Summer Vacation, thus far

So, we’ve had a very busy 3 weeks!

So busy that I have not had any time to update the blog! This is what we’ve been up to the last 3 weeks!

It all started Father’s Day Weekend with a 5K race here in Kennesaw.

All 4 of us ran – Sam ran in the 1 Mile – and he did great! He came in 4th! Just missed a trophy! Rich, Josh and I ran the 5k.  Josh and I didn’t train and we took a long time. I met up with Josh at the 1 mile mark and he was ready to go home. We took our time running and walking the rest of the way. Rich did fantastic! He showed us all up and came in 2nd in his age group! But he paid for it! It took him 5 days to recover!

After the race, the boys had a birthday party at the local rock climbing gym. My legs were so tired they ached just watching the kids climb!

I think the boys were a bit tired too because they spent most of the time running around!

 

This Weekend’s Concert…

I live in the BEST community.

I really do.

They have all sorts of free events for us.

Last weekend I Was Hip Hop. But to be fair, that was a “private” party – not put on by the HOA.

This weekend I was a little bit country.

Our community put on a free concert at our amphitheater this weekend. They had a local band called The Broken Road Band playing. LeeSa Biddy-Lyons is one of the lead singers and she’s a friend of mine!

 

Yesterday’s Post

Totally forgot to post yesterday!

I mentioned we had a busy weekend.. or busy Saturday.

In the morning I ran my 5K – it was the Swift-Cantrell Classic. Lots of fun! My time was not the best – 40:28 when I crossed the line, but the “official results” have me at 40:32.

Before race:

Easter Images 2011

Hope you had a good Easter!  We were busy from the moment we got up until we went to bed!

It was another busy weekend, but Rich did not have to work (Hooray!!) so we had lots of time together.  Friday night we dyed eggs.

 

Our goal for the weekend was to get the garden and back decks sorted out so we could have a barbecue one night.  Sam had a birthday party to go to on Saturday afternoon and it was quite clear by the time we got home the BBQ would have to wait until Sunday!

Reinventing the Family Meal

I have a confession.

We don’t eat dinner together as a family on a regular basis.

I know the family meal table is an important part of child's development. I know how it encourages them to try new foods, helps promote good table manners and is a great bonding time for families.

When I was growing up we always ate together. Some of my favorite memories are around the dinner table. And, on the rare occasion, when my brother, sister and I gather our families at my parents’ house, we still sit around the dinner table and talk.

Thanksgiving Recap

I am sooooo behind! I have lots to update, but don't want to do it all at once... well, maybe I will, I don't know.

I hope everyone had a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. We were lucky enough to have the use of my best friend's condo in Perdido Key, Florida! This is the same place we went three years ago and was the subject of my very first post here!

The car ride down was long! But the boys were great and we did manage to play some games. The most memorable was "Let's see if we can name all 50 states." Josh and Rich did really well, despite trying to add a few "New" states like "New Canada" and "Mariana" -- and then I had to convince Rich that "New England" was not a state but a region. After that they just had fun thinking of funny state names.

We got down there about 2:30ish and the first thing the kids did was change into their swim suits.

It was really too cold to swim in the water, but it was great for putting your feet in!

And the boys had fun in the surf!

We took a walk on the beach to stretch our legs! Josh spotted some Rays just about a foot off shore and we saw lots of dolphins!

When we saw the fisherman, Sam said, "Look! Invisible Fishermen!" Then he asked me what the guy did if he "caught a wave."

After our walk we came in and got dressed and took the kids to the Flora-Bama for dinner. The Flora-Bama is a beach bar located on the Florida-Alabama border. Before we went in, I checked to make sure it was suitable for kids and was told "before 7:00 only." When we left, there were quite a few families having dinner there, so I felt better!

Sam was tired and hungry which made him grumpy!

Wednesday was a beautiful day on the beach! The water was nice and warm and the boys had lots of fun playing in the water.

And they both got very wet!

They met a boy named Parker (who was also 5) and had a great time playing with him in the afternoon. Parker was there with his mom and grandparents. His grandparents own 2 condos there -- one of them is right next door to Linda Leighs! And they were the nicest family! I hope if we ever go back down we run into them again! The boys had so much fun playing with Parker! He and his mom had to leave on Thanksgiving morning to go meet "Dad" and little sister at the Other Grandparents' house for Thanksgiving!

But Wednesday afternoon we played on the beach for several hours.

The boys dug holes and built sand castles and Rich made a Formula 1 Race Car in the sand.

More pictures are on my Flickr page -- you can get there by clicking here.

The rest of the vacation was spent pretty much in the same manner. The weather on Wednesday was the warmest and best. Thursday was a bit chilly and windy so we didn't last as long outside. And not much was open since it was Thanksgiving! Friday we made the decision to pack up and leave.

And it's a good thing we did. On the way home, Josh developed a fever and was very sick. His fever continued to climb and finally broke on Saturday night/Sunday morning. But he was still off. I kept him out of school on Monday and when he was still not well on Tuesday we went to the doctor. She confirmed he had the flu!

Poor Josh was distraught! He thought he was going to die. He'd heard that kids who got the flu died and he didn't want to die! I felt so bad for him. But the doctor was really great! She explained the worst was over and he'd be himself in no time... but to keep him home the rest of this week anyway!

He seems to be better now and wants to go back to school tomorrow. But, since she told me to just keep him out all week, we're going to do that! I do have some homework from his teacher that he's been doing to keep from falling too far behind.

So this week Josh and I have been spending the week at home indoors. And it's been cold and rainy so we keep thinking of how nice the weather was in Florida!

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins (2nd cousins really)

Apparently, Josh and Luke had a great time together. It's too bad they live so far apart... I think they'd be really good friends if we lived closer together!

Josh said the best part of the trip to England was playing with Luke!




Fore more Wordless Wednesday, visit the WWHQ!

They Say Things Come in 3's.... Right?

Well, if that's the case, we're set for a bit...

I'm sure you all remember our little car issue -- the transmission needing to be replaced?

If you've friended me on Facebook, I'm sure you're aware of our heating issue... if not, let me fill you in.

We've had unseasonably cold weather here in Georgia. Now, for those up North that are accustomed to sub-zero weather... more power to you. Our problem comes in when we get zero degree weather -- or just below freezing -- our heater can't heat the house.

Luckily, we have a fully furnished, comfortable basement that has it's own heating system. This weekend in Atlanta the highs were in the teens and the lows were below zero. Our house -- the main living area -- didn't get above 49 degrees all weekend.

So we moved into the basement. Thankfully, it started to warm up yesterday and we actually could spend time in the main house and sleep in our beds again! But we're expecting a few more cold days this week so I have someone coming out to look at the heater this evening.

And, because when one thing falls apart, so does another and another.... We were getting ready to go to Target this weekend -- just to get out of the house and warm ourselves up -- and the garage door broke. The opener ripped a huge chunk right off the back of the door.

When that happened, Josh said, "Man! It seems like the whole house is falling apart!"

But, even though we've had a string of "issues" come up -- at least all have our health and we had some nice "quality family time" while we were stuck in the basement together.

And I made a hat for Rich to go with his sweater....

Here's Josh modeling it... and looking quite enthused.

The Santa Dilemma

Sam, at 4, is at the perfect age for Christmas this year.

He's old enough to remember a bit about last year; he's excited about all the lights and the decorations.... We watch Christmas TV shows and movies and sing Christmas songs all the time! And he's so excited about Santa.

Every thing he sees on TV, he's asking Santa for. We've had to do some serious expectation setting this year (for both boys). He's narrowed down his list, but still... It's exciting to see him so enchanted by the whole Christmas Spirit.

But, then enter Josh. He's seven. He's in the second grade. Last year someone in his class told him there was no Santa. He said this boys mom said "Santa" was the parents. (This is the same mom that didn't call me when Josh broke his arm at her house earlier this year so she was already not high on my list.)

Luckily, Josh didn't believe him because we can watch Santa on the computer! Thank you Norad Santa Tracker!

But this year, he came home from school and said there are more kids in his class that don't believe.

And he's talking about this in front of Sam.

We've been able to laugh with him about how ridiculous those kids in his class are and say, "Well of course there's a Santa!" I think he still WANTS to believe, but the time is coming... very soon... when he won't believe any longer.

I don't want this knowledge to ruin the magic for Sam. Realistically, you only have a handful of years, maybe 3 or 4, for the whole "Santa" thing with the kids when they really and truly believe.

Rich and I have talked about what to do and say to Josh. Do we tell him? It would crush him. If he brings it up again, do we pull him aside and tell him to stop talking about it in front of Sam? Because it's just not fair to Sam to take the magic away this soon. We can't ignore it and hope it goes away, because it won't.

This is our last year with Josh believing. I don't want it to be Sam's last either.

More Outside Fun

Saturday was Josh's baseball trophy party.

It was quite cool and windy that day, but the kids had fun anyway.

They were FILTHY from rolling and sliding down the hill at the amphitheater! Apparently a filthy kid is a happy kid because they were truly filthy and happy!

And yes, that is Sam's Spiderman costume he's wearing. He's worn it more often than not since Halloween. Apparently it makes him strong AND fast!

Of course right before we were due to leave Rich's work called so he was a bit late. We were just getting ready to leave when he showed up. Which meant we stayed longer so the boys could run around with Daddy.

That evening I took the boys to McDonald's for dinner -- because we had no food in the house clearly pizza for lunch and McDonald's for dinner will land me in the "Best Mom Ever Hall of Fame" as voted by my kids. On the way home from McD's we had to stop at the grocery store for more wine food.

The boys and I were telling the worlds worst jokes EVER to pass the time at the shop. Such classics like, "Why did the Thanksgiving Turkey cross the road? Because it was in the human's stomach."

When Sam looks up and says, "Mom, what did one Cheeto say to the other Cheeto?"
Me, "I don't know."
Sam: "Nothing! Everyone knows Cheetoes can't talk!"

Yes, my just-turned-4-year-old told the best joke of the night!

And for those keeping score -- Sunday we raked up 13 more bags of leaves. We got a late start (Rich's work again) so we only had a few hours outside. Our total so far is 22 bags.

Have you come down from the Sugar Rush yet?

Wow, what a weekend! Seems like Halloween was weeks away, not days!

The boys had a great time this year. Sam and I went in to Josh's class and helped with some fun Halloween activities. The kids in his class are fantastic. He's got a wonderful teacher -- but she's been out since mid-September (she had back surgery). Thankfully, the supply teacher is wonderful too! Apparently the teacher expects to be back after Thanksgiving. I know the kids will really miss Ms. Barlow, but it will be good to have Mrs. Waterfall back too!

Anyway, I want to share a few photos...

Here is this year's pumpkin. Since I seem to be the only one willing to carve them, I decided only one this year. Of course the kids picked out the pattern...

Josh and Sam in costume... Red Power Ranger and Spiderman.

I told the kids I was not buying any costumes this year and they had to make do with what we had. A friend gave us the Red Power Ranger suit in exchange for an old Buzz Lightyear we'd loaned her years ago. I got the better end of the deal!

Sam then wanted to be Spiderman so they could be Superheroes together.

And thankfully he was Spiderman because at one point on Halloween night, he looked up at me and said, "It's a good thing I'm Spiderman with muscles so I'm strong enough to carry this bag of candy!"

We went to a friend's house and trick-or-treated with them. Here they are just before the candy fest began.

We were only out for an hour and the kids collected 3 1/2 lbs of candy! Sam had a melt down at 7:30 and Josh was exhausted so we left. I think Trick-or-Treating ended at 8:30 anyway. But there is no way we could have made it out that long! On the way home Josh looked up at me and said, "Man Mom, I feel soooo gooooodddd!!!" At that point I began to wonder how much candy he had eaten enroute. The boys were so excited they were up early on Friday and Sam even asked if it was time to Trick-or-Treat at 7:00 AM!

But they had fun and we have HEAPS of candy!

On Saturday we were lucky enough to discover we needed a new dishwasher! Yea us! Our dishwasher has been producing black junk/mold/disgusting stuff. We clean it off, it comes back. And it's not cleaning or drying properly either.

So this weekend we decided to take it apart to clean it properly -- and the whole thing was gross. We decided if it was broken, it wouldn't be worth it to fix. We checked on line and if the heating element is gone (what we expect) it wouldn't be worth it to replace. What sucks is it's only 4 years old!

So, off we went to the shops and now I'm waiting installation of a new Bosch -- it's a quiet one so I'm quite excited. We have an "open plan" and it's hard to hear the TV when the dish washer is running.

And Saturday was Josh's last baseball game. I forgot to get pictures. Rich wasn't feeling well so I was solo at the game with both boys. And eventhough Rich wasn't feeling well, he had to sort out our garage door. So not only did we just get a new dishwasher, but we may need a new garage door soon too. I know. Lucky us. Don't be jealous, I'm sure you'll have the "everything breaks at once close to Christmas" sooner or later too.

Sunday Josh and Rich were both sick (just keeps getting better doesn't it?). I kept Josh home from school today so he can have ample time to recover. But it threw the whole weekend right out of whack.

And when Sam got in the car after preschool today he said something about making an instrument and I realized today was "Home Made Instrument Day" and I'd forgotten completely and didn't send one in with him! Yeah, I know, my nomination for Mother of the Year is almost a lock!

Both kids are home tomorrow too -- with the election and all. I hope the lines aren't too long. If they are, then God bless those in line around me! Maybe I'll bring the bag of Halloween Candy and pass it out to the others in line.

Don't forget to go out and vote tomorrow!

My Mom is a Bag Lady

Warning: Shameless bragging of family talent going on...

My mom has a new hobby....

Making purses.

She makes the fabric with her felter and then sews them up.

This one is my favorite...

She is a board member of the local Romeo art gallery, The Starkweather Arts and Cultural Center, and has them on sale there. They're not cheap, but they are beautiful! She had more at the house and I forgot to get pictures of them. And she's got a few in the works. For other views of these purses go to my Flickr page.

She's not the only talented one in the family. My sister is a wonderful potter and has some work on sale at the gallery too... In fact, she's scheduled for a show next May.

Since she lives in the Chicago area, I don't get to raid her stash much so I bought a few pieces while I was there. Only I left them at my parents. But what really smarts... I had to pay retail for my own sister's artwork! ::Sigh::

Here's some of the things she has on sale at the gallery....

And my brother and sister-in-law are very talented artists but they haven't given me any of their work to shamelessly post on my blog.

Back Home Again

The kids and I are back home -- we were at my parents for 2 weeks.

We were supposed to come home on Sunday but because God likes to keep me on my toes and remind me to be flexible, our plans had to change, then change again and then again.

The plan was for all of us (3 adults and 5 kids) to go out to brunch on Sunday on the way to the airport, then my mom would take the 3 girls home and my dad would bring the boys and me to the airport. My parents were going to bring the girls to my sister's cottage on Lake Michigan on Monday.

About an hour before we were supposed to leave, my Mom blew her knee out. She couldn't walk and was in severe pain. It was obvious my Dad had to take her to the Urgent Care. Which left me alone with 5 kids trying to figure out how we were going to get to the airport. Needless to say, brunch was out of the question so we didn't have to leave as early (and strangely the kids were more upset about missing brunch than they were that Grandmother had to go to the hospital!)

I called a neighbor and we sorted everything out. Neighbor's son-in-law was going to drive us to the airport around noon and neighbor's daughter was going to babysit.

Then my parents came home before we were to leave and we were just re-adjusting our plans when Rich called to say my flight was delayed. By 4 hours. I called the airline and found out I still had to be there at the original time (even though I had already checked in on line). Their reason was because the flight could end up leaving at any time and I needed to be there.

Now, I don't know how many of you have ever been to the airport in Flint, Michigan (I'm guessing not many), but there is NOTHING to do there. There is one place to eat (that is average at best) and one shop. I think there must only be 10 gates. It's tiny. I decided it would be worse to try and entertain my kids at the airport for who knows how long than to change our flight until Monday at noon.

Then my sister decided that it would be best for her to come pick up the girls on Sunday because my Dad would have a long day on Monday bringing us to the airport and then driving 3 hours to West Michigan and back.

Last year our flight home was delayed for several hours and then eventually canceled. I didn't want a repeat of that situation.

In the end, things worked out. I took the boys to see Wall E in the afternoon and then we went to dinner with my parents. It was nice and relaxing and quiet with out all the girls there as well!

So we are home now. We got home in time to enjoy the afternoon and we got the kids in bed at a decent hour (for a change). Watched a movie on TV and had a nice relaxing evening! It's good to be home!

Last week was a zoo. It was fun, but 5 kids like to play and run around and make noise. I'll try to update what we did over the next few days. We had some funny conversations with cute kids and we had fun!

The Magic Wardrobe

It's that time of year again.

Time for me to clean out the boys closets.

Thankfully, I don't have to do it as often as I used to... they are growing up! And wearing out clothes faster than they grow out of them. I don't know what they do to the knees in the jeans to wear them out so quickly.

Today I was forced to weed through the out grown clothes, shift clothes from one closet to another and make a pile for charity.

I was forced to do this for two reasons... one, the charity pick up people called and scheduled a pick up for next week. And two, the more important and pressing reason, we're running out of hangers and closet space.

Normally when I do this I look at each little t-shirt or sweater and think about how little the boys were when they wore it. And then I get all choked up and a wee bit sad that they'll never be "little" again.

But this time, as I was packing, I was thinking about how they are growing and wondering what sort of "big kids" they'll be. About future girlfriends, sports and school, what type of music will drive us nuts, puberty (yikes!), learning to drive (double yikes!)....

I've been imagining their futures.

It's like getting blank journal... not knowing what the pages will be filled with. But knowing they will be filled with laughter and tears, good times and not so good. Watching my boys turn into men.

Instead of being sad for the loss of their "babyhood" I'm hopeful and excited about the prospect of their future.

But I'm in no rush to get there!

More Conversations with Sam

This is probably the best picture of our family that has ever been taken. It's two years old.

I was looking at it this morning at breakfast and remarked to Rich how much Sam has changed! He doesn't even look like that anymore. And also how much Josh has grown. We chatted for a bit about how we need to get a new picture of all of us, but it's so hard when your kids pull silly faces every time the camera gets pulled out....

Then I noticed that today Sam is wearing the same Thomas the Tank Engine shirt that Josh has on in the picture.

Sam asked to see the picture so I showed him.

Sam: Sammy's the big boy, Joshie is the baby.

Me: No Sammy, you're the baby, Josh is the big boy. See that's you when you were a baby.

Sam (starting to get upset): NO! That's me! (pointing to Josh) I'm the Big Boy! That's my Thomas Shirt, I want to wear it!

At this point, Rich and I start laughing....

Me: Yes, that's right Sam, that's your shirt. But it used to be Joshie's favorite shirt. Now it's yours.

Sam (crying): Take it off! I want to wear it! It's mine!

A Family United

The weather here in Georgia is finally starting to cool down enough where we can go outside and do stuff without fear of over heating! This morning, we decided to head on up to the local State Park for a walk along some of the trails.

We love this state park; it has playgrounds, walking trails, a beach, a campground, and some other fun things to do with kids. Since it's only about 20 minutes away, we find it's a great place to spend some time outdoors together.

Josh has not been feeling well, so we didn't stay out too long, but we did manage to walk a bit on one of the easier trails they have.

The Grumpy Old Troll Bridge...

Stopping for a break...

It's a good thing Sam was there. He kept us from getting lost....

There are more pictures (if you're interested) here.

And I know you're all on the edge of your seats waiting to know the outcome of yesterday's Rugby World Cup game...

edited: I know this is true because of this email I received from my parents:

Re: your blog a House Divided.
Well what happened? Who won? Who did Josh root for?
I didn't see the Rugby in the papers we get and they didn't cover it on the news last night.

As expected, England beat the Americans 28 - 10, however, apparently the Americans (all armatures) played really well and were lucky to not get beaten 70 - 0! So, for this household at least, the result was not bad. The person who actually CARES about the outcome came out on top, yet the Americans put up a good showing.

A House Divided

Oh dear....

I've just been told some potentially dangerous news.

The U.S. face the Reigning World Champions (hmmm... I wonder who that could be?) in the Rugby World Cup tomorrow.

The relative peace in this house is depends on the outcome.

And with a major upset in the tournament today, anything is possible....

Stay tuned for more High Drama....

2007 England Tour, part 1

We arrived in London early Saturday morning (5/26). And for ONCE it was not raining when we landed! Yippee!

However, that situation soon remedied itself once we got to Nanny & Grandad's in Northolt!

Going to the library in the pouring rain!

We did manage to amuse our selves on the rainy Saturday by going to the library and to the local shops even though it was raining!


Sunday (5/27), we went up to a pub for lunch in Windsor to meet up with Rich's God-Parents.

Again, pouring rain and freezing cold! At least we were indoors!

While at the pub, the boys made friends with the publicans dog!

And, never to fear, we got a break in the rain and went out to Hayes to ride the trains!

About twice a month , the model HO Steam Train club has rides at the low low price of 20 pence a ride around the track. It's heaps of fun and the kids really enjoy it!

There were not many people there this weekend -- perhaps the rain kept them away?

Sam, Rich, Josh, Nanny, Grandad riding the trains!

On Monday (5/28), the weather was horrible! We went to Luton to visit friends up there. We had planned on going to one of the many parks around but since it was only 40 degrees, strong cold winds and pelting down rain, we had to choose an indoor activity.

We went to see the Shuttleworth Collection of air planes. It was really interesting! Seven or eight hangers filled with air craft, motorcycles, carriages and cars from early aviation, both World Wars and into the present. I foolishly, forgot my camera, so I wait for the link to our friend's pictures to post!

edited to add: Okay, here is the link to Ian's website with some pictures from our trip to Luton and the Shuttleworth Collection! Enjoy!

Tuesday (5/29), we met up with some more of Rich's parents friends and the weather actually brightened up enough for us to have a quick game of Cricket (this was a favorite past time this go-round!)

Josh and Sam playing cricket in the alley behind Nanny and Grandad's house.

Wednesday, we went swimming in the morning, and then Rich and I managed to go out on a date in the evening! We did a real "date" thing went to Pizza Express (very yummy) in Ruislip, our old stomping ground.

When we weren't off trudging around, the boys had fun playing at Nanny & Grandad's. They loved feeding the birds our left over toast from breakfast, crusts from lunch and whatever else the boys "decided" not to eat!

Another favorite past time: Watching the washing!

Sam was fascinated with watching the washing machine go around!

There is more to come! This is just a beginning! I think it's all I have in me for today!

I'll post more tomorrow!