Friday, April 30, 2010

Day 40


* Nebbin' with Daddy

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Days 35, 37 & 38 in Pictures :)


We were in Disney World for those of you who don't know and so the pictures are finally uploaded and ready to be shared. We had a blast and it was even better than our honeymoon! I highly recommend it to anyone :)

Day 39

I'm home...and that's all I have time to write right this second. Lots of shopping, unpacking, carpooling, errands, etc. to run but we made it and had an amazing time. I promise to post pic's later today :)

Monday, April 26, 2010

Day 36

We are in Disneyworld...without our kids! It's a really fun experience and if I hadn't forgotten the cord for my camera, I'd be sharing it with you pictorally. That will just have to wait til' I get home in a few days. It's a funny thing, vacationing without your kids. I spent so much time planning and looking forward to this vacation; a time to relax and connect with my husband and do things on our own time and schedule. But, the thing is, we came to a giant amusement park full of kids and it keeps making me miss them... I've seen several kids around Grace's age acting just the way she does and it made me smile. Then, I saw a couple little girls around Maddie's age dressed as their favorite princesses and I thought about how much she'd love to do that. So, we are having an amazing time and the roller coasters we're riding are SO MUCH FUN, but I miss the kids all the same...just not when I 'm eating. A whole meal, eaten sitting down without having to give over every other bite to an open mouth near me is pretty awesome.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Day 33



So, last night our computer crashed...that's right, totally dead. Today Gabe and I spent some time choosing a new computer and now I'm using it!! :) It's very nice and very new and finally our internet feels like it's working (the last week and a half have felt like dial up!). My Mom and Jer are here visiting and Gabe and I leave for Disney World on Sunday morning. Today we went to the zoo and then out to dinner and had a blast in DC. Having guests encourages us to get out to the "big city" and leave the 'burbs. So, here's today's pictures.

* Top to Bottom: Ice Cream & 3 Generations

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Day 31

Today I was heartbroken. I had signed up to bring a couple of meals to a family in Maddie's class who has a child that was just diagnosed with cancer. He's only 12 months old and his life and those of his parents and brothers is totally changed. Today was my first visit to their home to bring the lasagna I made, salad and some fruit. Maddie went with me since one of the brother's is in her class. The mom was very thankful and she held her baby while we talked. He was beautiful but he also looks sick. He has a grayish complexion and dark circles under his eyes. He broke my heart. It's one of those things in this world that we are never going to understand. Why our God would have this baby get cancer. All I could pray as I drove home was for a miracle in their life. That this little baby would be spared. His mother told me that tomorrow he has scans to see how things are coming along. I'm praying that those scans bring news that is cause for celebration. I cried as I drove home because I feel so undeserving of this life that has been given to me. Healthy, beautiful children, a home, a husband who loves me no matter what...I'm thankful today. I definitely got a dose of perspective this afternoon.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Day 30 (1 month in :)

Guess what we did tonight?....

Monday, April 19, 2010

Day 29




Well, if you're following my blog, you can see that I missed putting a picture up yesterday. The best thing about blogging is that I get to make up the rules and yesterday I didn't feel like it, so I didn't :) Today was a very eventful day which included a playdate, lunch, preparing dinner for friends and hanging out at said friends' house. It was a beautiful day and I found myself really enjoying it. The pic's today are of the 4 girl outdoor lunch, and then Grace after she got into some grits (uncooked!) She was a mess, but her attitude shined through. She has the BEST sense of humor and so do Maddie & I because we couldn't stop laughing!!
*Top to Bottom: Uh-Oh, Grits, & Ladies who Lunch :)

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Day 27



I cannot believe it's only been a month since starting this picture a day thing because it seems like we've done so much! I guess for me, that's how life is: I feel like I'm not doing much of anything but now that I'm chronicling it, I'm realizing that I am doing tons! So, that makes me glad that I'm trying to take time every day to capture even one small moment. Today was made up of lots of small moments including a playdate at my church that I helped to organize and host, an awesome nap, watching my kids play together so well, a fabulous family dinner, and now some quiet time. Looking forward to Sunday morning at church and then the playground. So excited that it's 1 week until Gabe and I leave for Disneyworld :)

*From Top to Bottom: "Grammy's Hair" (Direct quote from Maddie after looking in the mirror after her bath! Sorry Sandy :) & BBQ

Friday, April 16, 2010

Day 26



Today was a great day with major allergies for me :( So, tonight I feel like you know what and the most I can say is that spending some quality time with a 10 day old newborn + 4 other kids under 4 years old was amazing, loud, fun, messy, & sweet all at the same time. Here's hoping the rain tonight will calm down the pollen because I have to be productive in the morning!

* From Top to Bottom: Baby Daniel, Leaving, & Swing

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Day 25

* Date Night

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Day 24

* From Left Clockwise: Thoughtful, Smile, Dinner, Regal, Grumpy, Uncle visits, School, & Dentist Office :)

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Day 22 & 23

Yesterday was a very long, very tiring day and so I did not get a chance to blog or put up a pic. Today's picture of the day is Gabe's grandfather's tombstone in Arlington Cemetery. He was a 3 star general in the Army and today marks 20 years since his passing. Gabe and Sandy headed out there today to put flowers and honor him. Then, they did the things Gabe's Poppi always did. They ate lunch at Royal Restaurant and then took the deposit for Dog School to the bank. I never had a chance to meet him but he sounds like an amazing man and grandfather.

*April 13th

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Day 21


*Outdoors
** PS: It's Tucker's birthday today and we only just remembered!! Funny that I blogged about him yesterday ;) Tomorrow is Zora's birthday! They are 1 day apart and exactly 6 years old...

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Day 20


Today's picture is a good one because a big part of my day was all about Tucker. I had a lesson with him today at Dog School with Sandy because I'm starting my work with him in order to get him an obedience title :) I'm really excited about it and today was only our 1st lesson together, but I am going to be committed and really work with him between lessons because I really want him to be good at this. After we got home today, he was feeling very spry. He has a new toy that Gabe got him and he was playing so cutely that I had to capture the moment. He's about to be 6 years old, but in this picture I see his puppiness. He's the best :)

Days 18 & 19

Geez, when you get behind in blogging, you really get behind!! The last couple of days have been busy with celebrating :) Gabe and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. Gabe took me to the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington DC for the night. We ate dinner at Bourbon Steak and then just hung out in our room. We had planned a romantic after-dinner walk, but the flash thunder and lightning storm changed that plan! It made senses that it rained since on our wedding day 4 years ago it poured. At the dinner, we hadn't ordered dessert when they brought our coffee and tea. I was feeling bummed because I love to enjoy my tea with my dessert, not before it. Then, out came our waiter with a chocolate mousse cake with a sweet little love note just for me :) Gabe had planned this out well! So, the picture of the day for Day 18 is:
Day 19 was busy as well, or actually I was just tired! I took time to get my hair trimmed and of course my guy styles it too! Here's the pic for Day 19: So, last night after dinner (Broccoli Lasagna :) Gabe and I put the girls down and read. I love doing that. Just reading instead of all the TV watching. Do many of you do that with your hubbys? Read, side by side, and share interesting parts of whatever catches your eye? We don't do it often enough but last night we did and it was peaceful.
Today is Day 20 so I promise to take and post a picture later. We'll see what the day has in store for us :)

*From Top: Surprise & Styled
** As a note** : I'm trying to include links to things I do or like, so you can click on anything in orange above and it will take you to that website/page, etc. Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Day 17

Today was a busy day but also really awesome. Got to take Grace to Gymboree for the first time in ages (been sick, out of town, etc.) and she had a blast. Also came home to see that my hubby had gotten new flowers for our yard that are beautiful! He has great taste :) Later, we enjoyed a family dinner of BBQ'd chicken (it was like 90 degrees today!!!). Then, Alexa came over to chat :) So, it was eventful and now I'm tired. Ready to veg out. Tomorrow is our 4 year anniversary and we have BIG plans :)

*From Top to Bottom: Ladies, Tea, Bubbles, & Legs

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Monday, April 5, 2010

Day 15

*From Top to Bottom: Sowing, "Bug! Don't Eat it!", "Bug! Don't Feed it!", "Bug! Thoughts Faded" (These captions are for Gabe :)


Sunday, April 4, 2010

Day 14 : Happy Easter!

Today was Easter and I had a great day. It was one of those days that got off to a rocky start and to be totally honest, has had sort of a rocky end with kids being exhausted, Gabe being worn out and me wanting everything to be perfect. I always get stuck on that word - perfect. It makes me think of the fact that no one places these ideals on me; they are self-imposed. We started the morning with an egg hunt that was a failure. My kids were not interested in the slightest. So after Gabe has dutifully hidden the eggs, he and I also manned the clean up effort. Then it was a mad dash to get ready for church. We made it in time but only after some serious coercing Maddie to get her to wear her pretty dress without pants underneath. She didn't feel comfortable and she was really in the mood to stand her ground. Unfortunately for her, so was her dad and as we've read in numerous parenting books "if you're going to pick a fight, make sure you win." So, we won. She went to church in her dress sans pants. Church was a highlight of my day. It was all about Heaven and it blew my mind. It gave me a whole new perspective that had seriously never crossed my mind before and that made me love my church even more. If you live locally, you should really join us one Sunday :) Then we headed off to Katie and Jay's house to eat lunch and hunt for eggs. The food was amazing and the kids did a serious search for eggs this time. Maddie and Katie's son, Julian, have a bit of a competition thing going so that sweetened the deal on who could find the most eggs. We headed home just before the melt downs began and napped for a long time in the afternoon. Well, everyone but Maddie. She hung out and harassed her exhausted father. (Should put a side note here that all Gabe has wanted to days is to relax and have peace and quiet. It's a treasured gift around here and one that he is receiving right now. All he hears is the hum of the dishwasher and my fingers on these keys...girls are already in bed :) We woke them from naps and headed to Gabe's parents house for another meal and egg hunt. This egg hunt went extremely well! They really had the hang of it now :) The food, conversation and desserts were great. We definitely pushed the limits on how many things we usually do in a day. Maddie had the uber-meltdown right before we left Grammy & Poppi's house and while they do love us, I'm sure no one was sad to see our screaming 3.5 year old leave. Now that blogging is complete, I'm ready for tea, tv and then books. Happy Easter!!
*These pictures are mostly from our time at Katie and Jay's house. My camera's battery died this afternoon ;( The pictures are Maddie, Gracie, Julian and Avery.

Day 13

*Huevos

Friday, April 2, 2010

Day 12


Today is a big day around our home. Gabe has 2 years today and that is a lot to be grateful for :) It was a busy day too. Maddie went horseback riding with her Aunt and Grammy and Grace & I ran errands and played outside. Now it's time for quiet and hanging out with my husband whom I couldn't be prouder of and wouldn't trade for anything.

*Toes

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Day 11




We had an adventure today and it was a blast. The girls and I drove 60 miles away to a farm in Bluemont, Virginia. We met Siobhan and her girls there and had a super fun time. When we first arrived, both Maddie & Aibha were freaking out over the amount of flies! I told them to try to blend a little; they are obviously from the city if they can't handle a few flies :) We walked a lot, visited various animals, the big girls jumped on a jumpy thing, 3 out of 4 did a slide about a hundred times, took a hay ride and had a picnic lunch. It was so fun because the weather was beautiful, we were with great friends and because having the 2 of them at these ages is actually getting easier. There's no baby mode anymore. I don't have a fussy newborn, a gassy infant, or a refluxing 9 month old (those all refer to Grace last year :) which makes it easier to be out and about for 6 hours. I have to take notice of these things since sometimes I think I want another baby and other times I feel complete with what I have. We'll see what God has planned for us... Since I took so many pictures today, click here to see them all.

*From Top to Bottom: Friendship, Look Through, & Silo