a month of meal planning

So with only one last minute rearranging for a birthday party, we pretty much stuck to our meal plan this month.  With the exceptions of the two birthday dinners out, we ate dinner at home this month 29 times and we didn't repeat any meals. I learned a lot this month of experimentation and planning:
1. It isn't that difficult to cook dinner when you don't feel like it when you already know what you are having and have the ingredients.
2. My grocery bill was a lot smaller since I was only buying what I knew we were having, not things we "might' need. I have read you should always shop the sales and coupon, but I have better luck just buying what we need.  I like to have food on reserve, but on months when I am trying to keep the spending down, this works better for me.
3. The kids are getting better at trying things before they decide they don't like it.
4. Meal planning for the month helps to keep things different and keeps me from making the same 10 meals on repeat. 
5. It is okay to be flexible and rearrange the week if necessary, I won't lose my momentum.
6. We eat a variety of foods and flavors when we cook at home instead of going out.
7. Setting a monthly plan and goal keeps me motivated and I look forward to the "easy" night off. 
8. Trying a new recipe and it being a total flop can be just as much fun as discovering a new one because we all have something to talk about at the dinner table and something to laugh about later.
9. The kids really enjoy on voting on new meals or side dishes.  They like having a voice on whether something gets repeated or hopefully forgotten.
10.We don't have to get stuck in a dinner rut, dinner can be fun again.

summer screen time

It is officially summer vacation.  Lance's last day of school was yesterday and so summer fun has begun.  Trying to keep the kids busy and occupied and away from electronics has also begun.  This year, like last year, we are limiting the kids screen time because both of them could easily spend the whole day on the ipad or playing video games if they were left to their own devices.  Trying to keep up with how much time they have watched as well as trying to explain to them that they are out of time is difficult so we came up with screen time tickets.  We decided that 1.5 hours of screen time a day is sufficient, watching a movie as a family in the evening is an exception to the rule.  I made each kid four tickets, 2- 30 minute tickets and 2-15 minute tickets.  When they want to play or watch they give me a ticket, when the tickets are gone, the screen is gone too.  It is a great way for the kids to understand why I won't let them watch anymore since they can see there are out of tickets and for me to keep up with what they have done.  Also the 15 minute tickets are used for discipline, first time you get a warning, second time I get 15 minutes of screen time and the next day they only get 3 tickets or less.  Having tickets also teaches them time management.  Today Lance has already used up all his tickets by 9 am, in a few weeks he will probably be saving 30 minutes for late afternoon. 

I also made extra tickets because I have a tendency to lose these especially when the kids are handing them to me at 6:30 in the morning before I am fully awake.

star wars birthday bash

Lance decided awhile ago he wanted a Star Wars birthday party this year.   Thanks to Pinterest I got a lot of great ideas and was able to have a party without spending a lot of money and needing an inflatable or another form of paid entertainment.  I had a great time and look forward to more party planning in the future.

the invitation, I was so thankful I found a Jedi font that made everything easy

We made light sabers out of pool noodles, Jedi robes from fabric on sale, and Jeff dressed up as Darth for the final battle at the party

 So the week before the party I was very busy sewing robes and taping up light sabers for the kids.

Lance was my pattern

Since I had to make 13 robes, I needed something quick and easy so I did not use a standard pattern.  I measured Lance from shoulder to feet, doubled the measurement, cut the fabric folded it so the fold was at the top and then folded again to make a mirror image so when I cut it out the sides would be the same.  I cut a straight line from his hand to his armpit and then at an angle from the armpit to the corner (I also cut along the crease to it was a robe and not a tunic.  I then sewed up the sides and hemmed all edges (yeah I am a perfectionist).  I then cut out a rectangle and made a hood, attaching the hood was the most difficult part and unfortunately hoods 9-13 were much better looking then hoods 1-4.  I kind of used the instructions from here as a guide. 
The light sabers were a lot easier to make and so cheap, I found light sabers from the dollar store, cut them in half with a bread knife and then wrapped duct and electrical tape around one end and I had a light saber that was better than the inflatable ones you can purchase at Target and soft enough to not hurt anyone to badly.
I also made a black Darth Vader robe for Jeff, but actually it was more of a long vest since I didn't make sleeves because the fabric wasn't wide enough, if I had more time I would have put in more effort, but it worked so I wasn't disappointed.

the girls had white Princess Leia robes, the boys Jedi robes

My goal for the party was to keep the kids busy.  We had four activities other than food and cake to keep them busy.  These activities made up the "Jedi training."  The first activity was an obstacle course.  The kids had to show their agility and speed by throwing bean bags through a circle (bicycle tire), jump over hot lava, walk across a balance beam to avoid the hot lava, crawl through a tunnel, cross the monkey bars, down the slide of the swing set, and duck under the hot lava hanging from the top of the swing set (hot lava was red tablecloths).  When they had completed the obstacle course they "earned" their Jedi robe.   I unfortunately did not get a picture of the obstacle course, I was really thrown off by the weather that day and was setting up the course a few minutes before the party started and never got around to taking pictures. 

Lance practicing part of the obstacle course

After earning their robes, they came inside and used the "force" while blindfolded to place a blaster on a spaceship (pin the tail on the donkey).  After demonstrating their ability to use the force aka peek through the blindfold they earned their light saber.    The next activity was to work on saber skills and this was the favorite activity of the party. It was also amazing to see 10 boys who went from screaming, running, and fighting to concentrating and quiet.  Each child was given a balloon and was told to keep their balloon in the air because if it hit the ground it would pop.  The kids had a blast and took this game VERY SERIOUSLY! 

Lily trying to keep her pink balloon in the air

After the light saber skills the kids were ready for the ultimate Jedi training test, battling Darth Vader.

getting ready to battle Darth

Jeff was a great sport and let all the kids surround me and whack the heck out of him. 

battling Darth

The kids also got to battle Darth separately and they did a great job sitting and waiting for their turn.

trying to keep a balloon in the air

The original plan was to have a picnic outside but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate.  The sunny, 10% chance of rain, and high of 63 was really: cool, wet and 49, it was quite chilly so we ate inside which was quite crazy.

the cupcakes

After pizza, light saver pretzel rods, carrot sticks, and grapes on a light saber it was time for cake.

the cupcake toppers from Williams-Sonoma

The kids liked being able to pick out their favorite figure.

cake time

So despite the weather and trying to squeeze 13 kids in my living room, the party was in the words of Lance "AWESOME."   I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was so busy enjoying the party and corralling kids I didn't get many.  I am kicking myself that I didn't get a group shot with everyone with their robes and light sabers.  Oh well, they had fun and that is all that mattered. 

Disney

For over a year now I have been wanting to go to Disney World and go to sooner rather than later.  This fall I decided that we were going to try and go in June after everyone was out of school.  I guess it was around Thanksgiving when I was thinking about and planning for the spring semester I realized that my spring break at the community college would be the ideal time to go to Disney World, it would not be too hot, it would not be the busiest, and it would be sooner rather than later.  I convinced my mom to consider it and then asked my sister and her husband if they would like to go, my sister, thankfully really wanted to go.  My sister and her husband found out after Christmas that they could take off to go, so I am in the middle of planning a trip to Disney World for the first week of March.  It is kind of stressful because I don't have a lot of time, most people plan a trip 6 months to a year or more before they go, me two months, if even that.  It is also hard because we have so many people going, seven, maybe 8 depending if my mom's best friend joins us.  It would be cheaper to get separate rooms, but I think it would be nicer to get a Villa where we all could stay.  The other advantages to having a villa are the washer/dryer, and kitchen, I am prefer to make my own food instead of eating out all the time so the kitchen would be wonderful.  So I have to convince my mom the more expensive Villa is worth it, my one point is, we would all be together in one place and not as separated as we would in 3 different hotel rooms and who knows if we will ever be able to coordinate everyone going again so we should splurge, it has been several years since we have all vacationed together so who knows if we will ever do it again. 
Finding a place to stay isn't the only thing I have to figure out, I have to plan our schedule, which fortunately I think I have figured out:
Friday night: drive as far south as we can
Saturday: get to FL
Sunday: Sea World
Monday: Magic Kingdom
Tuesday: day off, hopefully meet up with friends and family who live in FL and we never get to see
Wednesday: Animal Kingdom
Thursday: Magic Kingdom
Friday: head to home
Saturday: get home
Our schedule is not as intensive as many people going to Disney would be, but Lily is only 3 and we want to have fun and not overwhelm her, Disney and Lily seem like it is a bad combination, but I hope she will prove us wrong.
So I have the schedule down, I know where I would like to stay, but I have to do some convincing, then there is the meal plan or not meal plan, the park hopper or not park hopper tickets, character breakfast or not, finding a place to stay near Sea World, and driving route planned, and before I know it, hopefully packing up.  Despite being overwhelmed with all of the decisions, I am super excited and can't wait to go.

new beginnings

The new shop location has an occupancy permit and is ready to go, well almost, but we have enough to get started. Last night we went by and hung up the skateboard decks to see what they looked like on the new rack Jeff built.

Jeff wants the new shop to have a artsy feel to it and the way the decks are arranged, I think he pulled it off. The decks look more like art then skateboard decks that will be destroyed after purchase.


Lance even has a favorite and would be very sad if we sell it too soon.


Lance trying to help with his favorite deck:

So tomorrow the new shop will be open, we still have a long ways to go, but we have a space, have some product and have a start. I am excited to get everything completed and get back to normal.

nervous excitement

We are going out-of-town this weekend.
Wait, "we" sounds like all 4 of us, but that would be a misrepresentation, "we" in this case is the kids and I are going out-of-town and I am a bit nervous. Lily isn't the biggest fan of the car so it may be a bit stressful. Also I will be leaving Lance at a friend's house while I am at a swim meet, this will be the first time I leave him with someone other than family, I know, recipe for disaster. Fortunately this week at small group he seemed to do fine downstairs with the baby sitter so hopefully he won't give me too much trouble. Well there isn't too much I can do since I will be 45 minutes away, but he should have fun with my friend's boys and he will have as many trains, blankets, dvds, and juice cups my car can fit so hopefully something will get him through. So tomorrow morning we are packing up and heading up to D.C. to visit a friend and her daughter. Then Saturday morning we ride up to Maryland, drop Lance off, head out to the swim meet, do the swim meet thing then head back to Erica's for a hopefully relaxing evening. Sunday is the free day I don't know what we have planned and then we will head back home either Sunday evening or Monday morning, depending how the kids sleep at night, how Lily handles the car, and how well the boys get along. I am looking forward to getting out-of-town and seeing friends, it should be fun, though packing is a bit nerve racking, trying to remember everything I might need for two little people as well as myself. I hope the weather is not to cold so Lance can get some outside time in, he has way too much energy that he needs to get out. Well I should get started on packing.

stay away germs, stay away

It is June, summertime, there shouldn't be colds running rampant but there are and they are invading my house and I leave for the beach in 2 days!!! I don't want to be sick or have anyone around me ill when we are going on are one and only vacation!!! AHHHHHH! Jeff appears to be coming down with a cold, he felt a little off on Tuesday, he had a sore throat yesterday, he didn't sleep well last night, and he left for work to early for me to tell anything this morning. Lance's nose has been running marathons for the last two days so I don't know if it is still teeth, but since it is a bit different then it was he might have a cold. Also, everyone at our church seems to be spreading the cold love around, I talked to a friend on Tuesday who was feeling horrible, her husband was starting to come down with "the cold", four or five people she knew already had "the cold", and from being on facebook this morning I saw that at least one other person has been stricken with "the cold!" I am a miserable sick person especially when on vacation and I really hope that my immunities will be on high alert and I won't catch "the cold" that seems to be going around. This is June, there shouldn't be colds going around, that is what is suppose to happen in January!
Two more days and about 3 or 4 loads of laundry to go. I am very frustrated my wardrobe is microscopic and I discovered yesterday that I am missing two shirts. How on earth did I lose two white shirts???? I wonder how long they have been missing. I am trying to be very strategic on what clothes I am wearing now so I will have mostly clean clothes for the beach. It stinks having only a weeks worth of clothes, but I can't rationalize spending a lot of money on maternity clothes that I will never wear again (90% of the clothes I had with Lance I did not wear again) and with living with a toddler things can't get worn more then once because at the end of the day I am covered in dirt, snot, food, and who knows what else. Today I am going to break it down and torture my poor child with some vacuuming!

his new ride

Lance has loved those Little Tikes "flinestone" type cars for some time now. On Saturday, my mom was driving by the second hand store and saw two out front she said that she almost bought one, but didn't know how much they cost new so she was unsure of whether they were a good deal or not.


Yesterday we went to "look" and see the cars and we ended up taking one home with us. As soon as Lance saw it he hopped right in refused to get out and through a fit when we went inside to pay or it. After nap he played in it for 45 minutes and he kept trying to sneak out and play with it after we came inside to cook dinner.


I ended up bringing it inside so I won't have to worry about him being outside by himself and so he would be out of the way while I cooked. This morning it was still in the house and has been playing with it on and off all morning. He absolutely loves it and having a blast getting in then out then in again.
I am on a cleaning rampage. I always clean the house from top to bottom before we leave on vacation because I love coming home to a clean house. This morning I tackled the bathrooms and Lance was my sidekick helping me, he loves to spray so any opportunity he could get he would. He also tried to help with scrubbing with the sponge, but he just moved soap around. We need to tackle the playroom today along with laundry and then Lance's favorite chore of all- vacuuming! I am putting that off till last because Lance hates the vacuum and it is hard on me. I would love a new lightweight Dyson, maybe some day.

molars and skinned knees

So we still have an on again off again runny nose and his cough is better and the problem might not be another cold, but his two year molars. I don't know why, but yesterday in church I put my finger in his mouth and discovered two large bumps that weren't there last week. I had an "aha" moment realizing that the congestion, his hands being in his mouth all the time and the sporadic behavior was probably due to molars coming in and not another cold though some say teeth don't cause congestion, but Lance has always had a yucky nose when he is getting teeth. He doesn't seem to have any bumps on the top yet, just on the bottom and hopefully he will improve and stay well during our beach trip. Five more days!!!!!
Today we went to the park with our small group and then we met daddy for lunch. After lunch Lance was avoiding getting into the car and he fell on the sidewalk and busted up his scabbed over knee. There was so much blood and though it probably looks worse then it really is I began to feel a little light headed, it looked horrible. Last Monday night, we took a walk and Jeff took Lance on the longboard, well they hit a bump and Lance scraped up his knee pretty bad. It took a few days before he didn't have to have it covered all the time and was starting to look pretty good and now thanks to his encounter with the sidewalk we are back at square one. I just hope it heals before next week because sand and scrapes don't mix well.
So there are five more days before the beach and eight weeks until my due date. I am already starting to get pretty uncomfortable though I am not that big and still have eight weeks left. We also have nothing ready, but hopefully we will be stopping by Pottery Barn Kids on the way back from the beach and I will get the bedding I want so I will have one thing to check off the list. Five more days, I can't wait!

sick, again

Hibernating most of the winter is biting me in the butt. I feel like we just got over a cold and Lance is sick again. He just stopped coughing from his last cold a couple of days ago and now we have problems again. This time it is a little different, it isn't a constant runny yucky nose, but the bad part is the cough and the vomit associated with coughing (he must have a lot of drainage). Last night he started threw up after 30 minutes of trying to cough up all that gunk in his throat/chest and he did it again this morning after a coughing fit. The upside is that the throwing up clears his body and he is worlds better afterwards. Jeff has been amazing at helping Lance because me Ms. Weak Stomach can't handle much these days. I was also worried last night and a little this morning that it might be a stomach bug on top of a cold, but he doesn't act sick, he can eat and drink immediately afterwards, and he has done this before (when he got a cold before he ate many solid foods). The other strange thing is, he only seems bad in the evening and morning, he only woke up briefly at midnight coughing and after the coughing/ puking this morning he was his normal self with the exception of needing to wipe his nose once or twice (hmm, that was after we played outside, wonder if it is allergies). I should be thankful that he is sick now and not in a little over a week when we are at the beach, but I feel like we just got over a cold and I don't understand how he can be sick again!
On a positive note: Seven more days until our week at the beach, I can't wait!!!! I have been looking forward to our beach trip since last year, but I have been counting down the days for over a month now. Our beach trip is the only vacation we really take, it is a week away from the stress of work and life, and we get Jeff to ourselves for a whole week 24 hours a day. I can't wait. We are going much earlier this year and with my mom working all next week I am in charge of organizing and packing and making sure we have everything. In the past we usually borrow a van, but we can't this year so packing this year is going to have to be very strategic to make sure we can get everything in and on my mom's wagon. My sister and "Aunt Christy" can't come this year which is sad, it will be quiet and not the same without them their, but I know we will enjoy ourselves. Some friends of ours will be at the beach the same time as us which will be fun so we will have someone to hang out with and share a meal. The crazy thing is Topsail Island is 26 miles long with hundreds of houses to rent and our friends are in walking distance from us. Lance loved the beach last year and I hope he will enjoy it even more this year, especially now that he loves sand.

i keep telling myself they are just clothes

but they are so much more and it makes me a little sad.
In a corner of Lance's room I have a box of clothes that he has outgrown and a few items that he needs to grow into. Since #2 is going to be our last (according to Jeff, I change my mind like the wind) there are some clothes from last summer that I could pass on to a friend's little guy since we have similar tastes and a few items were hers to begin with. Anyways, I pulled a few things out but knew there was more so I pulled out the storage containers from the crawl spaces. I found some items for Haden and realized that I had three storage boxes that were totally full so I began to organize them to make room for more stuff. Last summer's clothes brought back memories of Lance learning how to walk, the beach, and babysitting John and Thomas and that is when I realized, some clothes are just clothes, but others are memories and quite sentimental. The clothes he wore the first few months are really special, not because of anything that happened while he wore them, but because of who gave them to him. There was the striped pjs from "aunt" Christy who moved away, the pooh newborn socks from the secretaries at the high school I taught at, the dinosaur outfit from my friend Jen from our old church, handi-me downs from the Maxsons who now live in France, an outfit from a family I use to babysit for, and so on. A lot of the clothes were from people who aren't in my everyday life anymore because they moved away or I don't work with them anymore or life just changes things. It was nice to go through all of the clothes and remember when Lance worn it and who gave it to us, but at the same time it was sad and is another reminder of how quickly children grow up and life changes. I am so excited about having a little girl, for so many reasons, but sad that she won't be wearing some of my favorite outfits and since Jeff doesn't want to have anymore babies I might not have another little one to put them in again which makes me sad too. I did pull out quite a few neutral items from the 0-3 month phase that I will put on new baby and that made me feel a little better. Part of me is sad that I am having a girl and not another boy who could wear all of my favorite outfits, though I don't know how many they would end up wearing since Lance and baby would be in different seasons, but maybe it is because there might not be anymore children after #2 and that is what saddens me. I don't understand why I would be sad that #2 is it for us because this pregnancy has not been a lot of fun, I know it could be a lot worse, but it has been rough, I don't love being pregnant like some. I love feeling the baby move and I will miss that, but not the crazy digestive system, dry heaving, tiredness, back pain, largeness, etc. I also have no clue what it is like to have 2 children let alone 3, I could totally change my mind come August, I guess only time will tell. So this morning I realized that clothes aren't just clothes sometimes and time doesn't stand still so I really need to enjoy every moment before it is gone.

it's cold out, but not in here

I love our house, but hate the windows, but now I don't mind them so much. Our house was built in 1946 and the windows are probably original and are extremely drafty. You can sit on the futon in the playroom and feel cold air blowing on the back of your neck. I wish we could afford replacement windows, but that isn't in our budget so we went the cheaper route and put up a plastic barrier. When Jeff told me about this I was very unsure, plastic on the windows, very ghetto, but after being constantly cold and temperatures in the 30s I gave in. I hate being cold and I am getting desperate to stay warm! Yesterday Lance and Jeff went to Lowes to find the plastic wrap and were delighted to see that it was only 6 dollars for 5 windows, so if we hated it there would not be a huge financial loss. They came home and Jeff began installing. I was extremely skeptical that this flimsy, thin, wrinkly plastic would be anything but an eyesore, but I was wrong. The plastic after use of a hair dryer becomes tight and virtually transparent and I am amazed at the temperature difference. I put out a thermometer in the living room to measure the difference: before plastic 66 degrees, after 70 degrees. We were only able to get 4 windows done and I can think of 3 more that need sealing. I hope our efforts will pay on in saving money on our heating bill because the price of gas to heat keeps going up and it is very expensive. Now if I can just get Jeff to under the house again to get those last two rows of insulation up we might stay toasty on this cold winter.
Reading back over this post I realize how sad my life is: I am excited about insulating our windows, but then again I might be rejoicing over our heating bill in a month!

the mother of all camel crickets and preparations

Last night we went to Target to pick up a few things and upon returning I had a face-off with the mother of all camel crickets. I know that we have colonies of them in our crawlspace under the house and occasionally a few will venture in the house, but these are usually small ones, not giant Goliath size monsters. I had to continue to stare at this nasty thing until Jeff finally got in the house and found the appropriate weapon to kill this demon spawn who dare enter the playroom. It seemed to take Jeff forever, but I wasn't going to move because if it disappeared from sight then Jeff would not hunt it down and I might have to discover it again and I don't deal well with them. I won't mind them if they would stay in once place, move slowly, or just not jump so high, but they can really jump and they jump so randomly you never know where they might go. Anyways, after a few failed attempts, Jeff got it, but then left it in the middle of the room, I told him he needed to dispose of the body as well, it still looked like it could jump at me and I didn't want Lance messing with it today. Jeff fortunately got over his fear and threw it away, thank goodness, I wasn't going to touch it. I am very thankful that we found the camel cricket last night instead of today when I am going to be tearing apart this house to find all of the missing stuff. I am missing my bank card, Jeff is missing his ipod, and I am sure there are probably other things missing as well. We suspect that Lance is responsible for the missing items, or at least I hope he is. So today I am cleaning, organizing, and searching. Tomorrow is our big trip, well not really big, but a big deal. Lance and I are going out of town to a baby shower and to visit Erica, and the two of us haven't left town before, usually it is with someone else. We haven't ever ventured out alone because Lance has disliked the car from the beginning and it is stressful enough keeping him happy without having to try and navigate and drive, but hopefully this will be a positive event and we will be able to do it again. Also, here is this week in pictures.




Sunday was the bike race and Lance enjoys wearing daddy's bike helmet. I started Kids Life at church back up again and here are pictures of Lance enjoying a tea party. It is amazing how much he has changed in three months, before he just kind of walked around the room, but now he really interacted with the other kids and tried to figure out the pretend food. He did really good not throwing the food, if only he was that good with real food.




Also, we were invited to dinner at some friends' house this week, dinner was good, but Lance sustained a boo-boo after dinner. I was on their inverted climbing wall in their basement and Lance unfortunately was right under foot. I slipped and caused him to fall and hit his face on a tool he was playing with. I feel really bad, but I am also kind of frustrated at Jeff because he should have been holding Lance while I was on the wall,
but things happen, it does bother him, and we are
very fortunate it didn't get him in the eye.
Yesterday we went to a park to play and
Lance got eaten alive by mosquitoes, the poor
kid looks a mess right now, but I guess that
is part of being a toddler.

busy, busy, busy

Last week and this past weekend were way to busy. This week isn't much better especially since I have to pack for the beach. I can't wait to get away for a week especially to the beach, even though I am a bit freaked since there was a shark attack there last week in knee-high water! Not to mention next week is Shark Week on discovery, I might not even get my toes wet, yeah right. Last week I helped Erica get ready for a yard sale. It wasn't easy since lance or colin were constantly undoing everything we did. I made around thirty dollars myself which isn't bad, and I guess worth getting up at 5:30 to get ready for the sale which started at 6:30. Next time I help or have a yard sale we are starting until 8, 6:30 is crazy! Last Friday I helped get ready for the yard sale then I went out to dinner with my monday morning small group, it was a lot of fun to go out alone, no Jeff, no Lance. After dinner I headed back to finish up preparations for the yard sale. By the time I had come home Lance was already in bed which made me sad. I realized that I am not ready for him to be independent of me, but all sadness was over at 4:30 am when Lance was up and wanted to nurse. I got up saturday morning before lance did and so I wasn't there when we got up for the day, once again, a set towards independence. Jeff said that he looked around for me, but he did fine. Jeff then took him over to my mom's so she could watch him in the morning so I could help out at the yard sale. She finally brought him over to Erica's at about noon. Even though I was home for his early, early morning nursing session, this was the closest experience to being gone overnight that we had ever had since I wasn't there for dinner, bedtime, getting up, and the morning. Lance and I cleaned up the yard sale and then went home to take a nap. We then headed over to my mom's house for dinner. Sunday morning we went to breakfast and had a great time people watching before church. After church mom came over and babysat so Jeff and I could spend some alone time. You know you are a parent when you get some free time and you buy diapers, groceries, and grab a quick sandwich and all the while wondering what you little one is doing without you. It was nice to run errands and eat lunch together, but I wish we could have done something a little more exciting or note worthy, maybe next time. Shortly after we got back from our outing Erica came by to drop off her kids so her and Jason could have some alone time. It was craziness trying to handle three kids under the age of 2, but we managed. At five, two other couples came over for small group, and one couple was babysitting as well so we had 5 kids we were trying to manage, it was craziness, someone was always crying, usually lance (he hadn't really had a nap) and someone was always going in and out (usually lance trying to get away from colin who was making him cry). After all the kids went home and Lance went to bed we had some good conversations about everything from movies to dealing with in-laws. I really enjoyed hanging out with our new friends. Sunday night Lance did not sleep well, it was like he was a newborn again, he was up at 1, 4, 6, and 7:30 for good. We were both tired so we just hung around the house and got nothing done. This morning we babysat and now I should be getting something done, but I am not. On an exciting note, I am an approved seller of New Native Baby Carriers so I really should be working on setting up a website to sell them. I hope that I will be able to bring in a little extra income by doing what I have been doing all along. Four more days until the beach!