Fun Summer Weekends

As much as last weekend was about the pool, this weekend has not been. 

For starters, Friday we had some big weather.  Some big scary weather.  I mean really scary!  There were thunderstorms and very heavy rain all afternoon and even a tornado in Sterling--about 15 miles from where we are.  I even saw Aidan's after school class evacuate the upstairs room they were in order to take cover downstairs. . .Eastern Loudoun was under a Tornado Warning and the school, thanks be to God!, takes that very seriously!

So, in spite of the weather, the boys met me in Purcellville in order to drop off my car for the annual inspection and then we drove back to Leesburg to meet friends for dinner at a really good Mexican restaurant. . .the flooding, heavy rain and scary lightening caused me to have a big Margarita. . .okay, I might have anyway, but this time I had a really good excuse!

Saturday, we headed over to the Mall and bought a car top carrier to put our luggage in for when we go to the beach.  Love it!!  It's going to make it so much easier to cart our stuff, us and a dog down there this year. 

Then, after a quick lunch, we got in line to meet Braden Holtby--Phenom Goalie for the Caps this past Playoffs!!  We brought a shirt and got his autograph and pictures.

Waiting in line can be hard, but not when you can spy on the one your there to meet it makes it more fun!!  Aidan was really excited!  As my friend Joy quipped, this was better than meeting Mickey Mouse!!  Or at least a close second!!  : )

And then it was our turn. . .

And finally, Aidan and Braden!

Braden was really cool about it all and seemed to be really enjoying himself.  He gave me a really big smile when I quipped "Braden and Aidan" while shooting the picture.  Cute!

But, it wasn't over yet!  After a quick stop to see Mr. Rob and Aunty Allison--who is here visiting from the West Coast, Aidan and Daddy got the Corvette all cleaned up and ready to go and show at the Classic Car Show in Leesburg!

While downtown, we decided to eat dinner at Olde Town Grill, a newly renovated restuarant.  We'd been a bit hesitant about it due to the owner not doing such  great job with the group of restaurants he has down there.  But I am here to tell you, it was AWESOME!!  We will soooo be going back!

Today has been a bit calmer:  Church for Mama this morning while the boys slept in late.  Then, I took Aidan to a birthday party for one of his school buddies.  We have hockey in an hour--gotta get going in a bit and then some friends will come for a dinner of hamburgers! 

So, although we still have a week of school left, I'm beginning to wonder if we will really slow down for summe after all!



The Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy is not about to visit, so don't get excited.  This is a sad tale of how the Tooth Fairy has gotten lost on the way to Aidan.

Last January, I went to Aidan's Kindergarten class and read a few books to the children.  While there, I noticed several posters on the wall in the shape of a tooth.  Each had a month at the top and then a list of children who had, presumably, lost teeth during that month.  It started with August and was up to January at that point.  I assume the trend has continued.

Not long after that, I was picking Aidan up at Winwood and noticed the same thing on the walls there.  A poster of a tooth with a month at the top with  list of names of children who had lost teeth during that month. . .also beginning in August, but now up to February.  And, I noticed, that several children had already lost several teeth. 

Not Aidan. 

At his biannual dentist visit in April, the question was asked, "When might Aidan start to lose his teeth?  We want to be prepared, of course."  Well, said the dentist, Aidan got his teeth a bit late--remmber he only had 6 when you got him at almost two years old.  So, he probably won't begin to lose them unil he is about 6 1/2 or 7.  But, keep wiggling them to see.  Maybe we're wrong."  Okay.

And so, Aidan has been wiggling his teeth.  Which aren't budging. 

It's not that I want him to lose his teeth.  I like his little baby teeth. . .I don't really want him t grow up so fast.  I jst feel badly for him that all of his friends are losing them and he isn't.  Ah well.  If it goes along with what the dentist said, it could all happen at once.  Aidan did only have 6 teeth when we brought him home and then the remaining baby teeth all came in within 6 months.  It was fun!  : )

In the meantime, I have some time to plan how to celebrate the loss of the first tooth. . .

Field Trip!

I have a horrible admission to make.  I currently live 35 miles away from Washington D. C., the farthest I have lived from D. C. in the 33 years I have lived in Virginia, and have never, ever, ever been to the National Zoo.  Not even to take Aidan.  I know.  It's terrible!  I've been to the San Diego Zoo, the Los Angeles Zoo and the San Francisco Zoo, even the National Aquarium in Baltimore!  And another Aquarium in North Carolina!  But never the National Zoo.  I don't know why.  It has just never happened. . .terrible.  Horrible.  I am wearing sack cloth and moaning to God about my inadequacy as a mother.

Enter Loudoun Count Public Schools:  today will be Aidan's first ever Field Trp!!!  To the National Zoo!!!  To say he is excited would be a major understatement.  I have packed him a bag lunch--explicit instructions have been sent home about healthy foods and wrappings that can be thrown away--no recycling today, folks!! 

So, last night, Aidan picked out his Sun Chips and advised me he wanted a ham and cheese sandwich.  Okay.  So, this morning, I packed his bag lunch with a juice bag of Apple Juice, a ham and cheese sandwich, the Sun Chips, some grapes and a Ho-Ho.  A nice well rounded lunch.  The bag is full. . .will he need a snack???  I 'll send a baggie of some gold fish. . .okay.  Relax mom.  He'll have a great time and will eat fine. . .  : )  Mama is a bit nervous about her baby going somewhere outside of Virginia without me.

And so by tonight, my son, who has been here four years, will have beaten me to visiting the National Zoo!!  I think I'm going to have to make a point of going, now.

Revealing. . .

Do you all remember a while back when I said we were preparing to do our family room floor in wood?  Brasilian Cherry, to be exact.  Well, it's been a work in progress and the foyer tile is now completed.  The funny thing about projects is that they don't really end. . .meaning, we already have in mind what's next!

But, here it is:  The big reveal:

Family room before the project.

During the tearing apart phase. . .yes, I admit to a bit of freak out when I saw this!  It was 5 days before Easter, so I felt a little entitled to some freakout!  : )

The painting phase. . .

 We painted the walls of the family room, took down the valances and cornice shelf and the wood shutters and put up nice long drapes from high rods.    See the "H" in the window?  My grandfather carved that for Pat and I years ago.  Love that!!

A close up of the slate around the brick fireplace that Pat did. 

The family room from a different angle.

And one final angle. . .yes, we still want to replace the ceiling fan with one in a darker burnished metal. . .

 The foyer from the upstairs hallway.

And the foyer from the living room looking into our dining room.

The wood floor we had done because there are a lot of crazy angles--that you can't see in the pictures.  And we're glad we spent the money on that!  And, because we had that put in, it only took 2 1/2 days!  The foyer, on the other hand, has taken a bit more time.  But, Pat did a wonderful job and I really think it looks beautiful!!

And so, what's next?  Well, we have a few things in mind of what we'd like to do. . .likely, the next thing will be to finally paint our bedroom--never been done in the 13 years we have lived here!!  And this will be good preparation for getting the wood floor in there next year (that's the bedroom plan).  I'd also like to redo our bathroom, but if we do our bedroom to start with, I'll be happy. 

We also have been talking about replacing the carpet in the upper hallway and on both sets of stairs.  Again, a next year project.  It won't come soon enough for the basement stairs. . .those stairs have been ruined by our dogs. . .dogs!!!  Another subject. . .

And, we have been talking about doing the granite counter tops in the kitchen.  Would LOVE to do that.  Probably a January project--after Christmas.  Can you imagine have the kitchin torn up during the holidays???

And so, those are the three impending projects.  Nothing will get started until July at the earliest.  We are taking the rest of May and all of June off from projecs!!  A little pool and vacation time coming our way!

Okay, about the dogs.  I told Aidan the other day that someday we won't have a cat and we'll probaby only have one dog--smaller and who doesn't shed (two large Golden Retrievers--one who drools constantly, have finally driven me mad).  And his response was, "Well, mama, someday when you move out of here, I'm going to have the same cat and two big dogs like Maggie and Mosby."  Hunh!  When I move out????  Well, I guess I should be happy the kiddo loves our home so much he never wants to leave!!!

Another conversation with Aidan was also revealing in that he continues to be extremely patriotic. . .in the Russian sense.  When discussing with which team he will play hockey with in the Olympics (yes, he is sure he will do this) it is without a doubt going to be with Russia.  Hmmmm. . . .going to have to work on a little stars and stripes, I think.

Finally, as mentioned previously, I have a degree in history with a concentration in Eastern Europe.  I loved my Russian history classes.  In fact, I still love reading Russian history, even in a historic fiction sense.  I have been working on a series that centers around a Russian Investigator who lives in Moscow--Arkady Renko.  I just completed the third book in the series--Red Square.  The book takes place in Moscow, Munich, Berlin and then back in Moscow during the summer of 1991.  Amazing back drop of the coup and the break down of the Soviet Union.  It is making me relive some of what I remember from those couple of years.  So much happened!!!  Not the least of which the doorway was opened for us to eventually go and adopt our beautiful son. 

Do you rmember that song that Jesus Jones sang?  It came out in 1991:  "Right here, right now!  Watching the world wake up from history!"  And that's what we did.  Interesting to find out that that song was actually written by a man named Mikhail Tarasov. 

And, that's all I have to reveal today.  Oh, except that Aidan scored 11 goals with his new Graphite stick yesterday!!!  And it's a little too long, too!  Several were from half way up the rink--perfect one timers and slap shots!!! 

Gotta go. . .bed time for kiddo!

Not the Mother's Day I Planned, but. . .

With all the birthday stuff last weekend, I neglected to write about Mother's Day. . .I do hope you all had a good one!

Pat was scheduled to work3-11, Pat's Mom was getting out of the hospital, and Aidan had hockey at 3:50, so our plans were loose at best.  We did make the decision to sleep in and get going for the day at a leisurely pace.  Pat slept until after 10:00, so I kept Aidan quiet and fed him his favorite, Fruit Loops and Orange Juice for breakfast.  Not super healthy, but it didn't require a lot of work and he eats a huge bowl of it without any fuss.

Pat and Aidan left about 11:00 to go and help get Pat's Mom home and I was to meet them at Grandma and Grandpa's for lunch of sandwiches or something.  I would then take Aidan to hockey and Pat would go to work.  Seemed like a good plan!!

I left the house close to noon and headed over, but forgot my phone!!  When I got to Grandma and Grandpa's, I called Pat only to discover that his Mom wasn't released yet. It was planned for her to go, just not yet.  So, I waited around for a bit.  By 1:30, we realized the plan wasn't going to work and I needed to go and get Aidan so I could feed the poor kid some lunch.

So, it ended up being a slice of cheese pizza and chocolate milk at the Ice House while watching Scooby Doo on the TV there. 

After hockey, Aidan and I had some left overs for dinner and then watched a movie.  A lot of running around, but still a quiet day, and not really all bad.  It wasn't what I had planned, but I still got to spend some nice time with my kiddo.

And, the boys gave me a nice bird feeder with food that will attract these beautiful yellow finches. 

This weekend, Pat is on the midnight shift, so Mom duty will include keeping Aidan quiet but busy.  I see trips to Costco and Target in our weekend schedule!!!  I really don't plan to do much else.  And next weekend is Memorial Day weekend--three days off!!  With the pool opening, we will be sleeping late and then lounging around the pool!