Halloween 2007

At dusk on Sunday, the Glasscock/Busardo clan treated the twins to the 2007 Boo at the Zoo. This is the FONZ's annual Halloween celebration that delights kids with safe and wild trick-or-treating. It takes place at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. They close the Zoo early so that hundreds of children, ages two to twelve, can come in costume to collect treats while learning about animals.

This year Kathryn is a witch, while John is a dinosaur. They weren't afraid to ask for treats & left with their bags full of goodies. Grandma Busardo & Aunt Kathryn joined us for the evening. With all the people, we were glad to have four adults for our two children. The Zoo was packed!!! We spent the most time observing the lion & tiger dens. The zoologists treated these beautiful animals to hollowed pumpkins filled with frozen meat. The young tigers pounced & rolled them all around the grass. John & Kathryn also got to touch lion & tiger pelts. We look forward to making this event an annual tradition. Please enjoy some pictures.

I'll be taking the twins down to Gtown tomorrow. Everyone at work has been asking for a visit. I'll put them in costume & tour them around campus. Then we're off for a quick visit with Great-Grandma Ferrandina. She's been recuperating from a recent fall that resulted in six broken ribs. She'll really enjoy some Halloween time with the twins.

Halloween evening I will arrive home early for some candy distribution & a quick walk around the neighborhood. I never know how much candy to buy. I always end up purchasing too many Butterfinger bars (they are Kevin's favorite). At least my office peers enjoy the leftovers. Trick-or-Treat!!!

Kevin is a Great Uncle!

We received the news on Friday afternoon. Kevin's oldest nephew Karl & his wife Mary welcomed a baby girl, Marilyn Lilly Glasscock, around 1:30pm. Congratulations to the new Great-Great-Grandma in Arkansas, the Great-Grandparents in Richmond & Houston, and to all the other family members scattered around the East Coast. The Glasscock genealogy continues its expansion.

We can't wait to introduce the twins to their new cousin!

My Fashionista

For some reason today, Kathryn decided to boycott tops. Instead she pranced around the house topless, wearing only her floral pants & bright pink Crocs. While I was making dinner, I heard an outburst of laughter coming from the living room. I went to invesigate and found Kathryn had uncovered the family's beach tote. She pulled out her swimsuit & her brothers, too.

At first I thought she wanted to wear just her swimsuit. I was mistaken. Kathryn didn't want to take her pants or shoes off. Her plan was to add to her outfit. First her brother's Hawaiian swim trucks, then her tropical swimsuit. What an outfit. I couldn't resist taking some pictures! Do you think Vogue would be impressed? Does Tyra Banks have a show in the works called 'the next top baby model'? If so, Kathryn would be star. As I'm typing, she's still wearing her outfit. I foresee a stuggle come bedtime. Enjoy the fashion show.

Pumpkins

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Grandma Busardo & I took the twins to a local farm for some pumpkin picking. As a child, I used to travel to this farm as part of my elementary school's annual fall field trip. We would giddily ride in our big yellow school bus through the back roads of Fairfax County. Today, this part of Northern Virginia is a sprawling community with $2M housing developments. I am pleased that this farm has remained, so I can share it with my children.

This farm is so popular it took us 20 minutes just to turn into the parking lot. The line of cars stretched a mile down Braddock Road. Once we paid our entrance fee, there were so many activities - live animals, slides, corn mazes, & hayrides. And of course - pumpkins, pumpkins & more pumpkins.

We had such a fun day! John milked a cow. Kathryn identified a mommy pig with "Look a pig - oink, oink". John & I slid down a hay slide. John & Kathryn both got to pet a baby calf. The day concluded with a hayride w/ Crazy Joe as our tracker driver. As we exited the farm we all received a mini pumpkin. We plan on adding them to our front stoop pumpkin collection. Please enjoy some photos from today.

Chris & Charlie turn 3!

Unforeseen problems have plagued the Glasscock blog. Since I do most of my composing & picture editing from my work laptop, I trust that my computer will remain functional. Not the case these past two weeks. First, my mouse decided to malfunction. Then my Thunderbird email account decided to go haywire and deleted all five years of work email threads from my local drives. My laptop has spent many nights at the laptop infirmary being cared for by a slew of technicians. I'm back, but my emails are permanently gone. Lesson learned - don't trust the network & back up your important documents with an external hard drive.

Last weekend was birthday weekend. We began with the Farkas twins' 3rd birthday. We've known the Farkas family since 2000 when they became our immediate neighbors. Unfortunately, they moved away in 2004 (they needed more room) when Nancy learned she was expecting twins. There must have been something in the water that year, because I found out I was expecting twins exactly nine months later. While we miss them as neighbors, we stay in touch regularly. Chuck & Kevin are golf buddies. Nancy & I are members of the same twins group (FCPOM). Their twins spend lots of time with our twins. John & Kathryn had the pleasure of attending Chris & Charlie's third birthday party - a Thomas the Train themed event. They joined twelve other rambunctious 1-3yr olds for running, laughing & playing. We left exhausted. John & Kathryn did receive the cutest goodie bag item - two blue & white striped conductor's hats. Please enjoy some pictures from the event.

The next day was Kevin's birthday. The big 47!!! His birthday was actually the same day as Chris & Charlie's birthday party, but we agreed to celebrate the following day b/c of his work schedule. It was a quiet day of watching NFL football & celebrating with family. Uncle Eddie, Kevin's youngest brother & my great friend from college/roommate during my single years (that's how Kevin & I met) came up for the afternoon. In addition, my sister Kathryn & her friend Kaitlin made the trip from DC to Frederick. Kevin picked the menu - steamed lobsters, steamed shrimp w/ Old Bay, garlic mashed potatoes, and homemade cheesecake. We sang happy birthday, while the twins danced & chatted away. Since Kevin & I have been removed from the dating scene for almost eight years, it was delightful to hear the challenges of two beautiful & intelligent 22yr old girls. The standards of 2007 are much different than the dating standards when I was that age. Good times!

The long weekend concluded with Monday night football and the Dallas Cowboys defeating the Buffalo Bills. Dallas hosts the New England Patriots this weekend. Kevin has been blessed so far this football season. Everytime Dallas is playing on national television, Kevin is home. The scheduling gods must be on his side.

I couldn't close without mentioning other recent events among our family. A Happy Birthday to Grandpa Glasscock (turning 70!) and Uncle Doug. We wish we could be down in Richmond to celebrate with you. October is the month for Glasscock birthday celebrations. The same is true for November with the Busardos - Grandpa Busardo, Grandma Busardo & I have birthdays within the same week!!

Prelude to All Hallows' Eve

Today I took a late lunch for a quick trip to the mall to pick out the twins' Halloween costumes. This year John will be a dinosaur, while Kathryn will be a magical witch. As soon I took the new outfits from the shopping bag, Kathryn stripped off her clothes and began playing with the witch hat. Quickly John became jealous and wanted a hat. He wasn't quite ready to put on his dino hat, so I ran downstairs to get him mommy's witch hat from last year (a discounted find from Pottery Barn Kids).

I was able to capture some fun afternoon shots of them playing with the hats. Please enjoy their pictures.

To celebrate the autumn season, we've planned two pumpkin patch excursions, a fall photo op at Cunningham Falls, the Boo at the Zoo, a costume party, Dairy Days at South Mountain Creamery and let's not forget Halloween itself. We've got ourselves a busy October & that's not including birthday parties galore. When will mommy sleep?!?!

I promise to post pictures from all the events!!

Trip to Roanoke

Friday morning, I packed up the twins for a 250 mile car ride down I-81 to Roanoke, Virginia. Why you may ask? To celebrate Abby Barry's 1st birthday. Abby is the oldest child of my dear friend (and college roommate) Dee Dee Barry. It was a crisp & beautiful autumn morning & the ride was smooth. Considering I was an undergraduate Virginia Tech and I've driven the same route over one hundred times, the drive doesn't get any better. The scenery is breathtaking, but the drive is long! The Barry family live on a mountain overlooking Roanoke - it's a beautiful part of the Blue Ridge.

Tangent - As an undergraduate, I had two fabulous roommates - Dee Dee & Markeeta. Since Markeeta was the only one allowed to have a car, we would carpool back & forth to Tech. We had this travel game of who could name the next exit along I-81. You pass a lot of exits en route from Northern Virginia to Blacksburg - entering the interstate at exit 300 & Tech's exit was 117. Dee Dee usually won. Those were fun times & another post.

Getting back to our weekend trip.... After one pit stop & trip to the local Kroger, we arrived at Dee Dee's house Friday afternoon. The afternoon was packed with catching up on how she was feeling (she's preggers with Baby Barry #2), family gossip, and current milestones with our children. John & Kathryn immediately began hording toys since Abby has many that we do not. I also had to assemble Abby's gift - a Radio Flyer Retro Rocket. Since the weekend was sans-Daddy (he had to work), I didn't have my helper. I had to tackle the task by myself. Shockingly it wasn't that hard - just attach the wheels & turn it on. When Abby came to visit us a few weeks, she really enjoyed playing with the twins Cozy Coupes (i.e. - Fred Flintstone cars). Abby's birthday was right around the corner & the coupe would have been a perfect gift. Unfortunately, there must have been a mad end-of-the-summer demand for these Cozy Coupes, because every online & retail store in the area was sold out! I had to think of another ride-on. My choices were limited, but the Retro Rocket was a fantastic alternative.

Saturday was the party! We started the day with a walk around the neighborhood with Mom Bender. Dee Dee's mom was down helping the family. Not only is Dee Dee pregnant, she pulled her back taking care of Abby (I've experienced that pain - I was out of commission for 2 weeks back in Feb 2006 when I tried to lift John out of his crib & I couldn't bend back up. It's an awful circumstance). It was also Virginia Tech's homecoming game against UNC (Tech won 17 -10). We celebrated with pizza - thanks Grandma Bender! Abby's birthday guests also included Heidi (and Mommy Jill) from the neighborhood. Abby is one lucky girl. She had two birthday parties - one w/ her MOMs group the week prior & the other with us. The afternoon was relaxing. I didn't have to play referee too often - John & Kathryn played well with the smaller kids. The celebration concluded with yummy mini cupcakes!!! Please enjoy some pictures from the weekend!

After homemade waffles, we said our goodbyes early Sunday morning and headed north. We'll back down the first weekend in November. The entire Glasscock family will be down for the Tech-Florida State game.