Seeing A Whole New World

Some of the things Lucy said upon seeing the world...

"Mom, I see lots of trees over there.  Lots of trees."

"There are a lot of cars. I see a lot of cars on the road."

"I can see so far, really far...I can see so far."

"Oran, Do you see all the lights(referring to the traffic lights)?" Oran gives her a look, unsure why she is acting so excited.

"Dad, why do you have so many holes on your nose."

"I have a freckle on my neck."

She is exploring a whole new world. 

Just the Other Day

Do you ever wake up and try and remember what day it is?  This year is passing much too quickly.  I have found myself too many times trying to remember what month we are in.  To me it seems as if everything just happened the other day. 

The other day Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Aaron came to visit.  We rented a house on the beach for a few days.  We collected lots of fun shells.  It was a bit chilly for playing in the ocean for everyone except Oran.  Oran sees the ocean and just cant help but end up in it.  I wish I would have remembered he had my cell phone in his pocket.  Grandma played Polly's lots and lots with Lucy.  I am sad we didn't take any pictures.

The other day Nana, Grandpa and Uncle Will came to visit.  We explored downtown and went on a mice hunt.  There are nine, small, bronze mice hiding along Main Street.  We found all but one. 

The other day we once again became a two car family.  After years of getting by with one car Dan got his own car.  A BMW convertible. 

The other day after having his new car for less than two weeks a co working with a big truck, with mud tires ran over it in the parking lot.  The car had to be towed and had $6000 worth of damage.

The other day we got a rental car to use while Dan's car was in the shop.  A Nissan Armada.  I fell in love with the Empanada as Lucy called it.  We ended up having it for 5 weeks.  In that five weeks we put over 4,000 miles on it.  It was really hard giving it back.  I wish it got better gas mileage so there would be a chance of owning one someday.  I can always dream.

The other day we moved out of our furnished apartment.  Our house has not sold yet so we thought it best to rent.  I love having our own beds again.  I love our little place; it is perfect.

The other day Dan ran the Indianapolis Mini Marathon.  He did it!  We are so proud of him.  It gave him a good feel of what to work on before the next one. 

The other day we registered Oran for kindergarten.  It is hard to believe he will be in school this fall.  I know he is ready.  I remember holding him when he was a month or so old thinking he would be small forever.  Time has gone by so fast.

The other day Dan and I celebrated 8 years of marriage.  I love him more today than I ever have.  I think back at all of our adventures these past years and in so many ways we are different but yet we are the same. 

The other day we went to a little town memorial day festival.  Dan ran in another 5K.  Oran and Lucy loved all of the bounce houses.  We all enjoyed watching the hot air balloons. 

Bullseye

One afternoon before we moved and life got a little crazy, Oran and Lucy were playing.  I hear lots of yelling and go to investigate.  They were playing as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story.  I listen from the hall to try and figure out what is going on.  It does not take long to realize that they are fighting over who gets to ride on Bullseye, the horse.  We do not actually have a Bullseye; it is an imaginary Bullseye they are fighting over.  I figure this will be an easy spat to resolve.  I walk in the room.  Jessie tells me that Woody won't let her ride on Bullseye.  Excitedly, I point to a corner and say look there is another Bullseye.  Jessie runs over and exams the new Bullseye.  She then exclaims that this Bullseye is not good.  She wants the real Bullseye.  I leave the room.  I hear them continue to fight over the real Bullseye.  I text my sister for advice.  She suggests putting Bullseye in timeout.  Perfect.  I go back in the room and grab Bullseye's reign and lead him into timeout.  I put him in my bedroom closet and close the door (the door sticks making it impossible for the kids to open).  I explain to Jessie and Woody that Bullseye has to be in timeout for a little bit.  The day goes on and I forget about Bullseye.  That evening I am putting some clothes away.  I open the closet and Lucy comes running in my room and into the closet.  With her arms outstretched she wraps them around an imaginary horse and exclaims, "Bullseye!  I missed you!" 
I never thought as a parent I would have to put an imaginary horse in timeout.  Kids!

Little Smurfette

Thanks Aunt Rigel for introducing Lucy to such a fun show.  She came out of her room the other morning with a blue face.  I asked her what was going on.  Lucy looked at me and said, "Look at my blue face.  Look at my gold hair.  I am Smurfette."

Wrapping up 2011 (a really long post)

Catching up on the events of our Fall.

Oran and Lucy on their first day of preschool.  Lucy is so excited to finally get to go.   I love watching them make friends and love hearing them talk about their days.

Lucy loves to dance!  We are hoping to find a ballet class for her soon.

Just being silly. 

Exploring at Grandma's and Grandpa's house.  Enjoying the warm fall day.

Eating Apple Fritters at the pumpkin patch.

Oran found his pumpkin.

Lucy is a little stressed out over the slim pickings.  This is what happens when we wait until the weekend before Halloween to visit the pumpkin patch.

She found one.  Not a pumpkin but it is cute, little and bumpy!

This is where the pictures end.  November and December were busy months for us and not just in the holiday kind of way.

Dan is starting 2012 50 pounds lighter!  This past year he started running.  He ran his first 5K in the end of October and his second in November.  He has plans of running a mini marathon this Spring.

In December, Dan and I went to Texas where Dan became a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.  What this means is no more studying and no more exams. Hooray!!!  It is a pretty big deal to us!

Maybe because Dan had a little more time or maybe because a warmer climate sounded nice; we accepted a new job in South Carolina.  So, the holidays this year were a bit of a whirlwind between getting the house ready and on the market and wanting to spend as much time with family before we moved farther away.

Right now we have been in South Carolina for three weeks.  The weather has been beautiful.  We are hoping our home sells quickly so we can find a more permanent place.  (Having all of our own belongings would be nice too.) We are happy.  We are excited for all the new adventures of 2012!

Sprinklers, Popsicles, Pools...Summer

I am still in denial that Summer is over.  I love Fall but this year I have been sad to see Summer go.  We had such a fun summer.  We were able to spend a lot of time with family and friends.
Our Summer in pictures:

 This was a day when Lucy was pretending to be Oran. 

Lucy with Trev one of our favorite friends.  We were sad his family moved away  this summer.

Water was a great entertainer this summer.  We also made several trips to the zoo.

 Lucy with her biggest Rooooaar!

 Wrestling the Crocodile

 Riding the train

 The Giraffes are a favorite.  The kids love feeding them crackers.

Lucy coloring my flowers.  She said they needed to be rainbow.

Oran and Lucy love to paint, color, cut, glue and play with play dough.

 A lot of summer afternoons I would find Lucy taking a little nap.  I should also note that this is Lucy's favorite shirt.  I really don't know why.

Plumbing 101

Yesterday, while making dinner my kitchen sink stopped draining. I turned on the garbage disposal thinking that might do the trick. It did a great job of moving the water to the other sink. When Dan came home he helped me plunge the sinks but there was no change.
Dan had to leave and I should have put the kids to bed but I just couldn't leave the sink alone. For some reason it was driving me crazy.
I was talking to one of my younger sisters who seemed to know quite a bit about plumbing. I took her advice and drained the sink by loosening the trap. I took the whole trap off and didn't see any kind of clog. I did realize how dirty the inside of the pipe looked. I couldn't help but clean it all out. Unsure of what to try next I took all of the pipes out from under the sink and cleaned them. I put them all back together and tried the water. It still wasn't moving the water through. I consulted my dad and a friend who suggested using something to stick back in the pipe behind the wall. I once again drained out all the water and took out the pipes. I used a long plastic, spiky stick that I use to clean out the other drains and then put the pipes all back. Still clogged. I drained the water and again took all the pipes out and this time used a metal coat hanger with a hook on the end to reach back inside the wall. I still didn't find anything but put the pipes back hoping it would work. No luck.
I head upstairs to check on the kids. I hear water and a little girl laughing. I peek my head around the corner as she dumps another cup of water in the hallway floor. She says, "It's a pool, I'm pretending." Nice. I get her in bed, and sop up the water.
Today, I called a plumber!