Ode to a Crab

They are so very delicious. I do love them so. I could eat probably, oh, about a million. These would be your Maryland-style crabs - blue crabs steamed with Old Bay seasoning (not some wussy, lobster-wannabe butter sauce) - nice and spicy and hot. We had them at my parents' Labor Day picnic this weekend. Jared was kind enough to watch the kids (kinda sorta - at least they didn't burn anything down) while I chowed down on some crustacean. Then the kids played in the river and took turns riding on Matt's motorboat. We were all beat by the time we headed home, which means that we had a good ol' time. (FYI, most of my pictures didn't turn out.)
Craig and Jack loved throwing rocks into the river.

Apparently Ellie doesn't like the forced-smile-pose that Sophie is proposing.

Tagged....

OK, I've been tagged by Jen! Here's my list of three's:

My 3 Current Obsessions: Getting into shape (currently just an obsession in my mind); reading reading reading; and listening to my Beatles albums (yes, albums, not CDs), which I just unpacked. Groovy!

3 Surprising Facts: This probably isn't surprising, but like Jen, I also hate ironing (although probably unlike her, I simply don't do it - fortunately I'm married to a man who's obsessed with ironing); I used to be a lot more adventurous than I am now (rock climbing, ice climbing, and even parachuting); and I can guess any Brady Bunch episode within the first 30 seconds. (By the way, you can solve just about any problem by watching a Brady Bunch episode. Don't underestimate the wisdom of Mike and Carol!)

My 3 Fears: Something happening to my husband during his many trips away or my kids while they're away from me; my kids being painfully shy like I was as a kid; and getting old (not from a point of vanity, but fear of not being able to take care of myself)

My 3 Joys: My 3 best friends (my husband and two kids); entertainment (books, movies, plays, musicals, you name it); and baking. I also gotta say that I enjoyed jumping out of a plane, but not sure I feel quite responsible doing that these days with the two wee ones around.

Now I'll tag Sarah G. and Tiffany. Sorry, gotta share in the pain!

Dance Fever

My Ellie, she loves to dance. Loves, loves, loves. Every time any music starts (be it the Wiggles, classical music, or even the muz-ac you hear on phone hold), she'll start to wave her hands like she's conducting music, and then start to dance away. Up until now, it's been the typical "toddler dance" of waving hands and bending knees. But lately she's really gotten, well, hmmm - anyone remember the Elaine dance from Seinfeld? Here's a refresher:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xi4O1yi6b0

Well, now imagine my darling 18-month-old doing that. I've never been able to capture it on camera, much like no one has been able to capture the Lochness Monster, Big Foot, or other natural wonders. But let's just say that I'm a bit afraid that if she does this in public, someone might worry she's having a seizure. But hey, I guess she just dances to the beat of her own drummer!

Boom Boom Boom Boom....D.C. United!!

This weekend the boys went out on the town. Jared (along with Doug and Lindsey) took Jack and his cousins, Robert and Craig, to see the D.C. United play the Colorado Rapids. The kids behaved quite well and, besides a half-dozen trips to the bathroom for the 3-year-olds, the game went off without a hitch. The kids' favorite parts were getting matching shirts and eating lots o' junk food (cotton candy has vitamins and minerals, right?).

Meanwhile, the girls had their own nights out. Ellie hung out with her cousins Brooke and Sophie (babysat by the ever capable Shannon), while Lydia did a girls' night out with some gals from church - a little shopping, some Mexican food, and lots of wonderment at the quiet that surrounded her without the constant dinner-time hum of "more chocolate milk!" "all done! all done! all done!" "Ellie touched me!" and the ever-popular "naked butt!"

Did I mention how long our Sundays are?

They're pretty long when you're trying to entertain two toddlers with exceptionally short attention spans. In a way we do love the 2:30pm church time, because by the time we get out, it's dinner time, a couple of hours of playtime, and head off to bed. But that morning party can be a doozy, so we try to get creative while entertaining them. Including...."swimming" in the big-ass bathtub. (Of course, not quite big enough for Jared to hide from the camera, try as he might.) Don't judge us. We're just trying to get through the day.

Things you can learn from a 2-year-old

1. Underwear is for daytime, pull-ups are for nighttime.
2. His sister Ellie's name is actually "Baby Cheeks" - or "Naked Butt," if Mom isn't looking.
3. Superman saves everyone. Batman doesn't fly.
4. Jack is both big and huge. Just like Daddy. Mommy is huge, too. (Thanks, Jack.)
5. One must always have various costumes on hand. You never know when you might need a hard hat, sunglasses, cowboy hat, superhero cape, or firefighters coat. Always be prepared.
6. Cookie dough solves any problem. (OK, well, Mommy taught him this.)

Old Durham Festival...and Potty Training Cont'd.

Well, we're about to start Potty Training Day 5. Here's how the count goes. As you can tell from my last blog, Potty Training Day 1 was a bit, oh, uneven - morning was good, afternoon sucked my will to live, evening was good again. Potty Training Days 2 and 3 ended up much better - just one #1 accident each day. And on Potty Training Day 4, ZERO #1 accidents - woo hoo! Unfortunately, as with his pal Andrew G. (see Sarah's post), our friend Jack is not so much a fan of going #2 on the toilet. So we're still battling those "accidents" (if by accident you mean totally intentional). But from what I hear, that's not unusual, so we'll stick it out.

Meanwhile, over the weekend I decided to take the kiddies to the Old Durham festival.

Old Durham (Christ's Episcopal Church in Ironsides, Maryland) was the church my grandfather grew up in, and I have fond memories of going there every Easter with my mom's side of the family. The festival was fun - country ham and fried chicken for lunch, and then the kids played on the moon bounce and my folks visited with old friends. Then we went back to my parents' house, and the kids swam in the river and ran around like maniacs. My kids played hard - "country hard," as my brother Pete puts it. We left around 7pm, and they both fell asleep in the car before we hit the main road.

Reporting Live, from Potty Training Hell

7:00am - Jack boldly announces that he's big and he wants to wear big boy underwear, not pull-ups. We hadn't planned to start potty training until next week, but hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

11:00am - What do ya know, no accidents. This potty training thing aint so bad. Remind me to mock all my friends who had a hard time with this.

Noon - First accident. Not a problem. My friend Crystal is here today watching the kids while I work, and is helping immensely.

2:00pm - Hear screaming, crying, and strangely, growling coming from downstairs. Getting slightly concerned. Consider hiding under my bed or perhaps tying my sheets together and lowering myself out my bedroom window to escape.

3:00pm - Time for Crystal to go home. Slightly worried - she's come up 3 times to get new underwear, and leaves rather abruptly, as if escaping a fiery inferno. Hmmmm.....

4:00pm - Three more pairs of underwear and three more pairs of shorts down, despite taking him to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Not a good sign.

4:20pm - As I wash out a poopy pair of underwear and lunge at Ellie, who is joyfully sloshing her hand in the toilet, I remind myself to look up "jungle diseases" in webmd, as we are surely going to catch some in our now-filthy bathroom.
4:40pm - Wishing for the sweet release of death as I put the 7th pair of wet underwear and shorts in the wash. Ellie is dumping out the trash can. Jack cheerfully announces that next he'd like to wear the Scooby Doo underwear, as if this whole day has been an incredibly unsanitary underwear fashion show.

5:00pm - I see dead people.....

5:30pm - Sister-inlaw Remi calls to invite me to dinner. Says Shannon (niece and wonderful babysitter) would be glad to watch my kids as well, even if Jack is potty training. But no, I've already sent Crystal to the funny farm, I can't make Shannon suffer as I have suffered.

5:32pm - To heck with it. Shannon is young, she'll bounce back from the trauma. Head out for dinner with John and Remi, Mom and Dad, Jonny and Tracey. Yell "Sucker!!" to Shannon as we drive away.

6:30pm - Worry about how Jack is doing. Wonder if I should slip out early to go back and check on him. Take another bite of my chinchito topped with lump crab meat and creamed spinach. Yummmm......sorry, what was I saying? Jack who?

7:30pm - Return to find Jack in his same shorts and underwear, dry as a bone, and happy as a lark playing like crazy with his cousins. Either Shannon is the Potty Training Angel, or maybe, just maybe, Jack is starting to get it.

9:00pm - Jack is tucked away safely in his bed. I get out the last load of clean underwear and shorts and prepare for Day Two.

Stay tuned....

How Many of Me

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

OK, that's not exactly true. If you type in my married name, it says there are 8 of me. But if you type in my maiden name, it says just one. So I used that result - more unique. :-) There are supposedly 6 Jareds with our last name, 29 Jacks with our last name (300 Johns with our last name), and 1 Ellie with our last name. I suspect the number for all of those is higher, but hey, you know I can't resist these gimmicky things.

Daddy's Girl

Ellie is a HUGE Daddy's Girl, so she just loves it when Daddy has a day off from work.

1. First, she starts off with some snuggling (for the record, Mommy has been up for two hours working).

2. Then she helps Daddy with his push-ups.


3. Eventually, she falls off aforementioned push-ups, which is just fine with her. 4. And then she turns her attention to Daddy's chair, which is great for spinning.
All in all, a good Daddy-Daughter morning!