halloween craze.

a few pics from our halloween parade today at school.....

the teachers dressed up as "stone ridge girls"

(i kept getting mistaken for a highschooler)

love the little michael jackson :)

happy halloween weekend!

the colors in dupont.

it's fall yall!  and the colors are amazing in our neck of the woods.  i simply cannot get enough of the reds, oranges and yellows we are seeing on the trees, on the ground, on stoops, and literally all around.  i heart this time of year.  not only do i fall in love with the colors, but i get to start wearing one of my favorite accessories - scarves!  i also cannot get enough of all the pumpkin flavored goodies.  fall in dc is magical.

 

the high heel race.

last night, jeffrey and i ventured around the corner for the infamous drag queen high heel race hosted every tuesday before halloween on 17th street.  the crowd was in full swing - as in we were shoulder to shoulder trying to get a glimpse of the race.  the fun part happened afterwards when we moved to the street and snapped hilarious pictures of hilarious drag queens in their outrageous outfits.  i couldn't stop laughing all night - especially when kevin and keith insisted we get on their shoulders. 

p.s. - sorry for bad quality in pics - we only had our phones with no flash and shaky hands.

some texans....

the boys made me get in this one.

pumpkin muffins.

i decided to try a little baking this weekend with a recipe i received from my cute co-worker lesley.  lesley brought these pumpkin muffins in about a week ago and i had to have the recipe.  they were super simple to make and perfect to bring to the cheeks chili cook off.  jeffrey and i have also been enjoying them for breakfast.

here is the recipe if you would like a little pumpkin treat this fall.

3 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

3 cups of sugar (white)

2 teaspoons of baking soda

2 teaspoons of salt

4 eggs - beaten

1 cup of vegetable oil

2/3 cup of water

1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoons of allspice

3/4 teaspoon of cloves

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

2 cups (1 - 15 ounce can) of pumpkin puree

mix together flour, baking soda, salt and spices in one large bowl.  

mix together sugar, eggs, pumpkin, oil and water in another bowl.  then add this mixture to the flour mixture.  stir until a thick batter is made.  bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes.

enjoy!

chili cook off.

our lovely friends - the cheeks - have an annual chili cook off for as long as i can remember....i think going on 5 years now.  and we LOVE it.  not only does it mean it is officially fall, but friends gather bringing their chili creations and then we get to JUDGE.  this year it was - most spicy chili, most unique chili, seen in DC public schools chili, best chili, and best accoutrement. 

pictured above if jeff's "santa fe swing" chili simmering away before we brought it over to the cheeks casa.  there was a total of about 12 pots of chili and many many accoutrements.  so we chat, ate, ate some more and then we judged....

 moira, jeff, jeff and me

jason (cheek), jeff

some pots o chili

and the winners are......

the buckleys for the most unique chili.

it had chocolate in it and was one of my favs!

megan (cheek) and carol pictured above.

2nd place for best chili: jeffrey's "santa fe swing."

and my loves :)

carol, me, megan and moira.

middle school art: part 1.

here is what we have been up to in the art room....

5th grade: we studied spanish artist Joan Miro and his famous abstract paintings.

 

6th grade: Egyptian hieroglyphics with some Egyptian symbols.

students rolled slabs out of red clay, carved some hieroglyphics and symbols and then painted with metallic paint.

7th grade: a multi-medium project.

students drew a tropical bird - dividing the paper into three parts.

part one: they learned about seurat's pointillism

part two: played with gray charcoal

part three: oil pastel and watercolor resist

i love how these turned out!

8th grade: my favorite project so far! i'm so impressed with what my 8th graders can do.

students had some fun creating their own version of Grant Wood's American Gothic.

a little cocktail party.

when my parents were visiting this past weekend, jeffrey and i decided to have a little cocktail party to introduce and mingle with some of our friends here in dc - old and new - as in friends my parents have met and friends they haven't met.  so on saturday evening some friends gathered at our place on  Ost. for a little cocktail party.  we had a grand time.  i must say we do love to host and i hope our guests enjoyed themselves too.

i heart this one :)

and we did miss some of our near and dear friends on saturday evening as well - so hopefully my parents can catch them on the next round.

we finished off this lovely weekend with another delicious meal from my hubby.  some butternut squash soup and chicken with potatoes and carrots.  i couldn't stop eating.  it was a wonderful way to end this weekend of good times with my folks.

fun times in the city.

my super cute parents came to dc this weekend for a visit

and we sure had some fun in the city.

we went on tour after tour after tour and they were all delightful.

AND the weather was AMAZING - sunny skies and cool temperatures - it is officially fall here in dc :)

first up - tour of the capitol, which jeffrey and i still had not done since we moved here.

the picture above is in the new visitor center of the capitol.

the capitol dome.

 

me and mama

a little lunch of hotdogs on the side of the road :)

then, we totally strolled by this lady passing out tickets to the fall garden tour at the white house!

we said yes please and jumped in line.

we just LOVE all these free tours in our city. 

(i actually went to the spring garden tour with my cousin gina and her soon to be hubby brian last spring and the tour was just as lovely.)

me and daddo in front of the jackie o garden.

the white house veggie garden.

the next day, we hit up the dupont home tour and checked out some unique houses in our neighborhood.

it was a beautiful weekend filled with lots of good times and good laughs.

smooches mom and dad.

xoxoxo