Summer 2012 is pretty much done. It went by quick, although June seems like it was eons ago. Here's a random wrap-up.
Only one kid at home for five weeks... Sweet Frog... Camping... Surgery for K-dog (again)... Camper coming unhitched from truck on our first time out... Dinner out... French door fixed... Sweet Frog... Nats baseball... Pool... VA Beach... Dinner out... Allergies (?!?)... Avalon... School supplies... Hershey Park...Newseum... Birthdays... Sweet Frog... Long drive to and from Blacksburg... Work, work, work... Derecho and 26 hours without power (over J-Mav's birthday)... Bike rides... Reading...
Keeper Boy
CHS Spring League Champions... Braces off... Five weeks in Hawaii... Changed diapers for first time... 20-page Algebra packet... Long distance relationship... Surfing... Camp at Virginia Tech... First attempt at driving... VA Beach... Hockey mini-camp... Pool... Chargin' Ahead at CHS... Off-ice conditioning with CHS hockey team... The Odyssey... Camping in Avalon... Newseum... Hershey Park...
J-Mav
Camping in Reston... Laser tag birthday party... Sweet Frog... No power on birthday... Two weeks with favorite female babysitter... Two more weeks with favorite male babysitter... Lotsa pool time... Skating lessons... Camping in Harpers Ferry... ZIP LINE!... Horse races... Only child for five weeks... Camping in Richmond... Lots of play dates with best friend... New skates... Camping in Avalon... Virginia Beach... Camp at VA Tech... A week with Grandma... Finished reading Harry Potter 3... A week with Grandma and Grandpa... SACC...The Avengers with Dad... Newseum... Hershey Park... Nats games...
Monday, September 3, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Keeper Boy's Hawaiian Adventure, Day 33
I don't have a lot to update because I don't get a lot of updates. I know the kids love having Keeper Boy there, and Gma Geri says she thinks Jenrie is going to miss having Keeper Boy there, too. But Keeper Boy himself has not been the best at keeping in touch by phone, by text, by email, or by Facebook. Sigh. I guess this is what I have to look forward to when he goes off to college... information blackout!
I do know that they spent five days on the Big Island over Hubby's and my birthday weekend and that they saw and did a lot in those five days. Uncle Hooter posted a lot of awesome photos on Facebook from that mini-vacation.
And, I got a video over the weekend of Keeper Boy and Spidey at some sort of water park running around inside what looked like giant hamster wheels in the water. Very amusing, and very tiring for them, I'm sure. Looked like they were having a blast!
I know Keeper Boy has taken surfing lessons twice, learned to use a push lawn mower, learned to change diapers (though I don't know that he's yet actually changed one), not gotten any better about using deodorant, is still lying about using soap/shampoo in the shower, and bought everyone pizza for dinner last Friday night.
I guess that's something...
I do know that they spent five days on the Big Island over Hubby's and my birthday weekend and that they saw and did a lot in those five days. Uncle Hooter posted a lot of awesome photos on Facebook from that mini-vacation.
And, I got a video over the weekend of Keeper Boy and Spidey at some sort of water park running around inside what looked like giant hamster wheels in the water. Very amusing, and very tiring for them, I'm sure. Looked like they were having a blast!
I know Keeper Boy has taken surfing lessons twice, learned to use a push lawn mower, learned to change diapers (though I don't know that he's yet actually changed one), not gotten any better about using deodorant, is still lying about using soap/shampoo in the shower, and bought everyone pizza for dinner last Friday night.
I guess that's something...
And they're off...
My parents left late last week for another amazing trip... this one is in early celebration of Mom's 70th birthday and is a Baltic cruise. They started in London and were to spend yesterday in Belgium. Tomorrow will see them in Germany (Berlin) before they move on to Finland, Russia, Estonia, Sweden, and Denmark, before heading back to London.
We got email from Mom from their hotel in London, so I know they arrived safely and were having a good time up until the time they boarded the cruise ship. I presume they are still having a great time! :)
We got email from Mom from their hotel in London, so I know they arrived safely and were having a good time up until the time they boarded the cruise ship. I presume they are still having a great time! :)
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Holy Derecho, Batman!
Have you ever heard of a storm called a Derecho? Yeah, me either. Until we experienced one over the weekend. Friday night to be exact.
So what is it? Well, according to an article on WTOP.com:
"Derecho is a Spanish word that means "straight." It is in reference to the storm's powerful straight-line winds. Derechos typically form along the top of a hot air mass and can move an average of 70 miles per hour. That wind speed is normally associated with a Category 1 hurricane. It is not only an unusual weather event for the region, but the circumstances surrounding the storm changed its pattern characteristics, according to ABC 7 Meterologist Mike Stinneford."
Um, lucky us?
I went to bed sometime after 10pm on Friday night. We had collected and strategically placed all of our flashlights around the house because we were under a severe storm watch. However, it was calm and nothing was happening. I was tired and tired of waiting for something to happen, so I went to bed. But I woke up about a half hour later when the power went out (because the house immediately becomes quiet when the fan, or "wind turbine," that we run at night in our room shuts off). We walked out to the living room and holy cow!
We couldn't see our neighbors house across the street because of the driving, blowing rain, and the trees were dancing, no undulating, like some crazed modern dancer. We just sat there and watched, hoping that the two large trees in our front yard did not end up on our house or either of our vehicles. We saw something resembling siding or flashing in our front yard, and hoped that it wasn't from our house. We checked on J-Mav, and amazingly, but not surprisingly, he was sound asleep.
The lightning was amazing and almost constant. Curiously, there was little thunder. But when it came, it was loud. Still, J-Mav slept. We just sat and watched from various windows. We listened to WTOP via my iPhone. Eventually, we went back to bed... just before midnight, I guess. The power clearly wasn't coming back on any time soon, and the worst of the storm seemed to be passed. J-Mav never woke up.
We all woke up earlier than normal on Saturday morning (J-Mav's birthday!) as the house was way more quiet than we are used to. Hubby made breakfast on the grill (that side burner finally came in handy) -- scrambled eggs. We conserved the number of times we opened the fridge, and then we remembered Duh! We have a generator. We got the freezer and fridge hooked up to the generator and all was good.
Next order of business was to see if the laser tag place was open for J-Mav's party. We weren't having much luck with our cell phones at the house. So I went up to Giant to pick up J-Mav's cake, and while I was up there my phone went berserk with all kinds of emails and texts that had been queued for delivery... for some reason, the service was better at the front of the subdivision than back at our house. Giant had no power and was running bare bones lighting on generators. All of the refrigerated stuff was off the shelves. I was, however, able to get J-Mav's cake, as well as call the laser tag place and confirm that the party was still on. I texted all of the invitees that it was on and headed back home.
Getting to the laser tag place was another story. Most of the traffic signals along Rte. 50 were out, so it was a tedious process to get through the intersections. We made it, and, amazingly, all of J-Mav's guests showed up to play some laser tag! A fun time was had by all (in the air conditioned laser tag arena).
Once back at home, we cleaned up downed limbs in the yard and then went inside to a surprisingly still cool house, considering the temperature outside was tickling 100 degrees. Hubby had to go get an emissions inspection on his car, so he did that while J-Mav and I made dinner on the grill again. After dinner, we went to Sweet Frog for birthday ice cream, and so I could jump on the free WiFi from Kinko's (next door) and renew Hubby's registration for his car, which expired on Saturday.
With the power still out, the temperature in the house was creeping up, but it was still a bearable 80 degrees upstairs. It was almost ten degrees cooler downstairs, though. Very comfortable. By Saturday afternoon, we had bought another extension cord, and figured out a better configuration (using a power strip) for the generator so that we could have the freezer and fridge plugged in without running any cords through windows. And we had a light, a fan, and our phone charger plugged in at various times as well. So we set up camp downstairs for Saturday night. J-Mav went to sleep instantly on the sofa bed. The power flickered on about 10:30 but went right back out. But at midnight, it came back on for good. Woo hoo!
We powered down the generator and plugged everything back into outlets, but left all of the extension cords in place in case it blew back out from heat or strain of everyone's homes coming back online. But it's been on and good ever since.
Unfortunately, we still have friends without power... some in our subdivision. And I am on Day 2 of working at home because there is no power at my office. So while life is mostly back to normal at our house, it isn't for many in the area. All told, 26 hours without power was not a big deal, largely because of the generator and the fact that we kept the windows closed and curtains/blinds drawn. Big help.
Another weird weather event for the DC area. That it happened to fall over J-Mav's birthday weekend was unfortunate, but it didn't really impact anything to severely. He said he still had a good birthday, so that's all that's important. :)
So what is it? Well, according to an article on WTOP.com:
"Derecho is a Spanish word that means "straight." It is in reference to the storm's powerful straight-line winds. Derechos typically form along the top of a hot air mass and can move an average of 70 miles per hour. That wind speed is normally associated with a Category 1 hurricane. It is not only an unusual weather event for the region, but the circumstances surrounding the storm changed its pattern characteristics, according to ABC 7 Meterologist Mike Stinneford."
Um, lucky us?
I went to bed sometime after 10pm on Friday night. We had collected and strategically placed all of our flashlights around the house because we were under a severe storm watch. However, it was calm and nothing was happening. I was tired and tired of waiting for something to happen, so I went to bed. But I woke up about a half hour later when the power went out (because the house immediately becomes quiet when the fan, or "wind turbine," that we run at night in our room shuts off). We walked out to the living room and holy cow!
We couldn't see our neighbors house across the street because of the driving, blowing rain, and the trees were dancing, no undulating, like some crazed modern dancer. We just sat there and watched, hoping that the two large trees in our front yard did not end up on our house or either of our vehicles. We saw something resembling siding or flashing in our front yard, and hoped that it wasn't from our house. We checked on J-Mav, and amazingly, but not surprisingly, he was sound asleep.
The lightning was amazing and almost constant. Curiously, there was little thunder. But when it came, it was loud. Still, J-Mav slept. We just sat and watched from various windows. We listened to WTOP via my iPhone. Eventually, we went back to bed... just before midnight, I guess. The power clearly wasn't coming back on any time soon, and the worst of the storm seemed to be passed. J-Mav never woke up.
We all woke up earlier than normal on Saturday morning (J-Mav's birthday!) as the house was way more quiet than we are used to. Hubby made breakfast on the grill (that side burner finally came in handy) -- scrambled eggs. We conserved the number of times we opened the fridge, and then we remembered Duh! We have a generator. We got the freezer and fridge hooked up to the generator and all was good.
Next order of business was to see if the laser tag place was open for J-Mav's party. We weren't having much luck with our cell phones at the house. So I went up to Giant to pick up J-Mav's cake, and while I was up there my phone went berserk with all kinds of emails and texts that had been queued for delivery... for some reason, the service was better at the front of the subdivision than back at our house. Giant had no power and was running bare bones lighting on generators. All of the refrigerated stuff was off the shelves. I was, however, able to get J-Mav's cake, as well as call the laser tag place and confirm that the party was still on. I texted all of the invitees that it was on and headed back home.
Getting to the laser tag place was another story. Most of the traffic signals along Rte. 50 were out, so it was a tedious process to get through the intersections. We made it, and, amazingly, all of J-Mav's guests showed up to play some laser tag! A fun time was had by all (in the air conditioned laser tag arena).
Once back at home, we cleaned up downed limbs in the yard and then went inside to a surprisingly still cool house, considering the temperature outside was tickling 100 degrees. Hubby had to go get an emissions inspection on his car, so he did that while J-Mav and I made dinner on the grill again. After dinner, we went to Sweet Frog for birthday ice cream, and so I could jump on the free WiFi from Kinko's (next door) and renew Hubby's registration for his car, which expired on Saturday.
With the power still out, the temperature in the house was creeping up, but it was still a bearable 80 degrees upstairs. It was almost ten degrees cooler downstairs, though. Very comfortable. By Saturday afternoon, we had bought another extension cord, and figured out a better configuration (using a power strip) for the generator so that we could have the freezer and fridge plugged in without running any cords through windows. And we had a light, a fan, and our phone charger plugged in at various times as well. So we set up camp downstairs for Saturday night. J-Mav went to sleep instantly on the sofa bed. The power flickered on about 10:30 but went right back out. But at midnight, it came back on for good. Woo hoo!
We powered down the generator and plugged everything back into outlets, but left all of the extension cords in place in case it blew back out from heat or strain of everyone's homes coming back online. But it's been on and good ever since.
Unfortunately, we still have friends without power... some in our subdivision. And I am on Day 2 of working at home because there is no power at my office. So while life is mostly back to normal at our house, it isn't for many in the area. All told, 26 hours without power was not a big deal, largely because of the generator and the fact that we kept the windows closed and curtains/blinds drawn. Big help.
Another weird weather event for the DC area. That it happened to fall over J-Mav's birthday weekend was unfortunate, but it didn't really impact anything to severely. He said he still had a good birthday, so that's all that's important. :)
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Happy Birthday, J-Mav!
Dear J-Mav -
Nine! Really?! How is that possible?!? I mean, I KNOW how it's possible, but it just doesn't seem possible. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were bringing you home from the hospital and hanging out with the neighbors a couple days later at the 4th of July block party. You were so long and gangly... a half inch longer than your brother was a birth; your brother, who at 14 is already taller than I am. What does that mean for your height five years from now? I fear I will soon be a midget in my own home. Sigh.
This has been another year of big things and change for you. As mentioned above, you grew a lot! I suspect when you have your well-check, you will have gained about ten pounds and grown about 4 or 5 inches. We'll see. Which reminds me, I need to schedule your well check!
You finished 3rd grade with flying colors. Academically, you had almost all Os on your report card all year. And you got Pass/Advanced on both your Social Studies (521 out of 600) and Science (600 out of 600) SOLs. The "Work Habits" section of the report card was another story. But there was improvement toward the end of year. Areas that still need work for next year are:
- Exhibits Self Control
- Complies with Established Rules
- Listens to and Follows Directions
- Uses Time Constructively
You continue to have a large group of friends and you seem to be popular at school. Sometimes I don't always know that this is a good thing as I think sometimes your popularity stems from your love of making people laugh and getting a reaction. But you are a super smart and funny little guy, so I can see why people are drawn to you. Friendships with certain people ebb and flow, but you consistently remain tight with your buddy JE. At this point, you are more like brothers than just friends. :)
Athletically, you have had a break-out year with hockey. You tried out for and made the Mite Silver team last season and had a great year. You also played on a Mite House team, coached by Dad. You had fun with both... especially traveling to a tournament in Hershey with the Mite Silver. During the season, you committed to improving your skating and we signed you up for a weekly skating lesson. You rarely complained about getting up at 4:45am once a week and going for a skating lesson before school. And ya know what? Your hard work and dedication paid off. You made the Spring Development "A" team, and you were named to the Squirt Blue 2003 team for next season... the only player to be named who didn't play on the Mite Blue team last year. That's a huge accomplishment, and one that you can be proud of.
You also played "up" to AA baseball this spring. You had a good season with the Rattlers, and had a nice group of teammates. Your team had little success during the regular season, but pulled it together for the playoff game and made it into the championship game. You lost the championship game, but how great to end up with a runner-up trophy! I don't know if you will continue with baseball after this season; you seemed a little wishy-washy about it. I think, compared to hockey, it's kind of boring for you. At one point you told me that you "hated baseball because you just stand around waiting for something to happen." So we'll see. It's totally up to you.
You are a little mouthy with a little more attitude than I'd like at times, but you are also my sweet cuddler. You are always ready with a hug, and it's not hard to coax a smile out of you when you are being poopy. You love being home and doing things with your family. More often than not, you'd rather eat pasta at home than go out to dinner. And you love playing games. Any games will do. And puzzles. And, wow, are you a smart little cookie. So observant, too.
So happy birthday, J-Mav... enjoy your last year in single digits! I can't wait to see what this year brings!
Love,
Mom
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Keeper Boy's Hawaiian Adventure - Day 7
Day 7 - 6/26/12
We talked to Keeper Boy on FaceTime last night for a little while. It was quite an adventure with Spidey and CJ reaching for the iPod and such. We got disconnected a few times during the conversation. :)
But Keeper Boy looks good. He says he's wearing his retainer, showering, taking his meds, and keeping his room picked up. Jenrie concurred. ;-P He's watched the kids a few times already while Jenrie has run out to the commissary, and he keeps them entertained while she makes dinner. He's also serving as an able partner for Uncle Hooter to play X-box games that he normally has no one to play with. ;-P
Hubby's uncle, aunt, and two of their grandchildren are currently in Hawaii and Keeper Boy is going to go hang with them for the next couple of days, I guess. The grandchildren are around Keeper Boy's age. They are going to do the Remembrance Tour at Pearl Harbor tomorrow morning and then do all the war monuments and memorials that we did last summer when we were there. He is going to stay with them at their condo tomorrow night.
Other than that, nothing new. He seemed totally comfortable there and the kids seemed completely comfortable with him. Spidey was hanging all over him, just like a little brother. :) Keeper Boy and Spidey are the same age spread at Hubby and Uncle Hooter, so I think it's been funny for Uncle Hooter to watch the interaction from the perspective of an adult.
We talked to Keeper Boy on FaceTime last night for a little while. It was quite an adventure with Spidey and CJ reaching for the iPod and such. We got disconnected a few times during the conversation. :)
But Keeper Boy looks good. He says he's wearing his retainer, showering, taking his meds, and keeping his room picked up. Jenrie concurred. ;-P He's watched the kids a few times already while Jenrie has run out to the commissary, and he keeps them entertained while she makes dinner. He's also serving as an able partner for Uncle Hooter to play X-box games that he normally has no one to play with. ;-P
Hubby's uncle, aunt, and two of their grandchildren are currently in Hawaii and Keeper Boy is going to go hang with them for the next couple of days, I guess. The grandchildren are around Keeper Boy's age. They are going to do the Remembrance Tour at Pearl Harbor tomorrow morning and then do all the war monuments and memorials that we did last summer when we were there. He is going to stay with them at their condo tomorrow night.
Other than that, nothing new. He seemed totally comfortable there and the kids seemed completely comfortable with him. Spidey was hanging all over him, just like a little brother. :) Keeper Boy and Spidey are the same age spread at Hubby and Uncle Hooter, so I think it's been funny for Uncle Hooter to watch the interaction from the perspective of an adult.
Keeper Boy's Hawaiian Adventure: Day 6
Day 6 - 6/25/12
Hubby received this message from his brother (Uncle Hooter) yesterday...
The 'plan' was to call you guys or FaceTime yesterday, but [Keeper Boy] & I ended up at AlaMoana Mall for about three hours getting [JenRie] a new iPhone... [Keeper Boy] loves Jamba Juice which is nothing more than blended fruit in a cup.
He's doing really good ... helping [JenRie] out around the house and keeping the kids busy so she can get some stuff done during the day. We're starting a 'shower-a-day' regiment for him so he stays clean. I told him its always warm here so we're always sweaty and need to shower everyday...plus it's just the right thing to do. He's okay with that. He's wearing his retainer all the time and keeps good track of it when he's eating.
I don't know how [Spidey] will take [Keeper Boy] leaving when it comes time for him to head home! He missed [Keeper Boy] yesterday when we were at the mall for all of a few hours! Too funny.
We find it immensely amusing that Keeper Boy appears to like a drink that is nothing but fruit juice when he won't eat much in the way of fruit. But, hey... not complaining. :)
The "we're staring a 'shower-a-day' regiment" comment about killed us. We were laughing so hard. I'm not sure if he's not showering or if they are having to nag him about showering, or what. He was good about showering every morning throughout this school year... especially after he started dating his girlfriend. But, whatever they need to do... we're all about him showering every day. Ha ha.
I also got a text from Keeper Boy yesterday. They were driving around the base so that he could get an idea of where everything is. He's a little directionally challenged, so I'm not sure how much that will help, but it's a good idea nonetheless. He told me his retainers still hurt "a smidge," but that he's wearing them and that it's not too bad.
We are hoping to talk to him tonight on FaceTime...
Hubby received this message from his brother (Uncle Hooter) yesterday...
The 'plan' was to call you guys or FaceTime yesterday, but [Keeper Boy] & I ended up at AlaMoana Mall for about three hours getting [JenRie] a new iPhone... [Keeper Boy] loves Jamba Juice which is nothing more than blended fruit in a cup.
He's doing really good ... helping [JenRie] out around the house and keeping the kids busy so she can get some stuff done during the day. We're starting a 'shower-a-day' regiment for him so he stays clean. I told him its always warm here so we're always sweaty and need to shower everyday...plus it's just the right thing to do. He's okay with that. He's wearing his retainer all the time and keeps good track of it when he's eating.
I don't know how [Spidey] will take [Keeper Boy] leaving when it comes time for him to head home! He missed [Keeper Boy] yesterday when we were at the mall for all of a few hours! Too funny.
We find it immensely amusing that Keeper Boy appears to like a drink that is nothing but fruit juice when he won't eat much in the way of fruit. But, hey... not complaining. :)
The "we're staring a 'shower-a-day' regiment" comment about killed us. We were laughing so hard. I'm not sure if he's not showering or if they are having to nag him about showering, or what. He was good about showering every morning throughout this school year... especially after he started dating his girlfriend. But, whatever they need to do... we're all about him showering every day. Ha ha.
I also got a text from Keeper Boy yesterday. They were driving around the base so that he could get an idea of where everything is. He's a little directionally challenged, so I'm not sure how much that will help, but it's a good idea nonetheless. He told me his retainers still hurt "a smidge," but that he's wearing them and that it's not too bad.
We are hoping to talk to him tonight on FaceTime...
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