Homes Sweet Homes

Yay, we're two steps closer to our move from Maryland to Virginia - on the Maryland side, our house just went on the market. And on the Virginia side, we just had our pre-drywall inspection. Only a few more months to go!

The Frog At the Bottom of the Mug

When I was a kid, I always looked forward to when Mom would make hot cocoa, because it held the hope of possibly getting "the frog mug." The frog mug was a white mug with a little green ceramic frog at the bottom of the mug, so that when you finished your cocoa, you saw the little feller smiling up at you. It was awesome. But we didn't have enough for everyone, so inevitably there was a big fight over who would get the frog mug. Now I realize that the mug (which I still have, by the way) isn't all that special - it's just that kids will fight over ANYTHING. With my older brothers and sisters, it was a "special spoon" (which apparently wasn't special at all, just an orphan spoon from a different silverware set than the rest of the spoons), with my close-in-age siblings, it was the frog mug. And now it's started with my kids who, yes, are only 2 and 1. I gave them goldfish for a snack the other night, and Jack THREW DOWN for an hour straight....because I gave Ellie the green bowl instead of him. Mind you, there is nothing special about this green bowl, it's just a little plastic green bowl, identical to the little plastic blue bowl that he had. It's just that he felt like green, and when I didn't give it to him, I guess that meant it was important, and worth screaming and crying for an hour straight. When he went to bed, he was still asking for the green bowl, and the next morning, guess what the first thing he asked for was....the green bowl.

(By the way, I went online this morning and bought an extra frog mug. Sure, they'll fight over lots of things, but it won't be the frog mug!)

Countdown to Summer

This past week was a BEAUTIFUL one, with sunny days and temperatures in the low 80s. We took full advantage of the summer-like weather, going to the park and playing out in back. Jack and Ellie love to play in their "treehouses" on the back deck, but inevitably will fight over them within about 15 minutes. This past weekend, we went to visit Lydia's parents at "Riverside," their house on the river in Southern Maryland. It was absolutely gorgeous weather for a Riverside visit, and Jack enjoyed lounging in GrandDad's hammock. Ellie loved playing with the dogs - in addition to Grandmom's dog Sam, they've added Hershey, an 8-week-old chocolate lab. The kids loved him, and our dog Otis, well, loved him except for when he was snapping at the poor little puppy. Needless to say, that didn't win any points with Grandmom.




The kids also got to play with their cousins Lauren, Natalie, and Ryan. They had a blast, and Ellie was asleep before we even got out of the driveway to head home.



This week, it's scheduled to rain all day every day. But at least we got a glimpse of summer!

"C" is for Cookie, That's Good Enough For Me

I love me some cookies. There’s no two ways about it, I could eat cookies every day, all day. And I’m instilling that health-conscious approach in my children as well – Jack’s very favorite snack is cookie dough, and he is always suggesting that we make cookies. He loves to “help” make the cookies – he’ll pour in the sugar and flour, he’ll add the chocolate chips, and he’ll turn on the mixer, and then wait around until it’s time to eat the cookie dough. (Although I have to be very watchful – one time he poured in a bunch of extra baking soda while I wasn’t looking, which resulted in some not-so-tasty treats.) He’s quite the sous chef, that Chez Jacques. So I’m going to start posting some good cookie recipes that I like. Keep in mind that I have three criteria for “good cookie recipes” – (1) obviously they must taste good, but also (2) the dough must taste good (what’s the use if you can’t munch on the dough), and (3) the recipe must be easily repeatable and reliable. My sister-inlaw Robyn makes some of the best cookies I’ve ever tasted, but I’ve NEVER been able to replicate her recipes, because she throws in “a little” of this and “some” of that, and mixes it “until it looks right,” and bakes it “until it’s done” – gee, thanks for the detailed instructions, Sis. J So here goes – this is just the basic chocolate chip cookie – it’s from my sister Jeanene and my sister-inlaw Lisa – they both vary theirs slightly, as I do sometimes with this recipe, but here are the basics. Just a good, old-fashioned, easy, reliable chocolate chip cookie. Who could ask for anything more.

Jeanene and Lisa’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

¾ c. white sugar

¾ c. brown sugar

1 c. (2 sticks) butter (if you use shortening, be sure to use butter-flavored and to add a little water), room temperature

1 T. vanilla extract (yes, tablespoon, not teaspoon)

2 eggs

3 c. flour

¾ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. salt

2 c. chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugars, then add the vanilla and eggs. Mix the dry ingredients before mixing into the wet ones. Add the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes.

Oh, and invest in a good, small ice cream scoop for scooping out the dough – I like the ones from William Sonoma - http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cw324/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7Cscoop&cm%5Fsrc=SCH.

That's Miss Ellie, If You're Nasty

It appears that our Ellie (once dubbed our “laid-back child”) is developing quite the attitude. Sure, she’s sweet as pie when you’re carrying her around or playing with her constantly. But if she doesn’t get her way – well, you’d better be ready for a fight. If she, say, doesn’t get your cell phone, or your soda, or your bottled water, or your whatever, she will have a throwdown, screaming, crying fit that could last up to an hour. On the other hand, if you give her something she does not want, it gets thrown back at you post-haste, with some screaming and hitting thrown in for added effect. Meanwhile, thankfully, Jack has been a gentleman lately. He is very consistent about saying “please” and “thank you,” and always says “excuse me” when he wants your attention. Of course, the Beast Within still emerges periodically, but his ability to verbalize better is making things a lot easier. Now we just have to work on Miss Ellie!

See, they really ARE my children!

OK, so I'm getting really sick of the following comment, which I often receive when I'm alone with the kids at the store:

Total Stranger to Lydia: "What darling kids! They must look like your husband"

So now I have scientific validation that they are INDEED my children.

So there, Rude Total Strangers At the Mall!

Sorenson Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Sorenson Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Seven Up

7 Things You May or May Not Know About Jared:

1. 1. He traveled to 13 countries in 2007, and has already traveled to two new ones (in addition to some repeats) this year.

2. 2. He loves to ski (most people probably already know this), and worked briefly as a ski instructor. Last Christmas he tried to teach our son how to ski, but the very cold weather only allowed for one run - but hey, for a 2-year-old, that's not too bad!

3. 3. He has successfully run two marathons and when he lived in Hawaii worked out every day – and yet he hasn’t worked out seriously in probably a year. Bad Jared!

4. 4. He has a thing about vacuuming – the man gets positively giddy showing me how full of dirt the vacuum canister is after he finishes vacuuming – as if our filthiness is a great achievement. He has a similar passion for ironing, and gets great pleasure from a well-ironed shirt. And speaking of quirks, can you believe a man with so little hair gets haircuts every two weeks (at least)?

5. 5. He has a wonderful sense of direction – and yet he gets lost quite often. It has nothing to do with his sense of direction – it has to do with his inability to multitask (e.g., talking to someone while driving somewhere).

6. 6. He has 5 brothers (he’s the second oldest), and his nickname growing up was “Jay” or “JJ.” And as a child, he received injuries several times - almost every single time the result of showing off for a girl.

7. 7. He loves to figure out how things work – and thus, his penchant for watching the ever-mind-numbingly boring shows on the Discovery Channel like “Modern Marvels.”

7 Things You May or May Not Know about Jack:

1. 1. He has an amazing memory for names – we’ll show him photos of family members he met once a year ago, and he’ll remember it. He also remembers names of every character on a cartoon. He also loves to list all of his friends – he’ll just sit there and give me a laundry list of his friends – “Andrew, Maleia, Angela, Amelia, Zoe, Bryson, Miss Cortney, Garrett, Woody, Baby Buzz ….. peanut butter …..” – yes, peanut butter is his friend. So are chocolate chips. (And now that you mention chocolate chips, he loves to help Mom make chocolate chip cookies – the reward being able to eat the cookie dough.)

2. 2. He loves loves loves “Toy Story,” and will not go anywhere without his Woody and Buzz (actually, it’s his “Baby Buzz” – he has a big one and a small one, and he must have the small one). He also loves to sing the theme song from the movie, albeit incorrectly (instead of “you’ve got a friend in me,” he’ll sing “you’ve got Woody”).

3. 3. He is becoming quite the good big brother. Whenever Ellie is upset, he’ll say “I give her hugs so she feel better,” and every morning when she wakes up, he wants to climb into her crib to play with her for a few minutes before bathtime.

4. 4. And speaking of bathtime, he hates it. Well, he doesn’t hate the part about sitting in the tub playing with toys. He just hates the actual “bath” part – and for some reason, whenever I scrub his hair, he screams “No! I’m not Mr. Potato Head!” Don’t ask me why…

5. 5. While we're on the subject of oddities, this kid simply does not like to eat or sleep. For food, he somehow manages to sustain his life on chocolate milk, goldfish, and peas, and he sleeps less than any kid I know. It’s not unusual at all for him to wake up at 3am and decide it’s time to get up and have some chocolate milk and a snack.

6. 6. He couldn’t care less if he gets totally filthy in general, but he hates to have his hands wet or dirty.

7. 7. His favorite toys? Buzz and Woody of course. His favorite TV show right now? “Caillou.” His favorite place to go? The mall. His favorite thing to do? Run around like a maniac and yell. His favorite foods? Pizza and cookie dough.

7 Things You May or May Not Know About Ellie:

1. 1. She loves to eat. Everything. Anytime. Anywhere. Period.

2. 2. She loves to sleep. Whether it’s bedtime or naptime, she’ll happily get into her crib, stick her binky in her mouth, grab a blanky, and cuddle up. Of course, we’ll be taking away her binky soon, so we’ll see how long her good sleep habits last….

3. 3. She’s a great mimicker – not with words, but with sounds – if you make a sound, she’ll mimic it – it’s quite funny.

4. 4. She’s got a great sense of humor, in a sneaky kind of way – for example, she loves to grab Jack’s toys, and then run away laughing (have you heard Ernie laugh on Sesame Street? That’s the laugh)

5. 5. She LOVES cars – she loves to ride in the Cozy Cars, or sit in those mechanical cars at the malls (you know, where you put 75 cents in to make it move), or just push around her cars and make vroom-vroom sounds – and hasn’t shown much interest so far in “girly” stuff like dolls and ponies.

6. 6. And don’t even think about trying to keep a barrette in her hair – it’ll be pulled out of her hair (often bringing with it a few strands) within 5 seconds flat.

7. 7. Her favorite food? Pretty much everything, but she loves chocolate and she loves scrambled eggs. Her favorite toys? Cars. Her favorite thing to do? Listen to music and dance.

7 Things You May or May Not Know About Lydia:

1. 1. Although I haven’t lived in many states (just Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Utah), I’ve lived in 10 different places within the D.C. area in the last 10 years. And I've only been to 2 foreign countries (Canada and UK), which is sad since I was a Foreign Policy major.

2. 2. I have 9 brothers and sisters and, at last count, 57 nieces and nephews (not including Jared’s 8 nieces and nephews). I had two nicknames as a kid – “Yitch” (not sure of the origin of that one), and “Woggle” (my brothers’ oh-so-kind reference to my big butt – whoever said it’s great to have big brothers sure didn’t have mine).

3. 3. I’ll admit it – I’m pretty lazy when it comes to manual labor (I used to do anything I could to get out of mowing the lawn as a kid), but I’ll absolutely go to town doing administrative chores for someone. Need a paper written? I’m your woman. Spreadsheet? Just holler! Got something to organize? That’s my middle name!

4. 4. I have no athletic ability whatsoever. Period. I’m lucky that I can walk a straight line. But I would love to learn how to play tennis one of these days. And I love physical things that don’t require skill – one of the coolest things I ever did was jump out of an airplane – I did tandem, of course, where they strap you to a big burly man and then he jumps out of a plane. As long as it doesn’t require skill, I’m there!

5. 5. I have no sense of direction whatsoever, and could get lost ANYWHERE (do not underestimate my ability to get lost). I also have no concept of physics, and couldn’t tell you how a light bulb works if my life depended on it. And although I can recount almost verbatim every conversation I’ve had or overheard, for the life of me, I can’t remember anything with dates or numbers.

6. 6. I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die. OK, no, I didn't, but I do like that song by Johnny Cash. And my favorite foods? Chocolate, steak, anything Italian, bagels. My favorite books? Mysteries. My favorite TV shows? “Bones,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” any “Law & Order” show, “Judge Judy,” “Top Chef,” and yes, I’ll admit it, “General Hospital.” So sue me! And aside from “Top Chef,” I HATE reality shows. Hate them.

7. 7. I have a thing about feet – I think they’re nasty. My feet included. Nasty. Even when I get a massage, I keep my socks on.