Kumquats and such

On Friday morning, Jason drove to the Pentagon around 5:45 for a run to celebrate the 237th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. He was home shortly after 8 and we enjoyed a great day together. He developed a plan, somehow conned his father into driving to Mt Vernon (and bringing a chainsaw:) to help with a project. I posted earlier that we were lucky enough to get several truckloads of wood from a downed tree nearby, and though Jason was methodically splitting all the logs in a timely manner, we were still left with the problem of storing it (it needs to dry out). That's where Jason's plan comes in... After splitting even more logs, Jason and Fil got the chainsaw going and dropped two dead trees in the back part of the lot. Then, I casually said, "Hey, you should cut that one down. Sandy almost knocked it over!" Within minutes, the space was cleared and Fil was cutting the tree into smaller logs! This is the tree as it started to fall. Just on...

I've seen this project done on Pinterest, friends' blogs, and pre-school friendly emails I receive...and the other day, Reagan and I finally got the supplies gathered and put her art table to good use! A few weeks ago, Michael's was having a great sale on canvases. I decided to pick up a couple for Reagan to paint - she needs some art for her playroom. I know this is something most of you have already done or seen, but Reagan and I had a blast doing it, so I thought I'd recapture it here: Step 1: Use stickers to spell out a name/make a design/etc Step 2: Set up paint. We used sponges cut into strips for this step. ( Reagan rarely remembers to wash the paint brush between colors, so having one sponge for each color proved to be a better idea. ) Step 3: Let the kiddo go to town painting the canvas. I had to remind her several times to make sure she painted over the stickers. I think that part was a bit confusing for her. Step 4: Allow ca...

On Sunday morning, we woke up, ate a quick breakfast and got ready to head out to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History . We drove separately as Gray and Katie were planning on spending the remainder of the day with several family members. After a brief potty stop in Old Town, and a quick trip around the Mall (traffic was rerouted due to a local race), we finally found parking and unloaded the vehicles. We made the short walk to the museum, pausing to take a couple family pictures:  And finally, we made it there! We met Katie's brother and his wife just inside the building and did a brief introduction. We started walking around the mammals exhibit while waiting for Katie's sister and her family to arrive.  Chloe was getting a bit sleepy (due to day light savings and sleeping in a new place) so she rested on her mommy's shoulder:) Nora was an angel and slept throughout the entire tour of the museum! We eventuall...

On Saturday, November 3rd, our friends, Katie and Gray, brought their two adorable little girls to visit. Reagan and Chloe saw each other almost daily for the last 10 months of our time in NC and missed each other like crazy! That morning, we had gone over to a friend's house to watch them cut up a giant tree in the front yard (Jason was actually doing work). After watching for a bit, Reagan and I headed to the store to get some stuff for that evening's dinner. As we were slowly walking through the store, Katie called and said, "We're right around the corner!" We raced through the remaining aisles and checked out as quickly as possible. Luckily, the store is only about a mile away! As we drove up, Reagan saw Gray's truck and started screaming with excitement! The girls immediately hugged and kissed without skipping a beat! I really wish I had my video camera. As soon as the car was unloaded, Jason and four of the men he was chopping wood with arrived wit...

As you know, we recently moved. That meant cleaning out the file cabinet and getting rid of all those old electric bills, water company statements, etc. In the past, we have burned most of our documents like that, but now we are the proud owners of the world's simplest shredder...no more than 5 sheets at a time. It's also one of the best ways to entertain Reagan! She loves feeding it into the machine (and yes, she's closely supervised during this activity:). After a great shredding session, I looked at the basket of paper and thought to myself, "There must be something fun we can do with this!" Naturally, I turned to Pinterest . Immediately my screen was flooded with pictures and ideas. I selected this one and got the supplies together before heading downstairs to Reagan's playroom. Step 1: Shred Paper Step 2: Line table with wax paper & cover bowl with plastic wrap Step 3: Mix 2 parts glue, 1 part water Step 4: Stir glue mixture wit...