Baseball is Back!

It's not quite Opening Day yet, but since Owen had a half day at school on Friday, and the Nats were playing the Yankees for an exhibition game, we decided it was time to take in a ballgame.  The Nats lost, but the game doesn't count, and it was fun to be back at a baseball game.  For a special treat, we stopped by the team store and picked up a Nats flag to fly at home.  Can't wait for the season to start!

Someone is a little too cute for her own good

Sunrise

Owen's new room faces East, so he gets to wake up his Mesozoic menagerie silhouetted against the sunrise :-)

This is Spring?

It's Spring, the Snowquester was a bust, and we haven't had two inches of snow in over two years.  Yet somehow we managed to get a little snow storm.  It didn't amount to much, but it was enough to give us our first accumulation in the new house.  Too bad it turned to rain and melted away before we had a chance to play in it...

Pigeon

A few days ago we put up a post with Nora's first real drawing, and a look back at Owen's first as well.  They really never stop amazing you, Owen has entered a really interesting artistic phase.  His latest work that resonated with me was a Pigeon on notebook paper. His drawings these days remind me of a quote form Six Degrees of Separation (though he's a year early ;-)

Why are all your students geniuses? Look at the first grade - blotches of green and black. The third grade - camouflage. But your grade, the second grade, Matisses, every one. You've made my child a Matisse.

Auction Night

Friday night was the Cluster Rocks Auction fundraiser for Owen's school, so Elaine and I dressed up, and walked over to the Atlas theater for a night of drinking, dancing, and bidding all for a good cause.  The auction was actually really cool, everyone got there own iPod Touch with a bidding app to view items and make bids.  We bid on some cool seats in the City Council box for a Nats game, but they quickly became too rich for our blood.  We thought we might have a better shot at the swim lessons that Ronan's dad was offering, but lost out on those at the last minute.  We did manage to win a $100 gift certificate for Joy of Motion, where Nora takes dance classes (and got it for less than face value!), and a nature hike on the Billy Goat Trail in Great Falls for Owen led by his principal and some of the teachers at the Cluster.  In the end, everyone had fun and we raised a lot of money for the school, way to go PTA.

First Drawings

Just a few weeks ago Nora through a full on temper tantrum because she could only draw "scribble scrabble."  She clearly had an idea in her head about what she wanted to draw, but couldn't quite get it on the paper.  Shortly after that something clicked, and she handed me the picture above, a wonderful picture of Nora (in her favorite color purple) and Daddy (in his favorite color blue). It reminded me of the first recognizable picture Owen drew (also of Daddy, but in orange), and when I looked back to see when he drew his picture I found that it was in March of 2010, just after Owen turned 3 1/2, the exact same age Nora is now.  It's neat how these developmental milestones line up sometimes.

Both of these pictures hang on the wall in my office now, to give me a daily reminder about how amazing it is to watch your kids grow, and that my kids see me as a short guy with a big nose ;-)

The New Digs

Back in November, we started looking for a new house that would accommodate the four of us and Allen's dad. We fell in love with an "urban castle" which featured a turret and exposed brick, and put an offer on it right before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, someone with a much bigger bank account also fell in love with it, and beat us out in a heated bidding war.

We kept looking, but finding a three bedroom plus in-law suite house in NE Capitol Hill, preferably on a corner lot (in order to insure the in-law suite had some light) wasn't particularly easy. Our real-estate agent early on suggested a renovation a half block off H street, but I, having lived just off Columbia Road in Adams Morgan back in the nineties, was adamant that that being so close to the bars and restaurants was not conducive to a safe and happy family life.

So we forged on. We went to every 4 bedroom open house on the Hill over the course of two months (that sounds more impressive that it really was, as inventory on the Hill is notoriously low). Nothing seemed to fit the bill and interest rates began creeping up, so I relented. We got into another bidding war with someone with a bigger bank account that us, but this time we managed to outmaneuver them. 30 days later we owned a new house and last Friday we moved in (with a lot of help from Aunt Katherine).

And then Saturday, we had Katherine, John, Uncle Pete, Aunt Jeannine, cousin Molly and her boyfriend Tyler over for dinner.

The kids love their new rooms (Owen in particular who's living space has roughly tripled), Owen's balcony, the back yard, and the wide open spaces (we still need to buy some more furniture...). Allen likes our spacious new kitchen and master bath (though we've been having trouble figuring out the fancy new shower) and parking. Grandpa Fawcett hasn't officially moved in yet, but he seems good with it all.

As for me, I'm still trying to figure out how to sleep in our new room without window treatments to block the city lights and some sort of sound proofing for weekend nights. I'm also feeling a bit sad to have left the house we brought both of our kids home to, but I think we'll eventually be settled and happy here (once everything is fixed, we've sold our other house, and used the proceeds to buy some blackout shades).

And speaking of which, anyone interested in 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bathroom house?

Snowmass - 2013

Two years ago we celebrated my birthday with our first ski trip to Colorado's amazing Snowmass with the Hyatt's, Pearson's and Billy.  We couldn't get the whole gang back together, but we did manage to meet up with Nabeel and Megan for another Snowmass adventure this year.  The kids were all a bit older, so Nora could go to ski school this time (and begged for more by the end); Liam graduated to the Grizzly Bears group, and was taking the lift and everything in class; Owen started taking on Blues (which are a little more challenging in Colorado than they are on the East coast); and Kaden spent his days skiing the blacks and learning moguls (he'll be better than all of us soon).

Some of the many highlights: We woke up on our second day of skiing to find nine inches of fresh powder at the top of the mountain and sunny skies to boot.  We took advantage of the great conditions and rode the High Alpine lift up to near the top of the mountain, and hiked up a little further to try our hand at some amazing powder on Upper Green Cabin.  On our third day we took on an even bigger hike up in order to ski down Longshot, the longest run in North America, then spent the afternoon cruising through the Aspens down around Two Creeks.  We had some amazing meals, a delicious lunch at Lynn Britt Cabin, and a phenomenal sushi dinner out at Matsuhisa in Aspen.  Nabeel broke out his fancy new camera, and took some amazing pictures.

Of all the days on the slopes, the most fun might of been our last. Owen and Kaden joined the adults on the slopes, and we spent the day on some challenging Blues, like the boys' favorite Bull Run.  It was really cool to see how Owen has taken to skiing, and pretty amazing that we can already spend the day skiing as a family, and not even feel like he's holding us back too much.  I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts, because it wont be too long before Owen and Kaden start leaving us in the dust (and really making Mommy nervous ;-)

It really was an amazing trip, and we're already starting to think about next time ... Whistler 2015 in British Columbia!

(Click here for all the pictures)

Elephants Cannot Dance!

As read by Nora Atchison Fawcett.

Technical Difficulties

So our laptop has run out of memory, which means we can't upload pictures or videos. We knew this was going to happen, and were simply hoping that it would happen after Apple released its new desktop. Alas, that's not the case and in fact, Apple has delayed the release of their latest product.

So you're going to have to wait until sometime in late January to hear about our Christmas celebration. And New Years. And what the kids have been taking pictures of with their new cameras. And anything else that might occur before we are up and running.

Our apologies. I assure you -- we really are working on this.

2012 - The Year in Facebook Status Updates

When another parent tells you that you're good for their self-esteem, that's not really a compliment is it… ~ What’s the proper disposal method when your child breaks a crèche? It seems a little wrong to just throw away baby Jesus. ~ My co-workers are debating whether DOL is bigger than a cruise ship for reasons I don't understand. It's almost impressive how much time and energy is going into standardizing the units of measure in order to accurately determine which has the larger volume. Almost. ~ Nora made up a song about bacon sung to the tune, "dreidel, dreidel, dreidel." I don't think she fully grasps the irony. ~ So Owen is fully enrolled in summer camps...by January 25th. ~ went a little "tiger mom" over Nora this morning. Not my finest parenting moment, but at least it's now clear that chocolate teddy grahams are only for little girls that can count to four. ~ Owen’s ant farm is finally operational. Can’t wait for harvest. ~ First night sleeping in her big girl bed. ~  Less than 24 hours and we've already had an ant breach. ~ Just found out the pancakes I purchased for Owen’s class party last month have been recalled. Awesome: I’ve become the, "she's trying to kill us" mom. ~ Gone skiin'. ~ Made an evolution reference while dropping off Owen at Sunday school and got a look from his teacher. Apparently not my target audience. ~ Granville Moores' menu touts that the bison burger is made from "local" bison. 'Cause DC is known for its roaming buffalo. ~ I’m really glad that Nora is learning Spanish. I just wish she would stop telling me I’m "grande." ~ Overheard at a 5 year old's birthday party, "girls can marry girls and boys can marry boys." ~ At bedtime this evening, Owen asked that I "entertain [him] to sleep." ~ So Owen officially has a lateral lisp, which is really what one would expect of the progeny of "captain slurry." ~ Someone on the moms on the hill listserve posted an ad on craigslist for a 3 foot sub (valued at $50 but selling for $25) that they didn't need for dinner this evening. Someone bought it within 15 minutes. Really, people? ~ Owen (aka Superman) informed me that he was going to text Batman (to inform him of our location and other relevant details). Ah, kids today. ~ I'm really hoping that the Cluster School Newsletter made a typo, and that in fact it hasn't been a busty week. ~ I wish you could bottle 2 1/2 year olds' giggles. ~ Owen's classmate Cate told someone she wanted to marry Owen. When they asked Owen if he wanted to marry Cate- Owen responded "Kind of." Ah- kindergarten courtships. ~ While attempting to get the kids ready for bed- Owen jumped up naked on the couch and informed us he needed to put on a show while Nora ran to the kitchen and peed on the floor. Thanks Easter bunny. ~ I was just reprimanded for not putting a leave request in the form of a question. Because apparently I work at Jeopardy. ~ Taking a shade break on the Capitol grounds while listening to the strains of Herman Cain speaking at a Tea Party rally. ~ Alas- packing sunscreen is only a necessary and not a sufficient condition. ~ If I'd known she'd decide to serenade me with it at 6:50 on a Saturday morning- I never would have given my 2 year old a harmonica. ~ In honor of cowboy day at Nora’s daycare- the kids have opted to rock out to Thin Lizzie this morning. ~ Let the single parenting commence. ~ In deference to Allen’s belief system in his absence- the kids are rocking out to “Science is Real” prior to Sunday school. ~ My daughter- after passing them in the hallway- described the deputy assistant secretary of EBSA and the director of the office of health plan standards and compliance assistance as "scary people." this could make tomorrow's briefing slightly awkward. ~ Nora went shopping for my mother’s day present today. She picked out a stuffed pig that kisses. I clearly should have slipped her or else her daycare teacher more money. ~ FYI: the North Pole lies in the Arctic Ocean rather than on a land mass. Failure to know this will result in condescension by my husband- despite his best efforts to suppress it. ~ Looking up brownie recipes in some cookbooks I inherited from my grandmother. Apparently- to the Iowa church going community of the 70s- oleo and Crisco were compliments rather than substitutes. ~ Some days I think Joan Crawford might have had a point. ~ That's ok- Nora. I don't mind being awoken from a deep sleep at 3 in the morning right as I was about to apprehend Jason Segal and Kate Hudson in some nefarious plot I don't recall but that involved golf carts by your scream only to be told as I ran to comfort you to "go away" because that's what mommies are here for. ~ Dear fb and fb friends: I am never going to play bubble safari. Ever. So let's just save ourselves the hassle and embarrassment and stop inviting me to play. ~ Nora just informed us she- "has too many guys." Happy Father's Day Eve Allen Fawcett ~ to paraphrase Kenny Rogers- you picked a fine time to leave [us] AC. ~ and now we've lost power. Oh freon gods- why have you forsaken us? ~ nine years -- most of which successfully involved artificial temperature control. Happy anniversary- Allen Fawcett. ~ Finally get the air conditioning fixed and Nora responds by wrapping herself in a blanket and announcing she's cold. ~ There is cat food on the floor of the women's restroom at DOL. sigh. So many things wrong with that sentence. ~ will be using an alternative route to work this morning to avoid the scotus madness at 1st and constitution. ~ Home. Which would be awesome if it wasn't 105 degrees. ~ File under the law of unintended consequences: Owen now loves Katy Perry's "Fireworks" b/c it's Ryan Mattheus's walk-up song. ~ opened a door onto a woman in a wheelchair this afternoon so I guess we know where I'll be spending eternity. ~ I'm drinking a corn milkshake. The things I do for love... ~ so the good news is that our wedding rings have appreciated significantly since we got married; the bad news is that Allen's is now at the bottom of the pond. ~ was feeling pretty good about myself when- after a 10 day tour of the Midwest- my scale read "Lo" until I realize it was referring to the battery. ~ Narrowly avoided this morning: becoming the middle-aged lady who swallowed a fly. ~ filling out school forms while drinking white wine -- the duality of it all. ~ Just enrolled Nora in dance class and Owen in baseball camp for the fall. Also just lost all credibility regarding any discussion of gender roles in society. ~ My son forgot his pants at camp. ~ Nora had a playdate this afternoon. The mom asked me if Nora could have a b-r-o-w-n-I-e. She spelled it multiple times and I still couldn't figure out what she meant. I'm not certain we'll be invited back. ~ My baby is wearing underwear. ~ Why does my GPS hate me? ~ Listening to "Relax" by FGTH while driving the kids to Sunday School. #subversivesundays ~ the one silver lining regarding global warming is that in the future- I won't have to spend 40 minutes arguing with a screaming 3 year old about seasonally appropriate clothing. ~ You know what's worse than bringing your kids to a bar? Bringing them to one frequented by Heritage Foundation interns. ~ Nora broke into "The More We Work Together" in front of the Capitol. From the mouths of babes... ~ so I'm sure that I heard wrong- but I swear Dora just said that the Spanish word for "prince" was "fancy pants." ~ I'm not sure that I'm emotionally mature enough to handle a division series. ~ Shattered my iphone while playing kickball with Owen this evening and learned two important lessons: 1) playing kickball during a national's playoff game warrants a karmic reprimand and; 2) Allen’s decision to buy an iphone 5 despite having a perfectly good iphone 4 was in fact prescient and not- as previously believed- self-indulgent. ~ Nora got stuck in a glue trap in my office this morning. Awe, Wednesdays. ~ Oh- nationals. If only you could have pulled it off then the fact that my 6 year old is out past midnight wouldn't seem like such bad parenting.  ~ The tv is broken and Allen is out of town which means I actually have to interact with my children for the next two days. ~ While listening to our Nationals Walk-up Mix- I asked Owen who's song was "Howlin' for You." He replied "Strasburg." I responded "Really? I thought his walk-up song was by the White Stripes." Owen replied, "Mom, do you even know what the White Stripes sound like?"   No- and apparently neither does Owen since we were actually listening to the Black Keyes. ~ My 6 and 3 year olds have been getting a little James Haven/Angelina Jolie-ish. Is this a normal development brother/sister thing or something icky we need to nip in the bud? ~ Playing scrabble with Allen. It's probably best for our marriage that we don't encounter hurricanes too often. ~ Learned 2 important lessons about my son this morning: 1) he has an extremely loose tooth; and 2) he is terrified of losing his baby teeth. ~ I pulled my child out of a car window in order to make the bus this morning- which is a pretty good measure of how the day's been going. ~ On the walk home- I referenced a question asked at Allen Fawcett's conference over whether the proceeds of a carbon tax should go to the government or the people. Owen chimed in "government" (because it's better than people") while Nora shouted "people." After 3 blocks of yelling their differing views, Owen finally got Nora to say "government" and proclaimed himself the winner. DC childhoods are weird. ~ It is a really unfortunate thing when the "very cherry" jelly bellies get mixed up with the "cinnamon" jelly bellies. ~ Owen asked me in church tonight if the "Our Father" was the 30 minute mark. ~ Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. ~ Turns out I can't make jello.

Christmas 2012

Christmas in DC is always carried off in stages. Christmas Eve we hosted Mom Mom, Grandpa Fawcett, Katherine & Lee and Nancy, Danny and Christopher for dinner and a non-santioned present opening session. The dinner went well, but the unwrapping part of the evening descended into bedlam. Aunt Katherine has always been reluctant to open any presents in a timely fashion, and had to be pressed to finally agree to the night's entertainment. But then Allen allowed Owen to distribute the presents without regard to their contents, resulting in Mom Mom getting an iPad cover prior to receiving her new iPad. Mom Mom was confused; Aunt Katherine was horrified; and Allen (and all Christmas Eve present opening) is now banned from future holiday celebrations.

We opened Santa's presents quickly at our house on Christmas morn before heading to Mom Mom & Grandpa Don's for even more presents and a lot more food. Owen and Nora snapped pictures with their new cameras, Owen carried around his new Lego Ninjago's Destiny Bounty from Mom Mom (we decided it best for him to not start assembling the 642 pieces that day), and Nora just enjoyed all the goodies Mom Mom had to offer.

When Nancy, Danny & Christopher arrived, we sat down to a delicious Christmas dinner (and discovered that Nora really loves Yorkshire Pudding) and then opened even more presents before dessert and a final "Merry Christmas" for 2012.

(To see all the Christmas pictures, please click here.)

'Twas the Day before Christmas

Thanks to the President (and the federal employees lobby), we found ourselves with Christmas Eve day off, and only a minimal amount of preparation required for hosting duties that night. So we decided to meet up with Aunt Katherine, Uncle L and Makayla as well as Grandpa Fawcett and head to the Botanical Garden (or as it's known to Owen, whose never been to any of the Disney complexes, "The Most Magical Place on Earth").

The Garden is pretty popular this time of year, due to its impressive annual train display. Being hearty and having seen most of the other exhibits multiple times (again, due to Owen's love of all things botanical), Allen was kind enough to save our place in the outdoor queu for 45 minutes while we took in the other sights. Once he made it inside the building, we joined him and eventually got to see fairies, and mermaids, and lots and lots of trains. It was nice alternative to working and a great way to ring in the holidays.

If our child falls alseep in a forest...

We are quirky parents. We buried our son's umbilical cord in our front yard. We made stop motion animation books about our daughter rolling over. We forced our son to pose for pictures while suffering from a head trauma. And for nearly six and a half years, we've recorded every nap, diaper change and nursing episode that our children encountered.

But that is about to change.

With Owen going off the books long ago (back when he started at Peabody and we stopped getting information about if and for how long he napped during the day) and Nora now being completely potty-trained, there's not a lot to track. We agreed a while ago that when our subscription for the Trixie Tracker came up next, we would let it lapse. That day is today (which means that in at least one sense, the Mayans were right).

We've gotten a lot of grief over the years regarding our OCD tendencies concerning our children's more basic functions, but knowing that information was extremely helpful early on, and, well, later it just didn't seem like something really happened unless we recorded it for posterity. Personally, I'm going to miss it. And so it is with a somewhat heavy heart, I report the final stats as this phase of our lives ends:

Diapers Changed
Owen: 7,465
Nora: 7,139

Minutes Nursing/Bottle Equivalent
Owen: 31,824*
Nora: 24,292

Longest Single Sleep
Owen: 11 hours, 54 minutes (December 26, 2009)
Nora: 12 hours, 50 minutes (November 4, 2012)

Awake Longest During the Day
Owen: 16 hours, 33 minutes (July 3, 2010)
Nora: 15 hours, 24 minutes (August 24, 2012)

Awake the Least During the Day
Owen: 7 hours, 49 minutes (March 17, 2007)
Nora: 7 hours, 23 minutes (September 12, 2009)



(Please note: Owen's nursing stats are artificially high due to our attempts to convert bottle feedings to nursing equivalents. The underlying assumptions were revised downwards when Nora began nursing. However, we made no attempts to update Owen's nursing stats with the revised assumptions.)

Holiday Cheer

It's been a rough week for everyone. It's also been a week that coincided with Owen's Holiday party at school. I spent Wednesday morning with 21 first graders doing what all six and seven years olds should be doing this week before Winter Break. If only they all could.

Tiny Dancer

Nora started taking dance lessons this fall on Saturday mornings, a few blocks from our house. We thought Nora, who's still too young for soccer or t-ball, would enjoy twirling around with other kids her age while Owen was at baseball camp. Plus we figured we'd get some adorable photos to share with friends and family.

Alas, we found out the first day that not only does her studio discourage parents from being in the room during class, but bans filming and photography of any sort. Moreover, unlike the other classrooms, Nora's class was conducted in a windowless space.

So for months, I took Nora to class, waited in the hallway in case she needed a potty break, and occassionaly craned my neck to peek in on her progress through the small window on the door until she was released. Until Monday. At a make-up class, parents were finally allowed to view their progeny's progress and immortalize it for posterity. I wouldn't call it a recital per se, but it was certainly an exhibition and well worth the wait.

Range & Waffles

Elaine and I manged to score reservations for the preview night at Bryan Voltaggio's new restaurant Range, and Mom Mom & Grandpa Don agreed to let the kids sleep over, so we had a lovely date night.  The meal was delicious (especially the bone marrow, you may feel your arteries hardening, but it's totally worth it!), and to top things off, the next morning Nora and Mom Mom made waffles for everyone :-)  

My baby girl

Sometimes you just want to cuddle :-)

Father Christmas

The kids got  a special treat today, a visit with Father Christmas!  They were a bit nervous at first, but once they figured out Father Christmas was really our good friend Danny, everyone was all smiles.

Sotano

Back in our Austin days seeing friends play a show was a fairly regular occurrence, but now that we're older and living in the political instead of musical capital of the country, it was pretty special to see our good friend Brad play the Black Cat with his new band Sotano. Brad didn't get me on the guest list, but some free beer in the green room made up for that oversight ;-)  Most importantly, the show rocked!



(click here for the pictures)
(more videos here, here, here, and here)

Thanksgiving

This fall's Iowa trip culminated with Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Z's. Grandma Z had to get a little creative in the sleeping arrangements in order to accommodate Dave & Kara, Steve, Becky, Olivia, Maura, Sam & Erin as well as our entire crew. Moreover, given sheer number of celebrants under the age of 10, we decided to send part of the clan off to the Pond during the preparation portion of the day. But by the time John & Ellen and Uncle Bernie arrived for dinner, we were reunited and ready to party. It was a delicious meal (particularly as measured by the dearth of leftovers) which we attempted to work off through a series of post-dinner photos sessions until Uncle Dave introduced the concept of "photo bombs" to Sam and Owen.

Sadly, we had to head out the next morning for the long drive back to DC (after pancakes and a few rounds of hide & go seek, of course). But it was a great time filled with a lot of people we are especially thankful for and who we can't wait to see again when we come back this summer.

(To see the complete Thanksgiving collection, please click here.)

Second Cousins

The beautiful thing about visiting Iowa is that both sides of our family have roots here which often results in a BOGO effect for the holidays. While the Zimmerman side didn't make it to the Iowa City metro area until Wednesday afternoon, the Fawcett cousins were there Tuesday night, which meant a yummy lasagna dinner at Aunt Helen and Uncle Kens and an impressive number of little ones playing hide and seek (preceded by a tractor ride with Grandpa Fawcett).

The following morning, we all gathered at the pond to help take down the tee-pee as well as Hollywood and the paddleboat, before heading back to Iowa City for the Zimmerman side invasion.

All I Want for Thanksgiving...

Amidst all the madness last week, I noticed that one of Owen's teeth appeared to be askew. When I asked him about it, it became clear that: 1) the tooth was indeed loose; 2) he was not happy about this; 3) Owen neither believes in the tooth fairy nor does he want her coming any where near his teeth; and 4) Owen wants to keep all his baby teeth, and requested a means to tighten the errant dendrite.

I briefed Allen on Owen's status, and we decided to not to intervene and let nature took its course (which was a big concession from the man who, along with his father and a door, assisted in the removal of his baby sister's teeth). Allen wisely packed the tooth box that Mom Mom had made for him, which was put to good use when Owen pulled his tooth out himself on Sunday morning, and thereafter since Owen refused to trade his tooth for a dollar (or a penny as per Allen's scheme to teach him about exponential growth by offering him $.01*2^(t-1) for each tooth).

Fortunately, Grandma Z decided that the mere act of pulling out his tooth deserved some sort of reward, and so Owen came out of the whole experience with a gap in his smile, a tooth in his box and $2 in his backpack.

Aunt Katherine's

We started stopping in Cleveland on our way to Iowa back when Owen was just a baby. It was a convenient (almost) midway point in the drive between DC and Iowa City, and Katherine & Lee have always know how to show their guests a good time.

But all good things must come to an end, as it looks like Katherine & Lee may be moving closer to the DC metro area -- which is great in terms of our getting to see them more frequently, but kind of sucks for our cross-country trip planning. For our last official visit, Aunt Katherine pulled out all the stops -- batting cages, arcade games, a rocketship, Star Wars Episode I, pulled pork sandwiches, a wine tasting as well as Nora's beloved cupcake time. And while we'll miss ping pong ball, indoor camping and archery, as well as their ready access to Christmas Ale, we're excited to have Katherine & Lee several hours closer.

Autumn at Watkins

It's been a bit of a stressful week here in DC -- being directed by the White House to be as boring as possible while discussing carbon taxes at AEI, taking the car in to be serviced for a series of repairs we didn't know it needed, finishing up projects at work in order to leave town for the holiday, all while putting together an offer for a house. Just hours after finding out we didn't get our dream house owing to an evil, last minute all-cash offer, and just hours before driving through rush hour traffic to Aunt Katherine's to begin our Thanksgiving vacation, we were treated to a concert by Owen and the Watkins first graders. It was a nice diversion from the bitter sting of losing the house and the dread of what turned into a seven hour drive to listen to a bunch of six and seven year olds sing about the wonders of autumn, what they're thankful for, and how much they love America. Made us remember what's important...and how good mashed potatoes are.

(Note: Owen is in the first row of standing kids, slightly stage left, in a bright yellow shirt.)

Blue Eyes Crying

Nora has always seemed on the verge of tears -- not because she's perpetually distraught over the state of the world, but because she was born with a blocked tear duct. We'd previously looked into unblocking it when she was about 15 months old (we'd been advised that if it didn't correct itself by one year, we'd need to have a procedure done), but she threw up the morning of the surgery which we took as a sign that we should postpone indefinitely.

Indefinitely turned out to be 3 years of age as our regular pediatrician (who's missed the appointment where we decided to go ahead with the surgery at 15 months and had been horrified that we'd considered it at such a tender age) gave her blessing to try again. Originally scheduled for election day, Hurricane Sandy threw off Kaiser's schedule and so it wasn't until November 8th that Nora finally underwent the knife (or a rather, a metal probe).

Nora's not the best waker-upper, so we were a little concerned how she would respond to being woken up at 7 in the morning without benefit of food or drink per her pre-surgery instructions, but apparently a little The Little Mermaid en route makes everything better. Nora sailed into the ambulatory surgery center telling jokes (such as "Why did the toys cross the road?" whose punchline involves a robot chicken though I was never entirely clear how or why) and being only slightly annoyed by the surgical gown and heart monitor. It wasn't until they started to put her under that she got upset with the morning's adventure (requiring the anesthesiologist, a nurse and myself to hold her down). She woke up equally annoyed about 20 minutes later, but some cuddling and a be-be (as well as the promise of more Little Mermaid when we left) seemed to console her.

We were home by 11 am, where we cuddled on the couch watching some Dora before finally eating some food and taking a long nap. She's back at daycare today and seems fine (although she's had a slight bloody nose and occassional bloody discharge out of her eye, which we were told to expect). We're hoping that this surgery will do the trick as the next one would involve a plastic surgeon and irrigation tubes not to mention a pretty big mommy freak-out session if she has to go through all that again.

(click here for the pictures)

Halloween

Our usual plan for Halloween is to head over to Grandpa Fawcett's house on E. Capitol street to briefly join the hoards of trick-or-treaters then retreat back to the house for some chili and hand out candy to thousands of kids.  This year we weren't sure if the usual plan would work.  Claudine passed away earlier in the month, and the Halloween gathering at 813 was always her show.  While family and friends were gathered out in Kansas City for her funeral though, Dad and I decided that it would be a nice way to honor her memory.  We couldn't quite pull of the Kansas City chili, but Elaine made a delicious pasta Bolognese, Owen dressed up as Captain America and Nora as a fairy, we tricked and we treated, and of course Owen kept the crowds in check handing out countless pieces of candy.  Happy Halloween.

(click here for all the Halloween pictures)

Frankenstorm

To be honest, the most recent storm of the century didn't actually effect us much. Sandy conveniently hit after baseball camp, dance class, Violet and Brady's respective birthday parties and the Brown's annual Halloween extravaganza were over. Allen had gone to the grocery store on Friday afternoon, so we were flush with provisions when they announced Sunday night that both the government and schools would be closed.

So for lack of a better word, we hunkered down. The kids and I watched a frightening amount of Netflix, played a few board games,  did the odd arts & crafts project, and dressed up for a tea party while Allen worked on a paper.  And though the storm got pretty bad, we maintained electricity and wifi without taking on any water (save what Allen collected for posterity), which is more than we could say for poor Aunt Katherine and Uncle L in Cleveland.

Hotter'n Hades 2012

Last year Brad & Marlo's annual Hotter'n Hades Halloween party and chili cook-off happend during an October snowstorm. This year things looked grim for the party as Hurricane Sandy was bearing down on the area, but the storm held off until the day after the party, and the weather ended up being beautiful.  The street was closed, the bouncy castle was epic, and the chili was delicious (though Brad's chili was robbed in a case of questionable judging).

While the weather worked out for the party, our schedules weren't quite as cooperative.  Nora's best friend Violet had her 3rd birthday party the same day, and our neighbors Hunter & Joy were throwing a Halloween party of their own, so we divided and concurred this year.  Owen and I had a blast at the party, and hopefully next year we'll all be back in full force.  

Fall-ure

Every October we head out to Butler's Orchard, pick up some pumpkins (usually with Brad & Marlo and their offspring) and take some adorably staged pictures to herald in Fall. Except this year.

We meant to, really we did. Originally we planned on going with the Browns on October 7th, but inclimate weather and a Nationals' playoff game conspired to keep us inside and near a television with basic cable. Birthday parties, a block party, a school fundraiser and a funeral all conspired to insure that the only other possible day we could make it out to the orchard prior to Halloween was Sunday, October 21st. So after Sunday school, we fed the kids, packed our copy of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" for the car ride and headed out via the GW Parkway... only to discover en route that it was closed.

So instead, we went south to Mount Vernon. It was a glorious day to explore the grounds of our first President's abode, and while there was a noticable paucity of pumpkins and haybales, the kids enjoyed themselves, we got plenty of adorable pictures, and we later picked up some pumpkins at Harris Teeter.

Home Runs and Heartbreak

Owen and I have been going to baseball games together since shortly after he was born.  Since he missed out on the dizzying excitement of rocketing up to first place by the All Star Break in their inaugural season (only to collapse back to .500 by the end of the year), we always focused on enjoying each individual game, without worrying about the standings on our way to six straight losing seasons.

That all changed with the 2012 Nationals.  You could feel from Spring training that this team was different.  Young, talented, and full of heart, the Nats started out hot and never cooled off on their way to the best record in baseball. Owen and I went to 25 games during the regular season, saw a lot of great baseball, and experienced the highs and lows of a pennant chase.

Of course we went to all three home playoff games. We soaked in the pre-game pomp at game 3, and the buzz surrounding the first playoff game in DC since the 1933 World Series, and waited for something to cheer for, only to sulk home after 8-0 drubbing that put the Nats on the verge of elimination.

Game 4 turned out to be the most exciting and joyous sporting event of our lives.  Detwiler and the bullpen were masterful, but the Cardinals matched them inning after inning sending a tense 1-1 game to the ninth inning.  Jayson Werth led off and started off 0 and 2, but battled for 12 pitches before tearing a hole in the sky with a shot over the left field wall.  Pandemonium, the game was ours, the series was tied, and momentum was on our side going to the deciding game five.

The last game couldn't have started any better.  A double, triple and homer for Werth, Harper and Zimmerman put the Nats up 3 to 0 before the first out, and it looked like we were on our way.  But the Cardinals kept chipping away, until Drew Storen had to come on the save a 7 to 5 game in the ninth.  With two outs, we rose to our feet and cheered on our Nats for 23 pitches (five with two strikes!) that could have given the Nats the win.  But it wasn't to be...

It really was a magical season, hopefully the heartbreak of game 5 will blossom into victory next year.

Things were looking mighty good for our beloved Nats;
Harper found his batting eye, Zimmerman his bat.
Can this be right, is it true, are we having too much fun?
We were leading three to zip, and it was only inning one.

The innings really rolled along, we could not believe our eyes;
For Morse the Beast and Harper, homers big boy size.
Oh God is great and so are we, we sing hip hip hoorah;
At the end of three the Nats are six, the Cardinal lads nada.

It was very close to freezing, but no one there was cold;
World Series fever kept them warm, if the truth be told.
With victory in the offing, tomorrow will be a glorious day;
Then the Cardinals being birds, began to peck away.

There first score in inning four, put no damper on our glee;
Shortly then they got two more, but we still led it six to three.
By inning nine it's seven five, we're comfortably ahead;
But suddenly these Cards, seem risen from the dead.

Our closer guy is throwing heat, but Cardinal bats got hot;
We don't know how or why, but leading now we're not.
We had ourselves believing, we were on our way to Heaven;
But dreams became reality, we lost it nine to seven.

In Casey's famous epitaph, the sun did still shine bright;
Bands still played children sang, somewhere hearts were light;
Skies were bluest blue, and somewhere bells were ringing;
But there was no joy in Mudville, when Casey went down swinging.

And so it was in Washington, on a cold and windy eve;
Yes baseball is our greatest game, that I still believe;
But know like love it brings a risk, and that's the other part;
If you take it seriously, it just may break your heart.

- Bob Shieffer  

Great Falls 2012

We like to honor Christopher Columbus by discovering already existing lands, and so decided to spend the federal holiday visiting Great Falls, VA -- home of the Mather Gorge and the preferred destination for Allen's high school skip days. The kids love bouldering there and despite the numerous posted "danger" signs, I don't actually get that nervous when we go -- though maybe that's because Allen reserves Owen's most adventurist climbs for when I'm off distracted with Nora.

(To see all the Grat Falls 2012 pictures, please click here.)

The Mettenburgs

We're pretty excited that the Mettenburgs have returned to the east coast after what we like to call the "lost years" (also known as Joe's residency in St. Louis). We already made a stop in Pittsburg on our way back from Iowa this summer, and now they've returned the favor with a brief visit this past weekend.

Owen was glad to have a playmate that enjoys Legos and racing as much as he does; Nora was excited to see the former owner of her beloved, "Gigi dress" in person and to ask her for tips about coordinating tights. We were just happy to be able to take in the sights (and some bottles of wines) with some of our favorite people.

(To see all our pics from their visit (including our visit to the National Zoo's new "American Trail") please click here)

Food Prints

In the Spring of Owen's first year at Peabody, the Cluster Schools started a fundraising campaign to build a teaching kitchen at Watkins Elementary School. Knowing that Owen would be going there in a few years, we made some initial donations and then when it looked like they wouldn't make their $60,000 goal (in which case they would lose all the funds already pledged), we gave more. Fortunately, so did Chef Jose Andres and a bunch of his twitter followers, which put the campaign over the top.

Now that Owen is in first grade at Watkins, he's finally getting to take advantage of the community's largess.  On Wednesday I joined him for his second "Food Prints" session. Owen and his classmates planted kale in the Watkins garden, discussed plant anatomy, illustrated and labeled pepper plants, compared different varieties of kale, prepped kale for cooking, watched a demonstration and then ate the fruits (or rather the leaves) of their labors.

While Owen later claimed he didn't really like it, he certainly seemed to enjoy the "Lemon and Garlic Sauteed Kale" at the time, as did the rest of his class-- at least a third of whom cleaned their plates. An entire classroom of six year olds eating kale and enjoying themselves -- clearly money well spent.

(click here for all the pictures)

The Horsey Set

Now that Owen is in 1st grade, he doesn't see his old friends from daycare nearly as much, but thankfully he's still able to keep in touch with some of his oldest friends.  For his birthday, Leo, Brady and Sofia all joined us for a long and rainy Nats game; and this past weekend Sofia returned the favor and invited Owen to her 6th birthday party out at the Potomac Horse Center.  Sofia's parties are always a blast, and no doubt the horses would be a hit.  The kids all had a hay ride, searched for candy in a haystack, met a horse that has modeled for Ralph Lauren, and of course rode the ponies!  Happy birthday Sofia!

(click here for all the pictures)

Party Girl

When Owen was turning three, Nora was only a few weeks away from making an appearance. We worried that our little guy might be feeling a bit overlooked and so we decided to make a big deal about his birthday by inviting twelve of his closests friends (or at least those that were in town mid-August) to 90 minutes of awesomeness at the Little Gym. While Nora wasn't facing a similar familial disruption as she hit the big 0-3, we decided that in the interest of fairness (and proven sucess) we'd hold a similar celebration for Nora's third.

Having been born Labor Day weekend, we opted to hold Nora's party a week later, hoping that more of her friends would be able to attend. We didn't anticipant, however, the elements also making an appearance.

10 minutes before the party was set to start, the heavens opened and dumped a lot of water on the metro area. There were reports of tornadoes in the suburbs, the Beltway all but shut down, and when Nora's guests belatedly made their appearance, they were accompanied by some pretty freaked out parents.

Still, the kids all had a great time. Nora, who'd been anxiously anticipating her birthday party for weeks now, beamed through most of it, basking in the limelight until having blown out her candles and eaten her cupcakes handed Allen her party hat and informed us she was ready to go home.

(A special thanks to Owen, Mia, Ben, Miyako, Tadashi, Violet, Isabel, Luc, Oz, Eddie, Cora and Jojo for making Nora's day extra special. To see all the pictures, please click here).

Catching some Zs

Grandpa & Grandma Z decided to celebrate Labor Day and Nora's birthday with us for their first visit to DC since Nora was born. In the hopes of motivating them to return more often, we scheduled a bevy of activities. Unfortunately, a race in downtown Baltimore thwarted a visit to the National Aquarium and an absence of wind hampered the boys' sailing trip. Still we managed to have a lot of fun at the Arboretum, enjoy some delicious cake and watch the Nats beat the Cubs. And aside from an unplanned tour of our urgent care center, it was a pretty nice trip. Hopefully, they'll repeat it before 2015...

(To see all the pictures from their trip, click here.)

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

Our kids like to climb things. Our kids like to jump off things. Our kids like to do things that "make Mommy nervous." And so it was probably inevitable that one day one of our kids would end up in urgent care getting stitches after cracking open their head. I just didn't think it would happen on the last night of Grandma & Grandpa Z's visit.

We'd gone to the Argonaut for dinner and were walking home after a lovely meal. Allen and the kids had run ahead while I lingered behind with Grandma & Grandpa Z.  About a block from the restaurant Owen climbed up on some cement Jersey barriers by a formerly vacant lot and soon-to-be gas station. This is not unusual for Owen. What was unusal is that typically one of us is closer when he does this so that we can help him jump down. We weren't. He fell. Tears ensued.

To be honest, we didn't initially realize the extent of the damage (it was dark and our kids cry a lot). Allen carried him for a couple of blocks and then we made him walk the last half block to the house. It was there when I took off his hat to put an ice pack on it that I noticed the blood (the benefits of being blonde) and upon closer inspection, the open wound in his head.

Grandpa Z, Owen and I headed to urgent care just after 8 pm. We were hoping that a six year old with a head wound would be fast-tracked, but the fact that Owen was laughing and playing "Stack the Countries" while holding a football didn't get him any triage points. We saw a nurse about 20 minutes after we arrived who cleaned him up as best she could and wrapped him up like a mummy and then waiting another 10 minutes or so for the doctor, who cleaned him up some more, trimmed his hair, numbed the area, gave him 4 stitches, and ordered and reviewed a CT scan before discharging him a little before 11 pm.

I have to say, Owen was incredibly brave and cooperative -- not crying despite the poking, prodding, cleaning, injections and stitching, and lying so still during it all that they didn't have to utilize the body restraints usually reserved for patients his size. And while I'm really proud of how brave he was in the face of it all, I'm hoping this isn't a skill set we have to regularly utilize.

(To see all the gory shots, taken by his incredibly insensitive mother, click here.)

Happy Birthday Nora!

Threesome

My baby girl turns three today, which seems so crazy as that's the age her brother was when she first graced us with her presence. It's all gone so quickly, and yet I think I've been more acutely aware of her twos than Owen's since I was largely distracted during his with morning sickness and some extreme belly kicks. It's hard not to be a little sad that she's growing up and becomming such an independent young lady, but it's pretty amazing (and at times pretty amusing) to watch the process. Happy birthday, baby girl, I love you so, so much.

1. Twirlability is a perfectly valid factor to consider when deciding what to wear each morning.
2. All I really need is a song in my heart.
3. Sometimes you feel like a hug; sometimes you don't.
4. When all else fails, use the silly face.
5. Dresses > Skirts > Pants of any sort.
6. Some people are just born to rock.
7. "Cool, cool tricks," should not just be watched but be supervised.
8. Navigating sibling relationships can be complicated.
9. It is important to establish early the requirements for dessert and their enforceability.
10. The beauty of being two is that the possibilities are endless.

Camp Mom Mom

The last week of August may have been the first week of school for Owen, but it wasn't the last week of 'camp' for the family.  It was shutdown week at daycare, so Nora had a special week at Camp Mom Mom!  Each morning, Mom Mom came down to sweep Nora away to a new adventure.  A trip to the American Girl store, playing at the Lego store, swimming, taking her own toy shopping cart to the grocery store, ice cream sundae's for lunch (the rules are always a little different when Mom Mom is in charge;-) Nora was worn out each night and excited for the day each morning. Thanks Mom Mom for giving Nora such a great week!

School Daze

Owen started first grade at Watkins today. He was feeling a little nervous this morning as we headed to his new classroom -- he went from being one of the big kids on campus and surrounded by his buddies, to being one of the youngest in a really big school with his best friends all in different classrooms. Fortunately, Owen's friend Hayden from t-ball also ended up in Ms. Bowers class. As we left for the parent meeting in the auditorium/cafeteria, Owen was reading books and laughing with Hayden and Bernard (who'd been in different classes at Peabody).

Owen wasn't particularly forthcoming about his day (they ate lunch in the classroom, played on the field because the 2nd graders were on the playground at recess, and "kindergarten was a lot more fun" was about all we got out of him), but he managed to take the bus from Watkins to Peabody so we could pick him up at aftercare without losing himself, his backpack or his metro card. On the basis of that alone, we're willing to call it a success.

Sixer

Five has been an interesting age. Owen is reflective and insightful, doling out compliments and words of wisdom, such as, "Your hair looks pretty, Mom." and "Nora! You don't eat food on the floor!" Then a moment later, he'll bursts into tears because Nora laughed too loudly at his joke or we thought he looked more like an Orioles player in his grey and orange plaid pajamas rather than a Nationals player in their visiting uniform.

But as much of a roller coaster as it's been, five has also been a pretty amazing year: watching Owen go from sounding out words to reading with confidence; seeing our shy little guy navigate social settings like a pro; watching our t-baller learn how to hit his dad's overhand fastball; and seeing his super hero obsessions graduate from Superman to X-Men.

And now he's turning six and starting first grade in a week. And while I find myself at times missing the baby he was, I'm extremely proud of the little man he's becoming. Happy Birthday, Owen.

1. School assemblies include a lot more musical numbers in a post-Glee world.
2. Video games can be extremely instructive and obsessive play can result in you correctly identifying & placing all 54 countries on a map of Africa (compared to your mother's six).
3. When you limit your favorite song to one which is played in a ballpark, you're going to make some interesting choices.
4. Always be prepared -- even if you're unconscious.
5. The Star Spangled Banner is a perfectly fine road-trip song -- if you want to drive your mother insane.
6. It's a lot easier to get out of bed when there's a condensed Nationals' game to watch.
7. Always wear pants (even if it's 104 degrees) -- you never know when you might need to slide.
8. The desserts don't always justify the meals.
9. "I forgot" is a legitimate (if not always successful) excuse.
10. I am Superman. I am also at various times Spiderman, Wolverine, Stephen Strasburg and Ian Desmond.

Delayed Gratification (aka Owen's Sixth Birthday Party)

Birthday parties stress me out, so we started planning Owen's in April. And we really planned: planned for the fact that a lot of Owen's friends would be out of town due to the August recess and their parent's vacation schedules; planned for the logistics involved in transporting five six-ish year olds (and thankfully a bunch of their parents) given car seats and parking restrictions and what not; and planned how to entertain all five kids with different interest levels in baseball for the 3 1/2 hours we anticipated the Nationals-Mets game would last.

We did not, however, plan for rain or the resulting 2 1/2 hour delay in play that the precipitation caused.

Fortunately, Allen was at least prescient enough to get seats under an overhang for the game, which meant that we stayed a lot drier than the field. And while Leo tried to convince everyone to leave and either catch a movie or have a freakishly large playdate at our house, we were able to divert the kids with food, goody-bags (and the baseball card trading session that immediately followed), and Presidents sightings to pass the time reasonably pleasantly until the Nats finally took the field.

We decided to head out during the seventh-inning stretch (or as I like to put it, SIX HOURS AFTER WE GOT THERE) with the Nats leading the Mets 5 to 2. We even managed to catch the end of the game (Nats win!) at home and open a few presents before heading out to dinner with Mom Mom, Grandpa Don and Nora.

All in all it was a pretty good (albeit protracted) birthday celebration -- we couldn't have planned it better.

(Special thanks to Brady, Leo, Ronan & Sofia (and Mike, Micah and Joe) for joining us and waiting it out. To see all the birthday party pics, please click here.)

Hello, Kitty

I think most people that know me are aware that I'm not a big fan of the animal kingdom, having been bitten by several dogs as a small child and living with one deranged cat (and later with a sweet pair of cats and a deranged roommate) in my 20s. I concede that all creatures great and small have the right to exist, but feel strongly they shouldn't do so under my roof. As such my children have had to resign themselves to a colony of ants as their only pets (though Garcon makes a decent surogate).

But then Mom Mom adopted little Desmond Morse (named after Nats players Ian Desmond and Michael Morse in a clear attempt to curry favor with Owen) and had to go away for a long weekend leaving the 7 week old kitten home alone. How could you say no to that face?

So we headed up to Mom Mom and Grandpa Dons on Friday night and spent the weekend entertaining Morse (and to a lesser extent, Georgie) inbetween all our comings and goings. Owen had a blast making Morse "fish;" Nora played a lot of "hide and seek" with him, searching for the elusive kitty under the furniture. For my part, I'll concede that Morse is very sweet and well behaved...and perfectly content at Mom Moms.

Fair Time

We weren't able to make the Montgomery County Fair last year with the Browns (breaking our three year streak), so this year we were all in. We met up for breakfast, caravaned out with Brad, Marlo, Mia and Ben (Brett, Lisa, Samantha and Austin met us there) and arrive at the fair about 10 minutes after it officially opened...and two hours before the rides and most of the other activities began. Still, we managed to keep the kids entertained for a very full three hours and visit the fire engine, livestock, the all important combine slide, and of course, the ferris wheel. Maybe next year we'll even get to partake in the Monster Truck Rally...

(To see all the fair pics, please click here.)