Weekly Update

Sunday morning I was up bright and early (6:15) to help Jennifer set up for a photo shoot she was doing for a kid's magazine.  She and a friend of hers, who is a photographer, are working together on some things and this was an exciting opportunity to get their name out there.  I wish I could have taken some pictures of the sets because it was all unbelievably awesome which I'm sure is no surprise when you see Jennifer's creativity with her baking.  Anyway, as luck would have it, Sunday morning was probably the coldest day of the year here in Orlando and I swear, it was the coldest I've ever been in the 15 years of my living here.  It was in the mid-30's and there was some wind.  I had on my winter coat and mittens and I was still shaking.  I was only needed for a few hours and as soon as I got home, I jumped into the tub to try and warm up.  I was chilled to the bone!  It was all worth it though because the pictures came out really, really good.  

We are coming up on six month of living in this house and at times it feels like the progress to get the house "completed" is slow.  The work comes and goes in spurts.  On Sunday we felt like we did get some things accomplished.  I've wanted to hang a chalk board in the kitchen and after a little research, Duncan got a board at Lowe's and painted it with some chalk board paint, and voila, I now have one hanging in my kitchen.  This, of course, has already resulted in multiple fights among the kids (yes, that includes Brady) as to who's turn it is to draw on it and who wrecked whose picture, etc.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  Duncan also got a bunch of curtain rods hung up and a board with hooks on it for the girl's closet.  Meanwhile, my big accomplishment was organizing my pantry (yes, it had gotten pretty messy already).  I needed to make room for a stock up on food.  This week and last is my favorite time of year at Publix.  It's the Italian Days sale and it's the cheapest you'll ever find things like canned veggies and beans.  At $0.31/can the price can't be beat.  Now that I have the room to fit a bunch of stuff, I'm stocking up for the next year.  This has involved me making multiple trips to Publix (usually after the kids are in bed) because I don't want to go and buy 40 cans of black beans in one trip lest I be accused of hoarding.  It also is very precise work because I have coupons for $5 of the purchase of $30 and I want to make sure my purchases are in perfect increments of $30...hence I add everything up on a calculator as I shop.  That would be a total nightmare with the kids.    

Monday was another cold day but we were going to venture out to a great sale they were having at the consignment store for just that day but we were held hostage by the 10:30 - 12:30 time frame on the delivery of the freezer.  I was going to chance it but in the end decided against it.  As I'm sure you can guess, they didn't end up coming until about 1:15.  Gee, thanks!  We did get in a nice walk around the neighborhood after quiet time and I saw the boy in Brady.  The neighborhood still has a bunch of houses under construction and one of them was getting the front yard cleaned up by this tractor thingy that would pick up board, boxes, junk, etc and dump in the dumpster.  We were walking by and Brady couldn't take his eyes off it.  We stopped for a few minutes but the impending darkness forced us to continue on.  As we walked away he was craning his neck to get the last lingering glances.  I guess that's a boy for you.

Tuesday was simply a gorgeous day with temperatures back up in to the mid 70's.  It was a perfect day for the playground so we took a drive over to Chapin Station where they have a big sandbox.  We brought our beach supplies with us and the kids played contentedly in the sand for a good hour while I laid down on the sand with my head resting on the diaper bag, gazing up at the sky and feeling bad for all the people stuck at work and all the people up north stuck in the snow.  Yup, I must say I was feeling a little smug but mostly thankful.   

Wednesday was story time which we attended after several weeks hiatus.  Afterwards we went to Super Target for a few odds and ends.  It is so nice to have the Super Target near by and I came to the realization that I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I've been to Walmart since we've moved although it's arguably closer to us (and cheaper with no toll road involved). Considering I was at the one next to our old house at least every week, I consider this a great accomplishment.  Wednesday evening I took Calleigh to Adventurers.  I sure hope she isn't as silly in Sabbath School as she is at Adventurers.  That's all I can say.

Thursday morning we were invited by my friend Khlarisse and her to join her for a music class at the community center in Winter Garden.  She has two girls, two and six months.  The ages said zero to five so off we went.  Well, it was definitely geared more towards the younger set and therein lies the problem of toting around kids in an ages spanning four years.  What entertains a 20-month old doesn't necessarily entertain a five year old.  There were probably 30 kids there and Calleigh was by far the oldest.  She was half way into it but didn't participate in some of the activities because it was for "babies."  And then Aubree takes her queues from Calleigh and when she sees Calleigh not really doing stuff, she follows suit.  Anyway, the class lasted about 50 minutes and for $7 for all three of them combined, I think it was a good deal and educational but I don't know if we'll return because of Calleigh.  We'll see.  The funny thing was that I had tried talking up the class the night before and had even mentioned that they would get kazoos in the class which Khlarisse had told me.  I even brought up a video on YouTube of someone playing a kazoo.  It turned out that the teacher forgot the kazoos at home so we were out of luck.  This must have thrown Calleigh off because when we walked out of the class she says to me, "When are we going to go to that music class you were talking about?"  Seriously?!!  I couldn't help but laugh.   

After class, we stopped at the playground on the way home where they made a few new friends.  One was a  three year old named Aubreigh.  I had never seen it spelled that way before but oddly enough, that's the second one I've run into in the last few weeks.  I'm obviously partial to the "eigh" ending so I was like, "Darn, I should have spelled Aubree's that way!"  But, maybe it's too weird.  Plus, if we have another girl, would I be compelled to find a name that would have that in it to keep them all the same?  So I guess it's just as well.

Thursday evening the Bruins were playing Tampa Bay so the game was on locally here.  Calleigh was once again very excited to watch the game with me.  She got to watch the first period and this time the Bruins scored two goals right away as opposed to no goals during the first period like last time.  I was doing some dishes while we watched but then she insisted I come sit right next to her the whole time.  She wanted to know all about the mouth guards (to protect their teeth), faceoffs, and what happens if you accidentally score on your own goalie.  At one point I asked her if she wished she could skate as well as these guys and she said "Oh no!! I would not want to get my teeth knocked out."  Another time we had to rewind a section like five times so we could see a player taking a drink of water and it was evident he was missing a tooth.  Very fascinating stuff!  Anyway, I really don't know if her interest in hockey stems from knowing that my dad and brothers plays it or maybe it is her Canadian blood or what but she is really intrigued by it.   I was talking to my dad about it last night and he told me to tell her that when she comes up for Christmas this year, he'll take her to a Bruins game.  I told her this morning and her face lit up and then a little later she excitedly tells Aubree, "Aubs!  Papa told Mommy that he's going to take us to a Bruins game next time we're there.  We'll get to see the "boney" and they'll even record us!"   Translation..."We'll see the zamboni and I've misinterpreted seeing the games on TV to mean that if we go to a game we're going to be on TV." 

This morning we went to one very good yard sale and then went to a consignment sale at a church in downtown Winter Park.  There were a million toys there and I let the kids play with some of them while I hastily tried to look at the racks of clothes.  No simple task as Brady was constantly moving from thing to thing (the dreams of keeping him in the stroller with a snack and my phone were quickly dashed after about five minutes).  We did find a few things including a few maternity dresses for me.  I haven't gotten any of my maternity clothes out yet but I don't need to do that to remember that I'm completely sick of all of it.  

After quiet time today we made a visit to JoAnn's so I could look at some fabrics.  One of the major things left to do here is put curtains up (we only have ones for the master bedroom).  It's a completely overwhelming task, I have to say.  I wish someone would just come and do it for me.  I really do.  I just can't seem to find anything long enough in stores which leads me to contemplate having some made but picking out the correct fabric and what colors and all the ins and outs is almost too much too handle.  Any volunteers?  Anyone?

The past few days have been a little trying at times with Brady brother.  I have adopted a strict "no binky" policy except for sleeping and this has caused considerable consternation....for him but also for me who has to listen to the crying and whining for it.  I don't know if it's because he's the third kid or what but we have been much more lax on restricting the binky usage.  I decided to lay down the law and it's been rocky at times particularly in the car.  But, I feel it has to be done.  I will say that the sleeping and napping has been so much better the last few weeks though.  He's been sleeping until between 7:15 - 7:45 and is back to two hour naps so I'm a very happy camper.  He's also progressing slowly but surely with his speaking and can now say his memory verse...all three words of it.  The "is" is a little shaky but hey, he's pretty much got the two other more important words.  You can watch it here.

And on that note, I wish you good-night and a Happy Sabbath.