Life as "normal"

My inlaws had the boys since Wednesday evening and they brought them back last night. My "Mommy-hood" has returned. Payton has an intestinal bug and so he couldn't go to school today. Maxwell is so happy to see me that he won't leave my side. I've been doing laundry all day and trying to keep everyone happy. I love my boys, but I sure didn't miss wiping noses and butts!

But, living in my newly updated home is really nice! I love my sink and it's so NICE to have kitchen cabinet doors and not have to look at everything all the time. And the ceiling fan...ah. Such a nice update from the one that was there!

Maxwell is napping and P is watching a movie. I'm finally getting to lunch (2:30pm). I'd like to go to the Y tonight, but with bugs going around our house I don't want to contaminate anyone else. I'm sure we'd get it back within a week or two anyway.

Hopefully everyone is healthy tomorrow!! It's opening day at Erma's Frozen Custard!!! WOOHOO!!

I DID IT!!!

I busted through! At the gym this morning, I was able to do a mile in less than 13 minutes! WOOHOO!! I've been working on it the last few weeks and I finally did it. That was my first "mini goal".

Next Goals:

Lose 5 lbs by May 1st

Run mile in 12 minutes by June 1st

Work Day Two

We actually got up on time yesterday! That was a great start. We worked on the kitchen cabinets, painted around the doors and molding in the hallway, painted the ceiling in all the main rooms, painted the ceiling in the laundry room, hung a ceiling fan and then finished the kitchen sink. VERY productive! My car is loaded with donations to take the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. They take donations and then sell or give them to homeowners.

After we finished our cleanup from all our projects, we met up with one of Matt's friends, Dave, and his wife, Rebecca. It was our first time all metting each other, and we had a great time. We went to Cheeseburger in Paradise and ran into a friend of mine, Jessica. She had me get a great drink, a Pomegrante Rum Mojito. SO yummy. Then after we were seated, I ordered another Mojito in Pinana Colada. Ohhhhh. Delicious! We had a great meal and then the guys wanted to go see Semi-Pro with Will Ferrell. It was funny, but not great. But the guys liked it. Either way, it was fun to hang out with some of Matt's friends for a change.

Today, I'm finishing up a few details here and there. I need to run an errand or five and then I'm going shopping this afternoon with a friend. Tomorrow I hope to squeeze in some gym time between church and grocery shopping before the boys come home tomorrow around 7pm. By the time they come home, it'll be four full days since I've seen them. I miss them so much. I wonder if Maxwell will still want to nurse or if he'll just give it up. He's 15 months now, so anything is possible!

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the sunshine if you can!

Work Day One

Matt and I slept in this morning, so we got a late start on our projects, but really...a chance to sleep in until 11am without the kids and no where to be! Why WOULDN'T we sleep in?

But we got up and moving pretty quick. We were at Lowes and spent 1.5 hours there buying what we needed. We came home and got straight to work. I painted half of our kitchen cabinet doors that were still remaining to be painted. Then we started work on our kitchen sink. We removed the entire sink and replaced it with a new one with a new faucet! I'm so excited! It looks great, but it took about 4 hours total. We also removed the old caulk around the kitchen counters and I recaulked. It looks much fresher.

Somewhere in my day, I also managed to paint the bathroom ceiling. I'm SO glad that's done. I've been waiting to get it done for so long. It needs touched up a bit in a place or two, but we have a lot of painting to be done tomorrow, so I'll work on it then.

Matt and I worked side-by-side almost all day without any issue or argument. It was so nice. We listened to music on the Comcast Music channels and tried to name the artist and title of the song without looking. We kept track of points for awhile, but then it just became fun.

Tomorrow, we're need to finish a few details on the sink, paint a lot and then I think we'll go out to dinner together. Hopefully we can make it through tomorrow, too, without any disagreements about how to get things done.

Trip to Ohio (LONG blog!!!)

Whew!!!! I'm home and EXHAUSTED! This has to be my most exhausting trip to Ohio yet. With both Payton AND Maxwell on the move and needing attention, I didn't get near as much "downtime" as I usually do at my parents' house. But it was a great trip!

We drove in on Saturday and set up the guest rooms and got all the accommodations set up. That night, all of the adults went out for dinner for my "baby" brother's 27th birthday. My mom was GREAT and found an awesome sitter from her church that came over and just sat with the boys while they slept. We went out to Buca Di Beppo, a family style Italian place. It was great food and lots of fun. All my brothers were there, which is rare.

My brother took this picture of Matt and I. I see in my cheeks that I'm losing weight and Matt looks good too! Not sure why his cheeks are so red...he wasn't even drinking.

Then, Easter Sunday, we all got up, got dressed for church and let the boys find their baskets. Payton loved finding his basket. We all went to my childhood church where my parents still go and then came home to hunt Easter Eggs and have dinner. Payton loved hunting eggs so much that he asked different family members to hid them again. He did this five times! Unfortunately, Matt had to come home Sunday night to return to work on Monday.

Monday, we met my brother and sister in law for breakfast at Panera and then went shopping. The rest of the afternoon, we just hung around the house.

Tuesday, we decided to take the boys to the Cleveland Children's Museum. The building is small, and it was spring break for most schools in the area, so things were CRAZY, but the boys had a blast none-the-less. There are several permanent exhibits; water area, climbing area, big red barn (for under 4 yrs old), and a community area that is a store, house, hospital, post office and bus station. Then they have an exhibit that changes quarterly. Right now it's about the Galapagos Islands Tortoise. It was really cool! Maxwell had never been in the sand before and he wasn't sure at first, but within five minutes he warmed up to it.

Today, Wednesday, I took the boys to my inlaws house for the rest of the week so that Matt and I can do some serious work on our house. We have a lot of "little things" that need to be attended to before we start the Spring work outside.

If you finished reading this, THANKS! I hope you all had as great an Easter as we did. And I hope you all enjoyed the pictures.

Going "Home"

For the holiday weekend and spring break, my boys and I are currently at my childhood hometown visiting my parents. We'll be here for five days total, which is plenty and not enough at the same time. The town has changed over the last 10 years since I moved out and moved on, but the feelings are still here. And the memories.

Yesterday, I was driving around town and I passed my elementary school. Then the place I had my first job. I passed the pool where I used to spend my summers. I passed the lake I used to skinny dip in. I passed the restaurants where we would go after football games. And even when I got home, the memories kept coming.

The fights with my brothers...and my parents. Sneaking out at night. Playing card games around the dining room table. Birthday parties. Pool Parties. Girl talks with my mom late at night. I'm glad that I can come back to these memories. I wouldn't trade them in for anything. I hope that my boys have such fond memories of their childhods when they grow up.