3 bellies at 33 weeks

Today we went to church, then to Lowe's, and came home to watch football and have our usual Sunday lunch at the coffee table.  We enjoy watching the Vikings and having lunch in the living room.  Then it was cuddle time on the sofa.  Justin had both kids and the dog all on the sofa with him!  Caroline finally came and sat with me in the recliner.  Then the fun started.

We had lots of fun posing for these pictures.  Then while I was adjusting Will's balloon it popped while under his shirt.  He thought that was really fun and Caroline also wanted her balloon popped while it was under her shirt.  The good thing was they didn't try to pop my belly!!

Justin's birthday

Today is Justin's 32nd birthday!  I am pretty sure he had a fantastic day.  He started the day by going to play golf with a coworker.  He came home had lunch with us and opened his presents.  He couldn't wait any longer!!  The above picture is of him opening his card that played Star Wars music.  Will immediately ran to get his Star Wars music card and they had to play them at the same time.  Will's is just about to be played out!  

The kids saw football shaped oreos this morning when we went to the store and HAD to get them for daddy!  Will and Caroline tried several times today to get Justin to open them so they could have some!

After lunch it was nap time.  Will has given up naps during the week except a rare day when I can get him to settle down enough to nap with me!  It helps for him to not have a nap so that he will go to bed and not bother Caroline.  But on the weekends we can usually get both kids to nap.  They love to nap with Daddy.

I snuck in and took a picture of them sleeping.  Miles was on the bed with them but when I came in he jumped off.  They slept for 2 hours like this!!  

We finally did cake after dinner.  Justin requested a fruit flan and a small oreo cake.  Both were great and I was surprised that the flan was my favorite.

Since he had two cakes both kids helped blow out the candles!  They didn't mind helping that's for sure.

Happy Birthday Justin!  We love you!!

Busy days

Well it has been quite a while yet again since I blogged.  I am TIRED at night and busy during the day so I have been really bad about letting everyone know what's been going on with us.  Last week was the first full week of school for Caroline and it was really nice to get back into a routine (somewhat).  They both are really enjoying school and I am so glad for that.
Last weekend we drove down to Columbus, Ohio and traded our van in for a new to us one.  it is a 3.5 hour drive and we went down and back in the same day!  I t took me about 2 days to recover.  But driving my fancy new van helped!!  Then while Will was at school I have been calling the NC DMV and filling out paperwork so the new van can be registered in NC and we can transfer the tag.
While I am enjoying getting into a routine it is going to be disrupted soon.  Monday is already a teacher workday and then Justin and Caroline leave Wednesday afternoon to start the drive to NC for Anna's wedding.  Lucky for me I don't have to drive!  My dad is coming, on Thursday, to get me and Will and I will get to fly to NC!  After the drive to Ohio and how tired that made me I was sure glad that I can fly.  We can't wait to see everybody at the wedding!

Today is also Justin's birthday so I will try to do another post tonight of birthday pictures!  I shouldn't be so tired tonight since I am not running errands, folding laundry, and I get a nap!

The flu!!

So Will gave it to the rest of us and it turned out to be the flu!!  We were all home from work and school yesterday and Will was the only one feeling well.  Justin was great at letting me get lots of rest and I am doing lots better today.  I am the only one home this morning and am taking the quiet time to get some more rest before Will is home from preschool.

I will do more vacation posts as we get to feeling better around here but if you want to get a picture preview I uploaded ALL the beach, lake, and MD pictures to my website.
http://web.me.com/skiredfern

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Will

Today was Will's 4th birthday!!  He had a great day despite being sick.  He has his first cold since starting school.  I thought we might be able to hold off the colds at least for a few weeks but since Will chews his finger nails it happened quickly.

He chose to have blue pancakes for breakfast and Justin was able to get super fancy and make him a Yoda shaped pancake.

He also got to choose 2 of his many presents to open before breakfast.

The big blue bags were instant draws and he figured out the bows himself.

He is BIG into Star Wars right now and it was basically a Star Wars themed birthday with me trying to make it that way.  He got something Star Wars from every single person with no repeats!!  He LOVED it all and will have a blast playing all day tomorrow.  Caroline has had fun playing with him too.

Opening more presents and checking it all out.  I'm glad he loves all his gifts so much but really people there are about a thousand pieces with this stuff!!  

You can't really tell what is getting the death squeeze in this picture but it is a stuffed sea turtle.  He is in love with sea turtles since he got to see a real one at the beach and then at the aquarium in Cincinnati.  He wanted this turtle from the gift shop and Justin was able to get it without him knowing.  He remembered that this was the one he wanted "really bad" from the aquarium.  It is now added to the collection of lovies in his bed.

He requested an apple pie for dessert and was so excited to have some but after 1 bite he threw up at the table!!  Poor fellow.  All the junk from his cold and I made the mistake of giving him his soy milk at dinner and it wasn't sitting well in his stomach apparently.  So we will try again tomorrow on the pie.  He wasn't fazed, as usual, and was ready to go play right away!

Happy Birthday my sweet little boy!  We love you so berry much!!

Oak Island (first stop of vacation)

Our first stop of our vacation was to Long Beach.  The kids love coming and the great thing is that we have been able to make it to the Wheel house for the past 3 years!!  We arrived at midnight Sunday night.  Everything in the car top carrier was wet after driving in 2 days of rain.  We had started our trip Saturday morning and spent the night in Columbus, OH with friends.  Sunday morning we headed towards the beach with a stop at the Sanford airport to pick up Caroline (she flew back to NC with Granddaddy on Saturday) and then a stop in fayetteville to see friends from Fort Polk that we hadn't seen in almost 4 years.  We had diner with them and really enjoyed our visit.  They have an almost 5 year old and Dianne is 7 weeks ahead of me pregnancy wise.  We took a picture together and it didn't even look like I was pregnant!!

(she is having a girl and only 1 baby!)

We took the dog with us and he just loved the water and chasing the birds.  It was great having Miles there to enjoy it with us.  Miles didn't mind the waves crashing on him at all and was just happy to be out there with us.

Miles was watching Justin and the kids out in the water.  

So happy to be with us!  He would run back and forth between me sitting at the edge of the water and the kids to make sure they were safe.

During the week we had several visitors that made our trip so much fun.  Tuesday night our friends from Gaithersburg came.  We hadn't seen them in almost a year and the 4 kids acted like they had only been apart for a day.  It was great and they had a blast with their friends.

Sitting in a hole adding dip castle decorations and waiting for the tide to come up and get it.  Kate, Dad, and MArie also joined us on Wednesday.  In the picture is Kate, Juliet, Ellie, Caroline, Ashley, and Marie.

Will joined the fun, although he wasn't much help with the drip castle part!

The water was perfect for the kids to play by themselves and they loved to boogie board.

Enjoying a quiet morning of reading with Mimi and Kate before heading down to the water.

All four kids playing games with granddaddy.

I got almost everyone in this picture.  We went to Frosty's for ice cream.  Can't go to the dairy queen since they don't have any no dairy options for Will and here they have italian ice.  The best part is on Thursday nights a clown in there doing free face painting and balloons.

All of our visitors left on Friday and then Friday night more friends came for the weekend.  The Schroeders joined us.

Brandon and meredith had fun at the beach with Caroline and Will.

The week went by too fast of course and packing up Sunday morning there was a commotion down on the beach.  Justin noticed some people and went down there and called to everyone else that there are sea turtles.  Justin and Will got to see the last sea turtle make it to the water.  Overnight there was a nest that hatched right at the public beach access!  the lady checking out the nest said there were 85 eggs that made it and 17 that didn't.   You could see all the little fin marks in the sand.  So neat!  The nest wasn't even marked like the one a little farther down the beach.  The day before we even got to see dolphin out in front of the house!  

Can't wait to see if we can go again next year!!  Thanks for all the visitors who helped make our beach trip so much fun!!

First day of school

Yesterday was the first day of school for both kids.  It was a half day, which is all Will does, and Caroline started full days today.  They both loved it and I am glad they did.  Caroline wanted the day to be a full day she was having so much fun.  She has the same teacher as last year, her assistant is different, and the same kids plus 4 new ones.  It makes starting a new year sooo much easier when the kids and teacher stay the same.  If we stay here for next year she would have the same teacher again since her class is now a 1-3 grade class.  Will started pre-K at the Catholic school right down the road and will go 3 days a week for 3 hours each day.  Mrs. Kotlar is his teacher and so far the last 2 mornings have been wonderful for him.  He is really enjoying it so far and I don't see that changing.  He told me yesterday when I asked if he made any new friend that he did but it was a secret and he would tell only daddy!!  He eventually told us all at dinner.  But you never really know with Will what is something conjured up from his imagination or if it really happened.  He had a red spot under his right eye at dinner and Justin asked him what happened and he told us that he got in a fight at school!!  What?  That red spot wasn't there when I picked him up from school and his teacher sure didn't say anything to me about a fight.  So who knows how he got that spot!!  Caroline's big class news was that they are going to have 2 class pets this year, rat's (not sure why) and fish.  She was super excited about that.

Before school and yes they both have uniforms they have to wear.

So excited to go!

After school.  You can tell Caroline is tired even from just a half day.  She should be exhausted tonight.

They missed each other while they were at school.  Then they played so well together all afternoon!!  Will has asked me several times where is Caroline today. He will be glad to have his play pal back this afternoon.

Here's hoping those wonderful smiles continue for the rest of the school year!!

We're home again!

and this time to stay for a few weeks!  After getting home from vacation from Aug 14-30 we spent all of 3 days at home and then headed out again for a weekend trip to the UP.  We went way up north to the shores of lake Superior on Friday.  It is about a 7  hour drive from our house and we stayed in the same state!  The kids kept asking if we were in Ohio!!  The weather was quite a change from our last trip and even the 3 days at home.  The heat came with us back to MI and it was in the mid 80s the 3 days we were home.  Then we went north and the temps kept dropping.  Friday night by the time we had stopped and done some exploring at Tahquamenon Falls and finally arrived at our hotel in Munising, MI the temperature was 59 with rain and winds gusting to 50 mph.  Justin had to open my car door for me because the wind was blowing so hard I couldn't push it open without causing some pain in my stomach!  the next morning we heard reports that the waves in the lake were 18-20 feet high and the wind reached 70 mph!!!  Holy cow that was some crazy weather.  We had taken the dog with us and he didn't much like having his tail feathers blown while he was trying to do his business!  He did what he needed to do very quickly thank goodness.  Saturday was chilly (high of 62) and off and on rain.  We had a good day exploring Marquette, MI which is the home of Northern Michigan University. We also ventured out in the rain to some overlooks at the pictured rocks national lakeshore.  The waves were only about 12 feet that day!!  At one overlook the rain was actually blowing up!  Sunday was a much better day weather wise and we went out to walk to some waterfalls and go back to the overlooks we had been to the day before to see the difference in the water/waves.  Then we went on a 2.5 hour boat tour on lake Superior to see the pictured rocks. The waves were between 2-5 feet at this point and that is still pretty rough.  I would say half the 100 or so people on the boat got sick!  The 4 of us made it just fine and Caroline and Will loved the roller coaster feel of the big ones!!  Then we headed back home and pulled into the driveway at 1130p.
Today has been a day of getting school supplies, mowing (justin), and relaxing (if we can do that) before school starts tomorrow.  Will starts pre-K tomorrow and Caroline starts first grade!  They are both so excited and I am just excited to have a routine again.  The 3 mornings a week that I will have to my self a just bonus!!  I have TONS of vacation pictures and I will work on those this week and get them posted.  Tomorrow is a half day and I have to take the van in for an oil change while the kids are at school so no time for pictures tomorrow I don't think.

Tahquamenon Falls, the kids, Miles, and my belly!

Before vacation

The last time I posted was several weeks ago and we were getting ready to go on baycation (as Will calls it).  But first we had a big promotion.  My dad and Justin's parents flew up Thursday the 12th and Justin was promoted to Major the next day.  We are so proud of you Justin!!
There was a nice ceremony and a reception after that we were in charge of providing the refreshments for.  So earlier that week while trying to get ready for a 2 week trip I was also ordering a cake, finding fruit trays, making 500 sausage balls, and seeing what store had the best deal on mini muffins.  I have to say it all came together nicely and was a huge success!
The kids LOVED having grandparents around for a few days (we all left Saturday).  Caroline was the lucky one that got to fill the extra seat in Granddaddy's plane for the trip back to NC instead of driving like the rest of us.  She was so excited (at least that's the excuse I'm using) that she gave Justin a hug told him she loved him and went and got in the plane.  Not one kiss or good-bye to me!!  She did give me a thumbs up!

Here are a few pictures from the promotion.

I have lots of pictures from our trip and will get those posted in the next day or so.  I am still getting the suitcases unpacked and ready for our next trip this weekend!!