Back In the Saddle Again...

This is the song that I'm humming as I type this. Wow....we've been busier than I anticipated we would be so far this "summer". Hence, blogging has not even been on my mind but I have recently realized that it really was a therapy for me. So, that said, I'm going to make a point to blog more often again. We've had so much fun stuff going on that I have to share with you but it's going to take a few posts to catch up!!

MAY:

I know I posted a bit in May, but I didn't get around to tell you all that we did. On Mother's Day, my mom and I hosted a baby shower for my brother's wife. She is about to have her baby any week (or DAY!!!) now, so I'll post pics of the little babe when I can. I really had to stop the urge to buy a couple outfits for the little one today while shopping at my favorite kids' store, Carter's. I have my theory as to what the gender is and was getting ready to buy for it, however, I *suppose* can wait for a couple weeks when the baby is born and we know for SURE. (Big sigh....I hate waiting.) :)

We also had Caleb's preschool graduation, which I think I mentioned before. My dad happened to be in town that weekend, since it was the Friday before Memorial Day, so he was able to come and surprise Caleb. I didn't realize how serious Caleb took this graduation until yesterday when I was explaining how my brother, Ben's, high school graduation was going to go. I explained that he'll walk across the stage and get his diploma. Caleb told me, matter-of-factly, "Oh, I already have one of those." Ahhh....true, my son, but you have so much work ahead of you in that department!! :)

Chris finally got his wish: he got to camp-out with the kids. Or, more specifically, he got to camp in the backyard one night with Caleb. Okay, so it's not "real" camping like Chris wants to do, but a good test, nonetheless. I'll post about that next because I have some cute pictures to share, too.

Memorial Day weekend was very low-key. We normally go up north on this weekend but didn't this year due to other commitments. As I mentioned, my dad was in town so it was great to visit with him. Our niece, Cece, turned one so we attended a party for her. Chris and his brother ended up driving up north on Memorial Day just for a quick trip, while I had my dad, brothers and a good friend over for a small impromptu BBQ. It was a fun and relaxing day--not too hot outside and just perfect for sitting on the patio!

JUNE....SO FAR:

I thought our summer was going to be super relaxing. I thought we'd be able to sleep in every day and do whatever we please. Well, our June started out with a BANG when my wonderful husband surprised me with a birthday trip to New York City. New York was so great, but it's not a city where you sit around and relax. We saw SO MANY awesome sites....and I'm pretty sure I lost three pounds from all the walking. I'll post more about that later, because, of course, there's a lot of pics to show. :)

We've been having play-dates and we went downtown to have lunch with Chris on Thursday of this last week. Our motivation was to hit the farmer's market on Nicollet Mall and we hope to make this a summer tradition (going downtown every Thursday). We got some yummy stuff and also decided to sign up for a CSA, which is a farm co-op where you go and get vegetables (or other things, depending on what you sign up for) from the farm once a week. We found one close to our house and I'm getting really excited to go and check it out next week.

Other than that, Chris has started framing the basement and he seems to know what he's doing. I was pretty amazed to glance down there earlier today and see almost a whole wall framed where our storage area will be blocked off. How exciting it will be to have that finished and not only have more living space in the house, but also get to redecorate lots of rooms!! (Chris is probably rolling his eyes right now....) We've also been prepping Hannah for her "big girl room" move by explaining that her current room will belong to the baby. She's not too keen on the idea yet, but I think she'll like the idea better when we're decorating her new room and she gets to pick out some of the stuff for it.

Okay....did I catch you up a bit?? My next project is to post pictures for you so I'll get to that as soon as I can. As for today, it's a wonderfully rainy Saturday and I have a very noisy household right now. The noise isn't coming from kids or dogs, as it normally is. Today, all I hear are power tools in the basement! How nice it was to have Chris' air-compressor run while he was gone. Scared the CRAP out of me and made me think there was an intruder who likes power tools in the basement!! :p We also have tickets to a Twins game tonight, but since it's POURING right now, we're waiting to see if the game is rained out. This is where I say "Ahhh....the joys of outdoor baseball" and remind everyone that there would be no need for a rain-out if we were playing in a covered stadium, but, alas, I'll keep my mouth shut. :)