Happy First Birthday Mia!

We tried to have a party for Mia, but she thought otherwise - and had roseola. So, we just had some cupcakes on the evening of her birthday. She liked them, but got stuff her in her eyes eventually and had a nervous breakdown.

And just because...

Vacation!

We spent a week at the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

On the way there, we stopped in Williamsburg for lunch. It was homecoming. It was very weird to have my kids at the place where I went to college.

Here's Tommy eating bread ends and house (well, he didn't eat the house dressing) from The
Cheese Shoppe.

And Mia showing her school spirit with a crazy clip.

Typical Williamsburg weather:

It was cold for a few days. Tommy rode his trike A LOT.

And not so cold for a few days.

In anticipation of Halloween, we made GREEN GHOST CUPCAKES!!!!!! These do not look like what they looked in the book. Martha Stewart, I am not. Especially with the help of a 3-year-old.

The day of Halloween was really warm. We spent hours playing on the beach.

Neither were very cooperative for costume pictures. Mia still hates the idea of a ballerina and Tommy (excuse me, Thomas the Train) was too excited to stand still. This is the best I could do.

Halloween Sneak Peak

Someone doesn't like being a ballerina...

It got a little better...

But, the other one had a blast...

Poor guy. So much blackmail for the teen years. He's really going as Thomas for Halloween (go figure).

Emergency Room!

Turned out to be nothing. Tommy fell, banged up his foot and I took him in (Daddy stayed with Mia) to get some xrays just in case. He wasn't bearing any weight on it at first. He was a trooper in the ER - a little freaked by the xray machine, but good. And they got us out of there quickly - under two hours. So, it's just bruiced and they gave us this setup to try to help it heal (but it hasn't been on him since he woke up from his nap that day). He's still limping, but better.

Catching Up - Some Pictures

Those are some pictures from T's 3rd birthday party. He wouldn't stop moving, so we don't have a lot of pictures of him :)

This is Mia sporting one of her new hair bows.

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Over the weekend, we went to a butterfly garden (that T wasn't all that interested in) with his little friend Megan. Isn't this cutest thing ever? Megan's Daddy was none too thrilled :)

Fourth of July

It was HOT, so the kids look a bit wilted...

This is what M thought of the parade :)

Father's Day

M's a food fiend. We went to brunch and she grabbed food (including strawberries) off of Tom's plate This is a piece of toast. Look at how well she's doing in the high chair.

I love how she's looking at him in that last one...

Memorial Day Pictures

We had a very busy weekend - we spent a lot of time outside. On Sunday, we went to the playground on the top of Federal Hill in Baltimore. The weather was absolutely perfect.

This is looking toward the Inner Harbor. You can see the big guitar for the Hard Rock Cafe to the left of T's head. The triangle to his right is the aquarium.

You can barely see T in this one, but I thought it was appropriate for Memorial Day weekend.

See how M is almost sitting up by herself?

We got home and wanted to give them baths. I had been bathing them together, but T wanted a bath "all by myself", so I put M in the ducky tub. He helped me bathe her and then I took her out to dry her and get a diaper on her in the other room. This is what I came back to :)

More pictures, just because...

Yeah, that's M's sunhat :)

Here, she looks like she's struggling, but he's actually doing a wonderful job.

Too precious :)

This was the box that my Mother's Day gift came in. It was filled with peanuts and I told T to hop in. Of course, he wanted Mia next to him. I've had enough of his goofy cheese-face, though. That box amused him for a couple of hours today. It eventually became a train, and I think an airplane as well. Goes to show that you can spend 1000's on toys, but cardboard boxes are the best.

Beef Stir Fry

I like it when I make something up and not only is it really easy, but it's a hit.

I bought stir fry meat at the grocery store - I have no idea what cut it was, but it was already sliced into strips. Then, I bought a bag of "stir-fry" veggies - carrots, mushrooms, snap peas, peppers, baby corn, and water chestnuts. I knew Tom wasn't going to like the last two, but that was the only mix they had and I was too lazy to chop my own fresh veggies, so I figured he could pick around them.

I sauted the meat in canola oil and added the veggies. Then, I made up the sauce, which "made" the dish. Really, it was a no-brainer. About 1/4 cup of soy sauce, a splash of sesame oil, some siracha, garlic powder, and ground ginger. It would have been better with fresh garlic and ginger, but I was too lazy to chop the former and didn't have the latter. I added about a tablespoon of cornstarch to thicken it and stirred it. I added it to the beef and veggies and heated it through. Served it with rice.

Tom said, "This is better than some Asian restaurants I've been too." And, yes, he did pick around the water chestnuts and the baby corn. They were "plehs", to paraphrase T...

A Day Out With Thomas

Oh my goodness, was T ever so excited! Thank goodness we had a beautiful day and he had a great time.

Showing off his Thomas tatoo.



We got to ride the "big Thomas". Thomas was attached to some old commuter cars (and really, didn't do any pulling - it was pushed by a big engine at the back).

This was in line for photos with Thomas.

And, finally, a family photo (minus M - she stayed home) with Thomas looming the background. It's a little creepy.

There was lots more to do there - moon bounces, scale model trains, face-painting, train tables. In fact, the B&O Railroad Museum would be a fun place to visit, even without Thomas.