Looking at the world through rose-colored glasses...

*The last of the unpublished posts from 2008. I started writing and frequently lost my train of thought that year, apparently.

My computer screen is pink. There is something wrong with our poor little Mac. It is older than any of our children and has performed well, so I suppose we cannot complain too much. For the record, looking at the world through a rose-colored computer screen...not all it's cracked up to be. I can't see links if they are merely of a different hue instead of underlined - that's kind of frustrating. There are all sorts of other issues. Strangely enough, red looks like it is blue in my pink computer screen.

Lovie - incomplete snippet from 2008.

Tomorrow, our Emma will be 20 months old. That time has gone quickly. The poor little munchkin is getting two teeth in right now.

Why - an unpublished snippet from 2008

Spencer asks both us close to fifty times a day a question that begins with "Why".

"Why do we have night lights?"

"Why do night lights come from Home Depot?"

There's something wonderful about our nature that wants to know why.

Chocolate Days November 2011

Going back through old posts, and it appears I never published these photos of Chocolate Days, a Wride/Cox family tradition. My kids look forward to this all year long and, falling at the beginning of November, it marks the onset of a wonderful holiday season. 

Maddie and Emma, chocolatiers. They were making the traditional "mice" (maraschino cherries with stems/tails, dipped in chocolate, connected to a hershey kiss/face with almond ears and frosting eyes. 

John discovered the Coxes pool table. He thought it was great fun to crawl all around the top of it, sending the balls to their pockets along the way. Many thanks to Grandpa and Brother Cox who were there to make sure he didn't fall off the table.

These were a new truffle this year, made with lemon curd. Delicious!

The kids spend their time mostly outdoors (leaf mazes and capture the flag were favorites this year), but occasionally they want to be indoors with the sweet candy action. That's where gingerbread houses come in handy. The kids each decorated one and got to piece off it as the days passed.

Cousins by the cornfield. Thank you, Coxes, for sharing your Chocolate Day wonderland with us! Many wonderful memories are made at your home each year.

Snapshot

We're enjoying a bit of respite from the 100 degree days that have plagued us this summer. The children have the pre-dinner munchies, and when they noticed I was snacking on an apple, they decided to follow suit. In a cooperative moment, they washed each others' apples and headed off to the porch to consume. Sure, they left the fridge door open, but I find that a minor offense when I discover them looking like this...

Bethany Beach

Yesterday was on the calendar as a normal, summery Friday. Nothing planned, nothing scheduled. Then our plans changed, all because this lovely sister of mine wanted to go to the beach. And so we have Heather to thank for what turned out to be one of the most glorious days ever!

Heather is home from college for the summer, and she has this week off from her job as a most amazing nanny to four kiddos (newborn twins included in the mix). She and the Cummings fam had a beach trip planned last weekend, but plans were foiled when La Derecha brought crazy winds and power outages to our area. We were out of town last weekend and would have missed the beach outing, so we benefited from the change of date. It ended up being just Heather and our little family off to Bethany Beach. We left just after 6AM and arrived just before 10AM. With a stop in the middle, that means we made great time. There was NO traffic on the beltway (unbelievable), and we sailed along the Bay Bridge, arriving just in time to roll easily into a parking space and hit the sand and surf. I drove while Adam worked remotely. Parking was a mere $1.50 per hour, and Bethany Beach needs to win some awards for being the most darling beach town ever. There are lots of cute little shops along the boardwalk, and it refrains from being strip mall-ish; the entire area is very family friendly and maintains a small-town feel, which you know I love.

 We spent the day digging...

Jumping the waves...

And this fellow discovered a new passion for boogie boarding. 

The kids started the day building castles, trenches, and a fort in the sand but quickly discovered the water. All three of my offspring wanted to spend as much time as possible in the depths. Good thing we had a 1:1 ratio of adults to children. (Thank you, Heather!) John is an absolute fish, very adamant in his requests to return to the "wawa" when we took the occasional break up by the beach umbrella. Emma was introduced to the "part of your world" game by Adam (think "Little Mermaid") and would joyfully exclaim her line as each wave approached and we helped lift her over the swell. She also came home with 10 treasures (seashell tidbits). I put a limit on the number so other families can find treasures too. That was logical enough to make our take-home haul manageable. 

We were having so much fun that when 4:00 came and our parking was due to run out, we sent Adam to put more money in the meter, and I brought a boogie board out for Spencer, thinking he might like to hold onto it in the deep water since Heather and I were outnumbered in our efforts to keep all 3 kids afloat. John came with me on the boogie board errand and quickly claimed it for his own once we got back in the water. Cute boy pulled his little body up, held on with both hands and set the standard for the rest of our trip. Before we exited the water, all three kids were on boogie boards floating over the swells and having a grand time.

Spencer and Adam stayed in the water playing "motorcycle" where Adam guides the board up and over breaking waves, letting Spencer catch a little air in the process. Spencer even rode his first wave into shore at the end. 

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of our time in the water; can't risk dropping the iPhone in the ocean, I'm afraid. 

Recipe for our perfect beach day: 90 degree weather, perfect water temperature (refreshing, but not freezing), gorgeous water color, lovely sand, a good lunch (sandwiches, chilled watermelon, and Sun Chips), Gatorade, a cooler full of water, loads of snacks (peanut M&M's and string cheese being favorites), an awesome van that plays DVDs as we drive, no traffic coming OR going, a foot wash station that enabled us to leave nearly all of the sand at the beach, and pleasant children willing to take on an adventure. 

p.s. I saw dolphins swimming off the shore. Yep, pure magic. 

The perfect day. 

Happy 4th of July

This year's celebration of America's birthday was pretty much perfect. The fellas (Gpa, Dad/Adam, and Spencer) headed off to a Nationals Baseball game on the eve of this big holiday, so Emma, John, and I headed over to Grammy's house to make good on a puffy paint plan. Trina and Emma had spent a good part of Monday designing red, white, and blue t-shirts. The girls got super artistic. John "helped" make Spencer's shirt, and I did some firework bursts on a onesie for a complete set of patriotic puffy painted t-shirts. 

The next morning, we were off to the Leesburg parade. Favorites this year included Kylerok (a boy in a neighboring ward who is launching his music career), lots of fire trucks ("wee-ooohs" according to John), and the Bolivian dancers who win for best costume. Love that they are a standard in the local parade circuit. Randomly, when Adam and I were in Argentina a few years back, there was a big parade going on in downtown Buenos Aires. Bolivian dancers? You got it. Different country, different culture, but some things remain the same. John and Emma were perched on shoulders for parts of the parade - best seats in the house.

Spencer was up late, late, late the night before since the Nats game was in the evening. He was a willing participant but opted to sit on the curb or in the shade of the too-small stroller to reserve his energy. He caught snippets of the passings by. 

We stood with Gma, Gpa, and Laura, all of whom took turns holding Johnny up so he could see. Parades are serious stuff, and he was taking it all in.

Favorite quote of the day: There was a float for the Battle of Balls Bluff, a local Civil War battlefield. There were a few men dressed as Yankee soldiers shouting "Go Yanks" and an older gentleman dressed in Confederate uniform. He shouted out "Down with the Yankees...Up with the Red Socks." I was dying. A perfectly diffused situation. So sad I don't have a picture to better color the anecdote. Too busy holding small children and enjoying the parade this year to photograph it. 

 We left a bit early from the parade to beat the crowds to an event I was SUPER excited to learn about - free tours at Dodona Manor, the home of George C. Marshall (author of the Marshall Plan, secretary of state, secretary of defense, emissary to China). I had toured the home once before with Gpa Bezzant, but it had been a few years, and I was happy for a reason to return. This beautiful home is located in downtown Leesburg and was the Marshalls respite from D.C. It was only the second home they had ever owned since Marshall was career army, and they moved frequently. Parts of the home date back to the 1800's. It was, at one point, a girls school and was also pressed into service as a hospital for a time during the Civil War. 

Fun fact about George Marshall: according to the docent, he was a very poor student in high school (although he read widely from the classics even at that age). His older brother was an accomplished student at VMI and was overheard by George telling their mother that George had better not attend VMI or he would tarnish the family name. That sealed his ambition, and to VMI he went upon graduation. I think it fair to say that he did okay by the family name in the long run. 

The friendly folks at Dodona Manor hosted an ice cream social. We took the tour and then enjoyed lounging in the backyard/patio area with other locals enjoying freeze pops and ice cream sandwiches. Love my cute town!  I even saw a few friends from high school, one of whom was performing in the barbershop quartet that was featured at the social. My 3 kiddos feasting on frozen confections.

Here is my cute family, posing in front of the house.

A shot of the extended group. Love this family I married into. Also, do take a moment to notice John cheesing it up in this photo. That kid is pretty darling these days.

Spencer called Gma over to take a photo. Here's the pose he had in mind. Spence is one cool kid.

Observant John, whose main goal in life is to do what Spencer does, was not far behind. He beckoned Laura to another pillar and struck his pose.

Laura was basically a celebrity with our crowd. Everyone wanted to get in on the photo action with her. HAD to post this photo of these beauties. Emma and Laura look absolutely stunning here!

It was a perfect morning with big time small town appeal. We retired to the respite of our home (air conditioning is a beautiful thing) for lunch and naps. Afterward, it was time for some red, white, and blue food crafting. 

The kids did an awesome job putting these together: watermelon, mini marshmallows, and blueberries. 

We took the end product over to Gma and Gpa's house for a barbecue. There, we watched "The Music Man" and enjoyed a leisurely evening until it was time for fireworks. We watched from the church parking lot, thereby avoiding all the traffic and as a bonus we got to sit by loads of friends. The evening ended without any major meltdowns and only minimal arguing from the two kids in the backseat. I call that a holiday success. 

Happy Birthday, America!!