Maddy Dances to American Idol

Maddy's Dino Dance Move

Go Diego Go

Last night we went to the Warner Theater to catch the Go Diego Go Live show for Madison. He absolutely loved it, dancing in the aisles with all of the other kids, singing along to all the song he knew so well. It was a nice night out on the town for the whole family, the show was quite enjoyable!

I'll be traveling to Zambia and Tanzania in 2 weeks time for work. It'll be interesting to see that part of the world and I'm looking forward to the trip. I'll be gone for 5 and a half weeks so while I'm in Africa, Rach and Maddy are planning to visit her aunty Lu in Connecticut for awhile. There's a train that goes from central D.C. straight to New Haven so it should be easy enough for them to get there and back.

Lucky Maddy

Maddy is such a lucky boy. Yesterday he received an All Blacks jacket, matching socks and a dinosaur jigsaw puzzle from BatGran in the mail. He also got some stamps so he can write Nanna letters. He was so happy with his new stuff that he put on the jacket and socks immediately and wore them all day. Now that he has one of the puzzles in the dinosaur collection, he wants the rest of them too. That's my boy :)

Dose of Reality

You know how the saying goes, "No news is good news" and in our case it definitely rings true. The past few weeks have been largely uneventful, with the crazy weather being the most noteworthy thing. We've had a week of snow followed by an ice storm which covered everything with ice for over a week, followed by a week of warm weather that everyone talking about an early spring and now it's snowing again.

I think Madison has had enough of the cold weather and all it brings because he used to run excitedly to the window to look at the snow when I told him it was snowing; now it barely warrants a raised eyebrow.

Yesterday afternoon at work we all had to evacuate the building when the fire alarm sounded. Most of us thought it was another fire drill until the fire department, police and homeland security arrived and started cordoning off the entire block. Apparently our operator received a bomb threat by phone. Let me tell you one thing; the emergency response time in Washington, D.C. to a bomb threat is super quick. By the time I made my way outside from the 3rd floor there were already 2 fire trucks and 2 homeland security cars in front of the building. It was a stark reminder of the nature of the world we live in right now. But hey, at least I got to go home early!

Happy Anniversary Sachi & Mark

If memory serves correctly, Sachi and Mark have been married for a year now. Congratulations you two! I hope your first year of marriage has been enjoyable and fun. This time next year Lagi and Tolly will have joined the club. Many happy returns Sachi and Mark!

Go Wizards!

We went to our first NBA game last night where the local team, the Washington Wizards lost to the San Antonio Spurs in a rout. We didn't care! We were too busy enjoying the spectacle of the whole thing. Americans sure do know how to hype an event and make it entertaining.

Happy Birthday Mommy

Madison and I took Rachel out for lunch at the Silver Diner for her birthday last weekend. It was a nice outing, even if the weather wasn't cooperating (it was -10C outside). Madison and Rach loved the Silver Diner; which is an old style diner complete with juke boxes and 1920s decor.

Winter Wonderland

Madison has an affinity to the cold which makes him and snow best of friends.

It's the simple things in life that make our boy happy.

Playing in the snow is fun.

Madison's First Snow

We were all over the moon to see it snow all day for the first time yesterday. It didn't take Madison long to convince his mommy to let him out so he could see what snow felt like.

2007 Already?

I can't believe it's January the 4th already, time just zooms by when you're on annual leave. While it's nice to be back at work (well not really), spending almost 2 weeks at home with the family was great. Madison and I have re-bonded and he and I had a blast doing everything together, including baking chocolate chip cookies. He's real good at licking the bowl, stirring the flour all over the floor and eating all the chocolate chips before they go into the mix.

Christmas turned out nice even though we couldn't afford to buy Madison any presents. Lucky for us God provided in the form of grandparents, aunties and a couple of my work colleagues who surprised us with 6 or 7 presents (and a miniature xmas tree to boot) for Maddy to go under the tree. Maddy even left a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa on Christmas eve.

Now that 2007 is officially here it's only right that we kick off 2007 with some new year resolutions so here goes.

1. Quit smoking.

2. Pay off debts.

3. Lose weight.

4. Establish some savings.

5. Gain Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) accreditation.

It'll be a very good year if I could get all of that done in 2007. What are your NY resolutions for 2007?

More From Fatilua's Visit

We went downtown for a quick visit to the memorials

Vai and Fatilua by the Korean War Memorial

Having fun overlooking the Reflecting Pool

Taking a rest from sightseeing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

Maddy feeding the ducks with his lunch

Look Who's in Town

One of my oldest friends Fatilua and his partner Vai came to town on Tuesday night from Albany, NY to visit with us for 3 days. I've known Fatilua for almost 25 years (I must be getting old) since our days in Samoa College. It's been real good catching up with them. I'll see what I can do to convince them to stay for the weekend!

Madison took to his uncle Fati and aunty Vai immediately.

The old guy and the other old guy

Fati in DC doing some kind of ballerina move for the camera

Winter is Here

I think winter is finally upon us here in the northern hemisphere. I had to walk through ice on the street on my way to work this morning. Yeah you heard me right. There was ICE on the street today! The cold weather has been on and off lately but I when there's ice on the roads you can pretty much say that winter is here; bring on the snow!

I wonder if we'll have a white Christmas this year? Wouldn't that be nice? I don't remember having a white Christmas since we lived in Alaska over 20+ years ago.

Almost Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner and while most families have the lights up and trees in the living room, we're a little behind on getting all of those things. Americans really start thinking about xmas right after Thanksgiving so we've been inundated with the holiday season hype for awhile now. Madison is very much looking forward to Christmas.

Madison would like to thank his Nanna in NZ for all of the mail he has been getting in the mailbox. He's even got mail from his Aunty Carlta, Aunty Susie, Aunty Patsy and Uncle Kenbo. You should see his eyes light up when his Mommy tells him he's got mail!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday season.

Hi Nanna!

Doing a Superman

Last night Maddy brought the step ladder into the room and did

Superman jumps onto his bed.

He is always finding new ways to have fun around the house.

It's good to see him growing and gaining weight.

Look at my wings Daddy!

Whatever

Madison's new favorite comeback line is "blah blah blah". Whenever he's asked to do something he doesn't want to do it's either, "Whatever" or "blah blah blah". I don't know where he gets it from (most probably from the TV) but I think it's funny.

Thanksgiving was nice, it's always nice to have a day off, but it seems utterly ridiculous to have to come in again for work on Friday only to have another 2 days off for the weekend. The metro was empty today and the city is like a ghost town today; it seems like everyone took annual leave today except for me.

Mental note to self: Take annual leave on the day after Thanksgiving next year.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving here in the US and we're all enjoying a nice relaxing day at home. The weather outside is dreadful; wet and very cold, so being indoors is a good idea.

This is a pic of Madison counting the money in his moneybox in anticipation of Christmas and his XBox. He told us this morning that, "I can't wait to get my XBox!". He had a grand total of $19.95 which is just a little short of the $400 target but there is still time to save up between now and Xmas.

I better get a second job.

Losing My Samoan

Madison is slowly losing his ability to speak Samoan. I didn't notice at first but a few nights ago I asked him to get me a glass from the kitchen in Samoan and he gave me a puzzled look. I asked him if he understood what I said and he said, "No daddy". So I asked him in English and off he went.

It's interesting because when Papa called last night, he was talking to Madison in Samoan the whole time and Maddy seemed to understand (or he faked it pretty good) but only replied in English.

Last night we went to the supermarket and the checkout lady had a cute conversation with Madison, it went a little something like this:

Madison: (handing the money to the checkout lady) Here you go.

Checkout lady: Oh thank you, you're such a cutie! If I was a little girl I'd fall in love with you. How old are you?

Madison: I'm four.

Checkout lady: Are you in preschool?

Madison: No, I'm not 5 yet.

Checkout lady: I bet you have lots of girlfriends, do you have many girlfriends?

Madison: (straight faced) Yes.

Checkout lady: (Laughing) I bet you do. Thank you darling.

Madison: You're welcome.