random life

 This is my baby girl today. You would not know that she had been sick the past several days. Our house has had two rounds of the flu over the past couple of weeks. First the boys, then Megan. - and hopefully NOT me. Especially because tomorrow is airport day! Somebody is over the ocean right now, working their way home!

 above: Trevor one morning. I found him already showerd and ready for school...except that it was before 7:00, which is the time he usually wakes up. I'm guessing he fell asleep after getting up early to get ready for school. Sometimes he does like to get up early and play on his computer in the morning.

above: Matthew and one of his newer Lego creations. He is working on making a huge military scene. It goes between a WWII scene and zombies...I think he doesn't know what direction he is going with it quite yet. You can't see, but the helicopter is on two stacks of clear blocks to make it look like it is hovering. His cave is pretty cool too! (Mom, that is your cardboard piece that was meant for puzzles, but he has claimed it for his base.)

 There were a few days where the weather was too chilly for the turtles to be outside. I put their heat lamp inside and let them crawl around downstairs. They look cozy!

Piper enjoying the open windows and watching all of the activity outside. She still likes to sit and wait for the boys' bus. She used to do this in Kentucky too. She'll run downstairs when she hears it drive by before the boys come home. I indulged on her spoiling by getting the blinds out of the way!)

Beautiful day today

 Oh my gosh. Today was the definition of perfect weather, and a good day. I was trying out a new crock pot recipe (which actually turned out pretty good!) but I needed a couple of things from the store to go with dinner. Megan needed some green tea bags. We decided to ride down to Fresh & Easy (original plan was Target...I love having the options, how nice to have so many places withing biking distance. Thank you Gilbert.)

There is a local restaurant that Mike and I stopped in one time to look at, but we had already eaten and figured we'd go back some time. We hadn't made it back yet, but today as my stomach was growling on the bike ride, I thought it would be good to stop in. Especially since Megan is my splitter. She always splits things with me, which makes going out fun. (BTW, the boys didn't want to go, they were not left out!) We had a flatbread pizza with this amazing glaze on the top. It was huge too, so we still have plenty left. The portions there are crazy huge.

Then we split the BEST cheesecake I have ever had. It was a salted caramel...little piece of awesomeness.

 One thing I did miss like crazy while we were gone was Fresh & Easy. I always have good luck there. I go in not knowing what to make for dinner, and I always find something. They have amazing fresh bread for .98 cents...so pretty often I will get a loaf to have with a meal.

My mom and dad bought me the coolest basket for my bike for Christmas. It comes off easily and turns into a shopping basket. I felt so cool and European riding my bike home with  a long loaf of bread peeking out of the top of the basket, and the basil plant smelled so good all of the way home.

 UGH. Still not doing too well on my hopes of being better about blogging! Really, how is it already the 18th of January? The good thing is, when time goes by this fast, it means that Mike will be home sooner. If I could find a way to slow it down once he gets home though, I will have found the perfect combination.

Just a fast recap of the first couple weeks of 2013. It seems like I am busy, but if you ask me with what I can't even remember. I guess just life stuff in general.

It has been a good start to the year.

Earlier this week Megan had an appointment to get her hair cut. The place where I go is over near the high school that I went to. Megan had been asking me to see it (before moving back here) so since we were a mile away I took her over to see it. I showed her the two exact spaces where I met Mike. I always parked in the same spot (I have always been a habitual park-er, and I am still like this. I had a 'spot' at Kohl's - sunshine or snow.) It was WEIRD and surreal to stand here looking at the exact spots, and see our daughter sitting on the curb between the two. It's one of those moments where you wish you could go back in time just so you could look forward and imagine. How do you even put into words...a product of a chance meeting, sitting in a spot where our history began, more years ago than I would like to admit.

This week Megan also was invited to an assembly at her school that she was officially an honors student! Of course we are so proud of her. I think her transition here after the move has been great. (Knock on wood...) She seems to really have adapted well to a new school and has immersed herself into high school life. She is excited about looking into tennis this coming week, and talks about clubs that she would like to join.

 Celebratory frozen yogurt after the assembly. - On a beautiful day where we were able to finally sit outside on a patio and enjoy the feeling of the sun on our backs. I felt like a basking turtle.

 We have really enjoyed Netflix. One series that we have been watching together is the Walking Dead. The boys love zombies. I was actually surprised at how much Megan has been into this show. After coming to the end of season 2, and the end of what is currently on Netflix...we both agreed that we feel like a part of us is missing. Desperately trying to look for a way to start watching season 3. Until then...Matthew felt inspired to build a Lego version.

(click photo to enlarge)

on top of motorhome Dale and T Dog. Always keeping watch. Bottom left to right: Shane (before going crazy and shaving his head.) Rick, Carl (CARL stay in the house!!) Lori, Andrea (finally given her gun back in this photo, and by the looks of her Lego body, apparently she is a flight attendant. lol.) Glenn, and then the most awesome Daryl...with his crossbow, and you can't see that he is wearing a backpack with more guns sticking out of the top) and his motorcycle. Coolest Lego set ever, don't you think?

More tomorrow. :) Promise. Going to bed now.

Happy new year.

I probably say it every year, but this year it especially has new meaning for me...if you would have told me this time last year, where I would be starting 2013 at, I never would have believed it. It was nice wrapping up 2012. I'm excited about this new year.

I have been so bad about blogging in the past few months. Moving sucked a lot of energy out of me, and we are finally feeling much more settled. It also helps that the focus and chaos of Christmas is over. Mike left for Africa today, and even though it always takes a big adjustment when he's gone, I know more about where he is at and his day to day there while he is at work. The last time he left overseas, it was a new destination. It takes awhile to settle, and the past few years of contract work have made that difficult. Even though this is new...it's a totally different direction. It all seems positive, and we feel like we can start breathing again. Whew.

His rotation home this past time was perfect. He was home in time for Christmas and was here through the holiday season. Everything worked out so well and the usual stress of past years was not an issue this year. I can say that this was the best Christmas that I can remember in a very long time. It felt like home again.

The kids are still home on winter break for the next few days. They have had two weeks off, which already is a bonus compared to winter break in Kentucky where it was only one week, but also snow days were figured into that. We definitely won't be anticipating those this year. I'm glad to have the two weeks off in one chunk instead of hoping for two weeks all together between break and snow days. Which...I am sure tomorrow will be one at our old house since it looks like they were getting snow today. It doesn't take much to call a snow day with the rural roads. I do kind of miss watching the news and hoping to see our school listed on the bottom...and the kids with their weird snow day rituals of sleeping with a spoon under a pillow and wearing jammies inside out. Those were fun nights, and even more fun when the kids would wake up late the next day and wonder why I hadn't gotten them up for school. As one of my friends posted on facebook, "The crisp silence of winter that comes with a good snow is beautiful." Yes, it is.

But hey, I was able to take the kids out for a bike ride today...which could not be done this time of year back east. I did get to wear a winter coat, scarf and boots to take the dog for a walk this evening though! Yay for coats!