North Carolina (or North Carowina as the boys say)

We have been back for a little over a week and I am already trying to think of ways to get back soon or heck just move down there!  We had the best time in the world!! The weather was great, we ate yummy food, the house we stayed in was perfect for us, and we got to see some really cool stuff.  Plus we got to see some great people we don't get to see very often.

 

Enjoying one of many birthday celebrations

This time we drove, we will not drive again!  It was OK but I think that drive pushed my limits for hours in the car.  The boys were great and even the big boys were pretty good, but thats just a long time in a car!  We left Nashua, NH after picking up the rental van and getting dinner around 7PM and got into our house in North Topsail Beach around mid morning.  

 After all the grown ups showered and got dressed and the boys got dressed we took care of some house keeping stuff like unpacking and buying groceries for the week.  Jack was super tired and cranky so he and I stayed in the house and took a nap while Josh and Adrian took Keaghan to the beach for a bit.  

K fell in the waves, he wasn't very impressed.

 The next day we drove down to Myrtle Beach to spend the day.  The boys had a blast walking the boardwalk and playing in the sand.

They are in a phase where they don't want their picture taken. Haha!

We went on the Sky Wheel, which is definitely the biggest ferris wheel I have ever been on!  The boys loved it and the view of the beach was amazing.  It was a little foggy when we were there but I bet on a nice day you can see forever.

After walking around on the beach, we headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe which was in a separate mall area that I wish we had had more time at, but it was getting late and Myrtle Beach was about 2 hours away from where we were staying so we wanted to get back.  We had a great meal and the boys were given another birthday dessert that was the same size as a grown up dessert! 

When we got back to our house, our good friend and camp family member Sam was there for a visit.  Sam lives in South Carolina and drove a LONG way to come and visit with us. We were so happy to see him and meet his girlfriend.  They crashed on the couch and went to Wilmington with us the next day.

 We went to the Fort Fisher Aquarium outside of Wilmington and the boys had so much fun showing us all the fish and dragging Sam and Sydney around to all the exhibits.

This is the albino alligator that lives at the aquarium. 

This little boy was checking out everything in the tank with the boys, he came running up and wrapped his arms around my legs, looked up and looked absolutely stricken when he realized I was not his mother.  His mom and I got a pretty good laugh out of that one! 

Touching a shark 

Touching a shark 

This is  the last picture we took before we found out about the marathon bombs.

 As we were leaving the aquarium, someone, probably Josh, said "there were bombs exploding at the Boston Marathon.  At first I thought there was no way, that's not possible, how can someone bomb the Boston Marathon?  Then I instantly pulled out my phone to find out what I could and check on friends and family I knew were in Boston and running in the marathon.  I am so happy to say that all of my people were safe at the time, but my heart is still heavy for all the pain and suffering of the victims and their families.  It definitely changed the atmosphere of our vacation with the grown ups constantly checking for updates.

The next day we headed back into Wilmington for lunch and a visit to the USS North Carolina. We had lunch at the Cotton Exchange.  The Cotton Exchange used to be the building where cotton was bought and traded off the plantations to be taken back up north and turned into cloth.  Now they have turned the building into an outdoor mall with restaurants and shops.  It was cool to see, especially considering its a lot like the building I work in.  Its possible that cotton came from the Cotton Exchange in Wilmington up to the textile mill that houses my school once upon a time.  We ate lunch at a hot dog place called Scoops.  Josh and Adrian had hot dogs wrapped in bacon!  Then we all had an ice cream before heading to the battleship.

Sailor Jack, he was cruising all around the battleship!

SO excited to be on the ship 

That night I made ice cream cone cupcakes for their birthday and tucked two three year olds into bed for the last time.

 

The next morning we headed out to Fayetteville to visit with a former student and friend, Andrea. We were hoping to go to the Special Ops museum, but because of the sequester it was closed.  So we opted for a second choice and headed to the Cape Fear Botanical Garden.  It was a super nice day out and the boys had a great time hanging out in the gardens.  There was a lot to see and explore. 

After that little adventure we headed back to Andrea's house, which is in Autryville.   Autryville is a town about the size of a neighborhood up here.  There is a siren for the volunteer fire department that can be heard through the whole town (speaking from experience,  the alarm went off while we were there).  We had a cook out with Andrea and her grand parents and then the ice cream truck made a special visit just for the boys. 

 On our last day, Jack and I finally made it down to the beach.  The rest of the boys came with us and we had so much fun.  I got to stick my toes in the water and part of me almost wanted to head back to the house to get bathing suits.  It was about as warm as the ocean gets up here in the middle of the summer.

Jack had his turn falling in the waves.  He was running away from the waves and ended up falling face first in the waves. 

Last stop on the way out of town! 

We had a great time hanging out with each other, taking turns preparing meals and cleaning up, sitting on the porch listening to the helicopters flying overhead (Camp Lejeune is super close and they do trainings over the beach).
I was sad to head home, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  Josh and I had the immense pleasure of attending the wedding of two friends that Friday night.  We were exhausted but so glad to have been invited and able to go!

Next time, we fly!

A Bittersweet Moment

We had the boys' IEP meeting a couple of weeks ago and I am still processing it.  The boys' have been discharged from both special education and speech services as of their birthday.  I am so excited for their speech development, Miss Hillary said they scored above average on their speech testing that she did right before the meeting.  I am also a little hesitant because of all the progress we have made and I am terrified that we will see regression after we get back from vacation.  They have made huge strides this year and I really thrilled with their progress and every day I am amazed by something they say to me.  Their vocabulary is amazing and they are so incredibly smart and intuitive and compassionate.  But... I just worry without those extra pushes they have been receiving from Miss Cheryl and Miss Hillary they will regress.  I know it is silly, their teacher told me the other day they shared in class and the other kids were asking questions and they were answering those questions and my heart soared hearing that.  I never thought they were going to have easy drop offs and interact easily with their classmates.
I wanted to prepare them for the fact that Miss Hillary and Miss Cheryl won't be in their class after we get back from North Carolina to which I got a "that's OK momma, its OK they won't be there!"  Well... I won't tell Miss Hillary and Miss Cheryl you said that lol! I guess we will see what happens, but I really hope they do well!  These boys really do blow me away everyday!

I suck

I am really terrible at this whole blogging thing.  I think about doing it all the time but its usually when I am working, or out with the boys or any number of things that mean I can't blog right that second.  Right now the boys are in their room "sleeping" and Josh is making phone calls for camp and I have a little bit of time so I wanted to do an update.
I am about 2 months out from my 30th birthday and while I have big plans for many of the things still on my list, some of them will not be accomplished.  There are many reasons why and I am looking at it more like a "30 before I finish 30" list at this point.  One of the main reasons some of these aren't being accomplished is because of number twenty "being financially responsible."  We have made a lot of really good choices lately, but had one major setback that influenced the list.  Josh totalled his car at the beginning of March (he is/was OK... thank you seat belts) so we had to unexpectedly go out and buy him a new car and while we were planning on doing this, we weren't planning on doing so until August so that was a setback and pushed back a few things we were planning until next fall and spring.
So here is the update on what has been accomplished:

#2: Make our own bread - CHECK!  I have not bought a loaf of bread since September (except for once when we lost power in a storm and Josh ran out and bought a bunch of stuff to make PB&Js.... and he said he didn't like store bought bread since having my bread.)

#3: Grow a garden - kinda check.... the boys and I attempted last summer and here are the results: 

Our sad little garden

marigolds? don't know... they never flowered

These beans were doing really well... until I was put in charge of them... 

I think this summer I will try bigger containers and fewer plants and hopefully one day we will be in a house for the summer and I can grow one in the ground! 

#10: Read 10 books I always thought would be uninteresting. - CHECK, I joined a book club this winter and it has been awesome.  I love all the girls involved and they pick out amazing books that I would never have found and sometimes struggle through because they just aren't my style but they definitely helped me reach this goal! 

#11: NO SODA - CHECK!  I did not have one glass of soda for the entire year of 2012.  I lost about 10 pounds from January to June just by not drinking soda (which I promptly put back on over the summer) and even now don't drink nearly as much as I used to... but if I never have to drink another iced tea again I might die a happy woman.  I still love iced tea, but its pretty much the only non soda non water option at restaurants and I appreciate being able to choose something else now when we go out! 

#20: Be financially responsible. -  We have made some big strides towards some of our goals this year and I hope that it continues. 

#21: Finish the boys' quilts. - CHECK!!!!  This one was a race to the finish to have them done in time for Christmas and I was literally sewing while playing Santa Christmas Eve night but I finished them and I am so proud of myself for doing them.  I may never sew again but here's the final result: 

Keaghan's 

Jack's

#26: Get a job I love. - check.  I do love most of my new job, and I am sure that there are parts of everyone's job they don't enjoy so I am going to call this one complete because I like this job way better than my old job! 

There are some ongoing goals that I want to check in on or goals that are coming up in the future, so here that goes: 

#1: Harry Potter World at Universal Studios Orlando. - This one is hopefully happening for next February (going with my 30 before I finish 30 theme here).  We have decided to go to Disney World with the boys and my parents next February vacation and Josh and I are hoping to take an evening and head over to Universal to visit Harry and his friends.  

#4: Get myself a nice piece of jewelry for my birthday. - I have a few ideas for this one and I have 2 months to decide! 

#5: Visit the south. - We are leaving in under two weeks to spend a week in North Topsail Beach, North Carolina.  We are staying at a scouting friend's house and are planning a day trip to Myrtle Beach, visiting a former student in Fayetteville, and having another scouting friend who lives in SC come up and visit.  Josh's best friend is coming with us and I am so excited to hang on the beach and celebrate the boys' 4th birthday down there! 

#7: Reconnect with old friends. 

                    AND

#8: Try extra hard to keep connections with loved ones. - I am still working on this one, but I suck at phone calls just as much as I suck at blogging.  Facebook definitely makes its a bit easier, but I need to work harder on making more real time connections! 

#9: Cook an entire Thanksgiving meal, from scratch, no cheating! - maybe this year? 

#12: Get into the size of clothes I wore in college. - I started this one too late to make the goal by my birthday, but I am working at it.  I have lost about 15 pounds and have made some changes to eating and work out habits so here's hoping!  I have to make another change though because I started doing 30 day shred but it absolutely killed my knees so I have to find something that can give me the same results but not kill me! 

#13: Visit Bar Harbor. - I am hoping this one can happen in the fall or next spring. 

#14: Have family photos taken. - maybe over the summer? 

#15: Buy a house. - This one might be a year or two out but I am hoping it will be accomplished in my "30 before finishing 30" list 

#16: Bring the boys to the zoo in Boston. - I might be able to make it for this one, but this might happen over the summer. 

#17: Go to Vermont- eat - another fall or spring possibility. 

#18: Paint pottery. - hoping to get this one in after we get back from NC. 

#19: Get all my girlfriends together. - I was hoping that this could happen for my birthday but apparently there is something going on in Portland that weekend and all the hotels are booked, so I am thinking maybe sometime over the summer I can plan this one. 

#22. Go camping. - This is definitely happening this summer! 

#23. Cook all of our meals at home for at least 30 days, no takeout, no fast food, all prepared by me! - Going for this one after we get back from NC.  I have not made it a full 30 days in a row because life gets in the way but I have certainly gotten better about preparing all of our meals and making things from scratch. 

#25: Take the boys fishing. - Looking up the requirements for my fishing license and if this one doesn't happen before my birthday, it definitely will over the summer. 

#27: Have a big family reunion, with both sides of my family, Mom's and Dad's. - maybe this summer?  maybe next summer? 

#28:  Take a dance class. - I am thinking I will be ready for this one in the fall. 

#29:  Keep up with our photos, make sure the ones from my mother in law get put on my computer and get them all organized. - This one probably could have gone up top in the CHECK section, but it is still ongoing and I need to get over there and get the newest batch so I will leave it here. 

#30: Have a baby? - This will not be happening before my 30th birthday... there are a few requirements and a few have been checked off the list but the big one for me is not having a newborn or being pregnant when we bring the boys to Disney World next year.  I want to be able to enjoy that time with my boys so it won't be happening until at least after next February.  

So there is the list.  Not bad for being two months out!  I wish I was checking all of them off, but I am pretty happy with the results.  I promise I will try to update more often and write about more than just the list.