Meeting The Neighborhood.

First of all, my sister, Carol, and her husband, Mike, welcomed their first son (after 3 girls) last Wednesday.   His name is Jacob Michael!  I was extremely bummed to have to miss the birth.  I have made the trip up to Northern Virginia for just about all of my nieces and nephews and always enjoyed waiting in the waiting room or going to see them soon after the birth.  It kills me that I won't get to see him in person until Thanksgiving.

Our lives here in Indiana are turning out pretty nice though.  The past weekend was full of getting to know our neighbors.  Friday night I was invited to our next door neighbors house who's turn it was to host ladies night bunco.  I enjoyed getting to meet a bunch of the ladies in the neighborhood.  While I was doing that, Dennis took the boys over to Dennis' coworkers house to play.  He says Colin and Evan spent the whole time in their basement playing Wii.  Logan played outside while Dennis and his friend enjoyed a beer and chatted.  Logan than got tired and just sat in Dennis' lap for over an hour.  He must have been tired, because I don't usually see him sit still for more than 5 minutes!

Dennis was supposed to fly to Northern VA this weekend for a couple fantasy football drafts, but because of the predicted hurricane in Virginia, he decided to stay in Indiana for the weekend.  So, Saturday we all went to Colin's flag football game and then got some things done around the house.  Sunday, after church, the boys and I met up with one of the family's from Evan's swim lesson for a play date at the park.  The boys of course loved getting to run all around and to get wet in the water area.

Then after naps, we played outside and met another family in the neighborhood, who much to my delight, has 2 boys.  So, the boys rode their bikes together for a long time and then were invited to play in their backyard while the Mom was getting dinner together.  I am so glad the boys are getting to play with neighbors, as they never really got to know our neighbors in Richmond all that well, based on the location of our house there.  I am very happy we picked this house with lots of room for the boys to play on the driveway and in the backyard.

Future Artist?

When I picked Evan up from school on Monday his teacher came up to me and said, "We have noticed that Evan is really good at drawing."  She went on to talk about how detailed he is compared to the other kids.  Of course, I already knew this and had been told by last years teacher too. Well, then we go over to the take home folder and Evan pulls out a gigantic stack of pictures that he had drawn that day.  The two teachers were laughing hysterically, they couldn't believe he had drawn that many pictures!  Each page had a circle and he was supposed to draw and color in a face (I think his own).  Well, as we all know he loves drawing, so he went on to make a face for everyone in his family.  In addition, knowing my son, I quickly noticed he had done a page for Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, and all the other Super Hero's.  I said, "Oh cool, you drew Hulk!"  And his teachers, who were still laughing,  said they thought he had just drawn a green man, but now it is making sense.  I told them to be prepared, they will see lots and lots of Super Hero pictures this year.  His teacher thinks he is going to be an artist one day, she was seriously amazed by his work!

Tuesday, we had Evan's swim lesson, which he is also enjoying.  He is getting pretty comfortable floating on his back with assistance and putting his head in the water.  One of the families in the swim class has the same last name as us and just moved here around the same time as us from Vermont.  And if that is not coincidence enough, she is a Physical Therapist.  Anyway, we are hoping to do a play date with them this weekend.

Tuesday evening I went to Colin's Meet the Teacher Night.  Colin had been looking forward to me going so I could see the artwork he did.  He drew a self portrait that was outstanding and also a book of the office staff and principal that was also very good.  I enjoyed getting to hear about what he will be doing this year and I even got to write a note for him and leave it on his desk.  I can't wait for him to get to school today and see it!

And not to leave Logan out...He is sleeping much better now that he is back in his own room.  He also is  all over the house.  He is really developing a personality.  He is active and feisty and lets you know what he wants!  His teachers say he is just wonderful, they comment all the time about what a good eater is and how "chill" he is.  I don't know that I would describe him as chill, but he does like to eat and is already determined to keep up with his brothers. I have been horrible taking pictures this last week, with the move, so here are some recent pictures of Logan that I will admit are from the day before we moved out of apartment.

In other news... Virginia had an earthquake yesterday (with the center near Richmond).  Carol, who was on her OB's exam table at the time had high blood pressure and the doctor wanted to go ahead and induce (she is due the 28th).  So, started to induce her this morning and we cant wait for the good news and are excited to see pictures of her little boy!  We also got the good news a few days ago that Dennis' cousin Shane will be having twin girls in January, I can't wait to meet them too!

Well, we are settling in here well, and we like Indiana a lot.  I am especially very impressed with Colin's school.  It is run very well and the communication is exceptional.  But, even though I love Indiana and could easily see us raising our kids here, I hate being so far from my family.  It stinks to miss out on so many events, birthday parties, births, baptisms, etc... I wish I could convince at least one of them to move this way.  I also wish we were only 4 or 5 hours away, so that we could easily go home for a weekend.  Oh well, if I have to be 10 hours away, I am glad we are here.

We Haved Moved!

I can not even begin to describe how excited we all were to move out of the apartment and in to our new home.  Dennis and I were especially excited to have some space and room for the kids to play.  I am also pleased that the paint turned out well, although the movers did nick it up in some places.  The movers did OK with the move however, as is there policy, they unpacked for us but just left everything on the floor or tables.  So, the house was left an absolute wreck!  Dennis and I couldn't believe how much stuff we have and we are kicking ourselves that we didn't hold a garage sale or make a huge run to goodwill before we moved.  Now, we are trying to sort everything into piles of keep, sell, throw away, and give away.  There is definitely a lot of stuff that just won't work in this house or we don't need.  I have said before that I hate clutter, so being surrounded by junk stuff all day is stressing me out a bit.

I would love to start decorating, but feel I can't really start that until we have everything put away.  Needless to say we have been extremely busy now that we have moved.  I am happy to have Internet again finally (the apartment Internet was so slow it would take over an hour to do a blog which is why I had slowed down), however it will still probably be a while before I blog regularly due to how busy we are.

Anyway, over the weekend we enjoyed going to Colin's flag football game.  He had a good time and of course gets all excited when his team scores.  I do think he is more passionate about soccer, but he likes football too.

After the game I took Colin and Evan to Super Hero cookie decorating at William Sonoma which was a charity event.  Dennis and I had been walking around the mall the day of our closing and saw this advertised so we quickly signed them up.  The boys really loved decorating their cookies since it combined three of their loves, art, Super Heros and cookies!  I forgot to bring my camera, so I was extremely proud of the boys when they patiently waited to eat the cookies until we got home so they could show them to their Daddy.  They held on to their cookies and just looked at them for a good 30 minutes!

House Closing and Flag Football

It is official, we are now Indiana home owners!  We closed on the new house on Friday.  It is taking all of our will power to not go ahead and move in, but since wet paint and 3 little boys don't mix very well, we have decided to get all the painting done before moving in.  This will also make it easier on the painters, as they won't have to move furniture.  The movers are going to come next Friday, Aug. 19th, to deliver our stuff and we will move in that day.  In the meantime, we will slowly start bring stuff from the apartment over.  Dennis has also started baby proofing and hanging blinds, so it will be ready for us.  We are counting down the days until next Friday!

We did get a break from all the house preparations this weekend to go to Colin's first Flag Football game (his team is 1st and 2nd graders).  Unfortunately, his team lost in overtime (it was a long game), but he of course had fun.  He loves playing football, as he does all sports! 

Colin is a First Grader!

Well, Colin headed off to first grade today!  I am carpooling him there and back until we move into the house.  So, I was happy to see that he hopped right out of the car and gave us a wave on his way in to the building.  He still looks so small to me, heading in to the big building with the back pack on his back, but he also shows a lot of maturity in his desire to find his classroom on his own and not needing or wanting me to walk him to class.

While Colin was enjoying his first day of school.  Evan, Logan and I headed to Evan's first swim lesson.  His lesson was wonderful, much better than previous experiences we have had with swim lessons.  The community center here is amazing (I even saw an NBA forward practicing on one of the courts).  Evan really enjoyed the class, he kept telling me all about how he floated on his back alone with the barbell.

Then it was a rush home to have lunch and naps.  I had to wake both boys up from a deep sleep in order to get to Colin's school in time for pick up.  That made for grumpy kids, but they eventually got over it.  Colin had a great day.  While he was a little sad about not having any friends yet (he still has some shyness in him), he did seem to really like the teacher and the pirate treasure hunt they went on.

There wasn't much time to rest after that, I had to get dinner cooking, help with a small amount of homework and then feed everyone an early dinner so we could get to Colin's first flag football practice.  Despite being shy Colin really comes alive when he is on any kind of sport field.  He surprised Dennis and I both by being the one to answer a couple questions from the coach.  He seemed really happy the whole time.  I think it will be a fun season!

As you can see, Tuesday's are going to be busy around here for the next few weeks with both swim and flag football.  But, I am so happy to start back up with some activities and get one step closer to a routine.  I think the boys are equally happy to be around other kids and to have some activities to focus on.  Now time to rest.

Evan and Logan First Day of Preschool!

After 16 months home with his Mommy, Logan was dropped off at Primrose preschool/daycare today!  I was fully anticipating lots of tears, but he strolled right in, with the swagger he has developed, and like he owned the place started talking and pointing to things.  I don't think he even noticed me kiss him and say goodbye. 

Evan also did great.  He has been looking forward to going to school.  He does seem to be nervous about whether or not he will make friends, hopefully as he settles in some of these anxieties will go away.

When I picked the boys up they were both happy.  Evan was playing on the computer (which was the one thing he was most excited about in the classroom).  He looked back and smiled at me, but then went right on playing.  When Logan saw me he laughed and came running in to my arms.  It was one of my very favorite moments as a Mommy.  He got a good report...some fussiness in the morning, but was terrific after nap time.  He took a great nap and was an awesome eater (not surprising!). 

While the little ones were at school, Colin and I enjoyed a day just the two of us.  I was amazed how quickly I was able to get in and out of the store with just one kid!  I can't remember when I last had Colin all to myself for a day, and it was great to bond with him.  We went to a movie, Smurfs, and enjoyed hanging out together. 

Overall, it was a successful first day of school for the little guys!

Learning My Lesson...

After being at the beach for a week, I decided the next couple of days we would lay low at home and relax.  Ha, with 3 little boys I should have known better.  This lasted exactly two days and by that point I was pulling my hair out and ready to bust out of this small apartment.  So, day three we packed a picnic and headed to the park.  I have definitely learned my lesson...that little boys are much better behaved when they are out and about rather than couped up inside all day.  The more land to run around the better.

I am being horrible with writing and taking pictures lately, because we are so busy with preparing for school and all that is involved with a moving in to a new home.  I have been staring and staring at paint colors any chance I get.  It will probably be this way for the next few weeks until we are nicely settled in to the new home, we can't wait!