School, Six Kids and a Baby

This past week had a lot of exciting developments. My BFF from college, Colleen, gave birth to a bouncing baby boy on August 24th. She had a plan for the birth and I am thrilled for her that it went off as planned. She went into labor naturally and delivered w/o any drugs. What a trooper. We can't wait to meet little Jack Timothy :)

Brayden started preschool. He is going to a montessori school and he really likes it. So far, he has only gone an hour each day, but starting this Wednesday he will go 3 hours a day. He tells me all about school and just sounds like such a big boy. Curran will go to the same preschool starting this week, but just 2 mornings a week. That means that on Thursday and Friday I will have 8:30-11:30 on Thursdays and Fridays ALL TO MYSELF!

This weekend's weather was miserable. On Friday, Steve's cousin Brian came up and had lots of fun playing with the kids. He gets a big kick out of them and they love him so much. Steve and I tire of Brayden's seemingly never-ending play requests but Brian is always happy to oblige! Here he is building Brayden a tower out of blocks for the 10th time in 15 minutes. He spends 5 minutes building it just so Brayden can take 2 seconds to knock it all down.




We had our two friends up - the Stobes and the Bellamys. They each have 2 kids. So we had six kids all under on roof. It actually wasn't that bad. It seemed like the kids behaved especially well. Except for Curran who insisted on stealing all of Savannah's Dora toys. Please note Savannah's Dora cup in her hand that she refused to let go of. Guess we know what to get her for her birthday.






This weekend is another kid-free weekend over at PIB. Look for pics next week. Here are some pics from the last week -

Brayden waking his sleeping dad one morning:



I love putting Curran's hair in pigtails. Doesn't she look like she's five in this pic?



Since Aunt Mol's dreamboat boyfriend went off to business school, we've seen a lot more of her. Brayden loves her. Curran loves no one. Just kidding. Here's Brayden taking Aunt Mol and Curran for a ride:

Quote of the Day

Brayden - "Mom, I like Daddy better because he has a penis and I have a penis. You don't have a penis."

He's got me there. Looks like Dad wins this one.

Boaters World

We are now boat owners. This was somewhat of a sudden purchase. We had a great weekend on the 7th. Apparently this inspired Steve to start looking for a boat. We got back from Catawba on Monday and he already had appointments set up that night to look at boats. We found the one we went with on Wednesday.







We didn't need a cabin, we wanted something that was easily "beached" or anchored. We also wanted something that could pull a water skiier or a tube. It sits 7 people, which was important since Mr. Social Director always has to have a full house. It also has all these hidden cabinets/coolers for ice and fish or ice and bevies. It will also fit in our garage. We got it for a really good price and are very happy with it!!

Sound too good to be true? Well it is. The guy who sold us the boat told us that it hadn't been used in 3 years. He also said he knew there was gas in it that was quite old. Since we know nothing about boats we thought that would not be a problem. Turned out it was. So we had the marina at Catawba siphon out the old gas and put new gas in. They tested both engines and told us they were working great and we were free to go have lots of fun on Lake Erie.

So out we go - me, Steve, Brayden, Curran, Steve's cousin Brian, and my dad. It becomes evident pretty quickly that something is wrong with the boat. One engine is working, but the other engine is having trouble. Then, right in front of the Miller Ferry Boat Dock we lose all power. All power. We are floating out there like ducks, and of course, one of the Miller Ferries is pulling into dock. I almost fainted. Brayden was screaming the whole time because the boat was too loud, now that the engine is dead he's screaming because we have a ferry the size of a Kohl's bearing down on us.



Luckily we got the engine started and made it back to shore. The boat is back at the marina in the shop. The wisdom from those in the boat know is that it just needs fine tuned, that it's nothing major. Fingers crossed. We aren't going up this weekend, so they have 2 weeks to work on it.

But I am very excited. We got a small taste of what it will be like with a boat and its very fun. There are hidden beaches just for boaters to hang out and we can take day trips over to the island which for me, is the best part.

Back From the Beach

We had the most wonderful weekend at Catawba. It was so warm and sunny, just like summer is supposed to be. We spent Sunday morning at Gem Beach and the afternon (after naptime) at "boaters beach" near East Harbor State Park. It's called boaters beach because it's really only accessible by a boat. Unless of course, you're Steve and think it's a great idea to park the car, then ride our bikes to the beach. It's a mile and a half away.

So picture this. Steve is pulling in his bike trailer the following - Braydo, lawn chairs, a cooler of beer, towels, beach toys, and other miscellaneous beach stuff. I have Curran in the baby seat behind me. I was ready to quit about half way there. I have no idea how Steve did it. It was about 90 degrees and the trail is not paved. But we made it!

Today started my new career as a stay at home mom. I am going to try as hard as I can to make the very best of it. I'm going to work on really spending quality time with the kids and doing lots of fun outings. We'll see where this takes me, maybe I'll grow to really enjoy not working. Naptime definitely rocks. See pics from our fun weekend below :)


Braydo on Gem Beach


I love when they have these little moments together




Cheese






All the kids on boaters beach


Curran towing the raft on boaters beach


Braydo and dad in the bounce house. Doen't Brayden look just like me?


Remember this post with Curran and the traffic cone? Today she was looking through it saying "I see you". Here's what I saw when I looked in the other end.

Sensible Sunning?

So I have struggling lately with attempting to figure out the most responsible way to get a lovely summer glow. I believe, with 100% certainty that EVERYONE looks 5x better when they are tan. No question. But I definitely don't want skin cancer, so what's a girl to do?

I tried the spray-tan, but it's really expensive and only lasts about 3 days. Self tanning creams are OK, but I really don't have the patience nor the skill to apply it to all exposed parts. Face and chest yes. Legs and arms no. Those elbows and knees get tricky. So I resorted to the old standby - the tanning bed. I bought a package about 2 weeks ago.

I saw this article on HuffingtonPost.com about Sarah Palin and her purchase of a tanning bed for the governor's mansion and honestly thought, well she's a responsible public servant with throngs of children, surely it can't be all that bad. I am obviously grasping at straws. Then I saw this article and almost died. Mustard gas? Isn't that what we thought the 9/11 terrorists were going to disperse with crop dusters? Arsenic? Are you serious?