Trains and Cake

This past weekend was a bit of a turn-and-burn for Zack and I. We left on Saturday morning to go to Aunt Ann's house in VA, then drive down to Quantico (see last post) for the tour, drive back to Ann's then load the kids and head back home.

Knowing this, we knew that we had to do something fun for the kids on Saturday afternoon. Since it was Ann and CJ's shared birthday this month, we decided to hop on the Metro and go have some afternoon cake. Where else should you go for this? Cheesecake Factory is the only correct answer.

The kids loved the Metro. Alexander was having a blast, CJ hated the tunnels. As soon as we went underground she was freaking out. Luckily, Aunt Ann made her calm down by showing her that in the tunnel, you can see your reflection in the window. The little Diva was instantly calmed. She loves to look at herself in the mirror.

CJ and Aunt Ann right before going underground.



Alexander amazed how we could pass cars on the highway in the Metro.

We walked around Claredon for a bit and then headed to the Cheesecake Factory. This place is no doubt the reason Americans are obese. The menu is ridiculously long, the portions are enormous, and the selection of baked goods is astounding.

With exhausted children, we ordered an afternoon snack of ice cream with whipped cream, chocolate layered fudge cake with whipped cream, and Kahlua chocolate mousse cheesecake with whipped cream. Whipped cream is a big thing at this place. They don't just put it on the cake, they also give a "side" tower of it on each plate. Crazy... but yummy.

Here are some fun pictures of the tired children pushing through exhaustion to consume as much sugary goodies as they could before falling face first in their plates of whipped cream.


This is just a bad shot. The kids were having a ball eating dessert in the afternoon, but I just seem to catch them at a odd moment.


One final picture of the walk to the park-n-ride lot....

Wardrobe Malfunction. ;-)

My Kids Crack Me Up!

I was just sitting on the sofa with the kids watching a Food TV show. They were playing around/on/in front of me. Lately, Alexander has been very interested in the cooking shows, which I just think is cute.

This little tidbit happened during the commercial break. I was playing dollies with CJ and Alexander watched the Jenny Craig Weight Loss commercial. It ends by saying, "Get started now, call jenny today!"

Alexander: Who's Jenny?
Me: HA! HA! HA! HA!

Alexander: Why do we have to call her?
Me: HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

Alexander: Why should we call her today?
Me: HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

Alexander: What's so funny?

Oh, we have snow.

It wasn't too long ago when we were in DC and snow was a big ordeal. People would "prepare" for an inch of snow forecasted for Friday, by immediately stocking up on toilet paper and bread on Monday. Never really cared for all that hoopla. Plus, more often than not, it would never snow -- just some rain with ice.

With that said, I will openly admit that I like the winters in Central PA. We get snow. Everyday. Sometimes, we don't even know when or how much. Often we wake up, see it snowing and look at each other quizzically and say, "was it suppose to snow today?" I love it. It is FAR more fun to play in snow than rain and ice.

Sunday we got snow, again. While I enjoy a fast run on the sledding hill, the kids (as you can see) prefer to make snow angels and eat snow. Lots of eating of snow. I figure it must be good to hydrate after sweating under the copious layers of clothing!


Playing some chase in the snow.

Preparing for tandem-sledding. Ripley at the ready to chase them down the hill.


Alexander lending a hand with some shoveling. Isn't he such a great helper?


CJ attempting to catch snowflakes on her tongue.


Angel Alexander.

I'm an FBI AGENT, Dude.

Zack and I love this famous quote from Keanu Reeves in the classic movie, Point Break. Now Courtney will be able to say it for real. I certainly hope that she will use the last word too -- it makes such a statement!

As all of you know, I am extremely jealous of Courtney in her career path. I love my kids and doing my staying-home-mom-thing, but I think it would be TOTALLY cool to run around chasing bad guys with a gun and a badge. Knowing this information, Courtney was so thoughtful to send the family a great gift this past Christmas. Here is a photo we took as an ODE TO COURTNEY.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she finishes her training in Quantico and moves onto fight bad guys in March.

Thank you so much, Courtney. Can't wait to come down and visit you in February!!!!

Back to School

It's been 5,267 days (14 years and 5 months) since I've sat in a classroom for an actual academic for-credit class. But after much thought, and a little delay, I finally decided to enroll in a graduate level class this semester. My thinking is that I'll take a class at a time and at some point over the next year or so, decide if I want to actually enter a degree program and go for my Master's. So this semester, I am taking COMM 513, Constitutional Problems and the Media. Should be interesting -- at least I hope it will be. Wish me luck!

The Annual PA Farm Show

It only took two years in Pennsylvania for our family to make it to the much touted Farm Show. Held in Harrisburg, a mere 90 minutes away, Zack took the day off work to relive his childhood memories.

For those unfamiliar with the event, it is a huge complex of arenas filled with cattle, diary cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, alpacas, ducks, rabbits, a lone deer and (believe it not) a big ole bison. I am SURE that you can already smell the sweet scents that almost knocked us over upon entering.

The kids had fun running through the aisles of animals petting animals and mimicking their sounds as if to communicate with them. That was all fun and games until we got to the pigs. Trying to snort back at one particularly temperamental swine gave me a big breath of pig shit and almost made me toss the delicious pulled pork sandwich we just finished eating. (Wrong isn't it?)

This is CJ's new pose. Fits her personality of late very well. Miss Diva. Alexander may have a career in 4H in his very near future.


Crazy Rabbit. (Thanks Elmer Fudd!)


There were also countless farm tractors/equipment for the kids to play... er, I mean test drive. Here are some of their favorites.



After an exciting day of taking a shuttle bus (CJ's first ride in a yellow school bus), seeing animals, playing on large farm equipment, experiencing the largest butter sculpture in the whole world (because who else would think to do such a thing), riding the merry-go-round, eating chicken nuggets, french fries and a milkshake, we asked the kids what was the favorite part of the whole day.

Unanimously and quickly they responded:
"COTTON CANDY!!"



Well, but of course.

Just the Girls

On the heels of the last post, CJ has decided to give up on me. I just don't play dollies like she wants me to. She has figured out the alternative...



Poor Ripley. Doesn't her face just look like it is saying "help me!"?

Who is this Girl?

Most of you know that I am not a girly-girl. I hate pink. I don't even think I own a skirt. In fact, Zack was worried that I would wear a wedding pant-suit instead of a wedding dress.

When CJ popped into this world, it took a full day to "sink in" that I had a girl. A girl. A GIRL. That is what I would just keep saying. For the first two years of her life, I encouraged play with everything leftover from Alexander. She happily "rummed" trucks, played with Batman and kicked balls.

Then came Christmas 2008. You have seen the pictures of the princess gowns. She wore one every waking moment since opening it on Christmas morning. Two days ago, CJ was playing hide-n-seek in her closet. At this time she discovered her Easter dress from last year. Guess what? She hasn't taken that one off since that game. She calls it her "gown" and thankfully has allowed me to put some clothes on underneath.

WHO IS THIS GIRL? She can't possibly be a little Jean. She LOVES pink. She plays with Dollies. She WANTS to wear dresses and "tap" shoes. Although, she is adorable. Perhaps that is what she gets from me! ;-)

Aspirational Photography

Sitting at my desk today eating lunch, I surf the internet as usual, and it's amazing the things I stumble upon. While looking at an adventure blog, I clicked on to a link to some guy in Colorado who is a hiker and photographer. I probably spent 20 minutes clicking through his photos. Wow! To be able to make a living doing what he does makes me jealous.

Check it out for yourself: http://www.widerange.org/index.php

My Apologies

To all of the Penn State Football fans around the globe, I apologize. The Rose Bowl was an embarrassment. Was USC just a better team? Was the PSU coaching out-matched? Did the players have too much sun and fun before the game? What went wrong? I have the answer.

The loss was the sole fault of my brother. Yes, my brother.

For whatever cosmic reason, he changes things when he decides to root for them. For example, in the early 90s he suggested we buy some AOL stock. The technology stock was soaring -- it could do no wrong. It was at a "low" of $90 and headed up. Broke and trusting, Zack and I bought it on his advice. Several years later we took the tax break on the loss. This is pretty typical. In fact, I'm not sure, but if he bought a bunch of stock right before the recent stock market plunge, this recession could be his fault too. But I digress...

On New Year's Day, I got an email from my big bro. He had just painted his football statue to PSU colors in honor of the big game. This was the third painting of the season. He started the football season in Michigan colors (I know, I know) and then they started losing. He then moved on to the at-the-time-winning Redskins. Promptly after that conversion, the Skins started to suck big time. So what does he do? Yes, that's right... he goes for the Blue and White. ACK! On the day of the big game. What was he thinking?????

Again, my apologies fans.

Happy New Year!

Why is it that the Christmas season passes by faster and faster each year? What would be so wrong about it lingering for a few more days? Would everyone's merriment start to become grating? Would we get tired of hearing others wish us a "Merry Christmas"? Would the kids eventually give up on being "nice" and opt for just being "naughty"?

I just love watching the kids during Christmas. Everything is looked upon with such awe and anticipation, it's simply magical. Some of our highlights:

* Alexander at Christmas Eve service singing at top volume "Go Tell It on the Mountain". It gave Ann and I tears of joy.

* CJ on Christmas morning doing an adorable and giddy happy dance at the sight of presents from Santa.

* Alexander's amazement that Santa not only brought the one present he asked for, but also the present he was going to ask for next year. (The kid's got long term goals!)

* CJ's transformation into our Little Princess. Having avoided all the girlie-stuff for this long, the "aunts" took it upon themselves to give CJ tiaras, tutus, purses, and gowns. She hasn't taken them off since 12/25/2008 at 7:35am.

* Alexander's excitement to "give" gifts for the first time. Before going to visit the extended family, he was anxious to present his special gifts to his grandparents. For my woodworking father he gave a keychain with a level on it. For Zack's dad, he gave him a camoflauge beer cozy. Not sure what he is trying to say with that -- but it made us laugh.

Of course, here are some pictures...


The kids hand-picked every cookie for Santa and every carrot for the reindeer.


Christmas Morning. CJ in PJs, tiara, tutu, and "tap" shoes (because that is what Princesses wear, of course). Alexander holding up his most-wished-for game.



CJ and her cousin Sarah. They played dress-up the entire day. Can you see that CJ is holding her purse/clutch? Hilarious!!

A Cute Story

Every day, Jean and I have interactions with the kids that are "blog-worthy" but the problem is that we can't remember the exact interaction well enough to type it out. But tonight, while Alexander was putting on his pj's, we had the following conversation, which I just knew at the time was a keeper, so I specifically tried to remember it well enough to re-tell.

Alexander was telling me a detailed story from months ago...
Zack: You have a very good memory.
Alex: That's cause I'm a grown-up.
Z: Really, you're a grownup?
A: Yeah, I'm 4 and a half years old.
Z: And that makes you a grownup?
A: Yep.
Z: I think you're a great 4 and a half year old.
A: Yeah.
Z: You're living a good life, aren't you buddy?
A: Yep.

After a short pause.

A: But I'm not ready to go to God yet.
Z: Me neither.
A: Daddy, how do you know when it's time to go to God?
Z: Nobody knows buddy, God will let us know.
A: And you know daddy, a light will shine on you when it's time.
Z: Really?
A: Yeah, it comes out of the sky and shines on you.
Z: Cool. Where did you learn that?
A: I saw it in a book.

Just another average Sunday afternoon

What a great day we had today! We went to see the women's basketball game thanks to our neighbors unused tickets. Much to our surprise, we were in the front row!! I, who is absolutely bored with all basketball games, had so much fun. It is not too hard to 'get in the game' when you are practically sitting on the bench with the players.

So, besides the miracle of the kids actually lasting the whole-entire game, we had frequent visitors to our seats. The Nittany Lion was walking by and high fiving Alexander and CJ all the time, at half time Mrs. Claus and Santa dropped off some candy canes and the cheerleading squad made her a honorary cheerleader for the day.

This is a milestone. CJ has always adored giving hugs to the Lion, while Alexander always hid behind one of us. Today, was the first time he has ever touched, fist-bumped, and sat with the Lion. Oh, how our alumni hearts are warmed.


The kids waited for 15 minutes for the Clauses to make their way to our seats. The woman behind us was so excited for the kids -- she even gave them their candy canes. Great... more sugar!

Parenting Advice from the Diva

Last night after dinner, CJ was running around crazy. Meanwhile, Alexander was dilly dallying over his dinner plate. Zack and I were still sitting at the table trying to "encourage" the boy to eat something. This is when CJ made a grand pronouncement.

CJ: Mommy, when you get frustrated with Alexander... THEN you need to spank him.

(Editor's note, this is a common yet hollow threat in our house)

Me: Okay, hmmm. Well, CJ, when we get frustrated with you, should we spank you?

CJ: LONG PAUSE. Umm, no.

Zack and I just cracked up. She IS the Diva.

Ham

After one postponement due to bad weather, this week Alexander finally got to perform in his pre-school's Christmas Program. It's a pretty neat little thing, where every pre-school class files into the church sanctuary and stands on risers and sings together. It's a whole big production for less than an hour of "entertainment," but all the parents and lots of grandparents show up, and they serve cookies afterwards, so I wasn't complaining.

Last year, Alexander basically just stood up there and didn't move -- no singing, no clapping, no swaying -- just stood there like a statue. This year was a different story. He was looking forward to this thing for weeks, and the weather postponement had him a bit antsy to surprise us with his songs.

Of course, we didn't know where in the room Alexander would be, and we chose a seat near the front on the complete opposite side of the church! So, as usual, our video looks like a low quality Zapruder film. But, I edited it down to about a minute so as not to bore everyone with the nose-picking and butt-scratching parts.

Notice in the video that Alexander was geared up to sing Oh I Just Can't Wait to See the King. So much so that he poked himself in the eye (anyone see a pattern developing?) doing the hand motions. But the boy toughed it out and finished strong!

Enjoy!

Senior Surfing

I guess retirement really does suit my parents. After years following the pro-surfing circuit, they decided to throw caution to the wind and head to Hawaii to hang 10. Don't they look awesome?

Way to go Mom and Dad!

Classic Alexander Comment

Went to the Penn State basketball game tonight. The kids were geared up to go out "in the dark" and cheer on PSU!

Now, normally we get to a sporting event and the kids are ready to go in 5 minutes. But tonight they displayed incredible stamina. Maybe it was the constant flow of popcorn, water, and ice cream, mixed with a sprint to catch up with the Nittany Lion so CJ could give him a hug and rub his ears.

Anyway, we actually made it through halftime before the first comment:

Alex: Daddy, I'm ready to go home.
Zack: In a couple of minutes, buddy.

Three minutes pass.

Alex: Daddy, I'm done.
Zack: Just a few more minutes.

Two minutes pass.

Alex, exasperated: Daddy, when are we going to leave?
Zack: At the next time out buddy, promise.

Two minutes later, we are out the door, run through the freezing rain to the car, and drive out of the parking lot.

Alex: I wish we could have stayed for the whole game.
Zack, now the one who is exasperated: But you were the one who wanted to leave!
Alex: Oh yeah...

Good times!

Gotcha!

Is there anything better than the "surprise" face of kids being discovered in a game of hide-n-seek?
Love this!!

Crazy Christmas Gifts

Every year, without fail, the Brookstone catalog arrives for Christmas shopping. I can honestly say that I (nor Zack) have ever purchased anything from them, but alas, the catalog comes.

As I diligently browse through the pages and marvel at this massage chair with "light cocoon" and that golf swing simulator, my mind repeats "who buys this stuff?" More over, who USES this crap?

Until now.

As you have learned from previous posts, I am taking horseback riding lessons. This weekly session gives me great joy/freedom and usually some very sore muscles. How is one to 'train' for this type of exercise? Brookstone has the answer... uGallop.



That's right: "Ride Your Way Into Full Body Fitness." Just a suggestion if you get me for Secret Santa.

Lyrics that make you Laugh

Alexander: Mommy, what is that song again about decking halls?

Me:
Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa-la-la-la-laaa La-la-la-la.
Tis the Season to be jolly, Fa-la-la-la-laaa La-la-la-la....

Alexander: Thanks. (He runs back to the puzzle he is working on and breaks out into song)
DECK THE HALLS with melancholy, Fa-la-la-la-laaa La-la-la-la.

Me: (HA HA HA HA)Honey, it's: "with boughs of holly"

Alexander: Okay. DECK the halls with bells of holly, Fa-la-la-la-laaa La-la-la-la.

Me: HA ha ha ha. Great job, buddy.

Explaining too much

Okay, so I didn't learn from all the wonderful tips/tricks in the comments of the last post. Here's my latest conversation from Wise Ole' Xander.

We were driving home around dinner and I decided to kill some time and drive into a few neighborhoods to check out the Christmas light displays. As the kids were ooohhhing and aaahhhing in the back seat, they started to play the game "who has more lights out their side of the car". As Alexander began to lose this competition, he asked me: "Mom, why don't some people have lights up?"

ME: They just haven't gotten to it yet.
Alex: Why not?
ME: Perhaps they were busy.
Alex: Don't they like Christmas?
ME: Of course, some people do.
Alex: Why only some people?

This is were I admit I was not thinking. I was driving around a neighborhood that I was not completely familiar and was trying to make sure we didn't get lost. So, in this multi-tasking moment, I regretfully did not think before I spoke.

ME: Well, some people don't believe in Jesus.
Alex: WHAT? Who doesn't believe in God?

Oh, brother. I really messed up now. I don't even remember how I got out of that one, but once I did I figured that would be the last of it. Why did I think that? Of course I was wrong. So for the last day, Alexander has listed everyone he knows and has asked if they believe in God. It's as if he's making a list, checking it twice...

Already?

I'm sure we will get around to a Thanksgiving recap post soon, but for now, a quick story.

Last night sitting at dinner, out of absolutely nowhere:

Alexander: Mommy, I am still trying to figure out how babies come out.

Me: {choke on my steak}

Jean, not missing a beat: Well, mommies go to the hospital, where doctors use special tools.

Alexander: I know that, but how do they come out?

Me, glance at Jean and then jump in with: Doctors use special tools, like Mommy said.

Alexander gives a quizzical look.

Me, changing the subject: Is tonight a dessert night?

Whew, crisis averted. But seriously. He's 4 and a half. Should he be wondering about these things already? Because if he is, I better get myself prepared for more questions to follow sooner than I expected.

And, how great is Jean? She comes up with this stuff on the fly people!

Faces

CJ is truly Jean's daughter. Not that I had to tell you that.

Like Jean, CJ doesn't take crap from anybody, including her parents, but especially from her brother. Recently, we've caught her retaliating when Alexander takes something from her or bosses her around too much -- and we're talking serious retaliation here -- biting, punching and kicking. If it wasn't behavior that we're supposed to discourage, it would be funny, because she really lets him have it.

Well, we've noticed recently that she also makes a great "mean face" while she's beating on him or talking back to us. Again, we almost always have to stifle a laugh while we're sending her to the corner. It's a great mean face.

Yesterday during lunch, CJ made a classic mean face because she was told to eat her apple before she was allowed to have any more chips (great parenting!) so I ran and grabbed the camera, and we proceeded to take turns making mean faces. CJ's best effort is not caught on film, but you get the idea.

Whose face is the meanest?

Easy Conflict Resolution

I spoke with a woman this past weekend who was telling me her challenges of raising her 14 and 16 year old girls. She was dealing with sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Oh sorry, that phrase just rolls of the tongue. It was sex, drugs, bullying and raging hormones. Everyday she said she felt battle wounded with her girls. Then she delighted in my innocent, and in comparison... easy, challenges with a 2 and 4 year old. Her remark echos in my head, "Enjoy this stage. It is wonderful."

Today, Alexander came up to me (like countless times before) and tells me,"Mommy, CJ pushed me." (Insert any verb: hitting/shoving/tackling/etc.)
My standard reply , "What were you doing right before she pushed you?"
Alexander: "I was trying to eat her arm."
Me: "Okay, then. You stop eating her, she will stop pushing you."

It's great that he hasn't figured out how to lie to me about this YET, nor has he opted for the "Nothing" response. Life is good and I am truly enjoying this stage. :-)

Blogging about blogging

A couple of random thoughts about our blog:

1. I love it. I had to pull Jean kicking and screaming to create this thing, and now she is nearly the sole contributor. Many reasons for that, including:

--Jean is a great writer

--It seems that our readers are more interested reading about Jean and the kids than they are about me -- some of my former co-workers and friends told me that they skip right over my posts to get to Jeans' -- I don't know if they just busting my chops or not, but it hurt ;~)

--I sit in front of a computer all day, and don't feel particularly inspired to blog about the ridiculous things I do in my job. And no one wants to hear about it.

--Jean spends more time with the kids and therefore has more funny stories than I do. Not that I don't have funny things happen, but she just seems to be able to capture them better than I can. Many times, Alexander will say or do something ridiculous, and I'll look at Jean and say, "Blog about that!" It's like Jean is the Secretary of Blogging in the Nittany Valley Administration.

2. I don't feel the need to tell people what we've been doing lately. I'll be talking to my sister on the phone, she'll ask me what's new, and I'll say something like, "We went bowling, took a hike, went to the football game, check the blog, it's all on there." Jean does the same thing.

3. Comments. When we started this thing, a friend told me about comments. He said that we should comment on other people's blogs because that would encourage them to comment on our blog, which would, in turn, be encouragement for us to blog more often. We followed his advice, and he was right. Funny thing is, that may have been the only time he's ever commented. Shame on you Kris. You too Steph.

We do love comments, and I've learned to comment frequently on others' blogs. One of my favorite things to do is to just let someone know that I read their post and enjoyed it -- two words, "Great Post." I always hope that it makes them feel good about their writing skills, and that they will continue to blog about random occurrences.

4. It's weird, but not all of our friends know about the blog. There are guys who I talk to frequently who have no idea that we have this thing. I actually have to verbally tell them all the things we're doing. Maybe I should just give them the URL...

5. Pictures. We've found ourselves taking more pictures more frequently, just because of the blog. Which is great, except I'm soon going to have to buy a terrabyte external hard drive because Jean refuses to delete a single picture, even the terrible ones I take. Big argument in our house.

That's all for now.

Cheese

This just happened as I am making dinner. CJ is flipping through books in the other room, managing her 100'F temperature and finds a book she got from her baptism titled, "The Story of Jesus". She runs to me and says:

CJ: Mommy, a book about God.

Me: Yes, CJ. That book is the story of Jesus.

CJ: Oh, Cheese-Its. I LOVE Cheese-Its.

HA! Back to cooking...

Eye Emergency

The delay in posts is due to our recent family trauma. On Saturday afternoon, Alexander stabbed Zack in the right eye with his sharp fingernail while settling a dispute about toy ownership with his sister. This was a horrible scene. Zack flinging Alexander off his lap to cover his eye while dropping the f-bomb, Alexander proceeding to hysterically cry, and CJ wide-eyed and confused. I swooped into full-mommy action... checking to make sure that Zack was stable (albeit in throbbing pain -- no blood, though), calmed Alexander and then quickly put CJ to nap.

After assessing the situation and then seeing the doctor later that afternoon, we learned that Zack's cornea was scratched. I mean slashed --the scratch was wide and long. Totally gross. It was cool to see through the microscope at the doctor's office (much to Zack's chagrin, but I dig that kind of stuff).

Needless to say, he has been out of commission. His pain is slowly decreasing by the day and this was the first day since Saturday that it hasn't been freakishly dilated. He went to work today, but still can't drive. Good times here in our casa. Stay tuned for more... they say it will take at least 10 to 14 days to recover.

An Improptu Visit to Grandma and Pop Pop's

So this is how we roll. On Thursday, we decided that it was time for a visit to Grandma and Pop Pop's, and the Aunt who shall not be named on the internet. Since said Aunt doesn't read the blog, I should post her name, pictures of her and her kids, and architectural drawings of her house. But I'm a good sister, so I will respect her privacy. But I digress.

The plan was to trick or treat on Friday, eat some candy, and then make the three hour drive. Great idea, huh? What are we, still in our 20's?

The drive actually went fine, and the visit was terrific. It was great to see my parents, and even better for the kids to see their grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousins. On Saturday, we went for a nice hike at a nearby park then spent some quality time at Grandma and Pop Pop's.

As you can see from the pictures, we skipped rocks in the lake, walked in the woods, and hammered in nails in Pop Pop's workshop (possibly the highlight of the trip for Alexander). And we ended the day with lots of ourdoor play, a campfire, and a great dinner.

Horse Update

After missing last week's lesson (due to SNOW!), I was very happy to get back up in the saddle this week. This is more than just a random activity for me. It is a time for some exercise (think non-stop squats and lunges), some fresh air (outside of the stable, that is), and some plain old, fun "me time". I just love the hour a week I get to "play" with a horse.

This week was a new level for me as a rider. For those not versed, you have different paces for riding: walk, trot, cantor, gallop. For the last two months I have perfected the walk and worked very hard to get in rhythm with the trot. But this week, I GOT TO CANTOR. Whoa, Nelly... that is a whole lot of fun. The only way I can describe it is as if you were going from a flat road bicycle ride to all of a sudden flying down hill and having a ton of fun doing it. It was great. Until the trainer started to ask the horse to do some more, the horse was not happy about it and then he went from a cantor straight into a bucking motion. WHOA, NELLY. Good news is that I held on. Not sure if I am more impressed that I cantored or that I didn't just roll off the horse. I'll let the "comments" decide!

Halloween 2008

What a great year for Halloween. So far, ages 4 and 2 are super cool. Both Alexander and CJ were completely caught up in the fantasy world that is Halloween and the joys of candy procurement that comes along with it.

For the last 2 months, Alexander has been steadfast in his desire to be a ghost. He perfected his spooky ghost sounds, "OOOooooOOOOOoooOOOO" and "BOO!" While CJ has changed her mind every time the wind changed its course. For the same two months, both Alexander and I have pushed the idea of being a witch. We bought a witch costume and the prerequisite broom, taught her how to say "I'm going to get you my pretty" in an eerie voice, and really played up the whole idea. Two days before the big trick-or-treat day, CJ locked onto her costume. Yes, she loved being a purple butterfly... much to my and Alexander's dismay.

The sun set, costumes donned and make-up applied --we were off to trick-or-treat. Both kids did great running up to the doors with their neighborhood friends, ringing the bells, mumbling "trick-or-treat" and then grabbing the loot. After about 5 houses, CJ was done. Pushing her on, it only took 6 more houses for Alexander to state, "Mommy, I'm done. Can we go home and eat it now?" My reply? "Yes! Awesome, we're done."