Our New House

Life has been busy lately...putting our house on the market...selling it in 7 weeks...closing 2 weeks later...packing and moving 2 weeks after that. Living with friends while working and building a new house. Well we aren't building it but get to pick all the colors and stuff. It is fun but keeps us busy. Here are some recent pictures of the house...hopefully more on the way...

Memorial Day and Away

A couple of weeks ago we had the great idea of booking my FIL's timeshare in Williamsburg for the long Memorial day weekend. We aren't taking a vacation this summer because Brad will be in school again so this was our only chance to get away for a long while. It was a great idea and we had a wonderful weekend just enjoying each other and the quality time together. It is so nice as the girls get older to be able to do things together like that. We even had visitors for the first night...my BFF Noel and her fiance Joel came up and spent the night and Saturday with us. It was great having them and getting to know Joel better. The kids enjoyed the pool and we did some shopping and just hung out. I would consider doing it again if Brad has some time off between school and starting to teach (which we are hoping he will be doing in September). Here are some pictures from our weekend...

Sing, Sing A Song...Sing It Loud...

This is Ada in the preschool choir, they sang the Sunday after Easter...they did a great job and loved every minute of the attention.

Soccer Star

What more can I say...she is a soccer star! Ada played soccer this spring for the first time and she did a great job. It took a little while for her to get into it but once she did it was watch out here she comes.

How Time Flies

I was looking at the website of a some good friends of ours and found the slideshow of pictures that they did of Ada when she turned 3. I watched it again and couldnt' believe how much her little sister looks like her, chubby cheeks and all. And I can't believe how much she has grown up since those pictures were taken. You can watch the slideshow here. Isn't she just the cutest thing!!!

My Girls

"Helping" daddy with the fix-it projects.

Together reading books!

Hanging with Ada's friend Abby, Mary-Allyn loves to be with the big girls!


"Helping" mommy with the laundry...such silly girls!

Here are some recent pictures of the girls from the past couple of months. They are playing together a lot more and I enjoy seeing them love on each other. And they are both so silly!!!

Aunts

My kids have lots of aunts...some are aunts because they are actualy relatives, but some are "aunts" because they are close friends of our family and love our kids. Well I have several aunts, most of whom live up north, yes they are Yanks :) but I still love them :). But I have one aunt in particutar who is very special. She is my mothers younger sister and when I was younger about 10 I would fly on a plain all by myself to her house to visit for a week. We would have so much fun and I got to spend a lot of time playing with my cousins who were little at the time. I loved those couple of summers spending time with her and her family. They are very special memories. I love my aunt and her family and hope that my girls will one day have a special relationship with one of their aunts like I do with my aunt Jackie!

My Hubby

Have I said lately how proud I am of my husband....well I am. He has really impressed me with how he has managed to endure 20 years in the Navy, graduate college, take his teaching liscensure tests and now begin substitute teaching and doing his classroom observation (even some actual teaching). And he went on his first set of interviews for teaching jobs. And for the last year he has been in school and taken care of a baby. He is superman!!!

Shoes

Ok so I love shoes...my husband hates that I love shoes and my girls are taking after me...probalby because I love buying them cute shoes too. I am pretty good at finding deals so I don't feel so bad about it...it isn't like I am buying a pair of shoes for $150 each. Well this week I was looking online for some summer shoes. I have very wide feet and am starting to, dare I say it, get bunions. Oh and my left foot is actually wider than my right foot. Weird I know. Anyhow I found a great website that sells name brand shoes in all different sizes at really good prices. It is www.6pm.com I have bought shoes from www.shoemall.com before but this new site has much better prices. It is really hard to find wide width sandles in stores so online is the best place to find them. I found Clarks for less than $40 a pair, which if you know Clarks is a really good price. My order came in today and I am happy to say that all 3 pairs of shoes fit great, I can't wait for the weather to get warm again so I can start wearing them.

Pathetic

I know how pathetic that I haven't posted since November. And I can't use being busy as an excuse, we have been busy but not that busy. I would call it being lazy :) Or not caring because I was having more fun spending time with my kids. This winter has been a great one. Other than work I have not had alot of extra things that have taken my time away from home and the kids. Brad has been a stay at home dad since he graduated and that has been wonderful. The kids are growing so fast and it has been great being able to spend some needed time with them.

Brad has been taking his state teaching boards so that he can take his last couple of classes before having his teaching license. He has one left to take and then 2 months of classes this summer and hopefully a teaching job in the fall. It is almost over and as much as I have enjoyed having him home with the kids it will be nice to not have to have such a tight budget. And we are still looking at moving out to Chesapeake to get the kids in the better public schools. With the drastic decline in the cost of homes we are hopeful that we can find a nice one for much less than we would have paid a year ago.

Ada is enrolled at Norfolk Christian for next year for Kindergarten. It is full day which is one of the reasons we have her there. All of the public schools are 1/2 day and we need full day for her. So she will be close to me again for a year and then we will see about the following year. She took her placement tests and did really well...I guess that would have something to do with being in "school" since she was an infant.

Mary-Allyn is walking and talking and is quickly turning in to a little girl, if you know what I mean. No more baby for us. She is developing quite the personality and loves her big sister. They have already started playing dressup, they are cute together. I think for me that is the best part, watching them together enjoying each other...makes me smile :)

As for me...well I am looking forward to some warm weather, I want to get the kids out of the house. Ada is playing soccer this spring and I am looking forward to getting her all dressed and taking her to her games on Saturday mornings. I love those first days of spring when it is a little chilly in the mornings so you can still wear a coat but by the afternoon you are stripping it off and enjoying the warm sun. This summer is going to be so fun as the girls are getting older and we are able to do more things. And I am looking forward to buying a new house and having more storage space...I know it's the little things that I love. I hate having clutter around the house.

So there is life in a nutshell...I will post some new pictures of the girls soon.

Merry Christmas

Little Steelers Fans...

And one big one. Today the girls wore their Steelers cheerleader outfits to church...they looked so cute together. The first picture Ada took of sissy and daddy...see is a budding photographer. We had Mary-Allyn walking today...she is doing really well but she would rather crawl because she gets places faster. She gets so tickled at herself when she walks that she looses concentration and falls...very cute. Hopefully we will get a video of it and post it for you all to see.

Cold Soars Revisited

Back in September I posted about Ada having an outbreak of cold soars (Herpes Simplex 1 virus). Well we tried our best to keep her sister away from her but it didn't work. Last Monday she had a fever and the next day she started to breakout with the soars. I believe that she caught the virus from Ada but it surpressed itself and when she got her flu and Hep B vaccinations the week before it was too much for her little body to handle and she had her "primary breakout" which is horrible. I think it is worse than Ada's first breakout. Her mouth looks like something blew up in it. Her lips and gums look mangled. She is so pitiful and can't eat or drink much. It seems that it has peeked and has started getting better. We just feel so bad for her and it is so hard to keep from passing it to each other because she is drooling so much because it hurts her to swallow. I don't get them so I am not too worried about myself but we are doing our best to wash our hands and keep Ada away from her. I think that some people must have something in their makeup that makes them more prone to getting them...Brad got them growing up like the girls do and he still gets on every now and then.

Spelling Her Name...

This is really funny...at least we thing so. At her 4 year check up this week the Dr. asked her if she could spell her name and she said ADA...then he said as a joke...can you spell your name backwards...and she stood there and thought for a minute and then turned around and spelled her name again. All 3 of us...Brad, myself and the Dr. started busting out laughting...she still does it like that when we ask...

Sisters

Here are some pictures I took of the girls recently...the bottom is them taking a nap while we were in P.A. last weekend...they look so sweet. The other 2 are from the park today...now that Mary-Allyn is getting bigger and more moble they are playing together more. Mary-Allyn really wanted to get down and go today but she isn't quite walking...but when she is watch out.

We have been busy lately...a 4 day trip to visit the Hardy's in P.A., it was great and we got to enjoy some of the beautiful colors of fall that we don't get here on the coast. We will be going back after Christmas when it is way too cold for me!!!

The girls are getting so big and Mary-Allyn is learning something new everyday. I love this stage...learning animal noises and words. Ada's imagination is going wild...she comes up with the craziest things and loves making up her own songs...she is also enjoying school and learning so much, it is fun to watch her blossom.

Today was the first day it really felt like fall...I can't believe it is the middle of October already.

Little Miss 1 Year Old...

I cannot believe that a year has gone by already...our Mary-Allyn has grown so much and we are enjoying watching her learn new things and try to walk. She is such a joy and such a happy little girl. She is also a huge daddy's girls, I have never seen a child get so excited when they see someone. I am glad that she loves her daddy because her sister is such a momma's girl. She is a complete blessing and we are so happy that she is on our lives. Just if anyone was wondering where her name came from it is a combination of her daddy and I's middle names. My middle name is Mary and his is Allan. Here are some pictures from her birthday party this past weekend.

This Is For Real...

I was just burning my camera pictures to a disc and found this picture that I had taken when we were on vacation in Florida...this car really had all this stuff on it...any kind of nic-nac you can think of that had an animal on it...expecially a Disney one...got glued to this car...and the hood was covered too I just couldn't get a picture of it. I have never seen anything like it before.

Birthdays...Dance...Life...

So a couple of weeks ago we celebrated Ada's 4th birthday at the Zoo. We had originally planned to have a pool party at our house but after we got back from vacation in August we were just too busy and the pool got a little green...and the weather had turned colder so the water temperature had dropped quite a bit...didn't want little blue kids swimming around in the green water! So we were lucky and the Zoo had room for us to have a party. It was a really good deal if anyone wants to have a party for their kid and not have to do a lot of work yourself.

Yesterday was her actual birthday and we had dinner at grandma and grandpa's house to celebrate...I just can't believe she is 4 already...this weekend we are going to celebrate Mary-Allyn's 1st birthday with a small family party at our house. And in 2 weeks we are heading up to PA to visit with the Hardy clan...and have another party for Mary-Allyn...such spoiled children!!!

Brad is about mid way through his last semester and will (better or he's in big trouble) have his B.A. in December and will hopefully get a job and start his masters program in January. For someone who hates school he has done very well, even with working part time and having the baby home with him 2 days a week.

My work load is beginning to lighten a little...now that I am done with all the Fall prep and start up of new classes and weekday events...I am very blessed to have a wonderful group of ladies that work very hard to make the preschool department run smoothly...they are the glue that holds it all together.

Ada has started ballet class at Ballet Virginia International...it is an actual dance company in Norfolk...she is loving it and I am proud of her that she is actually listening and learning something. We let her pick what she wanted to do this fall and being the princess that she is she picked ballet over violin and soccer...Brad is hoping that Mary-Allyn will like to play sports.

Daddy And His Girls

My poor husband is doomed to be a man in a house full of girls...here he is today with 3 of them. They are watching a Baby Einstein movie...he is such a good daddy.

We decided to stay home this weekend instead of traveling to D.C. to go to the Zoo and spend some time away...we just had too much stuff to do at home. Things in the yard and in the house have been piling up and we just needed to get some things done. Today I ran arends all day and Brad finally mowed the lawn (our mower broke over a month ago so you can imagine what it looked like, we bought a new mower last night). He also fixed the drain in our shower and weeded the yard. I hate it when there is a list of things to do and it is just getting longer. Tomorrow we will try to do something with the kids in between loads of laundry. The weather here is beautiful...we actually turned off our air today and opened the windows...this is the type of weather I love. Hopefully it will last for a while.

2 Cutie Pies

I know I am a little bias but I think these 2 kids are the cutest kids on the planet...just some random pictures I wanted to share!