10 Years Married!

We weren't sure how to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, and as is sometimes the case with us, it was about to pass us by without much of a plan at all. Thankfully, opportunities collided and we found ourselves heading to Washington D.C. for a couple of nights over my spring break from school.

We checked in to the Normandy Hotel in DuPont Circle, quickly unpacked, and then walked through sunshine to the National Zoo. (The sun was really bright--I swear we were smiling!)

We saw all kinds of fish,

pretty squawking flamingos,

all kinds of birds in this outdoor flight cage,

 pandas, elephants, lions, and climb-able statues.

Then it was back to the hotel with our tired kiddo. The next day John and Oscar woke up feeling different kinds of sick, and I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but after meds and a little extra rest, both were ready to get out and see some of this new-to-us city.

 We met up with Kimberly, John's cousin, who is about to graduate from school next month and lives in the city.

Not only was she a wonderful tour guide, but she and Oscar became fast friends.

We visited most of the important local landmarks, including

 the Washington Monument,

the Lincoln Memorial,

 and the new Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.

 Kimberly used her position with the Smithsonian to get us in without waiting in line at the National Museum of Natural History. (See that whale? It's not real, but it is to scale--and it is HUGE.)

Oscar and the elephant (it IS real).

 And then again, with a worn-out kiddo, we hopped back on the Metro for a short ride to the hotel. (No offense, Philly's SEPTA, but D.C.'s Metro stops sure are pretty.)

 We only ate out ONCE (not counting John picking up Five Guys the night before) the entire trip, and this was it: dinner at Scion in Dupont Circle. Good stuff!

This was the steepest escalator I've ever been on, but apparently not the steepest or longest in town. I had no problem going down, but going up I had to hold the rail for irrationally fearing a fall backward down all of those moving steps.

 On our last morning, we had to go at least look at the White House with our own eyes. (John's crushing it, see?)

 After that we headed for the National Air and Space Museum where we spent a good chunk of time looking up.

 We stopped to eat some lunch at the National Sculpture Garden before we began a happily uneventful ride back to Philly.  Though a bit spontaneous, we couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate our last ten years together.

I Can Do That!

Oscar has been increasingly showing great interest in being helpful (although not always about what WE are wanting him to help with). He wants to open every door, turn on and off the lights, clean up spills, and feed Bone. The other day he noticed one of the supports on the stool was a little loose and declared "I'm going to fix it!"

 With tape. I was working on dinner and though I could hear him busily working, I didn't realize just how he was "fixing" the stool until I looked down and saw nearly a whole roll of tape wrapped around the loose support.

 And then the other night he wanted to help make pizza--and "not just the toppings". So I gave him a hunk of the dough and showed him how to do each step. He floured and stretched his little dough ball, spooned on the sauce, and topped it with cheese.

 And here it is ready to eat!

Pizza you make yourself must taste pretty good because he ate it all and then some.
We love our burgeoning helper and are so proud of all of the things he is learning to do on his own.

Persistance

I don't unload videos from our good ol' Flip video camera often enough, so when I do I inevitably find a fun moment I'd already managed to almost forget. This is from the end of January--just before OK's birthday. A little background knowledge: as part of our Chinese New Year celebration in my classroom, we were learning to use chopsticks (such fun!). With the leftover popcorn and chopsticks, Oscar gave it a try as well.

Three!

Well, not quite yet, but we did have a birthday party for O.K. yesterday. Taking into consideration what continues to be one of Oscar's favorite things (although rest assured he certainly has other well-rounded interests), we went with a "construction site" theme. When we asked Oscar what he'd like to do for his birthday he said he wanted to "eat chocolate cake" and "play with friends". He's easy to please.

I altered a road sign to create this front door greeting.

 

 More decorations (I think I love making banners!). We also used orange balloons and "caution" tape liberally--it's cheap and we had a thousand feet of it!

There were activities (yes, three is old enough for "activities").

Build a Site -- kids used stickers to create a construction site scene.

Demolition Zone -- the kids could build a wall, then knock it down with the "wrecking ball" (actually a tennis ball wrapped in a black sock hanging from the mantle).

Excavation Station -- the kids could use a special "claw" to grab a treat out of a pile of "rocks".

 Oscar's friends and their folks came, ate breakfast burritos and fruit salad,

 built,

demolished,

 and otherwise acted like a bunch of three year olds.

 Sunny in her hard hat,

and Mara, in Lucy's.

 Of course there was cake,

and singing.

And more eating.

Oscar got some sweet gifts from his friends, and I was proud of him for remembering to say "thank you". He also shared his toys like a child twice his age. : )

It was fun to have friends over to celebrate O.K.'s third birthday with us. We'll celebrate this milestone again (in a smaller way) on Tuesday. Of course, every day we can't help but acknowledge how glad we are that he was born.

The Snowy Day

One of O.K.'s favorite books is The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats. We've been reading it for a while now, especially last summer when the thought of a bit of snow was enough to cool us down--a little. It's no wonder then, that Oscar had big plans when he awoke to snow Saturday morning.

A sometimes-hard-to-dress almost-three year old was very cooperative as we pulled on his snow suit and boots (I couldn't not include both "cheese-face" and "regular-smile-face"--you'll see it again, a few pics down. Thanks for indulging me!).

 Then we played outside, in spite of the freezing rain. O.K. insisted he wasn't cold--I remember feeling the same way as a kid when it came to snow.

 It's a little hard to "play" in the freezing rain with the snow quickly accumulating a layer of ice, but that didn't stop Oscar from enjoying it. He made snow balls, threw chunks of snow to watch it shatter, tasted a bit, and enjoyed making foot and hand prints.

We even made a teeny tiny snowman (that was all this mama could manage--it was seriously cold out there!). Later, John moved it up onto the little pedestal in front of our house. 

And then, thankfully, it was time for the best post-freezing-rain-snow-fun -- hot cocoa! (Note the cup--this used to be Uncle Daryl's when he was a kid. Thanks, Grandma, for passing it along. Oscar loves it!)

This morning Oscar woke up at 5:40 with one thing on his mind: snow. When the sun came up, I told him we could go out again when he'd found and put on his snow gear. Truly, he's never been so motivated to get dressed. Here he is, and me, still in my pajamas:

Now, where did I put my gloves?

Christmas 2011

Christmas came more quickly than usual, I swear. Thankfully, we didn't feel any great urge to be excessive in our Christmas prep or buying, and we kept our plans simple (read "relaxed"). Note: we have been obsessively playing with our new smart phones (our Christmas presents this year) as the pictures below reflect.

 Christmas eve morning we went out to breakfast at the new Sabrina's located in University City. The place was surprisingly quiet, and O.K. especially good (maybe there's a correlation there...).

Then there were cookies to make (with the plan to leave a few out for Santa).

 Oscar helped with the most important parts, like cleaning the beaters,

 cutting out the cookies with cookie cutters, and later, sprinkling the colored sugar on top of the icing.

 Yum!

 We watched the old 1946 version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and then put Oscar to bed. He was hoping to see Santa (and got a little sad about it), but fell asleep in his usual easy way. Then John and I got busy wrapping a few gifts and setting up his "big" present--the crane. We put out the other gifts from family and friends as well.

 In the morning we were too busy enjoying the moment to get a picture, but O.K.'s face was priceless as he came down the stairs. He whispered "a crane" and plopped down to play, completely oblivious to the rest of the gifts or the stockings hanging up. John and I were able to get coffee and relax while he built and rebuilt (and built and rebuilt) a clock tower to demolish with his new crane. 

 After a relaxing morning and some breakfast, we opened our stockings and other gifts. The presents from family were so thoughtful, and Oscar took a lot of time appreciating each one as it was opened. There were puzzles, the game Zingo (yes, he's just about ready to play games!), bath crayons, and books, among other perfect gifts. It was probably good it was just us three, because the time he spent exploring each gift would have been too much for anyone other than his parents.

Personalized puzzles from Gus and Gum were a big hit.

 And Oscar announced that a book called "Trucks" from Uncle Pete and Aunt Linsey was his "favorite book" (officially his first "favorite" anything). Later in the afternoon, we skyped with John and Erin (and Sage!). It was so fun to connect with some family. It was also the moment we had to admit that we were still in our pajamas. In our defense, we've all been sharing a nasty cold, so we decided to be okay with that.

Of course, John and I received some lovely presents too. I got five new scarves (from different people) and had to try them all on at once.

We made and ate delicious food (including nuts cracked by the squirrel nutcracker left by Santa) and enjoyed our time together. Throughout the day I was reminded of how thankful I am for my "boys" and for the restful time I get to spend with them during this holiday break.