Let's Bake some Cookies

I enjoy sharing my love of cooking in the kitchen with the kids even though it usually means big messes. It's nothing that a cloth, paper towels, or a broom can't handle. Bethanee quickly wanders out of the kitchen and gets involved in some craft project because cooking is not her thing. Jackson dons his apron and follows me around with the stool. He can be tasked to measure and prep many dishes. Usually we have done our baking while Jillee takes her naps. But with her naps going down to about an hour, I decided we'd do cookies after lunch and add Jillian to the mix. So here she is measuring out brown sugar. She needed much direction, but did a great job. She can dump the measuring cup and get it in the bowl. She followed Jackson and Bethanee's direction and got her fingers in the bowl of raw cookie dough for a taste test. And after the first batch cooked and cooled, they all enjoyed the fruits of their labors. I can't adequately blog her conversation with Jason as she explained the cookie making process (partly because I'm not sure what all the words were) but she conveyed that she had made cookies and ate two.

Future Hairstylist

I was talking to my mom on the phone last night when Jillian comes to me with two fistfuls of hair. Good thing I'd already made a hair appointment for us next week. She must have realized her bangs were hanging a bit in her face. Since she has curly hair, it doesn't look bad at all, unlike when Bethanee and Jackson both tried the same thing.

Front Porch Rails

Only about two weeks until we are in the new house. The stairs were sanded and finished to match the hardwood floors today. The final grading is complete and it will get a layer of hydroseed next week right after the driveway is redone. I'm in the middle of building an entertainment system for the media room. I founf plenty of great deals on slightly used equipment and it should come together nicely. We are in the process of packing up our rental house getting ready for the move. We plan on moving slowly over a few days and hope to get it all done before Thanksgiving. The last big thing is a washer and dryer. Come on craigslist.....

Halloween '09

Once again it was Halloween at the Stratton House. This make the third year in a row that we crashed the Austin Ridge subdivision for their loot. As always I set up the fire pit on the driveway and handed out the candy while Tracee and followed the kids around the neighborhood. This year we had the White Witch from the Narina Books, a F/A-18 pilot, and a ladybug. They all looked so cute. Jillian was not a big fan of the costume until she realized that candy was involved. Bethanee and Jackson are pros at this event and even knew which houses were the "good houses." I even had a few trick-or-treat families comment that I had the fire pit out again.

Getting Really Close

The carpet is in and all of the electrical and plumbing is finished. Our builder spent some time grading the front yard to match the elevation of the house. The driveway is going to be redone and expanded next week. Looks like a November 17th move in date, which is about 45 days ahead of scheduled. The house is alive (the water and electric is on, notice the light on in the dinning room). Furniture is being ordered and delivered to the garage getting ready for moving day.

Lunch With Bethanee

Having Bethanee's school only about 1/2 mile from my office allows me to pop over and have lunch with her about every other week. She always gets excited to see me waiting for her in the lunch room. I wonder if her attitude will last through high school.

Granite Countertops Installed

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock having medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granite is nearly always massive (lacking internal structures), hard and tough, and therefore it has gained widespread use as a construction stone with an average density of granite is 2.75 g/cm3. All of that was from Wikipedia, all I know about granite is it looks great in a kitchen. The granite subcontractors installed the kitchen counter tops yesterday and they look awesome. Tracee picked out just the right stone to match the paint and the cabinets. Since the granite was installed the rest of the kitchen appliances were also installed. The master bathroom continues to come together with the cabinets and the tile installed. Our builder is still on schedule and in budget.

Marine Corps Marathon Race Report

Back in January I had a dream of running my first Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. Today it finally happened. My running partner, Tim "The Locomotive" Long moved to Mississippi (like that is a good excuse) so I was in the city solo to tackle 26.2 miles, just me and 22,000 other runners. I left the house around 6:00 a.m. and was on the Metro heading North to Arlington National Cemetery by 6:30. At 7:17 I came out of the Metro to a festival atmosphere with thousands and thousands of people getting ready to run or cheer the 34th Marine Corps Marathon. The temperature was around 55 degrees so most people had a top on before the race. Once the running started all of the sweatshirts came off and littered the ground at the starting line. I started with the 4:00 pacer and was feeling great for the first part of the race. The course ran through Rosalyn towards the Key Bridge. As expected the organization was top notch and the course was plenty wide at the start. I hit the Key Bridge feeling awesome and in front of the 4:00 pacer. The track headed West and then into Georgetown. Then the crowds of cheering fans came out. There is nothing like running down the middle of the street with a crowd 5 deep on both side screaming for you. At mile 11 I saw the Washington Monument for the first time as we started the Hayens Point Loop. I hit the 1/2 Marathon mark at 2:13 and was feeling great. About this time I was in need of a potty break. There were plenty of porta-johns on the course but all of them had a line 20 deep in front of them. I didn't have time to waste waiting in line so I picked up a discarded cloth glove and looked for a "private" spot in Downtown Washington. D.C. I found just the spot behind a large bush next to the 14th street bridge. As I entered the bush I was surprised to find that I was not the only one with such an idea. Some guy said "There's plenty of room" and so I took care of business. As I was leaving I realized that it was a co-ed bush!?! I was feeling great entering the city. We passed the Lincoln, the Whitehouse, and the Capitol Building. I then saw the "Vaseline on a stick" station that my friend Stu warned me about. The Vaseline is for the chaffing but some people mistake it for powergel on a stick and eat it. I stayed well away from the Vaseline stick trap (thanks Stu). At mile marker 18 I pretty much feel off any pace that I had and was just going to have to gut out the final 8 miles. We ran out of the city taking a left off of the 14th street bridge into Crystal City. Tracee called me around mile 22 and asked if I was done. I laughed/cried loudly and sadly said no. My legs were not cramping but I just had nothing left in the tank. I wanted to run but my run was more of a fast walk. While in Crystal City I got passed by a Running Hot Dog (that will crush your motivation) As we headed back to the Pentagon I saw the Grime Reaper holding sign that said "The End is Near", I was hoping so. The finishline is at the Marine Corp War Memorial. I ran the final .2 miles with style for the photographers and finished with a time of 5:19:20. My splits were 5k - 30:19, 10k - 1:00, 20k - 2:04, Half - 2:13, 30k - 3:20. Right after I finished the race a reporter came up to me and asked if I had a great time and if I was going to run another Marathon. I told him "no time soon." The race was awesome and I may do it again but not in the near future. My favorite part of the course was on the National Mall, the monuments and sights make it a great running location. The most memorial shirt I saw on the course was a father and daughter running team. She had a green shirt that said "Never leave a good man behind." He had a green shirt that said "I'm a Good Man."

Lowes Build and Grow

Before the trip to Arlington for the Fun Run we stopped at Lowes for another Build and Grow Workshop. Today's craft was a Monster Magic Trick.

MCM Heathy Kids Fun Run

Part of the Marine Corps Marathon weekend is the Healthy Kids Fun Run located in the Pentagon Parking Lot. The day started with a 100% chance of rain in the forecast. It didn't look like we were going to make the race. But round 10:30 we looked at the sky and said lets go for it. We are glad we did. The traffic there and back on I-95 was awesome and when we got up there it was overcast but not raining. We took the shuttle bus over to runners course and got the kids into the runners area. Jackson and Bethanee stood next to each other during the stretching and warm up time. The one mile course was one big lap of the Pentagon Parking Lot. Bethanee and Jackson stayed with eachother during the entire mile. Jackson even picked up some motivation help from a Marine volunteer around the 3/4 mile marker. They both finished strong and picked up their goody bags and medals. Their next race is the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.