Dry!!!

Well, I am excited to report that Matthew and Caitlin have graduated!! They no longer wear pullups at nighttime! This is very exciting news around here-especially in the budget department (pullups are so expensive!) They have worn underpants to bed instead of pullups since the weekend and have been dry every day. Im so proud of them. Today I don't have any pictures to post, but i figured it might be time to do an update of all the little things that we have been up to.
Other than dry pullups it's been pretty uneventful here-we had a nice quiet father's day weekend...well actually Matt probably wouldn't describe it as nice, since one of the first things I did Sunday morning was to break the bathroom sink...I was fixing one of the slow drain problems that comes up periodically (usually after matthew and caitlin have decided to play "lets see what goes down the drain and what doesn't"), and instead of unscrewing one of the pipes, i snapped it off; actually it pretty much crumbled off...it was old and corroded (one of the many perks of living in a 30 year old house). However when it snapped off it left parts of the threading on there. So i bought a new part, and long story short, after about 3 hours of cursing, swearing, and eye rolling (along with a promise that i would NEVER try to fix anything else on father's day EVEREVEREVER again) Matt magically fixed the sink. He hated doing it, but i was so proud. Later that day we went swimming, and then we all went out to our favorite restaurant-Buffalo's-for wings. It was great.

As far as house selling goes..no it hasn't sold...and we've lowered the price for the 2nd time. Since we started a little high, this is definitely still ok..but im not sure how many more price reductions we can take. Pretty soon we're going to be paying someone to take it!! Stupid housing market!! Oh well. We're still happy here, though anxious to get this move over with before #3 makes an appearance.

Chassie girl is doing well...i have to report the funniest new trick that she has. In the evening, after much begging and pleading, Matt plays hide and seek with the babies. They take turns hiding, and when daddy has had enough, he finds an impossible place to hide (under the beds, buried in the closet) and hangs out there. However I decided to get the dog involved..I'd noticed that she would always sniff around while they were playing-so I told the kiddies to "ask Chassie where daddy is", and sure enough, she went around to all the rooms, poking her nose around till she finds him!! It is hilarious. She'll just stay at the same place (where he's hiding) until the babies figure it out. Matt get's so mad!!! "Its not fair!! Chass isnt' allowed to play hide and seek!" She gets so happy when she gets to play though. We try to include her in all the games that they play in the evenings; Matt used to play this game where he would toss the kids onto the beds-the flying game-and once Chassie was acting so rowdy (like she wanted to play too), so Matt picked her up and tossed her onto the bed-and she loved it!! So every time after that he would have to toss her. She's a bit too big for it now, but it was so funny to watch.

Matt's job is going well-he is staying ridiculously busy though. He also periodically plays softball during the week or on the weekends which he enjoys. Im hoping he'll have an early game soon so the babies and I can go watch. I think they'd like it.

Matthew and Caitlin went swimming this weekend and are doing so well!! At the two pools we have been to, they don't allow water wings, but the pools are 3 feet in the shallow end, so Matt and I just let them get in since they can touch, with no floatation of any sort. They have started putting their heads under water (caitlin is still just bobbing up and down) but Matthew will stay under for a few seconds...even try to swim while his head is under. He started doing it after Nana gave him some goggles to wear...I think he was intrigued at being able to see so clearly under water. Caitlin is a good swimmer too; the only problem that she has is that she tends to be a little frantic. Once she gets past that, she is going to do very well. She adores swimming (more so than Matthew), so it will be nice for us to move somewhere that they have a community pool!!

I hope thats all the news i have...this has been a long rambling post-but I wanted to stay relatively caught up. I'll try to get pictures soon.

St. Simons and other stuff

Chasing Nemo around the pool. Caitlin was the only one brave enough to go in the freezing cold water (it was only 9am, so it hadn't had time to warm up). She didn't seem to mind a bit!


Matthew and Alex-one of the "friends" they made down at St. Simons. They were having a splashing contest in the baby pool.

In the ocean with Daddy

When we couldn't go outside, Caitlin was busy with a puzzle...she loves puzzles-

Matthew and Daddy, waiting for the pool to warm up.

It's so nice to have the kids as an excuse to play in the sand :)

Eating "pretty cheerios" at the condo-Special cereal on vacation has become one of our traditions, and Caitlin and Matthew love it.

Ready to swim!

Here are the pictures from our wonderful St. Simon's trip-We all had a wonderful time-especially Caitlin and Matthew. They pretty much lived at the beach and in the pool. On our way down there we drove through a tropical depression, so we were worried about how the weather was going to be...but by the next day the storm and clouds had cleared off and we had great weather the whole time. I can't wait to go back next year!

I don't have too much news to report; everything is going well here. I had my 18 week ultrasound to find out if the baby is a boy or girl...and it turns out that it's just stubborn (or extremely modest)-the baby was situated in such a way that the doctor was unable to tell, so we have to wait a WHOLE MONTH to find out. However everything else looks great as far as the baby goes so I guess it's ok to have to wait :).

Matthew and Caitlin continue to be the best of friends-they play (and fight) together constantly, and are both becoming such good helpers to me. (I think im going to need this come November :)). They know how to clean their own rooms (sometimes this is just stuffing everything into the dirty laundry basket...) and empty the dishwasher (putting all the plates and cups on the counter) and help me with the laundry. Mostly they like playing outside, and now that the weather is warm they go out everyday to ride bikes and hunt for "wolly-poleys" and "sneeeeeellls" (snails). Im ok with it as long as the bugs stay OUTSIDE.

They still love their two stuffed animals-furry cat for Caitlin and Zarrrrrrr for Matthew-and constantly ask me to tell that what "furry cat and zarrr did". I made the mistake of making up this elaborate story one morning of what their stuffed animals were doing while C and M slept. It was very creative, and the cats were so naughty! But now they want a nice long creative naughty cat story EVERY DAY! And my imagination is just not that fertile. The cats have been to the beach, in an airplane, on a boat, to grandma's house, and even have their own clubhouse (the happy catty house. wierd)-but ive run out of stories. Now I have to tell them "i'll tell you later" and hope they forget about the whole thing.

They also have a funny night time routine-everynight after teeth brushing and story time, they start saying "i hope daddy doesn't GET me!!" (which means they hope daddy DOES get them) and then Daddy will pop out unexpectedly and carry them upsidedown or sideways to bed. They love it! And then once they are in the bed, they say in their most serious baby voices, "YOU CANT GET ME ANY ANY ANY ANY MORE!!" But they would be so disappointed if he didn't. They are funny.

Our house is stilllllllllllllll for sale...and im afraid it will never sell. We have showings now and again, but no big interest yet. So say a prayer that the "right buyer" comes along soon and can't live without the house :).

Cat

Pictures of Nana's stray cat-

Update

I guess my Virginia trip can only get me off the hook for so long...looks like it's time to update the blog again!!

We had a nice Mother's Day this past weekend-Matt and the kiddies spoiled me all day long. And I loved it! However there was one bad part to the day-Matthew got a HUGE boo-boo. He and Caitlin had been swimming in their baby pool at Matt's parents house, and was all done. So I wrapped him up nice and tight in a towel...he couldn't even move his arms. We walked up the concrete steps to the house, and then Matthew decided to take the short way back down. By rolling down all four steps on his face ...oh MAN youve never seen something so bad! Luckily there was no need for a hospital trip and all teeth are intact...but the left side of his face was so so so swollen and bruised! Poor baby. However he was brave, and after the initial crying was over, he complained that he was hungry. So that was good :).

Caitlin has her last day of preschool this week, and i think she's really going to miss going over the summer. She's made some friends, and all the teacher's there have decided that she is going to be an artist. She also finished up soccer-so Im going to have to find some new activities for them to do over the summer. Im thinking gymnastics. We'll see though.

Let's see. I have pictures to post from Caitlin's "bike day" at preschool. Matthew got to participate as well, and really enjoyed doing man things with the two other boys in Caitlin's class.

Caitlin on her "big girl bike", which I realized is actually too small for her now! She is growing like crazy!

At "bike day" they had various stations set up where you could stop and play...this one was the doctor's station. Doesn't she look like a pro with that stethoscope?? The future Dr. Caitlin Schroeder perhaps??

At the bike washing station...with a little help from Matthew-

Matthew and one of Caitlin's classmates, with the man tools at the "gas station".

The rest of the trip

We made it home!! And aside from a lovely "10 over" speeding ticket, the ride home was pretty uneventful, and the whole trip was great from start to finish. Seeing all the cousins playing together was so cute!!

After we left Gus and Stephs on wednesday, we drove over to Charlottesville to see Ginny for her 21st birthday-we got to see her lovely apartment, eat out at "the corner", and see the Lawn. Oh, and Caitlin and Matthew's favorite part was riding the UVA bus:

Caitlin and Matthew REALLY liked riding the bus....

Birthday lunch with Aunt Ginny. Matthew says it's always sunny when youre cool.

On the lawn at UVA

After a way too short visit with Gin, we got back on the road to Elizabeth's. We made it there and settled in-Caitlin and Matthew were pretty shy at first, but that wore off very quickly once they saw all the toys that Lauren, Drew, Sophia and Alex were willing to share. Drew taught Matthew all about light sabers, and Star wars. The next day, they resumed playtime in the basement....Unfortunately Lauren had to go to school (FIRST GRADE!!!), so Matthew and Drew played light sabers while Caitlin and Sophia played tea party. Elizabeth and I enjoyed uninterrupted adult conversation...it was GREAT! I want a toy filled basement!

Playing "light sabers". And yes, that is my darling daughter, holding the pretend automatic rifle.

Later that day, we picked Lauren up early from school so that we could all go and visit "Granny" for lunch at the Jefferson. I think we may have overwhelmed the people there a little-three adults and SIX kids...all under the age of 7. However they behaved themselves, and we had a great time visiting with Granny.

At Granny's for lunch

Later that night, it was time to celebrate Alex's first birthday. I think the pictures do a pretty good job of describing the party...Alex thought Mom had made and excellent choice on which plates to use (he kept trying to lick the icing off of Elmo), and thoroughly enjoyed his party:

Before Cake-nice clean sweet baby.

After cake!! Still nice and sweet, just not quite as clean :)

Bathtime and bedtime followed the party, and I think we were all pretty exhausted! However Andy and I discovered a mutual love for icee's, and couldn't go to bed without one. Or a few. mmmm!! The next day, Elizabeth took us out for a fantastic lunch at my new favorite restaurant-it was so nice! We also got to see Aunt Carol while we were there, but i forgot to take pictures...too busy enjoying Clydes!
After lunch it was back on the road to Gus and Steph's. We spent one night there, and then we headed home. It was a great week, and while Im not QUITE ready to do it again, I know that I will do it again!! Hopefully Matt will be able to get some time off next time and come with me!

Good Morning!

It IS a good morning here...the kids (except for Gustav) are all awake and outside on the screened in porch playing their new favorite games. In the first game Callie and Caitlin pretend to be sleeping in the chairs and Matthew wakes them up by yelling something (usually AIRPLANE!!!!!!!!!) as loud as he can. The second game is hide and seek...one of them will hide (always in the same spot) and all the others will run up and yell BOO!!! at them. Yelling seems to be a theme with their games...so nice at 7:00 in the morning :)

Yesterday evening was so nice outside that we let the kids play on Steph's playset till dinner time and they had so much fun...here are some pictures-

We Made It!!

Hooray!!

After a *relatively* easy 6.5 hour drive, the kids and I made it to Roanoke!! I think by the end of the trip they were sick and tired of hearing mommy ask if we were there yet. I heard them whispering something about duct tape for the ride home....

Anyway, its BEAUTIFUL here!! We love Virginia! Gus and Steph's house is so nice-the kids and I felt right at home immediately. Last night we went out for Mexican food (mmmmmmm) and this morning Steph took me to an aerobics class at the place she teaches to work off all the Mexican. Luckily this time I didn't fall and twist my ankle, but i was definitely worn out after the first 5 minutes. And it was an hour long class. (groan) However Steph rewarded us all with a trip to the pool, where Callie and Caitlin (who are now best friends by the way) and Gustav and Matthew all had a wonderful time. (So did Steph and I :))

Anyway, here are some of the pictures from the pool...i'll try to blog pictures as I get them.