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So I finally caved in and bought a double stroller! I don’t know why I didn’t get one sooner. I love walking with the kids, especially now when the weather is so nice. For awhile I put Miles in our single stroller and Savanna sat on top (like on the cup holder area!). It was uncomfortable for her plus is was kind of dangerous! Anyway, after shopping around a lot I chose the Evenflow Take Me Too. I love it! It actually folds up very nicely and fits in our front closet for storage and into the trunk of my car. It was $109.98 (at walmart). It’s definitely not the highest quality one I could have bought but I think it will last just long enough until Savanna decides she is too big for a stroller anyway. I kind of feel like I’m pushing the wagon train when we’re out and it is a little harder to maneuver than the old one, but it is really fun!

The kids’ school had their fall festival on the 19th.  Marissa wanted to ride the horses, so we got in line for that.  Jonathan complained that he didn’t want to ride the horses, he wanted to go into the bounce house.  We told him that we would ride horses first and then walk over there.  Then, however, Marissa’s attention was drawn toward the bounce house.  “I want to go over there!” said Marissa.  We questioned her several times about doing this because last year she left the Fall Festival in tears because she hadn’t had a chance to ride the horses.  We finally said okay and started walking toward the bounce house.  “But I want to ride the horses,” said Jonathan.  Yeah…this is what it’s like to have kids.  So we split up.  The kids also had a good time eating donuts off a string and riding around in golf carts with their teachers.

We put Brendan in his blow-up tub to help him sit up.  It keeps all of his toys close to him, and he can’t tip over and hurt himself.  A few days ago, he fell asleep in it in front of the TV with Jonathan and Marissa.

So, a few weeks ago I started to feel bad about myself.  I am not young and tiny any more.  My hair is way thin and I have had three kids.  I have seven pounds to go before I have lost the weight from Brendan.  Anyway…I needed a change.  So, I decided to get hilights in my hair.  This is something I have NEVER done before and this was pretty scary for me.  I feel like a fish out of water when I go to a salon.  I feel like they are all plotting to ruin me…or laughing at me…one or the other.  Here are my before and after pictures.  I really like my hilights…now I just have to figure out how to do my hair.

Marissa and Adam chose a Mickey outfit for Brendan from the Disney Store awhile back.  I put him in it and took some pictures outside.  He is so interested in the grass.  He grabs at it and you can tell he is thinking so hard.  He does the same thing with his red hair.  He grabs it very carefully on the top of his head and sits and thinks.

Jonathan’s school was campaigning for office last week.  I had come to his school to take pictures while the kids gave their speeches.  At breakfast the next morning, I asked Jonathan whom he was going to vote for.  He of course said, “I don’t know.”  Marissa turned and said, “Maybe you’ll win, Jonathan.”  I explained that Jonathan was not running this year…only 4th, 5th, and 6th graders could run.  “Perhaps he’ll run next year if he wants to, though.”  She nodded and turned to Jonathan.  “I’ll bet you’ll win too…”  As a mother I thought, well what a nice thing to say.  Then she finished her sentence with, “…cause you’re a REALLY fast runner.”  Hmmmm…a little different meaning to the word “run.”

A few weeks ago it began to pour rain outside our home.  Marissa ran into our bedroom and begged to be able to go outside and “play in the rain.”  Of course neither Adam or I really wanted to go stand out in the rain so that she could get all wet.  But, I finally grabbed the camera and stood on the dry porch to watch her literally dance in the rain.  She was having such a good time.  She washed the car…with her hands, ran around in the grass, and even tried to drink the falling rain.  As a mother, I should have stopped her from drinking the water as it dripped off of the house.  But, it was too much fun to watch her.  She was pure joy.

This was her face when it was time to go in because the rain had stopped.

My bestest childhood friend, Erin.

Erin and I go way back to the 3rd grade. Like most childhood friends, we drifted apart in High School, but we were both thrilled to reconnect after nearly 10 years. I caught up with her just in time to attend her wedding last Sept. Her Mom lives nearby in New Jersey and I had the chance to meet her for lunch this past Thursday. She was like a second Mom to me back then, so it was so good to see her again. Erin also attended the wedding and we were able to catch up on life and enjoy time away from our busy lives.

Even more friends from H.S days. We got manicures and pedicures for the big day.

Mandy, me, Erin & Jessica

My camera broke when we were getting our hair done (drink exploded in purse) so I’m waiting for pictures from the wedding/recpetion to be sent to me so I can post them.

Last November we took advantage of a balance transfer offer from one of Erica’s credit cards. It gave us 2.99% until the balance was paid off, so it made great sense. We wrote a check for several thousand dollars and took it to our credit union with my paycheck and a check from Erica’s mom paying her for letting out her dogs while her mom was at work. A few days later, the balance transfer check and the check from Erica’s mom were returned and marked “Refer to maker.” I talked with the credit union to see if I could get any more info and they didn’t know what had happened. We ended up doing the balance transfer another way, so that worked out ok, but Erica’s mom was really concerned about why her check came back. She contacted her bank and they said it had never tried to clear her account.

Well, 10 months later, with some surprise help from the bookkeeper here at Fibernet, we’ve put together the puzzle. All the checks I deposited that day showed up at Fibernet’s bank. My paycheck was debited normally from Fibernet’s account, but the other two checks were somehow recorded as deposits made by Erica. The mistake was later corrected and the checks were sent back to our Credit Union marked “Refer to Maker.” All I can guess is that the teller who took our checks clipped them all together with my paycheck on top and they all went to Fibernet’s bank instead of going to the banks they were actually drawn from. That “Refer to Maker” stamp was the real issue, of course. If it had been “Incorrectly Routed for Payment” or something else a little more descriptive, then the mistake would have been obvious!

Jordan is taking over Mommy duty while I attend a wedding in Nebraska this weekend. I’ll be gone for 3 days. Woohoo! I have never been away from the kids this long. In fact, since Dec 17th, 2003, I’ve never been alone for more than a few hours at a time. Wait, that’s a lie. Jordan and I did go on a 8 day cruise alone; thanks Mom! While I’m so excited to have some time alone, I’m afraid that I’m going to be lousy at it. It’s really hard to deprogram out of mommy mode. I’ll try to supress the urge to hold all the crying babies on the plane and just put on my headphones and enjoy the inflight movie (for once!). I’m not worried about Jordan with the kids at all. I think he will be suprised just how chaotic things can get, but he’s so calm under fire that in all honesty I think he’ll manage it even better than I do….sigh.