1st Day of School

I took a break from posting the last few days. After the big birthday and party, we took it a little easier. We did go to Adam's work party on Sunday -- a picnic held at North Point State Park. It was nice to put faces to the names that Adam is always talking about (especially his girlfriend, Jeff), and I got to hear some of the good office gossip. Other than that, it was a pretty subdued event (benign is how Adam describes it). Apparently, these people get pretty wild when alcohol is involved, but this was a family event so the drinking was pretty low-key (other than the very large container of Jell-o shooters).

Monday evening, Drew and I had dinner at Carole and Andy's. Andy made his amazing chicken on the grill (did I mention he made his awesome cheeseburgers for the party Saturday?), and we got to hear about the first day of school from Hailey and Alex. They both seemed to have a good time. Alex is very excited to be riding the bus just like Hailey.

Today was Drew's first day of school. He's in afternoon pre-K this year -- he goes to school from 1:25 pm until 4 pm. I took this picture shortly before the bus picked him up. This is his second year riding the bus, so it's no big deal, but he likes to inform me that he rides the bus by himself! Notice that he is wearing his very cool new Lightning McQueen shirt that Aunt Sue and Brian gave him.
Here he is actually getting on the bus. Miss Lori is the bus driver that takes him to school this year. I could barely get him to stop for me to take the picture.

Miss Stephanie reported that Drew had a great first day. He seemed happy when he got home and ready to go back tomorrow. However, we have a special treat for him tomorrow unless there are torrential downpours. We're going to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA for the day. Hopefully, I'll have happy things to report.

Birthday Party

Today, we had Drew's birthday party at Carole and Andy's house. I didn't get the greatest pictures, but you can get the idea. I definitely can't use the settings with slower shutter speeds because this is what I get. But, you can kind of tell that this is a picture of Drew blowing out his candles.

Here is the Lightning McQueen cake. He turned out sort of mauve instead of bright red, but I have now learned a lesson about making dark red icing (mix some brown in with the red). All in all, I think it turned out ok -- as I said in an earlier post, cake decorating is not my thing.
Here are Dad, Melva, Cathy and Moody enjoying each other's company. No croquet was played today so everyone was safe. Sue and Brian also came to the party, but I didn't manage to get a picture of them or Andy and Carole for that matter.


Drew got a bunch of wonderful presents including several Cars themed items. He's holding the Cars lunchbox that Grandmom and Granddad Ferguson gave him.

Did you notice that the cake had some black icing on it (for the tires and outline)? Alex wound up with black lips after eating his cake. He's getting one of the last cookies that Grandmom made. They were very popular -- the adults ate most of them before the kids even got a chance to try them.Drew was worn out by the time we got home. He went to bed with his new Mater and an Elmo puppet that Hailey let him have.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, but it was Charlie Shaughnessy's birthday. Apparently, birthdays these days are ignored, not celebrated, but we hope it was a good one anyway. Charlie was hoping that Drew would be born on his birthday, but he wound up coming a day earlier.

This week is another really busy one. I don't know how I worked a full-time job--I just don't have time for it now. I'm helping with my church yard sale on Saturday, so the basement is currently filled with lots of yard sale items. Quite a few items are kids toys and games so Drew thinks he's hit the mother lode. I've been explaining that they are not for him, but he conveniently does not seem to understand. I'm afraid I'm going to wind up buying half the stuff.

We're going to meet Drew's new teacher this morning - Miss Stephanie. Drew does not want me to go with him, because he goes to school by himself (on the bus). He getting so independent. No signs of getting a job yet, though.

Happy Birthday Drew!

Today is Drew's 4th birthday. Here is another picture we had taken at Target:

Bright and early this morning, our charming young lad started to open his presents. Here he is after opening all of his presents from Grandma and Grandpa George. He wanted to go take a bath right away so he could use his new Thomas bubble bath, but we told him he's have to wait until tonight.

Here he is in his room after we hung up his Cars poster and stickers. I think it's going to be time to paint his room -- he's not a baby anymore.

The festivities continue on Saturday when we have his party. I think it was a little confusing that the birthday and the party are on two different days, but he's perfectly fine with the whole getting more presents thing.

Countdown to the big day

We had a pretty lazy day on Sunday after Nana and Grandpa's visit. Drew and I went to church, and Adam worked on his school project for his current class. He's on a deadline since the class ends next week. We tried to go for a bike ride on Sunday afternoon, but as soon as we got out on the road, it started to rain. We took shelter under a tree and waited for a little while, but, since it showed no signs of stopping, we headed home. Good thing too--by the time we got home it was really pouring!

I cooked on Monday so Adam and Drew went for a ride by themselves. They rode for close to 25 miles from our house to Savage Park, and I think that particular ride is beyond my current fitness level. They had a good time though; I think Drew got to play on three different playgrounds during the course of the ride.

I cooked rabbit again this week, Coniglio al Balsamico (rabbit with balsamic vinegar), and I think it turned out ok. My client raved about the rabbit in the mustard sauce from last week; hopefully, they'll like it even better when it's not cooked to death. They asked me to move to Sarasota for the winter so I could continue to cook for them during the winter which I thought was very sweet.

Today, we rode about 1/2 as far as Adam and Drew did yesterday. We went from our house to Lake Elkhorn. This picture is taken from the playground where, of course, we had to stop. I love this lake. Adam and I had our engagement pictures taken here, and we've walked around it many times. Now, I have the opportunity to run people over while enjoying the scenery.

Drew got a package full of birthday presents in the mail from Grandma (Adam's mom, Pat) today. I can't wait to see his face when he opens them tomorrow. I haven't wrapped his presents from us yet. I'll get right on that.

Nana and Grandpa's visit

Nana and Grandpa made it in around 10:00 last night just as Adam was getting home from work. We had a very good, if short, visit. Drew had a great time playing with Grandpa:

Nana, Grandpa and Drew made a trip to Toys R Us for a birthday present. Drew got a big Caterpillar tractor with a remote control -- it was put right to work in the sandbox so I'm not sure how long it will last. Apparently, a stop was made at the Krispy Kreme store also ("Would you like coffee with that?).


We're just sorry that the visit couldn't have lasted longer. Hopefully, we'll see them again soon.

I love Wegmans

This busy week continues.

Yesterday, I decided to make a trip to Hunt Valley to go to Wegmans. I love Wegmans. I’d marry Wegmans if I weren’t already married (I still love Central Market in Austin, but I’m just not good at long distance grocery relationships). It’s absolutely the best grocery store option we have around here, and it’s not exactly around here – it’s about 35 – 40 minutes away.

Next time I’m going alone though. Drew just does not have my appreciation for the whole Wegmans experience. As a matter of fact, 10 minutes is too long to spend in any grocery store as far as he’s concerned. Needless to say, we were less than pleased with each other by checkout time. Live and learn. We had some lovely salmon for dinner last night along with a peach crisp for dessert. Adam’s friend Mike was in town from Las Vegas and came over to eat with us.

Today, Drew and I went to Baltimore to have lunch with Aunt Sue at The Gallery and then we stopped by Hopkins to see Adam briefly. I picked up Drew’s birthday pictures at Target this evening. I think they turned out pretty well – here’s one:

Nana and Grandpa are on their way to see us. They should have been here around 5:30 pm, but they hit major traffic and aren't here yet. Drew has been talking about seeing them all day long, and we had some drama because they weren't here by the time I forced him to go to bed.

More Baked Goods

I made this Lemon Bundt Cake today for my friend Jill. Adam, Drew and I got to have dinner with Jill and Jerry tonight at Panera along with some other friends. They just moved into a new house yesterday so they were exhausted, but we had a good time hearing the moving day war stories. (A note to anyone getting ready to move - make sure you have a flashlight handy!!)

We took another short ride this afternoon. We parked on Hickory Limb in Columbia - right by the condo where Sharon and I used to live. We rode part of the way around Lake Elkhorn then along the Patuxent Branch trail. Here we are standing by the Little Patuxent River.

Kill the Wabbit

The last couple of days have been pretty busy around here. Monday, Drew and I had a picnic at Rockburn Park and then I made these brownies and cookies for Adam to take to a friend's house on Tuesday night. Drew helped to make the chocolate chip cookies. He especially likes to turn the Kitchen Aid mixer up to the highest setting whether it needs it or not. I have to be careful that the ingredients don't get spewed all over the kitchen! He's very insistent that he has to help, though and very proudly tells Adam that he helped Mommy make cookies.

On Tuesday, I cooked for my regular client. I made a couple of things that I haven't cooked before (at least not since culinary school). One thing I made was rabbit, which my client ordered online from Blue Chip Farms in South Carolina. When you order it cut up, it comes looking like this:

so it sort of looks like chicken in the package, but, of course, when you take it out, you have little rabbit parts. Anyway, I think I overcooked it, because, who knew, rabbit technology has changed! Apparently, these rabbits are raised so they're very tender and can be cooked just like chicken. I'm sure my client will let me know if the meat was tough. Since they bought 6 of the things, I'll be cooking rabbit for a few more weeks.

Last night, I had an orientation at Anne Arundel Community College since I'm going to be teaching some continuing ed classes there this fall and Adam had a meeting, so Drew tried out a new babysitter. Anna is the daughter of one of Adam's friends, and Drew seemed to take to her right away -- he wants her to come back tonight. He's rather disappointed that he's just spending the evening with Daddy.

Happy Birthday Nana!

Today is Judy Shaughnessy's birthday. Judy is Adam's stepmother and Drew's Nana. We're hoping to be able to see her this weekend one way or another. Drew told me we were going to the airport to get her today -- he thinks all visitors come from the airport now (probably because he and Adam picked up Adam's grandmother, Gloria, at the airport last month).

I looked all over for a picture of Judy that she wouldn't kill me for posting (not that she's going to be reading the blog anyway), and this was the best one I could find in a hurry. I cropped out Adam and his dad, because, well, it's not about them, is it?

Today is my third day posting to this blog, and I thought I'd mention why exactly I'm doing it. First, I was inspired by my cousin Scott's wife, Heidi who has been blogging since last February. We only see my Michigan cousins once a year, and it's great to see what's going on with them during the rest of the year. Second, I started thinking about how it would be nice for Drew's grandparents (both here and out of state) to see what he's up to on a daily basis. Plus, if I get to (gently) poke fun at people in my family or myself from time to time, so much the better!

Biking in Columbia

Today we went for a short bike ride on the Patuxent Branch Trail between Columbia and Savage. It was another beautiful day, and we decided that this may be our new favorite trail. It was my first experience riding on crushed stone -- I've only be riding since the beginning of the summer (since, oh, 8th grade or so). Luckily, I didn't wreck, although I did almost clip a guy out for a nice stroll with his wife.

Adam and I got to go on a date tonight. My friend Pattee came over and stayed with Drew, and we went down to Fells Point to the Red Star. We used a coupon from restaurant.com that Adam's mom gave us so we saved $25 on our meal. Thanks, Mom! We walked all around Fells Point after dinner, and I was amazed at how different it is now. Lots of upscale housing and shops and less dive bars (although some of the originals are still going strong!)

Afternoon at Munca Andy's pool

We did go to the pool today, although it was almost too cool to get in the water. The kids didn't care about that, but Drew did have to dive under his Nemo towel after awhile. I tried to get a picture of all the kids together, but I couldn't get them all to look at the camera at the same time.

I've included a picture of my brother Andy, or Gisele as his wife, Carole, and I sometimes call him. The nickname came about because he lost quite a bit of weight in the last year or so and likes to spend time working out and working on his tan. He's also somewhat super-modelish about his eating now and again. Having said that, we all ate cheeseburgers at Andy's after the pool -- he makes a mean cheeseburger.

Adam asked me if this new project was going to make me more enthusiastic about the digital camera. Historically, I'm not the greatest at taking pictures or even remembering the camera. It'll be interesting to see how well I do as the weeks go by.

Getting ready for Drew's birthday

We're starting to get ready for Drew's birthday party. He'll be four years old on Aug 23rd, and he asked for a Cars party. I'm going to try to make a cake that looks like Lightning McQueen. Cake decorating is not exactly my forte, but I'll give it a try.

The weather is absolutely beautiful here today. It's rare to have these cool, low humidity days in August so we really need to take advantage of it. I think we're going to go to Uncle Andy's pool later today. Drew loves the pool plus he always wants to spend time with his cousins, Hailey and Alex.