Excitement for our country, the weekend and our friends

Since FB isn't the place, I figured the blog would be alright - but I wanted somewhere that i could express how surprisingly excited i was by the Republican National Convention this week.  Chris and i stayed up about every night listening to the different speakers within the party, from Ann Romney, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan - The Clint Eastwood (well respected actor, but a bit of a train wreck as a political or professional speaker) and most importantly Mitt Romney.

We all have that amazing right to cast our vote this November.  I couldn't be excited about the candidate the Republican party has elected.  I am thankful for his emphasis on family - his ability to run a business to extreme success - his desire for all American people to achieve the success THEY WORK for.  After watching his fire and excitement for the places he would like to lead our country I wanted to grab a sign and stick it in front of my little town home immediately.  Sure the other side will have compelling arguments as well as they take the stage next week.  I am interested to understand my emotions after that as well.

I know politics are dicey and many folks shy away from discussions and i can respect that - but i want to remind myself of the possibilities we all could have with the right leadership.  I have always been inspired by great leaders that I can listen to and walk away with renewed focus in my life - from my family (my father, mother and grandfather)-the military (COL Rapp, COL McClure, COL Mueller)-david weekley homes (David Weekley, Tom Roughton) and even politics.  I hope anyone who reads this will take the time to learn their passion for themselves and for our country.  This election season doesn't have to be about trashy ads - it can be the excitement you feel for the direction our country can go.

 I believe we all want our country to succeed no matter what party is in charge.  I firmly believe there are some folks out there that make moving mountainous much more possible than others.

In the meantime, I do think I have the most important sign up (check the window).  Its a big weekend and not only to will we have a house full with the most treasured family in our lives but Michigan will step up to the plate and play Alabama.  What a weekend it will be.

Yes, the dog will be fed and there will be beer, thank you Drew for sacrificing your leg room

In a sea of Townhomes, now you can find ours (middle window if you need direction)

1st Day of Kindi

Its here - Its finally here - all 3 hours of it.  Nick is ready (excited, I'm not sure....) Mom is excited - of that i am certain!  

This morning was the nail in the coffin as we went to the tennis court for 10 minutes, in that 10 minutes Shane was crying because he wanted to hit the tennis ball, Nick was crying because he wanted MOM to hit the tennis ball and I was crying because Drew was low crawling all over the tennis court....  o.k. I digress.....

Its the first day of Kindi and now Nick will have something of his own.  (this is shirt #2 as #1 was dirtied at the 10:45 lunch.  i swear i will need to make him eat shirtless - but the fact of the matter is, in 2 days I won't care if he has a dirty shirt on his way off to kindi!)

  

Dad made it home for the kindi send off so he was happy to snap a few photos too.  If only Shane could join him.....  he REALLY wanted to, does that count??

Here is Nick and Aidan - the have no idea how fabulous it is to have a best buddy right across the street.  Mom's too - If i forget something, Dawn is likely to remember and vice versa - 

So the bus schedule said 11:15 and as 11;20 rolled around with no bus, EVERY parent was checking their watch - ESPECIALLY Dawn and I!

Here they go!

Hardly a look back =)  Can you see Nick's fun backpack.  Instead of getting a new one, he was THRILLED to be wearing a previously loved one from skateboarder/snowboarder extrodinare Pete brinkerhoff (it now says leadbetter - but that was inevitable)

5 minutes later.....

We are trying to catch the label of the bottle - its Champagna made in Neuhausen Germany -the place I miss every day-it made me thinking of Shannon, Bernie, Erin and Kristen who brought it to us on New Years!  What a great reason to celebrate right?

To all those stay at home moms out there with kids in Kindi and elementarty school - here's to you!  Cheers!

Now onto my list that is a mile long of 'To Do's' while I have 2 others sleeping =)  not easily done.  Glad this was top of my list!

Argh, the crawling

Drew has officially moved onto the next stage - the crawling.  Right now its only the 'low crawl' which is extraordinarily dirty (especially since having 3 boys at home, a clean house is impossible) his shirt is a mess in just moments and he really can get anywhere.

So Sunday morning Chris put up the baby gate (again) and we will hunker down hoping he will move to 2 legs soon.  Right now his biggest enjoyment is finding those little door springs everywhere.  Honestly, I remember removing them for Nick, choking hazard, dirty, first kid!!  now for Drew - i just take the white knobs off (Obvious choking hazard) and enjoy the sound and the laughs he gets!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlniB-sEpNc

See, we are promoting walking

Go Drew Go!

Germany To Virginia with the Roberts

We had a fabulous afternoon yesterday with Amy, Rick, Elise and Darion.  They recently moved to Springfield Virginia as he will be working at Andrews Air force base and sometimes the Pentagon.  How lucky we are to have them close by.  Amy called us on Friday as we should be getting together for a BBQ - so thanks for hosting!!

It was a rainy yucky day - so I cannot imagine a better reason to get out of the house.  

It was wonderful to see such a happy family.  After a year of separation - Rick was deployed while Amy, Elise and Darion lived near family in Michigan - now, they were ALL in the right place.  They are renting a beautiful home that has the perfect amount of space for everyone.

I love seeing how their children are such a part of their lives.  Amy continues to dedicates her time to her children - which Elise's dance and Darion's talent in music whether it be singing, playing or composing.  She is a mother that I truly look up to and am lucky to be in close proximity to.

Meanwhile - her kids still enjoy being kids.  Drew was happy to explore with Elise and Booty

While Shane and Nick couldn't get enough of Darion's awesome toys!  Thanks Darion for spending the time with them.

Thanks to Amy and Rick for inviting us in - we loved seeing you all so happy in your new element.  It feel so good walking through their home and seeing all their treasures in different places.  Home truly is with your family-where ever that is.

Catching up

With Iphones, Ipad and cameras there are always photos in different spots that i try to get in one place.  Sure the Icloud is great if your computers all speak the same language - but that seems to never be the case for me - so here we go.

I love this photo of Nick and my mom but for some reason its a video.  I am thinking Shane was behind the lens on this one.

just a fun shot of an activity book I purchased of little crafts Nick and i could do.  Making a soccer field was first on his list.  When we didn't have true 'soccer guys' to play HE improvised with cars - I love that he CAN improvise

As Chris was recovering last week we did a little adventurizing at the next neighborhood and found a fabulous splash park.  Oddly enough the kids loved it

 So he had surgery on Thursday but was off to work that Monday morning.  He is healing well and is bothered by the other muscles that seem to be aching for whatever reason.  I can see he gets frustrated by his own limitations and cannot be more excited to be recovered.  Sadly its a bit of a long road - 4 weeks total in that sling - yuck right?

I must be crazy right?  While caring for 4 boys I wanted a project for me.  So i stayed up with a bottle of wine, Clark Howard, Bobby Bones and a can of paint.  I chose the color at home depot in 2 seconds and couldn't be happier with it.  Its not for everyone, but I love the new boys bathroom!  Fresh Tangerine

This is what nap time in my house often looks like, aren't you BOTH supposed to be sleeping?

screen savers

Do you have a screen saver on your photo or device that makes you think of a quiet place, a happy place, make you laugh, think of your kids, feel like a kid?  Well i just changed mine to this photo my mom snapped while we were at the park.  I just love the smile on Drew's face and am glad that just the photo puts a smile on my face.

Time to baby Daddy

This surgery was about 2 years in the making.  Chris tore the labrum in his right shoulder a few years ago while we were living in Germany.  He spent months sleeping in the recliner and trying to figure out what was causing all the pain.  After countless Dr. visits and crazy meds he learned to deal with it.  Now living in VA with top notch Drs, when he re-agrivated it recently he figured it was time to fix it.  The Drs here were able to send a dye through his tissue to better diagnose a what was causing the pain.  They discovered a tear in the labrum - the tissue that connects to the shoulder socket.  The Doctors refer to this as the lips around the shoulder socket. Chris was thrilled to finally have a diagnosis and scheduled his surgery happy to be on the road to recovery.  

That morning we wheeled him into surgery and he was excited and a bit nervous at the same time - mostly because he was concerned they would get in there and see a minor tear - or nothing big.  Well it turns out they had to anchor it in 3 spots instead of the originally planed 2!  Yikes!

I was fortunate to be able to escort Chris to his surgery.  My mom flew back to CT that day after our 4 weeks together, but thankfully his folks where able to help with the kids.  As we set our alarms and walked into the clinic at 6am - I told him - we don't have to schedule surgery to get a date these days do we?  

Here goes the patient

It was a sea of activity in the clinic that morning - serveral patients with aliements here and there.  Nurses, PA assistants rolling around.  The Drs. strolled in right before surgery.  As everyone was buzzing around I kept asking which one was his Dr.  Than over walks who I would imagine Dr. Drake Remore' (to keep his confidence I am using Joey's soap opera name from Friends becasue that is exactly the name that came to mind!)  Funny Chris didn't mention his Dr. was nice to look at.  

The Dr. came to see me in the waiting room with these photos - honestly its amazing the technology.  The first few show the 'lip' away from the shoulder.  The final few show the 3 spots that attach it (i say that, but good luck seeing it!)

2 Hours later - how excited is our patient now?  Ready to go home?  Looking at this photo I feel like the drugs took over every part of his body.

And here is where he spent most of Thursday.  I loved how Pauli was happy to stay by his side (although she couldn't perform any of the basics, change ice, bring meds etc) her presence is surely soothing.

Shane got in the swing of helping out too - Here he is bringing orange slices to dad.

Later that night wyland and I brought the big boys out to the local concert to give Chris and Barbara a breather.  I thought the bubbles were a great idea - but I think the folks next to us were not nearly as excited.

As I write this (Saturday) Chris is snoozing in the recliner.  Shane and Drew are also napping which is amazing to orchestrate.  Chris is surely healing but continuing to sleep in the recliner.  He tries to help out, but I can tell its frustrating to have limitations and we surely don't want him to over extend himself.  This is his big oppurtunity to get healed.  The boys are happy to help out where they can.  Its funny for me to look through the house and realize Nick is my biggest helper at the moment.  

Our buddies Alexa and Tom offered to take the 2 big boys last night for a sleep over.  What perfect timing.  The boys loved it.  As I left, they said, have a relazing night - well I was on my way to help my 4th boy with his shower =)  I wish I could baby him more - but sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day for all the love mommy needs to offer up.  

Here's hoping the the road to recovery isn't too long.  I know my husband and he hate being limited.  Relax honey - those boys will wait, I promise.  Love you

Stosh time at Camp Carlson

My sister was able to pop over for a few nights while we were visiting.  Her girls are just beautiful and its a hoot for me to see how my boys figure out how to play with girls.  At one point Nick and Shane asked Riley to play soccer.  When they kicked the ball to her, she grabbed it and walked away......girls girls girls...

Its always fun to have a full table.

 I call this digging for dessert

 Maddy would never say no to Chocolate bars!

 Drew would like to make sure every bite is in

Hmmm...  is this cousin cuddle time

 Riley is demonstrating her skills as a big sister

 On Tuesday night we ventured out to simsbury farms (the pool that my sister and I life guarded at for 8 years).  Alison and her girls joined us for a picnic dinner too.  She said she had stumbled upon 3 old guard bathing suits and almost brought them for us to truly relive the glory days.....  if only right?  My request was that they be the old style bright orange - very different from the 2 piece blue and red they seem to wear today.

It was a night of firsts for these divers.  Nick and Shane couldn't wait to hit the diving board.  They hopped right in line and hardly studdered on their first leap

 Nice jump nick

 Off goes Shane too

Here is a short video - Nick hops off and than Shane comes into view - he returns back, not out of fear - but to get a running start.... geesh!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR5T8xTW0qU

Doesn't take long for Nick to turn that jump into a dive - a day later we actualy go to Charlie's pool where he turns it into a flip!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJytbyOwQ0k

Riley took a bit more coaxing but finally lept off too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLjGWrOLqsI

This was one of those monumental steps that I'm not sure I was ready for - Nick - sure, Shane, really?  I actually had another mom come up  to me to ask how old he was - She has three boys too (12,9,6)  They loved watching the young ones jump off the board.  Her boys were so sweet that they even let Shane cut in line.  I had to tell them later that he needs the time to stand in line as it gives him a chance to catch his breath!

Guess these guys are prepping for next year

 Oh Simsbury Farms how I love you!

 The night ended with a warm bath that made for some cuddly kids -

Here is round 1

 Round 2

 And with Kids in bed, here is Round 3!  

I've got my hands full with wine, wine, beer, beer and a game of scattergories.  A favorite that I remember playing for the first time with Chris's family.  I was thrilled to find it oddly shelved at a local kids resale shop.  My family skeptically played, but by the end really enjoyed it!

On Wednesday morning a cheetah joined us for breakfast!  it was circus dress up day at farm camp - Chris was happy to hear that Nick voted down the clown apparel in exchange for a circus animal

He tied for 1st place with a ballerina/gorilla for his group

 Later that day madame Butterfly appeared

 And so did spiderman

 Before Stacie left we managed to get the crew together for a grandbaby photo

Its almost impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time, but that is the beauty of the photo.  I am so thankful for how welcoming my folks are to the chaos that 5 grand babies can bring.  They happily surrender their home to race cars, bubbles, toys, bathing suits, shouting, nick crawling in bed hoping for a cartoon or two:)  playing etc...  I am certain over the next few weeks, my dad will discover golf balls intertwined in a shrub or a race can between the couch cushions and they will fondly remember the chaos in their home and than happily go to bed knowing the only thing that will wake them up is their alarm clock!

We love Camp carlson

If the pool is closed, just swim in the water table

Cheers til 2013!