No Booster

My boys were eating breakfast this morning and making some funny faces:

Then I realized...Tommy wasn't sitting in his booster seat! For the past few months he's sat on this green booster on a kitchen chair, but this morning he sat in a regular seat--and he was fine!

Logan had informed me on Sunday that Tommy was 2ft, 11.5" tall, but until this moment I didn't realize it meant my little boy was growing up!

A Grand Adventure

Ever since Logan began staying 4 days a week down in Roanoke for the police academy, he's been talking about having the rest of us come down and stay with him for a night. For the past five months he's stayed at the same hotel (the staff knows him by sight), and he gets pretty lonely and bored not having the rest of us around. Due to work and other scheduling conflicts we'd never made it down, but on Tuesday night we decided it was now or never! He graduates in a week and a half (yay!), and so time was running out.

It was a blast! Tommy was so excited to be at a hotel (it was a Comfort Inn), and was giddy most o of the night. Both boys were very excited to see their Daddy, and were crawling all over him most of the time. We ate at an IHOP near the hotel (another fun outing for the kids...and parents), and then the boys got to take a bath, which they LOVE doing. The hotel gives Logan a little rubber ducky every week, which he usually brings home, and Tommy kept talking about it and Jack was splashing every which way. I wish I'd had my camera to get pictures, but it was great fun!

Getting to sleep was a little tricky, since everyone had so much energy, but both boys did end up falling asleep once the lights went off. Tommy really liked the continental breakfast the next morning, too!

I have to admit, I still get pretty excited when I get to stay in a hotel. It is a grand adventure, after all.

Growing up

The boys are growing up so fast, and I don't take nearly enough photos of it! Here are some of the latest:

Tommy likes water

He likes water a LOT

Jack and his new towel (Thank you, Christy!)

Jack and his cheerios (he's moved on to animal crackers lately)

My happy boy!

Modern Convenience

Hot Water.

It's really something that you don't realize is important...until it's not there. On Thursday night, I noticed that the boy's bath wasn't heating up. I assumed it was because I had recently run the washing machine, and just hadn't allowed the hot water heater enough time to recover. No biggie--it was warm, and the boys were fine. Later that night I went to wash a dish, and realized that the water seemed very cold...and it wasn't getting any warmer.

Uh oh.

It turns out that our water heater had died. Dead as a doornail. The pilot light wouldn't stay lit, and there was no piece that could be replaced to fix it. Looking online, it turns out that the water heater installed in our house frequently has this problem, and most people didn't keep it past two years or so (we've lived here for four years, and are unsure when it was purchased). Saturday Logan went to Home Depot and picked up our new (rather unexpected) water heater, and then he and my Dad had the fun task of installing it. Don't you just love little unexpected hiccups like this?

When Logan and I first got married and we moved into the house, our gas got shut off due to an error, and we were without hot water for three days. We have funny stories of boiling water to take showers and whatnot, but the stories are funnier to tell than to live. Hot water really is a "luxury", but I forget that in my day-to-day use of it. It seems weird to think that throughout most of history, people had to boil water themselves, taking a long time to do so, and had to think out ahead of time how much they would need to accomplish their task. I just turn on a faucet.

Such a little thing--but, boy! do I miss it when it's not there.

Finally!

My new kitchen floor was finally installed! After two years of waiting (and having a lumpy, icky floor), everything now looks so pretty!

Our kitchen has come a long way in the past two years. Some comparison shots:

Before

After

Time for a post

Since it's been a while, I guess it's time for a new post!

(Sadly, I don't have any new photos to go with it, but that's the risk you take.)

The #1 question I get asked lately is, "So, what's it like being at home?" I tend to answer with "It's an adjustment." Right now, it doesn't feel better or worse than what I was doing before, it just feels different. I'm still worrying and dreaming about problems at my old job, and working really hard to resist the urge to call my old coworkers every day and make sure they're doing everything "right." I know they'll do their best, and then some, but it's hard to shut that part of my brain off.

I've gotten a few side jobs through the graphics design company here in town, and on Friday I submitted my rough draft for a book cover! The author took a look over the weekend and apparently liked it, so at some point I'll get to see one of my designs in print. Woohoo! That's pretty exciting to me, especially since it's something I was able to do at home. Hopefully those side jobs will keep coming and I'll get to see many more of my designs in print.

It is fun being at home with the boys (most days). They do some of the funniest things...Tommy has been in an extremely giggly mood all week, and even when he drives me crazy he still finds ways to make me laugh. Jack is getting even bigger, and crawls SUPER fast now. He can make it across the house in ten seconds, I think (or less). He's been making more sounds lately, too, and likes to grab things to help him stand. He'll be walking before I know it! Lately Tommy has been discovering bugs, with some interesting results: he doesn't like them. Bees freak him out, and evidently so do caterpillars (he calls them snakes). I'm baffled by this, as he hasn't had a negative experience with bugs (to my knowledge) and typically isn't afraid of anything. But I guess it's better than him deciding he wants to play with them....Tommy has also started singing a lot lately, and has learned how to sing all of "C is for Cookie" in a recognizable fashion, and sings a good portion of "Elmo's Song." When he hits the high note at the end of that song...classic!

Logan is doing well at the academy. Only a few weeks left! He graduates May 26th, and we're SUPER excited. His parents are coming out that week (woohoo!!) so we're also really looking forward to that. Next week he'll be learning about defensive driving, and will get to take an unmarked police vehicle with him. He claims that most of the "hard" stuff is done, and they're just tying up loose ends in class. I think he's pretty anxious to get "on the job" in Lexington, and I'm pretty excited that he'll get to grow his hair back soon! Oh, and he'll be home at night, too :-)

In other news, I'm really excited about tomorrow, because my new kitchen floor is coming! I'll be sure to post pictures about that as well, but that's going to make a huge difference in the feel of our home.

I hope you enjoyed these tidbits of information. I'll try and take some pictures of the boys and post them soon!

Boxerwood Gardens, Season 2

This morning the boys and I took our first trip of the year to Boxerwood Gardens! It's this super amazing place for kids to play (and get really, really dirty). I went with my friend Jessica Casperson, who has four kids of her own (her two boys are the same ages as Tommy and Jack). We had a LOT of fun, and I learned that, with Tommy, I really need to bring 3-4 extra sets of clothing, instead of just one extra set...he has the amazing ability to find water anywhere, and he can't refrain from jumping in it! We had left the normal play area where the water pump and creek are, and I'd already changed his clothes (because they were soaking wet). We went to the back field area, where there's a large "crows nest" and pathways to run along, when Tommy darted off the path, into the bushy side area, and the next thing I know he's knee deep in soggy pond water! He's amazing. But he had fun, and that's what really matters :-)

Jack, with his friend Luke Casperson

Tommy, Teddy, and Duste

Jack sitting in the field

The gardens have so many fun places to climb! This is in the "crows nest", which looks like a gigantic birds nest in the middle of a field!

This is part of their water treatment center, which has HUGE koi fish. Tommy liked throwing rocks in the water.

Outside the entrance to the garden

The welcome sign. There are lots of fun signs throughout the gardens, telling kids to play, get dirty, and just have fun!

We'll probably head back soon, so I'm sure there will be more pictures to come!