I asked Katie if she wanted to sing Happy Birthday to a friend so I could record it and she said yes. Here’s what happened. 🙂
Category Archives: Friends
Cats can be dumb.
Why lay there? Why not get IN the bed?
As usual, my Facebook friends had great responses.
Bouncing birthday!
Katie’s friend Cayenne had her birthday at the trampoline place.
Another successful birthday sleepover!
Owen wanted another summer birthday pool party, so like last year, we had a sleepover with two friends for his birthday. I’m not sure who was more excited—Owen or Katie. She did pretty good overall but didn’t understand why the boys didn’t want to go play with her instead of playing with Owen. (That said, she did get to play with them most of the time.)
We had pizza for dinner, then they all played downstairs (including Katie), and then it was time for Pie face!
Ice cream! Poor Colton (in black) doesn’t like chocolate so didn’t want the ice cream or brownie…so had an ice pop.
Attempting to play a new video game. It wasn’t quite working, so…
We watched a movie. Awwwww.
Of course, Katie was right in there, too.
Owen: “My bros!”
iPad time
Spying on them.
We put them to bed at 9:30 and they wanted to read a book so we told them lights out at 10. I happened to be watching on the monitor when they turned the lights out at 9:45. We thought it was too easy…and we were right. They were gabbing LOUDLY for the next hour. The last 20 minutes or so, Tom and I took turns going in to tell them to quiet down and go to bed. The last time Tom went in he warned them that they would not get donuts in the morning if he had to come in again. Then they were finally quiet. 🙂
Tom said they were all up at Owen’s usual time (6:30!) so they were back at Xbox and Tom went to get donuts.
The kids left by 10:30. Owen had a great time and we were glad to have our relatively quiet house back.
Snow Day 7.5
If you can believe it, we had a 2-hour delay today! On a day that’s supposed to be 63°! I think you could hear the collective gasp throughout the county as the text came in!
Following an assessment of roads and sidewalks throughout the county, despite rising temperatures today, a significant number of sidewalks and crosswalks remain impassable. In order to provide additional daylight for morning travel, including more than 40,000 students that walk to school, all Fairfax County public schools will open two hours late Monday February 1, 2016.
We watched a neighbor kid because his parents had to go to work…and Owen and Katie were in heaven. You’d think we never had friends over before!
First Saturday Dinner of 2016 is in the books!
Pre-dinner selfie!
And you can see why I don’t often take a group shot—it’s hard to get everyone in without lots of scrunching. 🙂
Early New Year’s Eve
We went to our friends’ house for dinner and a football game. The kids watched an early NYE countdown and had some sparkling grape juice (which none of them liked).
Katie LOVES swinging.
She still swings the entire time I’m taking my walk (which is about 18-20 minutes). I usually still have to get her started with a big push, but today she started all on her own! She was waiting for me to come push her and was just swinging her legs back and forth…and she started moving. I saw it happening and procrastinated getting over there…and soon she was swinging as high as ever! I love her hair in slo-mo!
With her friend Cayenne.
Another great slo-mo on the slide.
I love my sweet boy.
Owen drew a big picture for his new friend he made at Thanksgiving. This is the outside:
To: Westin
From: Owen Hudson
I miss you. We had lots of fun. Thank you for inviting us for Thanksgiving Dinner.
I don’t think this is nearly enough food.
We were invited to a friends’ house for Thanksgiving. She and her other guests cook in quantity like we do…so there wasn’t quite enough food for six adults and nine kids. 🙂
Katie’s dinner? A roll, crackers, and cheese. For dessert she tried pumpkin pie, said she liked it, then proceeded to eat just the whipped cream.
Owen’s dinner? A roll, ham, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
I did really well overall. I splurged on two glasses of wine throughout the evening…and it was deeelicious. (I haven’t had a glass of wine in probably four months.) Foodwise:
- 1oz deep-fried pork loin
- 1/2oz smoked turkey
- about 3T each of Easter/funeral potatoes, cornbread stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and smoked corn casserole
- 2 deviled eggs
- 1 small Hawaiian roll
Dessert was cheesecake. I took a full slice intending to eat the whole thing dammit. And then about halfway through I said “This doesn’t even taste good anymore.” And that was that. Voodoo. 🙂
This is what she picked to wear. And she was damn cute. 🙂
The kids all had fun playing and the adults ended up watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles. 🙂
I love finding treasures like this in coat pockets.
Gym Birthday Party
Of course we were there early, so we waited in the car for a few minutes.
They got to start playing before anyone else got there:
And then it got a little chaotic with 20 kids…but we got to stay out of the crazy and visit with the other parents (and I really hit it off with another mom—which was a bonus!). The end of the party had everyone zip lining which they all loved!
2015 USMC Birthday Ball
The evening didn’t start off on the right foot—Tom had requested a King room and we didn’t get it, even though we reserved the room way back in June. And no one along the way let us know, either, so it was QUITE the shock walking into a room with two Queen beds. ESPECIALLY at the price we were paying…
We had been planning on going out with friends for a quick bite at a nearby restaurant before the ball since we knew dinner wasn’t going to be until probably 8 or 8:30 (it comes at the end of the program)…but that got nixed when A) both guys realized they forgot their cover (which meant they couldn’t walk outside in their uniform) and B) the other couple was stuck in traffic (it only took us 25 minutes to get there because it was earlier in the day). So…Tom and I just hung out, stewed a bit about the room, and then we started getting ready.
We clean up well!
Going back to watching football. 🙂
Wearing Marsha’s jewelry!
And then our friends arrived! As I said on Facebook: Fourteen years in the Corps, best friends with these guys for 12…FINALLY getting to attend a ball together! Priceless!
The list of events:
The walkway in:
As luck (?) would have it, the National Harbor Tree Lighting ceremony was the same evening right down the street (with many events, booths, live music, movie screenings, etc., on the waterfront). It was bad for us because it created the traffic jam…but we got to watch the fireworks during happy hour! Happy Jenny!
We typically get photos done beforehand (when my makeup is still fresh!) but by the time we made it down to happy hour, the line was CRAZY long. So we were just wandering around, and stopped to take a picture with two of the “olden day” marines.
The event was supposed to officially start at 7:30, but as people were starting to file in to take their seats, they announced that there would be a 45-minute delay. We didn’t get a reason, but we were all pretty sure one of the guests of honor was late due to traffic. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but that also meant dinner was pushed back another 45 minutes. Egads. Remember how we were going to eat but didn’t? Yeah. BUT! Since everyone had started walking in to the ballroom, the photo line was almost empty so we made a beeline! WOOHOO!
Since we don’t really ever display our ball photos (where we’d want just US in the picture) we decided we wanted to take them with our good friends! They thought it was a great idea, too! The bonus is that technology has advanced a lot since our first ball…and we got to pick the two best pictures and then the digital files were emailed and in my inbox before bed! LOVE IT!
So we were discussing how huge the ball was and how we couldn’t believe that we hadn’t seen anyone we knew…and that it was way too crowded for us (we’re guessing about 3000 people—the highest table number I saw was 268 and there were 10 people to a table) but it was the Commandant’s Ball and you never know who you’re going to run into…so while James L. Jones, Jr. (former Commandant of the USMC and United States National Security Advisor) was speaking, he introduced a marine congressman—the Honorable Seth Moulton. WAIT. WHAT?! Tom and I looked at each other. WE KNOW HIM! Tom went to TBS with him! We knew he had become a congressman, but of course we had no idea he was going to be here! And then yep, there he was, right next to the speaker! We knew that as soon as we had the chance, we’d beeline over there to see him!
Later during his speech, he mentioned Kyle Carpenter and I was like HEY! I KNOW THAT NAME, TOO! (He is the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient.) I saw him as we were approaching the congressman, so I surreptitiously snapped a photo.
And Seth (the congressman) and Tom…
And then I had to do this when we got home—if only we had them standing on opposite sides! Then (2002) and now:
And then as we were walking back to our table, I got a text from a neighbor, Christi, saying “I just saw you and Tom walk by! I didn’t know you were going to be here!” So we went back during dinner and chatted for a few minutes!
We finally got to eat dinner around 9:30 (!) so by the time all the courses were done, it was after 10:30! I had wanted to at least dance to one slow song, but there were SO many people and the dance floor was SO small we couldn’t even make it there (people were even dancing between the tables!). 🙁 We had thought we’d have a night of dancing and partying with our friends, but since we were at two different tables half a room apart, we didn’t get to do any of that. At least we got to hang out beforehand and got our pictures taken together!
So overall, while this ball was nice, we agreed that it was NOT worth the cost ($200 room, $200 tickets, $150 sitter, $200 dress/our alterations/hair, and $50 for four stupid drinks)—and while a nice gesture, the token gift we received was not our favorite—a paperweight that didn’t even look like 240 (Owen even looked at it and asked why it said “210”):
We’re currently unsure what we’ll do next year.
Katie & Cayenne
Halloween starts tonight!
Owen’s school Fall Festival was tonight and we wanted some one-on-one time with him so asked friends to watch Katie. They were going to a Trunk or Treat event so she was excited! She was Rapunzel—with Pascal on her shoulder!
And then we had Harry Potter—SO stinkin’ cute!
With his fresh scar:
Getting his new shoes tied. I bought these shoes on clearance about four years ago and they’re finally the right size…and worked well with his costume!
Couldn’t you just eat him up?
We kept bouncing back and forth between the games in the gym and the music in the cafeteria. He didn’t want to dance but loved playing with the hula hoops! He was very shy because he didn’t know many of the kids.
And you’ll notice he’s missing the glasses. Yeah. He decided about 15 minutes in that he didn’t want to wear them. Or carry his broom. Kids. :/
Back to games!
And then since it was crazy crowded and he was pretty much done, we suggested frozen yogurt—and he wanted to leave immediately. 🙂
Katie actually got home later than us! They said she qas very well-behaved and had a BLAST! And she came home with a TON of candy!
The vampire teeth were the favorite thing.
And, lastly, pics from Katie’s night. Her friend Ainsley is Tinkerbell.
Katie as big sister
She loves our friends’ baby and likes playing with him. We were at the park and Cheyenne had to take Cayenne to the potty so we watched Hami…and Katie kept him occupied so he would t cry. 🙂
Taking 1st grade math…to Facebook.
As briefly mentioned in the last post about Owen’s homework, Tom and I were both somewhat baffled by the supposed answers for his pattern homework.
I actually had to ask Tom about the first incorrect one because I read it (and answered it!) the same way Owen did! 🙂 But, the teacher was right—there should have been one number on each line (he did the same thing with the third line—put too many numbers on the lines, even though he had the right numbers!). But Tom and I still weren’t sure about the wrong triangle and why it should be a square. So I took the question to Facebook. My question was answered, but you can see the types of discussion it brought about. Egads. All this over first grade math homework. Can you imagine what it will be like going forward?!?!?
Here was the worksheet.
And here’s the Facebook discussion!
Two princesses
We ran an errand, went to the playground, then ended up going right to a friend’s house for [what ended up to be] four hours! The girls did pretty well, and they were both in these for at least an hour. 🙂
Dinner with new friends!
So last night at our dinner, some new friends (that we’ve technically known all school year—their twin girls were in Owen’s class—but we just never actually got together since we were all busy) said we were welcome at their house any time and to just come over. I said we would never just show up unannounced, but if they invited us, we’d be there. So he said “Great! We’re having people over tomorrow. Come to dinner!!” So we agreed immediately!
The kids had a BLAST. They actually have two sets of twins—the girls (in first grade) and boys, who are one. One of the twin girls is in Owen’s class again this year. Katie loved everyone and kept an eye on the babies! We had an amazingly DELICIOUS authentic Indian meal and met some friends of theirs that were really great. They have a huge back yard (probably three times the size of our Jacksonville yard!) so Owen was running all over. They have a playset, too, which Katie loved.
After dinner, this was happening—the kids all having fun taking pictures with someone’s iPhone:
We hadn’t planned on staying longer than maybe two hours (sleep schedules, you know) but we were all having such a good time and the kids were busybusybusy that we ended up staying until ALMOST 11! Holy wah! (We had prepped Katie by making sure she napped beforehand, but she still did really, really well.)
We look forward to many more fun nights with them!!
Saturday Night Dinner—Tom’s Birthday!
Tonight was our fifth Saturday night dinner—and it happened to be Tom’s birthday as well! We had two new families (and one couple who’ve been to a couple dinners) join us—and it was fun (and crazy—with 8 kids!)!
Also as usual, I didn’t even think to take pictures because we were so busy visiting and doing food prep…so the first picture I took was a quick birthday shot of Tom with the dessert he picked (a caramel tres leches cake from Costco…with Owen’s birthday balloon!):
And then a panoramic of the table at dessert time…where it took me more than a few minutes to realize there’s a bunch of panoramic artifacts—like Tom’s hands reappearing on the other side of Katie and a friend’s squished face!
And Katie enjoying the blue frosting on the cupcakes a guest brought for the kids:
As a sidenote, I posted the invite for the next dinner in six weeks (Tom’s work schedule prevented a 4-week plan) and all RSVPs were filled within 24 hours! 🙂
Our first metro ride!
We were headed into the city to have lunch with friends…and since it was semi close to a subway stop, we decided to make a fun trip out of it! We had to drive north about 15 minutes to catch the metro where it starts.
The kids were super excited about riding a train!
At the restaurant, Kabob Palace.
We wan into a bit of a snafu on the way home—long story short we weren’t paying attention and ended up on the wrong train (headed north instead of south) so we had a 20-minute wait for the next (correct) train.
And the car was a bit more crowded than our first trip so the boys had to stand for one stop.
They both loved it and wanted to do it again immediately. 🙂 I’m sure we’ll go somewhere again, but I’m also sure it won’t be a regular thing because this simple, short trip cost us about $22 in fares (it’s about $3.50pp each direction)!
I’m drinking my dessert tonight.
We went to a friends’ new house for dinner and brought some of the delicious Not Your Father’s Root Beer that Timmy introduced us to. We also happened to being vanilla ice cream… The float was delicious…but a few sips was enough for me!
A new sprayground!
I read about this place right after we moved here but it took awhile to actually get there! We went today with friends.
Katie wasn’t AS excited as I thought she’d be, but she did have fun.
Owen’s half birthday pool party!
The wait was finally over—the day for Owen’s postponed birthday pool party! And the weather was perfect!! We had 19 kids and 14 adults!
The timing was perfect: at the end of every hour, the lifeguards take a 15-minute break and all kids must exit the pool. So we used this time to have our pizza lunch!
The second break was time for cake! Of course, I had completely forgot to put the balloon in the cake…
So it went in the leftovers so I could take a picture. 🙂
Two of the kids from his Kindergarten class (who are about his size so he looks normal!).
Everyone had a great time! The kids LOVED the water shooters and, while a few got broken, each kid was able to take one home. We guessed pretty good on the pizza—we ordered five and ate about four. There was enough cake to leave out a few pieces and freeze a nice chunk for a later date. The best part was after 10 minutes of cleaning up and packing the car, we were DONE. 🙂
It’s been almost 25 years!
Mike was one of my best friends in high school. We missed seeing each other at both our 10-year reunion (he was sick) and 20-year reunion (I had just moved back out of state) and then we were never in town at the same time…until now!
I wish we’d have had more time to catch up than the 10 minutes we had before the AuSable River Canoe Marathon started…but beggars can’t be choosers!
Tivo 10 Year Reunion
Ten years ago, there was a huge Tivo meet in DC. While we weren’t at the original party, we were still invited to the reunion! :p (We were on the Tivo forum but didn’t attend our first meet (and meet people in person) until New Year’s Eve 2006-2007.)
We don’t take nearly as many pictures as we used to and the parties start dying down around 11p instead of 2a…but we still have fun!
With two of my favorite peeps—Andrew and Sheryl.
Most of the attendees:
Adoration all around.
Katie ADORES Maddie and Owen and Mason are best buds (and Mason has introduced Owen to Minecraft…).
Dinner with TiVo peeps!
The start of our weekend activities! Heading out to dinner in Arlington!
Taking a break from the excitement that was attempting to move our seats. Let’s just say the tracks work VERY well and VERY quickly when on a hill. And the boys may have gotten kneed in the back. 🙂
Part of our big group!
Cheer vs. Chair
Mark asked Katie for a cheer (since she was wearing her MSU cheerleader skirt)…and she brought him a chair! 🙂
It started innocent enough.
