Happy Anniversary!

Today we are celebrating our 11th anniversary. Sometimes it's really hard to believe we've been married that long...other times it seems like just yesterday...

How cute is he in this picture?!

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband. No one can accuse us of having a boring life! I am thankful that I get to share each moment with you.

Future Civil Engineer?

Yesterday, Allen came up and told me to "come downstairs and see what Drew did!" Never knowing quite what to expect when you hear that from your child, I went to the basement prepared for the worst. I was pleasantly surprised by "what Drew did" - he had designed and built his own train track layout, complete with buildings, stations, trees, bridges, tunnels, and dinosaurs! He was very proud of himself (and his little brother was just as proud!). Drew wants to design and build monorails for cities when he grows up and he often builds elaborate tracks around the playroom. But this is the first time he has limited his space to the train table and been able to make a continual track system that is so in-depth. He definitely has a very creative and critical thinking mind!

 



What a work environment...

Nana & Granddaddy were in town last week for a visit. The boys love having them here and want to be by their sides as much as possible. My dad was very busy with work so he set up shop in our "room without a purpose" and the boys promptly built train tracks around him. For a man who works best in complete silence, this was not the ideal setup, but he didn't complain. I guess when it's your grandsons, the rules are different! (And yes, he does have his coat on inside my house...apparently it's too cold in here!)

Snow!

On the morning of March 14, we had a small, unexpected snow storm. It dumped a few inches on ground and then warmed up quickly. We've had plenty of snow since we moved in but the combination of getting settled, finding snow clothes, and the lack of a grassy lawn has prohibited us from really enjoying any of it. So we set off for the school playground and had a great time running, throwing snowballs, sledding (fail), building a snowman (fail) and a snow tunnel (success!), letting Maddie go crazy in the field, and generally enjoying the winter wonderland.

My little man...

Drew is growing up so quickly. As I looked across the dinner table at him last night I realized that he has lost all signs of "baby fat" and definitely has past the toddler stage. I'd go so far as to say he has moved past the preschooler stage as well! He is looking so OLD! We definitely have our moments that remind me that he is still a little kid, but they are fewer and farther between each day. He is very creative - always making up games for he and Allen to play or designing new track layouts for their trains. He is trying to be less bossy when playing and let Allen take the lead every now and then...it's hard. He loves to draw and color and his pictures are getting more and more involved each day. He could play with Legos for hours and loves to show off his creations. He is reading anything he can get his hands on - he reminds me of me in that sense. I'll catch him reading in his room when he is supposed to be asleep, or find him standing in the kitchen reading food containers, the newspaper or notes on the counters. If you don't want him to know about it, don't leave it written down where he can see it! He starts tee ball this spring for the first time and we are anxious to see how he does. He is excited about it and I just want him to maintain that excitement through the season! It's hard to believe he will start Kindergarten this fall. He is so ready and talks about it often.

I love you little man...don't grow up too fast!

Drew & Monkey - his good pal & partner in crime

Oh Allen...

Today I went into the pantry and found the large box of Tootsie Pops from Costco on the floor. One of each flavor of lollipop was unwrapped, partially eaten, and placed back in a different wrapper and in the box. When we asked Allen about it, he simply said "I wanted to try all the flavors to see which one I wanted to eat!" Makes perfect sense, huh? So next time you are at our house and someone offers you a sucker, you may want to double check that it is in its original, factory wrapped state.

Cousins!!!

The boys were so excited last week to welcome their younger cousins to our new home! Lizzy and Katherine (and Auntie Maggie!) came to visit for a few days. We were all thrilled to finally meet Katherine...only 3 weeks shy of her first birthday! We're a little behind on the family visits...but we are determined to keep our time away shorter.

The kids had a great time playing together with very few issues. Katherine tried her best to keep up with the big kids and did pretty well. She almost took a step a couple of times...she would be standing and see them walking off and "forget" that she couldn't...but it wasn't meant to be. Cute attempts at least! Both girls were scared of Maddie at first. I guess I foget that she is a pretty big dog to most people. Katherine warmed up to her after a day or so but it took Lizzy three days to stop screaming every time she came near and the fourth to finally reach out and touch her. Poor Maddie was so sad - she hates it when people don't like her!

We made it to the playground at our elementary school (since school was out for Spring Break) and took Lizzy for her first haircut (so fun!). Maggie and I decided to surprise Janet with a professional photo of all four of her grandkids together (since it had never happened before). The kids did well and we hoped to go to the zoo after but it took longer than expected. Luckily we had decided on lunch at the park instead of the zoo since Allen got carsick on the way there. It was much easier to drive the 5 minutes home rather than the 30 it would have been! There was also swimming at the club, plenty of Lego building, and many stories read by all. Unfortunately we didn't catch a picture of it, but the cutest thing was the moment Maggie realized it was really quiet in the basement. She went down, expecting to find them doing something bad, but found the three big kids sitting on the floor with Drew reading books to the smaller ones. Priceless!

Grandma and Grandpa arrived on Thursday night so we headed to Union Station Friday morning to enjoy the trains and visit the Children's museum there. The boys did better than the girls so they stayed longer with their grandparents while Maggie and I took the girls to the American Girl store. A much better experience for them for sure! Friday night we celebrated Lizzy's 3rd and Katherine's 1st birthdays with a brown, square cake (Lizzy's request). I made it by myself without any of Patrick's help and I think it turned out just fine!

We all had a great time and can't wait for everyone to come back again. Uncle Jim needs to take a break from his busy work schedule and join us next time - we missed him!

Walking home from the playground...I loved seeing Drew in the "big cousin" role!

Ready for my haircut!

Anything is possible...with a sucker!

The finished product...complete with a braid!

Trying to capture our Irish punks in their green on St Patty's Day...yeah right...they were done with photo cooperation at that point!

Cheeky Monkey

Maddie quickly remembered why she enjoys babies!

Yummm...banana...

Grandma Heaven

Escape!

If I could have this painted in Allen's room he would be the happiest kid...ever...

Loving the awesome train display at Union Station

It's not a Patrick cake, but it'll do!

Happy Birthday Lizzy & Katherine!

Lizzy approved of the cake

Katherine did too!



"Hi Daddy!" We Skyped in Uncle Jim so he could join the festivities.



Birthday present madness!



Is it my own baby?!




Katherine was fired up for the Care Bear!



The boys had fun with Lizzy's woodland creatures...and Lizzy had fun with the box...

Oh - there you are Daddy!

Maddie - I'm glad we had this time to bond. I think I might actually like you now!

We miss you already! Come back soon!!

ZOO!

The Zoo!

Friday morning we embraced the beautiful day and headed out to the Kansas City Zoo! We met my dear friend Nancy and her two kids there along with Nancy's friend Camille and her two boys. In total, there were 3 three-year-olds, 2 one-year-olds, and Drew. It was different for him to be the "big boy" but he did well. The boys had a great time seeing some animals and riding the carousel and the TRAIN! That's right - there's a real train at the zoo here! It is the same size as our "train park train" we left behind so I am hopeful it will fill that void. Half the zoo is undergoing renovations and was closed but that was fine - the half that was open took us over 4 hours to see and we still didn't do it all! It is very spread out which made for some awesome walking and good, tired boys. A very successful day! Thanks to Nana & Grandaddy for the zoo membership - gifts that last an entire year are always appreciated!

They loved all the animals on the carousel.

How cute are all these little monkies lined up watching the other little monkies?!

Saying Goodbye

When we left Scottsdale, we had to leave some dear friends behind. Ben worked with Patrick and he convinced his wife and kids to move to Scottsdale a few months behind us. They left their home of...well, forever...behind in Louisiana, and joined us in the desert. Kandy and I quickly became friends and had lots of fun together. Our kids got along great and loved to play together. Drew & Kenley were in the same class at school for two years. Kandy was such a big help during our last few days - taking the boys for me while the movers were around, feeding us so I didn't have to worry about that, and generally being a great friend.

Go ahead Ben, you teach Allen how to drive!

Kenley the Ballerina

The four kiddos looking for wildlife...hopefully on the other side of the fence!

They love eating together!

We are lobbying for them to make the move to Kansas City next so we can have them back in our lives!

We also had to say goodbye to the Train Park. It's amazing to me what a huge part of our lives that place was. We went at least 50 times while we lived there. Sometimes we would go 2-3 times in one week! It was a great place to be outside, to enjoy the beautiful scenery, have birthday parties, and to let the boys ride their trains. As a stay-at-home mom, I am so thankful for such a wonderful city park and the ability to make my boys happy with one quick statement..."Let's go to the Train Park!"

Finally, we had to say goodbye to "our" cactus. This saguaro was on the "super secret path" that we would take on our family walks. The boys loved it and would say hello to it when we would pass by. I used pictures of the boys with it in our change of address card in 2009...amazing how much they change in 2 years, yet how much they stay the same...

January, 2011

March, 2009

Moving...

Very slowly, I am attempting to catch up on blogging about our adventures the past few months.

Moving is overwhelming. You would think I would know that after 5 moves in 10 years. You would also think it would get easier, but it seems to get harder. Maybe it's the accumulation of stuff. Maybe it's the accumulation of people.

Our first move, from Knoxville to Jacksonville, consisted of a rented Penske truck towing my old Accord behind it. It was just the two of us. From Jacksonville to Kansas City introduced us to professional packers and movers (thank heavens for their existence!) but it was still just the two of us with just a little more junk. From Kansas City to Knoxville was much bigger with the addition of Maddie and Drew, who was only 4 months old but still came with a lot of baggage! Our truck went from having less than half of the trailer to having about two thirds of it. Then came the move from Knoxville to Scottsdale...the two of us, Maddie, Drew and now Allen. We had a full truck, although packed loosely. The move from sunny Arizona to snowy Kansas found us with the same number of people, yet more junk! The trailer was packed completely full, top to bottom, front to back, with no inch of space left unused. But they did it (because it's their job and because they are awesome at it) and we made it!

Each move has also had a different form of transportation for the members of our family. Each time, Patrick drove. First with just me in the car. Second, by himself. I was traveling for work and just flew to my new home...it made perfect sense to me! Third, with Maddie. I flew with Drew...he was too little to expect to ride in the car that long! Fourth, with Maddie. Then he flew back to fly back again with me, Drew & Allen...I needed the help on the cross-country flight and it made the boys less stressed about the trip. This time was different. We all drove as a family. All five of us. In our minivan. With 10 days worth of clothes, toys and some food thrown in for good measure. If you want to argue with me the merits of a minivan, I will forever point to this trip, how much we carried, and how comfortable we all were!

Each move has also had the emotional challenge (at least on my end) of leaving behind my comfort zone and moving to a place where I didn't know how to get around, where to grocery shop, who would be my doctor, dentist, hair stylist...or my friend. In Jacksonville, Patrick and I worked at the same place and had some "built in" friends that we worked with. I am happy to say some of those friends are even more dear to us now than they were then! Again in Kansas City, we were working in the same location and had our "work friends" as well as some of the same friends from Jacksonville who had moved there as well. We also had great neighbors next door who would do anything for us and a wonderful couple we randomly met along the way. When we moved back to Knoxville, we obviously had family and many friends from our past. But we were also blessed to make new friends along the way! The move to Scottsdale was the hardest. I didn't know a single person there. Everything was foreign to me. I made some dear friends through MOPS and established a wonderful friendship with another "work-widow" transplant. It was funny...leaving those few friendships behind was as hard as moving away from some of the lifelong friends I had in other places! Then we moved to Kansas. We were back in the Kansas City area, just in a very different part of town than before. Some things are familiar. Many are different. But we moved in and immediately had friends. Friends from when we lived here before. Friends we have made through the years living in different places, working in different places, who live here for one reason or another. We have met new friends through mutual acquaintances. We have met many neighbors around us, all friendly and welcoming. We have been out with friends, to people's homes, had people over, etc. more in the past 6 weeks than we did the entire first year in Scottsdale! It feels good.

So, very slowly, we are settling into our new normal. It will take some time, but I truly believe it will feel like home much faster than many of our moves before. It also helps that, at least now, the plan is to be here for the long haul. We didn't come into this move with temporary hanging over our heads. This is it. Obviously, situations change and things happen and we may move again. But for now, we are home. And that's ok. I think I like it here.


Watching one of many movies along the way... (you can see Maddie's kennel in the back...that's where the angel slept...such a good car traveler!)

Driving Miss Daisy and her clan across the country...