in the garden

Somehow whenever we visit my family we arrive just in time to help put the garden in. When we visited this last June it was no different. Not that we mind. There is something about planting a garden that is just wonderful. The kids really enjoyed themselves too. My dad had this small shovel and Andrew was pretty occupied the entire time we were out there. Anne is just a great helper. She went around with Grandma Sweetheart digging and watering. I am hoping we are able to plant our own garden here in Pittsburgh next year. The kids now need to see the fruits of their labor.

Now just because there are no pictures of me doesn't mean I didn't help too. I was the photographer/watering girl. Zac will tell you...he got a bit wet.

boxes

There is a certain magic about a box. This past couple of weeks I have seen my share of boxes. It's funny, every time I did see a box in the last little while it always made me happy. The first that all our stuff was finally arriving in boxes. The second being that I was taking my long lost items out of boxes. The third was seeing how much fun my kids found in a simple box. Who doesn't remember the much loved refrigerator box? Anyway, after so long not having any toys the kids were thrilled to have all there toys but as soon as they found how much fun the could have in the backyard rolling around in empty boxes the toys were put aside. One evening I was in the kitchen making dinner and Zac was outside in the backyard with the kids working on his firepit (I will post more later on this subject). I called the troops in for dinner only to have two very dirty kids enter my kitchen. They looked like they belonged on the movie OLIVER! When asked what they had been up to Zac told me they were both in one box and rolling around the backyard. You gotta love the fun that comes out of a box!

at long last

After:

5000 miles flown by plane...

1 great week with Grandmas and Grandpas...

1 great Washington bonfire...

1 crazy game of basketball...

212 miles by car...

1 wild and eventful visit with our Fry cousins...

1 attempt at growing a beard....

53+ "Is THIS Pittsburgh?" from Andrew

5+ Fabulous trips to TARGET

1 trip to IKEA

1 month on a full sized bed (even I am too long for a full bed!)

3 weeks of sitting on the floor

2 eventful deliveries to our house (gotta love furniture!)

??? boxes unpacked

1 sad parting with our computer of seven years....

1 wonderful HELLO to our new computer...and

WE ARE FINALLY HERE!!!

We are totally loving Pittsburgh so far. We have memberships to the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Art Museum, and the Children's Museum...the kids are loving the different field trips we are taking. I will try to post some pictures about all our visits. Pittsburgh is wonderful in that is has huge parks. In each of these parks there are at least 2-3 different play grounds. The worst part for the kids is trying to decide which one to visit. Personally I am loving the Carnegie Library System. Everyone is so nice and helpful and let the kids play with all the toys as long as they wanted when we were without our usual toys and books - bless you public library! So far we are loving it. Stay tuned for future adventures...

my last post from Hawaii...

As I sit here on the floor, yes the floor, (the packers have packed up my desk) and write my last post while here in Hawaii I am thinking of all the wonderful things we have enjoyed here. Just to list a few...

*Of course we love the beaches - can't get enough of them - we hate that school has gotten in the way of us going all the time like we used to.

* The sun - I love the feeling of the warm sun on my face

* Shorts all year around

* Flip-flops all year around - I am going to have to get used to socks again

* Plumeria trees - they smell so yummy

* Our nightly walks - we have been able to go for walks even in the winter

* My lemon tree - would you belive that just a few weeks ago about 40 lemons started growing?! Of course I will never get to enjoy them...so sad.

* The many people who have visited us...of course we know you really just wanted to see Hawaii!

Well there are just a few. I will miss posting sunny pictures here on our blog but we are so looking forward to some snowy pictures come winter. Well better go...the movers are here and are ready to take the computer. Who knows when I will post next - they are saying it will take 55 days for our household goods to arrive in Pittsburgh...so until then, ALOHA!

may festival

Friday was a great day. Every year at Anne's school the have their May Fest. Each grade sings a song or dances a hula...or something Hawaiian related. Andrew and I dropped off Anne at her class room then took our beach chair to claim a good seat for Anne's performance. Anne has been singing her song all week at home. I really don't know how she remembers all the words as they are in Hawaiian and repeat themselves in all sorts of different ways. Poor Andrew though. As the kindergarten was second to last we had to sit out in the HOT sun while each grade filed on, sand their song, then filed off. After each grade Andrew would ask if we could leave...poor guy. When Anne finally came on he was so excited to see her sing...then asked if we NOW could leave. What a trooper!

Here is a video of Anne singing about a Hawaiian boy looking for his lost sister, or something like that...

mrs. maureen

Friday we had a going away party for Andrew's preschool teacher Mrs. Maureen. Here in Hawaii people show their gratitude for someone by giving a lei. As you can see Maureen is very loved. She has been a big part of both of my kid's lives the past few years. She was Anne's teacher first and now she is Andrew's. She is so wonderful...she loves the kids and always has a moment to just talk to them. We are sad to see her go...now we just need to find someone just as wonderful in Pittsburgh next year! Mrs. Maureen will be a hard act to follow.

mother's day tea

This week at Andrew's preschool they had a Mother's Day Tea. It really was a lot of fun. They had made us these great hats, noodle necklaces (my first as a mother), little sandwiches, fruit and of course the "tea" cleverly disguised as apple juice. I think the food was pretty good although I would have to ask Andrew as he ate all his and most of mine. He said he was really, really hungry.

Smile for the picture Andrew...

Andrew showing me his climbing skills. Brigg you are going to have to hang out with Andrew.

yet one more...

This morning while enjoying my most delicious mother's day breakfast I look over and notice a bit of redness oozing out of Anne's already loose tooth. It was time for it to come out. Surprisingly she let me pull it and this is the result! Cute isn't she?

Anne's party

Here are some of the highlights from Anne's birthday. This year we just had a family party. I can only handle so many parties with her friend so we took this year off. All in all we had a blast. We had pizza for dinner then cake and ice cream. For those of you who aren't up on the latest Disney stuff....let me explain the cake. Anne had originally wanted a Giselle cake. But because I was too tired and didn't want to wait for the cake to cool before removing from the bowl I cooked it in the night before it fell apart. So this is what I came up with then next day with much help from Zac. I thought the idea and he made it come to life. Thus we present the "Pixie Hollow" Cake! She loved it!

This also was a combined effort. Zac willingly donated the jeans and his time. I never would have gotten those ears in without you! She loved the horse too and promptly dropped all other gifts to ride around the living room. Thus it was a success.

Happy Birthday Anne!

We sent Anne up stairs to play games with Andrew while Zac and I decorated. This was her reaction.

Sporting her new duds...

6 years ago today...

It seems like just yesterday that they sent us home from the hospital with my sweet baby. I remember thinking they were crazy to trust me with the life of another human. The next six weeks after that were a bit of a blur. Anne had made her presence known in our lives. Here are a few things I love about Anne.
* I love her laugh...she has the cutest giggle.
* I love when she dances like no one is watching...all the time.
* I love her imagination.
* I love to hear her vibrato when she sings...she is really working on it.
* I love that she loves skirts.
* I love that like me she likes to sleep just a bit longer in the morning.
* I love to hear her read.
* I love her curls.
* I love to watch her playing with her brother.
* I love that she is sensitive to other's feelings.
* I love that when I sing her "Smile" every night she pretends to be asleep.
* I love that she is my girl.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!