Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Some growing up has been going on around here...

Pumpkin is sure growing up! Since the weather has been getting much nicer after dinner, I have been taking the kids for walks around the neighborhood. Pumpkin has been riding her bike while I push Critter in the stroller. After watching how well she was doing, Hubby and I decided it was time to take the training wheels off the bike and teach her to ride without them. She was REALLY excited. This was our adventure Sunday night. She got pretty good, we will see what she remembers this upcoming weekend!

The first video is before we left, just the kids being cute!

She started off a little shaky, but really got the hang of it. She was so proud each time she made it a little ways.

Critter was pretty proud of his big sister. It was really cute!

I had to save the best for last. By the time we were ready to head home she had really gotten the hang of it. Yes, I know that teaching her to ride her bike on the grass is a little bit strange. It was Hubby's idea and it worked out great. She had no fear of falling since it was fairly soft and non-concrete! It was so fun to see her growing up. I am not ready for it...but that is not really my choice anymore! :)

Our little girl is growing up and we could not be more proud and happy with who she is and who she will grow up to be!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The reason for my lack of sanity...

So, I have been pretty stressed and chaotic lately. We have had a lot going on. I wanted to document some of these changes. Not only for my friends...but so I can look back and eventually laugh about all of this. When we moved into our house 4 years ago, there were lots of projects we wanted to do. We are finally getting around to doing those. Between time and money we were always lacking something. We decided to just get these things done. It started with a new roof in June and then moved onto a few small construction projects.



















This is a small wall which leads to our bedroom. In this hallway was a really small closet that made no sense and was useless to us. So...we extended this entire hallway/wall out about 18 inches and removed the closet. We will one day soon put in cabinets and counter top in the hallway to make a small office. It is amazing how much this opened up the hallway. We still do not have floor, but the wall is now painted. The left is the old, the right is the new.









When we bought the house, we only had Pumpkin. We used what is now Critter's room as a playroom. That obviously changed when I was pregnant with Critter. The problem with his room is that it never had a closet. We added one in! Now, this may seem simple, but nothing with our family is simple. The closet has been done since the beginning of July, but there is still no closet system in there. That is because we want to replace the flooring, and we don't want to put the closet in until we put new flooring in. Now we can not put new flooring in until we rip up the old baseboard and put new ones in. Plus, we want to put new doors in and can not do the floors until we get the new doors in. Also, we are re-doing Pumpkin's room and can not put the new floors in until we do the above listed things to her room as well.....do you see where I am losing any grip of sanity I have?











Critter's room also had a door which lead into our living room. It used to be the door we used when it was a playroom, but we stopped using it when it became his bedroom. So, we closed those doors in. Simple, but it makes his room look MUCH bigger!

Last but not least his last wall of his room. We figured since we had to prime and paint so much of his room with the construction, we would just redecorate. It was fun. It looks really nice and he likes the "cars" on the wall. It is also neat to have some of my pictures on my kids walls.
I am in the process of finishing Pumpkin's room. When I get it done, I will post pictures. It makes me sad since I can actually see my kids growing up and their tastes changing. It has been interesting around here to say the least. We have a huge vision for our house, but it is just taking time and sweat to get things done. I hope by 6 months from now we will be farther along the process....or maybe that is wishful thinking! :)

Monday, September 28, 2009

Finally the rest of our vacation

Alright I am FINALLY getting around to posting these last vacation pictures. I figured if I did not do it by October they would never get done. I still think about this wonderful trip and all the memories we created for our family. It was a really awesome time.
One of the things that Pumpkin requested and talked about with going to Boston was going to see these duck statues. There is a great book written about the swan boats and these ducks. We had been reading it and she really wanted to go. Unfortunately, the day we chose ended up being in the mid-90s, which for Boston is REALLY hot. The kids did not make it very long. We got to the park, saw these bronze ducks, I took Pumpkin on the swan boats, and then we left. We drove around for a little while and then went back to my aunt and uncle's house. If it were a little cooler we would have lasted longer, but it was still a great time. Pumpkin still talks about these ducks and the boats. It was a short, but nice time!
Aren't they cute!

The famous swan boats.
A fun, but sweaty and hot, mommy and daughter moment!
I could not resist this picture of Pumpkin and my mom while she was eating lobster. Pumpkin had never tried it before. My cousin gave her a piece, but she was not a fan. She just was so weirded out by the lobster, it was REALLY funny! :)
Background on this picture....my aunt LOVES shoes. I mean, really she loves shoes. So the last night we were staying there Pumpkin, my mom and my aunt had a shoe fashion show. It was really cute. Pumpkin loved all of my aunt's "fancy" shoes. I do not have many fancy shoes with staying home. I do know where they would go if I had them...onto Pumpkins feet!
It was a TOUGH trip home. We were supposed to leave at 5:30, get a connecting flight at 8 and land home at 11:30 at night. Well...there was trouble with the first flight being delayed an hour and a half. SO.....they needed to switch our flights. They thought that switching us to the next morning at 10am would be great, so we agreed. After everything was done, I realized they only gave us a 30 minute window to connect to our flight home. Yeah with two kids that was not going to work. So...we got switched to another airline. However, since it was so late we had to stay at a hotel for the night. Luckily we got a huge discount on a really nice hotel. The kids had a hard time falling asleep though. I finally got Critter to sleep and then Pumpkin had to fall asleep with him. This is how they slept for about half the night. It was really cute and sweet.

I had to document finally going home. We ended up landing 12 1/2 hours after we were supposed to. It was a LONG trip home. We had such a great time on the trip and we really want to get back to the East Coast more often.
At least I now feel a little more caught up! :)

Monday, September 14, 2009

Happy Anniversary

Seven years ago today I said "I Do" to my wonderful husband. Right about now we were leaving the church and heading to the reception, it was the first moment of quiet for the two of us all day. I don't know if we have had many moments of quiet since then either! :) I can not believe these memories happened 7 years ago. We have gone through so much in that time and life has changed quite a bit. Yet....I still love you as much if not more than that day 7 years ago. I am where I am supposed to be in this world. Life might have its hard days but they are made better by sharing them with you. Without you I would not have these two amazing children and a happiness that comes from deep within. With all the chaos in our lives, it is nice to remember it started with you and me. We will always have our to-do lists, house repairs to make, errands to run, and things to get done. It is nice to stop and remember why we do everything we do and enjoy where we are. I love you and the memories of the past. I look forward to the new memories of the future.
I love you dear husband, Happy Anniversary!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Vacation, Part 2

Here is more about our fabulous vacation! I think by the time I get all these stories out it will be wintertime! :)
We had a GREAT time at my aunt and uncle's house in MA. They live on a lake and so many of my childhood memories are from their house. Their son is my "baby" cousin, now 24! He is the one I lived close to and used to "mother" growing up. He is now a grown man, out of college and in the real world. Pumpkin and Critter just adored him. Pumpkin is still telling stories about him. The first day we were there Pumpkin loved being outside and on the boat, but did not really want to get into the water. We finally got her in the water near the end of the day...and then she did not want to get out! Critter was not a big fan of the water, but loved playing on the dock. It was so neat for me to show the kids where I grew up. We also got to go by my grandparents home and the town they lived. We walked around and showed them the old church and other places I remember. This is just the first batch of pictures from MA, I have a bunch more!
This is our attempt to get Pumpkin in the water...we were not successful yet! :)
Pumpkin and Cousin J. She loved these rafts, especially before she went into the water. She would follow J anywhere around that lake!

Critter was happy for a few minutes on the raft with Daddy. All of the vacation he was Daddy's boy, unlike the Momma's boy at home! If Daddy went out of sight, he sort of freaked out. It was sweet, yet very tiring. They had a great time together though.
He was SO HOT after a boat ride and being in his shirt and life vest. We had to cool him down and he did not want to get into the water. So...we brought the water to him! He loved pouring the water on himself too. It was so cute and it cooled him down.
Pumpkin finally wanted to get in the water. She did not want to take the life vest off, but at least she was having a blast.
I have many childhood memories jumping off this same dock. My cousins and I would make up games and just be kids. It was so much fun to see her doing the same things I did way back then.
This is my grandparents old church. It is a beautiful old Catholic church. It was open the day we stopped by and we got to go in, and get out of the heat. It was as beautiful as I remember it being as a child.
This was probably the most emotional time of the trip for me. I lost my grandparents about 7 years ago. Neither of my kids got to meet them in this life. However, Pumpkin is named after my grandmother. She knows about all of the people who are no longer on this earth and we tell stories about them often. We went by Hubby's grandparents cemetery, but did not get pictures. We did get some here. Pumpkin recognized her name and we told a few stories about them. It was a very special moment for me to share this with my kids.
Critter has a heart full of love and understanding. The first thing he did when walking up to the headstone, was to touch their names. It just was amazing.
If you see those little specks on the top of the picture in the water...that would be Hubby and Pumpkin. This was not even as far as she went. Once she started swimming she did not want to stop. She did have her life vest on, but still I was a little nervous. Hubby finally got her to come back when two boats came between them and the shore. She had such a great time.
I have so many more stories with even more pictures. We have decided that we can not wait 4 years to head back East. We need to do it more often. Maybe next time in the fall to see the changing colors though. More stories and pictures to come....

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

First Day of School

Pumpkin (finally) started back at school yesterday. Since she is not in public school yet, they start MUCH later than other schools around here. It was a long month of August waiting between summer camp and school. She is going M/W/F this year and it is just what she needs, but I am going to miss her! It is my second step in "letting go". Since she was 9 months old she and I have gone to my MOMS Club activities almost every Wednesday together. When Critter was born, those activities helped me get out of the house. Now...she is going to miss those activities. She will be learning and having fun at school. I think it is a bigger transition for me than her.
I have been taking a step back lately and seeing who Pumpkin is growing up to be. It really is an amazing sight. She is so caring, loving and generous. She has a fiery streak in her for sure, but still wants to be held, hugged and loved upon. She is like her mother, once you are in her heart she holds onto you with a fierce love.
The two of these guys light up my world. They balance each other so well. He already is missing her on school days, but he and I will get some great time together.


Happy start to your school year Pumpkin. We love you and are so proud of who you are. Enjoy this time and spread your wings (just a little!) but know that we are here to hug you when you return.