Lorne's New Job

So for those of you who don't know - Lorne has a new job. He decided to start looking for jobs back in July when he felt unhappy at Oracle. He felt that they didn't value him enough for all he did and so he decided to move on.
I was fully supportive because since he spends so much time away from the house, he needed to actually enjoy what he was doing. He secured many interviews, second interviews and 3 offers. He chose to accept the offer from a company called RockBlocks that is located in Boston, MA.
The good news is that we don't have to move. We can stay here. Also, Lorne is now the Director of Sales and has a better salary and commission plan. The health insurance is also good (that was important to me).The bad news is that he still travels a lot for work and we miss him. But we will deal with it as long as he is happy and successful in his work. It is also fun for us to video conference with him on the computer the nights he is away. I think Jasmine finds it magical to talk to Daddy on the computer, although she hates it when we hang up!
For more details on what Lorne is actually selling in this new job, you'll have to ask him - I am still trying to figure it out!

Jasmine's New Playground

In July I worked VERY hard to convince Lorne that Jasmine just had to have a playground in the backyard. Don't ask why I feel so strongly about this, I am sure it has something to do with wanting as many fun things for her to be able to do at home. Also, we have such a huge backyard and it is going to waste without us actually adding some interest to it.
Lorne consented as long as we used the wilderness space behind Preston's fenced in yard. I agreed that it would be a great spot and I would be able to see Jasmine from the kitchen windows that way.
We hired a landscaper and he cleared the land, built a wooden frame where the playground would be built and put sod all over the cleared land. Then, my brother Ryan, my dad and Martin (Casey's sister's boyfriend), came over and began building the playground. They worked for 2 Saturdays and have one more to go before the whole thing is built and ready for play. Here are some fun pics of the guys building Jasmine's playground. I will post pics when the whole thing is completed.

Kensington Arts Theatre Annual Gala

Lorne and I decided to go support our amazing friends Kevin & Cindy Zarcone - no doubt all you faithful readers know to whom I am referring. They have been long time supporters and heavily involved in the Kensington Arts Theatre, a community theater located in Kensington, MD. They host a gala every year as a fundraiser and they have food, drink and a silent auction as well as live entertainment by people involved with the group.Cindy and Kevin were performing and so we decided this would be a nice way to spend a Saturday evening. Jasmine spent the evening with her grandparents so that was great for her. Lorne and I got dolled up and went seeking fun times.We found them, we had a nice time, the food was good albeit a bit sparse and the entertainment was good too. They had a Broadway performer there - Brad Oscar who had played the lead on Broadway for the show the Producers and he was funny and very talented. Cindy and Kevin did great - I especially enjoyed the number they sung together.
We bid on and won 4 tickets to the last pre-season Redskins game - which we gave to Ryan and Martin as a thank you gift later (more on that in the next post). It was really fun and reminded me that someday I would love to get back on the stage. I do so love to be in the spotlight!

Jasmine's 3 year well-check

We took Jasmine to the Dr. for her annual check-up. Before we went to the doctor, I tried very hard to prepare her so she wouldn't freak out. In the past, these check-ups can be traumatic for a little Bee. Well, I didn't have much to worry about.
Firstly, when we got there she decided that the waiting room full of people was the perfect audience for her little show. She put 2 small kids chairs together and stood on them while singing, "S & T, they're all the rage - Look! I made a stage!" and then she broke into her repertoire. She sang God Bless America (complete with hand gestures), I am a Child of God and a few others. One of the mom's sitting close to me leaned over and said, "Seriously, your child needs an agent, she should be on TV." I was laughing hysterically and was very proud of her. She was super entertaining and she even emceed for herself.
Her last number - she stood on the chairs and dramatically placed her hands in front of her while saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I shall no sing and prafixt (her word for practice) Twinkle Twinkle Little ...." and at that point she stopped and put her hadn to her ear awaiting a response from the crowd. Lorne ad I chimed in emphaticlly, "STAR!" and she whirled around to face us and pointed at us and said, "Exactly!" I cannot convey in this blog the emphasis she placed on that word, you had to be there but the entire room began laughing and at that point the nurse called her back before she could actually sing the song.
It was amazing and she received claps from the whole waiting room and the nurses behind the counter. Apparently the Doctors could hear her in the back because everyone was asking her if she was the little girl who was singing and that they had heard her and really enjoyed it.
Well, they went on to do the exam and Jasmine asked the nurse if she was going to get a shot (part of my preparation with her). The nurse looked at the charts and said, "No, you don't need one this time." Jasmine's face fell as she exclaimed, "But I really NEED one!" I am not sure she fully comprehended what she was asking for but she only knew that if she was good for the shot, we would take her for ice cream. We took her anyway, even though she didn't end up getting a shot.
They said Jasmine was doing great, very advanced in development and very well proportioned. For the first time in her life she was in the 90th percentile for height AND weight. She is now 39 inches tall and 35.5 pounds. No wonder people always think she is older!

Latest Cakes

We did a few cakes over the last few weeks. It has been slow through August because people are on vacation and we are still waiting to sign the lease for our new bakery. One day the negotiations will be over. Anyhow, here are our latest and if you haven't checked out our new website - go to www.occasionallycake.com and see what you think!

Superman! Last Screen on the Green of the season!

We ventured out again for the last Screen on the Green of the season as they were playing Superman and that is a classic. We invited a lot of friends to come but only one family came - The Hansens (including Derek, Melissa and kids Elise, Issac, Dayton and baby Spencer) and a college bound friend of ours, Jared Munyan.We decided we needed to get there early because we knew it would be super crowded since the movie was good and it was the last one. We arrived on the Mall at 4:30 PM and set up camp. We brought blankets and chairs and a full cooler stocked with chicken, sodas, fruit salad and cole slaw. We even got an amazing parking spot right behind the screen which would make it easier and faster to leave after the movie.Since we had to wait for a while before our friends would arrive, Lorne took Jasmine to the Smithsonian Castle to view the Jim Hensen exhibit. I stayed behind to guard our spot and our stuff. I read a magazine and enjoyed the unusually mild weather we were having. It was a perfect day to be outside.Shortly after Lorne and Jasmine came back, our friends arrived and we began our dinner picnic. The Hansens brought brownies and a delicious pasta salad and Jared brought cornbread. It was a feast! Jasmine had fun playing with Elise Hansen and they danced and read books. It was so cute to watch them. They even sat together during the movie and shared candy.The movie began at sundown and the kids settled in and we had a good time watching the movie and laughing at all the right spots and clapping for Superman. Truly, Screen on the Green is one of my favorite summer traditions and I hope to continue going year after year as long as we live here.

Farmer Bee and her crop

Lorne wanted to grow some produce this summer with Jasmine so he could show her how food grows and help her learn to be responsible for something. He wanted her to learn to water plants as well so he got 2 plants from Home Depot and put them out front. They look funny out front but really, it is the only place around our house that gets the right amount of sun that the plants need in order to grow and produce a crop.
He bought a tomato plant and a strawberry plant. Jasmine has diligently watered the plants all summer and been excited to watch them grow. She has picked the fresh berries off the strawberry plant and eaten them all by herself. She reminds us to water the plants almost everyday and checks her plants to see if there is any fruit ready to pick. She has been successful and the plants look great and have produced a lot of fruit! I suppose we will do it again next year!

Arlington County Fair

Today (August 9) I took Jasmine to a neighborhood fundraising carnival in a nearby neighborhood where we saw lots of people we knew from the community (some from the preschool and some from mutual friends). It was held in their neighborhood pool we so we did some swimming and they had these fun little games set up that we could buy tickets and play the games and buy food.
Jasmine really liked the goldfish game where they had plastic cups filled with water which had goldfish inside and a few that didn't have anything inside. If you threw the ping pong bottle and got it into a cup with a fish in it you won the fish and if you didn't, you didn't win anything. Jasmine won 2 goldfish. She was very excited and named them Captain and Pink.
That evening after her afternoon nap, we took her to the Arlington County Fair. It was one of those old school type fairs we all loved to go to when we were kids and Lorne and I were excited to share it with her. She was so excited. The first thing we found out when we got there was that these fairs are expensive. No wonder our parents only let us ride a handful of rides.
The only ride I rode as the Ferris Wheel with Jasmine. Lorne opted not to ride as it was very expensive and the only way Jasmine was allowed to ride was with an adult. It was a great view of the fair from up there but the wheel was rickety and made me nervous!
We let Jasmine ride a bunch of rides and then we got some carnival food dinner. Jasmine wanted pizza, Lorne got Chinese and I got Peruvian pupusas. I know, we should have had hamburgers and corn dogs, but when we saw the more interesting food, we opted for that instead. The food was decent, I really enjoyed mine because I also ordered fried plantains and I LOVE those.
After that we let Jasmine ride a few more rides, got her an ice cream resembling Sponge Bob Square pants (again, this is what Jasmine chose) Jasmine also got to sit in a firetruck and chat with the firemen. We left the fair around 9PM as Jasmine was exhausted and ready for bed. Jasmine slept well that night as you would imagine.