|
Monday, November 24, 2008
Trees and Trophies
Friday had two appointments
to handle. Erin
took care of the first. She needed to get Cleo into the vet. Earlier in the week she was not putting any weight on one back
leg for two days. By Wednesday she was limping and Thursday she miraculously seemed all better. We were bewildered but wanted
to make SURE nothing was wrong. She passed with a clean bill of health on the leg. It was very odd but we were relieved.
Erin then met me at Green Holly to meet with Penny, Jaxson’s speech therapy teacher. It was bittersweet
as Penny enjoyed Jaxson and our enthusiasm to help her help Jaxson. Erin had bought Penny
a miniature picnic basket to hold notes in and put a picture of Jax and Liam in it. She also put in some bubbles as Penny
used that as an ice breaker for Jaxson when we first started therapy. Erin and I needed to answer quite a few questions on Jaxson’s capabilities currently outside of speech and he is doing fine. We signed
off the paperwork and Jaxson is considered passed out of the program and your average toddler in every way. We are very proud
of him and his successes in communication. We owe Penny a debt of gratitude for helping bring Jaxson’s communication quickly
up to speed. It was not long ago that we would sit for dinner and Jaxson would scream and scream for lack of ability to communicate.
Sign language helped us bridge the barrier and Penny helped us help him to get to the point he is at now.
Erin took the afternoon off and, on a whim, decided to bravely chop down a tree alone. It was a pesky
holly tree with Ivy growing on it. It was about 30 feet tall. She does not like when the needly leaves drop in the spring.
We were test driving two chainsaws so she thought she would surprise me. She got a notch cut and then commenced to sawing
the tree down. The tree leaned quicker than she was expected and pinched the saw. She had trouble starting the other and after
a couple of franctic phone calls decided to brace the tree and call it done until we could tackle it Saturday. I surely thought
the windy night would break it down on its own.
Friday night Erin
and I continued to watch the hilarious BBC sitcom Spaced. We are now on the last CD which is outtakes and deleted scenes of
both seasons of the show. I played Guitar Hero almost until midnight after
Erin went to sleep. A second guitar came in the mail so we can play together now.
On Saturday morning
Liam and Erin were playing Guitar Hero together. The tree was still braced and standing although the leaning tower of Pisa
would have been envious. We had to get a move on though so that was something we would tackle when we returned home. We were
off to Liam’s Football trophy presentation.
We arrived down at
St. James Hall towards Ridge a little early but we saw Coach Billy’s truck and went on in. Liam’s team was first to get their
trophies and all the parents politely and proudly clapped for every kid called up. I had made photo CDs for each child with
a football card type picture of each on the cover. This certainly helped Coach Billy call each kid up. Liam happened to be
first because I brought his CD from home and Billy had it on the top. Liam was excited as he grasped the trophy that was HALF
his HEIGHT. All the boys gathered for a group shot. 10 of our 14 boys made it and we took Liam’s buddy, Eric’s, trophy and
CD home with us. His Mom, Lisa, will pick it up after the holiday. I laughed when the other Eric, who is a teammate of Liam’s
looked at his photo CD and said “WOW!!”. I could tell the kids enjoyed seeing their faces on a card. Dee, who was our parent
organizer and kept things moving and planning this year, gave the Coaches, Billy, Tony, and Daniel (who was not there) plaques
with the team photo from us parents. The coaches in turn gave Dee a pretty bouquet. The other
flag coach gave a moving comment for each child. The most interesting one was a boy who didn’t seem to understand the game
but when his Dad arrived from Iraq he
instantly became a good player and understood the game. After all the flag teams and cheerleaders were introduced we thanked
Billy and headed out. The Pax River Raiders are a great organization and Liam had a lot of fun and so did we. We have all
decided to play again next year. I also offered my services to help Billy out as an assistant coach next season. It is neat
to see the kids go from running all over the place to the point they can run a play and go the right direction.
 
We headed from there
and stopped at McDonalds for a bite to eat. Coach Tony and his son, Jason, stopped there too so we had a nice lunch together.
As we were leaving we saw another one of Liam’s teammates, Lorenzo, and his Mom in the drive thru. After that we were off
to Lowes to get rope to brace the tree and for future trees we are taking down. We then stopped at the grocery and got some
crab for all of us for dinner.
We were happy to
see the tree had brought itself down when we got home. Nice and clean and the chainsaw was fine – almost. It looks like the bar got pinched, so Erin foot the bill for a replacement.
We put the kids down for a nap after Liam talked to his Grandmom and then Grandpa. Erin then started sawing the big logs and I split them as soon as she sawed them. We almost have split
all of our first batch for the year. We will probably make another run to Greg’s, Erin’s
co-worker, in December or Janurary.
We watched that cool
show, How it is Made, during dinner and then after the kids were off to bed. We
played the Wii for a while and talked. I watched Saturday Night Live and Erin caught part of it.
Sunday was cleaning
day. Erin was busy most of the day cleaning and I cleaned our bathroom and helped with the
kitchen. The boys played great all day. I then sawed up about half the holly tree. I will finish that project next weekend.
We had pizza for dinner while we watched the Redskins squeak a win out of Seattle.
After the boys were in bed Erin watched part of the Colts/Chargers game with me.
This week is a quick week. We are going up to Pennsylvania
for Thanksgiving. Kate and Rich are having us over for the Holiday dinner this year. We will
meet Noah for breakfast Friday before we head back home. Mom is very excited to be coming down and staying with us through
the holidays.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
We had the day off on Friday. We spent time doing a bit of cleaning, and we ran a couple of errands. That evening, our
friends, Bill & Janet, and their daughter, Rosalia came over for dinner and a bit of Wii playing. They arrived around
5:30 and Russ had some cheese fondue going as an appetizer. That was good because I had a slight snag in my dinner plans.
I'd made a pie. Once the pie was done I put in some acorn squash and some foil-wrapped baked potatoes. I even called mom to
ask just how long the vegetables should cook. I even adjusted the temperature. What I didn't do was turn the knob from OFF
(from when I took out the pie) to BAKE. So, when the potatoes weren't done when I expected them to be, I realized my mistake.
I left the squash in there, but resorted to the microwave for the potatoes. Dang it.
It was all fine though. The fondue held us all over, and we still managed to eat by 7:00. We started the meal with a toast
to Mom & Dad since they were celebrating 55 Years of Marriage up Home Home. We hoped that their good luck would rub off
on us a little.
Dinner was done around 8:00. Janet helped me clean up while the kids continued to play. Around 8:30 or so, I suggested
that we get the kids in pajamas and get them in bed (Rosalia slept in Jax's bed, Liam in the extra bed in Jax's room, and
Jax in our bed) so that us adults could relax and continue to have fun. Surprisingly, the kids were pretty agreeable, and
the rest of us did, indeed have a wonderful time, playing various Wii games and sharing a few drinks. Bill introduced us to
his new Wii game, Guitar Hero, and we had to admit that it was really fun. The evening wound down around 1:00am. We shuffled
the kids back to their regular beds, and hit the pillows ourselves. Bill and Janet live only about 5 minutes from us, so we
knew they'd be turning in soon too.
Though I always WANT to sleep in, I really never get much more than an extra hour of sleep. The boys have a terrible internal
clock, and are almost always awake by 7:30. Fortunately, we didn't have a lot planned for the morning, so once I got the kids
some breakfast, I pretty much planted myself on the couch. I watched a show about obese pet in Britain, while the boys played.
They joined me on and off and it was a casual morning. Russ got up around 9:30 or so. I dragged myself to the kitchen to tidy
up a little bit from the night before. Then we all got ready to go up to the Once Stop Adventure Center where there was a
little impromptu party for Liam's Flag Football team
 
 
We had a great time, as always, at One Stop. Jax is big enough to go with us on the Go Karts now, and he was elated. We
even got a couple of good racing movies. Liam had a nice time with his football buddies, and even Rosalia and Janet came up
for a little bit, as I'd mentioned we'd be there the night before. All the kids had a great time on all the bouncy equipment.
Even I took a few bounces on some of the bigger ones. It was a nice couple of hours, and we are glad we have such a place
in our area. Liam has one more Flag Football event on Saturday.... the Trophy Ceremony!!! Then we'll be done until mid-summer.
I think I'll look into getting him some swimming lessons this winter.
On the way home from One Stop, we were pretty tired, but the dogs needed food, so we slipped into Petco. Since Petco is
near Best Buy, Russ couldn't resist going in to "just look" at Guitar Hero Games. Of
course, we didn't walk out empty handed.
Though drowsy, Liam was still in football mode, and since it was an unusual 70 degrees outside, he, his dad, and Jax went
out in the front yard to run a few plays. I could tell he was thrilled to have the attention.... but his energy level was
dropping by the minute and his frustration level was increasing by the second. It was time for a nap. While the boys and I
headed upstairs for a snooze, Russ got the Guitar Hero game going. Once we'd all had a rest, we spent more of the afternoon
just playing around with Guitar Hero. We had a light "Leftovers" dinner while we watched a couple episodes of Jon & Kate
Plus 8. Saturday night was pretty low key, since we'd play so hard the night before. Later that night we watched a cool Simon
Pegg BBC sitcom called Spaced. It was only on for two seasons so later in the week we will watch season two. Very funny stuff.
Can't say much about Sunday. It was pretty much a catch-up day. I took the big dogs to the dog park, but there weren't
any other dogs there, so it wasn't much better than playing in the back yard. Oh well. Ashy certainly enjoys getting out and
sniffing all around. Once home, I tackled the laundry and a couple of other chores. Of course, while the boys were sleeping,
I took a lengthy turn at Guitar Hero. It's pretty addicting. Later Sunday night, We watched the Redskins and Cowboys. Russ
stayed up to watch the painful ending as the Cowboys won.
Monday morning, Cleo work up not using one of her hind legs. I can't get her to the vet until Friday. She doesn't seem
in a lot of pain - in fact she still begs to play - but I have a sinking feeling she may have torn something and we'll be
facing a hefty vet bill and a long recovery. Let's hope not.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
End Of Football Season and Veterans Day
Friday night was
a fond farewell to the Raiders Flag Football season. It has been a great experience for the whole family. Liam made new friends
and learned a little bit about the game such as playing on a team and running the right direction. It also was a lot of fun
to get together more often with our friends Lisa and Eric. Their son Eric and Liam have known each other almost from birth.
Another son, William, is about Jaxson’s age and they pal around together.
So anyway I stopped
by Arby’s to grab a bite as the boys were having a pizza party. The other teams were still practicing so there were a lot
of people at Lancaster Park on a beautiful warm Friday night. Chris Pixton, who is the head of the Pax River Raiders organization
had the pizzas ready when we got there and some of the stronger dads and coaches lined up picnic tables under the lights in
the pavilion. The flag cheerleaders had a table too. The kids were all smiles
as they devoured the delicious pizzas.
Afterwards Coach
Billy lined the kids up and asked them what they learned from the season and talked to them all about how much fun he hoped
they had and how much he did. He handed out awards to all the boys from him and then the team huddle up one last time with
a mighty shout of “TEAMWORK!”
 
Chris Pixton then
put the “Who Let the Dogs Out” song on and the pre-game stretches became the pre-game dance complete with little players transformed
into little barkers.
Erin and I braved
the sloppy field and walked to the other side as the Flaggers would play cross wise at midfield under the lights. It was a
big night for them. The two Raiders flag teams would scrimmage each other. Chris announced each and every player and they
loved it. They had a long run across the filed and Liam got a little lost but pumped his fist in the air when he saw his teammates.
The field was pretty
muddy from a rainy week and the boys loved it. Nobody keeps score but I think it was a close game with their team possibly
winning. Chris came on the filed with a microphone and did announcing naming the players after the plays making it sound big
league. We had run out of batteries YET again but Eric’s dad had his camera there. It had just been repaired from a lens break
during the scrimmage in the beginning of the season. Eric and Lisa graciously took and supplied a DVD of photos for us and
the league. She stopped by Sunday with them.
After the game I
talked with a couple of the other parents and final plans were made for the trophy presentation on November 22nd.
Liam was funny as he asked Coach Billy “Are we getting a trophy tonight?” I was teasing him yesterday that maybe all the boys
do not get trophies. At that he replies “Yes we because we all tried hard and Mom said so!”
He is really looking forward to that even thought the other day he asked me what a trophy is.
Erin had the novel
idea of taking the boys to the Ice Cream parlor to celebrate the season’s end. They loved that. I abstained for a bagel which
really isn’t that much healthier. Erin then headed home to get Jax to bed and I took Liam to Big Lots and let him pick a toy.
He has been enamored by Star Wars so he got a two pack of Light Sabres. The blue one barely left his hands all weekend.
On Saturday morning
Erin and I were very motivated to get house cleaning done. She was a whirling dervish as I took to super cleaning the upstairs
bathrooms. We were done by almost noon. Bill and Janet dropped off Rosalia as they were heading to a wedding. We have known
them for years and Ro since she was a baby. Liam and Jaxson get along famously with her and I think Jaxson has a little crush
on her.
 
It takes no time
for those guys to hit the ground running. They played Star Wars, with Playdough, Pirates, food making, dog chasing and general
running around the house. They all ate a great lunch and then Erin took them to Town Creek playground where they played most
of the late afternoon.
I had some quiet
time and worked on my Madden Football players. I am currently building and playing 1969-1979 with the ten of my real favorite
teams from that era. It takes a lot of research before I even start building the teams for each season.
When Erin arrived
home with a wagon full of kids I threw some burgers on the grill and Erin got French fries and carrots around. I laugh because
Rosalia likes ketchup like I did as a kid. I think she would use it on most anything. After dinner we pulled out the Wii Music
for a bit. I think Erin and I enjoyed it more than the kids. We enjoyed a hand bell game where you matched the colors to when
you ring. That is sort of like the Guitar Hero concept I guess but way more mellowed down.
 
We then stuck the
Lion King in and I popped the kids some popcorn, which went over big. About mid-movie Bill and Janet arrived and they got
us a 12 pack of Sam Adams samplers. They shouldn’t have but Erin popped open a honey porter. We all enjoyed some conversation
and talked of dinner plans at our place next weekend we hope to achieve. We also dug watching Bill impersonate a Dog Whisperer
as he worked with Cleo. Cleo loved the attention.
On Sunday morning
I treated the gang to Bob Evans. We went there instead of IHOP as I needed to do some Christmas shopping for my Mother. The
family rushed to get ready and we were there around nine. The breakfast was great and the waitress was very sweet. Now that
we were full we went to Best Buy for some comparison-shopping and then on to Target to get Mom a gift I knew was on sale.
I am really going through a wanting a nicer camera thing right now. Our camera does not do well with movement sometimes. I
purposely steered clear of them both at Target and Best Buy.
When we got home
the boys were playing nicely and it was beautiful outside. Erin cleaned up the back yard as I tried to start the new “used”
chain saw Erin purchased after looking and consulting for a few weeks. Our old one was a 14” and it was too small for the
jobs we needed. We gave it to Dad to have and possibly fix as we were constantly battling keeping the blade on. This new one
is a 16”craftsman and she bought it from a nice gentleman who repairs them and is willing to give us any help and advice in
the future. I thought it was a great buy at $75 and built in consultation to boot.
There is only one
catch. It is a bear to start. After about fifteen minutes of pulling I was getting pretty tired of trying. Erin walked in
the garage and got it started on about her third pull. I couldn’t believe it. After that she was off and running sawing the
huge logs into donuts I was splitting with one or two whacks of the axe. We were able to get a pretty good stack in the garage
again after 3 hours or so. We did have to give the chainsaw breaks as it got hot and we would let it cool down for 15-20 minutes
before restarting so we got to know it yesterday. Erin does quite well with the saw and me with the axe so we made a good
team.
We then all got
cleaned up and we played with the boys a little and Erin did a sewing project for Liam’s booster seat in hopes that he will
soon be able to buckle and unbuckle himself. She has moved the car seat to the back to give him practice when Grandmom’s down
and he may have to sit in the back. She also got her medium Fuzzi Bunz diapers around to sell. I worked on the pictures that
Lisa dropped. I am handing out photo CDs at the trophy presentation to all the parents and boys on the teams of the season.
We then
all settled into watch football by the fire and have pizza. The Colts were taking it to the Steelers. Erin then got the boys
ready for bed and we watched the Giants and Eagles for a bit. I watched the whole game as Erin retired about 10:30 to read
the new Maureen McCormick (Marsha from the Brady Bunch) book. I just finished reading it as I was a big Brady Bunch fan. It
was pretty good and eye opening to how wild those kids got.
This week is short
for me. I am off Tuesday for Veterans Day. Erin swapped hers for Columbus Day and a three-day weekend in October, which made
more sense. We went geocaching that day as it was beautiful and worth it. I am keeping my options open on how the kids feel.
We may go to Leonardtown for the parade. Later that afternoon there is
a geocaching event. Jaxson still needs a nap in the afternoon so we will see.
Next weekend we
hope that the Marks will come over Friday and after that no plans yet. The holiday season is rushing up on us and I am trying
to spread out my Christmas purchases so we keep to budget. Times are tighter this year so it is important to stay on budget.
Follow On: On Veterans
Day Erin went on in to work and the boys and I got up to go to the parade up in Leonardtown. The temps were brisk and cool
but the sky was blue and the sun was bright. We stopped by Sheetz to get nutria-grain bars for the boys and a breakfast sandwich
for me. We made it to Leonardtown at 9:45 and parked down the hill from downtown. Parking was a breeze surprisingly since
there was a great show of people this pretty day.
I had Jax in the
little umbrella stroller and two chairs on my arm with the backpack on the stroller. Liam did pretty good sticking by my side
although he was tired when we got downtown up the hill so to speak. The crowd was big but we found a spot in the square common
ground for our chairs. We had to move up on the street though as it quickly filled. All the High School bands were there.
There were cool old cars, old fire engines and the candy was a flying out windows everywhere. Even my little ones were stuffing
there pockets. I had to quarantine some when we got home for future use. The big kids were sweet they would grab some and
bring them to the little ones including mine. All the local politicians including Steny Hoyer, complete with secret service,
marched by.
  
  
The Librarian gals
put on a hilarious drill with their library carts they had us all laughing.
The Veterans marched
by to the applause, admiration and respect of us all. They are a great reminder of the freedoms we so often forget that they
so honorably preserved for us.
  
  
We had a grand time
the boys and me. The parade ironically finished at 11:11 on the 11th day of the 11th month. It was a
solemn reminder to us all. We had an impromptu moment of silence only broken by the WWII vintage biplane that did a fly over.
  After the parade the boys and I had a wonderful lunch together at Bear Creek. It was a special day for the boys
and me. Liam even learned a few things about our soldiers and respect for our flag and our freedom.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
As expected, it was a LONG short week. Meaning, it was a four day week, but knowing that Mom & Dad were coming in for
a visit made the hours tick away so slowly. Finally, Thursday arrived, and I only put in a few hours in the morning before
leaving early. I wanted to be home when they arrived.
I picked up the kids and we got home around 2:00. Liam was as excited as I was and kept saying, "Why's it take such a long
time?" Meaning, why aren't Grandpa and Grandma here now???!! Finally the wait was over and they pulled in our driveway about
2:20. It was SO great to see them. Liam and Jax ran out to greet them in a hurry, not even stopping to put on some shoes.
They brought in their things and got settled. Liam wanted Grandma to play right away and they commenced to a dandy sword
fight before the dog, Cleo, forced them to stop. We chatted a bit up in the living room, while Jax and Liam brought out a
few of their games. Dad and Jax snuggled on the couch a little bit. It's a long drive for Dad, and he usually needs a short
nap when he gets in. Jax was happy to join him as his nap got cut short when I picked him up from daycare.
After a while, Mom and I started making dinner. When Mom and Dad are visiting I like to try new recipes, and this time,
I had a craving for cabbage. She helped me make this Red Cabbage and Apple Rabe. You basically slice up the cabbage, grate
the green apple, mix it with a little vinegar and water and let it stew in a dutch oven for about 2 hours. I must say, it
was an odd purple color, but it tasted really sweet. The boys didn't really dig it and Russ wouldn't try it, but the rest
of us liked it okay, and I'll certainly make it again. We had an oyster appetizer, of course - as Dad wouldn' thave it any
other way in MD. To join the cabbage, Russ put a pork loin on the grill, and we had a few other sides, including some potato
salad that Mom brought. I made a gluton free pasta salad, and a gluton free chocolate cake that turned out pretty good.
We kept the evening pretty low key. The boys got their baths and we let them stay up to watch Survivor with us. My pick
to win - Ace - got voted off. Oh well, I suppose now I'll have to root for the professional gamer, Ken. Let's hope he's good
at all games, not just the video kind. It had been a busy week, and Mom and Dad had had a long drive, so we all went to bed
early.
Friday morning when I woke up the house was really quiet. I assumed everyone was still sleeping, but when I finally got
out of bed and went downstairs, I realized that Mom, Dad and Liam were all up. Dad and Liam were snuggling on the couch watching
some hunting show. They really enjoy their mornings together. Jax rolled out of bed too, and then Russ came down to help me
make a pancake breakfast. I even found some gluton free pancake mix that Mom could try, but they were really thick... probably
made better doggy biscuits, but Mom appreciated the effort, and if you put enough syrup on them it didn't matter.
The rest of the morning we just enjoyed each other's company. Russ took Jax to his speech class but wasn't gone long. Dad
and I tried to fix the fan in Jax's room, but we'll need to order a part. When Jax and Russ got back
from the speech class, Mom and the boys made a nice batch of cookies. They all enjoy that so much.
After lunch, we decided to go find pumpkins. I forgot how pumpkins magically disappear in this county on Halloween.
I suppose Christmas trees are the same way. Luckily, we found some to choose from in Leonardtown. It was fun watching the
boys pick out pumpkins. We ended up with 4 good sized ones. Of course, Liam wanted the massive, fair-winning monstrosity sitting
out front, but we nixed that idea, telling him he wasn't allowed to get a pumpkin bigger than himself.
On the way home from the pumpkin picking, we stopped by Bear Creek for a late lunch. I had Dad try a stuffed ham sandwich.
Stuffed Ham is truly a Southern Maryland tradition. You don't really find it anywhere else, and it's been featured on more
than one Food Network show. So good. Mom got some pulled pork and some really good sweet potato fries. Once we got home, we
had to kick it up a notch if we were going to have time to carve pumpkins and go trick-or-treating. I put the boys down for
a quick nap, and Mom and I checked on the roast we had cooking in the crock pot. We'd had a late lunch, so we decided to just
have dinner after going out in our costumes.
We got the boys up around 4:30 and went out in the back yard to carve pumpkins. The weather was perfect. It was about 70
degrees, so we had no problem making our squashy masterpieces. We had a bit of an assembly line going so it was nice to have
group participation. We had just enough time to get the pumpkins out front before we got into our costumes.
  
About a month ago, Liam proclaimed that he wanted to be the "Groom Wiper." I didn't know what he was talking about. "You
know," he said, "like with one of those big swords that curves at the top." It was then I realized that my sweet 4 year old
wanted to be the GRIM REAPER. Oh Lordy. He furthered his point when he saw a "Scream" mask at the local CVS. He begged and
begged for that mask. Finally, when we saw a fake sickle at Target, I consented to his request. Then I had to figure out how
the rest of us would fit into his deathly theme. Then it hit me... he could be the "Ghost of Christmas Future!" That would
make Russ the Ghost of Christmas Present, I could be the Ghost of Christmas Past, and that would leave Jax to be SCROOGE!
Jax almost bailed on us by not wanting to wear his costume, but I finally coerced him with a few tic tacs. Grandpa managed
to put some wrinkles on him, and soon we taking pictures and heading out the door. We took the wagon along, but Liam really
wanted to walk. Now, we don't have sidewalks in our neighborhood, and the houses are reasonably spread out, so we certainly
earned our candy. What hindered us the most was the fact that all of our costumes were on the long side, and it seemed every
house we visited had steps to the front door. So keeping us all from tripping was no small feat. I think we hit 8-10 houses
and it took us an hour and a half even with Grandpa pulling the wagon. Still, it was wonderful fun, and we are so blessed
that Mom & Dad could join us. We missed Aunt Dawn though. She joined us the last two Halloweens but just couldn't make
it East this year. We'll be sure to save her some candy!
  
So after our costumed, candy gathering, adventure, we came home and sat down to eat a bit of dinner. We didn't have too
many trick-or-treaters come to our house, but by then we were pretty Halloweened out anyway. Though tired, the roast turned
out good, and it was nice to sit down to eat. Soon after dinner, Russ got the boys washed up and in pajamas. They were pretty
easy going when we asked them to crawl in bed. Then, we watched a little TV, but it had been another busy day. We had to get
up early for Liam's football game, so none of us stayed up real late.
We were all up before daylight to get Liam to his football game. It was a home game, so fortunately, the commute wasn't
long. It was fun to watch the kids play, but boy did we get slaughtered! Those Solomon's Steelers play rough and are superfast!!!
Doesn't matter though... in flag, we don't keep score. It was fun to go though, and I enjoyed introducing Mom and Dad to some
of our local friends.
  
After the game, we swung by the library so Russ could pick up a few books. Then we went home for some lunch. We decided
to go up to Jefferson Patterson Park for the American Indian Heritage Festival. It was actually pretty fun. We got to throw
arrows with an Atlatl ( I probably butchered that spelling) and made a couple of clay plates. We got to see some hide tanning
and even some flynt knapping. Liam and Jaxson LOVED playing in and about the huts (wigwams) and we even ran into one of Liam's
football teammates. It was a beautiful day. I'll bet it was 75 degrees out. Just a gorgeous Fall day.
On the way home we saw a sign for a local winery, so we decided to check it out. Lucky for us, they were having a tasting.
I'd never done that before, and I suppose it was no surprise that I really enjoyed it. Of course, we left with several bottles.
Since the fridge was full of leftovers we decide to just eat most of that up. Russ did throw a couple of steaks on the
grill, but we had so much else, that we really didn't need them. After we got dinner cleaned up, we showed Grandpa & Grandma
our new Wii game, Wii Music. It was fun, but we really need to practice, as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star never sounded so poor!
Then we got the kids to bed - again without much protest - and watched a little TV. I really tried to stay awake, but just
couldn't. I think I even beat Mom to bed.
The time changed worked to our advantage on Sunday and gave us an extra hour of liesure time before Mom & Dad had to
head back home. I really hated to see them go. It was such a relaxed morning, and it always seems like we just get settled
and then it's time to split up again. Guess that makes us really value every moment together I suppose. So, we didn't know
if we'd get together over Christmas or not, but Russ and I promised to come up over President's Day in February. We've done
that the past couple of years and it turns out to be a nice time to visit... especially if we have snow!
After Mom and Dad left, I started in on stripping the beds, and doing laundry. I was pretty tired, though, so I worked
at a slow pace. Later that afternoon, we ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Russ wanted crab, but I craved
pizza, so I just got some frozen ones for the boys and I. We watched a little football as we ate our dinner. I put Jax to
bed at the usual time, but let Liam snuggle with me on the couch for an hour while we watched the first half of the new Indiana
Jones movie. Another weekend gone and now we're jumping into November with both feet. Already started Christmas shopping,
and Flag Football is coming to a close. I think we'll be heading to Kate's for Thanksgiving. Russ's mom, Marcie will be coming
back with us for the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we'll need to start planning for that. Tis the Season....
already. ;)
|
