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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I'm Back!

Wow. I have been completely sucking at blogging this year. When my kids look back at 2011 and ask what they did or what cute things they said, I won't have anything to tell them. But, as always, I resolve to do better. And, this time, I might actually have a shot at posting more frequently because....I quit my job! Yes, as of June 10th, I am a full-time SAHM, housewife, or "domestic engineer" (Zach's term) or whatever you want to call it. I'm very excited to have this opportunity to spend more time with the kids....well, come the fall I'll spend some more time with them. But, through the summer, I'm keeping them in daycare. Yes, I am completely spoiled!

Anyway, what have we been doing since I last posted? Well, there was Easter. There were various egg hunts, parties at school, dying eggs for the first time ever (not as much of a disaster as I would have thought), an Easter bunny "cake" out of Rice Krispy treats that I was very proud of, church at the Alabama Theater because our sanctuary is being renovated, and lunch at the Venables.

I got strep throat and thought I was going to die. Seriously, it was the sickest I've been in recent memory. I was in bed for three full days, and couldn't even drive myself to the doctor. Fortunately, no one else in the family got it. I think they are all carrier monkeys.

We went to Lindsey and Nate's wedding in North Carolina and left the kids with my parents. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you ask), that was the same weekend that Melanie, Bob, and baby Jack came to B'ham for a wedding. So, EVERYONE stayed at our house, and I think it was a bit much. But, we had a great time! And, that's what really matters. (And then I got to see baby Jack for a day when we got home. Yahoo!) Will also had a great time that weekend--he was enthralled by cool uncle Bob who taught him science experiments and math problems. He's still talking about it.

Will "graduated" from his 4K preschool class and they had a big party to celebrate. It was really cute, even though he's only been there for a year, and even though he isn't actually going to Kindergarten in the fall (he's going to 5K because we're holding him back due to his late birthday). But, the kids had worked hard on their program, and I worked hard on not tearing up while they sang their songs. Off-key children's singing is about the cutest thing ever.

The day after graduation, we headed to the beach. We rented a condo in Seagrove, and my mom joined us for most of the week. It was GREAT! We had perfect weather all week, and since it was the week before Memorial Day, it wasn't crowded at all. The kids loved playing on the beach and swimming in the pool. I have never seen so much energy.

To keep things exciting, as soon as we got back from the beach, I went to Fairfax to wrap things up for work. I attempted to teach "the new girl" everything I could about the job and said goodbye to my co-workers, some of whom I worked with for over ten years. They had a happy hour for me (with too many shots), and gave me a very sweet "retirement" gift...a membership to the Children's Theater for the year. We went to see our first show, The Little Red Hen, this past weekend, and the kids loved it...even Julia!

When I returned, I finalized everything in my last week of work, and then we left town again. This time, we went to Austin, TX to see my cousin Ben (Big Ben, as the kids call him) get married to Amy. Since it was a family wedding, my parents and sister went too, so the kids had their first overnight babysitter. Everything went off without a hitch, and they were even asking for her when we came back (I could really feel the love). We had a great time in Austin. It is such a cool city, and we loved spending time with my cousins, who we don't get to see often. My aunt and uncle put on a great Rehearsal Dinner, and then the wedding was beautiful, though quite hot. On our free day before the wedding, we went out to brunch, rode water bikes, drank during the day, and walked around some of Austin's shops (again, very hot). I felt like we made the most of our mini-vacation!

Whew...we have been busy. Of course, mixed in all of that, we celebrated Mother's Day and Father's Day. Will started swim lessons again (though this time we have to call it swim "practice" and refer to his teacher as "Coach Andrew"). Julia started gymnastics, which is as adorable as it sounds. Will's going to McWane camp this week, and I've been trying to take the kids out of school for some one-on-one time. So, life has been full, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. But really, that's just the way I like it.