May Recap

Frankie's 9th birthday party fell on a rainy, chilly day, disrupting our plans for an outdoor event involving water. So, instead, Dave came up with the idea of a cake contest. Each girl made her own two-layer cake (yes, this really happened) and Dave and Lolo got to judge which was the best cake at the end of the party. The girls were thrilled, and the party theme was right up Frankie's alley. Good work, Dave.

Dressed to impress, we went to a black tie wedding last weekend, and my, was it glitzy! It was in St. Peter's Catholic Church on Capitol Hill, which is really beautiful. A nice chance to go on a formal date before baby Cook arrives.

Pool season is upon us! We're going to try swim team this year- Francesca, Teresa, and David will don their team suits (oh, little David in a speedo) and head to practices and meets this summer. We'll see how this goes.

The count-down begins....one week until my due date! Again, prayers for sleep leading up to the grand event would be most appreciated. We're doing a novena to St. Gabriel the Archangel (have we mentioned officially that he'll be named Gabriel Thomas?). Gabriel means "God is my strength." The Archangel Gabriel acts as God's messenger throughout Scripture, most importantly announcing the Savior's birth to Mary. We're confident he'll be a powerful patron for our little guy.  Thomas is after my dad, Pop Pop, who will be another loving patron, no doubt. Happy Feast of the Sacred Heart!

Snow!

David testing out the head-flashlight the night the storm started. 

Late night snow fun.

Not good...after one afternoon of shoveling.

Waking up to an impressive winter wonderland...every child's dream, right?

Before...

...after. As I write, only the tip of her head is sticking out.

Snow fare.

Packing down the igloo before hollowing it out.

David with exuberance: "I slid into thorns Mommy!"

Saying good-bye to our neighbors who visited during the storm.

This igloo is 4 ft. high and 6 ft. in diameter...inside! Someone could live in this thing.


The snow is still coming down strong, and we have over two feet. The wind picked up today, making it much more of a "white-out" experience when you look out the window. All day we've watched deer down the gully in our back yard pawing out holes for themselves and sitting in them, poor things. They look like big dogs curled up down there. So thankful for no power outages and our cozy, warm house with big windows to see all the action. Hoping everyone's able to enjoy this epic storm!

This and that

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe we're well into January, with a snow storm looming around the corner. We celebrated Dave's 33rd birthday on the 14th, and continued the celebration over the weekend with a fun visit from Lolo and Lola and by seeing Star Wars up close. By up close I mean in the front row, looking directly up, because we managed to get there a little late and the theater was full except for the front row. I will say that since it was less of a visual experience I was forced to actually concentrate on the plot and scenes more than I would have. I would rate it a solid "good".

David got his first barbershop haircut. Dave said the woman not only shaved his little neck stubble with shaving cream and a flat-edged razor, but she also wrapped our little guy's head with a hot towel and massaged his neck. Oh to have been there. David seems only to remember that she gave him a mint.

In the kitchen, we've been having fun with Jeff and Kate's Christmas present: a sous-vide cooker and a vacuum sealer (see sous-vide carrots above). Thanks guys!

Off to read books to the littles. I'll post an update Monday when we find out the gender of baby Cook at my 20 week sonogram.  Any predictions? I can take bets...

Giving thanks

We're thanking God for another year filled with his blessings. We celebrated by frying a turkey for the first time. No explosions, and a tasty bird: success! The back-up roasted one (in case of catastrophe) was equally delicious. Aunt Hilary's pies were a hit, especially the pumpkin ginger crunch and coconut cream. And we may have started a new tradition with collard-green dolmades. 

We seem to have begun a yearly tradition of buying our "Advent tree" (which we've renamed to keep our heads on straight that it's not Christmas yet) the day after Thanksgiving. It fits beautifully in our new space. Dave and Lolo spent the rest of the day stringing the huge evergreen tree in our front yard with LED lights. It now stands as a neighborhood beacon, and the spectacle of Dave scaling this mammoth of a tree from within attracted several neighbors. One neighbor, a history buff, informed us that a Civil War skirmish took place in our back yard. Lo and behold, there was indeed a historical event called "Action at Annandale" that took place on the land behind our house, part of which we own. Dave can't wait until next Halloween scare the girls with stories about the ghosts lingering from the skirmish.  

The Advent wreath is ready for lighting tomorrow. We begin the season of expectation, preparing our house and our hearts for the sweet Child who changes hearts and saves souls. Happy Advent!

A little family baking

Francesca finished her tennis season today with semi-finals and finals (in Reston, which is not close...not sure I'm on board with traveling for sports). I'm embarrassed to say I don't know who won of the teams. But she did great personally, winning two matches and losing one (to a couple girls who looked like 6th graders). Very promising foray onto the sports scene. We'll see if she sticks with it. 

Dave left for Chicago Wednesday for a Catholic Stewardship Conference. He got back today and we're all very happy and relieved to have him home to relieve the monotony of life with mommy safe and sound. Teresa and David were bent on a baking project yesterday to ease the boredom of Saturday without Daddy, so we made dinner rolls. The results were surprisingly bread-rolly, given all the handling.

Count-down to Halloween with the cousins!

Chestnuts and such

We have a huge, beautiful Chinese chestnut tree in our back yard...

...and the lovely fruits have begun to fall in droves (some roasted below).

Any good recipe ideas (aside from stuffing) for what to do with them? They're not bad on their own, but it would be nice to find a good soup or dessert recipe.

Frankie had her first CYO tennis lesson today. She did well apparently. Hopefully Lola can give her some pro tips!

Going all-out on game day with "Irishopoly", chili and fried cornbread.  Go Irish!

Nine years...

...ago today, we were dancing the night away while a snow storm raged outside. As I look at our four children dancing around the living room and think back to that fateful day we sat on picnic tables at a freshman orientation mixer, it strikes me how unfathomable and wonderful God's designs are. Happy anniversary Dave!

Wish I could provide a sound clip for this picture.... just think "cacophony".

Sweets from my sweet.

Banana-split pie was a hit! Thanks, Lola, for the recipe. 

This and that

A bald eagle flew into our house a few nights ago. Thankfully the children were asleep. 

Dave got to be Ernest the Eagle, Queen of Apostles' mascot, during spirit week. That means he got to walk around the school and scare groups of kindergarteners and first graders. 

Wouldn't you scream if you turned a corner and ran into this?

One day Frankie and Teresa decided to reorganize their drawers. Teresa, our creative child, came up with a color-based system, instead of the traditional "shirts--pants--pjs" model. If you look in the drawers, you'll find exactly those colors. It makes putting her clothes away a little strange. 

Today Teresa approached me with this lunch order. She had asked everyone what they wanted and recorded it. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised to have it so neatly laid out! No finagling children about their lunch preferences. 

Aren't I a good, obliging mother.

Happy birthday Dave!

"Let me show you how not to eat a cupcake, kids."

He really liked his shirts...

Teresa wove and sewed a glasses case for Dave- all by herself!

Post-cupcake happy dance.

We had a birthday feast followed by yummy cupcakes (both recipes tweaked a little). It's hard to put to words how much we love and cherish Dave as husband and dad. He is our daily joy; we all look forward to his coming home. He infuses creative, fun energy into my literal-minded world, whether by setting all the clocks back an hour (to fool everyone into going to bed an hour early), playing "smile and scare" (a game dubbed by David Jr.- basically Dave hides in a dark place, the kids find him, scream and he chases them around the house), or concocting a delicious meal (Coq Au Vin being the latest).  And to brag on him a little, he's also very civic-minded, being a member of YLF's board, chairing various committees at our school and parish, and leading a father's ministry called the St. Joseph's Group. Recently he was asked to be on Bishop Loverde's pastoral council- a testament to his hard work. He balances all this with aplomb. We love you!

In honor of his birthday, some appropriate entertainment: Jim Gaffigan's 4 Kids.

(incidentally, I got him Dad Is Fat for his birthday- not as a passive-aggressive hint, but because it's hilarious)