A Four Day 4th

It was a wonderfully long 4th of July weekend!  With the 4th falling on a Thursday, the University closed on Friday as a (awesome) courtesy and then Jason took off, so we had a full 4 days of fun.  Wednesday night literally started with a bang as we got together with our neighbors for some fun!  A few of the men had ventured to PA to get some fireworks that you can't get in MD (ahem) and the kids were jazzed.  (We decided to set them off on Wednesday night because the guy who had the bulk of them couldn't be there until much later on the 4th.)  Here are the kids all set up for watching.....a little early.  So they snacked on popsicles, played, used Sparklers and ran around like crazy people.  My neighbor got a great idea on Pinterest to make t-shirts too which turned out awesome.

It was actually my kids' first time using Sparklers.  I've always been too worried about them burning them but  before I knew it, they all had them in their hands.  They were very careful and loved them.

The fireworks that everyone set off were pretty great.  They had a bunch of ground based ones and things like Roman Candles which were really cool.  But they had a lot of "real" ones too and it was so great seeing a real show in your own backyard.  Clearly a LOT of people venture to PA for fireworks because over the course of the weekend we couldn't believe the other shows we saw too.

It was really a fantastic night and Caroline kept saying what a fun night it was.  I couldn't have agreed more.  My kids all slept in on Thursday morning and I took the time to prepare some food for the day we would be spending over at my mom's.  It was SOO hot so it was especially nice to know we'd get to spend the day in the pool.  Here's Bryce in his t-shirt he made:

It was a perfect pool day!  It was just us, my parents, my IL's and my sister and Will.  Just right.  Great food, great swimming, and HOT summer weather...just what the 4th of July should be.

Later in the evening, we went back home and my parents joined us for more festivities with the neighbors.  There were still some fireworks left and my dad brought his legal, MD ones to set off for the kids.  Everyone was happy.  Here's Caroline cuddling up with Bella - I think she wants to adopt Caroline as her big sister.

The kids were exhausted and were practically asking to go to bed that night and then slept in the next day again.  Friday was set to be a busy day with Jay and I getting things done but the most exciting part for me was that my living room furniture arrived!  I was so happy!  It looks great.  I just need to get some things hung on the wall along with (eventually) getting a space rug for the area.  I keep coming down the steps now and getting surprised by the furniture sitting there.  Ha!

In the middle of the afternoon, my neighbor called to invite us to go swimming at her sister's pool in the same neighborhood where my mom lives.  It's a big in ground pool with a diving board and the kids were so excited to spend the afternoon with their friends.  They swam themselves out and we had a quiet evening when we returned.  They also finally got to do their "camp in" down in the basement.  Jason set up the tent and we put their sleeping bags inside and they settled down and watched a movie.  We actually thought it might work because they turned the TV off when the movie was over and it got quiet.  But not 10 minutes later they came up and all three of them ended up back in their beds.

Saturday morning I took the kids for haircuts and then we went up to Jason's aunt's house in Cecil County for his cousin's graduation party.  They also have a nice pool and the kids swam all afternoon again.  It was a nice day spent with Jason's family and the kids wore themselves out again.  YAY!

Sunday finally came and with Sunday here it meant it was time to do chores. We finally got the girls fairy netting hung over their beds and Jason hung a few more shelves and photos.

The girls went out to play with neighbor friends while my brother came and got Bryce and went to my mom's for a swim.  Jay and I and the girls went over in time for dinner and then our neighbors brought their kids over for a dip.  It was raining a little but the storm mostly passed us and we had about an hour of swimming. It had cooled off significantly though from how hot it was earlier in the day but it was still a lot of fun. It was so nice of my parents to open their doors to our friends and have everyone swim.  My parents really have such a nice deck/pool for entertaining and I love that they love to share it.

As a final nice treat to the weekend, the kids spent the night at my mom's since she was going to have them today anyway.  Jason and I got to go home, watch True Blood in peace and wake up and have quiet mornings.  I guess after having such a great weekend it makes it harder to go back to work today but I really cannot complain.  It was great in every way and even though I'm tired today, it's for good reason.  There's still a lot of summer left!

Summery Weekend

What a nice, hot, summery weekend!  Not as busy as last weekend but that's a good thing.  Friday night even though it was pretty hot, we decided to stay home and let the kids play in the sprinkler.  A few neighbor kids ended up coming over and Jason and I each hung out with different neighbors.  Beers with neighbors seems to be a theme.  Saturday we got some more things done around the house in the morning and then I took the kids for the first swim of the summer over at my mom's.

It figures that I bought Piper two new suits at Target that morning and what does she do?  She pulls them out of her beach bag leaving behind only her 3/4T suits that do NOT fit her.  I didn't realize it until we got to my mom's so she wore one of Caroline's old size 6 suits that were a little big on her, but she still had fun.  They swam from 1pm until 8pm!  Jason and I had plans to visit some friends in Towson so the kids stayed for dinner and swimming with my parents while we went out.  It was a nice evening and we weren't out too late since we didn't want to abuse our babysitters.  :)  I played beer pong for the first time in over 15 years!  

Sunday morning there was a lot of excitement because our neighbor friend, Bella, was having her 5th birthday party.  It was a big family/neighbor party and it was going to be nice just to hang out and not worry about driving anywhere.  The kids played in the bounce house and on the slip and slide while we hung with our neighbors.  Lots of laughs!  The rain didn't stop the fun either and we moved the fun to a neighbor's garage while the kids had a blast with water guns and squirt bottles.  I played beer pong again with my neighbor, Jamie (Bella's mom) and we won 5 games in a row beating everyone else in the 'hood.  Clearly, I had a talent I didn't know about.  Who knew???  8pm came much too quickly and we all settled down and went to bed.

Hard to believe that school will be out next week!  I got the kids signed up and registered for before care at their new school for the fall too.  All that's left is getting our old school to send the transfer documents to our new school (and then to provide residency documentation) and we'll be all set.  I'm a little nervous about Caroline and Bryce transitioning to a new school and wondering how they'll determine placement.  (@Erin - how did they determine which class Ben would be in?  Both my kids are doing GT/Pace work and I want to make sure they are put with other kids at their same achievement level.)

Busy, Sick, Busy

That was what my weekend was like.  So busy, I didn't have time to be sick.  I hadn't been feeling good later in the week and by Friday, I was feeling rough.  The congestion I had in my throat was getting worse and I was coughing and getting more congested.  I debated even going in but because I'd been off on Monday, I felt guilty calling in the Friday before a holiday weekend - seemed kind of suspect.  Plus, Jason was off already.  I made it in and by 11am, I decided I'd had enough.  I stopped at the store on my way home to pick up a few things hoping that maybe I'd get to lay down for a bit.  Ha ha ha.  Yeah right.  First of all, it was hella cold for late May.  Like 50 degrees, windy and rainy. Yuck.  When I got home, Jason was working on the basement and garage and so I fed Piper some lunch and then realized that if the bathrooms were going to be clean for our visitors that evening, it meant I needed to get on it.  And so I did.  Piper "helped" with the first two but quickly lost interest.  Shocking.  By the time the kids got home from school, I'd cleaned all 4 bathrooms and put clean linens on Caroline and Bryce's beds.  (I don't bother with Piper's since her Pull Up leaks about once a week and we end up changing them anyway.  I hate Pull Ups - Easy Ups are far superior but they were out the last time we needed them.)

Once Jason finished with the basement, he decided to start hanging some pictures and such.  I was so happy!  Although he didn't quite share in my happiness because it meant hanging these shelves.  They look great, but they are a real b*tch to hang.  He was close to pitching the top one in the pond before he finally managed to get it up.  They have terrible holes in the back to hang them from - we had them in the old house and they were trouble then too.  I promised he'd never have to move them to hang them somewhere else.  But they do look nice and you see them right when you walk in, so I'm happy.  I can't decide if I need something on either side (the open white space) to balance it out or not.  Thoughts?

Literally, just as Jason was finishing with the shelves Marcy and Moira arrived.  Moira will be watching our kids two days a week this summer (Marcy is her mom who I used to work with.)  They came over for pizza and to meet the kids.  The kids liked her instantly so I think it will be good for them this summer.  It was nice catching up with Marcy too.

The kids ended up going to bed late and I went to bed even later because I had put off making the salad I planned to make for the next day.  It's a wonderful veggie and pasta salad but it takes a long time to make since it involves cutting up a lot of vegetables.  (But worth it, in my opinion.)  It was after midnight before I went to bed and I was exhausted.  I thought I'd be able to sleep in but at 6:30 I woke up feeling rather bad.  But, I had a cake to make so press on, I did.  (Took a bunch of ibuprofen and sudafed I got the kids breakfast and then made the cake in between general cleanup/decluttering before Jason's family arrived at 2pm.

Thankfully, Jason's mom, sister and SIL all brought side dishes so I didn't have to make everything.  Much appreciated!  I felt like I hardly sat down again.  At around 6pm, everyone was starting to get ready to leave and I rushed the kids to get shoes on so we could go to see Seussical at my brother and SIL's high school where they were directing the show.  Of course there was an accident on the beltway and we were a few minutes late but thanks to knowing the directors, they were able to hold it off a few minutes and we had front row seats!  The kids LOVED it.  At first I wasn't so sure how they felt since it is a very small theater and the cast is right up on you, but after the show it was clear they were thrilled.  Piper made sure to get every single on of the "birds" autographs.  They didn't stop raving about it until the middle of the next day.  And then after the show Uncle Kevin gave them a tour of the backstage area and a chance to walk on the stage.

I'm hoping at least one of them will get into doing school productions as they get older.  You could tell how much they liked seeing the comradery of the cast after the show was over and they loved seeing the costumes and how much fun everyone had.  Once again, another late night for the kids and me.

Again, I went to bed exhausted and still not feeling great.  My cough had intensified and I felt so stuffy.  However, a good night's sleep was not to be had and I woke up feeling awful at 6am.  I tiptoed downstairs, made some tea and laid on the couch until everyone woke up.  Finally, the meds I took kicked in and got moving once again.  The sun was out but it still wasn't very warm, especially with the wind.  But I went out and watched the kids fly kites with our neighbors until we had to leave to go and see our friends in Columbia.

I wasn't feeling great but I'm so glad we went.  The kids had a fantastic time and it was nice to catch up with my college friends.  I finally got to meet Katie's little boy, Henry.  To say that he's cute would be an understatement.  He's such a happy little guy!  I feel bad that we hadn't seen them since NYE when Katie was just about to have him.  Obviously, it's been a busy winter/spring for everyone!  Finally, at around 8pm, we started rounding the kids up but they had no interest in leaving because they were having so much fun playing soccer.   We said our good byes but with the intention that we'll have everyone over soon to visit our new house.

Another late night for the kids but so happy to have Monday off!  I managed to sleep in later on Monday and felt like the grip of this nasty cold was finally off.  I didn't feel great, but better than I had on Saturday/Sunday.  Jason and I caught up on our usual Sunday chores in the morning (groceries, laundry) and then my parents fresh off their trip from Greece came to visit and we went out for a very nice dinner together.

It was a really great weekend even though I wasn't feeling great - so much packed in but I guess I'm glad because with the weather being so un-Memorial Day like, I would have been bummed if we had planned to spend it sitting by a pool doing nothing else.  Next weekend looks to be a little less hectic but we still have plans on Saturday evening and on Sunday.  At least the Sunday activity is a neighbor's birthday party so no driving will be necessary!

Mother's Day Delusion

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!  Mine was just fine.  Was it glamorous and a highlight reel like you might see on some lame Hallmark commercial (or certain people's Facebook posts)?  No.  No way!  Did that bother me?  Nope.

You see, I gave up the Mother's Day Delusion years ago.  You know what I'm talking about.  The thought that a mother will wake up on Mother's Day and everything will be perfect and she won't have to lift a finger.  Her children will be well behaved, her husband will have thought of everything, she'll have a delightful breakfast/brunch and everything will be cleaned up, and the day will go on like that until bedtime when her sweet little angels go peacefully to sleep and she can close her eyes knowing that she was honored on Mother's Day.

Yeah, right.

Now, that's not to say that I didn't have a nice day.  I actually did.  I got to sleep in/lay in bed until almost 8am without anyone bothering me.  I got up and started sorting our laundry and put a load in before going downstairs. (Can I tell you how much I am LOVING a second floor laundry room!?!?)  The kids were all three in Bryce's room and making a lot of noise so I figured they were making cards.....they were.

I made it downstairs to get coffee and they found me and quickly gave me cards.  Piper just gave me a hug and Bryce's card was kind of weird and didn't say much, but it was cute.  Caroline's card though, oh my, it made me laugh and cry.  Like tears falling down my face, cry.  It was so eloquent and personal.  I don't even want to post it because it was so personal.  I hugged her and thanked her - that was a nice way to start the day.  So I made my coffee and three servings of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows for the kids and got to skim the paper in between getting things the kids needed.  I then set on cleaning up the kitchen and then went downstairs to get on the computer to make the grocery list and menu for this week.  The kids were playing - still no problems: a normal Sunday morning.

But when I was finishing up getting ready to go to the grocery store (and Jason was in the shower) things quickly deteriorated.  Piper had one of Caroline's stuffed animals and threw it on the plant shelf in the foyer.  The plant shelf is almost 10 feet high.  Caroline was pretty angry and I realized quickly that randomly throwing stuff there might continue to be tempting for Piper (especially considering she kind of has a balcony overlooking the foyer and it's easy to toss things there).  Without missing a beat, I went into her room, grabbed Penny, her favorite stuffed animal, and tossed it onto the plant shelf with Caroline's bear.

Instant screams!!!!!!!!

Caroline looked satisfied and I told her I'd get her bear down later with Jason's special ladder.  I told Piper that I hoped that this would teach her not to throw things there because if she did it again, I would leave Penny up there for a week.  She was still screaming and I knew she'd get over it so I just chose to ignore it like I usually do.  That's Piper's M.O.

Here you can see two perspectives on the plant shelf...doesn't look that high in a photo, but trust me, it is!

You can see Penny's white tail sticking up.

From the steps, you can see the poor stuffies.  It's too far to be reached from the balcony even with a broom.  Thank goodness for Jason's long ladder.

However, Bryce did NOT like her screaming and decided to go over and try to throw her down to the floor.  Obviously, I saw the whole scene and he went to his room.  But that didn't go over so well with him and by the time Jason was out of the shower, Bryce had lost his privilege of playing outside with friends.   That also went over like a lead brick and he continued yelling.  I was done with him at this point and Jason made him keep his door closed until he stopped yelling.

I finished up my list and got ready to go - I was actually quite pleased to be going to the store by myself since someone usually always tags along.  When I went to leave, Jason looked defeated and said he was sorry that I'd had to deal with all that.  I told him I had no crazy expectations and not to worry about it at all. I was quite proud of my plant shelf solution and now I was headed out by myself.

So with that, I went to the store and when I came back they were all gone.  Peace!!  (But just for a little while.)  They had gone out and gotten me 2 hydrangeas to replace the ones we left at our old house and a new shower head for the master bath since cleaning the shower without one is murderous!  Nice and thoughtful - I liked it.

The other exciting thing Jason got at the store was something called Monkey Hooks.  I've been wanting to start hanging stuff up around the house but am very afraid of damaging walls.  I really need to have formal instruction on that because I hate being a woman that doesn't know how to do something like put in drywall screw anchors and hang something. On Saturday, Jason's dad showed him these things and Jason knew I'd love them.  They are nearly fool proof and I can do them myself!!  So I started attacking the kids' rooms!  (Well, I started to and then got distracted by a visit from our neighbors and ended up having two glasses of wine with them while sitting on the front porch.)  But after THAT, I went to town.  I got so many things hung up but I am running low on hooks now I need to get some tonight.  Things already look better and more settled.

By the time I was done with that, Jason had made us a delicious dinner (spinach stuffed chicken breasts and tomato-basil risotto) which the kids all complained equally about.  I thought it was great and was so happy that I didn't have to do any prep at all.  Jay is a decent cook and follows recipes well but even this was more advanced for him and he did perfectly.  The risotto was a new recipe and I would definitely make it again.  After that, he cleaned up and I hung a few more pictures and then we sat outside on a COLD May evening and had some hot tea.

I tried to get some photos of the kids in front of the house for our moving cards but that turned into a disaster where they took turns not smiling and when I said I'd had enough, they all threw a fit.  Nice.  So bathtime started rough but they all calmed down and went to sleep.  Whew.

A normal Sunday at our house but a nice day, nonetheless.  My only real complaint was that it was so chilly for mid-May.  Now if I could just get myself over the delusion for other holidays, I'm sure I'd enjoy them a lot more too.

Ides of March

Well I guess technically that's 4 days a way, but I'm saying it'd mid-March now. Had a good weekend especially because the weather was delightful.  Hard to believe it was only 58-60 degrees but it felt wonderful.

Friday night the kids went home with my MIL so Jason and I took advantage to get a quick bite to eat and run an errand.  Then we came home and cleaned and did some random housework.

Saturday morning we got a few more household tasks done and met our sales agent at the house to measure for blinds.  She actually left us there and we were in the house by ourselves for well over an hour.  One of our new neighbors even came and hung out with us for a bit.  It was nice to be able to be in the house, unobserved for a bit and really discuss the placement of things.  I am so excited about having more counter and cabinet space in the kitchen and have all these ideas for making better organizing choices that I didn't do as good a job of in the old house.   We now have all of our granite (kitchen) countertops installed along with our kitchen sink too.  I looks great!  They also installed the stone on our fireplace and have all the toilets and bathroom sinks installed too.  They have the hardwood flooring installed in the powder room and under where the appliances will go - otherwise they wait for things to be almost complete before they put it all down.  All the vinyl was installed in the bathrooms and laundry room too.  It looked great!

After that we went up to my IL's house to spend the day with the kids and Kelly/Jesse and the babies.  It was a nice day and Caroline spent about 3 hours total holding the babies - it was the cutest thing.  She was really soaking them up.   And the weather was so nice we even got them out for their first walk.

Sunday morning marked the crash into daylight saving time and we kind of poked around in the morning doing laundry and figuring out what to do with our day.  In the end we grabbed some lunch and then took the kids to Eastern Regional Park where they played on the playground, practiced some soccer, and we took a long hike back through one of the trails.  I was hoping to make sure they were good and tired at the seemingly earlier bedtime.  Me too, for that matter.

We had a nice dinner with my parents and got the kids into bed without any real problem.  Jay and I watched the DVRed Justin Timberlake SNL and I was feeling sleepy but as soon as I went to bed I was wide awake.  So rather than being sleep deprived as a result of the time change, I have that to combat along with getting about 2 hours less sleep because of some minor insomnia.  I'm feeling rough this morning and having a 9am meeting on the other side of campus doesn't help.

The other quick stop we made yesterday was at the model and I grilled our sales agent about when we would get our settlement date.  I was peeved when she said, "Well, your house is actually ahead of schedule right now..."  REALLY!?!?!?  Ahead?  Funny because back when we signed our contract we were told maybe by the end of January.  Then when we had our pre-construction meeting we were told end of February - max!  Knowing how house building goes, I figured late March.  So now to be told it's "ahead" of schedule is kind of an insult.  And then our hopes of settling in early April were kind of dashed because she said "typically the company won't settle in the first half of the month because of interest reasons."  Grrrrreat.  So we're looking at April 15 as the EARLIEST possible date now.  And again, we still don't have a date.  I asked them how far in advance should we expect to get it and she said typically about 30 days so as March 15 quickly approaches, my frustration grows.  This is where I'm really missing our former sales agent...he was so much more approachable and helpful.

Grandparents Return = Kids Crazy

My parents were in NOLA for all of last week and returned on Saturday afternoon.  The kids missed them SO much.  So much.  Bryce cried the  night before they left and sent my mom emails the whole time she was gone saying how much he missed her.  All week Bryce and Piper kept asking when they were coming back. (Caroline didn't need to ask since she knew it was Saturday.)  All day Saturday, Bryce kept asking what time they were getting back.  It was a little annoying.  Finally, the time came for me to drive down to BWI and get them so Bryce and Piper came along.  We pulled up to baggage claim and waited (my dad texted they were waiting for their bags) and so began the constant "worry" by Bryce and Piper that they wouldn't find us.  At last they appeared and the kids were SOOOOO happy.  Lots of hugs and kisses and we drove home.

However, upon arriving home the kids became lunatics.  They were so happy to have my parents home and so happy for the little gifts my mom brought them.  My mom brought a red boa back to Piper and based on the feathers around the house you'd think that a dead chicken was molting - they are EVERYWHERE.  (Piper loved it and said she felt so pretty in it.)

And while I wouldn't say that the kids were calm while my parents were gone, they were definitely way more amped up upon their return - especially Bryce and Piper.  They were running around like maniacs, fighting more, yelling more and getting into everything.  I could tell it was getting to my mom by Sunday morning.  (As you would expect it to!)  And then to add to it, Sunday evening we were celebrating my mom's birthday so my siblings and their loves were coming over which is another reason to make my kids act like idiots.

We sat down to dinner and they could not sit in their chairs.  They barely ate and before we knew it the younger two were crawling around on the floor and under the table acting like animals.  (Literally)  Clearly, Jason and I had had it.  I commented to my mom that while it was certainly not my parents' fault, their arrival home had resulted in the kids being poorly behaved and then add the excitement of my brother coming over (OMG, they LOVE him) and you have a perfect storm.

My mom's comment?  "Do you think it has something to do with them just feeling completely happy and loved?"

At first I thought no, they are just being jerks.  But then I really thought about it and I think she was right.  They were SO happy to have my parents home and then were SO happy to have my siblings over - they were just doing their own version of celebrating.  Exhausting, but true.  Thankfully, the night ended well and we got the kids settled into bed.  Here's hoping getting them back into a normal week will help.  But you know what would really help?  Spring.  Yeah.  Spring.  Please?

I can't believe how cold it has been for early March and now they are calling for a dump of snow on Wednesday.  Ugh.  Please let that be winter's final curtain call.  My kids need to get out of the house and RUN and BIKE and SCOOT.  I'm thinking a lot of this energy has been a result of cabin fever too.  Piper went outside for a little bit yesterday and then came back in complaining it was too cold and I totally agreed.

I'm just ready for spring.  I'm ready for warm weather and sunshine.  I'm ready to get into our new house.  I'm ready.  Winter can be done and behind us.

Well Done Weekend

Despite the fact that Jason and I don't get a long President's Day weekend and the weird, wintry weather we had (snow bursts, high winds, dampness), it really was a good weekend:

1.  Twins!!  We got to meet the twins!  They are absolutely adorable and perfect.  All three kids got to hold them and were just so interested in them - even Bryce.

A big thank you to Jesse and Kelly for having us over.  I know how much of an adjustment this is especially with Kelly recovering.  We cannot wait to love on them some more and to be a part of their lives.

2.  Dinner Out!  Jason made post-Valentine's Day reservations for us at Ten Ten.  It's the same restaurant group that runs/owns Fleet Street Kitchen where we ate for my birthday.  It was delicious!!  The menu was the perfect variety and both of us really enjoyed our entrees.  I had the grilled prawns, pork belly and grits - OMG!  It's not as formal as FSK, but the food was just as good.  In fact, I'd say the dessert I had (chocolate torte) was one of the best restaurant desserts I've ever had.  It was nice just having a quiet evening for the two of us.  And then on the way home we drove by the new house just because we can't wait.  

3.  Grandparent dinner - While we were at Ten Ten, my parents took the kids out for a "fancy" dinner to the Macaroni  Grill.  They had strict orders to NOT order macaroni & cheese - which they all avoided.  Bryce even found that he likes Fettuccine Alfredo.  Who knew?  Apparently they behaved well and even rewarded my parents with a compliment on their behavior.  Thank goodness but I wish they would behave better for my mom at home!

4.  Dry Walled!  On Sunday morning we met our new sales agent at our house for a quick look at the house now that the dry wall was hung.  You can imagine our surprise to find that a crew was there for the second day in a row working on the "mud."  The kids stayed in the car watching a DVD while we toured the house.  It looked great and I loved seeing the rooms "completed."  I know there is still a lot left to do but it's nice to get a real feel for a room now that they have all their walls.  One of my favorite shots is this one from our master bedroom.  You can see the hallway back to our bathroom - with his/her walk in closets and a linen closet along the way.  So exciting to see it walled!

Looking into the powder room (left) and kitchen - it's kind of hard to get a real perspective on the kitchen without the cupboards and island.

5. Major Purchases - now that we are likely within 45 days of settlement (hoping to hear this week) it's time to get serious about our major purchases.  Aside from blinds (omg, we have a lot of windows), our biggest "must" purchases are our washer/dryer and kitchen table.  We love the table and chairs we had in the kitchen in the old house but we've decided now that we have a real dining room that we want to use it in there.  Especially since it seats up to 8 and is starting to show some wear and tear from daily use by the kids.  So I started looking online and found the exact same set I liked at Gardiner's at Just Cabinets for $100 less!  It will be perfect for us in the kitchen for regular family meals.  

Next it was onto Home Depot because we knew that we could get an HE washer tax free and with an overall 10% discount.  Last week we finally settled on the Maytag Maxima washer and dryer (with pedestals) after reading way too many online reviews and Consumer Reports.   

They can keep them in stock for 90 days so we'll be fine waiting for our settlement date.  They had them in pretty colors but it wasn't worth the extra $100/each so I am fine with white.  The washer even has a fan in it to keep it from smelling bad like our old front loader did if you closed the door between washing.  Fancy!

On our way home, we stopped at my brother's because he agreed to store our table and chairs until move in since our storage units and my parents are tapped out on space.  When we got back to my mom's we joked that we spent all that money and all we had to show for it were some expensive pieces of paper.  

6. Dinner with my Kevin & Kelly - finally, to end our weekend Kevin and Kelly came over for dinner.  The kids just love them so much and we hadn't seen them in a while so it was nice way to spend the evening, especially since we didn't have to go home and could sit and talk to them after the kids went to bed.

I wish I was off work today too but at least I earn a day off.  Better to save them for when we are in the house and I have so much to do that I'm overwhelmed!

It Was a Good Thanksgiving!

I had hopes of updating some this weekend.  That never happened.  From the time I got off work on Tuesday evening, it was go go go!

Wednesday:  Caroline and Bryce made the honor roll (yay!) so their award breakfast was that morning.  My MIL graciously still came down to take Piper to school and stayed to help in class.  I was able to get there by 10:15 to help and see Piper in action in class.  It was freaking adorable.  They had a very nice Thanksgiving meal too. Piper was just thrilled I could finally be there and I can understand why she likes her school so much.  After that we ran home, saw the appraiser finishing up her job, and then scooted over to my mom's to help with Thanksgiving dinner prep.  Finished up there in enough time to get the kids from school and take them to get allergy shots.  Stopped by the model house on our way back to pick up another load of free boxes and got home in time to get ready to go to eat dinner at our usual Thanksgiving Eve place - Pizza John's.  Bryce decided to spend the night at my mom's so it was a much quieter evening and next morning as a result.  Here are some photos from the day on Wednesday:

Apparently there were cheese balls at the first Thanksgiving too.

Thursday:  The girls played so nicely and watched the parade while I made stuffing and got ready to go to my mom's.  We arrived shortly after 11am and in time to see Santa arrive in the parade.  In addition to part of my dad's family and my family, the daughter of one of my parents' good friends was there with her family.  They have two kids, aged 5 and 2 who are wonderful.  The kids had so much fun playing with them.  It was a great day and we stayed LATE into the evening.  My mom and I even went to Target at 9pm to try and get  deal but after going in and experiencing the chaos we have been forever cured of any Black Friday shopping.  We happily left empty handed after 10 minutes.  

Friday:  The kids played with neighbors while we ran back and forth to storage.  The basement and garage are pretty much empty. 

Saturday:  Another busy day!  Gymnastics at 9am followed by a holiday decorating party at the model house.  We got to meet more of our neighbors and hear all kinds of interesting building/move-in stories from several other couples.  I think we're going to really like our new neighborhood!  Everyone that has kids was so happy to see other kids that are moving in too.  By 2pm, we left and headed south to our friends in Columbia's house.  The kids were thrilled to see Zoe and Taki and play with all the other kids that were there too.  I love that the holidays always give us more opportunities to see one another!

Sunday:  Jason tackled taking apart the kids' playground while I got groceries and started packing the family room, living room, and kitchen.  We were all feeling a little sad that the long weekend was almost over though and the prospect of how much has to be done in the next two weeks.

Jason said for the first time last night he felt sad about leaving.  I have moments myself here and there and it's easy not to think about it with having so much to do.  I think it's normal especially when we've had a great 9 years here.  All 3 kids were babies here - that's kind of hard to part with but thankfully I have thousands of photos to capture it.  Plus, we know once we are in the new house and settled it will become ours in a matter of months.  I think just having the few months of not having a house will be the tough part.  

But there was much to be thankful for and I am done all of my Christmas shopping for the kids.  Jay and I aren't exchanging gifts so now I have to tackle our parents, my siblings, and some other gifts.  I'm really hoping that things are settled enough at my mom's the weekend after we move in to do some baking as I really like doing that for teachers and some other gifts.  

Quick Weekend Update

Yes, it's Tuesday.  Already.  Good gracious.  Another whirlwind weekend.

After gymnastics on Saturday morning, we switched from a 5x10 storage unit to a 15x30 unit and schlepped all of our stuff from one to the other.  Bryce and Piper had a knack for standing in the exact wrong spot as we moved stuff in and out.  Managed to get home in time and get gifts for the neighbor birthday party we attended that afternoon and evening.  It was a beautiful day for November and the kids had a great time and we had a good time catching up with some neighbors.  No one could believe how quickly we sold our house and that we are moving before Christmas.  In fact, one of our neighbors who attempted to sell their house twice before with no luck is now considering trying again after our success.  We even teased them that they should look at our new neighborhood!

We were up early on Sunday so I loaded up the van and made three trips to the storage unit before lunch with stuff from the basement.  Then, once Caroline came home from her sleepover, we loaded the kids up, made one more trip to the storage unit and went and hung out at the model house for a bit.  My parents came by (my dad had never been inside) and we met some more new neighbors.  But the big news of the day for Caroline was she finally got to meet Rachel.  Rachel lives next door to the model and is exactly one month older than Caroline.  She will finish the year out in her current school but will be attending 4th grade at our neighborhood's school!  Upon first meeting, I could tell the girls hit it off!  She was friendly, silly and had a lot of energy - just like Caroline.  She even seemed to really like Piper.  And, the icing on the cake?  Her brother plays for the Maryland football team - ha!  Go Terps!  Caroline was so cute when they told her she was outside with her dog and wanted to meet the kids.  Caroline had been eating and quickly wiped off her face before going outside to meet her - clearly she wanted to make a good impression.  We also met another guy whose in-laws live in my parents' neighborhood and my parents actually know worked together with in the community association.  Small world!  He and his wife live a few houses down from where our lot is and they have a little boy.

As for the building of our new house, sigh, we're still waiting for the permit from the county.  Can't blame the builder on this one.  Apparently there is some new energy code for 2012 and our builder exceeds all standards but Baltimore County is a bit behind and having issues.  If we break ground before December 1, I will be shocked.  Here's hoping we are underway before we settle on this house.

Then on Monday, Jason and I took the day off so we could spend the morning in Bryce and Caroline's classes for American Education Week.  It was nice just to see what a normal morning was like in their classes and see the things they've been talking about the past few months.  We left as Caroline's class went to lunch and headed home to gear up for more moving.  We loaded up the van and SUV twice and made trips to storage.  The basement is much emptier and we have all the deck furniture stored.  We are still waiting to pack the rest of the house until we get official approval that the buyer's loan is approved although I did pack up our crystal and china since they were just up on high shelves and don't matter if for some reason we'd have to start showing the house again.  (I certainly hope not.)

We also had an estimate on foggy window and it won't need a complete replacement, just a repair and that should happen right around Thanksgiving.  Whew.

So it's three days in the office for me and then I will be off again on Friday to take my dad for an outpatient hernia surgery.  Poor guy.  Here's hoping it goes according to plan and he's on the mend quickly.

Weekend Goodness

Aside from accepting a contract on our house, the weekend was good in many other ways.  The girls had gymnastics on Saturday morning and then we had lunch with my mom since my dad, Jason, Bryce and Uncle Jesse were all at the Terps football game down in College Park.  I bought two replacement hermit crabs for Piper and Bryce too and resituated the cage, so here's hoping that they won't die as fast as the other ones did.  Caroline ended up spending the afternoon and night with my parents which I think was much needed.  As the oldest, she rarely gets alone time with us or her grandparents so I was glad she had such a good time although she was a bit difficult upon return on Sunday morning.

After letting the kids have some friends over in the morning, we took the kids over to the model house in our new community for some football game day food that our sales agent always has.  It was great because a lot of the homeowners who are already moved in drop by and we got to meet a lot of our new neighbors.  The kids had a ball playing in the backyard and jumping all around.  They didn't want to leave which makes me very happy to know they are excited about moving in.  We still didn't get to meet the little girl next door to the model who apparently might be Caroline's new BFF.  (We hear they're about the same age, both blond, and both Terp fans - her brother plays for the Maryland football team!  We also saw a Barbie dollhouse box outside.)  Here's hoping we'll get to meet her soon as one of the neighbors we did get to meet said she's a really nice kid.  It seems the new neighborhood is going to have a lot of kids moved in by the time our house is done.  Right now it's a lot of couples with no kids or very young kids but talking to our sales agent and other neighbors, it seems more school aged kids are on the horizon.  YAY!

After we left the model, we went home and got packed up for our big surprise.  Since the kids were off on Monday and the end of Daylight Savings, the drive-in had a special "matinee" for families.  Frankenweenie was playing at 5:30 and Wreck-It Ralph was right after so we decided to take the kids.  They were thrilled! They love the drive-in but this was extra special.  It was cold though so brought lots of  blankets and coats/hats/mittens.  The first movie we kept the windows closed and had to keep wiping the wind sheild down because we fogged them up.  So for the second movie we cracked the windows....BRR! But at least we could see easily and I thought this was the better movie of the two anyway.  I couldn't believe how many people were there.  We even saw Caroline's teacher from last year with her two kids.  We loaded up on hot chocolate, popcorn and a few odd pieces of Halloween candy and snuggled up together.  It was really fun and we were home by 9:30.  A late night for Jason and I who had to work the next day, but it was worth it.

Weekend Accomplishments

While I was actually accomplishing things this weekend I felt good about the things I was doing but now that the weekend is over, I feel like I didn't do enough.  Except for Jason cleaning out his part of the closet and his stuff sitting out in the bedroom, the second floor is decluttered.  I managed to get all the carpets upstairs shampooed on Saturday and cleaned out our closet yesterday.  It was such a beautiful weekend that it was a perfect time to shampoo carpets and clean the oven - both of which can make the house smell bad if you have it all closed up.  But thanks to the dry, breezy weather, neither presented a problem and for the most part, the carpets upstairs look good.  The steps have a little "wear and tear" look to them but they don't look truly dirty.  What do you expect after 9 years?  Jason spent the better part of Sunday afternoon taking out the caulk around the tub and shower in our master bath and then recaulking.  And then after a small fit of rage with the kids making a colossal mess in the playroom, I went to town in there.  I wouldn't say I'm completely done but I'm about 2/3 so I should be able to finish in there tonight along with getting the living room looking good (although the computer desk might have to wait).  I think that I am on target for completing the decluttering project on the main floor of the house well before the weekend but then that leaves the, gulp, basement.  To say I'm freaking out about the basement is an understatement.

I knew it was going to get messier before it got cleaned up since we're putting all the storage stuff down there at the moment until we get our storage unit (next weekend??).  My SIL is supposed to come next weekend too and get all the baby gear stuff too which will clear up a big spot of floor right when you come down the steps.  Since she doesn't know the twin genders yet, I told her to leave the bins of clothing since they are neatly and easily stacked against the wall.  I didn't want to make her take any gendered baby clothes until she knows what she's having.  (It seems everyone thinks she's either having two girls or a boy & girl.  She's 15 weeks and she might know soon since she gets frequent ultrasounds.  Cannot wait for them to find out!)

I will probably make a trip down to Goodwill soon and do a major drop off, but getting that storage unit will be a big deal for me because then things can start leaving the house instead of just being relocated.

I can't take any time off this week but I'm hoping to take a day off next week.

Overall though, the weekend was very good.  The kids had plenty of play time with their friends and on Saturday evening, they spent the night with my brother and his wife for the first time.  They'd been wanting to have them over and offered so we decided to go out.  We went to Salt in Fells Point with Kelly and Jesse and loved it!  Really good food!  I had an octopus salad to start and coriander/black pepper encrusted tuna. Really delicious and fun spending time with K & J!

I feel kind of bad though because I feel like I'm not spending much quality time with the kids right now because I'm so occupied with house tasks.  I keep telling myself that once the house is all set to sell that I will be able to just concentrate on them as opposed to seeing them as little minions that are thwarting my efforts.  (I hate that I even think that.)  Deep breaths....this too shall pass.

Back to Work I Go

It was SO nice having Thursday and Friday off!  No particular reason, I have plenty of days and I need to just plan ahead and use them.  I know I will be taking another Thursday/Friday off in mid-July as we lead up to my BIL's wedding so I was trying to space it out a little bit.

Thursday - Initially, I was calling this "Mom's Day of Fun" but the weather had other plans.  I'd hoped to take the kids somewhere but when the weather was forecasted 100 degrees, I knew there was no other place we'd want to be than swimming.  Caroline's friend Sophia spent the night on Wednesday and they were all up by 7:30.  Sophia went home and accompanied her mom to the gym (her little sister behaves better in the gym's childcare if Sophia is there) and the four of us went to Target.  We were back by 10:30 and the kids did there chores while I cleaned up and got ready to go swimming.  Sophia came back down after lunch and I took all 4 kids to my mom's.  Whoooo-weee, it was HOT.  So glad to have a pool to go to!  The kids had a great time and we made it back home to my crock pot dinner by 5pm.  The kids were so tired from being up late the night before and the swimming that none of them even went back outside.  Plus, since we were planning on leaving early the next day, I made them all get in bed "early" (for summer) and everyone was passed out by 9pm - quite a feat in the days when it's not actually dark until 9pm.

Friday - Jason was up at 5am and was greeted by a colony of ants invading our kitchen.  When I got up at 6am, he was finishing up his fight and had the poison out to greet them.  (Combat Ant Gel always does the trick for us!)  Bryce and Piper followed soon after but it was pulling teeth to get Caroline out of bed.  We had hoped to leave by 7am, but 7:30 was a more realistic time.  (Kind of uncharacteristic for our family though, generally if we say we're leaving by a certain time, we leave by that time.)  But serendipity prevailed and our late departure actually proved to work out just fine for our timing.  With little to no traffic, we made it to Mount Vernon just after 9am.  Even though it was already warm and humid, there was a breeze blowing and the sun was in and out.  The crowds were light too.  Since our mansion time wasn't until 10:30am, we had plenty of time to check out the orientation center and movie and make our way around the grounds:

We checked out some of the surrounding buildings, the gardens, saw some farm animals, and took a few photos.  And then it was time for the mansion tour.  The kids were super excited about seeing George and Martha's house and even though they walked through the rooms much faster than I would have liked, they really seemed to be absorbing it.  They were particularly excited to see the room and bed where George Washington had died.  Caroline said she really liked looking at the old beds and was fascinated by the canopies on all of them.  Piper said she wanted to jump on the beds.  

With the mansion tour complete, it was after 11am and we decided to get a head start on lunch since we hoped to eat at the Mt. Vernon Inn instead of the food court (and we were hungry given our early start).  11:30am proved a perfect time and we were seated right away.  The kids devoured their food - it was a fun little meal.  I enjoyed the chestnut and peanut soup which was a classic dish from George and Martha's time apparently.  After some ice cream for dessert we went back outside in hopes of meeting "Martha" and seeing George's tomb.  Unfortunately the breeze and clouds were gone and it was HOT.  We made it to where "Martha" was supposed to be for a meet and greet but found that it was closed.  We made our way to the tomb which was quite interesting to the kids and then headed back to the air conditioning of the museum.  And boy did that a/c feel good!

The kids really liked the museum and the hands on nature of the entire exhibit.  

Here they are posing as the Washingtons in the children's room: 

It made me laugh that on the other side of the face cutouts there was a stern warning to parents that these were just for putting faces into and not the entire head.  I guess they've had some kids get their heads stuck - I can only imagine the drama!

All in all, it was a great day trip and even though the return traffic was rough, it was a good day.

Saturday: Bryce had a brief trophy ceremony at noon celebrating the end of T-Ball season.  While he liked it, he's not too keen on playing again next spring.  Jason is okay with that and understands.  Baseball is a little hard to keep kids focused on, especially when they are 4-6 year olds.  Maybe he'll be more interested in it when he gets older, or not.  He's already asking when soccer starts which Jason is very happy about.   Once the boys got home we headed down to a family birthday party in Columbia.  (Had to make a pit stop at Katie's house to retrieve Caroline's towel she left a few weeks ago - wish we could have attended both parties!)  

We had a great time at the party and the kids swam while the adults watched and relaxed (but I forgot my camera!).  It was a more subdued party than they usually have and it was delightful.  All the kids played so well together and I can't wait to go to the beach with Zoe, Taki and their parents in a few weeks!  We also got to meet Jackie and Jim's new dog - Beau.  This dog won my heart in a second and if I was considering getting a dog I would want to clone this dog!  He's only 5 months old but so calm and sweet.  He's a Labradoodle but he's 75% poodle and 25% lab - so maybe that's why he's so calm because NO lab puppy is ever that calm.  If I could guarantee that a dog would be so good natured, I'd be much closer to considering a dog.  We were all smitten and it was so cute to see Piper with him.  Can't wait to see him again.

We didn't extract the kids from the pool until almost 8pm and then rolled home with Caroline and Bryce balking at mine and Jason's choice of music (80's and 90's stations).  We ignored them though and rocked out - of course Caroline maintained that the ride was "torturous" and "horrible."  I was trying to get them to understand that that was the music we used to bother OUR parents with when we were their ages and that the music on the "Hits 1" station is annoying to us sometimes.  They didn't buy it.

Sunday:  After we all did some chores and had lunch, we decided to make our way over to my mom's for more swimming.  But our CSA had delivered SO much bounty in the way of summer veggies I had to use them.  I made a delicious summer vegetable chicken caccitore in the crock pot and two loaves of zucchini bread.  And there's barely a dent in my zucchini pile.  (It's not even peak zucchini time yet!)  We got to my mom's and swam - again I forgot my camera- and missed Jason throwing the kids around.  We had a nice dinner with my parents and Kevin (Aunt Kelly has departed for Chicago for summer 2 of her 3 summer master's program) and then made it home so the kids could watch a "big" episode of "Good Luck, Charlie" on the Disney Channel at 8pm.  Piper passed out on the way home (she won't nap anymore and swimming exhausts her) and the older two got super fast baths so they could watch their show.

It was a verrrrry nice long weekend and I am looking forward to another one soon.  I'm bummed that the 4th of July is on a Wednesday this year.  If I wasn't taking off the Thursday/Friday of the following week, I'd probably take off that Thursday/Friday of that week too, but alas, that's how it is and I'll just enjoy a mid-week break.

I love summer and this past weekend was a perfect example of why!

The Day of Mothers

It was a nice Mother's Day.  Started at 7am, but I had a feeling the kids were going to wake me up early because I knew that they had been making something the night before when Jason and I were out at dinner.  My SIL and her husband came over to babysit while we went out to eat (Chazz: A Bronx Original - good food but very New York in that it was packed and loud, but good for a dinner with another couple) and brought over a box of crafty stuff.  I was banned from going into Caroline's room that night when we got home so I just knew they wouldn't be able to wait to wake me up.

At 7am, in they came with cards and artwork in hands ready for me to see everything.  I really need to take some photos of them.  Caroline wrote me a whimsical type poem, Bryce drew a picture of the two of us together, and Piper just decorated a page and wrote her name.  All three were very proud of their creation.  Then Bryce and Piper got up in bed with me and snuggled for a bit.  We went downstairs and on the table was a big box.  Inside was a 22inch flat screen replacement TV for our bedroom.  (We had a 13 inch TV from 1997 up until this point so this is kind of a big deal!)  My other gift was that the day before, Jason and Bryce took our old treadmill to the dump.  YAY!  One less piece of junk in our basement.

I made the kids waffles for breakfast and then ate something and then got ready for the day.  I was meeting my mom and sister for sushi and then going to see a movie in the afternoon. Jason took the kids out for Rita's and to the park while I was gone.  Lunch was really good and the movie was decent.  Before the movie we had some time and did some shopping in a new kid clothing store called Crazy 8 - I loved it!  Nothing like spending your mother's day away from the kids only to end up buying your kids a bunch of clothes!  Then we headed down to the theater and saw The Five Year Engagement and while it was funny and I liked the characters, it was about a half hour too long.  Judd Apatow could have done a better job at editing it.  But Jason Segal is just awesome as were two of the supporting actors who had us laughing a good bit of the time.  My mom and sister laughed a lot too and laughter is good for all of us.  Although I will say the half hour of previews before the movie were TERRIBLE.  Aren't they supposed to show you trailers that are aimed at the specific audience of the movie you're about to see?  Ugh.  5/6 of them were terrible and were most definitely not films that I would see.  Lots of sci-fi - definitely NOT the type of movie we were seeing.

We made it back to my mom's and then I headed home.  Jason had dinner almost ready and it smelled good.  He said that the kids were really good and we all sat down to dinner.  And that is where it all started to melt down.  I was barraged by "mommy mommy mommy" and the whining began.  Jason said he hadn't had to deal with that all day.  They whined, they complained, they asked for 542 different things.  Clearly, I am the problem here - sometimes I just feel like leaving.  I just don't get it.  I don't give into them or indulge them so why do I get whined to so much.  Piper threw a major fit because I told her she had to eat her (delicious) green beans.  Caroline and Bryce finished their meals and went out to play with neighbors but Piper was not allowed out of the house until she finished her food.  Jay and I sat on the front porch as she went through her fit of going to her room and slamming the door, crying, whining, and then finally eating them.  Ha!  I will break this wild pony if it's the last thing I do!   (Caroline and Bryce both ate all their food without much issue but it still wasn't enough to satisfy you for long but thankfully they didn't complain about being hungry later.)

Bathtime wasn't without dramatics either as Bryce launched into a fit.  He got over it and then all 3 kids actually went to bed without much issue.  Jay and I watched our usual Sunday night Game of Thrones episode and then fell into bed.

Weekend in Photos

We had a busy weekend.  Friday's summer like temperatures (82 degrees at home!) was pretty much a guarantee that we were going to be spending the entire evening outside.  The kids rode bikes and scooters and had fun with neighbor kids.  Piper, who had been riding her tricycle, took her first try at riding a two wheeler.  I never would have bought a bike that small, but our neighbor grew out of hers and handed it down to Piper - perfect!  Although her first spin on it wasn't so great because I didn't realize that the tires were flat.  Piper could barely pedal it and I figured maybe she just wasn't ready for it.  But then I gave the tire a squeeze and couldn't believe how flat it was.  Two pumped up tires later and whoosh, off she went!  She was sooooo pleased with herself and has been getting better every time that she rides it.  I know it's because it makes her feel like a big kid.  Knowing Piper, she'll probably figure out how to ride without training wheels long before her siblings did.  That's just how she rolls.

Unfortunately the summer weather didn't last into the rest of the weekend and we woke up on Saturday to rain.  But, we already had a trip planned to visit my grandmother in Hagerstown, so it seemed to be the perfect day for it.  My grandmother is going to be moving out of her house in a few months into an active adult living community.  She'll continue living independently in a one floor house and this was the first time we all got to go and take a look.  We were all amazed at how nice it is and how much space she will have.  I like how it has so many windows and is so bright and cheery.  While I have always absolutely loved the house my grandparents moved into in 1962, I worry about her in that big house with all the steps.  I will be sad when it comes time for her to move, but I will feel good knowing she's living somewhere so nice and safe - plus she won't have to worry about upkeep.

Here are a few photos of us checking the place out....it's still being renovated:

The family room - my uncle is going to buy MeeMaw a flat panel TV to put above the fire place:

Posing in the sunroom/sewing room:

The view of the combined dining room & living room (Caroline loved the bay window):

I love this photo of MeeMaw, my cute, happy grandmother!

Here is what she was smiling about in the last photo...there were some people in the closet:

It was a nice day in Hagerstown, especially since we ended up going out to eat with my parents on the way home - an unexpected treat.  Sunday was another cool, damp day but we had a lot of chores to be done before the work week started - bathroom cleaning, laundry, starting to pack.  The kids kind of entertained themselves and ran around like crazy people while Jason and I did chores. At one point all three kids were in capes and pretending to be super heros or fairies or something.  They also went out on the deck and had a blast blowing bubbles.  They made such a mess that Caroline and Piper had to come inside and get baths before we could go anywhere.  My mom volunteered to watch the kids for a short bit and Jason and I were able to run to Kohl's and Target to get some odd and ends and some clothes.  When we got home, we played The Game of Life for the first time.  Caroline and Bryce LOVED it as I guessed they would.  I remember loving it as a kid too, but I must say as an adult and having to play banker makes it a lot less fun.  That game relies a lot on money exchange and I could barely keep up, plus having to remember each of their salaries.  I think Life needs to go the way of Monopoly with a calculator type device to keep track.  But I've read that modern version of Life isn't as good at the 1980's version that we played.  The biggest laugh of the game for me was that Bryce ended up with four boys!  Ha!  Karma.  We decided their names were Bronco, Bruno, Brock, and Bruce (names we sometimes tell Bryce are his secret name that we named him).

So it was a good weekend and now I have lots of things to accomplish.  I've even told the kids that we will not be reading to them before bed each night so that I have more time to get things done after their in bed.  All the suitcases are out and last night I got all of Piper's clothes packed.  Tonight I'm going to get Bryce's and mine done.  Wooooot!

Almost Spring Weekend

Just a few photos from our Sunday spent outside.  More updates to come.