Merriment Monday

 

 

 

Happy Monday.  We just spent 4 solid days together AND we survived.  Don't get me wrong, I love our children and EVERY second we spend together is a gift from God but Willy and I always get a little uneasy when we have long periods of time with the children and NOTHING really planned.  All in all it turned out great.  Lots of time in the backyard, a couple of quick outings and this one is in the books.

 

In other news . . .

 

Sir T is doing well.  He had a meltdown when his XBox headset broke.  Willy and I took our time getting it fixed/replaced.  Willy and I worry so much about the amount of time he spends on that machine.  He tends to spend more time chatting/playing with his friends online than he does actually playing outside with friends.  We are definitely starting to limit his play time. 

 

Sir K had an unfortunate accident.  We went to a friend's house for a 4th of July party.  It was an awesome party.  Tons of kids and plenty of adult time as well.  Just when we were about to pack it in, Sir K had a skateboard fall on his head.  Willy ran the family home and then took him up to the ER for a look.   He came home about 45 minutes later with 3 staples in his head.  He was such a brave soul.  Needless to say, he can't swim for 7 days and he is really bummed about that.  The good news is the SACC field trip to the local pool is on Wednesday and his stitches come out Wednesday morning so he should be able to go on the field trip. 

 

Lady E is also doing great.  We have a plastic baby pool in the backyard that her and Lady A are having a ball with.  I love watching them have fun together.  They are both little water babies that's for sure.

 

Lady A is AWESOME (as usual).  As I mentioned above, she is loving her little pool.  Over the course of the 4 day weekend, she was in the water basically non-stop.  At one point, all four of them were in the pool.  Makes me dream of a REAL pool in the backyard (maybe some day).

 

Willy and I are doing well.  Like every married couple, we have our ups and downs.  I guess it's the fact that we have absolutely no alone time anymore.  Somehow we make it work though but it's not easy and ocassionally it's not pretty.  I can definitely see how couples wake up one day and realize they don't even know each other anymore.   

 

That's about it.  We have SACC all this week for the kids.  I hope it goes better.  The greatest news of all is that we might have a vacation on the books soon.  Willy and I have been going around and around about renting a condo we found at a local beach.  We haven't pushed the button on it yet but we are close.  I'm planning a little picnic dinner out on the patio tonight.  Nothing fancy - just hot dogs, corn on the cob and a fruit salad.  I hope your plate is full of lots of good things this week.  Take care of yourself and I will catch up with you soon.



Monday Morning Mayhem

Hope your week is full of laughs.

It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas

 

Hi Everyone!!!  I hope you are having a warm start to this Monday.   The house is finally empty.  The last one just went off to daycare.   I have a lot to do before 1:30 this afternoon.

 

First, I have to put the house back together from the past 4 1/2 days (gosh it went too fast); I have to run to the grocery store and pick up ANYTHING but turkey; stop by the bank and do a few transactions; and finally work out if there's time. 

 

We did a couple of fun things with the kids while they were off for the Thanksgiving break.  We took everyone to see the movie Wreck It Ralph.  It's a really cute movie.  We even took Lady A (who is just 3).  She did an excellent job.  When did movies become so expensive???  For a party of 7 (we took a friend of Sir T's with us), the tickets were $70.00 and don't even get me started on how much I blew at the concession stand.  GOOD GRIEF.  That's a pricey afternoon for sure.

 

On Sunday, we took a short trip to Skyline Drive.  It only took about an hour to get there.  Skyline Drive runs about 105 miles north and south along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park.  We ended going to the Skyland Restaurant about 40 miles up the mountain.  It was so pretty.  We had a very nice late afternoon lunch and took in some beautiful views.  I would show you some pictures but of course my camera battery was exhausted when I went to take the first picture.  God help me with cameras.  If I had my camera operational, my first photo would be of a red-tailed hawk.  It was awesome.  Anyway, everyone had a great time.  We enjoyed each other's company and saw some really incredible views. 

 

Today, it's back to normal.  I scored some great Christmas gifts online over the weekend.  Got a couple of items I'd been eyeballing that finally went on sale.  SCORE!!!!  It's beginning to REALLY feel like Christmas around here.

 

Take care of yourself, stay warm and above all else count your blessings.  I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not but our neighbors lost their 22 year old son last Monday night in a car accident.  The family is devastated and our tiny little neighborhood is in shock.  The cause of the accident is unknown but drugs and alcohol were NOT a factor (thank God).  Still my heart breaks for this family and the new journey that they are on.  I hope you will join me in praying for them and PLEASE PLEASE hug your loved ones a little tighter.

Monday Morning Mayhem

 

We are in the midst of Frankenstorm Sandy.  It's been kind of a stressful day here at the ToddlerTown.  The kids are off school today and tomorrow and both Willy and I were working remotely from home.  I made a nice pot of homemade spaghetti for dinner and made a couple of batches of homemade kissie cookies.  Hey, you can't go through a traumatic event without cookies.

 

Just checked the weather for the 100th time today and they are now saying Sandy is about to hit land.  I hope all my blog friends and family keep safe and warm tonight.  We have a pretty rough night ahead of us on the East Coast.

 

 

I'm Back and I'm Not Happy About It

I know it's not Monday

but it sure feels like it

We just got back from our 2 week vacation to the Outer Banks with my side of the family.  The weather was perfect, the water was warm, and the company was great.  Prince William and I haven't laughed that much in a long time.

I learned a lot on this vacation.  The most important of which is I probably shouldn't be blogging.   I don't have any special talent when it comes to writing (I know that).  I don't have any special talent when it comes to home improvements (I know that).  Hell, I can't even cook that well.  I don't have any magical words of advice to share regarding marriage, children or life.  I'm just a simple girl trying to make it in this crazy world. 

I look at my little sister on the other hand.  She is passionate about everything (almost to a fault).  She knows everything you need to know about NASCAR.  She knows all the tax laws.  She knows the procedures for a traffic stop in North Carolina.  She can basically talk your ear off about anything and everything.  I will say I finally had to call her out when she continually proclaimed that she knew CPR.  I finally had to ask her where she got certified?  Her answer was that she mastered CPR from watching doctor shows on t.v.  Good grief.

Anyway, I admire her passion for life.  She'll grab anything by the horns and go bananas with it.  One night after a few cocktails on the deck, I said she should get into blogging.  I mean she already is on Facebook all the time and has tons of followers on Twitter.  She enjoys the thrill of people following her.  I definitely saw the light bulb go off and I'm 100% convinced she will have a blog up in no time.  Stay tuned for that.

Anyway, another great little lesson I learned was every now and again you have to "GO OFF THE GRID".  I loved having no connection to the world.  I didn't check my voicemails, emails, blog, etc.  I just enjoyed life and it felt great.

Now back to reality.  I was totally unprepared for the first day of school this morning.  The kids were exhausted, the outfits weren't picked out and no special breakfast awaited them.  And guess what, they all woke up o.k., looked fantastic in their outfits, and daddy ran to McDonalds for a surprise pancake breakfast.  Life is good.

Monday Morning Mayhem

My name is Princess Kate and I am addicted

to the Olympics (first step is admitting it, right?)

There is really nothing to report here at the ToddlerTown EXCEPT the Olympics.  I am not even going to sugar coat it.  I have neglected the laundry, the house cleaning, the grocery shopping and sadly the kids.  My favorite sports to watch so far are women's beach volleyball, gymnastics, and of course the swimming.  I'm not going to lie, I've also caught myself up late at night watching archery, table tennis and even the trampoline.  I LOVE IT ALL.  I'm so proud of all the hard working athletes.  Thank you Michael Phelps, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings, Missy Franklin, Nathan Adrian (such a cutie pie), Katie Ledecky (a local favorite), The Fab 5 (way to go Gabby), and all of our team for really going all the way.  Now I have to get ready for week 2 -- TRACK AND FIELD.  YAHOO!!!!  GO TEAM USA.

In other news, Sir T officially started soccer practice on Sunday, I finally registered Sir T, K and Lady E for religious education, and our family vacation is approaching (YAHOO).

On a funny note, I heard Sir T in the mudroom on Sunday morning getting ready for soccer practice and I heard him ask Lady A (who is two years old) to help him find his shoes.  Here's how the conversation went:

Sir T:  Lady A, can you help me find my shoes?

Lady A:  I help you.  I help you find your shoes.  Sir T, where do your shoes live?

I'm still smiling about the exchange.  I LOVE my angels.  Take care of yourself.  Count your blessings whenever you have a moment and if you need me, I'll be near a t.v. watching the Olympics.

  

Monday Morning Mayhem

What a weekend.  The ToddlerTown is exhausted.  The kids are exhausted from their sleepover at papa and gamma's house and mom and dad are exhausted from our night out in Annapolis AND, of course, the Olympics. 

Willy and I logged probably a good 5-6 hours this weekend with the Olympics.  We can't get enough.  Sunday morning we awoke to Kim Rhode's winning the Gold in Skeet.  I don't know about you, but I get really choked up when I see some one's hard work pay-off. 

Saturday night was our date night.  Willy booked a sunset cruise on the Windwood Schooner in Annapolis, Maryland.   The cruise started with a beautiful rainbow (compliments of Mother Nature) and was just delightful.  We had a nice cocktail on the boat and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  After we docked, we had dinner at the Middleton Taverns.  It was a great evening out. 

The kids also had a wonderful time.  They spent the night at papa and gamma's house.  They went to the park, watched a movie, played a few video games and enjoyed their grandparents.  Everyone was happy.

I hope your week cruises along nicely.  Remember to count your blessings and I will catch up with you later.

Monday Monday Mayhem

Such a cutie. 

If only I was 19 again

What a busy weekend we had here at the ToddlerTown.  On Saturday, we took a day trip to Massanutten Water Park.  The park is located in McGaheysville, VA.  It was about a 2 hour drive from us but the kids did just fine.  We put the movie Robots on and did a quick trip to the McDonalds drive-thru and we were there.  

The place was clean and laid out nice.  It has a huge indoor area that consists of 4 huge water slides, a couple mid-sized water slides, a lazy river, a baby pool area (Lady A loved this part), a family hot tub area, and a great general area that Sir T, K and Lady E loved.

There was a HUGE outdoor area that we did hang out in for a short time but unfortunately it was overcast and off and on raining so it wasn't ideal.  The outdoor area had a wave pool, 4 ridiculously big water slides, a really cute kids area (again Lady A loved this area) and a few other fun areas.

For lunch, they have a restaurant on the second floor that looked nice but we opted to hang out at the snack bar.  We got hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza and cookies.  The food was good.

All in all it was nice.  The price was $38.00 for 42 inches and above and 2 and under was free (yeah - Lady A was free).  The admission price was $190.00 plus taxes, lunch at the snack bar ran about $40.00, and we purchased a locker for $5.00.  Total cost was roughly $250.00 for the day.  I thought that was a little much for what it was.  To be fair, we went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA a month or so ago and that place is PERFECT in my eyes.   Having just gotten back from the Great Wolf Lodge, I was a tad disappointed with Massanutten.

We arrived home from our trip around 9 pm and everyone basically collapsed.  We then woke up early Sunday morning and headed to a Nationals game.  We had perfect seats near the rail on the right field side.  We got a great view of Bryce Harper.  We ran into some of Sir T's school friends so he went and sat with them for a bit.  It was great to watch him having fun with his friends.  Of course we did tons of hot dogs, peanuts and popcorn (that's mandatory for our family at a baseball game).  The best part of the day was when Bryce Harper threw a ball into the crowd and I caught it.  Of course, I gave it instantly to the kids.    It was a perfect day.

That's it (isn't that enough?).  It was tough to get up this morning.  I hope you had a PERFECT weekend as well.   Take care of yourself, count your blessings at every turn and I will catch up with you soon.

Monday Morning Mayhem

Happy Monday Everyone!!!!  I hope your weekend was filled with family and friends.  Here are a few of the ups and downs of the weekend:

We had a great day at the pool on Saturday.  For years now the pool has been a high stress factor for me (and therefore stressful for Willy).   With 4 small kids (all at different levels of ability) it was always a job to go to the pool.  But now, things are coming together.  The boys are basically self-sufficient in the water now and Lady E is really coming on strong.  Of course Lady A still needs constant attention but she loves just floating in the water watching her sister swim.   Willy and I now have a few minutes here and there to actually talk or God forbid relax in a pool chair for a second.  We are not at the read a book level but it's definitely getting easier with each year. 

We had a birthday pool party to attend on Sunday.  The weather was perfect and their pool was great for our family.  It had a huge shallow end where all the kids (including Lady A) could play.  This gave Willy and I time to actually socialize with friends.  It was a very nice get together.

Now the downs.  I think I got sunburned on my lips.  Anyone know any home remedies?  It hurts like CRAZY. 

Sir T and K are becoming addicted to a video game called Minecraft.  At first it seemed innocent but now it is getting out of hand.  I love that they are doing something together and laughing/bonding but it's consuming all their free time.  Just this weekend we finally put some parental controls on the game.  The limit is now set for 2 hours a day.  Let's see how this goes.

I have been in a rut for a few weeks now.  I get this way from time to time.  I just feel like I am spinning my wheels and not really accomplishing anything in life.  I have a great desire to rent an RV and drive to St. Louis just to catch a Cardinals game.  I checked out the pricing and of course it's ridiculous and we can't fly -- way too expensive for a small getaway.  I keep having all these crazy ideas about doing something spontaneous and then well -- I go to bed and wake up for work and another "ordinary" day.  Is it wrong to want to do something crazy once in awhile? 

I'll come out of it soon (I always do).  I just hate the feeling.  Have a great week everyone.  Hope you don't feel like you're spinning wheels/in a rut.  I'll go count my blessings and everything will fall back into place.  Enjoy!!!!