The Cullen Family

UPDATE

2009-08-05T07:53:00.003-05:00

Yes, we are still here and going strong.

I am sorry I haven't had a chance to catch up. We moved from DC at the end of May and have continued to live out of suitcase since then.

I have LOTS of updates coming up when we move back into our League City house this month.

Continue to bare with us!!!

You will be amazed on how big the kiddos have grown.

Kathy and Ben's visit and where we went

2009-04-20T11:22:00.005-05:00

We had a great tour of the Capitol given by Kevin with Rep. Olsen's office.
He showed us around without having to wait in any lines.
Here we are after the tour was over. It was a great 3 to 4 hour tour for us....the kids beg to differ though.

I didn't have my little camera with me so I got very few pics.
But here are the kids in the 1st Supreme Court before they built the Supreme Court you know today.

This is the lucky star that everyone rubs their foot on for good luck.

Here we are with Kathy and Ben rubbing our feet for good luck!!

Conor and Tio Ben acting silly before we saw a movie about the Capitol.

Kathy, Caitlin, and Conor in Rep. Olsen's office.

Here are some more sites we went too. It was a COLD and RAINING day in DC and PACKED with people who were here for the Easter Holiday. We have learned to never make it to the Mall again during a holiday weekend.

Conor loved the flowers all around us.

The FBI Building. We thought it was cool they had their own Police force. We had not idea. Here is Conor in front of the building, but it looks like he is watching out for himself from the FBI Police.

This is inside the American History Museum. It was freaking packed!!! sorry...but we were there for over 3 hours and just saw 2 exhibits....never again during a holiday. Oh and just to get in, we were in the rain waiting in line. Fabulous!!

This is Conor in front of the Capitol. We were walking back to our car and I thought I would take a quick picture. Caitlin is in her stroller ASLEEP and we didn't even notice. She took a nice hour long nap while we walked a couple of miles back to our car.

This is the face of Abe Lincoln. This was taken a few weeks before he was assassinated. He only made 2 molds and this was his last. It is quite breathtaking to see this in person. I mean, that is Abe Lincoln.

This display was the cufflinks of the opera singer who sang that night. There is still President Lincoln's blood on it. The box next to it was the instruments used to try and save President Lincoln.

Conor and Ben enjoying President Lincoln exhibit.

This was the 1st face mold Lincoln had done.

After the museum, everyone was hungry and we walked and walked and walked and we couldn't find a place with no wait. So Kathy and Ben stayed behind to have a drink and go on to Ford's theatre.

We walked back to the car, grab some McDonalds and were back in a nice dry home.

Happy Easter 2009

2009-04-15T14:14:00.008-05:00

Easter weekend was great b/c Kathy and Ben flew in from OH for a visit.

We had a great time with them in town and the kids just miss and adore their tio and tia.

On Easter morning, we got their Easter Baskets out that Karianne and Jon gave them (minus the yummy treats inside) and had a hunt inside the townhome. Ben and Kathy hid eggs when the kids went to sleep. The kids had no idea what was going to happen in the morning.

In the meantime, the night before I started to make my Easter English Muffin breakfast casserole I found a recipe for in the paper the week before.

Easter Baskets ready to go!

Caitlin and Conor waiting for the hunt.

And they were off!! I couldn't take a pic of Conor b/c he was just all over the place!!!

Here is Caitlin finding some eggs.

Caitlin was so proud of her eggs.

She was ready to open and eat them all up!!!

Oh and you are probably wondering what is up with the Snow White costume.
We have a standing playdate on Friday nights with a neighbor and the girl gave Caitlin her Snow White costume b/c she doesn't wear it.....she wears Ariel all the time.
Caitlin LOVES her new costume!!

Caitlin and Conor with their eggs after they found every one of them.

And just in time b/c my English Muffin breakfast casserole is DONE!
It tasted DELICIOUS!!! I will definitely make this again with a large crowd.

After our breakfast, we headed to Old Town Alexandria. We absolutely LOVE this area. It was suppose to warm up to the high 50s this day but AGAIN here we are in the low 40s freezing off. But once we got to the yacht slips, the sun was shining and it felt so good! I actually took off my jacket.

Here is the Cullen Family enjoying their Easter Stroll.

After walking around for a bit, it was lunch time. We went to my favorite restaurant, Chadwicks. I love this place!! Great food in a relaxing family atmosphere.

I knew I loved this place b/c they even had an Easter Bunny walking around with candy for the kiddos and taking pics. Here you see Tia Kathy and Conor taking a pic with the good ole' Easter Bunny after they got some treats.

Caitlin absolutely REFUSED to take a picture with the bunny, yet she didn't refuse the candy he was offering. She does not like the bunny costume....later on she warmed up with all the candy he passed out to her.

Conor and the Chadwick's Easter Bunny

After lunch we walked back to our car and went back home. Kathy and Ben had to pack and go back to OH. We really enjoyed their visit and we will miss them until we see them back in TX in June.

Happy 30th Birthday Karianne!

2009-04-08T18:14:00.008-05:00

Sunday we celebrated Karianne's SPECIAL Birthday! :)

We went to Uno's through her request since they had Gluten Free Pizza.
Well, apparently Uno's didn't live up to Karianne's taste b/c she HATED it!
She did...she didn't lie. She has had much BETTER.

Here is Karianne's Birthday Dinner. It looked quite tasty, but then when the crust started to fall apart....it just went down hill from that.

Patrick and Conor

And Conor is so proud of this picture.
Jonathan, Patrick, and Conor

So, I had the waitstaff hold my surprise for her at the front lobby. She knew something was up. She thought for sure we were going to have the waitstaff come out and embarrass her on her birthday....which was true...but we had more than that.
I searched hi and low to find a great Gluten Free Birthday Cake that was decent to eat.
The waitstaff came out singing Happy Birthday and she was SHOCKED that they had Bday cake with her name on it. At first, she thought...well thanks guys...I CAN'T eat this (she has Celiac Disease and can't have Wheat or Flour). But then I told her that she CAN eat this and it was her favorite, Chocolate Cake. She hasn't had a Bday cake in years.....so I thought, she HAS TO HAVE ONE for her 30th Birthday!!!

And here it is!

The Bakery Chef did a fabulous job making it. It smelled and tasted great! Even the guys liked it. The kids were chowing down on it...well Conor was eating the cake and Caitlin was eating the AWESOME frosting. Hell, even I had a piece of cake and I do not like Chocolate.

Here are the kids trying to sing Happy Birthday to Karianne before she knew what our devious plan was. The kiddos are just too cute and so is Karianne for being 30!

Cherry Blossoms

2009-04-08T08:49:00.007-05:00

We had some fun going to see the World Famous Cherry Blossoms in DC by the Basin.

They are in full bloom, so it was perfect timing to see them face to face. There were thousands of people when we went. We went on Sunday morning and the Cherry Blossom Run was ending. We had to pass some runners just to get to the Basin.

We finally made it and here are some pictures.

It was a BRISK morning. We parked by the Reflection Pond/Botanical Gardens and walked The Mall to get to the Basin. We had on "Spring" clothing, although it was in the 40s.....it was suppose to be in the 70s that day....but being from TX, we wished for the best and by 10:30am, the weather was bearable.

Cherry Blossom Tree

Here is Caitlin holding on to her Zoey (gift from Jonathan and Karianne for Easter) trying to keep warm. My poor little girl in her Spring Dress.

The Cullen Family trying to get a family pic.

The Cherry Blossoms tress were in front of us, that's why there are shadows.

Conor and mommy

More Cherry Blossoms on the Basin

We are thinking about renting some paddle boats next time we go down to the Basin. It really looked like fun....although Conor is completely AGAINST the idea.

Caitlin and Mommy trying to keep warm

Conor

Mommy, Caitlin, Karianne

Patrick and Cassie

Kathy and Ben are flying in on Thursday night and we are going back to the Basin on Friday, after we have our Capitol tour by the office of Rep. Olsen. I should have many many pictures then b/c I forgot my bigger camera at home.

FABULOUS NEWS!!!

2009-03-25T10:43:00.004-05:00

THE CULLENS ARE COMING BACK TO TEXAS!!! We just got word that we are moving back to Texas at the beginning of June. We will take our final trip from DC going through Myrtle Beach, Florida (to see Jon and Karianne in their new home), and then back home to TX.

Now you may be asking yourself. Isn't their house rented?
YES, it is. We have asked the corporate housing company to terminate our lease agreement, and they declined. Although, events may turnaround and they might be looking for another house in June. Things are still way up in the air, but at least we have options.
For now, we will stay with my in laws in Pearland for a few weeks and eventually move in with my brother in League City if the renters don't move out.

For now....we are just happy to be back in Texas for the hot hot summer. We can now "check off" living in the NE from our list.

First REAL snow in DC

2009-03-22T17:24:00.012-05:00

It was a very cold day...well it has been cold for a very long time...at least 2 weeks with temps in the 20s and NO SNOW. Well one day....it FINALLY happened.

You know how discouraging it is to be freezing for DAYS and nothing comes out of it??
To go shopping with the wind gusting pretty fast and be 8 degrees outside??

Well maybe some of you know what I am talking about, but this Texas family was getting a little pissed off all we were getting was higher gas bills b/c the fireplace and heater was almost always running.

Then one day, I was taking the kids to school and it started to flurry. You can see the light dusting behind this picture of Conor.

And here are his footsteps before we had to rush to get to preschool.

Later that day, the snow kept on coming....it didn't stop when the kids got home and Caitlin was napping. So I took Conor out to have some fun. Conor even rode his Razor scooter in the cul-de-sac and he did pretty good, since the snow was fluffly.

This is looking up the cul-de-sac into our community.

Conor LOVES making snow angels.

Patrick hurried home after work so he could enjoy his first snowfall in DC.

Conor and Patrick had a blast throwing snowballs at each other.

Caitlin wanted in the fun...she didn't know what the heck to do with all of this snow.

So she just sat down to enjoy the snow like it was sand in a sand box. But then she realized that her tush was getting wet and cold from the snow.

Instead of a snowman, the kids were building a village of people.

Here are more pictures of them having some fun.

Can you tell Conor is FREEZING? Look at his cheeks!

Here we are in front of our townhome.

Happy New Year

2009-03-17T14:57:00.003-05:00

I started the night before making my traditional French Toast Casserole.

Overnight French Toast

Step one: Cut up into one-inch cubes about 10 cups of bread (we use french bread), and spread them out in a 13x9-inch pan to wich you've applied a generous coat of pan spray.

Step two: Beat an 8oz block of softened cream cheese with a mixer.

Step three: While beating the cream cheese, slowly add the following, all of which have been warmed to room temp.
8 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 c half and half
1/2 c maple syrup
1 1/2 c milk

Step four: Pour the mixture over the bread, cover, and place in the fridge overnight.

Step five: Remove the pan and let it warm up on the counter while your oven is heating to about 375 degrees. Then bake the French Toast dish for about 50 minutes or until slightly browned on top.

Step six: After you have removed the French Toast from the over, sprinkle it with powdered sugar and drizzle with more maple syrup. This dish should serve 10 - 12 people.

This was the beginning of what was going to be a delicious breakfast.

ok ok...it's just the french bread

VIOLA...this is what it looks like after sitting overnight and baking it in the oven.

Here are the kids enjoying their breakfast.

Caitlin with her bed hair.

Patrick is taking a great big DIG into the casserole.

And here it is all pretty!!

Happy New Year

from

The Cullens

Christmas 2008

2009-03-16T14:08:00.003-05:00

The Cullen Family had a great Christmas in DC.

It was very intimate and relaxing just us and no one else.

No going over to someone's house or out of town...just very restful.

The kids were so excited Christmas was coming and couldn't wait until Santa brought their gifts for being "fairly" good kids this year.

I just happened to take a picture of the tree which already had the gifts Santa brought underneath.

Here the kids are excited to start opening up their gifts from Santa and from other family members.

The kids opened their gifts from Santa.

WOW, what a reaction from Conor and his new 2 wheel bike.

Caitlin got her 1st kitchen for her to play with.

She was so excited, she started to play with it immediately.

But the opening of gifts were not over yet.....we still had a TON to open...

Well, Conor and Caitlin had a ton to open.

So here they are waiting patiently to get craking!!

Here are some pics of what they got.

Conor and Caitlin both got backpacks from Mima so they can put their activity books in when we travel.

And do you see ANY adult gifts here????

Neither do I!!

After all the hard work opening up presents, Conor decided to get into his new Spiderman inflatable sleeping bag that his Godparents, Joe and Grace, got him.

Caitlin is talking to Mima wishing her a Merry Christmas and thanking her for all the goodies she got. It was a long conversation.

Christmas Dinner

Well, since we don't have anywhere to go to for Christmas for lunch or dinner, I found a place to make our Christmas dinner for us. I wanted turkey again, but Patrick says turkey is exclusively ONLY for Thanksgiving. So I found a great dinner of Prime Rib. It was DELICIOUS! Conor even ate some!! He never eats NORMAL food.

And here is Caitlin in her, "I don't want to get dirty mom", excuse to take off her clothes at the table....whatever, she was eating and that works for me anytime at home.

After our Christmas Brunch, we went to the Capitol and had some fun!!

This is the "Mall" area with the Reflection pond in front of it.

Here is the Capitol as they were getting ready for the Presidential Inuguration.

The kids MUST do a goofy pose, they told me.

Thankfully someone was around to take a pic of us in front of the Capitol.

Next we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was packed with people who were getting out of the cold weather. This was a neat place and they had sections of different botanicals from around the world.

The Botanicals were decked out in all of their Holiday spirit.

The kids checking out some fish, while waiting in line.

The kids had a blast outside with the different lights that the garden put up.

Again, one more pic of the beautiful Capitol during Christmas 2008.

We are Still HERE!!!!

2009-01-28T07:01:00.002-06:00

I know, I know.....

It's been awhile.

I am gathering up all the pictures and all the events that has happened and I will upload them this week.

There are alot of great things that has happened.

Conor's birthday, the kids recital at preschool, Christmas, New Year's....
The Presidental Inauguration!!!

lots and lots for me to post.

I just have to get them all together.....

Stay tuned..............................

Happy Birthday Conor!!

2008-12-19T14:50:00.009-06:00

Conor is 5 years old today!

Look how big he is.

We gave Conor a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese on a Monday morning b/c I knew there will be no one there. And there wasn't! Mondays are free days for us b/c the kids don't have preschool. We invited some of his preschool friends to share in his birthday celebration.

Here is Conor imitating Alex, The Lion, from Madagascar. He loves that movie.

The kids were excited to sing Happy Birthday!!

I made homemade cupcakes for the kids b/c I don't know of any places for cakes.

They turned out great and Conor had a few more....so did Caitlin.

Luckily, I save a couple of daddy too afterwards.

Here is Conor making a wish!

Conor and "girl" Ryan were together the whole time! It was too cute!!

Here are some pics of the kids having some fun with their moms.

Conor was ecstatic to receive lovely gifts from his friends. He was really surprised! He said, "Mom, look...how precious for my friends to give me gifts. It's so precious!" He says the darnedest things!

On Conor's actual birthday we made a special trip to Uno's. It's a great place with great food! Here is Conor eating his bday dinner, a nice cheeseburger and fries!!

Carla's Visit

2008-12-09T15:32:00.004-06:00

We had a great time with Cousin Carla.

We went to pick her up at the airport and then we went to the Air Museum where they have an IMAX and saw Madagascar 2. This would be Caitlin's first movie and she did great!!

Here are some pics of our tour of the Museum.
While we were there, we saw one of Conor's Classmates, Dylan. It was a great treat to tour with another family.

Patrick LOVES F-16s. So he made an excuse to take a pic with it....with the kids.

This is a piece of retrieved wreckage from the World Tower during 9/11/01.
It was very touching to see this during Veterans Day.

Caitlin had a blast with Cousin Carla....she wouldn't let go of her hand.

It was very cool to see the Space Exhibit. It brought back memories of JSC NASA and all the artifacts they have there. The kids got a kick out of it b/c it reminded them of going there everyday to school.

Here we are about to watch Madagascar 2. It was a great movie and the kids loved it.

After the movie we had a great dinner at UNOs. We had some great pizzas and drinks....and the kids loves their menu.

After UNOs, we dropped off Carla at her hotel for her company meeting.
It was a great visit and I hope she comes back again.

Carla and ME.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T10:03:00.013-06:00

We had a great 7 1/2 hour drive to OH this Thanksgiving starting at 4:45 AM!!!!
We saw lots of snow and went through a small snow storm.

Here are some signs of the states we crossed.

Caitlin relaxing and eating her MANY treats while Conor was sleeping. This was about 7 AM-ish.

And then we hit a snow storm. It was exciting and GORGEOUS to look at, being that we are from Texas.

And then we had a little break from the kids. This was about 745 AM, Caitlin decided to take a nap too!! I sneaked one in there too.

FINALLY WE ARE HERE!!! But wait...we still have a couple of hours left.

And then we had to fill up. GET THIS!!! 1.48 a gallon! I haven't seen that price in FOREVER!

The Cullen Family background. We haven't seen the Weber family in 2 1/2 years, since Kathy's wedding. I just had Caitlin, she was just 2 1/2 months old. So it was a great pleasure to spend time with everyone!! It was great seeing everyone and I hope we make it back again before we move back to TEXAS. This was the first time Conor and Caitlin got to play with their cousins in years. They don't have any cousins at home, so they were in HEAVEN!!!

For Tuesday night, we ate at Dave and Clydean's house for some delicious ham and all the fixings. It was great to get acquainted again.

This is Aunt Judy enjoying Conor.
Conor was pretending to fly.
it was too cute!

Caitlin absolutely loved Madison (sorry if I messed up your name Maddy). They were best buds during our trip. She took great care of Caitlin during our visit.

At the end of the night, Tia Kathy gave Conor her camera and he was taking some family shots. It was great fun and Conor is getting alot better with the cameras lately.

Now for the picture of the cousins! You see why Conor was in HEAVEN!!
Geez....the kiddos have grown up so much....and then some of them, have really grown up!
Cousin Wes is 6ft 8in and he is 17! He is doing fabulous in swimming....maybe the next Michael Phelps??

On Wed, we went over to Great Grandma's (Doris) house. She hasnt' seen the kids in awhile....since Caitlin was a baby. The kids were so excited to visit. They kept on asking her questions...it was so cute. Great grandma, what is this, what is that. Doris was trying her best to keep up. Then Doris busted out with some treats. The kids were very happy about that. Doris is famous for her "holiday baking". The stories I hear about cookies, sweet treats, etc. Especially the Sneicking. Like Necking, but Sneicking. Well, Doris is famous for ordering this pasty treat once a year for the whole family. I saw the box of this delicious pastry and asked since Karen (MIL) didn't take hers, we would take it. We were immediately SHOT DOWN. Doris was giving it to her neighbors. Oh well....
But what Doris doesn't know (and I can say it here b/c she does not have a computer) is that Uncle Dave and Aunt Clydean gave us one of theirs. But I didn't tell you that...shhhhhhhhh

Here Caitlin is telling her that she is "TWOOOOO"

And now 3 ish family generations....missing TX mima.

On Thanksgiving Morning, we had a great visit from Steve, Beth, Luke, Grace, and Ted.

Caitlin found some clay and Grace helped her out by molding different items.

Here Conor is posing like Alex, the lion, from Madagascar. He loved his big cousins!!

Here are the kiddos all together for a great pictures.

Thanksgiving was great! It was so busy that I didn't take out the camera!! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Nancy's house. The kids had a blast playing in the basement. The turkey and fixings were delicious!

The next day we went to Aunt Judy's house.
She has a farm with some animals and she asked Conor if he wanted to help her out by feeding them.
Here we are entering Indiana, which was just a little over an hour away. Not too bad.

This is the way we traveled going up a winding rode up to Judy and Gary's house.

This is the back of Judy and Gary's new custom house. It is absolutely gorgeous inside. The home is very GREEN and I can't wait to see it when it is completed.

Here Cousin Jamie is having fun with Caitlin. She loved the bails of hay and sliding off of it.

Here we are having some fun on top of the hay.

The cows say HI! and where is my food!!

Conor was obsessed with the many cats on the farm. He tried and tried to catch them and play with them. He was lucky with this one.

Conor loved riding on the horse!

Nice catch, eh?

Caitlin helping Aunt Judy feed the chickens. Man, I would be in heaven if I could get some of those eggs!!

After an afternoon of hard work, Conor took a break on the porch on their cabin on site.

Here we are in a riding sled that Judy and Gary found. It was a photo op.

We went back to Judy's other house for some Friday night dinner. During that time, Caitlin and I made a couple of ornaments that Aunt Nancy taught us. It was a great creative break.

Conor and Patrick enjoying some time together watching ELF. Cousin Lance wanted to say HI too!!

OUR 1ST SNOW SHOWER!!

2008-11-19T15:03:00.003-06:00

On November 17, 2008, The Cullen Family experienced their 1st snow shower in Alexandria.

I picked up the kids from preschool and there were flurries in the air.
The kids were excited!
Conor officially has his "snow house". He has been telling people this since moving here.

When we went home, the snow stopped and then came back with a little force.

It was such a great day.

We had the fireplaces going b/c it was so cold outside.

I don't a picture of the snow b/c it didn't show up on the camera.

We left TX, but not the Mexican Breakfast

2008-11-18T15:48:00.003-06:00

I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
I tried to make things normal here in Alexandria.
On Sundays, we normally make a HUGE Mexican inspired breakfast.
With bacon, beans w/ bacon fat, eggs, Homemade Salsa (YES, I know how to make it!!!)

Here is Conor helping crack the eggs.
He has become such a culinary expert in a short period of time.

Oh doesn't that look!!! Instead of spening $9.99 for Huevos Rancheros....I can make them here for the same price, but for the whole family.

After a wonderful 2-meal filled breakfast, we headed over to the park nearby.
They have a great play area for different aged kids.
The tot spot was full on Sunday morning, so we headed to the kids place and there was NO ONE there.

Our Trip to Alexandria, VA

2008-11-17T10:21:00.012-06:00

So the morning started out at 5am. We packed up the night before. We let the kids sleep until 545am. We left by saying goodbye to Tio Mando, Tia Mariel, and Tio Josh and thanking them for letting us crash at their place during this transition.

Can you tell the kids were happy to leave??

After our last stop at Whataburger around 830am in Baytown, the kids enjoyed a little entertainment in the car.....mainly Transformers for Conor.

We were traveling and decided to try and take pictures of each state we go to. We missed the Leaving TX sign....but we will soon see it again when we drive back.

Here we are entering Louisiana.

It was exciting to see a NASA sign outside of TX.
We wished we had more time to take a tour.

Ahhhh, Mississippi.....
Caitlin has so far been dry the whole trip.
I was not planning on "potty training" her on our 3 day adventure, but she was doing a fabulous job.

Ahhh, time for us to rest.......wait...it was just the kids.
By this time, I was feeling nausea and queasy.
I had no idea why I was feeling this way....I couldn't even touch my fries from Burger King.

Alabama!! We made it to our first destination.
We stayed in DT Mobil and NASA hooked us up at a great Marriott Rivercenter.
Very nice, awesome views.
no pics, b/c by now I was DYING...didn't know why....was praying I wasn't...well, you know.

So we got up at 530am again, packed up and left.
We made it through Georgia........BARELY!!!!!!!!

There was NO GAS in and outside of Atlanta and ummm, NO ONE TOLD US ABOUT THAT!

This was a very stressful time for us. The kids had no clue what the heck is going on....all they saw was mommy and daddy worrying about where to fill up and mommy feeling SICK.
There were signs with no prices on them and that meant they didn't have gas.

After calling AAA and asking them if they 5 gallons of gas for their members, they said they ran out of gas 3 weeks ago and their tow trucks were out of service b/c they didn't have gas.
I was getting really nervous being stuck in a strange city.
And then we came over a hill and saw NUMBERS!!!
A gas station with gas! We got lucky and they opened their pumps for a few minutes.
We went to the restroom and left....they already closed the pumps.
We thank God for his protection on that one.

So we made it to South Carolina.

And I yak'd somewhere around here!
I felt so much better!
FOOD POISONING.......from Whataburger, I guess.
They must really hate me that I left TX.

AND again....NO GAS! We lucked out by putting gas across the street from our hotel.
The hotel attendant warned us and told us to fill tonight b/c there were probably be no gas in the morning. Good thing he told us b/c he was right! The next morning we woke up and saw no numbers on gasoline signs again.

North Carolina....almost there!

Virginia.........WE MADE IT!!

No furniture still....waiting. Caitlin is having a snack in the meantime.

It's just like IKE. Using my laptop to entertain the kids b/c we have no TV or cable yet.
We didn't have cable for another week! There was a neighborhood YEAH, when they saw the Comcast guy leaving our place!! I jumped up and down too.

While we were shopping for food, Conor spotted a pumpkin and asked if I could take a picture of him. It was a strange request, but I did anyways....he looked so cute!

October 1, 2008

2008-11-14T09:02:00.003-06:00

On October 1, 2008, we settled into our new home and we were getting ready to start Conor's and Caitlin's 1st day at preschool and Patrick's 1st day working at NASA HQ.

These are the sandwiches I made for the kids. I decided to do shapes so they can look forward to something mommy made and I hoped their 1st day went well.

This is Patrick's 1st day at NASA HQ.
Doesn't he look dreamy???
He now wears suits everyday.

Bye Bye Texas!

2008-11-13T14:42:00.011-06:00

We had a lot of great friends give us a great Farewell to our new adventure in DC.

Caitlin's classroom gave her a Farewell party. It was too cute. She really enjoyed her teachers and her friends and her best girlfriend, Elena. I was lucky to have Conor with me, so he can celebrate at his old daycare with the teachers he loves.

Caitlin's BEST bud, Elena

Ms. Monica

Ms. Elenor

This is Ms. Sandy. She was a great teacher to Conor....although she had trouble with her classroom, she absolutely adored Conor.

This is Ms. Georgia. She has known Conor for so long and has known Caitlin since she was born.
She is one of the best teachers NASA Daycare has.

This is Ms. Sara at Kids R Kids. He absolutely LOVED her at his new school and she was a blessing for him....being a "boy" and all.

After our celebrations at school, we had dinner with our great friends, Karianne and Jonathan.
They are leaving the SAME time as we are for Connecticut. At least we will only be 6 hours away, compared to our TX family.

Caitlin with her Godparents!

I have some great friends!! Let me tell you....After Hurricane Ike, they were so worried about me b/c I had not contacted anyone b/c we didn't have electricity and my cell phone was out. They wanted to give me a great dinner that I would remember. Let me tell you....I MISS THEM TODAY!! I miss our dinners, "happy hours", playdates, and WINE together. Sorta lonely here without my best gal friends.

And with our last days in League City, our other great friends wanted to get together. It was a very intimate gathering of our closest longtime friends.

Can you tell we have a tan?
That's for being outside for over a WEEK b/c of no electricity after Ike.

Chuck and Stephanie (plus one now!!! :) )
YES, we called ahead to dress like twinkies.

Newly engaged Jacque and Dominic....aren't they too cute!!

Karianne and Jonathan....Jon was wearing the latest style in shirts that night. ;)

JR and Tracy

After dinner we went to a wine bar and relaxed the night away. We had a blast! One big hit was Dominic's bar trick. Everyone was trying it out.

Chuck showing his true colors.

Shenandoah National Park

2008-11-13T09:33:00.008-06:00

The Cullen Family went to visit the Shenandoah Mountains one weekend.
We are only one hour from the park and we plan on visiting more.

Conor was ready and enjoying hiking up the moutain!!

Caitlin, on the other hand, was not getting too warm with the idea.

You can tell Conor HAPPY and then Caitlin TRYING to be happy.

The views were just wonderful!!

This was taking while we did a hike into the forest.

Patrick and Conor were having fun doing some rock climbing.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, time for break! It was a great day and kids loved it so much that we are going to do it again when mima and pawpa come in January.

5054 Minda Court

2008-11-13T09:23:00.001-06:00

Here is our new home!

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-08T15:25:00.004-06:00

We had a BLAST during Halloween!

We went to the Boo at the Zoo at the DC zoo.
It was a blast!!
Although, it was raining....it was quite an adventure. We were wet....yet happy with all the Candy, treats, tickets, stickers, etc.

Here are the kids getting ready to go.

Here we are getting treats!!

At the end of the night...it was time to go. We were wet and tired.
As you can tell with Caitlin's face.....she is DONE!

And as you can tell with Conor's face......he wants MORE!

On Halloween Day, we went to the kids preschool b/c Conor's class was doing a presentation.
Caitlin and I couldn't wait.
Ahhhhh, the life of working from home. Can you tell I am enjoying it???
I swear I have makeup at home.

Conor's Preschool's class

Here is Conor's Preschool Class singing a Pumpkin song.

When it was time to go Trick or Treating, the kids dressed up again and were ready to head out in the neighborhood. Caitlin didn't want to wear her Nasa hat, so I put on a bow that my great talented friend, Care, made. Doesn't it look great!! It matches so well.

We are BACK!

2008-10-15T11:09:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to post that we are getting settled in Alexandria, VA.

I have LOTS to post!

There has been alot of events happen to the Cullen Family.

We went through IKE, no electricity for over a week, then living out of suitcases for 2 1/2 weeks before we moved to DC.

Then had a heart attack outside of Atlanta b/c there was NO GAS (gas shortage) and we were on "EMPTY" with the red light on.....we thank GOD that we found a station who opened their pumps for 10 minutes!

Then had food poisoning and yack! on the side of the road somewhere near North Carolina.

Wait there is MORE!! Lots more!! Including another year for me!!!
YUP celebrated a birthday already.
Got some really nice gifts!

But I will post about that later.

IKE is coming....

2008-09-11T20:07:00.002-05:00

More to come!

We packed up and moved out of the house today (earlier than expected) b/c of IKE making his trek to the Houston area.

We were going to stay at my brother's house but after it headed past Freeport, they decided to take off to Corpus Christi.....and help my dad take down the boarded windows he just put up the day before.

So The Cullen Family is honkering down back in Pearland with Mima and Pawpi.

Wish us luck that the electricity doesn't go out for so long!

I am taking pics of our adventure here.

Fay Fay Go Away

2008-08-29T06:56:00.006-05:00

Well....we had a fabulous ride into DC on Wed. We were upgraded to First Class with ALL YOU CAN DRINK and a nice gourmet lunch. LOVELY!!!

We are hoping to get upgraded on our way back. ;)

So Fay followed us up to DC. It rained ALL DAY while we were out house hunting and then it cooled down to 68 degrees.....ahhhhh, fall weather!

We saw 12 townhomes and one house. All in different parts of Alexandria even Old Town.
LOTS of decisions to be made.
We found one we LOVED but too close to the highway, one that had beautiful floor to ceiling windows...but no parks around, and finally ONE that Patrick demanded we see even though it was almost $400 over our budget.

And which one did we end up putting an application in for???
Yup...the $400 over our budget one.

We found out that the owners are desperate to move the townhome, sell or lease.
Their numbers for sale were about $40k less than what they bought it for.
So we thought....if they are desperate just to cover something...let's offer what our max budget is. So we are waiting patiently.

We are in luck that the agent for the townhome is in the same office as our agent....so we have that going for us.
We are using Nancy Gordon from Long & Foster. She has been absolutely fabulous!! We picked her purely because her FIL was an astronaut and lived in Nassau Bay.

This is the listing. Exciting, isn't it??

Patrick being shy! Getting all of info ready for the application.

BIG GIRL BED!!!

2008-08-25T10:45:00.007-05:00

We finally picked up Caitlin's bed from her Godparents house this past weekend, Karianne and Jonathan.

She will no longer be needing a crib when we are up in DC.
So my brother and SIL will be taking the crib for their little one....whenever that happens.
Perfect time, eh???

Here is Caitlin getting ready to help out putting her bed together.

Isn't she cute putting her bed together???
She is such a great helper to daddy.

She loves it!

So after we put the bed together we headed out to a store to get some sheets. We just needed some sheets to last us a year before we come back. When we get back from DC, we will have her in her new Full Size bed.

She picked out her own set and it matches perfectly with what we have already....phew!

Looks, she thinks it's her blankie already!!!

Here she is helping out and fixing her big girl bed.

Now off to bed. She did fine...curled up in bed and slept through the night.

This is what we find in the morning.