Always playing the Catch-up Game!

Lot's of catching up to do on the blog!  The last few weeks have been very busy!

Mason got his license!!!!  I have to say it wasn't a smooth process but he eventually got it done.  He went for his (3rd) test on St. Patty's day and I think he had a bit of the luck of the Irish on his side!

(maybe wearing grandpa J's duck sweatshirt

helped!)

We had our spring break...Ella was the only one of us that got to go anyplace.  She went to the beach with the Mascos and had a blast. 

Though she did get homesick...we did a LOT of texting and Facetiming!

She was happy to be home again! :)

While Ella was at the beach, I took a weekend trip to Chicago with Beth to go help Andrea out and meet Baby Jack. It was a super quick trip but fun to snuggle with him (and to let Andrea try to get some extra sleep!).

Running season is here again...I participated in a 10k training run with the neighbor friends.  This coming weekend is the 15k and then on May 5th, my 2nd Half Marathon!  Yippee!

The Easter Bunny came for a visit and left some movies and chocolate goodies for the kiddos.

Silas was ECSTATIC when he got a Pokemon card holder in his basket.

The whole family got together for our Easter dinner at the church.  I took about 10 pictures and someone has their eyes closed in every one!!

The kids had worked hard on an Easter play - The Bunnies that Saved Easter, was the name I believe.
Guess who the bunny was?? :)
It was cute - they did a really good job and Justin was a natural!

Things have just been busy, busy, busy...Mason is back in track, Ella and Silas have started soccer and Justin is coaching both teams again.  Work is kicking my butt, Justin is trying to finish up a kitchen remodel and move on to a few bathroom remodels (here in the neighborhood which will be great for the gas budget!).  We continue to work on clearing out some clutter, keeping up with things like laundry, grocery shopping, and having some fun (we've got to a few more concerts in the past month).
Summer will be here before we know it and we've got some family vacations and fun stuff planned!

I'm (over)due for a YOSP update too...soon, soon...

Chicago (aka The Pukey City)

This past weekend Ella and I went for a visit to Chicago with Beth, Sarah, Jill, Abbi and Alli.  We had a GREAT time up until 6pm on our last night there. Lucy was a little unsure of us at first.  She didn't know who all the people were that had invaded her home. She warmed up pretty quickly though and we got to see lots of smiles from her.

Andrea and Lucy

Miss Lucy escaping from her tent

 

On Saturday we went to a Wonder Works - a place for the kids to play.  It was supposed to be some kind of kids' museum but as they pointed out later - "it wasn't much of a museum" - but they did have fun running around, dressing up for the stage and making pictures in the art room (and possibly picking up the stomach virus that hit on Sunday night...) 

 

On Sunday we took the train into downtown for a little shopping.  Ella was all excited.  I thought she was excited about going shopping but when I asked her, she said, "No, I'm excited to ride the train!"  She wouldn't sit down on the ride in.

 

We hit the Hersey Store first - it was yummy!

Next was the American Girl Store. I know that this is a very exciting store for little girls.  I didn't want to deny my one and only daughter the chance to enjoy the store.  But $14.00 for baby doll socks?  $14 for a baby doll bibs? I told her I'd buy her an outfit for her Bitty Baby (Emma) but if she wanted the socks she'd have to use her tooth fairy money. She decided that Bitty Baby could have cold feet.

I did really like the historical displays 

that they had set up though. That was pretty neat.

Abbi, Alli and Ella

We grabbed a bite to eat at the mall, shopped a little more and then headed back to Andrea's.  
Unfortunately, a couple hours later is when the puke hit the fan...Abbi came down at dinner time saying her belly hurt.  Jill and I really just thought it was from being tired - the girls had stayed up pretty late Friday and Saturday nights and had been getting up very early to play with Lucy.  Right as dinner hit the table though, Abbi was upstairs and got sick.  About an hour later, Ella came down to tell me that HER stomach hurt.  I really didn't get concerned. I just thought that she was trying to get some attention or "play sick" too.  About 2 hours later, she threw up as well.  Still trying to be an optimist, I thought that maybe it was just the grilled cheese sandwich that Ella and Abbi ate.  

So, our last evening in Chicago was a bust as Beth went to bed early in case she had to drive home, Jill and I took care of sick kids and Andrea, Tom and Lucy did their best to stay the hell out of our germ radius.  We were up and out by 9am - the ride home was NO fun.  Andrea packed us crackers, sprite, plastics bags, towels - and unfortunately we had to use them all. And Ella missed the bag the 2nd time around. And Jill's van probably still doesn't smell too good...

Overall, it was still a great visit and we hope that we aren't banned from visiting again.  I bet next time the "decontamination station" will be more than a joke!

Race for the Cure and Chicago

Saturday, May 16 was my very first Race for the Cure. What an amazing, inspiring event. I have never seen so many people at an event like this!
I was on the Heather Pick team (with about 6,000 others!) so I got to wear the pink wig.

Me and Margie

Donna and me

Margie and Sarah

Wonderful walk and I'm already looking forward to next year's!

Immediately after the walk, I ran home, threw my bags together for a 4 day trip with Beth to Chicago to help Andrea out with baby Lucy while Tom was out of town. And OH, she is gorgeous!!

(yes, my ovaries are sending me subliminal messages about needing another baby...)

While I was gone, Justin held down the fort, and did a great job as usual.
He even gave Si a haircut, which was desperately needed.

Doesn't he look like such a big boy??
He's also getting very tall. I think he's going through a growth spurt because he's been sleeping almost 12 hours at night. Which means all those shorts and t-shirts I just bought him won't fit much longer!!

Colder than a Blankety Blank

Last Friday it was about -8 (as in ZERO minus 8 degrees) in Columbus. Pretty dang cold. Or so I thought until I hopped on a plane to Chicago (with Beth and Jill for a girlie weekend with Andrea) and it was -16. In all honesty, my cold sensors implode around 19 degrees, so I didn't feel the difference between -8 and -16. Or the -35 when you consider the windchill. Not that we cared all that much once we got to Andrea's - we spent 75% of the weekend in our pajama's and it was perfect!! We did venture out on Friday evening to go to Babies R Us - to help Andrea get her baby registry in order.

We never could have done it without Matt - the world's youngest guru on all things BABY (never mind the fact that he IS a baby and HAS NO babies). No doubt if you search on YouTube for "4 deranged women wrestle stroller" you will see the store's hidden-camera video of the 4 of us fighting a stroller for 20 minutes (damn peg perego stollers - Graco's are much easier!) and then stripping our coats and sweaters off as we break a sweat... Luckily before we were standing in the store stark naked, Matt came to our rescue.

Here he teaches Jill the proper latches and buttons
for a smooth opening and closing - no sweating, no broken nails.

Reading up on the Good, Better and Best of baby gear.
What has happened to "I like that pattern best"??

On Saturday, we were coaxed out of jammies by the lure of a little pampering. We hit a nearby salon to get manicures and pedicures. It was lovely (and quite a bargin too).

Andrea, Beth and Jill busily texting (one another?)
while soaking their piggies.

I was quite happy with my toes - and wine - upon returning
to Andrea's and jumping back into pj's.

On Sunday we got a group picture - after a few odd shots...

Ah ha!

Fantastic time and I LOVE that I can go away for a couple days and not worry one iota about Justin's ability (or willingness) to take care of the kids!!
Damn I'm a lucky girl!