Happy 12th!

When you're talking about love, you can never have too many disembodied hands. Or flowers. Or serenading. Or little birdies carrying yr love-notes.

Wishing you lovebirds a happy anniversary, and cheers to many more! We hope to be hanging out wit'yall for all of 'em.

Yr pals, the Strings
:-*

A request

Dash just came by and wanted to see a picture of him and a pic of Kelly (Liam-mommy) so i am obliging.

Halcyon House

Kelly O and I went to her office holiday party last night (I was her date and the guys stayed with our respective kids) at the elegant and nicely decorated Halcyon House in Georgetown. I enjoyed getting all dressed up, the valet parking, the free drinks & middle-eastern-style spread, two sets of musicians (a Palestinian duo upstairs & a big-band style sextet in the ballroom), and meeting a handful of Kelly's new coworkers. My office, and AJS's for that matter, are not having decent holiday parties this year. They are both holding a mid-week, potluck-style party with cut-throat gift exchanges included as entertainment. I enjoy the big swanky parties much better; it gives me a chance to put on my evening wear!

This morning, I discovered an an enlightening entry about the Halcyon House in AJS's copy of On this Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C. published in 1992 by Douglas Evelyn & Paul Dickson that reads:

"Colonel Benjamin Stoddert, and established merchant and landowner, built this house in 1787, dubbing it Halcyon House. In 1973, Stoddert was one of the men who incorporated the Bank of Columbia to finance land transactions for the new capital city. He himself invested heavily in the city's early development. Called to Philadelphia in 1798 to serve as the first secretary of the navy, he helped start the Marine Corps before returning to Washington when the government relocated in 1800. Early federal and local leaders frequentedd the Stodddert house.

A century later, an eccentric owner, Albert Asdit Clemons, a compulsive renovator living in the basement with a carpenter, is said to have spent forty years in non-stop alterations. According to a Historic American Buildings Survey report, the pair evclosed the entire original building, subdividing the interior rooms, adding new stairwells, a chapel, even a theater and a ballroom, neither of which was ever used. Clemons amassed such a collection of antiques and bric-a-brac that he purchased two nearby houses for storage. He offered apartments for rent, stipulated no chidren, dogs, or electricity.

Reports were that his money came from 'New England utilities.' A Washington Times-Herald report posited that his ample means were 'provided by his wife on condition that he stay away from her.' Two subsequent occupants spent a decade apeice discovering new rooms-within-rooms and endless corridors before the building was turned into an apartment house in the 1960s. In 1991, the building is again indergoing renovation." [bolding is mine]

I'm happy to report that the '91 remodel must have gone well, because the space we were in last night was quite symmetrical and well-proportioned, if a bit meandering. There wasn't much evidence of an insane renovator gone rampant. Thanks, Kelly, for inviting me along! It was fun to have another girl's night out!

Our boys

Like father, like son.

They luuuuvs them a good sit!

















Kelly and Liam.
Sue and Daniel.

Feel the love...

It just pulsates from the screen, doesn't it?

Yep, you're very welcome.

Thanks! To all my devoted fans... (Kelly, that's you.)

Yay! I was nominated! WOO!

In light of this, I think I'm going to try to step up my content...

New Year: 2007!

This weekend was fabulous, excepting a few blips. On new year's eve, I took the kids to Kellygo's house for a combo birthday party-new year bash. It was a fun evening! Once there, I set the kids free to play with their friends (thank god they're up to that now!), baked brownies, drank wine and chatted with other adults. Highlights: Dash somehow tipped over a bottle of blue-raspberry syrup from a shelf in the kitchen and the blue juice shot across the floor into the dining room (freshly painted a bright orange), splashing several guests and the wall that was a good 20 feet away; Rosie kept herself surrounded by Thea's plush horses at all times; and at one point I scanned the room to catch Dash standing behind Lila on a chair -- I had no idea that he could climb on a chair! He has since tried this new skill at home. New year's eve with my friends and our kids is at 7 p.m., (to make tots' bedtimes) and for years now, we have been practicing a Panamanian ritual with grapes, wishes, jumping and kissing as the ball drops. Kelly explains this ritual in more detail on her blog. AJS spent the day hanging out with some highschool buddies; he was home by 6:30 p.m. (must have been a blast, recounting old times).

On Wednesday, I had ordered blinds (yes, how boring, I know) and AJS picked them up on Friday. Monday, hoping to have new window treatments for the new year, I squirreled the tots away with my parents and planned to be drilling and mounting for the rest of the afternoon. So, after reading instructions, getting out the proper implements of destruction, and removing the voluminous, yellowish-greenish jaquard drapes that came with the house, I learned that the hardware kit was missing some necessary components. Aaauuuggh. Now the very large front window has no covering. Whatever, we're not privacy freaks. It'll have to wait till next weekend.

And a bit of slapstick: while Dash was with my parents, my dad strapped him into a stroller before taking him on a walk. Then, he went to look for something in his car? the garage? That's when my mom stepped out of the house to shut the garage door and noticed that Dash's stroller was rolling down the driveway! Screaming, she ran out of the garage to get him -- forgetting that she had just hit the button on the garage door, so -- WHAM!! Smack in the middle of her forehead and she's down! Meanwhile, with all the screaming, my dad caught on to his grandson's predicament and saved the boy before he was in harm's way. My mom's fine; she had a lump and some redness. But, it was hard to keep a straight face while she told the story. :-)

AJS's surprise birthday party!

AJS's birthday is Nov. 5th; we made plans on the 4th to go duckpin bowling with the kids and Kelly's family at some lanes in College Park. What I didn't tell him was that I invited all his other friends and made it a birthday party! It was great fun, and he was really surprised.

I was amazed that most of the folks that we invited joined us, which made it an especially nice party.














The shocker for me was that Dash is an extremely enthusiastic bowler.

Here's Dash and me getting ready to bowl:


















Then bowling (he did knock a few pins down!):












And this is me, clapping at his bowl, while he is off, already getting another ball:

The family at Rock n Romp Halloween

The family at Rock n Romp Halloween
Originally uploaded by nylonthread.

We all went to Rock n Romp's Halloween bash in Silver Spring last weekend. It took us about an hour to drive there, due to traffic and general distance and Rosie slept most of the way. Rosie had been very excited about the party, because she could wear her pretty "snow princess" costume and, because we are well aware of her aversion to masks (screaming uncontrollably), we tried to prepare her for the hard fact that people would probably also be wearing costumes. Kellygo took photos for me, so thankfully, I have all the costumes documented! THANKS Kelly! Thea is trying to cheer Rosie up by giving her an attractive spider ring! Notice that Rosie is NOT reaching for it...

Well she did just fine until she saw what was apparently the most scary costume at the party—A TACO. For the next 30 minutes until we left, she spent most of our time crying and screaming, renewed every time the Taco was in her line of sight.

The rest of us were having blast! Our friends were there, we were enjoying all the costumes, the music and the fun crowd. Dash (in the Dash Parr costume), really had fun! He was dancing and clapping with the music (esp. The Antiques' cover of "Ghostbusters").

We were pretty sad to have to leave, but Rosie was just freaking out towards the end. Dash was trying to comfort her, in this photo. On top of the Taco, she was also terrified of a little girl wearing a Superman mask. So after driving an hour, we spent 1/2 an hour at the party (planned to spend 2 to 3 hours) then drove for another hour home. :-(

My oversized, puffed-up head (thanks to Kelly)

I just wanted to store this quote from Kelly somewhere, because I didn't want to lose it and this is a good a place as any. She just made my year with this one:

Ms. Nylonthread is the queen of seeing the bright-side without being cloying. She's the empress of the silver-lining reality check. She's the goddess of the good-time, and we're all so very lucky a Ms. Nylon exists. (Not that she doesn't have a dark side, too. His name is AJS.) (HA ha hahahahahaha!!)

When do babies start entertaining themselves?

My friend Jeff's wife is expecting and told me that they weren't planning to arrange for daycare because his wife (who is a full-time, self-employed sculptor) works from home. Yikes! I had to call Kelly and tell her about this naive thought, so we could chuckle knowingly ;-). We once were that unaware ourselves!! Ah, those blissfully carefree days...

Kelly said she clearly remembers the day when I excitedly called her to tell her that I was doing dishes and *15 whole minutes* had passed before I noticed that Rosalie wasn't demanding my attention and I found her playing alone in her room! Our daughters are 1 year apart and Rosie had just turned two. At the time she was saying, thank god, it really does happen!

Mother's Day, revisited

Looking on the bright side of Mother's Day, which is worth it (not in any order):

1. I have a lovely new watch; a gift from AJS
2. Rosie made me a neckace and bracelet of multicolored beads that she insisted I wear all day (and proudly told everyone that she made them by herself)
3. Kelly bought me *LOTS* of plants and Rosie and I planted them
4. Dash danced to everything
5. We hung out with 5 wonderful friends and 4 of their kids, ate their food and made chocolate chip cookies
6. AJS makes me laugh
7. AJS made me a breakfast omelette and coffee
8. Rosie loved Kira's dress and did pirouettes in the grocery store because she felt pretty
9. Thea cheered up after sitting in my lap and hugging me for 5 minutes
10. AJS did a load of laundry, took the recycling out, and unloaded the dishwasher
11. Rosie and I baked muffins together while bread baked in the breadmaker
12. I read a few more chapters in a good book while Dash napped
13. I watched part one of Grey's Anatomy's season finale!
14. Dash loves everybody and gives them happy smiles
15. Rosie did her best to keep Dash from eating more than a small amount of Molly's cat's food
16. Thea, Mia, and Rosie had squealing good fun chasing each other around Molly's house and hiding from Todd under the furniture
17. Liam was so happy playing in Molly's lap that he looked like a caricature of a happy boy
18. Mark has awesome new knee-high leather and metal superhero boots
19. Rosie knows to say, "calm down, Daddy" and it works
20. AJS and I agreed that despite all this, Mother's Day isn't all it's cracked up to be, and should stay indoors when the next one comes around.

Cruising!

We saw this past Sunday, on Kelly's birthday, that Dash is "cruising"—he pulled himself up to the seat of a child's plastic chair and then walked with it as he pushed it. We were all kind of stunned, while he was screaming with excitement, grinning like crazy!

I'm torn between being excited that he's growing and doing so many things and wanting him to stay little and cuddly. Lately, when I pick him up to hug him, he just twists and twists as I'm walking so he won't miss out on anything that he could possibly be seeing. I've been holding him close with one hand around the back of his head so he'll stay still and I can get a good cuddle in.

TBA is on his way!

Kelly's baby shower was so much fun! The part that tickled me the most was that her family was late, because they had the time wrong. Bob gave them a call and found they were just hanging out, waiting for Thea to finish her nap, not realizing we were already there, ready to party. Daria had a fabulous spread and set up activities for all of us and the kids. We made iron-on onesies for TBA and used fabric paint to fancy them up.


I think all the kids had a fun time, too!

Rosie was painting while Dash tried different fingers to chew, good times for all.