Who Did it Better?

Separately, Chuck and I recently came up with something we each thought was pretty clever. Of course, now we disagree on whose was more clever. So you get to decide. (And by "you," I mean "emily" unless anyone wants to come out of the shadows and comment.) Obviously, this will be a blind study and each clever-ism will be presented anonymously.

1. A family in our ward with the last name of Cranney had a baby. One of us named the baby, "Cranbaby."

2. A youth from our newly-married days named Rae is getting married to a man named Brandon. One of us named the couple, "Rae-bran."

Who did it better?

Rhett Had a Birthday

Rhett had another birthday last week! It was not a party year, but instead a low-key, one-friend-event type of year. We did the family thing on his birthday, celebrating with a mystery dinner and oreo pie (it's the only kind of pie he likes). I also brought in oreos to school, and can you believe that those darn kids didn't even leave even ONE golden oreo for me to eat? It was easily the saddest thing to happen to me all week.





And then on Saturday, Rhett got to invite one friend to do something special, like bowling, a movie, or this diy escape game (which was more like a scavenger hunt). He and his buddy had a lot of fun. Then they got to go to McDonald's. Whoa.

Most of the time, Rhett's a pretty good kid and we're happy to have him in our family.

My New Hobby

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that our county's library systems offers a free subscription to a music and art instruction site. And seeing as I hadn't quite spent all the money my parents gave me for Christmas, I thought, I'm doing it. I'm buying a ukulele. So I did.

I have taken guitar lessons in the past, but struggled because I have the world's smallest adult hands (just like my feet). I thought the ukulele would just be a better fit. Also, at the most-recent Mothers and Kids campout, my friend Shannon brought her guitar, and let me tell you: there's just something amazing about sitting around the campfire singing (nevermind that my boys HATE my singing voice).

So the past couple of weeks I've been doing my lessons. I haven't made it past drills and stretches, but I'm a busy mom. I'm enjoying it and hoping that my boys will come around to my voice.

Rhett's New Hobby

A couple of Wednesdays ago, Rhett and I were driving to Scouts when he tells me that he'd like to play ice hockey. Uh, where did this come from, son?! I didn't know and I didn't care. He wanted to do something. Something that doesn't involve a book or a screen. DONE. Twelve hours later, I found an ice skating class. Twenty-four hours later, he was laced in ice skates for the first time and hitting the ice.

Is he good? Nope, but he's learning. In addition to class time, he gets additional free ice time each week, something we're definitely taking advantage of. (Which means either Chuck or I has to lace on skates too.) But he likes it. And he's sticking with it. And he's not freaking out when he falls. So...victory!

He'll do two sessions of ice skating classes and then he can start the hockey classes. Who knows. Maybe this summer he'll even do a hockey camp! Who is this kid?! (Equally valid question: Who are these parents carting their kid to weekly classes and summer camps?)

Presidents' Day Weekend

If you're an adult who doesn't care for cold or snow, then this winter in D.C. has pretty much been heaven. If, however, you're a young child who loves the snow and wishes for nothing more than a snow day (so much so that you wear your pajamas inside out AND backwards, ahem, OLLIE), then it's been disappointing. Presidents' Day weekend was no different: temperatures in the 60s with no rain.

When given this weather, I feel like we need to be outside ALL THE TIME. So we had a nice weekend mix of trampoline jumping, walking, riding bikes, dinner with friends, and hiking on Monday. Ollie wanted the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls, but something told me that place would be PACKED, so we opted for Catoctin Mountain Park (such a weird designation, no?). It was gorgeous. The boys did great. It was a four-miler (like Billy Goat), but rockier. The boys had a tougher time, but still did a great job.

We found a loop hike that connected two rocks: one a vista and the other, not.


The clouds were awesome!


This was at Chimney Rock, which you can't see.




This was taken on Wolf Rock, which was the un-peak rock. It was this crazy long piece of rock with tons of deep crevices that made me nervous to cross.


The weather was perfect. Crowds were manageable. And we all loved the Swedish Fish as "hiking power beans."