pistol.

Snow

2009-01-21T22:42:00.003-05:00

We ended up getting a couple inches of snow the other day. The kids went crazy. They really wanted to build a snowman and put a special hat on him to see if he would come to life. It was just too powdery.

Self Portrait

2009-01-18T19:05:00.002-05:00

Every Day Life With A Smile, tagged me in an entry titled, "Take a picture of yourself RIGHT NOW!" After putting the kids down last night, I went to our shoebox of a master bathroom and took a couple self portraits. No primping.

Not my best day, but not my worst either. I am supposed to tag 10 people but I don't roll like that. If you wanna play, it's up to you. No pressure.

Cheers.

Hills Gym

2009-01-16T17:10:00.002-05:00

We have sub zero temps here in DC/MD/VA area. They say it's warmer in Anchorage, Alaska than it is here today! It is bitter!

Since the kids are going stir crazy inside and since Vincent doesn't have Pre-K on Fridays, we tagged along with the Moms club and took the kids to a Gymnastics arena. They have open gym for 5 bucks a kid and lots of room for them to burn energy.

It was our first time there and it won't be our last! Afterwards, we took them to lunch at McDonalds.

Hair color

2009-01-15T12:08:00.002-05:00

This is what my life has become. It makes me so sad.

Museum

2009-01-13T14:59:00.003-05:00

I've been having camera issues lately. Besides that, Ray's mom took Vincent for 5 days last week (bless her heart) so there was nothing new to report anyway.

We are really trying to capitalize on the sites in DC in 2009, so we took the kids to some Museums downtown yesterday before it got too nutty for the inauguration. We had a great time down there and even saw Matt Dillon!

Sushi

2009-01-07T08:43:00.000-05:00

This kid will eat anything.

Fun Raven's game

2009-01-02T08:43:00.004-05:00

By far the most fun Raven's game of the year! (I only went to two). Ray's sister Tammy and her husband Doug came up and they are so much fun to hang with. Besides that, Tammy and I sat together in the extra seats and Ray and Doug sat together in Ray's seats. It was nice to be at a football game at a "girls pace". Very fun. Thanks again to Ray's mom who came up AGAIN to watch the kids. She's probably sorry she retired!

PS The big guy with the cigar is "Patch" one of Ray's really good friends.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T12:37:00.002-05:00

This is what we are doing tonight for New Years Eve. Staying in and ordering out. Oh, and watching Lost. My new obsession. My MIL gave me seasons 1-4, so I'm packing them in before the new season begins in Jan. It's REALLY, REALLY good. It lives up to all the hype.

Happy New Year:)

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T20:17:00.002-05:00

Christmas was nice. We spend the morning home, opening presents with the kids. They were so excited and it went smoothly. Around 11am, Ray went into work for a couple hours, then we headed to the beach around 2pm. We had a big dinner at Ray's sisters, then continued onto his parents house in Chingateague, VA for a couple days.

We are home now and I hope everyone had a good Holiday!

Cookies

2008-12-21T21:19:00.002-05:00

Today we stayed in most of the day and made all kinds of cookies and treats. We delivered them to neighbors while spending some time with a few. Then we saw a live Nativity scene at a nearby church where Marina went Coo-Coo for the sheep, goats and donkey! Basically, we had to leave because she was yelling, "Hey! Goat! Come here!" and "NO Donkey...NO BITE ME! in the middle of the program.

Homeboy

2008-12-19T22:13:00.001-05:00

Elfed

2008-12-18T20:42:00.004-05:00

There was a loud knock on our door the other night and when we opened the door, there sat a package on our step. I spotted two shadows hauling heineys down the street.

We had been elfed.

So, I went to the Dollar Spot at Target and made our own packages. The kids and I dressed in black, waited until dark and elfed two more neighbors. The kids loved this!

Neighborhood Christmas Party

2008-12-17T15:28:00.004-05:00

I just can't seem to get into the Christmas Spirit this year. I decided to throw a party and maybe that would help catapult me into the holiday cheer. I literally decided like 5 days before guests were supposed to arrive to have this shindig. I sent Vincent from mailbox to mailbox with printed invitations and let the kids decorate these brown paper bags with glitter, glue and markers while I cleaned and cooked.

Surprisingly, most everyone that we invited were available!! It was last Friday night, so it was nice that the guests didn't have to cook, after a long week. Everyone arrived about 6pm, most everyone brought something to eat or drink and a good time was had by all. The kids stayed in the downstairs most of the night and the adults were upstairs chatting it up.

For short notice, it was a really nice party. We used the brown bags as gift bags for the kids and stuffed them with a candy cane, christmas stickers and "reindeer food" (puffed cereal) in sandwich bags with a note for the kids to sprinkle it in their driveway on Christmas Eve.

Sushi

2008-12-14T12:59:00.003-05:00

We got a babysitter last night so we could go Christmas Shopping together. We ended up finding this trendy little spot and had a martini and some sushi for dinner. I didn't tell Ray that he was eating fish eggs until AFTER he was done. He said, "I just ate baby Nemos?!" Umm, yeah...Buddy...you did. Like, 10,000 of them.

Dentist

2008-12-09T23:25:00.002-05:00

A Dentist appt today for both kids proved NO cavities but two loose bottom teeth for Vincent.

Frigid

2008-12-08T21:30:00.003-05:00

I tried to get out of going to this game. I played the whole, "My throat feels so scratchy!" at 11pm the night before. Didn't work. He wouldn't let me stay. Ray and I left for the Ravens/Redskins game yesterday at 3pm for a 8:15pm game, in 20 degree weather with high winds. I have to admit, heavy drinking was neccessary to keep our temps regulated. I made fast friends with a chic next to us. She brought a heater. It really didn't matter to me what the weather was like, as long as I could not see nor hear my children, I was happy. (I'm very close to eating my young, I tell ya.)

Ray's mom and dad drove the 3 hrs up and stayed the weekend with the kids. They have a new puppy and Marina dragged him around all weekend. His mom and the kids did fun crafty stuff I don't regularly do. They needed that Mom-Mom time and Ray and I needed our time to hold hands again. I wish we had more time to ourselves.

Mall

2008-12-03T21:22:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ravens play the Redskins this Sunday. Big game. For our family anyway with Ray being the Raven's fan and I being the Redskins fan. Ray's mom is coming up to watch the kids so we can go to the game together. I dragged the kids to the Redskins store today at the mall and got one of those obnoxious foam #1 fingers to wave! Ha!

Superwoman

2008-11-27T19:47:00.004-05:00

I knocked their socks off. Thanks Pioneer Woman!

Preparing for Thanksgiving

2008-11-25T17:40:00.003-05:00

As Turkey Day approaches, my super great fabulous menu is dwindling down. There is only going to be 12 adults, and 6 kids. A houseful yes, but not an army. Then menu I had planned was so out of control and really, it was all about presentation. I had every color side dish imaginable!

So, I will have the basics and everyone will still be stuffed and tired. I've decided to have Thanksgiving dinner at (2pm) just to make sure the kids have plenty of daylight hours to run around outside and have all of the fathers & uncles watch the monsters while the women are busy in the kitchen! Great plan, eh?

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Can't wait to get this overwith so we can get on with X-mas!

K-9

2008-11-22T05:53:00.003-05:00

I was tagged in a post by Jen (yours+mine=ours) and was told to post the 6th picture from the 6th folder in my photos. That was lots of photos ago, considering I have over 9,000 in iPhoto! We had bought our first digital camera a couple months before this pic was taken. I guess Ray took the camera to work this day!

This is Ray and Winter doing some K9 training inside a vacant apt. They have to do re-training once a week to keep the dog's senses in tip top shape! I guess he hid some drugs inside that cabinet because it looks as though she is alerting him.

Today, Ray is the K9 Trainer. He usually attends a Narcotic Conference in Vegas every year. This year, he is TEACHING at the conference. He's a big dog now.

Snow

2008-11-21T21:14:00.005-05:00

Lots of snow flurries this week. Today, it pretty much snowed on and off all day long. It wouldn't stick but it sure was pretty! The kids were so excited they were running in and out of the house trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues! Sometimes without jackets or shoes even! We ended up having friends over this afternoon and all the kids danced and played while the grown ups relaxed over coffee in the kitchen. We fixed the kids hot chocolate w/marshmallows (they all pretended they were drinking coffee) and we all watched the beautiful snow outside the windows.

Today was a good day.

Roasting Marshmallows

2008-11-18T14:56:00.005-05:00

For the last two weeks straight, Ray has been working nights. He had a schedule change the first week and picked up some much needed OT the second week. They had cut out over time for the last 7 months but since he works in the ghetto and there has been 11 homicides in 14 days, they wanted more officers on the streets. We could use the money so this is not a bad thing! Keep on killin' each other!

Anyway, last night he was home so we made it a special night. We had dinner, wine and let the kids roast marshmallows in the fireplace. I also did a practice run Christmas card photoshoot but there were no keepers this round.

Bath

2008-11-16T21:38:00.003-05:00

These two crazy kids haven't had a bath together in a loooong time. The last time I let them bathe together, I was picking up the living room and they were in there splashing around and laughing so hard! I mean, Vincent's laugh was so infectious I had to go in to see what was so funny! Well, Marina was yanking on his wiener! Needless to say, Vincent has been taking showers in our room for the last several months. But it was one of those painfully long days today, so I threw them both in together for a quick scrub down. I snapped this shot in the process. I think it's cute.

Portrait

2008-11-14T18:07:00.004-05:00

This is our family portrait. You like? We are all holding lolipops. I was happy to find out that I am NOT the large one in this work of art!

Downstairs

2008-11-13T14:15:00.005-05:00

Since we've gotten rid of our past two roommates (my brother, Ray's nephew) we have expanded our own living space. Here, I present to you, our downstairs. We hardly ever use it, but we really plan to this winter. We have already lit the fireplace a few times and that is progress, considering we didn't get to use it once last year.

I feel like an eagle who has just spread his wings for the first time!

Recycle

2008-11-11T19:46:00.002-05:00

The kids and I went with the Mom's group to the County Recycling Center for a free tour today. It really made me appreciate my job a whole lot more! It was so loud and stinky and chaotic! Wait a second...that is exactly what my job is like. Except I don't get paid!

It was a neat tour nonetheless. Now the kids know where everything goes and WHY we recycle. They were giving out free earplugs! Those I could use!!

Mom Mom

2008-11-09T20:49:00.002-05:00

This is Ray's Mom. It was her Birthday last week and Ray's sister Tiffannie had a big party at her old Farm house in Salisbury on Saturday. She went to great lengths to do something really nice for their mom. The cake is unbelievable! That for sure, was a hit. All the grandkids loved it! I love how it even had glasses! That was a fun day and totally worth the drive.

Bike Riding

2008-11-06T20:27:00.004-05:00

FINALLY!! When we took the training wheels off of Vincent's bike last spring, he had a bad wipe out. Ray and I decided to back off for a while. A couple weeks ago, Ray got Vincent's bike out of the shed, dusted it off and removed the pedals. He scooted around on it, pushing off with both feet on the ground, kind of like a scooter. He got comfortable, found his balance again and we put the pedals back on today. Damn if he didn't pedal right out of our driveway and never looked back! So proud!

Vote

2008-11-04T19:40:00.002-05:00

I didn't vote today. I feel a little bit bad about it. Aunt Flo is visiting, and frankly, I don't like either candidate enough. I don't want Obama but think McCain is a retard. Not worth dragging two kids to the polls. Deal.

Bye Madie

2008-11-04T14:31:00.000-05:00

Madie had to go home today. My kids will be crying tonight.

Sunday-family dinner

2008-11-02T22:01:00.002-05:00

Ok, this was the final Birthday celebration. Dinner with the fam. Ray was so great. He knew the kind of day I had had the day before so he basically did all the cooking and cleaning, while I watched the (3) kids.

Dinner was amazing, Vincent loves his cousins, and it was nice to catch up with the grown ups. Marina is finally at the age where I didn't have to go supervise her every second. I think it went smoothly, so much so, I volunteered to host Thanksgiving. Was I drunk? I hate Thanksgiving?! Oh well. I'll try it this year and see how it goes...

Saturday-day from hell

2008-11-02T21:26:00.006-05:00

This was a day straight from hell. Vincent's birthday party day. He choose to invite a couple friends to Dave & Buster's to play in the game room. I somehow had gotten the times mixed up and D&B's didn't open until 11:30am when I had put 11:00am on the invitations.

I had to treat everyone to ice cream sundaes from a place next door to stall time. We get into D&B's and Ray puts $25 on each card for the kiddies to play. Within 5 minutes, a card is somehow lost. He spends another $25 on ANOTHER card. And although Madison is AWESOME help, I could NOT expect her to watch Marina! We made her go play! So I was following Marina around, Ray was taking care of the lost card/new card fiasco, I had no idea where Vincent even WAS...we basically couldn't even afford to feed everyone because we were already over budget with the mistakes..I could wait to get outta there. At least Vincent had fun and that is all that really matters.

And, since it was ALL SOULS day and it was also the 10 yr. Annv. of my dad's passing, I went to 5:15 mass. Well, I had set the IPhone on vibrate and sat inbetween my Aunt & Uncle, 4 rows from the front. 10 mintues in, during a quite part, while we are supposed to be giving thanks to the Lord, my cell phone starts going off. My ringtone is Frankie Valli's "Oh What A Night". I was fumbling around with it and COULD NOT GET IT TO STOP. My Aunt is smacking my leg. The entire service had to endure about a full minute of it. It was a freaking nightmare. I just keep reminding myself that it could have been a much worse ringtone. I think I actually saw the priest bobbing his head at one point. Luckily, the Priest went to HS with my Dad at St. Anthony's in DC. They were good friends. After Mass, I insisted I had put in on vibrate and it was possibly my Dad playing a prank on me. After all, he loved Frankie Vallie.

Halloween

2008-11-02T21:14:00.004-05:00

Our 10 year old niece Madison asked if she could come stay with us for a few days. Grand Central? Friday on Halloween, Ray drove and hour and a half and met his sister Tammy halfway (in Easton) to pick her up. The kids had so much fun together on Halloween. I asked my brother to come over and hand out candy for us so Ray and I both could go out trick or treating with the kids. We love Madison and are so glad she is here! She's the sweetest thing and so HELPFUL in so many ways.

Update: My 21 yr. old nephew Chris (from Ray's other sister Tiffannie) who was living with us over the summer and then some, moved out a couple weeks ago. While waiting to ship out for the Navy, he rekindled a relationship with his Biological father and went to CA to go live with him.

Vincent's Birthday

2008-10-30T19:50:00.002-04:00

Today was Vincent's 5th Birthday. What a busy day! He had a costume parade/Harvest festival at school this morning, then I took the kids bowling after that (with the mom's group). They had a ball! After that, we came home so Marina could nap and the mail carrier had left a box on our stoop. There was something in it for both V&M from Ray's mom. They kids went crazy! They love to get mail.

I made the cake Vincent requested, with M&M's on top and we had dinner, cake and my brother Tony came over and we played Twister. It was so funny!!

More birthday festivities to follow this weekend........

Playdate

2008-10-29T19:53:00.005-04:00

This is Vincent's best friend (at School), Austin. These two are the class clowns and are inseparable. The teacher loves these guys and even emails me pictures of them. Vincent has been asking me since school started, to have a playdate with this kid. I finally gave in and he was in his glory.

Pumpkin carving

2008-10-27T22:44:00.003-04:00

We went to a friends house over the weekend for a night of food, drinks and pumpkin carving. It was so much fun and as extra treat the Host got buckets and stickers for all of the kids to decorate. The kids had a blast.

Vincent's First Raven's game

2008-10-26T18:22:00.002-04:00

Ray took Vincent to his first Raven's game. You can tell how the day went by the sequence of photos.

Wood

2008-10-24T21:02:00.003-04:00

Today the boys moved the firewood to a closer spot in the yard for retrieval. It's been downright COLD. It's gotten as low as 40 degrees here! Ray had the day off today so the boys worked outside most of the day, then we took the kids to a haunted train ride at one of the county rec parks after dark. It was so not haunted but they loved it.

Big Girl Bed

2008-10-23T13:24:00.002-04:00

We made the transition today. Marina is sleeping happily in new sleigh bed as we speak.

Baby Desi

2008-10-22T15:05:00.002-04:00

Ray's good friend Frank (DC Firefighter) who is both Vincent and Marina's Godfather, had his second child recently. Baby Desi. Look at that face. She is such a little pumpkin. They are the sweetest family.

Snake

2008-10-20T20:43:00.003-04:00

I took the dogs for a walk after dinner tonight and I spotted this thing in the street. After I returned home I rounded everyone up, got the kids shoes on, grabbed a flashlight and dragged them down to see it. It appears someone ran over him. His head and neck area are certainly flattened. Poor Guy. It wasnt' me. (I didn't leave the house today.)

Us city folks don't see this kind of stuff too often. The kids were so intrigued. They were dying to touch it! Gross.

Hulk

2008-10-19T07:59:00.005-04:00

Vincent really wanted to be something "creepy" this year for Halloween. He had his eye on the Grim Reaper with some sort of deadly weapon. Usually, I'm all about letting him express himself but when I closed my eyes and tried to picture his school parade...I saw princesses, super heros, kitty cats, the Grim Reaper with a hatchet...

NOT HAPPENING.

I gave him 3 other choices. A Pirate, Indiana Jones or The Hulk. He chose the Hulk and now he LOVES the costume and wants to wear it everywhere.

Cupcakes

2008-10-18T09:35:00.002-04:00

For weeks, we had plans with some friends to go to a nice dinner in Baltimore with no kids. The night before, both of our sitters fell through. We decided the show must go on. We ordered pizza, brought cupcakes a made a night of it at their house.

Although it wasn't as relaxing as plan A, it was much more cost effective! Regardless, it was so nice to spend time with friends we don't get to see very often.

Open Play

2008-10-16T15:35:00.003-04:00

One of the local gyms have "open tot play" for 5 yrs and under a few days a week. It's perfect for rainy days and when it starts getting too cold for the park. It's free and they supply all the play equipment from ride ons, to balls and mats. I love the free stuff!

Also: I can't go anywhere without seeing a ROBE now. Of course, right? I was at the mall today and it was littered with robes! Every store! Unbelievable...

Seasons

2008-10-15T21:23:00.003-04:00

When I upload pics on this blog they come out so dull. It's so annoying. Does this happen to everyone? Do I have a setting turned down somewhere?

This tree IRL is bright red in a sea of green. It popped out at me when I was driving along. I think it is just beautiful. All I hear people saying these days is.."Don'tcha just LOVE Fall??"

Umm, no. I do like Fall, but I LOVE summer (and winter only on the days when it is snowing).

Boot Scootin'

2008-10-13T20:46:00.005-04:00

We went yard sale-ing this weekend and picked up this pink scooter for Marina. It's her new favorite thing. She's scoots all around town on this little number. Paired with the pink cowboy boots that she insisted on wearing...some days I just have to laugh.

Twins

2008-10-11T15:06:00.000-04:00

Ray ran into his twin brother while we were out one day.

Animal Treats

2008-10-10T15:38:00.002-04:00

Today was gorgeous! Ray went on a Field Trip with Vincent to a Farm/pumpkin patch and Marina and I made some treats for the animals and hung them in the trees at Lake Needwood.

Harvest Festival

2008-10-09T19:58:00.003-04:00

This is one of the many Harvest Festivals that we go to every year. Marina was VERY SERIOUS about painting her pumpkin here. We couldn't leave until the entire thing was painted. Of course Vincent was attracted to the most dangerous activity there.

Scavenger Hunt

2008-10-07T20:38:00.005-04:00

We went on the cutest scavenger hunt yesterday. It was through the Mom's Club and the Mom in charge of this event went so far as to xerox a ruler so the kids can measure stuff while on the hunt. Cool idea! Vincent's favorite part was measuring the sticks (they had to be longer than 4 inches) and doing a leaf rubbing on tracing paper!

2008-10-07T20:34:00.001-04:00

80's party

2008-10-06T14:34:00.000-04:00

I think the picture speaks 1000 words.

Rocky Mountain

2008-10-03T20:34:00.002-04:00

Since Winter is a Narcotic Canine and technically works for the PD, she gets free Vet care. They called the other day and asked Ray to bring her in to get some blood drawn. Supposedly, an increasing number of dogs in the county are turning up with tick borne illnesses. Tests came back and she is positive for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and her numbers are higher than most of the other dogs they've seen.

She seems fine, no symptoms, but I've been doing some research and it's pretty serious attacking internal organs. She's going in on Monday for treatments. Major props to that Vet for calling us and having her tested. Gotta love a good Doctor.

Poor baby girl. Now we have to get Charlie tested. Not looking forward to THAT bill.

Apple Picking

2008-10-02T13:34:00.008-04:00

Marina and I have been hooking up with the Mom's Group while Vincent is in Preschool. Of course when we pick up Vincent, I have to downplay our activities and act like they were no big shakes, as not to upset him.

Today we went Apple Picking and played in a corn maze but Marina's favorite part was the farm dogs laying in the strawberry field. They were sweet.

Robes

2008-10-01T20:51:00.004-04:00

Vincent has been asking for a robe for months. I've checked everywhere for one. The Malls, Target, Ebay...I happened to pop into a Thrift Store (for something else) and found one for each of them. Damn if his doesn't have 33 plastered all over it too. He is as happy as pig in poop.

Atari

2008-09-29T16:55:00.002-04:00

Marina loves to wear Vincent's underwear. She is such a little tomboy already. I swear, put an Atari set in front of her and this is me 30 years ago trying to keep up with my big brother.

Martina

2008-09-28T13:03:00.002-04:00

My neighbor had an extra ticket to see Martina McBride last night. So we went to Nissian Pavilion in VA and she rocked the house. That was my second time seeing her and she was awesome!

Dance

2008-09-26T22:21:00.002-04:00

Today was a rainy day, so they put on some music and danced most of the day away.

Spider

2008-09-23T20:10:00.004-04:00

I'm not big into spiders, but this is the cutest spider I've ever seen. I think we've found Marina's costume.

Movies

2008-09-20T21:38:00.003-04:00

I don't know why, but this is what Marina is doing in every picture these days. Weird. Kids are weird. At least, mine are anyway.

Today was Vincent's special reward day. Ray took him to the movies for sleeping in his own bed for 10 nights straight. He started this unusual habit of coming into our bed at about 4am every morning. When I started making a big deal about it (because I need SOME personal space! ) he would begin to tip toe in and carefully crawl in ever so quitely. He would even stop all movement when I would roll over and "sense" he was in the room. He would crawl under the covers and sleep down by my feet, as not to wake me. Cute, but still annoying.

SO since he started school and since his 5th birthday is next month, we said...it's time. He's been doing great and his reward was the movies. Ray took him to see IGOR and Vincent said it was dumb. But he liked sitting in the big theater seats, spending time with Dad and the POPCORN!

Ray said, 2 drinks and a Lg popcorn= $17.29 INSANE.

iPhone

2008-09-18T19:42:00.002-04:00

Ray came home with two iPhones today. One for me, one for him. This thing is the shiznit.

Koozies

2008-09-14T22:33:00.003-04:00

Ray worked as a uniformed officer at the Redskins game. Typically he is undercover/plainclothes. He hasn't been in a uniform in a long time! He brought home a crapload of bendable koozies tonight and the kids had a ball with them.

Saturday am

2008-09-13T14:42:00.005-04:00

It appears our nephew Chris is staying for a little longer than expected, so we cleaned out an extra room and bought a futon for him this morning.

While cleaning out a closet, Ray found his old Police riot gear. The kids went berserk for this and chased each other all over the house while playing cops and robbers.

Dinner Rater

2008-09-11T21:49:00.004-04:00

I have a new tool for dinnertime. It's the "Dinner Rater". The kids have to eat at least 3 bites of every food group (meat, starch, veggie) then rate it. They love it. It totally works, (for now).

Don't mind the spaghetti sauce on the rater. It was from the night before!

Virus 2

2008-09-10T20:24:00.002-04:00

Marina is sick again. When I took her to the Doctors, the Dr. couldn't find the source of the fever. (It was VERY high). They took blood right there for testing and when that came back with a high white blood count, they wanted to test her urine in case she had a bacterial infection. They catheterized right there. SO NOT FUN!!!!!!

Results are back today, we are told it's "just a virus" and to let it run it's course. Again.

Annoying, but I'm glad it's not anything more serious.

1st day of Pre-K

2008-09-09T09:47:00.004-04:00

Today was Vincent's first day of PreSchool. He turns 5 in October but misses the cutoff for Kindergarten. It's only 3 days a week (because we have to pay for it and it's a small fortune) and it's Christian inspired, so he's getting a little Religious education as well.

We walked down to the park this morning to collect "Acorns" for show and tell today. He also picked out his own outfit last night, and got to choose what he wanted me to pack for lunch.

He was VERY excited this morning but tried not to show it. I overheard him telling Marina before he left, "Now be good for Mommy. I sure am gonna miss you guys."

Pumpkin

2008-09-07T14:49:00.003-04:00

I've come to realize two weeks vacation is too much and one week vacation is not enough.

In other news, I was pleased to see that Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back at Starbucks, so I ordered one up and now I am ready for Fall.

Crazies

2008-09-04T00:00:00.003-04:00

Look out! This could be your Christmas card!

Kidding, obviously.