Sunday Fun

We spent a very fun day at my parents house today with Vanessa and Jarrod, my parents, and our Aunt Evelyn, Uncle Jack (whom we named our baby Jack after), and our cousin Nick. It was so nice to see them, as we don't get to nearly often enough. We had lots of fun swimming, chatting, playing with the dogs, and eating! As usual, my mom made a wonderful dinner for us and my dad grilled some great steaks, and I ate way too much. Everyone in this house is full and exhausted!

My parents

The next Michael Phelps?

David, in his favorite outfit.

Christopher and me

A very sleepy Jack, ready to ring up his next customer.

Week in Review. . . Part 2

Did you enjoy Henry's post below? He and David were in bed, I went to Jack's room to get him back to sleep, and I came out to that post! I'm probably lucky Henry didn't delete the whole blog!

So for the first week of me working, it went really, really well. However, it wasn't really an accurate picture of what the week will normally be like, as Chris was on vacation and school hadn't started yet. This week will be more realistic. I'm sure it will be fine. I'm really enjoying my job, and I know the boys are really enjoying lots of time alone with their daddy. And Chris has been extremely helpful while I've been at work, doing some laundry, making sure the house stays cleaned up, etc. I hope that continues!!

What else happened this week. . . I'm not even going to go there with the van situation. That's already been covered. Jack started to stand up in his crib.

He's also crawling (fast) all over the place. This is really more like hurling himself forward, because he's still doing the "Army crawl". David never crawled on his hands and knees, so this doesn't really surprise me. He's working on another tooth, eating Cheerios like it's his job, holding his hands out for someone to pick him up, and trying to eat all of the table food he sees. And he is SO in love with Chris. If he hears Chris' voice, sees him, even thinks Chris might be around, he is craning his neck to find him. His preference is definitely for Daddy right now!

David and Henry had a good week. There was minimal crying when I would leave in the morning. Each day got a little better. We went swimming a couple of times this week, for several bike rides, played outside in the rain, went to the Discovery Center, did lots of puzzles, played in the backyard in the baby pool, played lots of freeze tag, and gave the swingset a workout. We had a great week.

School starts on Tuesday. YAHOO! I will definitely need to be more organized about getting their things ready the night before, lunches packed, etc., as Chris will be bringing them to school in the morning. I know how difficult it can be to get all three out the door sometimes, so I'll try to make it as easy as possible for him!

Today we're going to Gigi and Grampy's for a birthday party for Vanessa. I'm sure there will be photos to come. Have a great day!

Week in Review

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Yuck, yuck, yuck

If you've read my blog since last year or know me in real life, you know the troubles we had with our previous car, the Pacifica. If you want to catch up on the car saga, read this then this then this. A year ago we bought a new Nissan Quest, and we love it. We've never had any problems with it. Until now. About three weeks ago, smoke started coming out of the exhaust when we started it. It would only last like 2 or 3 seconds, just one big puff. There's never been any change in the vehicle's performance, no strange sounds, none of the lights have ever come on like the engine light, oil light, etc. Other than the smoke, there's been no change. We brought it to the dealer on Wednesday to have them look at it. They called on Thursday to tell us that we need a new engine. And it's not covered by our warranty. I'm sorry, what? That's right. Chris, honest to God, was homicidal I think when he heard that. We picked the car up yesterday. With the old engine. According to the dealer, the engine is "full of sludge honey. It's like molasses in there." They claim it's not covered by our warranty because it's due to a "lack of maintenance." What? We've had all scheduled maintenance and oil changes done. Of course we've gone a little over our mileage for oil changes occasionally, but not like 20,000 miles over.

1. If you're not my parent, grandparent, or husband, Don't. Call. Me. Honey. I mean honestly, do I strike you as someone a stranger would call honey? I'm not sweet.

2. How does a brand new car with just over 20,000 miles have an engine so full of "sludge, honey" that it needs to be replaced?

3. We JUST had the oil changed, literally last week, and they never indicated that anything was even slightly wrong.

4. Chris just came home with some additive to put in the engine to clean it. When he opened the gasket cover (I could totally have just made that term up!) there was a smooth layer of dust on the underside of the cover like it hadn't been opened recently. Did they even look to see what was wrong at the dealer???

I'm SO frustrated. I hate dealing with car crap.

School

We had orientation yesterday at D&H's school to find out who their teachers will be and what days they'll have school. I'm so glad they're Tuesday-Thursday, because I'm don't work on Monday and would have been disappointed if I was off and they were in school. David has his same teachers as last year, and I think that will be good. He didn't really understand that he may have different teachers this year, and he's sometimes a bit unpredictable with a change like that. He was, surprisingly, shy when we first got there. I'm thinking that was because it was a HUGE group of parents and children, because he normally acts like he owns the place.

Henry was SO shy. He hid behind my legs for a good 15 minutes. When I brought him into his room to meet his teachers he wouldn't even look at them! Ms. Rhonda said, "Can I at least see your face?" He looked at her and said, "Look! I'm miling (smiling) at you!" At dinner tonight we were talking about school starting and I asked him if he was going to be shy on his first day and he told me he "got all the shy out today". I warned them the shy behavior is very out of character and that we call him Hurricane Henry -- they need a warning with that child!!

I'm excited for them to start, and I know they are too. I could hear David before we left telling Henry all about school and what he'll do there. It was so cute!

Tuesday Twelve

Twelve things I did today.

1. Got up at 5:30. When my alarm went off. Seriously? I don't think I've set an alarm in three years. Chris got me a new alarm clock two years ago for Christmas and I didn't even know how to set it.
2. Was showered, dressed, hair and makeup done by 6:45. In the morning.
3. Made a fabulous cup of iced coffee with a caramel shot. At home. Not "made" as in made it get into my car through the window at Dunkin Donuts.
4. Packed a lunch. For myself.
5. Left my house, with nobody crying or hanging from my leg to try to come with me, at 7:00.
6. Drove, listening to what I wanted to listen to, with no crying, fighting, or silly singing going on in the car.
7. Filled out my new hire paperwork at my new job. I love me some paperwork. Also watched a training DVD. Surprisingly, it wasn't dreadfully boring.
8. Observed a really fun class. I know I'm going to be good at this job.
9. Came home to children who were excited to see me, and I was excited to see them.
10. Took the big boys for a 30 minute bike ride in the bike trailer. This is perhaps one of all of our favorite things to do. And there was no fighting in the trailer.
11. Ate dinner with my whole family, which almost never happens. After dinner Chris cleaned up and I brought the boys for a walk. Jack rode in the stroller, David rode his bike, and Henry walked. We splashed in every puddle we saw, most of them more than once.
12. Gave three baths, read 9 books, had lots of snuggles, and no yelling.

I think this new job is going to be wonderful for our family.

Crockpot Pizza

By popular demand. . .

Crock Pot Pizza

One bag of wide egg noodles
1 lb hamburger (or Italian sausage)
2 or 3 cans pizza sauce
1 bag pizza cheese
Pizza ingredients (olives, Mushrooms, pepperoni whatever you like)

Cook the egg noodles according to the package. Brown the hamburger or sausage (I remove sausage casings and brown in like ground sausage). Then you layer the all the ingredients in the crock pot and top with a little cheese. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours or until heated through. Don't cook too long, or the sauce will start to burn!