A quick catch up!

It's August 1! Ugh! how is that possible? I feel like summer just started. I am not even sure where to start with updating on things around here. Busy pretty much sums it up, as usual.

Gavin turned 4 July 17, our big sweet boy! He had a fun birthday party celebrating with some of his friends. Thankfully the darn fire truck showed up! I was borderline harassing the Deputy Chief of Aetna Fire Department because he asked me to email the week of, so I did asking him to confirm. I never heard from him the entire week. By Friday I came to the realization that the fire truck just wasn't coming. He called me saturday at 1:30 to confirm claiming he hadn't been getting his messages. REALLY?!? None of them? Whatever, they showed up....the kids were excited, it worked out :-) So if you ever want a fire truck at your house, just call your local station and ask. They might say no, they might say yes. They may even not call you until day of party but it doesn't hurt to ask :-)

I do believe he had a good birthday!!! He received a real microphone with a speaker!! This absolutely made his day, he loves anything to do with music! Then at his birthday party from Marcin's parents, he got a Power Wheels Jeep that we happened up on for a STEAL...seriously. Our neighbors were moving and sold it to us for a ridiculously low price and some of the features on it still had tape on it, hardly used!

From my dad and Gay he got a a 5 piece drum set because he informed us a while ago that he needed another tom drum and also another snare drum. Another great deal from amazon (love that website!)

I sometimes feel like that crazy American Idol mom who swears up and down that her is the best singer around. I feel this way because I think Gavin is pretty good with drums for a 4 y/o. He doesn't just bang around and make noise, he has a pretty good rhythm for his age. He will listen to songs over and over until he can pick out the beat, then goes to play on his drums. He was very excited to get this drum set! I have been looking around for someone who would do some drum lessons for a 4 y/o, no one really does, probably because its a bit too young but we still wanted to expose to some instructions so he can learn since this has been an ongoing interest for about 2 years now. So while I was getting a new string for his christmas gift electric guitar, I inquired at the music store if they knew anyone. A man working there said he would do it :-) I told him I had no expectations due to Gavin's age but the drum teacher had a lot of patience then maybe we could arrange something. So Gavin has been to 'Drum School' twice now and while he can't sit still and focus for long periods of time, yesterday he did listen to what his drum teacher was instructing him on. Of course, we must give Gavin an incentive for good listening....there is an electric drum in the store that he loves to play! So if he does well during his lesson, he can play that and go look at all the speakers:-)

Here are some more pics from the party, Jakob and Kaleb had fun too!!

Now to get started on J&K's party, it is going to be a construction party...perfect for boys, don't cha think? lol

Those two get smarter everyday and so darn funny!! Jakob is definitely the comedian with his huge smile and contagious laugh. You just can't be mad at him....well I can after an entire of clingy and whiny Jakob but that doesn't happen often :-P He is improving with his speech and trying more words. He doesn't articulate them correctly but that will come in time. He has become an very independent, stubborn kid :-) I say that in the most loving way....seriously, I do! He wanted to try everything by himself first. If he gives it a good try and can't do it, then he will ask for your help. If you try help him before he asked, he will yell at you. Yep, seriously. He has grown so much and is no longer our baby, he is a big boy. Now if only he would use the potty! He watches Gavin and likes to imitate him using the potty. He does not like a dirty diaper, all signs point to readiness except for me. I am not ready because I simply don't have the time right now :-P We will get there.

Kaleb has absolutely no fear, which is fine...if he were the only child. Since he is not, his adventurous ways usually get copied by Jakob and sometimes Gavin who then end up getting hurt. Kaleb can fall off the couch and get up giggling. Jakob...not so much. It would be followed by 10 minutes of dramatic crying :-P We were at the park yesterday while Gavin was at camp. I was taking care of Jakob and saw Kaleb going over to the 'big kids' park area with this super tall slide. He had checked it out earlier and decided it wasn't for him. Well apparently he changed his mind and decided to go....my heart stopped as Jakob and I are running over to make sure he doesn't fall!

That's his little head poking out at the top!! He did once and loved it! He was laughing the entire way down every time. oi vey! He is going to have us at the ER a few times in the future, I just know it!

Kaleb is doing great with his speech, he has alot to say...all the time LOL I love hearing their little voices, so cute!!!

They all had hand/foot/mouth virus last week. NOT FUN!!! Jakob started it and milked it for all it was worth (just like his father would do! hmph). We couldn't decide if it was strep, teething, the virus or what. I took him to doc when his fever developed and did a strep test, negative. I took him back a couple days later and he had blisters all over his throat, poor guy :-( A couple days after Jakob's fever, Kaleb's fever developed and then Gavin's. And now I guess mine....my throat is killing me and my head weighs a ton. I have to thank the makers of Dayquil for getting through the days lol

Boys are waking up and I still need to shower! I will try to better about blogging, it only takes a few minutes and I have good intentions but then I get distracted or busy with something else. Stay tuned because on Saturday we are finally going to do Marcin's birthday present from september....he gets to drive a Ferrari for an hour, supposedly as fast as he wants too! Should be a good time! I will for sure be taking pictures!

yikes! He has only been 4 y/o for a day!

Some friends of mine were talking last week about the kid ages wondering if 4's would be better than the 3's because let me tell ya, 3's were NOT fun. Well the first 6 months were rough...after that Gavin sort of mellowed out but had some drama from time to time.

I have been told the 4's are easier but I have also been told...not so much. Supposedly 5 isn't bad, we shall see.

So earlier I was putting Kaleb down for his nap. He is usually first one in bed because he is easiest :-) It takes about 5 minutes. Jakob and Gavin usually are running around somewhere but I haven't had any reason to worry, until today. While I was reading a book to Kaleb, it was pretty quiet....never a good sign *sigh* So I walked into the sitting room area of my room to find Gavin and Jakob. Jakob was playing nicely with his cars on the toy bench with the white seat cushion that Gavin had kindly drawn roads on in RED SHARPIE so Jakob would have roads to drive his cars on. I have no idea where he found the red sharpie. {Note to self: never bring sharpies in house unless in locked cabinet!} Here is a visual for ya,

Nice, right? I am super happy Gavin was helping out his little brother, not so happy about the cushion. I was surprised that he did this, he knows to only draw on paper. It can easily be recovered but that will probably never happen because no one ever sees it but us. It could have been worse....like the couch or chairs downstairs.

Gavin was funny when I picked him from camp today. He is at Nature Camp at one of the local state parks. On Monday they had nets and went exploring for different bugs and spiders. Tuesday they went hiking on some nature trails and today was Pond day so they got to get in the water (perfect since it is 106 with heat index!). He was pretty excited about wearing water shoes and getting in water. So when I picked him up, I asked him about it and he said they went in the pond and he didn't like it because it was muddy and gross. *sigh* such his father's son.....god forbid he get muddy! He did find some cool rocks :-)

I have to say, summer camp is great!!! Gavin has fun, I get a break with only 2 kiddos so I can play with J&K, get some stuff done at house or get out for playdates. There is always something to do :-P

Remember when we were worried about J&K's speech and if they were ever going to talk....those worries are quickly fading away! Kaleb talks......alot. Once he figures out a new word, he doesn't stop saying it! This week he has asked me a hundred times a day, 'Where's dada?!' all day, every day. Even Gavin yelled at him this morning,'DADA IS AT WORK!' followed by a big huff and sigh of frustration. sheesh. Kaleb has learned a lot of new words in the last month or so, such a relief!!!

Jakob is learning too!!! His speech therapist set a goal for him to learn more of the basic commands and words by end of August. She believes by then, we will need to work on his articulation of the words. I doubt anyone else would understand him but we do :-) He really likes his speech therapist, he will sit for the entire time and play with her. Still odd to see one of my kids doing that, lol Sitting still.....

I need to finish up things for Gavin's party this weekend. I need to finish up decorations, favors and start cooking! Oh and put together a 5 piece drum set...I am thinking Marcin or my dad can work on that, hehe! The forecast says the high should be 85, let's hope so!!!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY GAVIN!!!

I remember when I was pregnant with Gavin, everyone who had children kept telling us how quickly they grow. I was skeptical simply because everyone elses children seemed to take forever lol As usual, the older and wiser people in our lives were correct, hmph. (sshh....don't tell them this!)

4 years ago we met our sweet baby boy, Gavin. He was breeched, scheduled c-section that I was scared and excited for at the same time. C-section pretty big surgery but y'all know I love a schedule and well you can't get much more organized than a scheduled c-section, hehe. Those first few weeks were crazy....Gavin had jaundice and all the other new parent worries - was he eating enough, why wasn't he pooping!?, up all night, crying all night and wondering what's wrong. I think the funniest thing to me is I remember thinking how I had zero time to get anything done. HA HA HA HA HA!!!! No time with one newborn, oh if I only knew!  I had hours upon hours to get things done but how could I do anything if I thought my non-mobile baby would suddenly decide to roll out of his bouncy onto the floor?

Eh, live and learn. The second time around was much less stressful. Yes, even with twins. So glad we had twins second, I am a little more laidback than I was with Gavin :-)

Yep 4 years ago, I was cuddling with this sweet little bundle weighing in at 8lbs and 19 inches long!



Now we get to cuddle with this big guy weighing in at 42lbs and 42 inches tall! Well we get to cuddle when he sits still long enough, hehe Or he isn't playing his drums all over house, talking non-stop, watching how everything works or falls asleep:-)

I get it, they grow too quickly. I don't like it. lol

I will try to update on everything else later! I have got alot to work on between now and Gavin's birthday party this weekend! Still waiting for firetruck to confirm......I am getting a little anxious that they aren't going to get back to me. I hope so.....

$12!!! awesome find at Goodwill!

I decided to stop in to see if there were any decent frames, I have a new pinterest project I want to start and I always see a lot of frames at the Goodwill stores costing anywhere from $1.00-$2.00. I did find a few frames. I was at the Elkton Goodwill which hasn't had many kids clothes the past couple of times but I noticed the racks were pretty full so I figured I could browse quickly. I am so glad I did, look what I found for Gavin, all for only $12!!! 3 pairs of Gap khaki cargo pants, Circo fleece pants (new with tag, NWT), Circo shirt (jakob), puma shorts, 2 pairs of Childrens Place shorts...$12 people!

All no worse for the wear as if they were being passed down from a friend, resale or sibling. I was so excited to find the Gap pants because Gavin needed some for this fall/winter!

I also browsed the homegoods section and found this cute appetizer/veggie tray for $2.00! It will go perfectly with the rest of my white serving dishes, yippee!!!

I had to share, although I am questioning my sharing because what if everyone starts shopping at goodwill, then the good deals will be slim, hmmmmmmm..........hehe happy deal hunting!

Our beach escape!

It was fantastic!! I don't know about Marcin but I felt very refreshed when we got home:-) We decided we must do it more often and then we remembered that have two weddings coming up in September and December where we will need to stay over so we will be doing it again (assuming we can talk someone into staying!), YAY!!!

It was SO nice riding in the fun car on way to the beach, loving that car!!!

We got to Rehoboth and I of course, was hungry :-P We stopped by Grotto's for a slice, still not sure what all the fuss is about over Grotto's pizza. Give me Papa John's or the pizza place by my dad's anyday! This was drink #1 for me, at 4:00 in the afternoon! =0 I had a sweet tea lemonade, soooooo yummy! Marcin however was feeling a little frisky and got a bucket of Red Stripe.

That is 3 beers altogether. For some reason, he thought I would be helping him with those beers.Um not so much being that my tolerance is ZERO, pretty sure he didn't want me passed out the entire time we were away lol He finished them all by himself! We walked the boardwalk to do some people watching and then found a great deck to sit and have more drinks. He talked me into a raspberry cosmo...it wasn't that hard to twist my arm, hehe, it was delicious!

After that, it was definitely nap time at 7:00p.m.! I haven't taken a nap that late in years! We were trying to find a place for dinner, not really knowing where to go except that we wanted seafood. We ended up at Fins and it was delicious!! The service was amazing, I really can't say enough about our good experience there!

 Our server was asking us what we did that day, what brought us to the beach, etc. Then he comes back with 3 Fireball shots, oh vey!!! what? I couldn't say no? lol I think he said it was cinnamon schnapps and some sort of whiskey. I figured after that there was no point in stopping my alcohol intake because let's be honest, after my first drink earlier in afternoon....I was still going to feel like I had 8 drinks the next day, so I might as well enjoy it while I can :-P After dinner, we crashed a wedding party at the Summer House, really good people watching there LOL Drunk people make me laugh!
And then, this was probably my favorite part, we got to sleep in!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!! We leisurely got up, walked around to find a breakfast spot (and some advil for my head), got the boys some hermit crabs and came home. I was excited to see the boys and I think my sister in law and her son were excited to see us too since they stayed with the boys while we were gone. It has been 2 days since we got back, hopefully they have fully recovered their sleep by now :-) (THANK YOU GUYS FOR WATCHING THEM!!!) Here are some pics she snapped while we were gone, they look like they missed us terribly, doesn't it?!

 I am sure she had to dry the tears from their faces before taking the pics ;-)

We really had a great time, it was nice to have some time with Marcin without the kiddos. We love them dearly but they all want our attention all the time so sometimes it is hard for us to be....us. By the time we get them all in bed, we are beat. We are pretty good with our date nights but I realized after our night away that we need to get away also because its important for US to be happy for our family to stay happy :-)

Speaking of families, this cracked me up!

beach with no kiddos?!

Yep that's right....Marcin and I are headed to Rehoboth Beach today AND tonight while the kiddos stay home. And would you also believe this will be our first night away together since before Gavin was born? Long overdue but I just couldn't leave. I can't explain it, perhaps it was my Type A personality thinking no one can take care of kids like we can? lol That is silly but that is the way my brain works, what can I say? I am also much more relaxed now that J&K were born. I really didn't have much of a choice in that matter because Marcin and I are clearly outnumbered, so I had to learn to pick my battles. I think that the second child or children in our case makes you more relaxed, or at least it did for me. You would think I would be more stressed being that they are twins lol

Marcin may have been ok with leaving before now, he talks a big game but when we left all three around dinner/bedtime for a friends evening engagement party back in November, he was more worried than I was! Dinner time and bedtime are pretty crazy at our house but my sister in law had it under control! She is also staying with them tonight and she told me yesterday that I am only allotted 3 texts between today and Sunday. hmph...just 3!!! I will have to make sure to make them worth it, hehe:-)

I am pretty excited to take the convertible to the beach and have NOTHING to do but whatever we decide to do on a moments notice! We don't have to worry about anyone being hungry or needing to get to bed, meltdowns, etc. One day, maybe we will be ready for TWO nights away =0

The rest of life is crazy as always. I have been waiting for it all to slow down since January and now it is already mid- June. How is that even possible?!

Marcin is working, working, working. Whether at his office or at our house. So much we need to do but every weekend there is something going and we haven't had time to do things we want to do around here : / After this weekend, we don't have many plans so hopefully in the next couple of weeks we can get the rocks for the landscaping, make it to Ikea, get started on Gavin's birthday, etc.

Myself, I am a personal chauffeur for 3 sweet boys and I love every minute of it. Well....most of the time. 85% of the time. Last week was rough but we survived, like always! I have been trying to go through all the clothing I have for the boys because I usually start shopping for them in advance. For example, right now I am trying to find fall/winter stuff for them. A friend of mine here started sharing her great finds at Goodwill, check out her blog http://themagicthatisthrift.blogspot.com/. I haven't been to a Goodwill store since college and that was just for silly halloween costumes! Even then, we wouldn't have been caught shopping there...no way! My friend kept sharing her great finds on Facebook so finally I decided I would see what the fuss was all about. My trips were well worth it! I pretty much found the boys fall/winter wardrobe for $125 for everything! It was all the brands I like the best like Carters, Old Navy, Gap, Children's Place, Gymboree, Osh Kosh, some Polo shirts for Gavin. I also found snow bibs with tag still on them for $4.00!!! Matching winter coats for J&K that looked they may have been worn a hand full of times, if that. Some of the things I found still had tags on them. The rest were all in gently used condition and no worse for wear than Gavin's hand me downs. Goodwill also has sales! As if the items aren't already inexpensive they offer incentives on some days. And coupons!!! I was checking out at Goodwill in Elkton and someone gave me their $5 coupon they weren't using. THANK YOU! For myself, I even found a couple of things....super cute Limited bermuda shorts for $3.00. Some American Eagle and Gap shirts for around the house, what I like to refer as my 'mom shirts' lol Last weekend with my grandmother, I found a very nice dark red Calvin Klein wool coat for $4.00. I am taking it to dry cleaners and it will be like I bought it brand new. So needless to say, I am addicted! I do love a good deal and you can't beat kid clothing for that cheap when they are going to grow out of it so quickly!

I also went back to the plastic surgeon this past week for a second consult. It has been about a year since my first consult. The first consult was alot of info and pretty overwhelming. I had some time to wrap my head around things and thought of more questions. I wanted more details on the procedure and recovery. It still sounds scary as hell but if it all works out, I will be going under the knife in January/February. I am so damn excited to get rid of the kangaroo pouch and have pants that will fit me normally! I have drawers full of jeans, pants, cute shorts that fit fine except for my waist because of the dreaded pouch *Sigh* It is a relief to know that its existence is coming to an end!

Gavin is the funniest kid! He went to his first summer camp this past week. The first day he was not crazy about staying. I kept asking him to go play with his new friends and he would reply, "no thank you." Such sweet manners:-) Finally the camp director told him that if he stayed, they were going to play on the big playground. He was sold. I, of course, felt like a horrible mother for the next 3 hours because I left my child somewhere he didn't want to be. In true Gavin fashion, I went to pick him up and he didn't want to leave. Does he realize the guilt trip he gave me when I dropped him off and now he wants to stay?! sheesh He had a blast all week. The Director told me mid-week how mature he is for his age and that he was so helpful to the camp counselors. Always nice to hear good things about your kids :-) He is doing 3 more camps this summer. When I was planning the camps, I thought it may be too much but I think we made the right decision. He has something to do and I only have 2 kids to contend with for a morning. This makes going to the park, running errands or just hanging out with J&K much easier!

Gavin is finished with speech for the summer. They follow the school schedule so he may start back up in the fall. He will have at least one session to determine whether he needs to continue or not. He had four sessions and the therapists was impressed with his progress. He was having some issues with 'sh' and 'ch.' When he pronounces those consonants, it comes from his nose instead of his mouth. Hard to explain but he is fully aware of it and even will try to correct it himself if he notices that he said it.

I am sure I have said it before but Kaleb is just a big ole cuddly teddy bear! People assume he is the most dominant twin and roughest because he is bigger but it is the complete opposite. When he gets mad, will throw whatever is closest to him across the room ( working hard to break this habit!) or he will yell at you and walk away. Otherwise, he wants to sit and cuddle or play. He is learning so many words lately! Much to our relief :-) For such a big boy, he has the softest voice when he speaks. I have a feeling if he was evaluated for speech before 18 months he would have qualified like Jakob but in the meantime we are using Jakob's speech therapist ideas for both of them. He loves to say 'mama' and last week we were at the house and he just kept repeatedly saying "mama mama mama mama mama" as I replied every time, "yes kaleb? yes kaleb? yes kaleb?" Finally he came around the corner in kitchen and said, "hi" and took off running while giggling LOL He has pretty much mastered climbing most play sets including the big ones at the parks, oh vey!

Jakob started speech at the end of May. His speech therapist is great! He hit it off with her right away, which I was very grateful for. You never know if he is going to laugh hysterically or cry, so it was nice for him to take to someone easily for a change :-P She has been very helpful in teaching me things such as what is appropriate language skills at his age, how to help him pronounce his words correctly, etc. Jakob has quite a few words but it would hard for anyone else to understand them. He will mostly imitate the words you say but when he says them, his mouth and tongue are not creating the correct shape to pronounce them correctly. I asked the therapist why this is and she explained that due to the number of ear infections he had and the two sets of tubes, chances are the way he his pronouncing his words are due to him not being able to hear them pronounced correctly because his hearing was never 100% with all the ear infections. So really at this point it is more of a learned behavior and we need to teach the correct way to form his words. I am also working on him and Kaleb a PEC book so they can use the pictures to communicate with us and hopefully decrease the frustration between them trying to communicate their wants/needs with us. Before Jakob started therapy, a friend suggested this but we weren't sure if it hinder their speech. The speech therapist said in fact, it helps their speech because once they bring a picture of a drink to you, you can reiterate every time, "I want a drink" allowing the kids (and parents) more teachable moments with language.
Jakob has also earned the nickname Twinkle Toes because the kid is always dancing or galloping around. He also runs on the balls of his feet, super cute!

I am pretty sure I have bored you enough and the kids are waking up so I better get my crazy day started! I need to pack my bag to, yippee!!!!!!!!!!!

what a whirlwind!

The past 3 weeks have flown by :-( Time seriously needs so s.l.o.w. d.o.w.n.

A quick recap of our past few weeks....we went to South Carolina for a week, so much fun and more details to come. Then we came back and a couple days after that my grandmother from Mississippi came to visit for a week. She went home yesterday and I am exhausted from the past couple of weeks. Apparently I use more energy than I realize, sheesh! I tried to keep up with getting up every morning this past week to exercise but I could NOT do it, I was unable to get up and go down the steps.

We drove to Beaufort, South Carolina...more specifically Lemon Island. It is about 35-45 minutes from Hilton Head. It took us almost 12 hours to get there. The first half of the trip was um....challenging. You would think the challenging part would be the two 20 month olds in the car. Nope...it was the single 3 year old (almost 4) in the car. He would NOT stop talking....I could not even tell you what he was talking about but it was nonstop, oh vey! Thankfully he finally went to sleep......the peace and quiet were fabulous!!! We made much better time than I anticipated, although I usually expect the worse from traffic so I can be pleasantly surprised when its not bad, hehe We got there on Friday, my stepsister Katherine graduated from high school on saturday and then her graduation party later that afternoon. We took the boys and they had a great time running around! It was on the water on an old plantation that had been in a family for years, just gorgeous!

There was a karoake machine = Gavin in heaven!

My brother Reh, Kaleb and my dad :-)








We also went to the outlets, of course!! We had to go to Underarmour! I found some super cute dresses at WHBM outlet! For Memorial Day we had some family and friends over for a low country boil, YUMMY!!! There is just something that makes shrimp and crab legs taste so much better in the Carolinas :-) Gavin also got to play with his cousin Jesse and they had a blast! Jesse is about 6 weeks younger than Gavin and is such a riot!!! At one point they were playing in the pool and Gavin did something, Jesse replied, "That's cool!!" Gavin says, "It is not cool, its warm." The child has no street smarts LOL


Jakob managed to find two ant hills and bump his forehead in the EXACT same place three times within 48 hours. His poor little ankles were a mess and he had a huge goose egg on his forehead that Marcin so kindly sent me a picture of while I was in Charleston :-P I went to Charleston because it was long overdue to see my little brothers apartment and he took me to Fuel for lunch (delicious shrimp tacos if you are ever in the area!) and then we drove out to Daniel Island where he is working/mentoring some kids with his Young Life group. Daniel Island is gorgeous....very Stepford Wivey but gorgeous all the same. Later that afternoon I finally got the chance to go see Michelle's new place downtown and we went to eat dinner at my favorite...Hominy Grill. I haven't been there for a few years, I am pretty sure it has only gotten better!!! We had okra and shrimp beignets for appetizers....delicious!!!! And for my entree I had crab cakes that were coated in cornmeal before pan frying, the cornmeal was key! My sides were deep fried cheese grits (A southern girls dream!) and stewed tomatoes/okra over rice. Let's not forget dessert of homemade cookies and cream ice cream, possible to best ice cream I have ever had. Needless to say all that weight I worked so hard to lose, I probably gained it all back at just one dinner *sigh* Oh and to top off the eating, the next day we went to Ruth Chris to celebrate my younger brother turning 21!!!!! Another yummy dinner...are you seeing a pattern here?! lol

Marcin and I were able to get out for a date night. We had to go to Banana Republic before dinner because we heard there was a great sale going on and boy was there ever!!! We figured we had plenty of time for dinner so we didn't rush shopping. Hmph...we were not in Delaware anymore :-P We had two restaurants on our list and they both closed at 9:00!!! It was a Thursday night! One place we walked in at 8:45 and realized they closed at 9:00. We left and went to the good ole ale house where we hoped the guitar guy was still playing. He was still playing when we got there at 8:55, guess what time he stopped? yep...9:00 LOL oh well, we had fun at Banana....well I did at least :-D

The boys had THE best time with the never ending attention!!! They had Pop Pop, Gigi, Katherine, Reh and Drew (my stepbrother) always willing to be deafened from Gavin's drum playing, Jakob's dramatic self or Kaleb running full speed through the house! There was a cat to play with, tractors, school bus (motorcoach but Gavin named it a school bus), lawn mowers with trailors to hitch on back, the pool, speakers and doors for Gavin.....a boys paradise! Marcin had sunshine, pool and beer. He doesn't require much. I had good food, river, beautiful sunrises and my family. Life was good. Even the drive back wasn't so bad! We had ZERO traffic through DC.....this never happens. I always dread when we are approaching that area but nothing, so relieved!

We also had a wonderful visit with my grandmother. I am so very, very happy that the boys have the chance to get to know their great-grandmother. She is a very important person in my life. I know it wasn't easy for her to get on a plane and travel up here, she is 78 years old but you would never guess it by looking at her. I REALLY hope I have alot of her genes so I age that well :-) Even though I know the boys must have worn her out (this I am guessing by her daily afternoon naps, hehe), she hung in there! She also said a few times that she now understand why God didn't give her any boys, LOL She got to experience the fun of grocery shopping with 3 kids :-P We took everyone to the park. She and I got a day to go shopping, that was so fun!! We went to a couple Goodwills, the mall and then Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner. It was funny at dinner because we sat down next to a table with two older boys dressed alike. I didn't want to start but I could have sworn they were twins. So then the table on our other side got sat, also with tiny twin boys :-) Come to find out the older boys were 7 year old fraternal twins and the tiny fraternal twin boys were 11 weeks. I couldn't help but start at them both. Trying to imagine my boys at age 7 and also trying to remember them being that little at 11 weeks.

I have much more to say about Gavin starting summer camp, Gavin's speech, Jakobs speech, Kaleb's silliness, Marcin and I's first night away ever this weekend but I have GOT to get to sleep. Going to bed at 12:00 is NOT helping me catch up on sleep! Give me a couple of days, I'll be back :-P

I feel like summer is going to be over in a blink...is this what happens as you get older? time seems to be flying by. I don't like it....not one single bit!