We have been busy bees around here! The kids have been loving doing art projects and enjoying our family traditions.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Getting ready for the holiday!
We have been busy bees around here! The kids have been loving doing art projects and enjoying our family traditions.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Meeting the man in charge
Everyone loves a little rendition of the Itsy Bitsy Spider, right? Especially when Claire sings "ittyittyitty PIDER!"
I am trying to convince her to see Santa. It was a no-go.
It was a fun trip. We are not typically "mall santa" folks, but Jack demanded that he needed to meet Santa. So we went. The kids were fantastic, stood in line for a long time and didn't make a peep.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
thanksgiving
We are so thankful for all that we have - our friends, family, our home, our jobs, and our health. Things couldn't get any better.
After a delicious dinner, I headed out with some girlfriends to go Black Friday shopping. It was borderline scary, but lots of fun. We came home around 4:3 am, exhausted.
Our best purchase? A $5 kitten from the shelter where I volunteer. We named her Friday. Isn't that appropriate? She LOVES the kids and our other cat has been rejuvenated. Here's a terrible pic of her cute face!
After a delicious dinner, I headed out with some girlfriends to go Black Friday shopping. It was borderline scary, but lots of fun. We came home around 4:3 am, exhausted.
Our best purchase? A $5 kitten from the shelter where I volunteer. We named her Friday. Isn't that appropriate? She LOVES the kids and our other cat has been rejuvenated. Here's a terrible pic of her cute face!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Gibby - 2011
Jack attends a small, private preschool. It's a great program and part of the 4 year old class is the class pet, Gibby. Each child gets several turns to take Gibby home. Part of having Gibby in your home is that you must document what your child does with Gibby and print the pictures and enter them into a journal.
We were so lucky to have our Christmas pictures being taken while Gibby was visiting and our photographer was kind enough to take one of Gibby! It looks like this was Gibby's first debut in the pro photog world :)
trick or treat!
The kids had the best time trick or treating. My mother flew in and really enjoyed taking the kids to gather candy!
J and C last about an hour, and then Jack wanted to pass out candy - his favorite part of Halloween. Claire fell asleep soon after we visited Buck I Guy's house. He lives a few houses down from us and had a huge line of kids to have thier pictures taken.
He drives by all the time and blares old school rock and roll, as well as bad 90's rap music. He is the nicest man and anyone who went to Ohio State knows fans like this are a dime a dozen - but he has made it to the news and on TV many, many times. Kind of liek the Neutron Man of the 1990's/early 2000's (only the Neutron man was a jerk!)
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
halloween.2011
we trick or treat on halloween this year. bizarre! the kids are looking forward to it and so are we. my mom is flying in for it, and as tradition marches on, the kids' aunt will join us.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
oops!
I am so sorry! It's been far too long since an update.
My memory card is full from our summer! A trip to New Hampshire and lots of pictures of the kids to be uploaded. Until then, written updates are all you're going to get!
At the end of August we traveled to New Hampshire. And so did hurrucane Irene! She threw a few wrenches in our plans, but it was a great trip. The kids played with lobsters, went fishing, enjoyed swimming, played at the lake, and found red eft newts :) We even took a day trip to the beach and had a wonderful time. It was a long series of car rides, but our kids did great. Even if Claire got 5 teeth and had a 102 degree fever on the way home (enter a blank state here...)
Unfortuantely we had to leave earlier than planned, due to the death of our dear brother in law. After the tragic loss of his daughter just over a year ago, he decided to take his own life and we are trying to pick up the pieces and help his wife in any way that we can. We aren't able to do much, but we think of her each and every day and send our most loving of thoughts.
Jackson has started his second year of preschool. He LOVES school and is now going 3 mornings to the regular program, and one extra afternoon for a literacy-based program. It's a great school and he is growing by leaps and bounds. He is changing so much every day - it's so wild to watch.
Claire is getting older, but no so much bigger. She is such a peanut! She is talking up a storm and we are often wondering if she is part monkey. That girl sure can climb! It is so neat to watch Claire and Jack play together...they have a really funny bond.
Hopefully I can update some photos soon!
My memory card is full from our summer! A trip to New Hampshire and lots of pictures of the kids to be uploaded. Until then, written updates are all you're going to get!
At the end of August we traveled to New Hampshire. And so did hurrucane Irene! She threw a few wrenches in our plans, but it was a great trip. The kids played with lobsters, went fishing, enjoyed swimming, played at the lake, and found red eft newts :) We even took a day trip to the beach and had a wonderful time. It was a long series of car rides, but our kids did great. Even if Claire got 5 teeth and had a 102 degree fever on the way home (enter a blank state here...)
Unfortuantely we had to leave earlier than planned, due to the death of our dear brother in law. After the tragic loss of his daughter just over a year ago, he decided to take his own life and we are trying to pick up the pieces and help his wife in any way that we can. We aren't able to do much, but we think of her each and every day and send our most loving of thoughts.
Jackson has started his second year of preschool. He LOVES school and is now going 3 mornings to the regular program, and one extra afternoon for a literacy-based program. It's a great school and he is growing by leaps and bounds. He is changing so much every day - it's so wild to watch.
Claire is getting older, but no so much bigger. She is such a peanut! She is talking up a storm and we are often wondering if she is part monkey. That girl sure can climb! It is so neat to watch Claire and Jack play together...they have a really funny bond.
Hopefully I can update some photos soon!
Monday, August 1, 2011
pearly whites
jack enjoyed his 2nd visit to the dentist, and he did so well! he said "i'm a little bit nervous!" but opened wide and listened so well. dental hygeine is very important to us, and we are so thankful his (great) uncle kevin was able to let him get his teeth checked!
this old house
here is what our house looked like before we began our renovation projects...
blech.
here is what it looks like now!
you can view the new landscaping (with 5 boxwood trees under the front window) and the new plantings around the walk. also, a smooth new driveway!
it went from 35+ year old siding thatused to be blue looks gray with black shutters, to dark khaki with brown shutters. we also got new gutters, ditched the downspout on the front, re-wrapped the front post, and got a new roof.
blech.
here is what it looks like now!
you can view the new landscaping (with 5 boxwood trees under the front window) and the new plantings around the walk. also, a smooth new driveway!
it went from 35+ year old siding that
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
who DOES that?
One might think that for someone who loves taking pictures would not forget their camera, but alas...
We had a busy weekend, that began mid-week.
At the end of last week, we bought Jackson a hamster. It lasted about 6 days. Without the gory detail, I will tell you that the hamster vs. cat sceanrio always loses. We made up a white lie about it, since he was still dealing with the loss of a caterpillar, and moved on.
Jack's grandma met me half way and took Jack on Wednesday. She spolied him ROTTEN! They made trips to the zoo, the pool, the lake, and out for donuts :) The day he left, Claire spiked a fever, was super whiny and irritable. The fever would NOT go down, even with mdes, so on Friday she went to the peditrician. The pedi said if it hadn't gone down by Saturday morning to bring her back. On Saturday morning, back we were. Little Claire got a catheter and a huge antibiotic shot in her leg. Right before our appointment at Children's, she perked right back up.
Once at Children's, she got a blood test to test for anything out of the ordinary. Once she was feeling better, Marc and I decided to join our son at the lake. So we drove up to Michigan, and Claire slept the whole way...about 4.5 hours! It was HOT. We are looking forward to the renovation this fall, which will bring 3 bathrooms...and lots of showers!
Jack was having the BEST time...catching fish, catching bugs, riding on the pontoon, and playing with the family friend's dog. (Our pets stayed home this trip!) He is a great fisherman, and spent the whole time in his swimsuit.
I wish I had brought my camera...who does that? Who forgets their camera on a weekend chock-full of excitement?
We had a busy weekend, that began mid-week.
At the end of last week, we bought Jackson a hamster. It lasted about 6 days. Without the gory detail, I will tell you that the hamster vs. cat sceanrio always loses. We made up a white lie about it, since he was still dealing with the loss of a caterpillar, and moved on.
Jack's grandma met me half way and took Jack on Wednesday. She spolied him ROTTEN! They made trips to the zoo, the pool, the lake, and out for donuts :) The day he left, Claire spiked a fever, was super whiny and irritable. The fever would NOT go down, even with mdes, so on Friday she went to the peditrician. The pedi said if it hadn't gone down by Saturday morning to bring her back. On Saturday morning, back we were. Little Claire got a catheter and a huge antibiotic shot in her leg. Right before our appointment at Children's, she perked right back up.
Once at Children's, she got a blood test to test for anything out of the ordinary. Once she was feeling better, Marc and I decided to join our son at the lake. So we drove up to Michigan, and Claire slept the whole way...about 4.5 hours! It was HOT. We are looking forward to the renovation this fall, which will bring 3 bathrooms...and lots of showers!
Jack was having the BEST time...catching fish, catching bugs, riding on the pontoon, and playing with the family friend's dog. (Our pets stayed home this trip!) He is a great fisherman, and spent the whole time in his swimsuit.
I wish I had brought my camera...who does that? Who forgets their camera on a weekend chock-full of excitement?
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
.
my dearest friend, erin, allowed me to have a portrait party for her. it was bittersweet as it was the last one in her current studio as she is moving on saturday to a beautiful new house. i hope she stays out of the pool long enough to set up a new studio. ha ha.
if you would like copies of these pics, please let me know. i haven't even purchased them yet, so i'm not even sure i should be posting them. but i plan on buying them once my party closes, so i am hoping it's okay.
aren't they FANTASTIC? i love her work.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Pinterest and Schools
I am loving Pinterest. It is such a time-waster and so inspiring at the same time. We have only a few things left to "finish" in our house before D-day arrives. Please see why...
D-day, as defined in our household, is the day we will "d"-ecide what to do with our home. We are not interested, whatsoever, in Jack attending the school that we are zoned for. It's the worst school in the district and just not our style. So, we can lottery him into another school for Kindergarten or send him to private.
The problem with W City Schools is that if your child participates in the lottery, you have to re-apply each year. This puts them at risk of having to (possibly) change schools each year. We are hoping he will get into one of W's fantastic magnet schools. The great thing about magnets (besides being the highest-ranked schools in the city) is that once you're in, you're in. And your siblings will automatically be accepted as well. We will apply for the math and sciences one first, then the arts and humanities.
As far as kingergarten goes, we will be making appointments with various private schools and public schools over the next few months to determine where he will go. The lottery application (public school) deadline is January 1st.
We have decided that if Jack doesn't get into the Magnet Schools for 1st grade, we will lottery him into a district that we would like to live in, and move. It's as simple as that. Even if it means downsizing...we are prepared to do it. We have a WONDERFUL friend who is also an incredible realtor and we are confident that she can not only sell our house, but get us a great one for a killer deal. She recently scored the most ridiculous deal for our friends Erin and Sean.
It's a lot to take in...the driving alone will determine where we will apply. There is a strong possibility that by the time Jack goes to 1st grade, my super-awesome-killer job will turn into full-time. (ummm...work at home, set my own hours, be around for my kids all the time? doubling our income at the same time? yes, please!)
It will all work out. I have a year before crunch time. We just need to install closet organizers in the master closet and hallway closet. We need to replace the sink/vanity in our 1/4 bath in our bedroom. We need new carpet for the entire upstairs and staircase, and replace the banister/railings. Replace and install a pantry in the kitchen.
The rood will still be new. The (awesome) siding will still be new. The carpet in the living room and family room will still be new. The completely renovated and super-freaking-awesome basement will still be new. The new trees and landscaping will look gorgeous, still. The poured concrete patio will hopefully be installed by the end of the year, 2011. Our new driveway will still look perfect.
See? All this from a post about Pinterest. Time waster :)
My pinterest account = my first name and then my last name :) Follow me!
D-day, as defined in our household, is the day we will "d"-ecide what to do with our home. We are not interested, whatsoever, in Jack attending the school that we are zoned for. It's the worst school in the district and just not our style. So, we can lottery him into another school for Kindergarten or send him to private.
The problem with W City Schools is that if your child participates in the lottery, you have to re-apply each year. This puts them at risk of having to (possibly) change schools each year. We are hoping he will get into one of W's fantastic magnet schools. The great thing about magnets (besides being the highest-ranked schools in the city) is that once you're in, you're in. And your siblings will automatically be accepted as well. We will apply for the math and sciences one first, then the arts and humanities.
As far as kingergarten goes, we will be making appointments with various private schools and public schools over the next few months to determine where he will go. The lottery application (public school) deadline is January 1st.
We have decided that if Jack doesn't get into the Magnet Schools for 1st grade, we will lottery him into a district that we would like to live in, and move. It's as simple as that. Even if it means downsizing...we are prepared to do it. We have a WONDERFUL friend who is also an incredible realtor and we are confident that she can not only sell our house, but get us a great one for a killer deal. She recently scored the most ridiculous deal for our friends Erin and Sean.
It's a lot to take in...the driving alone will determine where we will apply. There is a strong possibility that by the time Jack goes to 1st grade, my super-awesome-killer job will turn into full-time. (ummm...work at home, set my own hours, be around for my kids all the time? doubling our income at the same time? yes, please!)
It will all work out. I have a year before crunch time. We just need to install closet organizers in the master closet and hallway closet. We need to replace the sink/vanity in our 1/4 bath in our bedroom. We need new carpet for the entire upstairs and staircase, and replace the banister/railings. Replace and install a pantry in the kitchen.
The rood will still be new. The (awesome) siding will still be new. The carpet in the living room and family room will still be new. The completely renovated and super-freaking-awesome basement will still be new. The new trees and landscaping will look gorgeous, still. The poured concrete patio will hopefully be installed by the end of the year, 2011. Our new driveway will still look perfect.
See? All this from a post about Pinterest. Time waster :)
My pinterest account = my first name and then my last name :) Follow me!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
fun times
the kids and i are really enjoying the GORGEOUS weather. i have the whole week off from work this week, and we have been enjoying ourselves. i really need to post all the pictures from the house remodeling projects we have done...the outside of the house looks AWESOME.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
claire turns one!
We have had some less-than-stellar weather this spring, here in Ohio. Rain for 45 days in a row! The weather let up the day of Claire's birthday celebration and the weather was perfect. It was a birdie theme and it turned out very well.
We had so many friends and family members join us to celebrate our spunky little girl.
claire thinks her brother is funnier and more interesting than cake!
We had so many friends and family members join us to celebrate our spunky little girl.
claire thinks her brother is funnier and more interesting than cake!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
claire's cake!
My friend Kim made Claire's cake for her birthday. It was beautiful AND delicious! (we may have stonlen a few bites!) She was really cute when she was eating it. Pictures from her party are to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)