Having fun in Ky

The first 5 or so days of the month are always closing time for Joe at work which means we know that he is super busy adn work and usually gets home pretty late. Thursday he had told me was going to be pretty crazy so after the kids got up from nap I decided to pack up a picnic dinner and head to the mall, where they have a big pirate ship playground inside. As we headed out toward Louisville the rain picked up majorly and a few times I thought maybe we should go back.....but the evenings are so long when Joe isn't there so I thought we needed to get some different surroundings to get us through the evening. The kids had a blast and played about an hour and a half on the playground. There were some older kids there who were really wild (their mom's had dropped them off while they got their nails done) so at first I was really annoyed because they kept knocking my kids over running around. Another mom there with a little one called a security guard to come over and he sent them back to their mom's since they were over the age limit anyhow. So after that it went much smoother.










They came and went between playing to get bites of their dinner and after that I had a few returns to make. We got home just as Joe did so they had a little daddy time and then off to bed.
Yesterday morning after we were up and going I realized there were a few more things I needed for around the house so we packed up and headed to the Summit (the outdoor mall) to shop around some. The kids were really good so we headed to Chick Fil A for lunch. They have a playground there that is just the perfect size for toddlers/preschoolers (not huge and intimidating) so Maggie adn Owen really like it. There was some other playgroup or something there because there were lots of little kids their age so they had a really fun time. Maggie made friends with 2 little girls her age there and they played up in the tunnels most of the time. When we left maggie said, "mom I liked playing with my black friend and white friend." I said, "maggie, what do u mean (because they were both white). She said, "you know, one had black hair like me and daddy and the other had white hair." So I guess she is now calling people by their hair color??? Great! We got home right at naptime so I had a little downtime myself to relax some.


Yesterday evening we had a fun visit from Kirsten, James, and Carlyn who were in town for a funeral. They got to the house right after naptime and the kids played in the playroom awhile and had so much fun.

Carlyn loved the slide and was really good at it!







She was so adorable, she would go down fly off the end crashing on the floor and just crack up laughing. Maggie kept calling her "carson", since she is around carson (neila's baby) so much I guess she gets the names mixed up. We went to eat at Don Carlos, a mexican restaurant here in town that Joe adn I like alot for dinner. I told them had I been a good hostess I would have made us dinner (right mom?) I promise I will next time Kirsten!


















It was so nice to have them visit and let the kids play together. We are hoping they will move their way over here to KY too so Maggie and Owen can have Carlyn to play with and I can have another mommy (I trust) to switch off on babysitting!! When we got home Joe was getting home from work, Maggie and Owen were so happy to see him and of course drug him upstairs to play "crazy" (as maggie calls it. I don't know what all went on up there but there was lots of yelling and laughing and at one point I looked up at the catwalk and saw Joe pushing Owen in maggie's doll stroller as fast as he could! Owen went to bed shortly after their crazy playing but Maggie seemed to have a hard time winding down. At about 930 we could still hear her in her room playing with her dolls in her bed. We haven't done much at all today, Joe had to go into work this morning and it's actually snowing pretty hard now so the kids and I have just stayed in and played. They are napping now, and we are going to head out this evening to look for carpet for the basement so we can get that all finished and livable! Mom is coming down tommorow for a few days so I can go get oriented to the office I am going to be filling in some for. Maggie is so excited to see MiMi and has lots of things planned for them to do already. (she got her own library card so she can't wait to go there and get some books....she loves mom's library and can't wait to show mom hers)

Well, that is all that is going on here right now....keeping busy....and by popular request........here are some pictures of the house. Like I said, it's still a work in progress as far as getting to "put together" but this will give you an idea. Even better....come visit us and you can see it yourself!

The kitchen:



















The foyer and great room:



























Joe and I's bedroom and bathroom:


























Kids playroom:





















Owen's room:














Maggie's room:

















View from upstairs down to foyer and laundry room:





















That is it for now, I will show you the rest once it is more in order.

Preschool Preview

It's hard to believe it is already March and we have been in our new house for almost 1 month now. It feels like home, but we still have quite a bit to do before it is officially done and the way we want it. (painting, putting away, basement finished, hanging things) We went to register Maggie for Preschool this morning. We finally got our blinds in that we had ordered so Joe put them up last night. They are total black-out so we all slept in past 8 this morning and sign up started at 845 so we got there a little late. We got to go around and look at all the classrooms and meet the teachers. They have 6 different classes and all of them were so cute. Maggie was in heaven and met several kids there (they are already in preschool). She began playing in one room and said, "mom, I think I'll just stay at preschool today." So she is really going to enjoy going.

After registration, we went to McKinleys which is a little cafe downtown and the kids got doughnuts for breakfast. I spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the kids rooms and kitchen while they played great in their playroom. By the time I went to get them for lunch I realized that all my cleaning while they played had been pointless since they totally destroyed the playroom. I think they got every toy possible out and threw it on the floor. So I guess that will be my project during naptime.

Swimming fun

Yesterday Neila-Susan and I took the kids to the FAC to go swimming. I also wanted to check out the play area since it's the only gym in town that has childcare. I knew the instant I walked in that this would not be my gym of choice since I could have gotten knocked down with the cigarette smoke smell. I don't know if it was the people watching the kids or that all the kids parents smoke but either way I wasn't going to subject my kids to that stinch. They have a small pool for little kids that is just Maggie's size. She can bascially touch almost the whole pool so she had alot of fun. Carson seemed to enjoy himself too, he wrapped himself around neila and just relaxed the whole time, it was so cute.














Owen loved the pool, and I think he only drank about half the water in it! This little guy totally is fearless, he refused to let me hold onto him, and although it was about chest high in most places on him......he is still top heavy so he would lose his balance constanly and go under. It didn't seem to bother him though, he'd choke it up and push me away again saying, "fwim fwim" (swim) They also have a big frog that is a slicky slide (you slide through the tounge) and Owen loved that. He would come crashing down and Neila would dig him up out of the water and he'd say "more more".











He spent about half of our time there furious though because I couldn't let him go on his own. I felt like I had gotten my workout by the time we left, it was alot of fun so I am hoping to do that pretty often. We came home and both kids slept almost 4 hours.

Last night I went to a dinner by a pharm company where a dr. from Utah talked about antibiotics. After hearing all he had to say about how they are all becoming usless since everyone has built up resistance it made me so glad that neither of my kids has ever been on an antibiotic. It was at a really nice restaurant in Lousiville. Neila and a few girls from her work were going so she invited me, the talk was alright......a little over my head, but the food was awesome. We had a fun time and it was nice to get to meet some of the people from her office.
The kids are napping now so I am going to get dinner started and make a few phone calls. I have got to get my kids medical records sent here and get a pediatrican. Poor Owen is so behind on his shots, I don't know that last time he even had a well baby check!! Oh well, I guess it hasn't hurt him too much since he has yet to have ever really been sick!

A fun sunday

We went to the early service again today so that we could get home early to hang out with Val and Lucas this afternoon. Maggie enjoyed sunday school again but when I went to pick her up she said, "mom, we didn't even do a craft today!" and had a bit of disgust in her voice, and the teacher was standing next to her. I am not sure what they did today b/c she didn't even have a story paper like she ususally does, but she seemed happy so I am just glad she had fun. Owen also did better today, joe went to drop him off and I saw them walking into his class, he was behind Joe and he walked in the class and once he realized where he was he did a total circle and ran back out. He cried a bit they said but when we picked him up he was happy and playing so I am hoping before too long he will be happy to go like Maggie is. When we got home Val, lucas, and Gary came over. I was so glad to get to see Val and catch up some. It was also nice to meet Gary who I have heard so much about and of course to see Lucas. He and Maggie hit it off and played great the whole time. She called him "her friend" and he called her "that girl" most of the time.







Lucas is very funny and gets it honestly...you know what I mean if you know Val. I am hoping they can come back soon so we can hang out longer since they didn't get to stay too long today. They left around 3 and Joe headed off to go play basketball with Nick for an hour or so. He went to Lowes and if you know Joe and Lowes he never comes home empty handed. :) Well, he pulled in the drive way with the bed of his truck full of all kinds of things, one of which was this......

















I guess they had a bunch of stuff marked on clearance and since we needed a grill for this summer he decided to get one while they were on sale. I was sort of hoping we could get a green egg grill, like Johnny and Wendy have but I am he will cook up good steaks on this one too.

We are heading over to Nick and Neila's tonight for dinner and Neila and I may go to swim with the kids tommorow at the local indoor pool. This Thursday I go to sign Maggie up for preschool in the fall. I cannot belive she is old enough to go to preschool already. I am glad it's only 2 days a week for 3 hours because I couldn't stand her being gone anymore than that.

Happy Birthday to Me!

This week has been alot of fun with mom and Dad here. I got a ton done which was nice, although there is still quite a bit to do before my house is totally in order. The kids loved having Mimi and Jaja here all week to spoil them to death. This week I get to help them adjust to not having a playmate 24/7 and getting cookies after breakfast! Dad finished up the basement drywall for Joe so that it is ready for the guy to come in this week to tape and mud so that was really nice. Mom and I went out shopping some, and of course I took her to Cinnabon. I Wednesday I went to Neila-Susan's office to interview for a PRN position. They were wanting me 1 day a week but I told them right now I was really just wanting a weekend here and there and to fill in when someone is on vacation. Thankfully, she told me that sounded fine and I could come in a few days next month to see how things are run and then could just pick up shifts whenever I want. So for now that will probably just amount to a 4 hour saturday shift every month, which is just fine with me. It will be nice to get out and get my skills cleaned up some plus I am working on becoming a certified lactation consultant so this will help me get some of the hours that I will need to sit for the test.

After the interview I took 10 tubs of clothes to a kids consignment store in Louisville. I was there probably 2-3 hours with them looking through everything and they took about 7 tubs worth of clothes. I was totally thrilled when they gave me my check for $600 dollars for my stuff they took!! And the 3 tubs left were nice stuff that was just not the season they were buying so I can probably sell it also in a few months. So that was a nice surprise to come into. Thursday night Mom and Dad took me out to eat to Johnnny Carrinos' for my birthday and it was great. We discovered that Frankfort has tons of good restaurants and it's only about 15 minutes away so we can get there quicker than going into Louisville. Joe got home from Alabama on my birthday (friday) and I picked him up at the airport and we went out to eat at PF Changs and then to see the movie "The number 23". I like it but he thought it was goofy. Mom and Dad stayed until today and headed home after we all ate breakfast at the Cracker Barrell. We didn't get much done today, just ran errands and played with the kids mostly. Tommorow, my roommate from college, Val, her little boy, Lucas, adn her boyfriend are coming to visit so I am SOOOOO excited to see her. I haven't seen Lucas since he was about 6 months old and she's never seen either of my kids so it will be great to get together with her. She is so much fun so now that we live closer I hope we get together more. Maggie is excited to meet Lucas and get to play with him too. Well, I am off to bed, we are going to the early service tommorow so that means getting everything together by 845 am.

Fun in the snow

This past week we spent trying to get things a little more together around here, although I didn't accomplish much. Joe took off on Friday but spent most of the day with Nick taking signs to people who are selling their home through their new business. (you can check out their website at fsbolocal.com and go to KY, or area code 40065) Joe's parents and brother came up that evening and we went out to eat at Mark's Feed Store which is one of Joe and I's favorite places to eat, so we were glad to have an excuse to go eat there. Saturday we didn't have much planned, their trip got cut short though since Joe's dad got sick and they ended up leaving that afternoon to head back home so that he could see his doctor. It snowed quite a bit that day so we just stayed in and kept warm and played with the kids. Joe and I had been craving PF Changs (our new favorite place to eat) so around 6 I headed out to Louisville to brave the snow and pick up carry out. This is normally about a 30 minute drive from our house or so......by the evening the roads were pretty bad and it took me 2 hours to get there and back home. The food was great as usual, but I don't know if it was worth all that drive time! We got up this morning and decided to go to the early service at church which is at 9. We ususally go to the 10:30 one, but thought we'd get our day going. Church was really good and Maggie had fun in class. When I went to pick her up the teacher said, " she is sure a talker" Turns out Maggie had piped in when they asked what everyone was thankful to God for and told them she was thankful for all her dogs........lucky, penny, clifford, and peanut. Well, the teachers are now thinking that Maggie lives in a dog pound so when she told me that I cracked up and told the lady that all these dogs are stuffed. She thought it was so cute adn said Maggie went on and on about how they bark all the time and showed them how each dog barked. How funny is that. Owen didn't enjoy his class as much since it was just him for the first half or so. Attendence was low today with all the snow and ice, plus the 1st service is always lower too. He was okay after another kids showed up to his class though. We were home from church a little after 10:30 which felt so weird, but it was nice to have the rest of our day.

We got the kids all bundled up and Joe took them out to play in the snow. I believe this is their first time of playing out in the snow really. How funny is that since we lived in Illinois for like 3 years.





I couldn't find their gloves anywhere so I improvised with some of mine, Maggie ended up ditching hers before too long though.



They had fun, althogh Owen kept falling face first in the snow since he was so bundled up. He was pretty mad about it by the time we went in as you can see.














Joe and Maggie made a little snowman















and Maggie insisted we bring it inside and put him in the freezer.


(you can see him behind her to the left) She told me we could never take him out because he would melt like frosty. So if you come to our house, now you know why there is a red eyed snowman in our freezer.


After a lunch of some hot chilli the kids went to bed and so did I. When I woke up Owen was standing by the bed and Maggie was in bed with me. I slept longer than expected and Joe and Owen had gone to get haircuts, which look really cute.
Owen got a sticker this evening and put it right between his eyes and would not let me take it off. He had it on for several hours before I took it off him as I put him to bed. He is so silly, and looked so goofy but he seemed so proud of it. (he must have known it said AWESOME on it)

















Nick, Neila, and Carson came over tonight and Neila brought dinner which was delicious. We had fun hanging out with them and the guys are now downstairs finishing up the drywall. Joe is going to have a guy come in this week to do the taping and mudding and it will be about ready after that.
Joe heads out to Alabama tommorow for the week so Mom and Dad are coming up here to spend the week so that I don't have to stay home alone all week since I HATE staying home alone at night. I hope to get alot done while they are here, I am going to go through all my tubs of baby clothes from the time Maggie was born and weed out ALOT of them and take them to a consignment shop. I also have a hair appointment in Lexington with the guy who did my hair like 4 years ago when we lived there. I called up my old salon and couldn't believe he still worked there, so I will be excited to see him again and get some highlights. Well, hope you all have a fun week!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

We have had a fun Valentines Day here in our new home. We decided to have Nick, Nelia, and Carson over for dinner since we both were short on childcare. The kids and I headed out to the store this morning and they, of course, were dressed up in their Vday outfits and looked so cute. Maggie was adorable and wished everyone she saw a Happy Valentines Day, Owen on the other hand was wearing his "most eligble bacholer" outfit but would not have gotten chosen from the way he acted. He wanted to ride the "penny"truck, get a balloon, eat a bananna, and get some juice from the time we walked in walmart until we got home. And since he got to do none of them, he was not very happy during out shopping trip. He was very happy to get back home and get some lunch and go down for his nap. Since we have been in our new house his sleeping problems are over (THANK GOODNESS!!) He is sleeping 12-13 hours a night without waking a bit and giving me a good 3 -3.5 hour nap a day. It took him about 3 nights to figure out we weren't coming when he screamed and each night he screamed for us for about 2 hours but just like "the profesionals" say.....3rd night is a charm. So life is great here once again for ALL of us.

So anyhow....back to our Valentines Day.............while the kids napped I made our baked steak and got the rest of our meal ready and when they woke up we made our valentines cake that Maggie has been talking about.










We couldn't find my heart shaped cake pans so we had to make a circle cake and turn it into valentines day cake.









After we made the big one I gave each of the kids a top from the cakes that I was going to toss out and let them decorate them.

















They had a blast and Owen had more sugar today than I think he's had his entire life.















After they got cleaned up we finished up getting dinner ready in time for everyone getting here and we all stuffed ourselves. Neila and I got gift certificates to Z salon, which is this awesome salon here in Louisville, so we are excited to go take a day adn get pampered. I hope to get some pics of the house on here this week, it is not totally quite all in order though but it will give you the idea.

Nick and Joe have been working 3rd shift trying to get our basement finished. Luckily the hammering and sawing doesn't keep the kids up since they are 2 floors away, I on the other hand am right above them so I don't go to sleep unil they are done. Here is a picture of them putting in the insulation the other night.





Maggie was so cute after church on sunday, she went right in her classroom and seemed to really enjoy it again, when I came to pick her up she had a rolled up napkin in her hand and looked so excited. She said, "mom, i have something for you." She opened up her little napkin and inside were 2 candy hearts that were sticking to the napkin. She said, "i licked them but didn't like them so I saved them for you and daddy." I thought it was about the cutest thing ever. She must have been awfully sweet in class because the teachers all went on and on about how adorable she was. Her aunt amanda taught her to say "you go girl" which she loves to say to everyone and it is so funny so I am not sure if she told the teachers that or not, it is hard to tell. Owen did okay in his class too, we weren't so sure at first since when Joe dropped him off he took his bottle and blanket and hid behind a swing in the corner adn wouldn't come out. (we watched through a one way window) But when Joe went back to check on him later he was holding the bag of pretles and handing them out to everyone so he became popular pretty fast. ;) Neila and I are trying out a gym this week that I think I may join, they have a trainer there all the time to help you out which is nice and we are going to try out the pilates class this weekend so that shoudl be interesting. I figure it can't be harder than that kickboxing class my sis drug me to!!

Movin' In!!!!

So I got a call this morning that our stuff is here in KY and ready to be moved in......TOMMOROW!!! We really were not ready for it to be that soon but didn't want to put it off a day longer so we are getting moved in tommorow morning. I am so excited, Joe will be pretty busy at work so mom is coming down tonight to keep the kids for me while I take care of the movers tommorow. We won't have internet for about a week so I may not post for awhile, but I hope to get a few new pics of the house on here tommorow. Wish us luck, they are going to be touching up a few things at the house tommorow and the building inspector comes all while we are being moved in so I will probably be trying to keep everyone out of each other's hair. Fun.
We got some snow here last night so the kids and I just bummed around a little. We went to Walmart and printed out pictures to send in to the Regis and Kelly most beautiful baby contest yet AGAIN. I have sent my kids in since Maggie was born and every year I get so annoyed when I see the winners and they aren't nearly as cute as my kids. :) This is Maggie's last year to qualify so maybe this will be her lucky year. She would be a great little model for them now since she loves being in front of a camera........Owen on the other hand would probably get fired after they tried to photo him if he won. Unless they have a way to glue his feet to the ground.
Well, as of tommorow we are once again home owners!!