The St. Patricks Day Fail of 2012

This was our St. Patty's Day last year. That naughty leprechaun made such a mess of the cereal, peed in our toilet, colored our milk, left foot prints all over and gave the kids mustaches. Bennett was not amused, freaked out even. He wanted everything cleaned up and thrown away asap, including the treat and toy he brought him.  This year I spared him the trauma and did nothing. A win win for all.

Check out that face, so ticked! I showed him these pictures today, he stared long and hard. Then finally after a few deep breathes said "I didn't like that day".  I find it hilarious. I had no idea he would love it. A fun Mom fail I guess.

Favorites @ 5

Favorites @ 2

Libby Lou is 2

It's tradition at our house that the birthday child wakes up to their room decorated. Libbys was a little weak this year since I got rid of all my birthday decorations before the move. But we improvised. Toilet paper is pretty much streamers right!?!

Her present from us.

It was Cow-Chicken (Chick-Fil-A) for dinner.

 We were lucky enough to have my brother and his family come down that weekend from PA and also Jons brother and family came to visit one afternoon. So we were able to have her a little party with family on the weekend.

Movie snacks.

I made these but some how they did not get pictured before we dug in. I stole these of the web and they probably look a tad better than mine did anyway. In the way of the rest of the menu it was all Libby's favorites, pizza, apple sauce, string cheese and apple juice.

The kids got goody bags with goldfish crackers and crayons, but again, they did not get pictured before being ravished.

Can you tell me how to get....

 Libby had a Sesame birthday this year. There is a Sesame Street theme park a couple hours from us so we headed up to celebrate her birthday there. Libby is afraid of giant characters so we opted out of torturing her for her birthday. But she enjoyed them from afar and loved watching them in the shows and parade.

 Elmo does thriller!!

 This little area was made up to look like the Twiddle Bugs area. Those were my absolute favorite when I was little.

 Now is the part where I give my review of the park. I give it a 5 out of 10. Ouch, right. Here is why. It is really over priced, especially for the time of year we went. I would say it is 70% water park. Well we went in the fall when the water park is closed. The rest of the park was about 8 rides crammed into a small area. The fact that the water area was closed made it extremely crowded. I was also sad to see very few characters and the Sesame Street its self is just a tiny short, fake section. However the shows were sun and kept the kids interested. We loved being in a real live Elmo's World. We did get to see it lightly decorated for Halloween.  They had trick or treating through out and a couple of mazes for Halloween set up. The kids thought that was fun and an added bonus. I thought is was nice to have a few extra things since the water part was closed, giving you very little to fill up your entire day. I am glad we went because I have always wanted to since Bennett was little, but will we go again, probably not.

Retirement {National Harbor}

 When people say, "I want to retire there" I could never relate. I have never really thought of that, but I had never been to National Harbor before. The kidlets and I joined Jon at a conference right after we moved here. I LOVED it, cute shops, yoga on the pier, quiet, great food and fun little things to see. I want to retire there. This past November there was a alot of campaigning to turn this place into a "vegas". They wanted to legalize gambling to this part of Maryland. It broke my heart and I gladly voted against it. When the votes came in atleast I got one piece of good news that it did not pass. I am glad it will continue to be a fun place that we can family vacation, couples weekend or Girls night to. Can't wait to go back!!

Antietam Battlefield

 The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Bloodiest Day of the Civil War, took place just a short drive from where we live. You can learn more about it here, it sounds pretty awful. In commemoration of it's 150th anniversary they held special events. We decided to check it out. 

 A lot of people were hanging out dressed the part. They are like the trekkies of the Civil War.

 We have been there in other times with out all the fluff. I have to say I prefer it that way.  It is miles and miles of rolling fields of crops, a few pre-civil war buildings and barns, a cemetery, little dirt roads throughout and monuments all around. It is quiet and peaceful, just how it should be, yet gives you a hollowing feeling that you cannot even grasp all that took place on those grounds. I definitely prefer to visit it with out all the news vans, intercoms, balloons, event tents, performances, and tour guides.

In the mailbox

 The kids are getting used to surprises being in the mailbox from Grandma and Grandpa. Their first package came with this letter that makes me cry every time I read it or even see it in the drawer. I know every word is true and I have such guilt for the sadness our move has caused them. We can't wait for November 15 at 10:30p.m. when we get to go pick them up from the airport.

"Dear Bennett and Libby,
Do you know I was thinking about you today? I think about you everyday and I imagine you playing in your new toy room and peeking through Dad's office door when he's working and looking in your garden for vegetables and sitting at your little table to eat and playing in your backyard and laying in your new bed in your new room. I bet your pictures look great hanging in your new room. And I think about you trying to tell to Mom that you are hungry because she doesn't know that kids are ALWAYS hungry. (That is something Bennett told my Mom one day while forcing out tears. "I'm always hungry because I'm a kid and kids are always hungry and Mom doesn't know it" He is famous for trying to get Grandma to feel bad for him and it always works)

We are trying to buy plane tickets to come visit you at Thanksgiving time. That will be in about 79 days and that is a very long time to miss you. I will stay very very busy and the days will go fast.

I am sending you a few little things. I hope you like them. All of them are for Bennett and Libby but the big blue book is for Mom and the little blue book is for Dad.

You have a fun day and help Mom and Dad. We love you all and miss you.
Grandma and Grandpa Dean"

This one came with Bennetts name on it.

Who needs packing peanuts when you could just use fruit snacks. 32 packages of them. That's just Grandpa putting his spin on things.

One package came for Libby with 12 little monkeys inside that she insisted in carrying all at the same time. It was kind of a circus act, one would drop and she would bend to get it and drop two more and so on.

Pot Rack - made over

My Dad, he goofy, that is old news. When we were unpacking he would grab random things and hang them on the pot rack. I think he thought he was teasing me but after my parents left I could not bring myself to take them down. He left his goofy little mark that I liked to be reminded every time I was in the kitchen, so essentially all day.

After 2 months of living here I finally decided to use the pot rack for ......pots!?! Who would have thought? Well that didn't work because my pots have too fat of handles. So I had to re-purpose it.

In our garden we have herbs running out our ears.

Rosemary, chives, fennel, basil and oregano. Mmmmm....

I love having them there. They make the house smell yummers and they make me smile. When I am cooking I just put my pot under whatever herb I need and crumble some off.

Le~Jardin

The owners of our house planted an adorable garden and trusted it in our hands. We are doing our best with it and it is fun learning and finding ways to use what we pick. The kids love to do the picking of whatever they can get their hands on, but we let them have fun with it. 

 

 I would like to say that they don't always come out with bed head and pj's but I would be lying.

Along with our fresh vegetables, berries and herbs we have had a few critters take up residency in the garden. On a number of occasions I have attempted to pick a green bean and got a praying mantis butt. Can you see why? Yeah, he lives there. It has got to the point that I search for him first before I do my picking so I don't make the mistake again and again.

Did you know caterpillars LOVE parsley and because they are always all over it, it has made me not love it. At any given moment we can find them in there. The best part of it is that we never have to catch them and keep them in a jar in our house. They live in the garden and we visit them and watch them anytime he wants.

 And it doesn't stop at bugs. One morning while searching for green beans I got the strange feeling that the ground was blinking at me, thats because it was. 

Do you see what I see??

Not one but 2 baby bunnies lived in a little hole under the bean poles. They were so tiny, like the size of an egg. We moved the drip line away from them and took the chicken wire off the lettuce plants to that they could stay in our safe little fenced in garden as long as they would like to. 

We sure have a whole lot more critters to watch out here. We see birds of all colors like cardinals and canaries and they go through the bird seed like a Golden Corral. We could fill it about every other day. 

 

Oh and squirrels.......lots and lots of squirrels. Bennett is sure that he is going to catch one and is totally offended that they are afraid of him. 

All in all this is just a few of the new experiences we are having out here. Fall has brought a whole new scenery in nature and critters, but we will save that for another time.