Go Navy! Beat Towson?

It doesn't have the same ring to it as "Beat Army", but that's what we did today, Navy beat Towson in their first game of the season, 41 to 13.

Dan and I took all the kids to the game this afternoon. It was the first Navy game we've been to in nearly 10 years. We all had so much fun that I think we'll be making a habit out of it.
This was Julia's first football game ever. She expected to be bored, but found lots of things to see and to keep her entertained. She even followed the game a little bit. I sat with her and explained a few basics and she looked at me and said, "This is hard!"


We started out sitting in the lawn area, which was nice for stretching out and being close to the action, but we didn't like all of the bugs (mostly crickets) that would jump out of the grass and into our faces and everything else whenever some one walked by. After the first quarter, we moved up to some empty seats near our friends the Burkharts.
We were so happy to see the Burkharts again. Here's Mrs. B with Mr. B in the background. I so enjoyed talking with them and, like old friends often do, we just fell back into our old relationship and it felt like we'd never been gone. But, I already miss them and can't wait to see them again.

Change is good...

I've been trying to find a new template for my blog, because the blue was just too bright and boring. I looked and looked but just didn't have the patience to find the right one, so I set Quincy to the task, told her what I was looking for style-wise and she had five picked out in as many minutes. I liked this one the best. Chocolate brown! After all those years of chocolate brown uniforms in private school, you'd think I'd hate it, but I think I've gotten past that. Thanks, Quincy, for doing the leg work.
Speaking of legs.... The shoe picture is an homage to you Elizabeth D.
Love those Converse!!

Hey... I just checked Mom's and Beth's blogs... apparently, change is in the air. Looking good, guys.

Hey, Leslie...

This blog's for you, wherever you are....

(a little Barry Manilow demon just sat on my shoulder and sang that!)

Regardless.... here are the pictures that you requested of my latest IKEA purchases. The Klimt is perfect for such a big space, and I LOVE the red bookshelf. I'm still arranging and rearranging the stuff that is on the shelf, but it's coming along.

A trip down memory lane

Grant at one week

Grant age 5

Julia (almost 2)

Kevin age 9 and Grant age 5

Quincy age 4 (almost)

As I mentioned earlier, I've been scanning old photos. I just finished a bunch of the kids portraits from sears, penneys, walmart, etc... Here are a few that I thought I would share. Aren't they cute? I love that picture of Grant being so serious. Maybe I'll add more later.

Wishing for a magic portal

So, I've been doing a lot of shopping lately. We need to eat, so I'm off to Costco. We need printer paper, so I go to Target. New bookshelves? IKEA! But, once I'm there, I find myself feeling sort of sad and lonely. I didn't know why, but then I realized that there was a small part of me that was expecting to run into a friend, but my friends aren't here. They are all home in Washington. You know, every Target, Walmart and Costco look identical, so it's easy to forget where you are. If only there was some sort of magic portal that would transport me to any other store I chose, once I walked through those automatic sliding doors.

This past year in WA, I found myself running across friends in all sorts of places. Marla and I would find each other in Target. I'd find Holly and her girls in Costco. I'd give anything to go yard sale-ing with Jody. I just wanted all of you to know that I miss you. Not just the ones I've named but so many, many, many more.

Now I feel silly for whining, but I wanted to get that out there. Miss you all.

And, because I hate posts without pictures, here's one for you. I've been scanning old pictures and getting them on the computer starting with my baby pictures. This is one task that will take a very long time!

East coast people... I am very glad to be nearer to all of you. It's been great visiting with family and friends and hopefully, I'll see even more of my east coast friends over time.

Our Olympic Training Camp... or NOT!

You might say that we were all so inspired by the Olympics that we decided to start training, but in actuality, we got some new toys to play with so we all went out together to have some family fun

Here is Julia, training for the most fierce Olympic sport of them all... Badminton!

I think Quincy would do better if she didn't lean away from the birdie.

You never know, maybe, someday sliding will be an Olympic event.

Quincy tried out the rings...


but it was too hard.

Eventually, she managed to pull together a good move.

Back to the Book Fair

When we lived in West Virginia, one of my favorite things to do was to travel over the mountain to the Green Valley Book Fair. They are only open six times a year for two week stretches, so it was kind of exciting, like Christmas. Also like Christmas, you never know what you'll get. They always have new books to look at and they are CHEAP!

Mom, Dad, Quincy, Julia and I spent hours poring over the titles and choosing the many books that we wanted to take home. I had to practice a little restraint, because I could have bought sooo much more.

I bought these art books to add to my collection and supposedly to teach the kids.

Quincy picked out these cookbooks. Now if we could just figure out how to make our oven work properly, she could bake some of these.

Some non-fiction reading that caught my eye. I probably wouldn't have bought them at regular price, but for three bucks, why not?

Twinkies and Martha Washington... perfect together. That Twinkie book looks frightening.

Some fiction reading.

Julia picked out several readers and a couple of Mr. Men books. Quincy was thrilled with the selection and the fact that I pretty much let her buy anything she wanted. I imagine that we'll go back again before Christmas.

Hello?... Anyone out there?

I haven't been very good about getting posts up on this blog lately. I guess the whole moving and settling in thing took most of my attention, but life is settling down and I'm feeling like blogging again. The latest news is that Quincy has left my blog and is blogging on her own. I'll miss her around here, but at least now I can have my shelfari bookshelf back. She had been hogging it. Leslie and her family came out to visit for a couple of weeks and three days after they left my parents came to visit. It's been so nice to see everyone and we've been taking the time to check out some of the area's attractions. Now... as for this blogging stuff... I was wondering if there was anyone out there still lurking and reading my posts. I've heard rumors that there are old friends out there reading, but not saying "hello." What's up with that? :o) Let me know that you are there, so I can say "hi."

Works of Art

It has been forever since I last blogged! We've been so busy finding a house, moving in, and now playing host to my sister and her family. Leslie and I have been having fun talking, planning for the upcoming school year, and checking out the things to do around here in Virginia and D.C. I have several blogs worth of pictures to write about, but I thought that I would start with the event freshest in my mind. We made a special trip to the Montgomery County fair for the purpose of getting our kids' portraits done by an amazing artist. He has done portraits for my friend Kate in the past, so I knew how talented he was, but I was still amazed as I watched my childrens' faces emerge from his little piece of charcoal.