Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween 2009! The girls picked out their costumes months ago - Captain Hook for Rory and the ever-stalking crocodile for Fiona - and they were VERY ready for trick or treating. It was raining here in Herndon, but a little precipitation wasn't going to stop us! Umbrella-free and determined, we went through our entire neighborhood and had a blast. The girls' candy bags got a bit heavy toward the end, and I was left carrying the loot - and what a pile of loot they got. Considering they don't eat candy all that often, I figure it will take them almost until *next* Halloween to finish it off.

Two girls hugging a wacky pumpkin

Captain Hook & the Fearsome Crocodile (tick tock, tick tock!!)

Dadbot & his girls

Chowing down on pirate booty in the back of the car

Happy sugar-laden beasts!

Stayin' alive...

Yes, I am still alive - but I have morphed into a lame blogger! It's just that I have been crazy busy since mid-August: taking mini trips, studying for three hideous exams that might help me gain entrance into George Mason University, pestering friends to write recommendations for said program, hanging with the family, working as a contractor for Craig's company, being a stay-at-home mom with Fiona on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and so on.

I know I have been a lame blogger, and I promise to be better. As such, I will now post some pictures from our recent trip to Saratoga Springs, NY! I will backdate the post, so that this lame apology stays at the top of the flow. =>

Fun in Saratoga, Springs, NY!

On Columbus Day weekend, the girls and I drove to Saratoga to visit one of my Hartwick roommates, Karey Hall Trimmings, and her wonderful family. She and her husband, John (also a Wick alum) have three kids: Emma is 10, Jack is 7 (almost 8), and Sarah is 5. We had a wonderful, fun-filled weekend full of pumpkins, laughter, and apples. A perfect Fall weekend in New York State!

Karey is an accomplished singer and music teacher, for those who don't know her. She was accepted into Julliard for undergrad, but she had to turn them down. They didn't give her any monetary assistance, and as the oldest child of five, the family couldn't swing the costs involved. Hartwick, on the contrary, gave Karey a free ride. She has since received a Master's in music performance & education from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. She uses music in her work every day. Karey is a voice teacher with many private students. She has children's music classes for her business, For the Love of Music, and we were lucky enough to attend one while there. She sings with her chuch's youth band (she is the Paul Shaffer of the band). She sings at numerous weddings (and some funerals). She is quite well known in the Saratoga arts community, and she is worth every red cent.

And now for some pictures!

Karey's wonderful music class for children

Crazy roommates!

Karey's son, Jack (7)

Girls at the pumpkin farm! (Sarah, 5.5; Fiona, 2.5; Emma,10; Rory, 4)

Girls in an apple tree! (Emma, Sarah, Rory, Fiona - descending)

My little throwers

While entertaining a neighbor for ten minutes, LOOK at what the girls did. They threw everything they could find - and then went up to their rooms to gather more - and flung it over the living room railing to the entryway a story below. Oh my. They were in hog heaven, squealing with laughter the entire time. I should have known they were up to no good. =>

Then, buzzkill that I am, I made them drag it all back upstairs, bit by bit.

Last day @ the pool

Yesterday was the last pool day of the summer - sigh. Some of us are freckled (Laura), some of us are as white as ever (Rory), and some of us have gained a slight tan (Fiona). We spent nearly every Saturday and Sunday morning there from June through August, and it made the summer extra fun. Friends often joined us, and sometimes we even went twice in one day!

Girl screaming!

Brace yourselves!

Humidity Sucks

I acknowledge that by D.C. standards, 2009 has been a relatively humidity-free summer. Slightly cold and rainy in June, meek and mild in July - both very rare for these parts. And I have been so happy. In mid-July, I proclaimed this my favorite D.C. summer ever.

But these past few days have been horribly sticky. And to top it off, we have lost power in our house three times during this stretch - last night's episode lasted for 12 hours. The third level of our townhouse was super steamy, and the girls were both sweating like pigs by bedtime.

We tend to make the most of such power outages. We read books by flashlight, wear glow stick bracelets, and make fun shapes on the walls. But the high moisture level inside the house last night sucked the fun out of everything. I was so hot that I could only stand to read one book to the girls - mostly because I couldn't bear having them sit on my body.

By 9:00 pm, the power had been our for seven hours and the house was damp and lifeless. The power roared on with a jolt at 2:00 am (finally). Because we had set our fans to "low" before hitting the (sweaty) hay, the powering up was actually quite startling. But it was also immediately relieving, trust me.

Fiona cried much of the night, sweaty as a hog and unable to rest comfortably, so I kept her home from daycare with me. We had a lovely day, and she took a nice, long, 3-hour nap. =)

Brother Pat & Gordie Roberts

Gordie, way back in the day, played defense for the New England/Hartford Whalers. The Whale drafted him when he was 17, and my dad became friends with him soon thereafter (my dad was friends with most guys on the team back then, which was downright magical to my sister and me). Their friendship has continued through Gordie's career: being traded away, retiring, coaching, and now, scouting for Montreal. His playing career was long, and he won the Stanley Cup while a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins back in the early 1990s.

Gordie was in Connecticut this past week, and spent the night with my dad and Patrick. The three of them had a blast. Gordie made my dad make him spaghetti & meatballs, begged him to play the guitar so they could sing together, and the next day, Pat & Gordie shot 9 holes of golf. They tied, 37 each. A great time was has by all!

Fiona @ 2.5

My little baby is growing up! Donna H. took this picture at a friend's birthday party, and Fiona looks so grown-up in it! I love it.

She is in the midst of temper tantrum twos (TTTs) right now, so while I love her at this squishy, still-baby phase of her life, I am eager to bid her random acts of Two-ness goodbye! => Hah!

Do all parents think these things?

And now we have a 4-year old!

It is an amazing thing, but we are now the proud owners of a four year old daughter. Zowie! Rory is thrilled to be four, and she woke up saying so. We had french toast for breakfast and opened some presents. She received fun mosiac art projects from Nana/Granddad, a Fraggle Rock DVD from Gramps & Liz R. & Uncle Pat, a giant stuffed dragon from Aunt Lizzie, and some live pet frogs from Grandma. We gave her a hippo Swatch, a book, and two DVDs. Fiona gave her some dinosaur Lego, which contains a T-Rex, Rory's favorite. The girls played T-Rex ("Mama!" "Baby!") all morning, running from end to end of the townhouse.

While Fiona napped and Grandma guarded her, Craig and I took Rory to see Up. Such a fantastic movie! The theater had a photo booth, so after the movie we jammed ourselves in and took some goofy birthday photos. Then the five of us went to Generous George's for pizza and dinosaur chicken. All this was followed by a hippo cake Grandma and I made. The girls delighted in dismantling the cake the *second* it was laid on the table. Hilarious! They even fed each other chunks of fondant.

What a girl Rory has grown into. She is funny, mostly fearless, hates loud noises (especially those emitted by her sister), loves pretend play, adores dragons and T-Rexes, could eat noodles until they came out of her ears, is addicted to books, loves it when I tell her bedtime stories, is a great (and mostly tolerant) big sister, and is very sweet and affectionate. Her current favorite movies include Peter Pan, The Land Before Time, Wall-E, and The Little Mermaid. Favorite books are whatever we're reading at that moment in time.

She is bringing gummy caterpillars into her class to share tomorrow. =)