THIRTY-FOUR

V enjoying some time on Matt's electric scooter while Matt runs.

2025 week thiry-four

Two weekends ago at Grandpa's Back to School Banana Split Party. 

Turkey update. The skin has almost completely grown back. I cannot believe how well Sylvadine worked to help her regrow skin. 

A student drew a picture of me during carline. 

Baseball season has begun. Hot Saturday mornings with an iced tea and a book. 

Quotes:

T- "Yeah Veronica! You can move on or MOAN on!" 

THIRTY-THREE

 

 The fourth grade team. Year 5 of fourth grade for me.

2025 week thirty-three

7th grade!

4th grade. 

He wanted to take it like a mug shot and as I'm looking at these photos I can see how wrinkly his shorts are. I hope they were at least clean. 

Theo trying to ruin the family shot. 

One more with Kip! She's so happy to have her morning walks to school again. 

Quotes:

V, trying unsuccessfully to fold laundry- "Ugh! I cannot figure out the puzzle of these shorts!" 

V- "You feel more of the accomplishment when there's a sense of risk." Sounds profound, but it's really a quote about Minecraft. 

V- "You know, it's really fun when we're just doing something together and not fighting."
T- "Yeah, like that ever happens."

THIRTY-TWO

 

Cat hat. 

2025 week thirty-two

The last lazy week of summer. V said, "When I grow up I'm going to get a tattoo right here." I suggested she find a more "employable" place, though the Big Tex is pretty cool. 

Meet the Teacher night! V got her first locker and I got to teach her how to use a padlock. 

Theo's former second grade teacher gave us a box of old Lord of the Rings toys. I wasn't sure if the kids would be in to them. 

 I was wrong. It's been Helms Deep all day every day since. Fun fact they originally belonged to another teacher at our school when he was young. It's fun to see these figures on their third lifetime.  

On Sunday morning we got in line early to try Creamy Seoul donuts. We were the first in the door and within 45 seconds there were about 20 people in line. They are brioche donuts with flavored cream inside. V got chocolate, Matt got mango, Theo got pistachio, and I got something called Yuja. It was a tart citrus and it was a delight... *looks something up* Ok, apparently yuja is just another word for yuzu.  I also got a fantastic strawberry matcha latte that the kids kept stealing. 

Rib Fest 2025. 12 racks, 6 flavors. 33 people. 100 biscuits. It was a great night. 

Quotes:

Theo handled something poorly and as I'm correcting him he walks up to me presses my lips with his finger and says, "Pause." Boy almost saw Jesus today. 

Theo- "After this can we watch How the Universe Twerks?"

V- "Did you come in here to be with me or just to boss me?"

Me- "I know it doesn't make sense really but being a little bit dirty is kind of good for you when you're a kid."
V- "You don't have to say more. I accept this fully as truth. I love being dirty."

THIRTY-ONE

Reading a comic book with a gecko on her head. It feels like the last few lazy days of summertime. 

2025 week thirty-one

My last outdoor breakfast of summer before going back to work. 

I went to an Arabic coffee and pastry shop with my friend/coworker. I'm glad I went with her because she knew everything that I should try and it was all delightful. 

Thank you to a different coworker for snapping this shot of Theo searching for bugs on campus while I cleaned my classroom. 

This weekend Matt was on a boys trip to North Carolina. 

He had a great time. Theo kept sighing and saying, "I just miss Papa." It was tender and sweet. 

Theo helped me cut out the noodles for our soup. 

We had a brief but fierce thunderstorm so we made chicken noodle soup. By the time dinner rolled around it was back up in the 90s but we didn't care. This is one of our favorite meals of all time. 

And cauldron cakes for dessert because we forgot to celebrate Harry Potter's birthday on Thursday.

THIRTY

 

Theo and I went through our photo albums this week. We found a photo of Matt around the same age playing for the same team name as Theo. Theo thought it was really special and asked we hang the photos up next to each other. 

2025 week thirty

This week was clearly the week of naps for me. Nap number one. 

Nap number two.

I woke up from nap number two with this signed taped to me. 

We brought Veronica a quill and ink set from DC. She figured out how to use it and has been annotating her summer reading (The Hobbit) with it now. She is the greatest. 

The makings of a beautiful summery pasta. 

It plated up gorgeously. And apparently the cowhorn pepper I used was "cross bread with pepper x" according to Theo and the pasta was basically inedible. We had to fry eggs to top the pasta in hopes that it would tone down the heat. 

Dramatic Pickles shot.

The energy Kip and Pickles bring to the function. 

Tell me you have a son... without telling me you have a son... Every animal is armed.

The Belgium cousins have returned. We wasted no time getting them over to play. Theo and O were so happy to see each other. 

Quotes:

Cousin- "Let's play navy!"
T- "OK!!! Wait. How do you even play that?"
Cousin- "You pretend you're in the navy!"
T- "OH RIGHT! LET'S GO!"

V- "I know it's gross and I shouldn't do it, and I always tell her to stop... But it just feels good when Kip's tongue licks down my ear."
Matt- "LOSE MY NUMBER!"

T- "WHOA! Look at that baby! It has blue eyes! That's crazy!"
Me- "People can have blue eyes."
T- "No way! I thought that was only in Dune!"
Me- "Most babies are born with blue eyes. Papa had blue eyes and now his eyes are grey."
T- "What?! I thought his eyes were brown. I thought everyone had brown eyes!"

TWENTY-NINE

Last week, Matt and I went to Washington, D.C., just the two of us. We walked 45 miles in 5 days and saw as much as we absolutely could. Enjoy a curated fraction of our trip.

2025 week twenty-nine

Day 1: Arlington Cemetery, Museum of American History, Union Station, Sunset Bus Tour

In the American History Museum we got to see Julia Child's kitchen. It was so fun. She had way too many copper pots and knives. 

The real droids. 

The egg from Alien. 

Beautiful stairs in Union Station.

Day 2: National Cathedral, Georgetown, Lincoln Memorial, National Mall, China Town.

The National Cathedral.

The scale and glory of this building was overwhelming. It was under construction for over 90 years because it had to be built to 14th century mason standards. If something needs repairs, it is rather an ordeal to get it fixed. 

The moon rock stained glass window. Astronaut Michael Collins attended St. Alban's school at the Cathedral. When he returned from the moon voyage, he brought the rock and the church had it made into a stained glass window. 

We attended a service at the cathedral and it was live streamed. Matt told his friends and they watched it and spotted us. 

In the Bishop's Garden. 

By the time we got to Georgetown it was raining pretty steadily. A scarf can really come in handy.

Lincoln Memorial.

View of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.

China Town.

Day 3: Capitol tour, Capitol garden, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Old Ebbitts Grill. 

Outside the Capitol Building.

The real Apotheosis of Washington.

A mimic we saw in a Walgreens. 

Our tour guide was an intern for our representative's office. She went to Plano High School.

She was pretty knowledgeable and gave us a good tour. It was fun to be able to walk in the underground tunnels between the representatives' office building and the Capitol.

Apparently we had to get a chili dog? It was good, but it was also a street car chili dog. 

National History Museum.

Every time we see huge rocks we have to take photos of them for Theo. 

Old Ebbitts Grill for lunch. It was very atmospheric and everything was just delicious. 

I'm glad we went, but we ended up having a second dinner because the portions were not intended for people who had just walked 10 miles. 

Day 4: Old Town Alexandria, Christ Church, Old Post Office tower, Library of Congress, A perfect hamburger for lunch, National Air and Space Museum, Jefferson Memorial.

Inside Christ Church. George Washington was a patron here for a few decades. The pews were each purchased and rented by a family. Guests to the church can sit in the Washington family pew on Sundays. 

Plaque donated by President Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor. On that day he, Eleanor Roosevelt and Winston Churchill sat in George Washington's pew for a service. Apparently the priest took them to task reminding them of their duty to maintain order and peace in the world. 

The docent was very generous and spent a long hour with us just chatting and answering questions and giving us as much detail as we could want. 

Outside Christ Church. 

View of the White House from the Old Post Office Tower. 

We almost didn't go to the Library of Congress. It wasn't high on our list, but we had an opening and decided to get a ticket. It ended up being our favorite building. 

It was a breathtaking temple to knowledge and wisdom. 

It was so ornate and thoughtfully designed, I feel I ought to get a book on it and read about all the symbolism and quotes. 

The Magna Carta. 

National Air and Space Museum. It was cool but it also smelled a lot like a huge group of men (not clean and fresh either...). 

Jefferson Memorial.

Day 5: White House tour, Gadsby's Tavern, National Archives. 

The White House. 

It was so incredible to see and go inside. We were surprised that the portions of the house in the tour were actual working rooms. They just partition them off for certain times for tours. 

Gadsby's Tavern for lunch. George Washington celebrated a few birthdays in this tavern and Thomas Jefferson ate dinner here after his second Inauguration. 

The National Archives Rotunda where we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. 

The Declaration of Independence. 

Back home again. 

One of the coolest souvenirs we found at the National Cathedral: MLK Jr.'s mug shot painted as a Saint Icon. We hung the frame below my letter from Saint Teresa of Calcutta. 

Trying to recreate the perfect hamburger at home.