Fiscal Fasting

My good friend, Tania, writes a shopping blog for the Washington Post. Recently she wrote about living a frugal life, and why it is hard for Americans to live within their means. Great topic. Good tips. But, she recently challenged all her family and friends to go on a week-long fiscal fast - go 7 days without spending a dime. She will be experimenting with her own fiscal fast beginning July 7 and has asked for volunteers. We've decided to give it a go. Stephen said, "Sounds like fun!" I'm not so sure ... better stock up on the diapers. We'll let you know how it goes.

Country Feedback

I've heard through the grapevine that my blog post on Saturday regarding the Leesburg Beerfest was disappointingly critical. Initially, I thought ... whatever. Reflecting, however, I have changed my mind. (Not flip-flopping, actually changing my mind.) It wasn't as bad as I reported. It was hot. The music was just so-so. But, we were with our friends and that is the most important thing. Honestly, put us in a cardboard box and we would make the best of it. So, I apologize for my quick judgement. If we our friends were to go back, we would go with.

Backyard Fun

Good news. It was not user error. It just takes a infinitely long time to download some videos. Especially on our home computer. Here is the recent video that Stephen shot of Eli and the sprinkler.

Trial and Error

Technical difficulties ... I can't post the recent home videos. Frustrating.
But, here is a blast from the past. One of Eli's first swimming lessons. I think she is 5 months old. That dates this as May 2006. Enjoy. Maybe I'll be able to figure it out ...

hmmm ... no videos yet

Not sure what I did wrong ... but, apparently, as you can see, there is no video link. Please bear with me. I'll figure it out.

Download the videos!

I finally read the directions and downloaded the home videos since Eli's birth. (Well, I think we purchased it when she was a couple of months old. Can't remember anymore.) I didn't realize how many videos were living on the camera's hard drive. I didn't have a choice ... we couldn't shoot anymore video until we made some room. Anyhow, it was a wonderful trip down memory lane. Swimming lessons, a Penn State game, Thanksgiving, Christmas, her second birthday. Here is the most recent video captured a couple of weeks ago by Stephen.

A hot, sweaty Saturday (and Beerfest, too)

We went to the Leesburg Beerfest on Saturday and met up with some friends. It took Eli about an hour to wake up (aka not be crankypants), but once she did, Uncle Jason and Aunt Amy became her very best friends. We also saw Eric and Kim Paradisi, who were with some other friends. Eli painted an umbrella (for the reasonable price of $8), but it provided chairs and shade for our chilidogs. Probably won't go back to the same festival, but here are the highlights: Music was mediocre, watching the keg throwing contest was mildly entertaining, beer sampling was memorable, but watching Jason run around with Eli and with sweat streaming down his face and back was worth the trip to Leesburg. (Not to mention, we were so close to the Leesburg Outlets, it would be a crime if we didn't stop ...)

Throw up

Eli has a cold. No, she doesn't realize the importance of blowing her nose or letting me use to blue ball. So, she coughs and then vomits. It leads to lack of sleep and a smelly house. But, what can you do? Hopefully she'll recover over the weekend.

It's About Time

Inspired by Tiff's blog (and determining that is wasn't that difficult to set up and maintain), we have finally started documenting Eli's life. Doesn't matter that she is nearly two and a half, right? The past 29 months have flown by and we are parents of a beautiful, feisty toddler.