Well where have you been?

Hey everyone! Yes it's me... I have been a little busy (to busy to post apparently). Yes I know it's been like 13 days.

So what have I been up to? Well first off I had a busy father's day weekend... See we celebrated father's day a day early in our house, because we were going to be gone all of Sunday visiting others. I got Jeremy the Vizio sound bar (oh I'm sorry, the kids got him the sound bar) ;). There is an interesting story behind this. See last Sunday (the 12th) (I think), I let him get a new tv... Now I say I let him, because I have been really fighting this issue for a while, because I felt like our tv was fine, and looked great, and that we didn't need a new one. Yes Jeremy is the man of the house, and he does make the money, which is why me saying "let him buy one" sounds weird, and not right. See if it were up to me, we would still have that small 19in we had when we got married, and I would be just fine with that, and not care what everyone else had. Jeremy on the other hand... I sometimes think it's a guy thing, but then again I have met some girls like that (girls that also think you need the best tv), so I don't know. My thoughts are a tv is great as long as it works (right?... I mean as long as you can see the picture, than you're good right?) We got another Vizio, it was not 3D, but it was better than our other tv (I'm not sure how... completely... It does look better). It was for a great price at Walmart. When we were there we also saw that they had a great price on the sound bar. Jeremy has been wanting surround sound again for a while now.

We had it back when we lived in VA, and I hated it. Wires EVERYWHERE! It was a pain to set up (yes I was being nice, and helped), and I just thought it looked tacky. When we moved to CA, right after we got there Jeremy deployed for 4 months, and I unpacked, and set up everything... Yeah I did not have the patience for that thing... So I didn't bother with it, and at one point I believe it all got thrown away (oops!). Well it's really not a girly thing... Or at least I don't think it is, so it's not up on our priority list.

Anyways he really wanted the Vizio sound bar, and I really didn't... I did like that it was wireless (YAY), but I thought, that we had already spent enough that day. Well apparently Jeremy had planted the seed in my mind, that he needed one of these. He didn't mention it anymore, but 4 days later I feel like "I have to get this for Jeremy for father's day." Yeah where did that come from (I still don't know). And because he planted the seed he already knew he was getting it, because he really wasn't surprised to see the big box waiting down stairs, come Saturday morning. Well at least he loves it, and I like it okay.

Father's day we went to 2 dinners (yeah wow). One at my parents' house, and one at Jeremy's Aunt Mary's house. It was a busy day for us, and keeping track of Olivia at these things is so much fun (oh the joys of being a mom to a small toddler). I spent most of the time chasing after her (at both). One of these days, I hope to be able to sit down, and have normal grown-up conversations with my friends and family (yes some day I will).

Oh and I joined a gym... (yay...), so lets hope this helps. Now that I am done having babies, I'm going to re-claim my body (it's mine!). So far I have been twice, today and yesterday, both at 5am.... EEK! Yeah I don't really like that hour either, but if I don't go at that time, then I don't get a chance to go at all. I'll keep you updated on how it all goes.

Thanks for reading :)

Zachary's birthday, Mommy relief, and my week so far...

This is going to be a 3 part post, so bear with me.


Happy Birthday Zachary!

Zachary's 7th birthday was Saturday! Yay for Zach. I can't believe how big he is getting.

Yes I know once again, I didn't post on his birthday. I think the problem is, it's harder for me to find time to post on a weekend. Yes I'm blaming it on the calender. :) My kids are getting so big... why are they doing that?

We got him a dart gun, and the game Operation. We took him to Subway for lunch, and made Pizza for dinner. He picked chocolate cupcakes with strawberry for his cake. YUM!











Down in the Mommy dumps?

Does this ever happen to you? You are busy, your husband is busy, you haven't been able to see any of your friends for a while, and you can't seem to find any time for yourself? ... Yeah I think this happens to all of us, and yes that means me. See last week was kind of a ruff week. I was busy with house work and starting the kids on some summer school work. Jeremy was extra busy at work, doing the things he needs to do. I had been missing church do to my busyness, and in turn I didn't get to see anyone. Also, not to mention, now that summer is almost here I have started to wear my summer clothes and have noticed that I put on a couple of pounds during the long crazy winter, and that didn't make me feel much better. Do you ever put something on and ask yourself... "Hey didn't this use to fit better?" Yeah I'm so with you there, and it's just not fair. So I was feeling a little lonely, because I missed my friends (including the ones that live so far away... Why did we have to leave each other :(... it's just not fair), and my husband (working late is not fun). I was also feeling down, because of the extra pounds, and because of the lack of time to myself. My kids are awesome! I think they are the best kids a mom could ever have, but they do keep me busy, and I'm only human (I have to tell myself this to make me feel better).

So on Thursday night Jeremy noticed that I wasn't myself, and after the kids went to bed, he confronted me about it... Long story short, he let me cry on his shoulder (which was very nice of him). He just listed to my troubles and told me that I was not fat, and that things will slow down soon.

Friday night the church was having this Lady's night in. We were going to watch a movie, eat pizza, and just hang out. It was just what I needed. I took my friend Trudy, and we both had a really good time...
I get home and husband had a couple surprises for me...

1. His mother wants to take the boys for the week (nice!)
2. He planed a weekend trip for the two of us (only), to take in August, to Ocean City (his mom is going to watch them again... Yeah super nice!)

Gotta hand to him, he hears my problems and he solved them. :)... How cool is that?



My week without the boys


Well so far it has been really quiet (thank you so much Jeremy's Mom). I have been catching up on Laundry (mostly washing sheets). When nap times come around I get a chance to read, and watch movies. This morning however I did have a nice little surprise waiting for me. Olivia thought it was a good idea to take her diaper off, and poop in her crib (it was lovely). So first thing this morning she got a bath, and I had to wash her sheets again. So far though that has been the only eventful thing... I like this... Yeah I'm just living it up right now... No worries by the end of the week, I'll miss the boys, and want them back :).

Thanks for reading.

One Girl Revolution

This is my theme song!

Wedding weekend!

So happy Memorial day everyone. Things have been interesting around here for the past few days, and it's mostly due to the beautiful wedding I went to on Saturday. Jeremy's cousin Chris married Brittany (YAY! I'm really excited for them)!

(pictures done by Laurinda Tapper)


So this all started on Thursday...

That was the day of the Bachelor party. Now of course I wasn't invited to that, (no girls allowed) but Jeremy was (of course). That morning I was in serious need of a commissary run (not much food in the house), and I also needed to run to target to get a gift for Chris and Brittany, but before all of that I needed to go to an ATM. I needed tip money for the bagger, and money for both me and Jeremy to cross the bay bridge (gotta love paying toll, can you believe we still haven't gotten an easypass?). So I head to fort Meade and stopped by the ATM on the way. They are still doing construction on the Commissary which means things are still in weird places (this makes getting the things I need harder, because I can't find them). The last few times I've been, I haven't been able to find the ground turkey meat made by Louis Rich. At only a $1 a pound, it's a really good deal, and I really hate buying the more expensive stuff. This time however, I was able to find where they were hiding it (yay!)... Yeah I bought 10... Then it was home to put it all away, and put the baby down for a nap (yes that means momma break time). That afternoon after lunch time is when we went to Target.

Jeremy stopped by after dinner, to say goodbye, and to get some toll money. I just handed him all of my cash, thinking he would be back before I had to leave for the wedding, (which at this point was 2 days away..... yeah... I ended up paying toll with only quarters) boy was I wrong... I'll explain... The boys were having their party at a vacation house, that one of the Groomsman's parents own. It was going to be an over night, eat to much, and play video games kind of party. That night was awful for me though, I had a hard time getting to sleep (Jeremy wasn't there to make me feel safe and loved), and I had really bad dreams. Now this is unlike me, by now I am a pro at is whole spending the night alone thing (not that I like to be, but after all of the underways and deployments... Well you just get use to it).


The next day (Friday) was long and I was super tired. I had expected Jeremy to get home sometime that day, but I was sure when. Well it turns out he (and everyone else) had a million things to do that day (makes since he being a Groomsman and all), and I just didn't expect that. By the time the rehearsal dinner was over, it was late (super late), so Jeremy just stayed. I had a better night, than the last, I slept well and I didn't have any bad dreams.

So Saturday I woke up super excited. I couldn't wait to go, but I had to, the wedding wasn't until 5pm. I had things to do before I went to the wedding anyways like... Get ready, Get the kids ready, Do a load of diapers, Do a load of laundry, Do my hair, Do Olivia's hair, Pack the diaper bag, put the gift in the car... You know those things. I also need to bring a few things (to keep Olivia happy), and lets just say I forgot something. I forgot Olivia's bear, (oh no... say it isn't so) she doesn't cry for it or anything, but if she has it, then she is willing to sit still. I remembered the bear right after the toll booths, and there was no way I was going back for it (does that ever happen to you?) It wasn't that bad though, I had help. Jeremy's parents to the rescue! We ended up passing her back and forth, and she ended up staying with Jeremy's dad most of the ceremony. We had a lot of fun...

The food was awesome (Catered by Jeremy's aunt Mary). The boys had like 3 plates each. The kids and I left at about 8:30pm (Olivia was very tired by that time and very grumpy). Of course right after I leave is when Jeremy decides it's time to dance, and really cut a rug (and I missed it..... so not fair). Jeremy doesn't like to dance around other people (don't ask me why), so normally I have to beg to get even one dance. Grrrrr.... I'm glad he had a good time though. I wasn't sure when he would be able to get home. He was going to help clean up and all, and I didn't know when everything was going to be over, so I went to bed once I got home (we all did). For some reason I woke up at 2:50am, and found that Jeremy wasn't home yet. WHAT!! So I called him... No answer... not even a ring. Well after two days of being away from home, and not having a charger with him, I really wasn't surprised that his cell phone was dead. So at this point I was debating on whether or not to call the cousins up, to see if he had left already and how long ago it was, and if I should be worried (because I was), but I didn't. Turns out, he stopped by his Sister's work (she was working really late that night), and took her out to really early breakfast. He didn't get home until 3:30am.

So yeah that was my weekend! Congrats to Chris and Brittany, we are all so happy for you... and thanks for reading everyone.

Happy Birthday Darien

My son's birthday was Saturday, and he's 9 (yeah wow). Now I know what you guys are thinking... "Randi aren't you a little late on this post? Most of the time when one of your kids has a birthday you post on the day."... And yes you are right I really try to post on that day, even if it's just a small post wishing them a happy birthday, but this weekend was busy and crazy, mostly because we had a lot of things to do, but some of it was because Jeremy had a 4 day weekend, and when there's is a cute guy in the house, nothing gets done. So I didn't get around to it until now (I know that very bad of me, and I should know better).

We celebrated Darien's birthday on Friday, because my husband was taking Darien and Zachary to Sight and Sound in Lancaster, PA on Saturday (with the church). So shortly after waking up on Friday, we gave him his presents. Jeremy had off that day (a big bonus for all of us). We took the kids to Mcdonalds (a really cool birthday treat). We went to Party City to let Darien pick out a cool balloon (who doesn't like to do that). And last we went to Goodwill. We needed another book shelf (yes we have too many books). This book shelf we put in Darien's room, with all of his books on them, and this gave us move room on our other shelves (I was feeling really motherly and even let him put Harry Potter on his shelf). I made Carrot cake cupcakes (that's what he wanted), and pizza (also what he wanted). We had a dinner theater! We watched Harry Potter while eating. The kids stayed up late and ate themselves sick.

So Saturday we woke up early (5:30). The church bus was leaving at 7:30, and Jeremy had his buddy Ryan coming with, so we needed to to get ready. Shortly after Jeremy, Ryan, Darien, and Zachary left, Nathaniel, Olivia, and I set out for a walk around the neighborhood. I was yard sale day (they have one twice a year in our community), and I wanted to see what everyone had. I was just mainly looking for more summer clothes for Olivia, and books (I was looking for books). I found nothing! No one was selling anything I was interested in (yeah it happens). We walked the whole neighborhood (and I mean all of it), and nothing. Nathaniel was awesome! He walked all of it with me, and didn't complain. Next I took them (Nathaniel and Olivia) to Chuck E Cheese's. They had a blast... Olivia love the rides, and Nathaniel loved everything (not a big surprise). Lunch time comes around and we stop by Subway one our way home (yummy). After we got home I put Olivia down for a nap (yes it is time for a brake). Nathaniel played video games, and I watch the latest Bones on Hulu. After Olivia nap I took the kids to this awesome book store. It was our first time going, but I wanted to check it out because I was all used books. It's called the Book Nook. Yeah it was awesome! I got some Hardy Boys for Darien, and they had Star Trek books (yeah as if I wasn't nerdy enough). Nathaniel picked out a few books and we went home (again) (my feet were hurting by the end of this day). Bed time came around and Nathaniel wanted to stay up "I want to wait for my brothers mommy. I miss them."  "I know you do baby, but they won't be home until late. How about we get you a cupcake, and you go to bed."  "I want a cupcake, but I'm not tired."  "Come on Nathaniel, we are getting a cupcake, and then I'm going to tuck you in."... Yeah in the end it worked, he was really tired. The boys got back around 10:30pm (yeah they did get back late). They had a great time though. They got to ride in a bus that had a bathroom (who doesn't like to do that?). They got to eat at an awesome buffet, along with going to a great show. Needless to say, they all had a really good time.

So yes that was our busy weekend, I'm wondering if it will take all week to recover from it :)

Retraction

So you know when a magazine or a news paper needs to retract something they have written because they were wrong, or something they wrote was just inappropriate? Well I think I may need to do the same. I'm still going to keep my last post up, but I'm also going to apologise for it. I am very sorry. My last post was very grump, and very one-sided. The truth is some of the vacation was fun, and I did have help, but since my mothers day wasn't what I had hoped for, I was upset and only seeing the negative, but despite that I still had no right to display all of my dirty laundry to the world.

I don't want everyone to think that I have a family that loves to just sit around and watch me do all of the work and stress out, because that's just not the case.

I am very sorry and I hope everyone can forgive me.

This is the stuff...

Okay just a little warning before reading this post... This is a completely honest post, and I don't mean to make anyone feel bad. Lets just say I was a little upset a few days ago, (more like yesterday) but I am over now... never the less I feel like if I don't say anything, or just sugar coat it (like I do everything else), than I'm just not being truthful and I shouldn't write anything at all. So if you don't want to read than you can just stop right now, and I won't care. I just feel like a lot of us moms have gone through this, and I know how they feel, and no, they are not the only ones.

So last week I went on vacation... Remember that vacation I was waiting for and excited about? Well it wasn't a total bust and I did have fun, but wow... I think it was more work then worth (if you know what I mean by that). Okay so I'll tell you about it.

Sunday (day 1), Getting there...

I woke up around 6:30, so get the kids ready. We had a sleeping beauty on our couch (Jeremy's sister Christen), she had stayed the night, so we could get an early start (we were going to meet Jeremy Parents at the house we were renting). I must say though that this sleeping beauty can really sleep through anything. Once everyone was up, it was kind of noisy in the house (everyone was really excited to go), and that didn't wake her up.

Everyone was ready to go at 8:30, so off we were. It wasn't a very eventful ride, and that can be a really good thing. Apparently our list of both Jeremy and Randi approved music was getting old. Jeremy and I have different taste in music. There are songs we both like, but the list is small. When you have a music library of 1000+ songs, and you can only come up with a list of 97 that you both can agree on, than your road trip may be dull. So we ended up playing a few made-up game (this all started in Norfolk). My sister in-law wanted to know why she kept seeing mermaids in Norfolk. So we told her that, that's just the way Norfolk is, they like mermaids... My guess is that, that's their mascot, but I've never thought or cared to look it up. So we made a game of who could spot the most Mermaids, and I think Christen ended up winning this one. Yes but that game only lasted through Norfolk, and we were bored again. Once in North Carolina, we thought of another game. We kept seeing these No Olf signs, and had no idea what they meant at the time (yeah I did find out later, and there is a link, if you are curious), but we did make a game of who could spot the most.

Finally we get there, (to the happy crab in Duck, NC) and after a bit of unpacking, and checking out the awesome house...

We decided to walk to the beach (just down the street and over the dunes). The beach was beautiful and mostly empty (only one other family was there). We found some great shells, and walked back.

We had dinner, and it got late and I went to bed early that night.






Monday (day 2) Beach, pool, and sunburn...

Monday was going to be a warm day,  so it was perfect for the beach. I was woken up a 5:59 by Olivia (she was sharing a room with us), and had no choice but to get up. After getting her up and feed and the kids up and feed, I ended up waiting until 8am for everyone else to get up (this was the not so fun part, and most morning were like that). Once everyone was up and feed, I began to put sunblock on me and the kids. Everyone sat there and watched me do it, and yet they didn't think to put some on themselves (remember this, because I'll talk more about it later).

The beach was great. The sand was warm and the water was cold, the kids had a blast, and Olivia loved both the sand and the water (yay for me).

After coming back from the beach we got in the pool (water is good). We ended up playing with the beach ball as if it was a volley ball in the pool. We also ended up getting in the hot tub.

Okay now I know what you are thinking... "So far Randi your vacation sounds great. What is the problem?"

Just keep reading okay (if you dare).

After coming inside everyone (everyone but the kids and me), noticed they had some serious sun burn (yup). And I had the pleasure of listening to them all complain about it. Yes the complaining lasted for the full week (yes all week long). I'm sorry to say that I didn't have much sympathy for them, after all they did watch me put sunblock on the kids, and myself, and I did mention that they should do the same (the whole I told you so is running through my mind). Needless to say, I was really tired of hearing about it.

That night we had hamburgers and hot dogs. We were going to cook them on the grill, but the grill wasn't working (something wrong with the lighter), so we ended up broiling them in the stove.


Tuesday (day 3) Festival park, and the Lost colony...

The day started at 6am again. Jeremy got up with me this time. He was having trouble sleeping anyways because of his sunburn, and couldn't wait for morning (he was tossing and turning all night and looking at the clock). Once again no one else was up until after 8am, and no one else was ready to go until 10am. Yes I know, this is a vacation your suppose to sleep in on vacation. It's just because I had to get up early, it was very boring for me. At lest Jeremy was up with me this time.

We finally get to Roanoke island, and finally to Festival park. The park was great they had a ship to tour, a colony style village, and a museum...

We went to lunch at McDonalds where Jeremy announces that if he see another hamburger he's going to puke.

After lunch we went to Fort Raleigh, where the first America colony was (the one that was lost, and no one knows what happened).

It was just leftovers that night which didn't make everyone happy. (Jeremy really didn't want another hamburger). After Olivia was in bed, Jeremy, Christen, and I went out to shop at the little shops in the town of Duck. This was when Jeremy bought the boys 3 coins that looked like gold doubloons (this will come into play later).

After getting back we (the three of us), got in the hot tub. That was nice until we had to get out. See it was about to storm so the temperature had dropped and it was windy. "burr!"


Wednesday (day 4) Early day, Rain, and shopping...

This day started super early for me, because Olivia woke up at 2:30 and started crying. Jeremy wasn't sleeping well, because of his sun burn, so after 10 min of helping me, he gave up and went to go sleep on the couch (... I don't need to type what I'm thinking in here because I'm sure you all know). I tried milk and rocking her, and nothing was working. Finally 2 hours later she throw up (oh so that's what was wrong). Yeah she was fine after that. She still ended up waking up early 6:30 this time. Since we knew it was going to rain this day we planed on shopping that day. It wasn't until after 10:30, that everyone was ready to go, and beings that it was almost lunch it, we just decided to stick around the house until after lunch.

After shopping that whole day at lots of stores and the outlets, all I had brought were some books (this coming from a girl who loves to shop). Lets just say the outlets were horrible, and shopping with a man who can't wait for you to be done, is no fun. I mean nothing agents Jeremy, but he really doesn't like clothing shopping, and it shows when we are in the stores, and it makes me feel bad, so I just don't end up getting anything. That's why I like to go by myself if possible.

We ate at Applebees for dinner, we were going to have sea food at Captain George's (Jeremy and my treat), but after every grumping about sea food and the price, we just said forget about it. Olivia was really grumpy (that was so much fun), and despite Jeremy helping me out with her, it was still really stressful for me. Not to mention when it came it for dessert I didn't get what I wanted.

Once we got back Jeremy set the boys on a treasure hunt. He had buried the three coins (the ones he bought for the boys), and made a map.

That night Jeremy and I did get our walk on the beach. The tide was in though, and we got wetter than expected. We only wanted to walk and hunt for cool things that the storm may have washed up, but yeah the waves got us anyways.


Thursday (day 5) Morning walk, and afternoon nap...

I woke up Thursday determined to get out of the house before 8am. Needless to say I was tired of waiting for everyone, and I wanted to hit the beach. I decided that if they wanted to wake up later than they could just meet the kids and me down there (when ever they wanted). After being at the beach for about 10 mins, Jeremy and his mom did meet us and we took a long walk (way to long if you ask me, I had Olivia in the sling), mom was determined to find a conch shell, and ended up leaving us in the dust.

Once we got back I was tired and Olivia was grumpy. Everyone else wanted to go play mini golf, so I told them to go ahead, and I would stay home (yeah that was nice). I took an hour nap, and once Olivia got up, we swung on the swing that they had on the deck.

<- this is what they did...
  ...and this is what I did ->







Once everyone was back, they all wanted to go out to eat. Once again Olivia was grumpy, and when Jeremy asked me why I looked so shell shocked, I told him that we need to stop eating out, because it was becoming way to stressful for me.


Friday (day 6) a whole lot of nothing...

This day was full of nothing really. I think we just hung out at the pool and in the house all day. I didn't mind though, because it wasn't stressful, but once again I was up at 6am (thank you so much Olivia).


Saturday (day 7) A little bit of shopping, and a lot of re-packing...

At about 10am we went to shop in the town of Duck again, I wanted to get the kids each a t-shirt, to remember the trip. We ate pizza, and came home to re-pack. This is when Jeremy and Olivia both fell asleep and slept for over 2 hours. Because of that Jeremy wasn't able to sleep that night, and he just stayed up and put everything in the van.


Sunday (day 8) Sorry to say, but lousy mothers day (*cry*)...

So I wake up a 4am, because we wanted to get a really early start (I was ready to go home). All of us were in the van by 5am, and off to home.

Because Jeremy was up all night he was tired, so once we got to Norfolk I took over with the driving. I ended driving for over 2 hours, and everyone else was asleep for most of that.

My plan for getting home was to order food (I really didn't feel like cooking). Letting the kids play some video games (to make them happy). Turning on Star Trek (on our spare computer), and Playing Warcraft with my husband (that was my perfect idea of mothers day, because I knew that everyone was tired). I really didn't think it was to much to ask for. *sniff, sniff*...

Okay to make a long story short, after ordering the food, and eating. Jeremy and his Sister fell asleep on the couch (they ended up asleep the whole rest of the day away), and the kids ended up watching tv, and I ended up unpacking everything (yes that was my day). It also didn't help that all of my facebook friends were having wonderful days, and not afraid to say so (yeah that wasn't their fault, but it just made things worse). The ended with no Warcraft and no Star Trek (I was very sad).



Well there you have it. The worst part about it all was the having to wake up early (thank you Olivia), and having to wait hours for everyone else to wake up and get ready. It was just very lonely. Not to mention that my mother's day was just icing on the cake.

Like I said, I don't mean to hurt any ones feelings, and I am over it now, but I'm just being truthful. I know a lot of us moms feel like this on vacation, we end up doing so much, and just end up getting stressed out.

So I was feeling really down yesterday until I heard this song. I forget that even though I had a bad week that I'm still really blessed, and God loves me, and there will be other vacations and other Mothers days...

Thanks for reading...

Master packer

Hey everyone, so it's time to pack. Yes I am currently packing for our trip to the Outer Banks. I can't wait! I am so ready to get away, and for my husband to have some time off (we love time off).

This trip is starting to feel like moving, or at least packing for it is...

This is my master pack list (I like to doodle). This reminds me of moving, and how I would make a list of things we needed to pack in the car (for the trip to our new house). The list was almost always about this long, and this detailed. I would make a master pack list (just like this one), and start pulling the things aside as soon as I could, and get everything in the car, before the movers came. Oh the memories! (moving is so not fun!)





So far I have gotten most of the clothes packed, and most of the dry food, so far this is how it looks...

Yes so far (a lot of so fars here) the dry food (plus some odds and ends like sunblock, lunch box, and bubbles) has taken up 2 plastic containers (I hope they fit in the mini van).

Oh and this too...

He wants to come (but he's not). I'm having my friend Trudly stop by during the week to check on the cats, and they should be fine. This is however a very cute picture.

Jeremy and I have been going over the things to do in the area. We have a little list of things we would like to do, but most of our time down there will be spent relaxing (and doing nothing else). I'm looking forward to having the beach mostly to ourselves, and to sitting back and doing nothing (and I mean nothing).




Oh and we are done for the year with home schooling! I plan on once we get back from vacation starting the kids on some workbooks, so this crazy long summer vacation shouldn't mess them up school wise. I have already started to buy books for next year, and I am surprise they haven't come in yet. Jeremy was teasing me about that yesterday. I checked the mail, and still nothing from Abeka. Jeremy said that I got ripped off, and that it really wasn't an abeka stand that I ordered from, and that it was just people dressed up trying to fool everyone and taking their money (he better not be right). In all reality I know he's not right, but I'm excited to get my books, and I'm tired of waiting.

Okay well I will post again soon! Bye!

Rain, son free, book, and car weekend

Hey everyone! So how was my weekend? Well it was pretty good, and worth blogging about.


Friday

So Friday was the curriculum fair that I have been talking about and waiting for (I'm sure you guys remember), and my mother was picking up the boys that day, for a weekend at the grandparents (thank you so much!). She came and got them around 9am (my mom likes to get things done early). After she left, I put Olivia down for a nap, and had no idea what to do (I know, I finally have some time to myself and I have no idea what to do with it) (not to mention that it was very strange have the house so quiet). I ended up watching a movie, Taken with Liam Neeson (awesome movie). Once that was over with Olivia was up again and I had something to do. At 3pm Olivia and I left the house to go pick up Megan, and go to the curriculum fair (yay!). We get there and wow, that place was packed. I think everyone who has ever homeschooled in the state of Maryland was there (oh help me) (and I'm not to good with crowds). The fair was different from the one I went to last year. This one didn't have that many used text books, it had all of the main vendors there like Abeka, Bob Jones, Classical Conversations, ect... All of the vendors were offering free shipping, and 10% off if you spent a curtain amount. So I spent some time at the Abeka stand ordering the books I knew I wouldn't be able to get used. Some books like the test books, and work books, you can't find used, because to copy every page just so you can reuse or sell them would be to much work.

After I ordered all of those books, we looked around in the other buildings. They had a lot of vendors that were selling used story books, so I got a few books for the boys. We ate dinner there, and the food was great and it was also a wonderful price (very surprising!). We both ate for $5 (and that was not each). We got 2 slices of pizza, 2 cokes, and one bag of chip for $5.

After we ate, we left the fair and went shopping! (yup I love being a girl) Why? Well there was a Plato's Closet near by, and we both wanted to try it out. Wow that store was awesome. We both found some really cute things. It was fun hanging out with Megan and looking at clothes.

Saturday


Saturday was a very rainy day. It was nasty out. We still went out despite all of the rain, because we wanted to get the mini van tuned up. We have a 04 Ford Freestar (named Phantom), and he is the mom car. We have had him for 3 and a half years, and so far he has been a wonderful car. We wanted to get him looked over and oil changed before our vacation (just in-case). So we put Olivia's car seat in Jeremy's car, and we drive both cars to the shop, and drop off Phantom (we don't have a name for Jeremy's car, he doesn't want us to name it anything... no fun!)

We went shopping and out to dinner to pass the time (I know dinner again? I'm being spoiled). While we were out we picked up the new Harry Potter (super yay!), and ate at Outback. Olivia was very well behaved, she shared french fries and ate the yogurt that I brought with us (she loves yogurt). She barely made any noise and I was proud.

Once we got home we watch some Star Trek, and then Harry Potter! :) While watching, Jeremy did his Calculus home work (not sure how he can concentrate with all of that awesomeness going on).

Sunday


So Sunday wasn't as interesting... I was waiting for mom to drop the kids off (once again thank you!), and I sent Jeremy out to do some vacation grocery shopping. He loves to shop with a list, he says it's relaxing (I love that about him).




Well that all I have to report. Thanks for reading!

It's that time of year again!

Time for Nathaniel's birthday!

He is getting so big!

Today he turns 5.

This is his new bike.