Happy Father's Day 2013

Happy Father's Day Matt!  We love you very much and 

we are so lucky to have you every day of our lives!

2.26 Wedding fun & Celebrate Fairfax

June 9, 2013
By Cyndi

Last week went fairly quickly and the weekend was exhausting!! 

Saturday, Matt worked the morning like normal and I put the boys down early for a nap.  Got them up & dressed to the nines and headed off to a coworker's wedding reception.  They did a small private ceremony a few months back so it was happy hour and dinner / dancing.  The guys did great on the 1.5 hr car ride up there but were a little shy when we arrived.  This has happened a few times when going to new places with new people.  Carrying around a 30lb child with a dress on is not very fun!

Once we found the crudités table which had strawberries, they perked up.  During dinner, we let them watch a video on the ipad to keep their attention and then it was time to let them loose.  Let’s just say I’ve never walked out on so many conversions in my life.  I would see one go running in the opposite direction and I was off!  We were “aided” in watching them by the photobooth props (sunglasses, bullhorn hats, etc) and one of Matt’s coworker’s daughter who is 7.  She danced with them and kept around them.

All in all, it was a fun night and the first wedding for T&Z.  

 

Matt had Sunday off (one of the random summer days he took off), so we got the troops up and headed to Celebrate Fairfax!  It’s a carnival / fair about 30 minutes from us with rides, food & lots of booths to walk around.  Since it didn’t open until 11a, we wanted to be there when it opened and got T&Z all excited to ride a CITY BUS!  The bus was full and they did an awesome job of staying in their seats.  We arrived at the fair and I asked one of the shuttle operators which gate we needed to go to since we needed to purchase tickets and where to get the bus on the way back.  She asked how many tickets we needed and I said two, since we did not have to pay admission for the boys.  She handed us free tickets and we were on our way!  I was so excited since it’s a bit expensive when we’d only be there for an hour or two.

We wandered around, visited the kids area which included a petting zoo (ewwwww to the snake!), a train ride and touch a fire truck!  A fun time was had by all and within 5 minutes of being in the car, T&Z passed out.   

What a weekend …  I’m not sure I could do that much every weekend, but we had fun on one of Matt’s special weekend days off.  Next weekend is back to “normal” and then Jason arrives for the following weekend for the annual volunteering at NOVA Brewfest!

2.25 Herndon Fest & Backyard Pool Fun

June 3, 2013
By Cyndi

Another week passes ... and as usual, I could use another day of nothing to recover, but that won't happen!! 

Friday, we went to Herndon Festival with the Isaacs'.  We had a quick picnic dinner and walked around for a bit.  We then split up since they were going to ride the rides and we played a carnival game & showed the boys rides for the first time.  Hopefully at our next opportunity, we will try one!

Matt was scheduled for the midnight shift Saturday into Sunday.  Since we didn't want much chaos before he has the mid, we filled up our new pool and let the boys play in it.  First mistake was that I didn't pick a perfectly flat piece of ground.  Second mistake was I filled it up 30 minutes before we were going to throw them in.

We used one of our small climbers to hold up one edge and a folding chair for the other side.  It looked funny, but it worked.  It took them 15 or so minutes to even step foot in it, but once they did, they seemed to have a great time!  It was so nice to  be able to sit on the side lines and watch them enjoy themselves.

On Sunday, since Matt would be home all day, we had a FULL day planned, of which, most did not go as planned.  We got the boys up and went straight to a farm for strawberry picking.  Prior to leaving we noticed both T&Z had small rashes in different places so we dosed some Benadryl and headed out.  We though it was either from the playing in the grass when they were wet or the new plastic pool.  Tyler took one step into the strawberry field and refused to go any further.  All he wanted to do was sit and put the picking bucket on his head!

Zach was only interested in THE BIG ONES and clearly every strawberry I showed him did not meet his requirements for BIG, so I tried to pick quickly and keep him somewhat engaged.  After about 30 minutes, I had picked ~4lbs and we headed back home.  The Benadryl was hitting them both hard and they napped for about 15-20 minutes on the way home.  We had lunch and put them down for an early nap since my work picnic was that afternoon.

And they slept ..... and slept ..... and slept ..... and then the time to leave for the picnic came and went ..... and they were still sleeping!  They napped for 3 hrs, which NEVER happens and by that time we would have arrived with 30 minutes before it ended.  So we scratched that idea and went to a friend's house to meet their 9.5lb+ one week old newborn and then went out for dinner.

It all worked out in the end, but either I want 3 hr naps every weekend or don't mess with my plan again :)

In other news, June is shaping to be busy as is July.  We have a coworkers' of Matt wedding reception, Brewfest (Jason coming in town), 4th of July, Nana & Saba visits to name a few. 

I am also hosting a girls' night for my local friends and joined it with a Thirty-One party.  They have some awesome products that I use on a daily basis and can always use some more :)  I use their large utility tote for grocery shopping or when we are headed to friends and need change of clothes or food etc with us.  I use super organizing tote as my work bag to carry my purse, lunch and other work items.  I am also ditching the gigantic diaper bag for the organizing utility tote since we don't need to lug around so much anymore with T&Z.  I'll post a link in early July with the ability to purchase online for my party if you're interested.  The July monthly special is pretty good!!

Happy June!!

2.24 #200 & Dallas!!

By Cyndi
May 28, 2013

Post #200!!!  I'm so glad I have  been blogging ... for no one else, but myself & my family.  It ensures I keep up on sorting / editing pictures and helps me keep track of how our weeks pass by. Now, onto our weekend ...


We arrived back from Dallas late yesterday and still went to work today ... work from home that is, since I had a flat tire on my car.   Matt picked up Meigs and helped get the house in order for another week.

Our flight out was very early and we woke the kids up at 445a.  Yes you read that right!   As you know,  I am a planner.   I had a bag of snacks for Matt and Tyler and an identical bag for Zachary and myself.  Everything was going smoothly until Z had to leave his car seat since we gate check it.   I was NOT prepared for the 20+ min complete meltdown that made me almost lose it.   He didn't want to leave it and when he got to his seat refused to sit and buckle.   I was asked by two flight attendants to get him buckled and I kept thinking they were going to ask us to get off.......  But finally,  the peace offering of blueberries made him a happy guy!
 

The remainder of the flight went smoothly and Ashley picked us up.   We headed to their house, enjoyed lunch and put the kids down for a nap.   They slept a glorious 3.5 hours...  Due to the early wake-up!  

On Saturday night Ashley's parents came over to meet the boys and put all the kids to bed so we could go out for dinner together.   The one detail I forgot to mention to them was to zip the tents closed!   But they were so exhausted, it didn't matter and we snuck in there once once we were home and zipped them up since I am sure we would have had crazy kids when they woke up.

The rest of the weekend we played outside,  went out to lunch & a trip to the pool!   Tyler wanted nothing to do with the water and it took close to an hour to get him to even sit on the edge and put his feet in. He then allowed Matt to carry him in a few steps right before we had to leave.   Granted it was a bit cold.   We now have a local pool we can use with our HOA so we will be working on this all summer long.

Thanks for a fun weekend away, Michael, Ashley & Blake!  Until next time .......

2.23 Green Guys ....

By Cyndi
May 21, 2013


We are in the midst of packing for Dallas and I feel like I'm moving an army for a 4 day / 3 night trip.  T&Z have been practicing sleeping in tents, which they LOVE, but now we have to include those in our suitcases, versus checking a pack n play as baggage.  Luckily it's shorts weather, so I don't think we will need any long sleeves.  And the friends we are staying with are picking up a few items like diapers and certain snacky foods, so I don't need to haul that too.

We have been practicing our games on the green guys (the iPads ... labeled as "green guys" since the kid-friendly covers we bought them look like the picture below).  We have new shows ready to watch and I will have snacks for all of us.  This will be the first time both guys have their own seat and Matt and I will be in separate rows.  Let's hope an early morning flight will go smoothly and finally, we get to meet baby Blake!! 

Nana and Uncle Michael were in town briefly and helped watch T&Z instead of going to daycare on Friday.  Michael made an "Uncle Buck" comment mid-day, which got me slightly worried, but I figured they underestimated their energy level.  By the time I made it home from work, everyone was outside playing in the backyard and all adults had a beer in hand! (Sorry no pictures ... they were taken on other people's cameras)

As we head into summer, we hope to do a few new things this summer with the boys since they are walking/talking machines.  A year ago, even though they were 1.5, they had just learned to walk, so we were unable to do any "adventures."  So this year, I have hopes of strawberry/blueberry picking, spray grounds, new parks, going to the Mall and visiting some monuments, and maybe even sitting outside for a beer while they play peacefully (but that might be taking it too far). 

Playing with brother & "napping" with Daddy

 

Watching Meigs eat his breakfast

It is very tough to do things outside of the normal routine since Matt works weekends and to have fun on these adventures, we both need to attend.  Luckily, Matt has a few random days off during the summer and I am doing my best to plan new things for us to enjoy. 

Just the normal ... cheering on pooping and dancing with Tigger!

2.22 Mother's Day and lots of other fun

By Cyndi
May 14, 2013

May?  How is it the middle of May already?  The weeks pass so quickly and our summer calendar is filling up --  Dallas in two weeks, Wedding of coworkers of Matt, volunteering at Brewfest & Jason's visit, visits from Nana & Saba -- and that doesn't count: trips to parks, pool time in the backyard and at the local pool and dinners with local friends!! 

I'm excited, but I'm also exhausted just thinking about it.  My extra time from working closer to home has quickly been replaced with waking up at 5am (yup, I am at it again) and working out!  I feel better working out, but it still means bedtime is 9-930p and there is still a little light in the sky. 

Last week was teacher appreciation week.  I teamed up with Stacie and we made personalized tumbers with crystal light packets for their main teachers and smaller bags of hershey kisses or fortune cookies for other teachers in their rooms.  Stacie had all of the tags ready to go when she arrived which was a HUGE timesaver.  T&Z's two main teachers are awesome and they come home each day knowing more than they did before.  We are so thankful we found a great school where they are thriving.

This past weekend was fun-filled.  Stacie joined me driving around our area for yard sale day.  We both scored a few good items ... my big winner being a tent/tepee/tunnel combo for $8.  SWEET!  We made a quick stop at the farmers market, at which last weekend, I didn't use the stroller and just held hands with the boys.  They are doing so much  better with that; it is rare that we use a stroller anymore.

My brother was in town for a college friend's wedding, so we were able to enjoy a quick dinner together!  (darn smudge on my camera lens)

Our lawn needed a good cut.  After 4+ days of rain, Matt raced home from work and started at it, but he needed to bag it, so I kept running outside to help.  T&Z had just woken up from nap, so I moved their chairs up to the window and they watched Daddy at work. 

Sunday was Mother's Day.  Not the best of holidays for me, but the boys behaved (unlike a year ago where they had an epic meltdown in the checkout lane at Wegmans).  It's a sad day for me, but received a nice card from my dad and the boys were fairly affectionate, so that helped!  We did our normal weekend routine while Matt was at work and then had lots of backyard time.  Our other score of the weekend was this climber for the backyard.  We found it for $75 which was a steal and should be able to resale it in a year or two for the same amount.  We enjoyed dinner with the Isaacs clan and called it a night.

Next weekend will be a quick visit from Nana and Uncle Michael for Uncle Daniel's graduation with his Master's!  Sadly, our babysitter wasn't available, so Matt will be celebrating and T&Z and I will be hanging out at home. 

Bird's nest under our deck!

2.21 Spring Pictures!

By Cyndi
May 9, 2013

I was going to skip a week, since it has been almost three years of posting weekly, but I'll keep this one short and sweet.  We received our spring pictures back and they turned out great!

3 years ago this week, we found out we were pregnant and look at us now!

Distracted by an airplane :)