This week at my house

Well, it sure has been busy.

Last weekend, Chad and my brother, Andy, re-plumbed (is that a word?) our bathroom.

Thank heavens it no longer looks like this!  New floor is in, new vanity/sink is in, toilet is back where it belongs...there is still lots to do but at least it is functional.

Later that day we celebrated my Mom's birthday.  I won't say which one although the cake may give it away. ;)

Speaking of birthdays, yours truly has a VIB (Very Important Birthday) coming up on Sunday.  I am turning FORTY.   I thought it might bother me, but nope.  If it involves cake and presents, I am all in.  Even if it means I have to get older.  Actually, (tangent alert...) I feel really good right now.  My 30's were great.  I gave birth to 3 beautiful children, I moved back to the area where I grew up, I have friends, family, a church family that I adore....can't complain AT. ALL.  Lately I have been running regularly.... which has caused me to start eating healthier... which has improved my mood and energy level too!  Plus, today when Carter reminded me that soon I will be forty, I asked him "So Carter, do you think Mommy is old?" And he said "No....you are young!"  I love that boy. :)

I am going to need all that energy later this year....this week we made some final plans to take a trip to Disney in the fall with Chad's parents. I am so, so excited!  We have been there once with Audrey when she was 2, but not with all the kids.  Chloe's eyes are going to pop right out of her little head when she sees Cinderella's castle!!!  I can't wait!  We have not told the kids yet, but Chad and I have been talking "in code" with each other about it .... apparently Audrey has been doing a little eavesdropping.  Last night I found her scribbling furiously into her notebook and this is what she had written (yes, I sneaked a peek while she was sleeping!):

(Click on the photo to see it larger)

Perhaps she has been reading too many Cam Jensen mystery books lately?  Chad & I could not stop laughing when we read this.  It is SO Audrey.

Meanwhile, I decided that I want to finish some lingering "unfinished" projects around here.  It all started when I committed to crocheting some hats to send to a woman who puts together gift boxes for children who are fighting cancer.  So I pulled out my yarn collection.  Then I found a half-finished hat that I started for my nephew...who was born last July.  So I decided that before starting any more hats, I should finish the one I already started. (Guess the hat will be going to another baby boy...)  Of course then I had to find the original pattern and figure out where I was....then I stayed up WAAAAY too late finishing it up.  Because once I get involved in it, I have a hard time putting it down.  I never know when I might get back to it!  (And now you get a little glimpse into how my scattered mind works.  Only add in interruptions every few minutes by someone needing a drink of milk or help with a puzzle or needing to tell me something RIGHT NOW.....)  Anyhow, I think it turned out cute:

It's a little elf hat...what do you think?  I think it is perfect for those photos of little sleeping newborns all curled up wearing only a diaper and a cute hat! 

Chloe is still loving puzzles.  She figured this one out all by herself today.

25 piece puzzle at 2 1/2?  I think she's a smart little cookie!

Chloe also had a play date with her friend Ella.  I took a picture of them.

 (Chloe really was wearing clothes.  Her princess dress is just so big that it falls off her shoulders!)

This picture was taken after about 10 of THIS kind of picture:

 STOP MAKING CROSS EYES!!

REALLY!  I MEAN IT!

(She LOVES to make this face...I think I need to stop laughing every time she does it!) 

My beautiful daughter. :)

Funniest thing I've heard this week so far...

Yesterday was a beautiful spring-like day with highs in the low 60's.  Chad was home from work so I decided to go for an outdoor run. 

When I rounded the corner onto our street at the end of my run, all the kids were outside playing.  And this is when it got funny for me.

My almost 5 year old neighbor, Rebecca - the one I drive home from preschool four days a week and whom I have babysat, played with, and known since birth - leaned over toward my Audrey and said with complete seriousness:  "Audrey.... is that your Mom?" 

Guess she doesn't recognize me when I am in a baseball hat and running.  That just shows you how much "working out" she has seen me doing over the past almost 7 years I have lived here.  :)

Well, Rebecca....you are going to see this Mama running around the neighborhood a lot more often over the next few months!!!  :)

And looky here.  2 posts in 2 days.  A record!

Catching up

This is only my 3rd post of 2012.  I don't know what it is, but I am having blogger's block.  I feel like at this point in the "life" of my blog I just keep saying the same things over and over (another birthday!  another holiday! etc....) and I feel like I want to say something original....

In any case, there has been a lot of just livin' life going on here.  So here is an update on us.  For the 3 people who still read this blog. ;)

I'll start with me.  The big news with me is that since January I have taken up running again.  So I have been running about 2-3x a week for the past 6 weeks.  I am up to the point where I can often run 3 miles at a time!  I was thinking about having some kind of goal - when my friend Kathy invited me to run the Broad Street Run in Philly with her on May 6.  I kind of toyed with the idea, then jokingly invited my former college roommate (and current runner) Rebecca to come up from Atlanta and run the race too.  The next thing I knew she had booked a flight....so I guess I was in!  The hitch is:  this is a TEN MILE RUN.  TEN MILES, PEOPLE!  People keep saying to me "But you can already run 3!"  Yes, I can run 3.  But there is a big difference between 3 & 10....  Anyhow I am training.  This is a big year for me (and my other aforementioned friends).... we all turn 40 this year.  So if I can finish this race?  Well that's not too shabby for an old lady.  (Now if running would just get rid of this baby belly I would be a happy woman indeed!)

Chad and I got away for a night last weekend, thanks to my parents watching our kids.  We had a great time together, and it is always so nice to just get away.   But we had to laugh.  So many things went "wrong" with our time away.  Our hotel package was totally misrepresented.  Then we went to the Movie Tavern and they had to restart the movie 2 times because there was no sound.  Then our food order was lost (I guess?) and our food did not arrive until almost the end of the movie... then we came home to one kid with a fever.  But we did have a leisurely walk around both Lowe's AND Home Depot and could pick out what we wanted for our new bathroom...

Yes, we are remodeling our main bathroom. {Sigh} I always thought I would be someone who enjoyed choosing decor and such but I really find it all so overwhelming.  Maybe it would be easier  if I had no budget...and a designer.  But I don't think that will ever be the case. :)  So it is always figuring out how to make it look the best for a limited amount of money.  I don't say that as a complaint, I think it is good to learn how to live within your means and I don't have extravagant taste.  But I find all the choices so overwhelming sometimes, and for an indecisive person like myself, it can be painful at times!  (for me and for Chad!)

The kids are doing great.  We had conferences with Audrey's and Carter's teachers a few weeks ago with all great reports.  And the other day I registered Carter for KINDERGARTEN!  Is this really happening?  (And Chloe is all registered for preschool next year too....)

Speaking of Chloe....she has discovered a few new talents.  I added a few pictures to demonstrate:

 

 She is SUPER into puzzles these days.  She put all 4 of these 12 piece puzzles together by herself.

I seriously think she is better at puzzles than Carter.

(See him studying her handiwork in the background? haha)

She has also put together a number of semi-complicated wooden puzzles that we have.

Got another bright one on our hands. :)

And then there is this:

I posted this on fb earlier, but Chloe has the "special" ability to cross only one eye.

It totally cracks me up, because she will be doing something and then out of nowhere she'll just look at me with a big grin on her face and cross one eye.  I think she just might have a sense of humor. :)

Well, that's enough about us for now.  Hopefully it won't be April when I next post!

Five years old

Today my Carter is FIVE YEARS OLD!

His current obsession is bowling so on Saturday he had a bowling party with his preschool friends....

This morning Daddy made pancakes .... shaped like a bowling ball and bowling pins!

Hmm, guess what he is getting for his birthday?  

Yup, a bowling set.

We also had a conference today with Carter's teacher.  He is doing very well at school and otherwise.  It is so interesting to me how we are raising 3 children with the same DNA and same 2 parents ... yet each child is so different with their strengths and weaknesses.  Different from each other, and different from us, even.   

Some of my favorite things about Carter in particular are ways in which he is different from me.  For instance, he is just a natural encourager ... he is always cheering on other people and noticing the things they are doing well and verbalizing his encouragement.  I need more of these qualities...I tend to be more critical, or sometimes I just don't SAY the encouraging thing I'm thinking.  For him this is just a God-given spiritual gift.

I also love how Carter notices and studies things I take for granted (although I think all children do this...we as adults just kind of overlook a lot of the cool stuff around us).  And he notices things that I would NEVER IN A HUNDRED YEARS find interesting ... but he is different from me.  Today we were driving to his school and he said "I'm glad we're going this way...we're going to pass my favorite sign!" (favorite sign? okay....)  Then later when we were eating lunch at McDonalds and he said to me "Mommy, there are 38 lights in here."  Sure enough, I counted and there were 38 lights.  He spends lots of time setting up his markers into "bowling pins" - in correct position, mind you - and then knocking them down with his fist (the bowling ball, I guess?) and watching how the pins fall.  He just has always looked at things in a natural, curious, "outside the box" kind of way, and I am so up in the box sometimes.  

Today I was thinking about how desperately I wanted to have a baby when I got pregnant with Carter.  I had had a miscarriage about 9 months previously....I was so sad to lose that child and I wanted so badly to have another child that I was kind of in a depression for quite some time about it all.  God taught me a WHOLE lot during that time about trust and waiting and accepting.  I had finally come to the point where I was "accepting" that whether I had another child or not was really in God's hands, not mine.  And then thankfully, (THANKFULLY!) God did indeed bless me with this beautiful baby boy.  I am so thankful for him. I sometimes think - if I had not lost the other baby, there would be no Carter.  It is a bittersweet thought. 

I love you Carter Jacob.  And may God give me the grace to be just the kind of Mom that you need.  I fall short so often...but no one here on earth loves you more than I do.  Okay, Daddy probably loves you just as much.  But you are a special gift from God to your whole family and we love you.

First Haircut

 BEFORE:

(not sure what she thinks about this "haircut" thing...)

AFTER:

(a very happy customer!)

Chloe with her stylist "Miss Kelly" :)

Thank you Kelly!

The Mother of all Christmas Posts

Fasten your seat belts ... I think this is gonna be a long one. :)

Chad has started a tradition over the past couple years of taking the kids on a Christmas Eve morning hike.  I love this because it's something special that they can look forward to ... and it affords me a little quiet time to get last minute cooking/wrapping/etc. done.  This is the first year that Chloe participated!

 Throwing rocks into water is an integral part of hiking according to the kids.

 I love how Chloe can barely see out of her hat. :)

Chad said that at one point they were all singing Christmas carols as they hiked along.

Wish I could've heard that.

 

 That evening we went to church and the kids sang in the service.  

Chloe did so with her finger up her nose the entire time.

Luckily when you're 2 you can get away with that and it is still "cute":)

 After church we tried to get a nice family photo.

For some reason Chloe was intent on doing this weird flippy move.

What can you do?  Once again - she IS two!

Looks like Santa came!

See?  He DID come. :)

 Christmas morning in the Christmas jammies

 Opening stockings.

When Carter saw this picture, he said (and I quote):  "Look at me!  I look so cute!"

I happen to agree.

 Audrey was VERY happy with what "Santa" brought!

 So was Carter!

(So was Chloe - she got a Bitty Baby - but I didn't get a picture of her with it on Christmas morning.)

 As you can tell, she was also happy with this princess dress.

Around lunchtime we headed over to my parents' house to exchange gifts and have dinner together.

 Chloe really got into opening gifts.  She decided Uncle Andy needed a little help. :)

 It would not be Christmas if Chad did not receive a humongous bag of Jelly Bellies.

 Carter discovered the game "Sorry" on vacation this summer and was WAY excited to get this.  

He kept saying "I'm so lucky!!"

 My Dad made two special gifts this Christmas.  The first is this bed (with trundle!) for Audrey's American Girls.  My Mom made all the bedding for it too.

 He also made this adorable crib for Chloe's bitty baby.  Again my  mom made the bumper and crocheted some little blankets for her baby.  Chloe got right to work putting her baby to bed. :)

Everyone got new PJ's for Christmas.  They put them on for the ride home later that night.

The day after Christmas we got busy packing and cleaning up for our trip to NY.  To keep the kids occupied we finally broke out the gingerbread house.  Somehow we kind of overlooked doing it before Christmas and they had a lot of fun decorating it with Daddy.

The next day we headed up to Buffalo to celebrate Christmas with Chad's family ... the kids were so excited!

 This is the kid table...minus one kid who is not old enough to sit up yet. :)

Yes, ladies & gentleman, we had 17 people under one roof.

My sister in law and brother in law are saints for hosting us year after year!

 Grandpa with the "big" girls.

 Grandpa & Uncle Josh with all the kids piled on the couch.

 Meet Nate.  He is my newest nephew!  Isn't he a cutie?  He just smiled and smiled for me while I took his picture.

 One of the days we headed to the Museum of Play in Rochester.  Audrey & Carolyn rode together in our van with their lookalike dolls.

 One of my favorite exhibits there was the grocery store.  Every kid got a cart, picked out 5 items, and then took them to checkout.  They got to scan them and print out their receipt.  Then they had to "restock" their items.  They loved it!

 Audrey was working the bakery and cheese section for awhile.

 The whole gang on Sesame Street!

 Another day we took the big kids bowling.  Carter was in heaven - he loves bowling.

 Before we left, we had a mini birthday party for Carter (whose birthday is in January).  He got to open his presents from Grandma & Grandpa and his cousins.

Shortly after this, we had to go. :(

 On our way home.

We always stop at this rest area ... it is a big lodge with scenic overlooks.

Since 7 hours in the car was not a full enough day for us (ha) - after a brief stop at home to drop off luggage - we headed straight to Chuck E. Cheese to do our annual New Years Eve celebration with our neighbors.  The kids were very happy to see all their friends. 

Chloe wanted to climb in the tubes but her little legs could not make it up this beginning part.

Guess who got to climb in and help out?

I asked my neighbor Karen to watch my camera and she decided to take a few pictures of me climbing in here. ;P

It was all worth it to see her happily sliding down the tubes with her big sister! ;)

It has been such a busy, fun, blessed, wonderful Christmas season.

As usual, I am a little sad to see it go. :(

I wonder what 2012 will hold though!