weekend 101

Some noteworthy things from this weekend that has made it very interesting:

 

1)  Sarah Palin as VP for McCain!  in all honesty, since I will be eligible for the first time to vote this presidential el

ection, I'm paying 

more attention when I can.  I just had chills when 

they introduced Gov. Palin as his running mate!  Wow- a mother of five- definitely gets me more interested in politics!

2)  Pho night out with the Fergusons!  This pic is of Adam Ferguson holding his son Charlie, and you can see Joel and Joe next to them.  They are mesmerized by the shooting fountain in downtown Silver Spring (that fountain gives me the heebiegeebies...but Natalie said it must be chlorinated).  We had a yummy dinner at Pho- perfect end to a rainy day.  Thanks Natalie and Adam!

3) Rachel (Turner) & Mark Distelhorst's wedding reception.  Darn it, I forgot my camera, but it was a really a great gathering.  The bride and groom were just so sweet together.  I got to know Rachel as her VTer- and I'm so glad I did because I just love her!  They left the reception wearing matching t-shirts saying "Rachel & Mark, August 30, 2008".  Tres adorable!

4)  Little cute things about Joe- here he is "reading".  He got this book from it's bin, opened it, and started flipping the flaps (ha!).  He's been doing animal sounds on cue- such as, "arrf arrf" for doggie, and "rarrr" for lion/tiger.  He also says "baba" (bottle) and "bal" (the L is very soft) for ball.  

Tomorrow is Labor Day- Joel is going in to work- but Joe and I might make it out to the annual Kensington Picnic over at Sandy Point Beach.  Hope you have a great weekend too!

Red Hot!

It's Thursday but it feels like a Friday.  In fact, yesterday felt like a Friday.  It's hard to believe that with everything we've done this week we still have Friday to go.  ha, the irony.

So, here he is- Joel and his new, hot ride! We went back to Mr. Lu's tienda Latina-chinese in TKPK (Takoma Park) and got a pretty good deal for this bike.  The other option was a man selling a "49.5 cc" that looked like a 150cc.  The latter we coined as a hippie in Kensington.  Well, we went for Mr. Lu's "no brand" bike :)

And as the heavens would have it, "Red" was baptized with a good amount of rain today.  Quite the adventure for Joel- but hey, a full tank of gas was $3.81!  There is however, a magic trick with starting it and there was one bully car that honked at him.  But he got to and from work and had a blast going 40 mph downhill... so overall, I'd classify that as a successful first day.

Brownie Day

Joel is usually home by 4pm from work.  But today, being Tuesday, Joel had Kung Fu after work- and he was not going to be home until after 6pm.  I've been spoiled having Joel be home so early, and I admit, I get a bit anxious about the 2 extra hours I now have with baby- when I usually have Joel's help.  (A bit strange actually- I liken it to a plane ride- 10 hours is long, but 12 hours just seems like eternity. )

So, at 8am, when Joseph fought against his morning nap- I knew we were heading towards a "loooooong day."  My solution? Make brownies.  Brownies with walnuts!  yummm. 

It's a good thing too- because- after Joe decided to miss his afternoon nap as well (he does morning, noon, afternoon naps)- my "looooooong day" only seemed like a "long day"  :)

FYI- Joel is working on his broad sword form in Kung Fu- he's a lefty but holds the sword by the right hand.  very impressive!

Joe has been pushing around a mini chair as a walker.  He's so stinkin' cute- here's a video.  There's also a picture of him driving around--- sportin' a Tai Yim (Kung Fu) shirt.  Just like dada!

Weekend with G and R&D

Two fun gatherings we went to were: Grandma Hazel's 87th birthday, and the dinner with our friends Rachel, Dave, and Stephen.  Rachel and Dave are friends from Montreal.  We met when we were all students at McGill University.  In fact, their first "get together" was a Sunday dinner at my house- where all the YSA's did a potluck, David didn't bring anything, but Rachel brought some brownies (good girl!) :)   After 5 1/2 years  after missions and Bachelor degrees, Joel & I attended their sealing at the Manhattan Temple.  

Stephen joined the church when Dave was a missionary in Florida, and now he's in the DC area.  It's nice when things come to full circle- just as another one emerges!

I hereby declare...

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen..."

I did it!  After 17 years, 1 month, and 2 days later- I took an oath of allegiance to be a citizen of the United States.  'Yay for me!'

I am so glad to join the blue passport team :)  And of course, I'm extremely excited to be able to vote!

My mom and I got to spend the day together, that made it that much more special :)

Sighing and Smiling

Oh, I heaved a great big sigh as I watched Joe guzzle down his milk from a bottle.  It was a beautiful sight to behold, since Joe had taken a 2 month hiatus in drinking milk from the bottle.  I've had a huge day working and this was just the kind of relief I needed to keep me going!

Joel's work was equally, if not more, exhausting.  Patients, papers, patients, papers, gotta have patience with the patients....arghh!!!  "I'm just trying to catch some air" was one of the first things he said to me when I picked him up at work.  I saw him do the sigh-smile combo while wrestling with Joe.  I guess that moment did it for him.

And before his litany of "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba" as I help him get to bed, Joe tends to heave a sigh.  I can tell he is happy and content as he talks out the day's events and sings along to his lullaby.  After a tough day of crawling, growing, and playing, he must be glad to get some rest.  

Relief in the form of a **sigh** comes naturally after doing a full day's work--so should a smile be equally appropriate after realizing all that you've accomplished.  Sighing out.

"3 for 3"

Days seem to crawl, yet weeks  seem to fly!  Today marks my 3rd day working for LBAA.  It seems like I have spent a lot of energy trying to get the big huge ball (of recruiting) rolling- and honestly, I think I'm still pushing it along to gain momentum!  

Also, Joel and I have been diligent about going on our weekly dates- and this is our

3rd week in a row to do so.  This romantic outing is made possible by his sister, Vanessa, who stays in our home with baby Joe while we go out.

A little tidbit about tonight's date:  We went to UNO's pizza in Bethesda- the same place where we had our first date!  We even got to sit in the same booth :)  The food was great, the company delightful, and to add cherry on top- our server thought we were only "dating."  When I clarified that, "Yes, I am waiting for my husband", he was taken aback!  He said he saw us holding hands and assumed we were only dating.  Ha!  Little does he know....

As for the last 3rd, it's hard to believe that we came back from the Philippines a month and a half ago- we came back on July 3rd to be exact.  I know you've heard of our trip, but now you get to see our trip!  FYI: baby Joe and I went to the Philippines for a month this summer for the Velasco family reunion.  Joel was not able to come this time because of work schedule.  Darn!  Maybe in three years?  

"NBOTB"

New Bears on the Block

It's tough enough to keep up with our lives, so, ironically, we thought we'd add the element of "blogging"- with hopes to tie it all together.

I am Kristine, "mama bear", and also the main blogger.  Hence, details of events you will read will be through my POV for the most part.  I am a stay at home mom, mostly occupying my days with household stuff with my favorites being budgeting and organizing :)  I also work for LBAA (Long Branch Athletic Association) as a recruiter of Volunteers and Director for their after school programs.  LBAA is a recent added adventure to our lives, and I'm really looking forward to the upcoming school year!

Joel is the "papa bear" of the home.  As of September, he will be working full time, taking 10 credits at UMD, still be a husband, and still be a dad.  With a full plate, Joel still makes time for the important things, namely, dating his wife, playing with baby Joe,  jammin on the guitar and practicing Kung Fu.  Needless to say, after a one year sabbatical, Joel is rearing for a great year at UMD to work on his Kinesiology major!

And finally, the reason most of you are probably keeping up with this blog, is Joseph, baby Joe, our "baby Bear"!  He will be one year old in October- and yet, in his young life, he has travelled halfway across the globe, crawled to forbidden places (i.e. under the bed), and eaten mysterious things (too mysterious to mention).  He is great little guy with a contagious smile!  His recent tricks include: standing up during bathtime and turning on the shower function, handing toys to share, cruising proudly with one hand, and feeding Dada some of his treats.

This marks the official jump off point for our blogging days!  Hope you enjoy getting a glimpse of our day-to-day because we sure enjoy living it moment by moment!