Day 10

Well, things are getting a little harried around here. I made a deal to sell the Rav, but I have to get it refinanced in my name first. I am working on getting that accomplished, and hope to have it finished tomorrow. That will be nice, one less car payment. Our realtor, Tina, came over yesterday and told me what I already knew, which is that we are upside down in the house. So...we are probably going to do a short sale or something equivalent. This is fine with me, but she also told me that a ton of foreclosures will hit the market this summer, so I am antsy to get this place sold. I have a stager (for house staging) coming out in the next couple of days, and I have a feeling that I will be buying paint. Anyone want to have a painting party? Anyone? I am happy to get the process started, but I am overwhelmed on the whole.
My mom went home this morning. We took her to the airport at 4 a.m. *yawn* I signed up for Weight Watchers this morning, and printed out some tools in order to get started. I have to get this body bikini ready in a year.:)
Little Garrett was born on Monday, he is adorable. We are all excited about him. I can't wait to spend the summer watching him grow.
I am heading to see Bridesmaids with my movie girls this morning. I could really use the laughs, so I'm happy to be going.

Day 7

Things are crazy around here, we had such a busy weekend, I hardly remember most of it. Saturday we had a birthday brunch for Mom and Kerry, we had pina colada french toast and hash brown casserole. It was super yummy. We were babysitting Kale and Kyleigh, and it was so fun to have a baby in the house. Yesterday, we went to Williamsburg and took Grandma Whyte to Opus 9 for Sunday brunch. That was something. Then we went to Rita's Ice, Juicy Pear is amazing! Afterward we picked out material for Tristan's Rock and Roll quilt that Grandma is going to make. Last night we played games with John and Kerry since it was their last night without a baby for a good long while.
Today we are heading to the hospital to meet baby Garrett. Pretty excited, will post pics!
We have also been apartment hunting, and as of right now, I am decided on this one: I am excited at the prospect of apartment living after owning a house for almost 4 years. That sounds a little silly, but it is so much work, and not nearly the investment we had planned on.
We are about to leave to go meet the baby. First coffee.

Day 2

Today, Mom and I had a girly day. We got our hair and makeup done. We didn't have the intention of getting our makeup done at the beginning of the day, but it just happened. It was really nice. Here are some pics:

We picked up the kids from church and I asked Tristan what his spelling homework was, he told me that he had to write his words in alphabetical order, and I said that it had been awhile since he had to do word pyramids. He said, "yeah, I think they canceled that." Cracked me up! Then at dinner (we had lo mein) Tristan said something about spanking his noodles. It was pretty funny, which led to a few spanking noodle jokes among the adults at the table. Another exciting day in the life of kids.

Day 1

So, yesterday was a little rough. It wouldn't have been so bad, but Tristan did not take Bryan leaving well. We have been telling him that he is leaving for quite a few months, but even after we dropped Bryan off, I don't think he knew where he was going or for how long. When we were about home (after a 45 min drive) Tristan asked where Daddy was going. I told him, and he seemed surprised. Which was surprising to me because I thought he knew. So, the evening was downhill from there. We had some sister torture, some Mommy torture, some room torture, and if we still had Chip, I think there would have been Chip torture. He calmed down when he listened to the book Bryan read for them, the recordable kind, and then even more when I printed out a picture for him to keep by his bed. He seems to be doing pretty well this morning, so I'm crossing my fingers that it holds. Laney did much better, although we had some tears at the airport, which I think upset Daddy. She was also excited about the book and the picture, and told me that she is a little bit used to Daddy being gone, so she is going to be okay.
My mom is coming today! Yay! We are all excited to see her.
Here are the pics we took yesterday before heading to the airport:

Day 0

I am going to restart this blog in earnest. I have a good reason for doing so. Bryan is leaving for a year, and he leaves today. I want him to be able to check in here if we aren't able to talk, or maybe to read about stuff that happens during the day that I forget to mention. This is also a good place to record all of the funny things the kids say, and there have been some great ones. This is not to mention the antics (ahem, Tristan crawling through the doggie door at Grandma and Grandpa Marshmallows').
We had a little family backyard BBQ on Saturday and took some pics.;)

We had a great time. Laney was coercing Tristan into putting on sunscreen lipgloss in the last picture. Gotta love my girly girl. We sure are going to miss our griller around here. I would say that I may learn to grill, but then I would just be lying. I'm too scared of an open flame. This may have something to do with a bonfire I set in the backyard when I was a kid. I still remember the look on my (5 foot, nothing) mother's face. It is still haunting...anyway...
We are going to take some more pictures before leaving for the airport, so expect those tomorrow.

Our Summer

We have had a relaxing summer this year. After the hectic pace of 3 of us being in school, it was nice to just take it easy. We did have Bryan's parents and sister, and her kiddos out to visit. That was really fun. I have spent most of the summer reading for leisure and entertaining the kiddos.
We have done a lot of swimming at our neighbor's (John and Kerry). We have gone to the beach a number of times, and played all kinds of games.

The Grillmaster

Our niece Emmalee

All the little ones, on Langley
Our other niece Rayna
Our nephew, Jordan
See, said I read a lot, proof
T with his new glasses

Springtime Fun

I'm not very good at posting often. Ah well, I have some content this time. Hehe.
Both of the kids are finished with school. Tristan has graduated from Kindergarten, and Laney from K-3. They are both excited, and now we are working on keeping us all busy for the summer. We have some fun things planned. In a couple of weeks we are getting a visit from Bryan's parents, sister, and the kiddos. We are excited about that. Then, we are going camping with Lee and Kim. After that we don't have much planned, but I'm sure that'll change.

Tristan at his school's field day.

Laney on a field trip to Bluebird Gap Farm.

Laney's last day.

End of the year presents for the kids' teachers. Cookies made by my talented friend Theresa.

Tristan's last day of school.

Gorgeous jewelry boxes that Paul got us from Iraq. He is there until August and then he gets to come home and retire again.

My brother is also over there, and I think he will be coming home not too long after Paul, so that is fantastic.