Hurricane Sandy

 

Harley by Candlelight!

We have been in the Washington D.C. area for 5 years.  Since our arrival we have enjoyed several tornadoes, 3 major hurricanes, an earthquake, a severe derecho and who can forget snowmageddon.  We have become well acquainted with losing electricity, shortages at the grocery store and long nights in the dark listening to the weather outside.  Through it all we have become so grateful to have a home to protect us from mother nature. 

Sandy started to really rear her ugly head on Sunday when it started raining.  Monday the winds picked up and the rain increased but we still had power.  We spent the day cleaning and purging the kid's toys and closets.  Monday evening branches started falling off of the trees but unexpectedly we didn't lose power until almost 9PM.  The kids who were already safely tucked away in the basement were joined by their parents who tried to fall asleep. It was a long night.  We could hear trees falling and of course it was very cold.  Despite all of the scary noises our neighborhood looked pretty good Tuesday morning. As we listened to the radio it became obvious that our northern neighbors didn't fair nearly as well. We took a cautious drive around town before returning home with three super active children. We decided then would be a perfect time to carve the pumpkin.

Unlike our last natural disaster the movie theater was open so we spent the afternoon watching Frakenweenie and walking around the mall.  When we got home the house was freezing.  We quickly built a fire and added more ice to the food that was starting to spoil in our fridge and freezer. I must say it was sweet gathering around the fire roasting marshmallows and cuddling together to stay warm. I guess I just realized despite the discomfort of no electricity we could be so much worse off. 

 Here is a little advice from someone who has had experience with being without power, (8 days of darkness in the last 4 months alone), add some battery powered candles to your emergency kit. These things are life savers. You can keep them on all night without fear of fire. Your kids can even sleep with them which really helps on those long noisy weather filled nights. You can buy a huge pack at Costco or separately at the Dollar Store. They are a must have!

Crafts & Cookies

Sunday evening Nash came to me and asked, "Mom, are you sick?" I replied that I wasn't. He continued, "Do you have a headache?" I answered, "No, Nash. What do you want?" He then says, "Well, Sunday is almost over and we haven't had any dessert." You don't have to ask me twice. I will happily hop to it if dessert is involved. I made our usual Sunday treat, chocolate chip cookies, and then we decided to work on some Halloween crafts-mostly ideas borrowed from Pinterest. I love crafting with my kids. Even though it is inevitably a huge mess, watching their little hands and minds work is pretty awesome.



We made SPOOKY skeleton shirts!

 (Can you tell it was a little bit chilly when we took this picture?)

Egg Carton Bats!

Q-tip skeletons-who somehow morphed into Ninjago Villains.  The boys also made spider webs by creating designs on wax paper with glitter glue and then letting it dry.  The spider webs have managed to disappear. 

Cox Farms

My children believe that a farm is a place where thousands of people pay to go slide on giant slides, meander their way out of corn mazes, play with goats, take hay rides through haunted forests, and eat kettle corn. This sad fact is partly due to the amazing fall festivals around Northern Virginia.  There are several in existence but this year we went to Cox Farms.  It is certainly the biggest but it also has the most people and the greatest opportunity to lose a kid or two.  Harley's favorite part was, not surprisingly the animals especially the goats. Nash liked the rope swing and Atley could ride on one of the 12 slides for forever.  It was an exhausting afternoon, but well worth it when Harley Belle fell asleep at 6PM and slept until 7:30 the next morning.

 

 

 

Rolled Felt Fall Wreath Tutorial

Our Beautiful City

I miss the west every day. I miss the mountains. I miss the desert. I miss wide open spaces.  But, I also love this beautiful city.  The architecture, the trees, the river.  We went to the top of the Old Post Office, yes it was windy, but we got a couple of amazing pictures of the Capitol City.

Rock the Vote...

for Harley's Halloween costume.  This year we are not buying or making ANY costumes. We have too many dress up clothes that never get used to do that.  But, I have a dilemma.  The boys know what they want to wear but Harley is a little confused. I think her favorite is the flamingo costume. What do think? You are going to have to use your imagination on a few costumes. Imagine tights, shirts, shoes, a basket with Toto in it, etc.

 

The boys had to get involved. They tried on a few costumes but mostly they just played policeman attacks the fireman. Nash ripped the butt out of his tiny pants in the process.