The new swing set

Todd is wanting to organize the garage, but could not since it was filled with swingset parts.  So, this week he decided to build the thing.  The kids were thrilled!  He got the frame up on Wednesday night.  Thursday morning Mason was very disappointed to learn that Todd had to go to work that day & had not finished the swing set.  Having daddy come home this week was exciting since it meant more would get done.
Todd finished it today.  We were getting worried that the kids would no longer want to play on it once it was done.  Sarah was moaning that the slide was in the way of a bar she wanted to hang on.  They did seem to think it was pretty cool once it was done.  Emma is a bit frustrated with the whole thing.  She can manage to crawl up the slide but it's pretty fast coming back down & I really don't like the idea of her up there in the treehouse part.
Yesterday I turned the keys of our rental house over the the realtor whose been the property manager.  It was a great feeling!  That's why Todd was able to finish the swing set today, he did not have to go mow the huge lawn!

Sarah's last day of first grade

School is out, it ended yesterday with 1 1/2 hours of fun.  Here is Sarah waiting with Kylee & Shay for the bus.  Next year I'll be driving Sarah to school since we are too close (1.2 miles or something like that) from Sarah's new school.  

She was a little sad to finish school since she'll be attending a new one next year.  She said she was not as sad as last year on the last day of school, since she knows she can still play with her good friends since we still live pretty close (last year we left Rochester for Utah the day after school ended).

Sarah's busy day

Last week Sarah had a busy day!  She had a talent show at school.  Sarah & her friend Lauren did a class cheer (I could not convince her to play the piano).  Here are the girls with Mrs. Davis, their first grade teacher.
Sarah had a piano recital that afternoon.  She & a friend, Allysa, took from Mandy, a senior in high school  Now we need to find a new piano teacher (hopefully within walking distance like Mandy has been!)

Mason's preschool graduation

Mason finished up preschool a few weeks ago.  He loved preschool.  His teacher, Miss Cathie was the best!  She gave each child a scrapbook of their artwork from the entire year.  She also gave them a CD of the songs they sang, my kids love it!

Pool time

Last week we had our first really warm day & we broke out the pool.  I bought this thing from a neighbor in Rochester at a garage sale.  I could not part with it for our moves & I'm happy I did not.  It's the right size for Emma & Mason.  Sarah is really wanting something bigger.
I did not bother with a swimsuit for Emma.  By the end her diaper just about exploded.  The big kids thought it was really funny.
Today we had a bunch of water running down our street from the field across the street being watered.  Emma wanted me to put her little slide into the gutter so she could slide & splash like she does in the pool.  Smart kid.

Now Emma is awake & my blogging spree must end.  Too bad, I'm still not caught up.

Big nursery girl Emma

Emma started nursery two Sundays ago.  The first week she did great.  She marched right into the room & did not look back.  I had to hang around for a minute to talk the the teachers & she did not even pay attention to me.

The second week was not so great.  We got to the door & she froze.  Todd hung out with her for a while, then the leaders just had him leave.  I walked by later & saw the teacher holding Emma but when Sarah picked her up, she said Emma was running around having fun.  We'll see what this Sunday brings!  So far she's been better than either Sarah or Mason.

Zoo trip

I am way behind on my blogging (other than for a crisis), so instead of cleaning up my house, I think I'll try to get caught up!

A few weeks ago Todd had a few days off.  We'd initially wanted to go on a little trip, but we were so worn out from the move we decided to stay home.  We did get Sarah out of school early one day & braved the zoo.  It was a fun outing.

The kids all loved the carousel.  Emma wanted another ride & had to be dragged away.

They are still alive

Mason & Emma are still alive.  My sister called yesterday after reading my blog to check.

Mason checked on the ceiling first thing yesterday morning.  He came in to my bathroom & informed me that the ceiling was no longer dripping.  He was concerned about my computer, since he likes to play games on it.

Today I did discover that our important papers in my file had gotten wetter than I'd realized.  I'm talking birth certificates, Todd's medical license, that kind of good stuff!  Luckily Todd has a new filing cabinet so these will soon have a permanent & hopefully dry home.

This is how the ceiling finally ended up after the waterfalls stopped.  We need to call our builder & get the name of the painter who did our house.  Fun fun!

Breaking the new house

No, that is not a typo for the title.  

Here are my little angels this morning, eating popsicles & holding balloons this morning (actually it was kind of a rough morning since everyone was tired from too much fun yesterday).  Anyway the day was fine (except for me dropping a diaper box on Emma & giving her a shiner on her left eye).

Todd got home early so we braved the Spaghetti Factory for their last night of their 40th birthday celebration with meals 40% off (what an awesome deal!).  The kids did fine, we even made a stop to Allyse's Bridal in the mall after (Sarah loves that store).

We got home, popped the kids in the tub & planned on a decent bedtime.  Well, that was not to be.  Todd got Mason & Emma washed, then stepped out for a minute with his usual "don't get the floor wet" reminder.  I was in the family room with my elephant leg propped up (pregnancy is so glamorous) & Todd came down for a minute.  Then we heard an unusual sound from above, not a tub draining or toilet flushing, but something wet for sure.

We ran up to find Mason with a huge cup ready to pour on the floor, Emma dumping something full of water on the floor & the tub half empty.  It was ugly.  We ripped the kids out & Todd started mopping.  

We got that cleaned up, then as we came downstairs we heard a dripping sound.  Water was pouring out of the light fixture over my desk, which had my computer (good thing it was closed!), file box & other important things on it.
I was handling the light with paint bubbles around it fine, so was Todd.  Then we started noticing other bubbles in the ceiling along the joints, then water started coming out of these bubbles as well as another light fixture.  We did not handle all this quite so well.
Todd does not have to work tomorrow, there are not too many cases going on.  He really wishes he had to go in!  I don't blame him.  Mason & Emma are really not on our good list right now.

Mason was sent to bed without a story or tucking in.  When I went in a while later to close his blinds he asked why he'd not gotten a story.  I told him how he'd ruined the ceiling.  He got excited & said daddy could fix it & need to climb up his ladder to do it.  If it were only that fun & easy.

My one silver lining tonight, at least it was just bathtub water, not clogged toilet overflow.

Online again

We finally have the internet in our new house.  We've been waiting for comcast to arrive in our new neighborhood (they'd told us in April that it would be available May 20).  Well, that was yesterday & they are not here yet & customer service (or lack of) keeps telling me "it could be a few more days or a few more weeks, I just don't know".  So, we've got with another company & are online again.  Whew.  I'm not an internet surfer, but I do like to have it handy to just look something up (last week we wanted to see a movie & I could not just look up the times like I usually do).

So, now tonight Todd & I our both on our own computers doing our own thing.

As for the phone, we are hoping to keep our same number, but it might take a few weeks yet.

As for tv, nothing yet, which is ok.  Todd found some old rabbit ears & we connected them so we could watch the American Idol finale last night.  It's been good not to have tv lately since our kids were in a bad habit of wanting to watch way too much.

Good thing the digital transition is not happening for a few more weeks & these babies still work!

Mason's field trip

Mason had a little preschool field trip to a farm near his preschool.  He thought it was a fun outing, but did not care much for the animals.  Emma thought the animals were great.

Mason's cute little class.
Mason on an old tractor, this was probably his favorite part of the entire outing.

Emma's 18 months!

Emma is the big 18 months today!  I am always excited about this age because it means nursery at church, whew.

Emma's a shoe girl.  We were at the mall last week & I had a pair of crocs for Sarah.  I gave them to Emma to hold in her stroller & she immediately was trying to put them on herself.  She likes to walk around in Mason's shoes & somehow manages to do it without falling.

She's finally saying a few recognizable words, lets see, Momo for Elmo, Bob for Spongebob (proud of that one!  We have a kids meal toy of Spongebob).  She likes to say Daddy & sometimes comes up with mommy, ara for Sarah, iack for her cousin Isaac, ala for Allie.  That's all I can think of right now!

She loves to ride the wiggle racers on the sidewalk & always wants to stay outside.  She's not big enough for most of the things at the park, but she sure tries (it's going to be a long summer for the park).

Emma is finally leaving things (besides her elastic) in her hair, yeah!  She used to, until her arms could reach the top of her head.

Board certified!!!!

Todd took his oral boards in NYC in April.  He passed, yeah!!!  He'd passed the written exam last summer, so now he's officially a board certified anesthesiologist.  Nice.

We've moved!

We moved on May 2.  I've not blogged about our fun yet since I don't have the internet at our new house yet.  Comcast has yet to reach our neighborhood, but keep telling me they will by next week.  We'll see.  Until then, I drop Sarah off at the bus stop in our old neighborhood then come to the old house & do all my online stuff while Mason & Emma ride wheelie toys in the backyard (we've got this place until June 1).

We like our new house & can't wait for it to be all unpacked.  Most of the rooms are livable, except Sarah's.  She's quite the hoarder & I just don't know what to do for hers (I put off packing her room too, it's just hard to face!).

I will say this about our move week, Todd had a terrible cold but got off early every day & was home before 5 the entire week.  That's not happened since Mayo.  Last week made up for it though, he was not home until 8pm 3 nights & then on call Saturday, blah.  

Our move day was rainy (most of ours seem to be).  We'd hired movers for the big stuff & had both sets of parents helping with kids & unpacking.  It went pretty smoothly & we were all worn out when it was over.

Emma has not cared much for her new room (even though it's set up the say way her old one was) & has given us a few sleepless nights.  Other than that, we all seem pretty happy.  

I will say this, if I never move again, it will still be too soon!  Good luck to my friends who have some more moves on the way!