Need I say more?

Don't think anything else needs to be said - except maybe - GO SKINS!

www.redskins.com/gameday/default.jsp?gameId=91

This picture best depicts the last month

EXHAUSTING!

So much to post and catch up on...

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.

The road to Christmas - Week 1

Last year was the first year that Andrew really understood Christmas and all the activities that lead up to the big day. So, this year we planned a flurry of activities beginning the weekend after Thanksgiving and leading right up to Christmas Eve. Of course, I forgot to factor in time for Mommy to get ready for Christmas! Guess that's my lesson learned for next year! Here's a quick look at the holiday fun we had:

The first weekend in December was filled with alot of activities. Saturday morning Andrew and I did a Candy Cane Hunt and Lunch with Santa with TAG and Olivia.

Andrew did not find many candy canes, but Olivia was nice enough to share several of the "winning" candy canes with Andrew so he could get a holiday tatoo and a little gift.

We headed home to decorate our gingerbread train. We've been decorating a train since Andrew was 2 and this year Andrew added a bit of his own decoration - several GI Joe figures were seated in the train with all the frosting and candy!

Saturday afternoon we headed over to Pump It Up in Leesburg to celebrate Hannah's birthday. Everyone had such a great time - kids and adults - someone mentioned that adults should rent out the place for adults only. I think that would be a great parent's night out!

After Hannah's birthday party, we headed into downtown Leesburg for the Christmas parade. We watched the parade last year and the kids loved it, so we made it an annual event. This year we had a special reason for going. Andrew, Olivia, Alexa and Samuel's teacher, Ms Katelyn, was in the parade with her dance troupe. So the kids had fun watching for Ms Katelyn and gathering up the candy that was thrown from the floats.

Sunday we were supposed to attend the annual Wolf Trap Christmas sing along with the Green's and the Satterpellaton's, but it was cold and rainy/sleety so we all opted for staying home - inside with a fire. We put up the Christmas tree and put the lights on it. I love putting up the Christmas tree, but HATE putting the lights on...next year we'll be purchasing an artificial tree WITH lights already on it!

Kindergarten insanity

I'm adding this to my list of things to blackmail Andrew with later in life. Andrew turns 5 next September which makes him eligible for kindergarten in Loudoun County - just barely (by 12 days!). While I do believe that Andrew will go to public school when he enters 1st grade, I feel like he needs to go to a private kindergarten. Loudoun County only does half day kindergarten, which means that Andrew would go to school for 2.5 hours per day and then be bussed over to Creme for after school care where I would still pay the same price for after school care as i do for him to go full time to kindergarten at Creme. And Andrew is terrible with change, so I don't want to send him to a new school for one year and then move him again when he goes to public school.
So, today is Creme's registration for 2008 kindergarten (beginning September 2008) and it's based on FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE. Bear in mind that there are 54 kids in the 4 year old program now and at least 12 transitional kindergarten kids (kids who turned 5 after 9/30/2007), so the competition to get on of the 24 spots in the kindergarten class is tight. Last year parents showed up to stand in line at 4 am and the 2 classes were filled by noon. Olivia and Alexa are also eligible for and need to be at Creme kindergarten next year. As soon as the papers came out, TAG, Jen and I had e-mails flying around trying to plan for times to start camping out in order to ensure our kids get one of the coveted positions. We initially had planned that we would break the night into 2 shifts - the guys would handle midnight to 3 and then the girls would relieve them at 3 and remain until the kids were registered. Then, Jen realized that she was on travel - which meant that poor Brandon would have to pull both shifts.
Here's what ended up happening - Colin drove by Creme at 8 pm and 10 pm to see if anyone was waiting. Dan got in line at midnight and called Brandon and Colin each hour to give them the status on number of folks showing up. By the time the phone rang for the 2nd time at 2 am, I was awake and decided to head over to keep Dan company. By the time I got all the cold weather gear loaded into the car (it was 26 degrees here this morning!) and got to Creme building it was close to 3 am. I think Dan was very happy for some company. He was the first one to arrive and there was one other parent there before I arrived. Shortly after 3 am the parents started pouring into the parking lot with armloads of blankets, candy, donuts, coffee and chairs. Someone brought a radio and there were a couple of bathroom/coffee runs to 7-11 and Starbucks. TAG brought her camera and took pictures of all of us in our wintery weather gear. We were all very orderly - someone even created a list of everyone who was signing up in the order they arrived. By 5 am, there were 24 parents waiting patiently for Creme to open their doors at 6:30 and begin registration. I'm so thankful that is over...although the director of curriculum made a comment as i was registering about the letter that I would receive from the executive director that makes me nervous again. I guess I won't feel better until that stinking letter arrives next week!

Happy Birthday to Colin

Happy Birthday to my husband, Colin - better known in our social circle as Boot Camp Colin.
I love you honey!

Another busy weekend

So, November has started with bang....we had a weekend chocked full of activities.

Friday night, we headed out to the see the "Bee Movie" with a bunch of friends (both ours and Andrew's) and then headed over to a local pizza joint for a little dinner. Now, bear in mind, there were 15 of us total - and 6 of us were under the age of 7. So, there was alot of ruckus when we entered the restarant and tried to get seated and served. I think my friend, Stephanie, captured the incident at the pizza place perfectly in her blog, so I've added it here -

"Last night we took the kids to see the Bee Movie with several of our friends and their children-- 15 of us to be exact-- 9 adults and 6 children. The kids were very good at the movies, they sat there side by side, intently staring at the screen. Every now and then, Hannah and Ashley would cruise down to check on Lex, Olivia, and Andrew two rows down.After the movie was over, we were hungry, so we headed next door for pizza. As we entered the smallish dining area, the staff scrambled to put the few remaining tables together for us. I glanced around apologetically to the "childless" patrons. It was late for a group of mostly 4 year olds and they were all on the verge of a break down. The first hurdle was determining where everyone would sit. After a game of musical chairs, we arranged ourselves with the kids at the end of the table closest to the back of the restaurant, the women in the middle, and the men at the other end.The ordering process was uneventful, other than the quick shower of tears when Ashley thought she wasn't going to get a Sprite. Andrew and Olivia squared off next over a napkin. Samuel hit his head on the table and there were more tears. All the ladies ended up making several trips to the bathroom with the kids-- I think I probably had the prize for the most trips-- but then again I was the one with 2 kids-- everyone else was paired with only 1. Somehow we made it through dinner with few outbursts. I couldn't help glancing around every now and again to see if I could catch any stares or eye-rolling from the other tables. Our table was definitely the loudest, but I think the kids behavior was pretty darn good.So fast forward to the check. The server brought us our check and explained that the man sitting at the table next to us when we first came in had bought our first round of drinks and pizzas. We all sat there in complete shock and amazement. Why? Did he feel sorry for us? Was he writing a book on "when good parenting goes bad"? Surely he wasn't impressed by our well-behaved children and exceptional parenting skills :) The server explained that he simply said that he liked what we were doing. Try as I may, I couldn't remember what the gentleman looked like. Marc and Havalynn said they remembered him and that they had exchanged glances... but didn't think anything of it. We all sat pondering, in dumbfounded appreciation, trying to figure out why in the mad chaos of everyday life someone-- anyone would notice and make such a kind gesture. With no answers, we gave the server a big tip and took our tired little ones home.Hannah and Ashley fell asleep before we got out of the parking lot. Still Marc and I thought back to the restaurant and continued speculating as to why he would pay for our meal. This is definitely something that doesn't just happen everyday. I felt bad because I couldn't remember him-- I should have at least noticed. I wanted somehow to thank him-- but how? I decided that the only way I could was to tell the story here. I'm hoping that if you made it this far, you are smiling and thinking that there are still some good people in the world. And to the kind and generous gentleman who crossed our path last night, thank you."

Bright and early Saturday, Trace Ann and Dan were brave enough to host a playgroup were we decorated pottery for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas gifts (specifically - plates) by painting the kids hands and feet. While all that painting was going on, our amazingly talented friend, Stephanie, was doing photo sessions of the kids for holiday photos. Check out her fabulous pictures on her website http://www.thehipstudio.com/
Andrew is normally an extremely happy child and loves Ms Stephanie - at least until she whips out her camera. In the past, when that camera comes out, he becomes little shy guy and refuses to cooperate with any direction. If we're lucky, Stephanie is able to get 3-4 shots of Andrew that are great. Well, I'm happy to report that he was Stephanie's star pupil of the day - she was able to get a ton of good shots. The four she sent me this morning as a preview were definite keepers!

We left playgroup around noon, swumg by and picked up Colin and headed out to Nana and Oz's condo so we could hang out with them for a few hours...Nana had bread to feed the ducks and the fish at the pond near her condo, so we headed down to to feed them. After we had exhausted the bread supply, we headed back home and settled in for the evening with dinner and an exhausted little guy.

Sunday morning, I met my friend, Tammy, at 8 am for a run. The deal was that we were going to run until we felt like we need to stop. Well we ended up running 7 (yes, SEVEN) miles...now, I'm not a runner by nature. I really started seriously running after Andrew was born and just ran my first 5K last December with Jen. This was truly a testament to running with a partner - Talking with Tammy definitely helped the time and the distance go by really quickly. We had no idea that we had run so far or for so long. I guess I'm ready for my first 10K on Thanksgiving day. When I got home, Colin and I switched out the light fixtures over the kitchen table and the dining room table - the light fixtures that were replaced were probably the ones that had been there since the house had been built - so these new fixtures were a welcome change.
Sunday night Nana and Oz came over to the house to babysit for a few hours while Colin and I went to Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg for dinner (tomorrow is Colin's birthday). After a very nice grownup dinner (the rainbow trout was DELICIOUS), we headed back home for a little birthday cake with the family. So, it's back to the grind for me tomorrow. Colin is taking the day off tomorrow for his birthday and he and Andrew are going to hang out and play.

Happy Birthday Jen!

October 31 is not only Halloween, but it's one of my closest girlfriends' birthday. Happy Birthday Jen!

Happy Halloween!

Today was quite a hectic day. We started the day with a Halloween parade at Andrew's school. I was not too sure about how he was going to act - in years past, as soon as he sees me, he starts crying and want to go home. When I dropped him off, all signs pointed to another year like the past - he was pouting and saying that he did not want to be a pirate (ARGH - after all that searching, right?). I'm happy to report, he stayed with his class and marched through the entire parade and then posed for pictures with his friends and teachers.

Once the parade was over, I changed Andrew out of his pirate outfit..I'm so glad I did, when I picked him up later, he had remnants of the Halloween party treats ALL over his shirt. Then, off to his class he went - he was the line leader so he could have cared less that I was not with them. My little guy is growing up! Later in the day, his class had their Halloween party - where they totally got hyped up on cupcakes, cookies and candy - it was a complete madhouse of kids on a sugar high when I arrived to pick up Andrew and Lex at 5 pm. We headed out to Jen's house for pizza and trick or treating with Lex (Belle) and Olivia (Alice in Wonderland). We have trick or treated with Andrew's buddy, Matthew, in the past and when those two boys are together, they are not afraid of anything scary...they'll walk through it all to get to CANDY. So, I was interested to see how Andrew would do as the one little guy with the two little ladies. Well, I had nothing to worry about...he hit every house that we went to - scary decorations or not. Could it be that he could not see anything?

Olivia was right there with him. It took Lex a little while to warm up to the idea, but by the end of the night, she was hitting all the houses without scary decorations with Andrew and Olivia. Of course, there were a few crying episodes and a couple of freakouts - but I think that comes with 3 4 year olds who had an extremely busy day with alot of sugar. By 8:45, the kids were done, so we headed back to Jen's house and the kids checked out their loot, "rested" with Colin and tormented Brandon.

Andrew was so worn out, he asked to be put to bed when we got home! That's a sign of a GREAT day! Happy Halloween!

Cute as a panda cub

My niece, Nora Jane, is a panda bear this year for Halloween. My sister sent me these pictures last night and I could not resist sharing. One, because Nora Jane is just too stinking cute and two, because my sister knitted the panda bear outfit!

Football and Nana's new house

The last Saturday in September, we went to see Andrew's cousins, Chase and Anthony, play football. It's pretty interesting to watch the kids play at this age (they are 10/11). The 11 year olds play 1st quarter and 3rd quarter, and the 10 year olds play 2nd quarter. 4th quarter is a mix of 10 and 11 years olds. And, they play iron man football which means they are out there the whole quarter. It was a good way to introduce Andrew to the concept of attending a football game (we are planning a trip to JMU in November to watch the Dukes play a game). He LOVED it...we sat down near the field and each one of the boys came over to talk to Andrew a bit. We showed Andrew their numbers on each of their uniforms (17 and 87) so he could find them on the field. I'm hoping this is a sign that Andrew will enjoy football as much as Colin and I do - we'll see in November!

On Sunday, we headed out to Nana and Oz's new condo in Gainesville. Nana and Oz have a Gator bike for Andrew to ride when he visits and we have been keeping it while they are in transition to their new digs. Now, that they are in their new place, we wanted to get the bike over to their place (and out of our garage!) and check out their place now that it is officially "theirs". Andrew rode his bike all around the parking lot and checked out every nook and cranny of the new condo. Then we headed over to 5 Guys for burgers - a total score for Andrew because they have peanuts which entertains him while we wait for the food! He was totally worn out after all the excitement of the weekend. As soon as we got in the car to come home he was out.

Slacking on the posts

I've been a big slacker on the posting as of late. The middle of September brought Andrew's 4th birthday and in my typical "Martha Stewart wannabe" fashion, I went all out for his pirate treasure hunt party - complete with a treasure hunt for pirate garb and 2 cakes - pirate face and treasure chest. I know it's alot of work to host a birthday party at our house, but I just know Andrew had such a good time and loved that all his friends came over to his house for his pirate party.

We followed that up with a 4th birthday party celebration at his school where I learned that black frosted pirate cupcakes might be a great idea in theory but boy, are they messy with a bunch of 3-4 year olds!

And it has not stopped since then. It's that time of year where there is some type of fall activity to do each weekend and we have been taking full advantage of those activities - keeping a little blonde child busy so he will just collapse at night from sheer exhaustion!

Future star of "So, You think You can Dance" or "American Idol"

In the past month, Andrew has discovered the fun of my iPod Shuffle - mind you, it's neon pink so seeing Andrew carrying around a neon pink iPod is completely hilarious!

He has figured out how to put the ear buds in, turn it on, adjust the volume and find the song that he wants. Now, I use my Shuffle for my daily runs, so it's a random mixture of songs that will keep me going when I totally want to stop running and walk home. His current favorites are "Barbie Girl" by Aqua and "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. He dances around the kitchen singing to these songs. It's the funniest thing to hear Andrew's little voice singing "hey, you, I don't like your girlfriend, no way, think you need a new one" or "i'm a barbie girl, in a barbie world" and all the randoms ooh-oohs that he throws in! We've captured it on video so I suppose we will have to save it for blackmail purposes when he is a teenager!

Gotta love 34 - 3

Ok, I'm the first to admit, I'm a HUGE Redskins fan http://www.redskins.com/ ...so much so, I have suffered through the countless seasons of possibility only to be disappointed in the end and been known to chase after certain players in the local shopping center to chat with them (of course, I never have my camera or anything they can sign!) Since 1993 when Joe Gibbs retired, we have had 6 head coaches - Richie Petitbon, Norv Turner, Terry Robiskie, Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier and then Joe Gibbs again in 2004. When Daniel Snyder managed to pull Joe Gibbs out of retirement to come back and coach the Redskins for a 2nd time, we had a party.

Now, Joe Gibbs football will give you a stress attack on a weekly basis...the games are ALWAYS close and they come down to the last minutes of the game. I don't ever get my nails done during football season, because I bite them all off watching the game each week. So imagine my delight to get in the car Sunday afternoon and hear the score 14-0 - Redskins ahead. And they managed to keep the lead - even though many of the starters were out with injuries - and won, not a nailbiter, but a good solid thumping of the Detriot Lions with the final score 34-3 (who by the way, are supposed to have an incredible offense!) What a great way to close out the weekend!

Sterlingfest

Sterlingfest is an annual event that showcases the Sterling Volunteer Fire Department. Our family has a special place in our heart for the Sterling Area Fire Department since one of their crew responded to the daycare when Andrew had his seizure two years ago. But the event a little boy's dream - there are firetrucks are parked everywhere, a helicopter lands and they demonstrate the Jaws of Life. We met Andrew's buddy, Matthew, there and they wore each other out playing on the playground at the rec center next to the Fire Station, dancing to the bands, and playing in the three different moon bounces. He was EXHAUSTED when I finally loaded him into the car at 4 pm - he and Matthew closed the place down!

We ARRRGH Pirates

Our house has been overtaken by pirates.....Andrew is completely obsessed with pirates and treasure since his birthday party.

Busy weekend ahead

We are up and moving early this morning - actually I should rephrase...I am up and moving early this morning. This weekend is packed - I'll be registering for the 2008 ScrapBowl this morning at 11 am http://www.getcroppin.com/feb_class.cfm . I'm super excited to go - I'm really beginning to enjoy putting together pages that document the fun times Colin, Andrew and I have with our family and friends. Then Andrew and I will be heading out to catch the end of the Columbus Day Parade and Sterlingfest with Andrew's buddy Matthew.

Colin's dad and younger brother, Tom, arrive at 2 pm today so he's going to be getting the house somewhat organized for them. Tonight I'm heading out to Alexandria to go to the Mount Vernon Wine Festival with some friends. This is an annual event that we hit every year and we normally discover some new Virginia winery that has GREAT wine and buy a bunch of wine to enjoy over the next few months. http://www.mountvernon.org/calendar/index.cfm/fuseaction/event/calID/72/

Tomorrow, some of my friends and I are going to a Williams Sonoma class on decorating cookies and cupcakes and following it up with a girls day brunch. It's also game day - the Redskins play the Lions at 1 pm. One of my favorite Redskins players, Gary Clark, is being inducted into the Redskins Hall of Fame. He was an amazing receiver for the team during some of their better years and it does not hurt that he went to my alma mater - James Madison University! So, I'll be cheering the team on in spirit during our girl's brunch...I'm going to spare my girlfriends and not wear my jersey to the class or brunch even though that breaks the Wood family game day rule! More to follow.....

What happens when you leave a 4 year old alone for 5 minutes

I ran upstairs to get a few items together for our crazy Wednesday (we fit work, daycare, soccer and tennis lessons into the day all before 5 pm). And Andrew managed to himself stuck in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle dress up belt he just got for his birthday.

I just don't even want to know what was going through his head when he got himself stuck that way!

We have a costume!

Since Andrew's birthday falls about a month and a half before Halloween, we seem to be continuing the birthday party theme into the

Halloween costume. Last year, he had a "Cars" themed birthday party and then he wanted to be something from "Cars" for Halloween - we ended up with the pit crew costume because he just could not be bothered with the big bulky costume they created to be "Lightening McQueen". This year, he announced that he wanted to be a pirate (go figure, he had a pirate party for his birthday!). Gymboree had an absolutely adorable pirate outfit, but it sold out quickly online and it was almost $50 for the whole costume. So Andrew and I hit every other store that might carry a pirate costume to see if we could find something that he might like. Who knew 4 years olds had such particular tastes and opinions! He hated every other pirate costume in every other store.... On a whim, we hit the mall late last week to see if the Disney store might have a costume that would suit Andrew's tastes. I peaked in the Gymboree store on our way to the Disney store and guess what? They had the cute pirate costume AND it was on sale AND Andrew LOVES it! Whew, pirate disaster avoided!!!!

Happy Birthday Nora Jane!

Andrew's cousin, Nora Jane had her first birthday on Monday. Happy birthday angel! We love you.

Why I should never be responsible for the camera at any non-child event

When it comes to Andrew and all his activities, I'm a serious shutterbug. I swear, I snap 30-50 pictures a week of our little guy. But when it comes to capturing non- Andrew events, I have determined, I should NEVER be in charge of the camera.
For example, on our long "parents-only" event in New York at the end of August, I lugged my camera around NYC with the girls for the whole day, but did not take one solitary picture - nada. just the fact that we were enjoying NYC with some of our closest friends should have been incentive enough, but, it's NYC and there is some really amazing architecture in the city. Thank God we had so much fun, we're thinking of making it an annual event.
So, fast forward to yesterday. We have had Redskins season tickets in the Wood family since 1995 (I think - been a while!). I am a huge Redskins fan and have been known to be a crazy fan when certain ex-players pass us in public. Colin and I used to go to the home opener every year - before Andrew. So the past couple of years, we have been absent at the home games - it's much easier to negotiate with Andrew from the comfort of the Wing Factory or the couch in our basement while the game is on. Well, one of my girlfriends, Jen, actually happens to be a sports fan and so yesterday we ventured out to the game by ourselves. Of course, typical type A moms that we are, we had tons of food, beer, soda and water, chairs to tailgate and a camera (I brought that one) - everything for a perfect tailgate and day at the game. And how many pictures did I take? ONE...and it was not even of the two of us - it was of the pumpkin beer sitting on my bumper that we drank before we went into the game.
Jen - I had a GREAT time...and you were so sweet not to gloat about the wheels falling off the Redskins wagon in the 2nd half. If you want to go to next years NY/Redskins game, we obviously know who should be in charge of the camera!

The last 4th birthday celebration

Today was the last birthday celebration for Andrew's 4th birthday. He's had three birthday celebrations: a pirate treasure hunt party on Saturday, a birthday dinner on Tuesday and today, he had cupcakes at daycare. Andrew was so excited to see me in his classroom with chocolate pirate cupcakes. His teacher had his class sing happy birthday and then those kids chowed down on those cupcakes - which were covered in black frosting thus the black mustaches and tongues. Happy 4th birthday little guy!

Gifts from Nana's cruise

Nana and Oz have been on a cruise (August 24th through September 10th) that started in England and went to many of the Scandanavian countries, Russia and then Estonia. They came over Tuesday night to go to Andrew's new favorite restarant - Logan's Roadhouse (who knew peanuts in a galvanized bucket and a jukebox would entertain a 4 year old for HOURS!)- and fill us in on their trip. They loved England and the Scandanavian countries - all the men especially loved the beautiful blonde women and took a million pictures of them. They said Russia was a bit creepy and the tour guides emphasized not leaving the group for fear of being left in Russia - overall a very depressing country

Of course, they brought souvenirs from their trip for the whole family. I think the gift Andrew loved the most was a replica of the Russia military's hat. He puts it on and tries to salute whenever he sees it. Funny what things interest 4 year olds!

The day our world changed forever

Four years ago today, our life changed forever - in a good way. Andrew made his way into the world at 5:32 am - obviously an early bird like me. Actually he was a week and a half LATE, so he had to be encouraged by the doctor and the remnants of Hurricane Isabel.
He has grown in so many ways since then.. his first steps, his first words, his first day at daycare (sniff), his first boo-boo. I could go on and on with all of Andrew's "firsts".
For fun, we did height and weight yesterday. He's 42 inches tall and 42 pounds. He's had a growth spurt AGAIN. On average, he's grown about 4-5 inches each year...if he keeps this up I'm going to have a linebacker in my house in a few years!

Very far behind

I've been slacking over the last week, with no posts since last Monday. I got completely caught up in the preparation for Andrew's big Pirate Party treasure hunt on Saturday for his 4th birthday. Great news though, it was a success - more to follow soon!

Very busy weekend

I had planned to for this past weekend to be a very laid back weekend....Andrew requested that his 4th birthday party (next weekend) be a pirate celebration - complete with a treasure hunt. So, I had planned to spend the weekend getting all the supplies for the party and the treasure hunt. Well, guess plans are made to be broken, right? I think we now have all the party supplies purchased (some are just not here and will be arriving this week via FedEx and UPS).




Friday night, the whole family went to Cole Brothers circus with Trace Ann, Dan, Olivia, Tammy, Maegen, Syndney, Samuel and Tom. We went to this same circus last year and I totally forgot that the "big top" is not air conditioned. It was definitely a bit warm in the tent which I think made for one irritable husband (mine). But the kids all loved the circus - Andrew was fascinated by the motorcycles and the performer on the trampoline. All the kids loved the pony rides that they did at intermession...I swear I thought Andrew was going to want a pony for his birthday. So far - it has not made the list - THANK GOODNESS!



Saturday, we ran all around - dropping off Colin's corvette to get work done, doing the weekly errands, and getting birthday party supplies. Andrew is currently trying to break his nap schedule so naps have been somewhat all over the map recently. Saturday, he did not nap until almost 4 pm and then was extremely grumpy very the remainder of the evening....nice way to cap off the evening!

Sunday morning we had playgroup at the Dinosaur Park in Ashburn. Andrew had such a great time with all his friends. I think he was moving nonstop for the entire two hours that we were at the park.



Then we rushed over to Leesburg to drop off Colin's Hyundai for work and then back home...it was opening day for the Redskins and our house ALWAYS watches the Redskins. Do not call our house during the game unless you want to discuss the current game or there is an emergency involving a bleeding child. With Joe Gibbs at the helm, games are always nailbitters - case in point, yesterdays OT win over the Miami Dolphins with a field goal - and the Redskins are always considered underdogs. There's alot of yelling and screaming - we normally watch with my brother in law and his wife who are also huge Redskins fans. But it's alot of fun with our family and it's a great tradition for Andrew to grow up with.

So, today, it's back to the grind. I think Andrew was glad to go back to school today so he could "rest" ;-)

Andrew's current birthday wish list

Today's birthday wish list (because it changes daily)

A skateboard
A Spiderman car

Wonder what it will be tomorrow?????

Swimming Lessons have started

The flurry of fall activities have started. Suddenly Andrew wants to participate in a bunch of activities - tennis, swimming and soccer. Fortunately, his daycare offers a soccer program during the day, so I've just signed him up to start on September 17th.

This week, Andrew started back to swim lessons at Potomac Swim School http://potomacswimschool.com/. He's been in swim lessons since last January, but since he's turning 4 in little over a week, he's moved out of the "toddler" class and into the 4-5's which means a new teacher and CHANGES (and we know how Andrew feels about that!). But, I was hopeful that it might not be too bad since his friends Alexa and Olivia were going to be in the class with him. When I picked Andrew up from daycare, he was completely spun up about his swim lessons and when he got to Potomac Swim School and saw Alexa and Olivia, he could not contain his excitement. We had a little issue during the actual class when Coach Patty took Andrew into the water for the first time. He had her in his "death grip" and she had to work really hard to get him to release. But, I'm happy to report, by the end of the class, he was jumping

into the pool (and going under the water), blowing bubbles, and "swimming" to the side. I even had to get after him to get out of the pool so the others could "show skills" at the end of class. I guess there's something to be said for a little peer pressure (Thanks to Alexa and Olivia!)

Changes

Anyone who knows Andrew knows he is TERRIBLE with change. He is fearless when it comes to trying anything physical (obviously - see all his battle scars from running into bushes and falling off sofas!), but screw with the order in his world and he loses his mind.
With the new school year starting, the entire daycare that Andrew attends, changes their schedule. So, I used to drop him off in his class when they had gym time. This allowed his teacher to engage him one on one - normally resulting in Andrew saying "Miss Lily, you can't catch me!" and Miss Lily chasing him. As of Tuesday, the kids are in computer class when I drop him off....bad, very bad. Miss Lily can give him attention, but it's not like when he goes into the gym. She tried very hard today to get him to engage on the computer, but Andrew was having no part of that. He clung to my leg and when I tried to detach him, he crawled under a table. Poor little guy...he going to get used to the new schedule and then he's going to transition to a new class (the 4 year old class) in 3 weeks. I feel terrible, but I know that 5 minutes after I leave, he's a completely different child - playing and laughing with all his friends (I've checked in the video screens his day care has in the reception) I guess that's the down side of Andrew being such a momma's boy. :-(

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school for Loudoun County. When the big yellow bus pulled up this morning, I realized that this time next year, Andrew will be getting on the bus. Time has really flown....

Busy holiday weekend

After our whirlwind trip to NYC last weekend, the plans were to relax this weekend. When we made those plans, we definitely did not factor the very active 31/2 year old into the plans. So, all plans for relaxation were out the window - at least until he crashed each day for a quick recharge!

Friday night we decided to make home-made chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate for movie night (yes, hot chocolate in August!).

Saturday, Andrew and Daddy washed Daddy's corvette.

Sunday morning, the whole family played tennis - or should I say - Andrew played tennis for about 20 minutes and then rode his bike around the tennis courts while Colin and I played tennis for an hour. We took a LONG bike ride (for Andrew) and walk for us in hopes of wearing out some of that excess energy Andrew had. Thank goodness for Jen and Brandon - they brought Alexa over to play with Andrew Sunday night. They played until close to midnight Sunday night so we actually got a chance to sit, drink yummy mojitos and chat with Jen and Bran

Today, we went to Algokian Golf Course and hit golf balls. Andrew's getting pretty good at hitting them (some of his golf balls went further than mine!). We're thinking about taking him out to Sterling Golf Course in late October.

Not a very relaxing weekend, but fun none the less....