Tell All Tuesday

• I went to the dentist yesterday and finally, after an almost year long process, have a new tooth from my failed root canal last spring. It's so nice to no longer have a gap (not that you could see it) but to feel complete again. And, as much as I dread the dentist, that was an easy appointment. Everything with the oral surgeon was much worse!
• we had horrible weather last night. Storms and tornado warnings rolled in. The news released several images of funnel clouds in the city right next to mine. It was a little alarming- especially when you have the mentality of "nothing ever happens in my city". We huddled in the basement, well past Quinlin's bedtime until the storms could pass.

• Hunter goes for his 14 year well visit. Is it cheasy to post his stats? haha. I find my poor oldest gets the least blog attention because he doesn't grow and change as fast as the babies, but it will be fun to see how big he is. I'm guessing about 5'2. He's growing like a weed, looking older, sounding older. My neighbor said to him "Hunter- your voice is so low" and he responded "why thank you" in an even lower voice.
• Quinlin has been looking just darling lately in her new summer outfits. I absolutely love dressing her. My little princess baby doll. She wont pose or smile for pictures, but it's better than nothing.
  
  
  

•  I would post pics of Owen in his new clothes, but all he wants to wear are no pants, or if he wears pants, he's in a phase where they need to be athletic shorts. He will stubbornly wear his nice cargo shorts, but instantly wants to change into his "basketball" shorts. So funny.
• Is it pathetic that I'm excited for Boston Market tonight? A night off of cooking- woo hoo! Not that I should complain. My poor kids had mac n cheese last night for dinner since we were running behind because of my dental appointment. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually cook them a nice meal (that they will proceed to turn their noses up or throw on the floor).
• Saw two movies last week. Something Borrowed and Bridesmaids. Both were good, but people had overhyped Bridesmaids to me so I was expecting more. Dont get me wrong, I did enjoy...
• This weekend we are seeing Hangover Part II. Here's hoping the lawsuit from the tattoo artist does not delay the release!

Staycation

I apologize for my absence. I didn't realize it had been so long since I did a post! Sean and I took our first vacation together (in almost four years) and had it planned for mid May thinking the weather would be nice and we could really get to hang out together doing fun things. Little did I know, the weather would suck. Like really suck. It was cold and rainy almost all week.

Half the reason we wanted to take time off together was to clean and organize and purge. And we purged. We brought a bunch of items to Goodwill, gave a basket of things to my niece and nephew, gave Quinlin's old clothes to our friend's little girl, put the "name brand clothes" in piles and started listing those on ebay, etc. You can see how exciting my week was. But- the good thing is, we cleaned and organized and then started with a cleaning lady. We'll have her come twice a month- and honestly, I think this money will be so well spent. To not have to worry about cleaning on a weekend and to enjoy time with my children is priceless.

We did go shopping a few times and I did buy a cute pair of sunglasses at Saks, but other than that we went out to lunches and enjoyed being together. Not a bad staycation...just gives us more reason to take time off together again in July or so. I'll be sure to check the weather forecast prior.

Finally a little warm weather

Finally the weather is getting enjoyable. It feels like we kind of skipped over spring, but I'll take it. I picked the kids up from school yesterday and rushed home so they could eat and get outside right away. They had a blast!  (I should note also that Quinlin turned 16 months old yesterday!)



Quinlin played with her wagon

Hunter took her for a walk

Owen helped mow the lawn

Quinlin thought she should help too

She went on another walk

Owen played with the sidewalk chalk

and got it all over his hands

Quinlin thought that looked fun

so they played together

but they saw how much fun the boys were having playing basketball so wanted to get in on the game too...

We came inside and Owen showered... and then begged for ponytails

 It's supposed to be 80 today so Quinlin broke out her first sundress of the season.

 And Owen felt the need to wear my sunglasses on the way to school.

Tell All Tuesday (a day late)

A day late but my random thoughts...

• Track season is over. Hunter ran the 400 in 77 seconds so didn't beat the other guy on his team to secure a spot at the conference championships. That's ok though- I was so proud of him for giving it his all.
• He had a choir concert last night but didn't want us to go. So- he went with his buddy Michael and then went to Michael's brothers baseball game afterwards. He got home about 9:30pm. So crazy to see him so independent and off doing his own thing.
• A house in my neighborhood was robbed last night. Kind of scary, but the police think it's an inside job. It was an Indian couple who recently had Indian jewelry out of a safety deposit box, etc. The robbers came in through the windows in the basement, stole the goods, and then tried to flood the house. I couldn't even imagine. We triple locked everything last night but it still made me nervous...
• I came into work this morning and smelled something funny. Turns out there was a small fire in an electrical panel... yikes!
• Speaking of work, I'm sending 5 guys oversees at the end of the week and they sent me flowers as a thank you for all my work. All I did was book their flights and hotel. So sweet of them to think of me.
• The weather is finally warming up. I love it! Cant wait to go home today and play outside with the kids.
• I'm totally addicted to words with friends... I'm such a nerd. :)

Mother's Day Weekend

We had an amazing weekend- probably one of the better weekends in a long time. It was a great, family filled weekend and memories that will last a long time.

Friday night, we got a sitter for the babies and Sean and I took Hunter to see Thor.

I had absolutely no urge to see it, but I have some girls movie nights coming soon and was guilted into it. And- I'm so glad I did. Chris Hemsworth is pretty easy on the eyes, and it turned into a love story as well, so definitely wasn't just an unrealistic comic book type movie. The movie theater was filled with dudes- I think I was one of three women in there- haha. If you do go to see it, make sure you stay all the way to the very end, as like all other marvel movies, a little trailer for the future movies after the credits finish.

Saturday morning we woke up and supported the UMDF by attending the wildlife walk for the cure at our local zoo. It was such a beautiful day and I was looking forward to the babies seeing the animals, but walking for an organization and seeing families affected by the disease was truly eye opening. Makes me feel thankful and blessed for my healthy children.

It was a good day to attend the zoo as they had the grand opening for the new elephant exhibit.

We came home from the zoo and worked on our mothers day cards for the grandma's...

Owen's first stick figure

Then went to my Sister in Law's house for bbq for Sean's side of the family for mothers day.

We tried to get a cousins shot...but Quinlin was having a diva freak out.

Mother's Day was Sunday. I had to post what the babies made at school for me:

Owen decided to dress himself for mother's day...

That look, unfortunately, will have to wait. Since we were going out in public... I thought better to put him in something a little more weather appropriate.

We went to my parents house for a family bbq. It had probably been a year or so since I had seen everyone (cousins, aunt and uncle), so nice to get together.

We tried to do a cousins picture for this side of the family too...but it didn't quite work.

And Owen does wear clothes- he just hates them.

Track season

Hunter did awesome this year in track. I'm so proud of him. The thing that makes me the most proud is not how great he is at a sport, but the dedication he puts forth. Last year he ran the mile and the relay. This year, he was strictly working on the mile. All his times were average- about 7 minutes, 25 seconds each meet. A few mishaps here and there (shoe fell off during one run, he fell during another run) but he kept on at it. Towards the end of the season, for the last 5 meets, only the top 5 runners in the mile could participate. You would think that meant that his season was over- since he was never top 5 on his team. It didn't. You see, he volunteered to run the 400 (1 lap around the track) because there were only 2 participants. And you know what? He was pretty good at it. He had been averaging about 1 min, 25 seconds. His last meet, he ran it and came in 2nd with 1 min, 10 seconds. He has a meet on Monday- and if he finishes second, he gets to go to conference finals. This kid is psyched... and I couldn't be more proud!

10 years later and still in style

When my parents came over last weekend, my mom brought a box of Hunter's old clothes. When she first mentioned it, I chuckled in my head. Surely nothing would still be in style. I was so surprised to see my good, name brand clothes that Hunter used to wear! So- into the washer they went and today was the first day that Owen was able to wear his brothers hand me downs. He looks so cute in them- and so proud. All he wanted to do was show Hunter!

Hunter's fleece Old Navy pullover

baby gap long sleeve baseball t shirt

Weekend Recap and a Recipe

We had such a nice weekend! I had to work very late on Thursday (about a 15+ hour day) so took Friday and worked from home. It was so nice to sit in bed with my laptop and work, while watching my dvr of the Royal Wedding. I cleaned a little and Sean's parents came over for dinner.

Saturday was a busy day for me. I had one of my closest friends baby showers- it was so nice- and I am so excited for them to have their little boy and then I rushed to see some of my sorority sisters! Our friend Michelle was in town from Washington (her husband is in the Army so they are stationed there) and she made her way for a visit while he is serving in Afghanistan. I brought the babies with me so they could play with the other kids. They had a blast! I left there about 8pm and came home, put the babies to bed, and Sean and I took advantage of having Hunter home to babysit while we went to a local bar for drinks and wings. So nice to get out with just the two of us.

On Sunday my parents came over for a visit. They hadn't seen the kids in about 2 weeks since we were out of town for Easter and the kids loved it. Quinlin could not stop giving kisses when they left. For dinner I tried a new recipe to serve and it was a hit. Hunter loved it- both he and my dad took seconds, so I knew it was good!

Chicken Pot Pie
INGREDIENTS

Crust
1 box (15 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

Filling
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 3/4 cups Progresso® chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey (I used about 2 1/2 chicken breasts)
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
(my recipe didn't seem to have enough creamy mixture so I also used 1 can cream of chicken soup and it was perfect)
DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-Crust Pie using 9-inch glass pie pan.
2. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened.
3. Stir in chicken and mixed vegetables (and cream of chicken soup if you desire). Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.
4. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Delicious!!!