Brownie-Spider 2008

Even though the Brownies lost miserably-- it was one of the most enjoyable games I've been to. Garrettson and Craig argued about the two teams merits and the gals all enjoyed catching up. We headed out for lunch afterward to thaw out-- it was COLD! But seriously-- Katie was the cutest Brownie there. (And I was mistaken for a student, but that is a WHOLE different issue!)

Off to DC with Katie!

We spent a few days in DC last week-- Craig was at a conference and Katie and I tagged along to enjoy the city. We went to the Natural History Museum (Katie liked the small tropical aquarium there-- dinosaurs were not interesting yet though!) and took a picture just for my Mom... so Mom- Here you go! (sorry about the lousy look, we'd hiked 10 blocks in the pouring rain-- and then I had to haul her stroller up 9 billion stairs to the entrance because NOWHERE was it marked that the handicapped access was around the other side, and it was still pouring and there was NO way I was hiking to the other side of the building at that point!)






The next day we went to the National zoo-- it was pretty chilly, but we met up with friends and walked around. Katie got a HUGE kick out of the small monkeys--- particularly the golden tamarins-- they were so colorful and active. She also watched the gorillas and orang utans (yeah, that's 2 words, who knew?!)pretty intently.
The new Asia exhibit has a lot of nice features-- there are displays at kiddo height with swatches of the fur of each animal that you can touch and buttons to push that make the animals sounds and such-- Katie was a big fan of the Red Panda fur-- so we got a snapshot of her on the panda statue!
It was a nice day at the zoo overall.

















And then to top it off, we finally got to eat at Jaleo-- a Spanish restaurant in the DC area that I have wanted to go to for years! We had pan amb tomaquet (toasted bread with tomatoes), gambas al ajillo (sizzling garlic shrimp and peppers), house made chorizo, and rosejat-- sort of a paella made with vermicelli and seafood. It was all delicious-- and other than the hostess thinking we were nuts for having our baby with us, it was wonderful. I'm not sure why she was so shocked it was a Sunday-- its not like I feared a wild party crew was going to come and start a brawl or something... who knows? Katie was pretty good though, so it all worked out well.

It was definitely a nice trip away and I enjoyed taking a few days away from work!

My godson

This weekend was also the baptism for my new godson, Sam. He was perfect all through the ceremony-- even though there were 10! kids being baptised that afternoon. He actually SLEPT through most of it. Unbelievable!

Craig got to enjoy some quality sling-baby nap time in church too.

My first cake job!

I had my first wedding cake job!

It was for a friend from grad school's wedding this past weekend. Three tiers, served about 100. The bottom tier was coconut cake with raspberries, the middle was a vanilla pound cake with lemon curd and the top tier was a chocolate cake with mocha cream filling. All frosted in buttercream in a spackle/plaster fashion (what was requested). It was pretty darn good if I do say so myself! I even got some very nice compliments from the reception hall staff and was asked what shop I worked for. No one believed it was my first wedding cake (ok... 2nd)! Here are some pictures of the masterpiece. (the flowers and ribbon were the bride's choice and how cute are those little mice for a science-y couple?!?!?)

As a bonus, Craig and I actually had an adult night out for a change! My mom got to stay with the munchkin and other than some bathtime related poo, they had a blast too.

Weekend in Review

One tired kiddo... she had a BUSY weekend! All sorts of cleaning and errands to get ready for her buddies welcome party! (Plus some very crazed kicking on her gym!)

Another weekend come and gone. The baby girl is 13 weeks tomorrow. Where has the time gone???? We had the baby shower for Sam (and his Mom and Dad) today. Sam's nursery has a bee theme-- hence this cake. (Old-fashioned chocolate layer cake with buttercream frosting and yellow cupcakes with chocolate ganache frosting-- all with royal icing piped flowers and bees)

Just a cute pic of the kiddo doing what she does best, being adorable (well... she's pretty good at that and filling diapers too)

And one more attempt at capturing that beautiful toothless grin!

Sam and Katie!

Katie got a brand new buddy a couple of weeks early this weekend. On Saturday, Sam was born! I got a couple pictures when we went in to meet Sam and his parents at the hospital.

Have you ever seen 2 prouder Daddies?

Or 2 happier ones?

A big congrats to the new parents! Sam is so teeny--- he makes Katie look like such a bruiser! But he's just perfect and I am so glad you guys will be doing this whole parent thing along side us! (And I can't wait to see him at the shower this weekend!)

PS- Cody, you'd better watch out-- that's now 3 little boys vying for Katie!

Halloween and Trick or Treat

We had a boatload of little monsters come by for Trick or Treat-- which for some demented reason, our county did a WEEK before Halloween--- but anyway--- we were MOBBED with kids-- went through over 300 pieces of candy at 1 to a kid! People come to our street from neighboring counties to get more candy (lots of participating houses, all close together)

Plus Craig did this outstanding pumpkin of a Murphy head.

Kim, Ange, and Matt came over to help dole out candy and we snacked the evening away and giggled at cute costumes.

Alex came over and helped hand out candy til it was dark enough for him to trick or treat and then he took Craig and Kim trick or treating. He was pretty funny all covered in black on the porch-- the cauldron of candy at his feet--- he would sit very still for the little ones, but older kids... he'd scare the crap out of them. MANY were surprised that it was a real person in there when he tapped their candy grubbing hands with that sword.

The cutest kid of the night was 2-3ish... he was dressed as a lion-- he crawled on all 4 up the stairs to the porch and roared. He earned extra candy. Later in the evening, his Mom came by and asked if Craig was a Mad Scientist (he was) because her son had asked-- turned out he was a pediatric cancer patient and wondered if the folks who mix up his chemo are funny looking like Craig!! So, I said an extra prayer for that kiddo and was amazed that he could be so sick and still be a "normal" kid.

On a lighter note--- Murphy and Tiki took part in Halloween this year--- Tiki somewhat unwillingly, but she is a cat, so what can you expect!?

Murph's ready for his letter from Hogwarts! (and flying lessons)Tiki, well.... she thinks she's supposed to be making up the potions, not be an ingredient! But meanwhile she will exercise her mind control skills on you--- so watch out!

Pumpkin Carving!

Craig, Kim and I carved pumpkins last night-- general hilarity enjoyed by all-- but here are a few snapshots of the evenings work.

The final result!

HersheyPark in the Dark 2007

This weekend was the annual PSU gang goes to the park in October weekend. Along with the normal crew of Becky, Brian and Eric-- Bob was back home from Afghanistan (and the deep south!) and able to come along too. Barb and Jen (and Marc) weren't able to make it this year, but-- I'm pretty sure someone drank their share of the beer just in case.

So we spent a lovely brisk night walking the park and I ate a variety of fried foods and held sweatshirts while everyone else spun themselves silly on the rollercoasters.

Here are the boys (it took 5 minutes to get them lined up... sheesh, I didn't think I'd be running kids through the park for at least a few more years!!!!?!?!?!) But at least I captured them all laughing, so its a pretty good picture all in all.

Got one picture of the gang from college

One pic of the whole group... Craig's one of us now, whether he likes it or not!

And I am finally tall enough (as long as I wear thick sneakers) to ride all the rides at the park without adult supervision (ok... not that I would always consider the folks I was with as adequate "adult supervision" but still!) We decided to memorialize this momentous occasion with a picture.

Of course, they couldn't let me enjoy that for too long before reminding me that I am still short (or ankle biter height as they put it) by demonstrating my usefulness as an arm rest.

All in all, a great evening and I am very lucky to have nutty friends who still think nonsense like this is a great way to spend a weekend!

Random notes

I added a new link to the sites to check out-- Claudia has started a blog... and she's the greatest (and currently the largest supplier of baby stuff (its like crack to me) that is super cute) So check it out!

Also, I had Craig take a picture to mark the Tadpole being half-baked (on a semi-related side note, the best flavor of Ben and Jerry's EVER!) -- and I am currently debating if I am brave enough to stick it on here... I think it makes me look, hmm, pudgy is probably the best word instead of pregnant-- If I work up the guts, I will try and get it on here this evening.

Happy Friday!

The dog days of summer

A very happy, very wet, very tired Murphy!

After snoozing the morning away on Saturday and a quick lunch at Moe's with Kim. Craig and I headed over to Shelley and Erin's with the Murphinator and some movies. We hung out in the pool for the afternoon to beat the heat (did I mention I kinda hate summer)-- and then grilled up some hot dogs and kielbasa and watched some movies. (Pursuit of Happyness-- very good, I enjoyed-- wholeheartedly recommend and Open Season-- kinda blah... except for the last 25 minutes where the animals attack-- brassiere clad deer antlers being used to slingshot toasting forks with flaming marshmallows-- maybe a kids movie? not a great plot-- some funny moments)

Murph LOVED swimming, and though we left behind enough fur in the pool to build at least 3 more dogs-- he had a great time swimming with their lab Nick. We had to eventually lift the murph out of the pool and make him rest-- he would have swum himself into exhaustion. He was a very very very happy dog.

In an added bonus... adding some Murphy kibble to the weeners diet seems to have helped! no messes on friday night, saturday at all, or sunday!!! woohoo. (she was eating out of his bowl anyways.. so we just went with it)

Craig and I at the Reception

Congrats Mike and Leah! Well, the wedding went off without a snag. After keeping the groom busy and calm on Friday night-- and making him go to bed-- and doing my best to convince him to eat on Saturday morning, I was there from noon on to run errands, get blood out of the best man's collar (hooray for the tide pen!), fluff skirts, retie corsets, calm nerves, repeat instructions, alter the bride's gown so it wouldn't fall off and distribute tissues. My days as a wedding planner were fun--- but EXHAUSTING! I have no idea how Kim did it all-- and did a WAY better job then I ever could have. This cameraphone pic is from midway through the reception-- we finally got a chance to relax and enjoy!

Craig, Kim, and I stayed til the very end (1AM!!!) to pack up gifts and clean up the hall. Craig and I were THANKED by the newlyweds by name in their toast.. which was incredibly sweet (and utterly unnecessary)-- we were happy to help out and glad to be able to wish them well on their big day.

I was given a centerpiece to take home, and as long as Tiki stays out of it-- it should last for a few days-- and it is certainly very pretty. I will work on getting a pic of it on here.

At the rehearsal

Just a quick cellphone snap shot of Mike and Leah at their rehearsal. The church was lovely-- a church in the round with all sides in stained glass. Beautiful! Particularly with the afternoon sun shining through-- everything was in colors.

Weekend in Review and plans for the week

This weekend was largely spent catching up on laundry--- the oh so exciting life of newlyweds. Woohoo. We did go see Pirates 3 :return of random sword wielding squid yesterday. Craig enjoyed it, I found it loud... and very random. But, if you like random fish creatures fighting against colonial British forces and pirates, this may be the movie for you! (ok, and Keith Richards makes a brief and to me comical cameo) Swashbuckling fun-- but at least it was a couple hours in air conditioning!!!
More exciting was that we then went to dinner at Passage to India in Harrisburg. Delicious as always-- and even better when we had a buy one dinner get one free coupon! (for once hubby's need to save every piece of junk mail we get worked out for the better!!) I had some sort of lamb -- lamb Rogun Josh or something like that. It was quite tasty-- not too spicy-- just nicely flavored. And as a bonus, there were enough for leftovers-- I just have to make up some rice-- that's the kind of dinner I can handle any night-- even when it is 90 in my kitchen.

Today we got some laundry done, I got my veggies transplanted outside (heres hoping they survive), polyurethaned the outdoor sink and the new front door step, and got the guest room cleaned out for this coming weekend's guest. Not too bad a day-- the good thing about laundry folding is that it is the ideal fit for chick flicks! Today-- Circle of Friends, Dance with Me --Vanessa Williams AND Chayanne! ;-)-- and When Harry Met Sally-- one of my all time favorites ever. So it was a nice afternoon. Craig is locked down in the dungeon working on his homework for his online course. I guess that's what I get for encouraging him to go back to school and get his Master's finished up. Two of us in grad school... what was I thinking?!?!?!

This week looks to be a full one. Monday has my semi-monthly or whenever we remember to schedule it rotating dinner with two of my friends from grad school, Tuesday brings cake class -- stay tuned. The first cake we're doing this time is "Ireland"-- Should be pretty good. (and yes, I will share recipes) Wednesday is wings night here again. Thursday Craig and I have dinner at our friends who are getting married this weekend to meet their parents who we'll be helping get around while they are here, then Friday rehearsal/dinner with the to-be-wed Mike and Leah, and finally Saturday is their wedding. Should all be fun, but some Sunday I will definitely be looking forward to a NAP!

Stay tuned- I should get some decent pics to share this week. If nothing else, I have a pic of Craig in a pirate hat that is BEGGING to be shared!

Katie and James are Married!

Katie, my roomate from the first year of grad school got married this Saturday in Maryland. Craig, Kim and I were invited to see the big day and we carpooled down. They had a short outdoor ceremony in the early afternoon (whew... it was HOT out!) and then a lovely (air conditioned) reception. The cake was tasty! (no scary buttercream or tasteless fondant-- it was frosted in whipped cream!) It was a nice day and they happy couple well, looked very happy! Congrats to Katie and James!


Here is one quick picture of Craig and I from the reception-- Craig was enjoying the "Moby's"-- a special rum drink recipe from Katie's family-- so he had a pretty good time!

The remainder of this weekend was spent hiding in our room-- the only air conditioned room in the place-- amazingly, you can now see the floor-- we dug out all the boxes and bins of stuff and sorted out winter clothing that could be stored away in the attic or cellar for the next few months and now you can actually WALK in our room--without tripping! The plan is to allow the Murph and the poo-machine in the room tonight so they can enjoy the AC as well. I think for Tiki's well being... she'll be just as happy to stay out of there and have the run of the house in peace!

In the interest of peace I did rid myself of a few pairs of shoes this weekend as well-- Craig seems to beleive that two laundry baskets full is too many--- he fails to understand how I can NEED 5 different pairs of black sandals (the casual pair, the super high heel strappy ones, the semi-casual dress pair, the flip flops, the comfy but still dressy pair etc...) So I discarded a few pairs that were well past their prime-- including my FAVORITE sandals of all time-- these are the ones my mom called the "spartacus" sandals-- brown leather, criss-crossed straps, flat soles-- I wore these things to death-- across Europe, through college, they went with anything and were so very comfortable-- my dad had given them a second life with a few rivets 3 years ago-- and I had nursed them through last summer with glue and tacks-- but the time has come to say goodbye---and so this afternoon-- I tossed them in the trash--- of course-- this means I have to go get some new ones right?!?!?!

Craig is hiding in the cellar working on his HW for his online class-- its cool there and it means I get sole control over the TV! (so with a choice of 5 channels-- there's not too much to argue over-- but still!)

This week cake class starts up again on Tuesday and I've got my first full week with Undergrad Guy--- so it should be a busy week. I think I have one more fitting to go to with a friend for her wedding dress and I have to put together a wedding emergency kit to take to her wedding on June 16th--- its my turn to play "Kim" for a change and deal with all the nonsense that pops up so she doesn't have to worry-- Hrm... I should make sure the guest room isn't too bad either as we are keeping the groom the night before the wedding.

Big news over at my SIL's blog-- she's got all her paperwork to Vietnam and is #1 on the waiting list for a little girl--- looks like our new niece will be here before too long!

And as for my future SIL-- she's a trooper-- she survived her first entire weekend at my parents this weekend! And my Mom only had wonderful things to say-- about her and about her pup who came to visit too! So apparently the nuttiness that is my family hasn't completely scared her off-- and we are thrilled that she'll be one of us!

A little bit of landscaping.

This weekend I did my best to procrastinante a little more and not work on my seminar-- ok, so I worked on it some... and I have a week yet.. so I will be ok.

On Saturday my friend Leah and I drove down to King of Prussia for the day. She'd never been and it seemed like a good way to spend the day-- so off we went. I managed to get a little bit of new makeup. I really like this bare minerals stuff-- it doesn't seem to set off my acne and it is pretty much idiot proof to put on, so a great combination for me! So I picked out a new eyeshadow ( a glittery green called "envy") and a new blush called glee. Yay. Meanwhile Craig and Mike (Leah's fiance) went to see Spiderman 3, they gave it pretty bad reviews. We all went to dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill afterwards and they make really wonderful bread! We topped it off with a walk to Maggie Moo's -- YUM, seriously wonderful ice cream. I got carrot cake ice cream with teddy grahms mixed in- DELICIOUS!

Today we got a little bit of landscaping done-- so here are some pictures!

Craig pulled out the plastic edging I had in and built me a lovely brick-- this should keep the grass out of my flower beds and make it easier for him to mow right up next to them. Plus it looks great!

Here are some normal grape hyacinths I have planted.

And here are my mutant purple cauliflower hyacinths. I have no idea what happened. About 1/3 of my grape hyacinths came up looking like this! They still smell lovely and are a pretty color- they are just pretty weird looking!

This it the back of our garage (the side that faces our house). We planted the lilacs (the tall shrubs) and the burning bushes (the short shrubs) and a handful of white mums (the tiny shrubs in front of the bushes) last year. Today we added the trellis and a clematis to help conceal the ugly grey electrical conduit we had to have to get electricity in the garage. Here's hoping it works-- if nothing else though, I am thrilled that the $1.50 salvaged clearance lilacs from lowes are looking perfect!


This time we found a great tree in the clearance stash at Lowe's-- A Japanese Red Maple. We'd been looking for some sort of "small" decorative tree for the front yard, and there it was! We put it in much to the amusement of our old lady neighbors who thought it was very very funny to be planting a tree (I have no idea.. they are out on their porch all day, I think maybe they were laughing at Murphy trying to "help") So we now have a new tiny tree in our yard. Hopefully it makes it, but in the worst of cases, it was only $3-- so we can't complain too much! The grass is all brown patchy because we were patching the sod with parts we dug up. The Murph does a number on the grass-- I think he must pee straight hydrochloric acid or something. Anyway, we took advantage of the healthy grass we had to dig up to patch a bunch of bad spots in the yard.

That was our weekend, off to try out a new recipe. I will share if it is any good!

The Bridal Shower and Barbecue Night

Well... I forgot to get a picture of the food spread before it was demolished... but it was nice. We made kingergarten punch (Hawaiian punch+ginger ale + floating rainbow sherbet) and I made these veggie pizza things that mom gave me the recipe for (someone once told me that they "simplified their veggie dipping experience") and Kim made her extra delicious spinach dip. So that was out with some cheese and crackers and the cake for food.

Here are some pics of the day. Bride-to-be Leah had a good time and we all got a kick out of the ever popular TP bridal gowns.

We told the guys (Leah's fiance Mike and Craig) that they couldn't be in the living room, so they sat on the stairs and looked at us... then shortly decided to grab as many snacks as they could and some DVD about communists taking over Colorado and head to the cellar (and "check out" the beer fridge).

Jackie and Nekeshia won the first game and some "fabulous" prizes from Dollar Stores (and playdough)

Nekeshia won the "guess the kitchen white powder" game after finally believing that not all the bags were FLOUR... and that none of the bags were "crack". My friends are NUTS!!! Craig is sad to see the flower leave as he was quite enjoying wearing around the house as a hat.

Bride-to-be Leah with the two "models" in the Super-Biodegradable Gown Contest Kara and Jackie. Jackie and Nekeshia won by a close vote for their daring "bare the goods" neckline, while Kara and Candice received special note for their traditional gown, long train, and lovely veil.

Tiki was adorable all afternoon, but she then decided that all these gowns with the dangly trains were just big toys for her! She started chasing the gals through the house trying to pounce on the trailing TP trains. Cute... but she is a naughty little girl!

I had to pick her up to prevent further disaster to the "gowns" so here is one more pic of the kitten (and me).

All in all a big hit, and a lot of fun. When the shower was over, we let boys out of the cellar and sent them outside to fire up the grill. Craig cooked up hot dogs and burgers for everyone-- the gals and then our guy friends who came over just for dinner while we hauled all the chairs out of the house (we are still looking around for a picnic table set when we pass clearance stuff at Lowe's) and got chips and all that kinda stuff ready. It was gorgeous weather out and was nice to be able to sit outside. I got my hot dog perfectly burnt... and 3 other people asked for theirs burnt as well, so I proved to Craig that that particular foible is not THAT odd. It was a great evening and a really nice day.