House Rules

Well I finally did it - I followed a few other people's leads and made a house rules, chores and rewards chart for the kids...with their help! Surprisingly enough, they had several suggestions - some I used and some I didn't

Before we started, I decided to make cup cakes with all of them. While they were baking, we started the charts.

The girls have their own chores chart


and Brennan has his


and then there are the house rules that everyone must follow.


They will earn coins for doing their chores - or going above and beyond - and lose coins for breaking the house rules. After they earn so many coins they can "cash" them in for a reward.

Such concentration!

Everyone had to take a turn putting on the icing

Almost done...and ready to eat!

While we waited for our cupcakes to finish, we finalized the charts...and they added a few decorations to their chores chart. Here's hoping this will create more balance and less chaos in our house :-) Now on to those cupcakes...

Introducing Cole Alexander

My sister welcomed her 2nd baby boy on September 2nd at 12:58 a.m....Cole Alexander. He weighed 8 lbs., 4 oz., and was 21 inches long. I've gotta give Jenn (my sister) props...she went drug free during the entire delivery! Not by choice - waiting for the doc she dialated pretty fast and before she knew it they were past the point of giving her an epidural so drug free it was for her. She's my HERO now! I told her that her hubby owes her a big time spa trip for all that pain!! he he

Isn't he sweet?

But in the end she got the most perfect baby boy who is incredibly sweet and adorable. Not that I'm biased or anything! I can't wait to meet him - which might not be until Christmas (I hate living so far away) so until then I will have to survive by just seeing pictures of him.

The Happy Family

Congrats Jenn, Nick and big brother Chase....he's perfect and I'm so happy to have another nephew!

Are you ready for some football?!

I sure am! I absolutely LOVE football season - specifically pro football and the Redskins - and I'm so happy the season kicked off again tonight. The game is on right now and although I'm not happy with their performance so far (it's 16-0 with 1 minute left in the half)
I'm so glad football is back.


GO SKINS!!!

Not only do we have something to watch all day Sunday and Monday night, but it also means the shows I love are coming back on soon...sure it means we've hit homework hell with our kids, the sports shuttle (aka my truck!) is running full steam and my hours at work are increasing, but I love fall, I love football and I love being a sports mom...I know...I'm goofy!

Update on the game...we just scored (FINALLY) so it's now 16-7. Jeesh we need to get it together!!!

Happy football season! I need to get back to paying attention to my Skins.

McKenna's "accident"

Last weekend David took on the somewhat daunting task of teaching Alyssa & McKenna to ride their bikes without training wheels while I was golfing. McKenna is a very determined little girl who told her daddy she wanted to learn how to ride it like that before her sister!! A little sibling competition is good for the soul right?! ha ha They spent several hours outside in the grass mastering their skills and when I came home progressed to the driveway. Alyssa isn't nearly as determined as McKenna - she gives up much easier and has little to no patience (hmmm...wonder who she gets that from! he he) - but I'm happy to say they both had it under control for the most part by that evening.

McKenna

Of course they wanted to show off their new skill for their friends and family so we headed down the street to Wendy & Scooty's house (David's cousin) where they had tons of people to show...5 other kids including their cousin's Megan & Trevor, my bro and sis-in-law (Melissa & Jimmy) and Scooty's parents.


Alyssa

It's a gorgeous night - I grab a beer and a seat in the comfy adirondack chair and begin to chat. Not 10 minutes later we hear a LOUD THUMP and about 10 seconds later someone screams "OH MY GOD, SHE'S BLEEDING!"....she being McKenna. The determined little girl had drove her bike right into the back of my parked SUV...nose first :-( Naturally there was lots (and lots) of bleeding, but lucky for me, Scooty is an EMT so he took control. I wasn't freaking out at all - I was talking to her the entire time and holding her hair back as he worked to control the bleeding. Good news - all her teeth were still in place and she was only injured on the nose. Bad news -her nose had swollen up instantly and was turning black & blue so we decided a little trip to the ER was for the best.

It's hard to tell, but notice the blood on her bow on the shirt...and her one nostril is dark...that's blood!

Thanks to Melissa & Jimmy - they kept Alyssa & Brennan (who was gagging when he saw the blood!!!) - while we went to the ER. We arrived at 8:18 p.m. and we left at 2:30 a.m. Yes, SIX HOURS later we were finally released with a bruised and scratched up daughter, but no broken or fractured nose...thank goodness! She slept from 10 p.m. - 1 a.m. while we waited to have x-rays taken so at least she caught a good cat nap. David & I on the other hand, were super tired - not to mention bored - but happy to find out it wasn't broken.

It's blurry - but it was taken at 3 a.m. Notice the bruising - it's hard to see!

The very next day we headed over to my mother-in-law's house so McKenna, and Alyssa, could show off their new bike riding skills. I'm happy to report that no one crashed and burned...and that McKenna was brave enough to get back on the bike less than 24 hours later. The bike riding continues...and I'm sure we'll have more bumps and bruises along the way...but for now things have calmed down some in our house. Thank goodness :-)

Mother's Instinct

Last Friday I took Alyssa & Brennan to the Blue Crabs game...a minor league baseball team that recently opened in our county. Melissa, Megan, Kerry and Jayci joined us and we met Joanne there with her granddaughter Gracie. The theme of the night was Skins vs. Dallas so naturally our entire group was DECKED out in Redskins gear! Booo Dallas :-)

Alyssa, Megan, Jayci & Brennan

My mom and a few of her friends also attended the game...we sat behind the Blue Crabs dugout and they sat behind the opposing team's dugout.

Me, Melissa & Kerry

Kerry, Jayci, Megan & Melissa singing Hail to the Redskins!

The night started out great. The weather was beautiful, Joanne was able to get us seats in her section - 4 rows from the field, right behind the home team dugout - it was perfect. Not soon after we sat down Joanne called her daughter Shelby - who works for the Blue Crabs - to see if she could get all 5 kids down on the field for a carnvial like game in between innings. Shelby quickly called back and said yes and within a few minutes she was standing at the top of the stairs in our section waiting for them to go up to her.

Melissa called my mom to let her know to look out for them and I got my camera ready....my last words to Melissa were "please don't let that girl lose my kid" to which she replied "don't be ridiculous - they are FINE!"

So off they go - up to Shelby - back down to the field and they're playing a game where you have to throw a ball (or bean bag) into the clown's mouth on the big wooden board....I'm taking pics and then I suddenly realize BRENNAN IS NOT ON THE FIELD!!!!

Notice - no Brennan - no #89 jersey anywhere on that field...this is where the night went downhill!

My panic level rises slightly - Melissa asks my mom if she can see him from her seats...no. I ask Kerry if she sees him...no. Then the kids are coming back up the stairs, off the field and I yell to Alyssa "where's Brennan?" and she shrugs her shoulders and says I dunno. OH MY GOD...OH MY GOD - are you serious?! Melissa hangs up with my mom, I drop everything in my hands and immediately start crying....and running.

I run up the stairs searching - looking at every little face I can see - and none of them are my baby. My 5 year old is missing and I'm a hysterical mess. I finally find a cop and tell him my problem....he asks for his stats....name, height, age, what's he wearing....this is when i realize that he's not wearing anything that will make him stand out in the crowd...he's wearing a Santana Moss (89) Redskins jersey and so are 90% of the people there (ok maybe not Moss, but a jersey!). He seemed rather uniniterested.

About 10 minutes has gone by at this time. I am sobbing. My mom is crying. Melissa is searching the men's bathrooms. The entire section I was sitting in is looking for him...and still my 5 year old baby is missing. How can this be?! HOW?

And then - finally -a lifetime later.....Kerry SEES HIM. OH MY GOD - she sees him and I take off sprinting in the direction she pointed. Still crying HARD - running fast - and I see him. He's really still here - holding an usher's hand - sobbing. I fall to the ground - literally - and hug him tighter than I thought possible. I just kept apologizing to him - I'm sooooo sorry buddy - I'm so sorry :-( People are watching us - my mom is crying - Melissa is crying - and people are just watching. The usher finally moves us into the nurse's station so we can regroup and calm down. I thanked him a million times and that wasn't enough. We cried and hugged more and my mom went to calm Alyssa down - who I forgot to mention was also sobbing for her little brother.

Back together again - so very happy!

In my entire life -I'm not sure I've ever felt panic like that. Not even when I was robbed at gunpoint a few years back. Nothing in my life has ever prepared me for that feeling and I hope for the rest of my life I never feel that type of panic again...ever. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I held him tight for the rest of the evening - treated him to ice cream and plenty of hugs & kisses.

Alyssa with the Blue Crabs mascot

Enjoying the slide before we left

It still brings tears to my eyes when I think I might have never found him. Two lessons learned from this terrible incident:

1. Make sure your kids know your first and last name....during his panic he couldn't remember our last name - poor baby :-(

2. Always go with your mother's instinct. My gut said he shouldn't go with that girl - I said it out loud to Melissa "please don't let that girl lose my kid" and I let him go anyhow. NEVER again will I ignore my mother's instinct....ever.

Oh I how LOVE this child....

First Day of School

Another year has begun - it's hard to believe how quickly the summer went by - but today was the first day of school! Alyssa & McKenna are officially 2nd graders and "my baby" is a kindergartner!!! Where did the time go?

Alyssa waiting to leave

So proud of his backpack!

McKenna

McKenna didn't get to ride the bus on the first day - more to come on that - but we were at the doc's office having her nose examined after she rode her bike into my SUV on Saturday night!!!

Brennan did great getting on the bus - he gave me a big smile, a big kiss and big wave good-bye and off he went.

Getting on the bus

Alyssa was sitting with him on the bus - being a good big sister. I was super proud of myself - not one tear was shed :-)

The Family

Let the fun of school and homework begin...hope everyone else had a great first day of school - or your kids did!

ASA Clambake

Every year my company does some sort of event for staff and/or family in the summer. The past few years we've had a company picnic and brought our families along. This year they changed it up and on Friday we had the first ever ASA Clambake at that National Harbor. Fosters Downeast Clambake were our hosts and everyone had a blast!

Melissa, Karen and I

Believe it or not, the weather was perfect (yes, it's still August in DC!) and we were under a tent right on the Potomac River. It was gorgeous! We indulged on New England Clam Chowder, Steamed Mussels & Clams and then a choice of BBQ chicken or a whole maine lobster, red potatoes and corn on the cob. I chose the lobster and it was delightful - so tasty :-)

Our yummy lunch!

Karen & I trying our first ever steamed clam....they were good!


Melissa & Toby


After that feast we finished with blueberry crumb cake wihch was very tasty too. And of course it wouldn't be an ASA event without booze and games! We played our own version of "The Office" Olympics and had a great time.

My Olympics team...Katie, Luanne, Lyn, Steve, Emily, Melissa, Brandon & Sarah

We did platform diving (think oversized paper clip being dropped in a coffee cup), javelin (paper airplanes), shotput (throwing staplers!), Olympic trivia, artistic gymnastics (charades) and basketball (cups filled with water were the baskets - the balls were ping pong balls). Unfortunately my team didn't win, but here's a shot of the gold medal winners...I think they cheated :-) ha ha


The Gold Medalists...Dawn, Karen, Joy, Ray, Michelle, Karen, Andrea & Tracy

Before we knew it the day had ended and most of the staff boarded the
water taxi and headed home.

A view from the tent

For anyone in the area, I'd highly recommend a visit to the National Harbor if you haven't seen it yet - it's very pretty and has lots of great restaurants to choose from...including Fosters!