Easter Weekend

Although it is VERY belated, I wanted to post pics from our fun Easter weekend. I had spent the week in CO with my little sister and she had returned with us for Easter weekend. On Saturday we were able to go to an Easter Festival at a local Farm. We had tons of fun and will definitely go again. We enjoyed pony rides, balloon animals, face painting, wagon rides, participated in and Easter Egg Hunt, and even met the Easter Bunny! It was a little chilly (so we will come more prepared next time) but still had a great day. The Easter eggs were filled with candy, gift certificates for bowling, and some had slips to get prizes at the prize table. We were lucky enough to find one of those and although I expected something small - perhaps even a cheap stuffed animal - we totally scored when we walked away with a Radio Flyer Inch Worm rider!! The kids think it's great, (although we are still learning how to ride it) and we were very impressed with the quality of the festival overall.

Husband of the Year

Yes I know, my blog has seen another drought. It isn't that I don't want to write, I just seems that I am continually finding myself taking on new projects or finding new distractions. You may be asking yourself, "Don't we all? We can still find a minute to write about it..." and you would be right. I have no excuses.

When I am involved in one thing or another, besides usually creating an added mess of some sort, I tend to let everything else fall by the way side until the particular project is accomplished. It is just the way I work. It isn't that I CAN'T do other things, I am just not that interested in doing them until my mind can focus on them. Of course, there are things that have to be done, but if it doesn't have to be done, it probably won't be. Any of my former roommates could attest to this fact. When I would have a project due for school (and there were a lot) I would be spread out all over the place, (markers and paper everywhere) and would sometimes be up all night trying to get it done. Then I would rush out the door with a promise that I would clean it all up as soon as I got back. I usually did, (after a nap) and actually felt it was a little cathartic. This is typical of my life still. I get involved in something, make a mess doing it, and then relieve the stress of doing it all by cleaning it up when the project is done and deadlines are met.

So... my house is a mess, we have had food to eat, (but not really anything that resembles a real meal), and it is definitely time to do laundry again (except for the sheets-Alli's potty training and Jakie's mischief have necessitated those chores to be done)...But, I have a wonderful husband, who among other things, has given me reason to once again drop out of the blogosphere. He is sending me to London!!!

My sister-in-law and mother-in-law have been planning a trip to England this spring. They have never been and had been wanting me to go along since I had been. As it truly is one of my favorite places in the entire world (albeit I haven't been to much of the world yet), I would have loved to join them, but we had decided that it really wasn't in the budget this year. I was totally fine with that. I was helping Ryan's mom a little as she was trying to put it together, and then on one of those nights where she called with another question, Ryan blew us away when he suggested to her that he wanted me to go too!! I was in CO babysitting at the time and as soon as he hung up with his mom, he called and proposed the idea to me. I was shocked and SOOO excited!! He had been thinking he would surprise me for a while. He is always so thoughtful and has a way of sweeping me off my feet time and time again. Well, of course no sooner had I hung up with Ryan then I received the call from his Mom, obviously excited. Her first words were: "Have you talked to Ryan yet?" I bet she was just as happy with him as her son as I was. (You raised good boys Mom C.!) I really wish Ryan could come too, but I guess that budget bust will have to wait. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband that works so hard to provide for our needs and even some of our wants:). Thank you so much sweetie!

Anyway, the point is that I have been very preoccupied trying to plan my vacation. I think we have it mostly done though, just the looking forward to it part left. That along with the many other activities and obligations of the past weeks have kept me distracted. (Posts related to these other activities to follow soon).

So here's to the hubs! I. love. him.

P. S. He also scored big in my book this week when he surprised me again by bidding on and winning two more Serve-a-snack hostess sets for me on Ebay! They will match the set I have of my grandmothers and give me service for 12! I can't wait to have my sisters for lunch! He is the greatest!

So much to say...

So, life has been busy lately. We have had a whirlwind few months! So I am going to spare you ALL the details (because there are a lot) and proceed with a TOP 10 of Happenings (but more in chronological order than order of importance):

1. We moved! Still getting settled, but happy to be here.

2. Became landlords again. But first had to replace laundry room floor in said unit after we discovered a valve had been leaking for almost a week following the removal of our washing machine, necessitating a complete removal of floor and sub floor.

3. Prepared for the Holidays, and had a "pre" Christmas Morning before we flew to CA for 2 weeks.

4. Enjoyed Christmas with Ryan's family and attended the baby blessing of little Madelyn.

5. Upon returning from our trip, jumped right back in the saddle with my little sister's wedding and another trip to Colorado. I acted as florist and co-wedding planner, and even got the opportunity to littleraly chase down the FedEx man! It wouldn't be a wedding without some stress though right?

6. Celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with an overnighter and dinner at a wonderful spanish restuarant!

7. Alli turned 3!

8. Jacob can now crawl up AND down the stairs all by himself, so my life just got much easier!

9. We had a terriffic "Valentime's Day" (as Alli calls it)! Ryan made me breakfast in bed with a vase of flowers and then I made a romantic candelit dinner that night. We gave Alli a teddy bear that she now adores. When I gave it to her, I brought her into our bedroom and had her stand outside my closet door and close her eyes while I retieved the gift from inside the closet. She was so excited! The next morning she brought me in and made me stand outside the closet and close MY eyes while she got me my "Valentime". Unfortunately, she couldn't find anything suitable (which I figured). I did however find several shoes strewn on the floor later, as if they had been a consideration. It was so darling.! Alli is so sweet and loving. She loves to be affectionate and cuddly lately.
She surprises me often with her compliments and thoughtful gestures, like the other day when she told me I was " a good cooker". The best part is that I know she really means them, which goes a long way when you are feeling guilty about just making Mac n' cheese for dinner, but too tired to do anything else. Anyway....

10. We unpacked and hung on the wall at least two pictures that hadn't been touched since I packed them for THE LAST MOVE, over a year ago! Hooray!!

Thank you Eve (& Grandma) for these!!! What would we do without all of your thoughtful gestures, time, and love for our family!? We certainly wouldn't be nearly as stylish at next years football game! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Any Resemblance??

Ok, so I have a million tasks to do, but I had to take a blog break and record this.

I was just putting A. to bed, reading stories like usual. Tonight she chose to read some Sesame Street book where they basically do an entire show in one book. It is really one of my least favorites - it gets pretty wordy... Anyway, when it was time to play "Journey to Ernie", A. began to go through and point to each animal in turn and say, "Tiger Ernie, Turtle Ernie, etc." but when she go to the Water Buffalo (or Yak, or something), she very matter of factly stated, "Mama Ernie..." WHAT???? Do I really look like that Water Buffalo?!

I'm still chuckling... but really, she said it like it was fact, not even a hesitation like she just didn't know what it really was... those silly kids.

Running Away With My Thoughts!

Ok, so does anyone know if it is possible to switch the order of entries on your blog? I know it probably is, but I haven't figured it out yet...among other things. Anyway, I started an entry about Halloween, but didn't get all the pictures put on until after I had published the pumpkin patch one, and moving, which have now been up for a few days. I go to try and finally publish Halloween, and it appears before the other two and I don't know how to fix it, and most people will miss it now. So anyway, any helpful hints on this would be great, but for those of you that have been asking, scroll down a few posts to see the kids in their Halloween costumes.

Also, the above was probably one of my favorite moments that day! Can you say Casa Bonita?!

Family Fun

A few weeks ago, we decided to take a trip to the pumpkin patch for family night. It was a first for all of us I believe, and we had a GREAT time! We went to this perfect little farm, with a BIG red barn where they served delicious ice cream and apple cider donuts.


First we went on the hayride to "the patch" though, (which A. especially enjoyed) and selected two very cute kid sized pumpkins...maybe even considered gourds...

....but anyway, they were all the kids could hold by themselves and thus they were "perfect"!

The weather was perfectly crisp, the view was beautiful, and the company unbeatable. I was reminded once more why I love the Fall. We will definitely be back and have most likely started a tradition!

We're Moving, AGAIN!

Yes, that's right, we are moving the beginning of December. I swore last year that I would never move at Christmas time again, and yet here we are! We surprised even ourselves a couple of weeks ago when we decided to buy another home! We haven't even been here a year, and find ourselves making the jump again, I don't know what got into us. Well...that's not true, I do know,... it's called 1000 more square feet! It is actually another town home, but much bigger, nicer, and we will finally have a GARAGE!!!! (I don't know if I'm more excited or Ryan, but both of us for the same reason-finally a place to put all his tools!) Although I detest moving, I am actually hopeful that this time will be better than the last, considering I don't have a newborn, we aren't having to sell this house at the same time, and partly because I still have a couple of boxes all ready to go still from the last time! ( I did get most everything unpacked, but I never did get everything hung on the walls...now I don't feel so bad!)