Today was a day for Pj's, Pizza, and Puddle Jumping!

For a dreary, rainy Wednesday it was a pretty fun day! I knew I had to come up with a plan to keep us busy since Matt has an Open House tonight and won't be home until late this evening. So...
We started off this morning at the Playroom (a large "store" filled with every toy every mother wishes she had in her playroom - large mounbounces, an air hockey table, a mini rollercoaster, dress up clothes, a playhouse with kitchen, and a chalkboard among other things) with some friends. We stayed for a couple of hours and ate our packed lunch before heading home for naps.
After naptime, I changed Carly and Connor into overalls, and we headed out into the rain. I knew there wasn't a chance of thunderstorms and it was warm, so I decided to let them run and splash in the rain. This was the first time we had ever played in the rain. I am probably the only mother in the world who hasn't allowed her children to play in the rain...today was the day! There just happened to be an enormous, long puddle in the road in front of our house. Connor and Carly had loads of fun running through it and splashing each other. At one point, they both sat right down in the middle of it. They really had a "splash!"
When we came in, I changed their clothes, and we headed over to the movie store across the street. We wanted to rent Peter Pan, but they didn't have the cartoon version, so we settled with A Bug's Life, which they always enjoy watching at Nonnie's house.
Once we returned home, we quickly changed into our pj's and had pizza delivered. We enjoyed the pizza sitting in the fort that has been standing in the livingroom for days while watching our movie. WOW...who ever thought rainy days could be so much fun!

Sunday Laugh

We had a nice relaxing weekend - just spending time together as a family. We took a long bike ride, built a gigantic fort in the livingroom (we had to use folding chairs to eat lunch and dinner), and just played. Tonight we had my mom over for dinner. After dinner, Connor and Carly disappeared for a few minutes and were quieter than normal. We were beginning to wonder what was going on (because usually that means they're getting into something they shouldn't be). We had to laugh when Carly walked into the kitchen looking like this:

Connor must've been still trying to get all of his gear on, but eventually he made his way out...

We were all laughing! They had gotten into the coat closet, pulled out their hats, gloves, scarves (which all matched, by the way) and boots and said they were ready to play. Of course, I grabbed the camera as they were on their way out the door! They actually played outside for a few minutes before they decided they'd take off their mittens and scarves. I guess they still wanted their hats and boots!

There is never a dull moment!

1 Year Ago Today...

It had to have been the hottest day of the summer.

Matt's parents, brother and sister-in-law, and my mother were all here. It was moving day!

Since the previous owner of this house had already moved out, she allowed us to begin moving boxes into the garage prior to closing. As a result, most of the boxes had already been moved and were being stored in the garage. We rented the truck the morning of closing. The guys began loading the furniture into the truck. We had hired two men to assist with the loading and unloading of the furniture (which was probably the best decision we made!). Boy did they earn their money! They managed to finish in two hours, and spent the next two hours unloading it all into the new house.

Back here, Georgette (Matt's mother) was in charge of keeping Connor and Carly occupied. They were having a very difficult time that day, as I'm sure they were confused and unsettled. Melissa and I painted Connor's room, and then she and my mom painted Carly's. At last...pink and blue paint!

Did I mention it was VERY hot? Our old neighbors, and my realtor, were so sweet and thoughtful. They dropped off a cooler filled with ice cold gatorade and water for everyone.

My mother took the kids to her house for their nap and prepared dinner for us, which she delivered and served to us. What a mom!

We all worked into the evening...Melissa dusted and scrubbed almost every nook and cranny in the house, Kris scrubbed the front porch (oh, yes...this was a HUGE task because it was covered in spider webs, dead bugs, etc...), Georgette cleaned the refrigerator and began emptying boxes. Looking back...what did I do? I guess I supervised...hmmm?

Connor and Carly went back to my mom's to spend the night. We were able to move the furniture in the living room just enough to fit an airbed in the midst of the livingroom for Clint and Georgette to sleep on. We borrowed the cushion/mattress from my mom's futon and Kris and Melissa slept on that in the dining room. Matt and I were able to sleep in our own bed. I can't even begin to tell you the excitement I felt as I laid my head on my pillow that night. Our first house. I love it even more now, than I did that day. I thank my lucky stars for finding this house, and my husband for setting aside his hesitations and going for it!

Many thanks to our family for being here and for all the work you did to help make this house "ours".

Meeting Mrs. Hurt

Connor will be attending North Run Baptist Preschool in September. All of North Run's preschool teachers visit their students for the upcoming year in August before school starts in September. This is one part of the program that impreses us the most, as we feel it makes a tremendous impact on the children and gives them a sense of familiarity when going to preschool on that first day.

Today was the day that Mrs. Hurt came to visit with Connor. Since this had been previously arranged, Matt was able to be home before she got here. We greeted her on the front porch and Connor promptly brought her inside and up to his room. He wanted her to see the new train track he and Daddy built last night. We spent some time in his room talking...Connor told her about the train set, the fact that we live near the train tracks and ride our bikes over to watch the trains sometimes. She asked him about the dinosaurs that were standing at his train set. He named each of them and explained that he is able to choose a dinosaur after he earns 5 stickers. When she asked him how he earned stickers, he was able to tell her (sharing, following directions, getting dressed, and using the potty - and whatever else we feel is sticker worthy!). When we came back downstairs we sat at the table and she gave Connor a pond coloring sheet for Connor to color while she went over policies and procedures with Matt and I. She gave us the supply list - very minimal. The biggest hit, though, was Yertle. Yertle is a turtle, and will be their classroom pet. He was quite intrigued and asked a number of questions about him. Before she left, she let him feed the turtle - so exciting! After we talked a bit, and took some pictures, she left. She was here for almost an hour and a half. It was a very nice, informational, and positive visit.




We are looking forward to a great preschool year, and are so excited to witness Connor's growth throughout
the year.

9-1-1

Well...the day started off fine.


Kris and Melissa left this morning and I knew I had to get Connor and Carly out of the house, away from Matt and the germs. (Although I have still been spraying the disinfectant religiously. Can you become obsessed with that stuff?) Anyway, I decided not to take them to the Children's Museum because I thought that would be germ-filled also. I needed a fun outdoor activity. The Stony Point water "fountain" was the solution! I immediately called my friend, Courtney, who was supposed to join us for a playdate this morning, suggested that she not come over, and invited her to come along with her two little ones.

They met us there, and the kids had fun running through the "geysers" and getting wet. There was an unusually small crowd there, maybe only 5 other kids and their parents. The kids ate their lunches, played some more, and Courtney and I got a chance to talk a little. Everything was going great...

As we were talking, I noticed Connor playing behind the bench, near the metal fence, but didn't pay much attention to him. Until I heard him crying. When I looked at him, I noticed that his head was stuck between the rungs of the fence. Of course, I ran behind the bench and over to him, trying to squeeze his ears close to his face and at the same time, pulling his head back through the fence. It wouldn't come back through. It had to come through...he pushed his head through the same two rungs...he must be able to pull it back. One would think! After a number of repeated attempts, and deep breaths, Connor continued yelling in panic telling me that I needed to call the fire department (I was very impressed by that!). I was sure that I could get him out without needing the fire department!


I, feeling superwoman-like, tried pulling the metal bars apart from each other in an attempt to give Connor a little more room to free himself. Believe it or not, the bars actually gave a little. I was pulling with all of my strength, coaching Connor. No luck!


God bless Courtney, who was doing such a great job keeping her two children and Carly occupied and away from the "scene" and the sweet mother sitting on another bench nearby, who came to help. She and I tried to put our strength together and pull on the bars (metal, mind you!). They were moving. Although they were moving, Connor was still too upset, and not listening to us as we tried to coach him out. Finally, I decided to go around to the opposite side of the fence, so he could see me. I would calm and coach, while Courtney and sweet woman, pulled the bars apart. IT WORKED!!! Connor was rescued.


After hugging and comforting him (he was comforting me too, although he didn't know it), and taking a number of deep breaths, we decided we'd had enough excitement for the day and headed home. WOW! Beware of the fence at Stony Point!

THE fence

A Sweet, but Sickly, Visit

We received a call early in the week from Matt's brother, Kris, asking if we had plans this weekend. Surprisingly we didn't! (I think this is the first weekend all summer that we didn't have ANY plans) YEAH! We were both so excited, since we hadn't seen him and his wife, Melissa, since early July when we up on Long Island visiting...and we always enjoy any time we get to spend with them.

After dinner Friday night, my stomach began feeling a bit strange. Connor and Matt were outside watering the grass, so I put Carly to bed. As soon as I came downstairs from doing that, I knew immediately I needed to make a visit to the bathroom. Nedless to say, I was in there for nearly an hour before heading upstairs. Matt suggested that we call Kris and Melissa and cancel their visit, but I was so excited to see them, I encouraged him not to - hoping that I would feel better in the morning.

Saturday morning I did feel better, but my stomach was still a bit queasy. I knew I was going to feel better by the time they arrived!

They arrived around 12:30 (after a long trip and a lot of heavy traffic). It was so great to see them! I did feel a bit better, but we spent the majority of the day relaxing in the house. I felt like such a terrible hostess because I laid, lazily, on the couch and didn't offer to make or serve anything. I just didn't have the energy, and I was afraid that walking and moving around might jiggle my stomach and force me to be sick. Luckily, Kris and Melissa had a craving for Chipotle, so we all drove there and got them their burritos and burrito bols to go. Nope...I didn't get to have any. I was too afraid to put anything in my stomach! They were exhausted by 9:00, and decided to go to bed...so Matt and I headed to bed also.

By Sunday morning, I was feeling like a million bucks. Isn't it amazing how great you feel and the mood you're in after being sick? I was so excited to feel normal! I had to work in the Nursery at church that morning, so I left them all here and met them at Cracker Barrel (another of Kris and Melissa's favorites!) afterwards. YUM! We played outside a bit, Melissa and I walked around and shopped at Short Pump Towne Center (and while we were there my mom called and said that she had been sick all night), and then I finally made them a meal for them last night!

After dinner last night, Matt got that feeling in his stomach...ugh oh! YUP, he was in the bathroom most of the night and had to stay home from work today (which he never does!). I don't know what this is, but I hope you don't catch it! I went to Ukrops this morning and bought the largest container of Clorox wipes and disinfectant spray I could find. We've been washing our hands and spraying and wiping constantly! Hopefully we'll move on and rebound from this without anyone else getting sick. Cross our fingers!

Grandma Kline

My maternal grandmother passed away peacefully on Saturday evening. She lived a long 91 years and spent the past several years suffering with Alzheimer's Disease. During this time, she lived with my aunt and uncle at their home in Hornell, New York. Although we didn't get to see her very often, it was evident each time that her condition was deteriorating. Sometimes she recognized me, sometimes she didn't, but she almost always asked about Matt.

My mom and I last saw her at the end of May while we were up in New York for a friend's bridal shower. Grandma looked great; her hair was nicely styled and she was good company. As we conversed, she added her own comments (sometimes relevant, and sometimes not - but funny) and seemed more aware than she had been in the past.

I am so grateful that God gave me that time with her, because I have such a positive, uplifting memory of her to hold on to.

The most vivid memories I have of Grandma Kline involve the times I would stay with her at her home in Hornell. She would always have root beer in the refrigerator for me, and I would always bring my makeup (which my mother wouldn't let me wear at home).

7th Anniversary

Matt and I celebrated our anniversary relaxing at Lake Anna. Just like last year, we rented a pontoon boat and spent the day riding around the lake. We rented the boat from Dukes Creek Marina (which Matt selected from a few rental facilities online). We had the boat for 8 hours, and enjoyed every moment! We enjoyed riding around, stopping and jumping in whenever we needed to cool off, looking at the beautiful houses on the lake, and relaxing in the sun. Of course, we spent most of the day dreaming about one day owning a boat and how nice that would be. When we got home, we decided we'd try to encourage our parents to go in with us and buy a lake house together. We thought that was a great idea!

Keeping with tradition, we had previously gone shopping separately for outfits for each other which we would wear to dinner. Both of us were very happy with our outfits...didn't Matt do a great job choosing mine!?

The following evening we watched our wedding recap with Connor and Carly. They seemed to get a kick out of seeing us on tv. Then our dear friends Sally and Doug brought Abby and Sam to our house and watched Connor and Carly for us. We had planned to go to The White Dog restaurant, but they were closed on Mondays, so we decided on Flemings at Stony Point instead. We were not disappointed. Our dinner was fantastic! I had a surf and turf which consisted of a sirloin steak and king crab legs (YUMMY!) and Matt had a chicken dish. Our waitress brought us a box of chocolate covered strawberries compliments of the chef.

After dinner, we decided to walk around the mall to get some exercise. Matt spoiled me with some more clothes...Awww!

A Wedding to Remember

We spent 4 days in upstate New York to celebrate the wedding of my dear friend, Stephanie. Connor and Carly were encouraged to attend both the ceremony and reception - which made us a bit nervous. Because I was reading at the wedding, I needed to sit hear the front. We arrived at the ceremony armed with books, sticker books, coloring books, snacks, etc... Of course, they were quickly bored with those items, and became restless. At one point, Carly bumped her head on the pew and began to cry...loudly and dramatically, I might add. Matt had to walk her out. Needless to say, both Matt and I were so embarrased by their behavior after the wedding, we didn't stay around to talk with anyone and went straight to the car, forcing back tears.


The reception was another story. As soon as the band started to play, Carly walked right up on stage and wanted to sing with the lead female singer (who was very receptive and accepting of her company). She spent most of the night up there with the band. Connor tore up the dance floor with his break-dancing moves (Matt must be giving him secret lessons) and silly dancing. Even after most of the other children left, our two energetic children, continued to party!


We all had such a nice time. I enjoyed seeing many of my old friends and being surrounded by many people I grew up with.