Day 3 update

Yesterday was the third day of everyone being together. The kids and I ended up having a day at home. The boys played some video games, had a Star Wars battle, and then hung a tire swing in the back yard, which is so awesome for Joshie! Of course, that was followed by a jump into the pool--why oh why must they jump into the pool in their clothes?

Here's a picture from the other day of their "synchronized diving":

We had one of our favorites for dinner: coal miner's pasta (thank you Rachel Ray...) and finished off the cake and ice cream from the night before.

Today I will be doing much laundry and we'll do some baking so we can send Jarrett home with lots of goodies. We'll also make a couple fun trips out around town and perhaps go down to Annapolis for ice cream later.

One last dinner together and tomorrow Jarrett will head back to North Carolina.....

Birthday Closeout

and the G boys' birthdays finally draw to a close.....

Saturday night Dave and I took Jarrett out for a local delicacy--crab pickin' at a crab house on the South River. Jarrett loves seafood but crab picking can be, um, how should I say it?--kind of gross, in a mushy sort of way. I wasn't sure if he would like it, but sure enough, he dug right in with excitement and only stopped pickin' to ask for another.

A dozen large male crabs, boiled and covered in Old Bay Seasoning, a Maryland tradition

Getting ready to go at it

The result of about an hour and a half of work. A smile, a full stomach, and a big mess.

Late last night we got to go pick up Nick from the airport. He got back from his missions trip, which was apparently more work in a week than he's ever done. He literally spent hours underground with a jackhammer for several days in a row. More to come on that trip later.

We had a great ride home from the airport. Dave and I were smiling in the front of the van at all the chattering going on in the back. It's so fun having all the kids home at once. I miss all that noise!

This evening we wrapped up Jarrett's birthday celebration by enjoying a nice german meal out in the gazebo, then coming in for cake, ice cream, and presents.

And the big finale of "happyyyy birthdayyyyy to youuuuu......cha-cha-cha" by Joshie, followed by the blowout of 20 tall candles.

And now all the birthdays are done. Whew! Unless.......we can sweet-talk my mom into coming to visit in a couple weeks to celebrate hers! What if we promise a big party for her, too???

And.....Happy Birthday, Round 3

Today is Jarrett's 20th birthday! We are officially the parents of a 20-year old. That seems so weird.
Jarrett is driving up tonight to spend several days with us. We'll celebrate his birthday tomorrow by taking him out for some Maryland blue crabs! (pics coming afterwards..)
He's had a really busy summer so far and I know he is looking forward to the downtime. Someone else doing his cooking, getting his laundry done for free, swimming a bit, and of course, playing Star Wars with Joshie. :) We're all happy to oblige.

Happy Birthday, J! We love you!

And the list is out....

so it's official. My dear husband is now Major (P) for "promotable"!

The list was released today and he's already gotten lots of nice congratulations emails.

What does Major (P) mean?

It means that after 20+ years in the Army, after working his way up from E-1 private, after several deployments, many schools, and many, many long nights he will finally be getting to pin on this nice, shiny, silver leaf and will be called Lieutenant Colonel:

Now, this won't happen right away. He will walk around with the (P) behind his name for several months--probably until sometime after the new year. But it's coming and he deserves it.

Congratulations, my love!

Birthday, Round 2

Today is Nick's 15th birthday--Happy Birthday, son!

We had an early celebration (ok, a couple...that's how I do things...) for him because this week he is on a missions trip with our church group to Flagstaff, AZ.

Last Wednesday we surprised him with a pool party for him and his friends. We had snacks, ordered pizzas, and had ice cream sundaes. There was a lot of planning, whispering, and sneaking invovled in pulling off the surprise, but we did it! It was a fun time.

Then Friday night before he left we had a little family celebration with cake, ice cream, and gifts.

Nick has always been a pretty easy-going kid and he has turned into such a pleasant young man with a personality that just draws people to him. He's fun to be around, works hard, and is a confident leader. He is also just one rank away from Eagle Scout.

I hope you have a great day, Nick! We miss you!

Even more birthday fun

I realize this whole birthday celebration is getting loooong, but some of you (ok, just my mom) have asked for party pictures, so here they are!

We had an undersea theme, complete with bubbles, waves, jellyfish, etc. There's not a picture of it but we had green "seaweed" streamers growing up the bottom of the walls and Joshua drew and colored creatures from the abyss to put at the bottom of the stairs. He was very into decorating!

The Octopus cake:We had goldfish and blue jello with swedish fish "swimming" in it for a snack:We made little fish suncatchers with sequins and straight pins:Of course there was swimming:And this is why I let him open his presents while his friends were still there:
It was a great party! Thanks to all our friends who came to celebrate with us!

Hello 6!

We are having a party for Joshua on Sunday after his Daddy and Nick get back from camp. We couldn't let his actual birthday go by without celebrating, though!

He opened a couple of presents he received from his grandparents first thing in the morning and we had a big breakfast before heading out in the afternoon to the National Zoo.

After the zoo we went to an italian restaurant on Constitution Ave. that we love. Delizioso!

And on our way home we stopped by Coldstone Creamery for ice cream. THAT was a fun day for a just-turned-six boy.

Stay tuned for pictures of our underwater adventure party on Sunday!

Good-bye 5

Things That Were Great About Being Five

by Joshua

I learned:
how to do math

how to whistle

how to snap my fingers

how to shoot a bow and arrow

how to do a front flip on the trampoline

how to dive for a rocket at the bottom of the pool (even though I don't want to do that again)

how to draw really good