Cameron turns 7

Well I am a few weeks late on this but that's just been how my life is functioning lately. Cameron had his birthday a few weeks ago. We had a yummy ice cream cake from Dairy Queen that ended up being more for me than for him - he had one piece on his birthday then never wanted it after that, so I nibbled on it for days. Yum.

Cameron also wanted a Super Mario party (like Connor had), but for the older kids we decided it would be more of a water games party with less "themed" stuff. I always hold my breath for nice weather and luckily it worked out. Good thing because we had 12 boys at our party (including some extra boys I wasn't planning on!) Keith and I discovered that seven-year olds are easier to entertain and much lower maintenance than five-year olds. Cameron is at a great age!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMERON!!

As far as other news, things are finally starting to come together allowing us to plan ahead a little (which is always nice!) I have a scheduled induction date for July 22nd (oh my gosh that is SO SOON.) Unless I go into labor before then. Which is highly unlikely but you never know....

Anyway, the plan is for us to move the second week of August so the kids can start school on Aug 18th (I haven't broken the news to them yet that they are totally getting ripped off with a shortened summer vacation.) Now we just need to find a house in Indiana. And sell our house here. And get ready for the baby. Easy, right?

INDIANA

There. I said it. So I guess that makes it official. Honestly it just feels good to have a plan, since now we have something to work towards. It is going to be a CRAZY few months, but at least I can't say this summer will be dull :) Keith will head out to the Bechtel job in Indiana in a few weeks to work and find us a place to live (in Bloomington, for anyone who knows where that is.) My job is to try to not have the baby while he's gone. Then when he gets back my job is to have the baby AS SOON AS POSSIBLE so we can get things ready to move by mid-August. I guess it is more up to the baby than me, we'll see if he chooses to cooperate.....

I am having a lot of mixed feelings about everything that is going on, but overall I know things are good and that we are really blessed and very lucky for the exciting adventures we have ahead. Wish us luck!!

And we are moving to.......

I really really wish I could finish that sentence. The scenario changes every day, so even as I type this it is most likely going to be outdated. Maybe I'll put it as a timeline to show some of the ups and downs:


April: Keith flies out to Colorado Springs to interview at a Bechtel job in Pueblo. We are excited about living in Colorado, although I'm nervous about moving in May and having to find a new doctor at 7 months pregnant. Keith comes home and says he didn't like the job and doesn't want to do government work. So do we go JUST to be in a location we want to be in?


Mid-April: The project here says they really want him to stay until the fall, plus there will be some good advancement opportunities, etc. So we decide to stay. And I'm really happy about it, because there is a job in Las Vegas starting in the fall and it would be perfect timing to get into that job (a location we are excited about because we really want to be closer to family...)


1st week of May: While we are in New York, Keith is barraged with phone calls from his old boss, who is now at a job in Indiana. Apparently they REALLY want him there, and they want him now. It looks to be a really good career move, less hours (yay!) and an overall good opportunity. But they want him NOW. And it's in Indiana (the opposite direction of where we want to go.) Ugh.


2nd week of May: So we take a road trip to southern Indiana, and I realize the area isn't that bad, and after much consideration and me crying over the loss of my heading-out-west dream, Keith applies for the job.


3rd week of May: The Indiana job wants Keith by the middle of June (!!!) but I really don't want to move and find a new doctor at 8 months pregnant. Plus we need to get the house up for sale. There just isn't enough time. We sit tight and wait to see what is going to happen.


Today: I start packing up the extra toys and "stuff" in the boys room to get the house ready to sell. Keith talks to his boss here who says there is NO WAY he can leave this job until the fall, so Indiana most likely wont even be an option (where has this guy been for the last few weeks when all this negotiating was going on?!?) I am confused. I stop packing. And type this blog post (because I am not sure what I am supposed to be doing right now.)


Is this all crazy? Or is it just me?

Super Mario Madness

In all our trip craziness I never got around to posting anything about Connor's birthday. Yes he is now FIVE years old (and after he promised me he would stay 4 forever, how inconsiderate!) He wanted a Super Mario Brothers party, which didn't surprise me because he has been obsessed with the game for months now. Keith and I for some crazy reason love to plan these little kid parties, so we went all out - I pulled out my sewing machine after it sat for five years collecting dust and made Mario and Luigi hats, and Keith made three pinatas. Plus we dragged his parents into the craziness when they came into town and had them help us put together games, an obstacle course, etc. Ten little boys had a great time, and we were all EXHAUSTED by the end. I think it was a success :)


The boys with their hats and mustaches....


Pin the mustache on Mario!

Part of the obstacle course. The kids loved it and did it over and over (and over....)

Connor loved the obstacle course too.

With the Chain Chomp pinata. Cameron was an excellent helper at the party.

CUTE!

Cupcakes...yum!

Connor looking overwhelmed at all his presents...where to begin??

Ugh, now we have to plan Cameron's party.....maybe he'll be good with a couple of friends over to watch a movie? I can always hope!

I heart NY

We had a FABULOUS time in New York. I was a little unnerved by the bomb scare last week (2 days before we arrived to our hotel IN Times Square.) But the NYPD was all over the place which calmed my nerves. A little. We saw basically all the major tourist attractions, but I'll try to spare all the details and just give some highlights.

Favorite things I ate:

*Corned Beef and Pastrami sandwich from the Carnegie Deli. The sandwich was literally 6 or 7 inches tall. Keith and I split one and we were both stuffed afterwards. And the cheesecake there was fabulous.

*Dark chocolate and Hazelnut gelato in Greenwich Village

*Chocolate bar from Jacques Torres in Brooklyn (yes I love chocolate)

*The best orange juice I have ever tasted, from Norma's in Midtown. Worth every penny of the $9 we paid (!!!!)

*Hot dog at Yankee Stadium (maybe it was just the atmosphere, but hot dogs at baseball games are just good.)

*Pizza from John's Pizzaria in Times Square (we also ate at the one in the village.) I have decided I'll take the thin crust New York style pizza over Chicago deep dish...much less guilt afterwards!


Favorite places we went:

*Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I really really enjoyed Ellis Island. It's amazing to think of all the immigrants who came to this country searching for a better life. Just about all of us probably have an amazing story of our ancestors coming to America - the sacrifices made, the reason they came, etc. Very humbling.

*Yankees game!!

*Navigating the subways. Seriously, it was fun, and we felt pretty good once we got it all figured out.

*The Manhattan Temple. Is it bad if I say mostly because it was nice to just sit for a few hours?? It is beautiful.

*Strolling through Central Park. That place is HUGE. It has lakes, trails, a zoo, and one day when we were walking through I saw what I am pretty sure was a castle (???) I'll have to look into that....

*The musems. The Metropolitan Musem of Art was incredible. You could spend weeks there. I enjoyed the Museum of Modern Art as well, although some of the art was perplexing to me (why is a blank canvas with one blue line down the side considered art? I think I saw Kate do that last week.....)


What we could have done without:


*The wind at the top of the Empire State building. I enjoyed the top of the Rockefeller Center better for that very reason, and the view was just as good.

*Waiting outside The Late Show Studio for standby tickets for over an hour. Keith called in that morning, answered the trivia question correctly (a prerequisite for seeing David Letterman) and we were standby numbers 3 and 4. They told us our chances were good to get in, but it wasn't meant to be. Better luck next time!

*Some of the smells of the city. There were some REALLY good smells and some REALLY bad ones (bad ones being cigarette smoke and the steam coming from the sewers - gross!) Being pregnant only added to the "fun."

Speaking of being pregnant, I think I fared pretty well with all the walking. Keith and I had pretty sore feet some of the time, but then we'd just go to a Broadway play, hang out in Central Park, or even people watch for a bit (which is an event all on its own.) Overall we had a great time and the kids had a great time being spoiled by their grandparents (thank you Paul and Linda!!)


Gotta see the Statue of Liberty!


View of Manhattan from Liberty island


Ground Zero. Still devastating to think of what happened here.

Hoping for the next Bull Market on Wall Street!

We had perfect weather and a perfect game. Great weather all week actually.

Times Square. Yes it is always that insane.

About to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I wasn't sure I'd make it that day, I was so tired!

At the top of the Empire State Building. Another one of those things you gotta do in New York.

A little Monet....

This one is so neat to see up close....

View of downtown from the Rockefeller Center.

Wow do I really look that big in real life??? *sigh*

Favorite quote

Kate: "I want some chocolate in my mouth!"


That just about sums it all up for me :)

Easter 2010

There's not too much to say, so I'll let the pictures do most of it for me....

Yay for chocolate bunnies!

Yay for dyeing (dying?) eggs! We hid them in the backyard and found them over and over and over (and over) again. Unfortunately the last time we collected the eggs we were short one, but I am sure we will find it once we notice the smell in a few weeks.....gross.

I gotta get that thing out of her mouth!!

She even looks good in baskets :)

Our friends Colin and Debra invited us over for an Easter egg hunt Sunday afternoon. The kids had a great time, especially Cameron and Connor because they were the oldest of the 8 kids there and ended up with the most loot.

Keith, the kids, plus an extra Easter egg hunter....