Travel

It seems like forever we have been planning this trip to see Bryan's grandparents and here I am sitting in their house typing away. We are all sitting around, talking while I upload pictures.

Being that I am new to this step mom thing, I did not realize just how many bags and stuff we had to take.  It looked like we were going away for a month. Two car seats, a double stroller, diapers, wipes, Pull Ups, a potty seat, clothes, shorts, jeans, old shoes, Crocs, swimsuits, life vests, etc. Holy cow a lot of bags!

I was a bit worried about traveling with the kiddos, but Bryan and I did great. We had it down to a science and made it through security without a problem. We were so happy to have the TV's on the plane for the boys and were they inetrested in them? For about 30 minutes and that was about it. Overall they did really well.

When we got to Philly we got our 4,000 pieces of luggage super fast and we went on the shuttle bus to get the car. Do you know what they gave Bryan?  One of my favorite things on the planet in Philly: soft pretzels. Bryan does not look happy here but I was thrilled. So were the boys!

We are rolling in a new Town and Country Mini Van. Although I am not one for mini vans, this one is pretty awesome with two kids and a ton of luggage. It has two DVD screens so the boys were entertained on the way to Bridgeton. Torrin resisted sleeping all day until we almost arrived at the "farm."

Speaking of sleep, I am exhausted so I am off to bed. I will write more tomorrow.

Headaches

I have not written as I have had a mongo headache for a few days now. We had a crazy weekend complete with Torrin's 3rd birthday party. The bounce house took up the entire backyard:

Torrin had no idea we got the bounce house so here is him pointing to it saying LOOK!

So many people came, so much food was eaten. It was insane but fun. I love that so many people came and love Torrin. It is nice to know I have a lot of amazing people surrounding me even more so now that Bryan and the boys are in my life.

Denise and the boys came down from Ft. Collins so that was nice. I love this picture of Denise and Torrin. He ADORES her.

He never smiles in pictures with me, so it bums me out that he smiled for her. Well, she is pretty cool and an amazing soon to be aunt to the boys. They boys were also so excited that they brought their dog Sophie down. Torrin loves Sophie. Here is Torrin waiting to blow out his candle that kept going out because of the wind:

Papa was there and I love this picture of us:

Bryans friend Vinnie (or as Torrin calls him, Binnie) brought his Harley and took the kids for a ride. I also got my first ride on a Harley.

That of course is Camden, not me...

More fun was had in the bounce house. I love this picture of my niece and my friend's kiddos. It looks like they are in a band.

We had a fun weekend! The next day we saw Shrek Ever After and then we went to two BBQ's on Memorial Day as well as the pool!  I am so not a fan of heat but it is here, and apparently here to stay!

Dreams, Heat and Randomness

This post is going to be random, as usual:

I have been having a lot of weird dreams lately, and they are very vivid. The other night I had a dream I went to some creepy house in Denver and then at the end of it, Tom Selleck gave me roses with diamond earrings in them. Bryan was so jealous that he punched Tom. Why was I dreaming about Tom Selleck?  Then last night I had a dream I went to my parents house and they remodeled it really funky. They did not recognize me at first and then when my mom called to my dad to come upstairs, my Dad has a full on black creepy mustache. Why am I dreaming about men with mustaches?!

It is over 90 degrees out. I hate heat. Not nearly as much as humidity. Most people live for the summer. I dread it and long for the fall and jackets and sweaters. I am pasty white but I am trying to embrace the inner and outer Casper. I am white, very white, I blind people, but that is who I am. I also hate open toed shoes. I hate my toes. My big toenails do not grow and my nails are stubby. Not an attractive look if I say so myself.  I went to look for some new shoes today as the black dressy but sort of casual ones I wear are destroyed. I went to Off Broadway shoes and I am SO thankful I can't stand things between my toes, otherwise I would buy a ton of flip flops. What I am annoyed at is I am tall and I have big feet, so WHY must the 10 and 11's be on the bottom of the shelves? It hurts me to bend down to get them. Reverse the order. Seriously.

Time to go pick up the pizza. YUM!

Clothes

Bryan is out with some guy who he just met looking at a condo. His name is Scott so if he does not come home, that is all I have to go on. "He left with a guy named Scott. Oh, and he kind of looks like Kenny Loggins but with a Bluetooth. Not kidding." I watch way too many crime shows.

I am on the hunt for the perfect engagement picture dress. I want something blue or pink and I thought I found it via Lands End. The hard thing about my shape is it is very hard to find something that works. I have hips and barely a chest so it stinks, especially when ordering clothes online. So I find two dresses that I love, and think will work as they are not fitted through the hips-they are empire waist (I HATE when people say umpire or um-peer) Anyway, I ordered two dresses and three swimsuits. One of the swimsuit bottoms was fabu but Bryan said it looks like a 50 year old would wear it (it was a skirt but I like it). The dresses were HUGE so I sent it all back. I ordered the dresses in a smaller size, and they came today. Still so huge. I have never been a size Small in a dress, and apparently their clothes must run big. I am so bummed because they are sold out of the smaller sizes I need and Bryan loved the blue dress. So did I. Sadness. If you want to feel skinny, order clothes from Land's End.

So something else random:  I got an email that I got a free subscription to Trailer Life magazine. Since we are selling our house I wondered if it is a sign to move to a double wide. I googled it and apparently it is for people who have RV's-which of course we do not have. I did not accept the subscription, although I would love to travel in an RV if someone else drove while I slept. 

Happy Birthday Torrin

Torrin is 3 today! Happy Birthday buddy! I am glad you at least ate the frosting off the cake Daddy and I made for you!

Whirlwind Week

When the topic of us possibly having a child together (we have Torrin and Camden but I of course did not give birth to them) we realized we probably would need to move. Although we have 5 bedrooms, 3 are on the top level, one on the main level and one in the finished basement. Really does not work when/if a bambino arrives. I would be fine putting it on the main level, but a part of it makes me a little uneasy. I was about to start having the craft room built when we started to wonder if it really makes sense for us to stay here. I prefer for us to pick out a house together since this is his place, but again, does it make sense? Are we going to get what we need for this house? We chatted about it, met with a realtor and decided we would put it on the market soon. On Tuesday I came home from the gym and there was a for sale sign in the front yard. I guess we are really doing this. We looked for houses online and came across one we were in love with. I will not post any links here for the fear Google would link to this site and people dont want to hear what sucks about their houses....

On Wednesday we set up a showing before Camden's soccer game. The house is in the neighborhood we want (my brother's which is .25 of a mile down the street but in a much lower tax area), the pool was literally right over the backyard fence, it was on a cul de sac and we thought it was amazing in pictures. Well, pictures can be deceiving. There was a lot of wasted space, the floor was destroyed, the layout was totally random, and it was just weird. There was Jesus stuff all over which I would take down personally (sorry God) because it was just too much. One bedroom had this Harry Potter like castle brick thing painted on the wall and the girls room was super pink. Then the weird thing was the master bedroom was all decked out in animal print. I think it was a leopard or something. Black leather couch, leaopard print comforter, leopard towels, etc. Kind of weird since it looked like a porno could be filmed in there but church would happen downstairs. So bizzare. I know that is all their decorating but it was just weird. Bryan was sure we would love it, but we did not. We made a list of other houses and planned for 7 showings on Saturday.

As part of our realtors services, she has a stager come and tell us what we need to do to sell. I watch a lot of HGTV so I was certain what we already needed to do. Hide the massive amount of toys, remove all the stuff from the fridge, clear the counters, etc. Everything she told us, I knew, so it was not really worth it. The hard thing for us is as she was going through she pointed out all the fabulous things about the house. The high ceilings, the office on a completely different level, the 5 bedrooms, the finished basement, the ceilings, the deck, etc. After she left we thought, "Shoot, do we move?!" We said we were going to take the sign down but then we decided to keep our showings and see what is out there.

We began at 12 and the first house was ok. I did not get a super great feeling about it. The second one we went into is right across the street from the school which would be fabulous and has 4 bedrooms upstairs. We walked in and it was painted kind of a peach/orange color all over. You can tell the guy is a smoker, and of course I wonder Why are these people selling? The one closet was empty and the other closet was full of mens clothing. I think she left him. Yep, I am going with that. The gross thing was there was cat poop and pee in the laundry room. Ick. Clean it up. Oh, and the vents were filthy. Clean it up if you are trying to sell it. Then we went to a house my mom found online. I was in love with it online and I loved it even more when we went there. I wanted to move right it. Sad thing is there were two bedrooms on the top level, master was on the main level and the basement was awesome. Media room, eating area, awesome playroom, great bedroom, office, etc. Problem being that it was a very small 2 car garage that you could not get 2 cars in unless you had a Yugo or a SmartCar. Bryan has to have a 3 car garage and is not willing to budge on that. Did I mention I loved this house though? It had a loft and an AMAZING backyard. Built in grill with counter tops and everything. I was in mad love. I loved it. Do you get that I loved it? I envy the person that gets that house.

I am trying to remember the other houses. There was one that I really liked-it was a tri level, nicely decorated, etc. Then there was another we thought we would love, and although it was nice, it was somewhat random. We went to another house that had 4 bedrooms on the top level, and the main floor had a study. The backyard was fabulous and Bryan loved the house. I did not get a crazy love feeling like I wanted to, although it was nice. I think it is hard when I see other people's things. I know houses sell better with stuff in them but it is so much easier for me to see something with nothing in it. We went to another house that just gave me a weird feeling. I love our realtor as she said it did not give her warm fuzzies either. It creeped me out. Our last house was one where we liked the floorplan but the backyard was so tiny. Ridiculously tiny. Not even worth it. We liked the layout a lot, but not the backyard nor the neighborhood.

When we got home, we talked a lot and we were really struggling with do we or do we not keep the house up for sale. Our realtor is doing so much and she thinks she can get asking price for this house. I am not so sure. Before she takes a ton of pictures, pays someone, does all the brochures, etc. we needed to make a decision. We have flip flopped all day. We agreed to keep it on the market for 3 months and see what happens. The hard thing is we would be downsizing. There is no point in us moving to another 3 bedroom on one level house. This house is large, and what we are looking at is much smaller with no finished basements. We went to dinner with my parents and asked my Dad his opinion. It confused us, but he did say to see what kind of traffic we get and take it from there. We went to Wal Mart after dinner to get stuff to make Torrin a cake and as we were walking Bryan said lets take it off the market. We went back and forth again, and then agreed 3 months and see what happens. We came home, I used the Magic Eraser on so much stuff (LOVE them), we got rid of a ton of toys, there are none in the family room which looks SO much better, we moved the ottoman from the entry way, I moved all my craft stuff into the storage room, etc. It looks so clean. So we will see what happens. If we wind up staying here, I am going to do my craft room, I really want to paint, I want curtains and plantation shutters. Of course that requires money that we do not have right now, but it would make it feel like my home. Just adding a few things my mom bought for us into the kitchen gave it a whole new feel. We also might move Bryan's office to the playroom, and the playroom to the office. We will see.

I am finally getting to know the neighbors, all of which are awesome. I even get invited to baby showers and Bunco now. I have never had that before and it is nice, so it is hard to think of us moving now. Maybe no one will make an offer. Maybe someone will and we will like it, and have to take it. Time will tell.

Torrin

The boys are home sick again. Boo! Both have fevers but other than that, they are the same kiddos. This morning we were sitting having breakfast and Camden pointed out that I had a red thing on my nose. I said I know, it is my sunburn. He told me I should wear sunscreen. I told him I do, but I missed my nose last weekend. Then he said, "This summer you need to use a lot of sunscreen. Maybe a whole bottle." Torrin looked at him and said, "That's right Camden!" He sounded like an old man but it was so funny!

Just now we started a Disney movie and the castle was in the beginning. I told Torrin we are going there in a few months. He said he knows and he is getting married there. I asked, "Who are you getting married to?" He said, "Dani!" Then he asked, "Are you just so happy?" I can't believe he is 2. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! Today is my first unofficial Mother's Day. Next year will be the real one.

Last night my parents came over and our original plan was to go to dinner. The boys got dressed up for Nana and Papa, took a bath all to look nice for them. Well, we wound up ordering pizza instead. It was still a great night. A loud one, but nice. Camden and Torrin are in LOVE with Nana and Papa. Torrin was very upset when Nana left. He needed one more kiss. Camden had to run out and give her a hug. I love that they love them.

Here are some pics of Nana opening her present from the boys.

The boys all made me a card. When Bryan asked Torrin what he wanted to say, it was "Mama's and Zoos!

Camden's card:

He was proud that he used punches and put a color behind another color. Bryan made me a card but I think he would be embarrassed for me to show it even though he never reads this.

After Nana and Papa left, we sat on the couch and watched some of a movie. Torrin looked at us and said, "Do you like my work shirt?"  He was wearing a collared shirt like Bryan wears to work, so it was very cute. Sometimes he can be so adorable.

When I was putting Camden to bed last night, he told me he had something for me. Here is what he gave me:

Isn't that a beautiful spider AND a lovely sunburn? More on that later. Camden wanted me to wear it all day.

This morning I was asleep in the bed and I feel something on my face. It was the spider ring. It scared me so bad! He asked me why I was not wearing it. Um, I am sleeping.

After we got up, they went and got me a donut. Wahoo! I love donuts and since not being in NJ, I have donut withdrawals. Probably better for my butt anyway.

Yes, I eat on a Spongebob place mat. The boys have Transformers. I opted for Spongebob.

After the donuts, as soon as I put a new diaper on Torrin, he pooped. He said he wanted me to change him, and Camden said, "She is NOT going to change THAT. It is Mother's Day!" So funny.

Their mom came and got them at 10 am. Bryan asked me what I wanted to do today. I said look at model homes, and I was declined. Sadness. We are going to the Outback for an early dinner, and that is about it. Tonight we will watch a movie as I make birthday cards.

On another note, I joined forces with a friend and had a scrapbooking garage sale this weekend. It was on my brain for months and I was over looking at it sitting there. Seriously over it. I was swimming in stuff and I needed to get rid of it. I have an addiction to patterned paper so I just grabbed a stash and threw it in a bin. Gathered up my Sizzix machine, dies, stickers, etc, and packed them in the car. I had so much stuff in the car, I had to borrow my mom's mini van. I noticed men don't look at me when I am driving that car. Not that I want them to, but it is just different when driving a mini van.

Friday afternoon I unloaded the car at Chrissy's house and we were going to start at 6. Well, people came so we opened the doors. In 3.5 hours I made $1,000. I was shocked. Now I wonder if I should have priced things higher, but Chrissy kept saying price low, it IS a garage sale. It just kills me knowing how much I paid for the stuff, and now it is sold for dirt cheap. Yesterday it was dead. We were surprised as it was a Saturday but there was barely anyone. I still managed to make $400. I was short of my $500 goal. Chrissy was having the blow out sale today. Everything 50 cents. I thought I would not join her as it was Mother's Day but I could have done it with there. Then again, do I really want to sell things for 50 cents? Better than nothing I suppose. Oh well, nothing I can do now. I just need to be happy with what I made.

My mom and I are doing a garage sale on June 18th and 19th. I hope to sell more stuff there. We have a lot of things we need to get rid of. The hard thing is going to be lugging it all over there. We sold a lot on Craigs List but there are things not selling, so we need to get rid of them. Hopefully this garage sale will be a success! Any money is better than nothing. What doesn't sell, we should just donate and be done with it.

It was so cloudy yesterday and a little chilly so I did not think I would burn. I was wrong. Check out this hot look:

Another thing that happened this week was Bryan got tickets to a private screening of Iron Man 2. He bought an Audi and the Audi dealership called and gave him 4 tickets. He invited my nephews and my sister was kind enough to bring them down in rush hour traffic. It is great to hang out with them since we rarely do. While we were at the  movie, Bryan asked the boys to be in the wedding. Quinn and Ethan did not know what that meant but said yes. Ethan was planning on wearing a tux anyway, so it all works out. I love that it was Bryan's idea to ask them. Should be fun!  The movie was good, and it was nice to see Q and E.

Bryan and I are headed to our early bird dinner. Have a great day!

Weekend

This weekend we took a trip to see my sister and her family up in Ft. Collins. Bryan grew up there, and we both went to college there, so we love going up there. Could I write the word there any more times?

We were a bit nervous as Camden and Torrin had been having a rough week, so we were not sure how they would behave. We went to lunch at Chick Fil A with Denise, Quinn and Ethan and of course they boys had a great time with their future cousins. While at Chick Fil-A Torrin decided to lick the glass of the play area which made Quinn and Ethan laugh. Never a dull moment with Torrin!

After lunch we headed to City Park. It is so strange to see Quinn driving. How did he get to be 15? Anyway, we headed over to one of my favorite places ever: City Park!

All day the clouds were eerie looking, but nothing ever happened!  Bryan has talked about the train and the trolley forever, and I never knew about it even though I lived there for 4 years, and walked in the park all the time. The train was not supposed to open until today, but we drove by and saw that it was open. Bryan was thrilled. Denise went up to the counter and bought tickets. Bryan asked where his ticket was and Denise said she only bought tickets for the kids, and then asked, "Oh, did you want to ride too?"  Bryan just stood there, looking defeated, but he went up and got us a ticket. Denise has been on the train many times, and decided to pass, but we all got in line, handed in our tickets (a rip off at $2.50. The subway in NYC is cheaper!)and we were off. The kids wanted the caboose but there were teenagers already in there, so they headed to the animal cage. How appropriate!

Actually a good pic of Camden smiling, and not doing the angry mean face he likes to do lately:

Is it bad we take up an entire cart ourselves?

I am not sure what we are doing but we were having fun. Maybe because the children were all caged...

Do you like how I have my arms up in the air as if we are going super fast?

This picture is SO Torrin:

After the super fast train ride (it is opposite day) we went to the playground. Torrin wanted to swing, and the first time he went, it was on the big kid swing. Bad idea as he fell off and slammed his head on the ground. Oops. We decided to move to the child size area. Denise pushed him and let him kick her in the belly. He really enjoyed this as did the guy next to Denise:

Torrin loves Aunt Denise, and I love this picture:

The other children decided to play on the see saw:

Oh wait, that is my 31 year old fiance. Here are the kids (and some adults):

I love Ethan's face in this picture:

We think Torrin looks a little like Ethan. We even told Ethan to say it is his son. Sure, that means Torrin was born when Ethan was 9, but they look alike, and Torrin ADORES Ethan. He also adores Denise. While she was helping him try and go potty (as he "read" Popular Science and European Car as he sat) he said, "I love you." He tends to tell you that when he knows he should be going potty, but will only be going in his diaper as soon as you put one on him. When I looked over to the playground, I saw this. So cute! Aunt Denise is the BEST!

Once again they are getting looks from strange men. I still think it is adorable though!

After playing Bryan noticed the trolley was up and running. You would think he won the lottery when he found out. I loved his excitement.

You really don't go far on the trolley but the kids seemed to enjoy it. Here are some pics from our ride:

That is the view from where I was sitting. Bryan saw this picture and said, "Old man hand." The driver was not very friendly, but then he started waving to the people we passed. The funny thing is, everyone waves to you when you are on the trolley. We love Ft. Collins and Bryan LOVES the trolley as you can see:

More pics:

I wish Camden's eyes were open because I love that pic!

After the trolley we went over to the lake area. There was a giant frog that Torrin was not interested in getting his picture with:

Camden did not mind:

I love this pic of Denise and the boys:

More pics of the group:

Love this pic:

Silly mirrors:

We had a great day, then went to dinner at Old Chicago's and met Uncle Jeff there. There were a lot of high schoolers apparently going to dinner before prom. Holy cow! Some of the girls looked awful. I would not let my daughter out of the house in some of the things they were wearing. Yes, I think that makes me old. Seriously, they should not bend over. Apparently, no one wears tuxes anymore, as all the guys were wearing tennis shoes. One guy even had on pink sunglasses. So weird.

We let the boys stay up late. They were going to spend the night in the bunk beds. Torrin went to sleep on the bottom bunk before Camden and we had forgot the monitors. What did we do? Bryan called my phone, and then put his phone by the beds so we could have a faux monitor. Thankfully, we have unlimited minutes. All went well until Mr. Camden decided to WAKE UP TORRIN every half an hour. Sharing bunk beds did not go over so well. Why on earth would you wake your brother up? The first time they both came in the room, they said they had to potty. Ok, no problem. Then they came in every half an hour. We just did not understand why he would wake up Torrin. Ugh. It was a very long night. A. Very. Long. Night. Hoping they sleep all night tonight.

That is about it for now! I hope you had a good weekend (all 4 people who read this)