Family Fun

We had a GREAT family day on Saturday. My parents met us down town at the McGuire's St. Pattie's day run, along with about 10,000 other people.

Albert left the house a little after six to pick up all of our packets. Upon arriving he realized that we totally blanked on the whole "green" thing and asked me to bring a green shirt along for him. I obliged and dressed the littles accordingly. We left the house a little after seven. Mom and Dad pushed our trio in two strollers so that Albert and I could run. My 10 year old brother ran with me. We had a GREAT time. We enjoyed talking about all of the costumes, breathing, and trying to pass people without picking up speed. After the run we enjoyed some Irish stew (C@ambell's beef stew) and hanging out. The boys all went up on the double decker bus and we continued to comment on what everyone was wearing. Maybe we'll dress up a bit more next year. After the run, we came back to our house and started the painting project. I can't wait to have the whole house done, but for now I am satisfied with the foyer and office. They look great and very fresh. For dinner, my sister and nephew came over for some brisket. We were all about to pass out by then and turned in early. We sure did have a special time together though!

Unique

We like "different" things. Some of the things around our little pond that make us feel "cool" or "different" are:

- having a lot of littles all close together in age. We are finding more families with a lot of littles, but our's seem to be closer together in age, or younger at this pointe. We love this!

- using cloth diapers

- nursing in public {modestly of course, but it isn't done by every woman}

- baby wearing. This is becoming more popular, but still has a ways to go with the daddies, not at our house though!

- our stroller. We think it's totally cool and really enjoy telling others about it.

- our theology. While we want everyone to love Jesus and worship Him in all that they do, a lot don't.

- Widdle's running bike.

- our new bike seat.

Albert found this bike seat yesterday and just "had" to buy it. We went for a ride last night and Waddle loved being so close to Daddy and having such a special seat. We think it would be a head turner if I could ride farther than 3 miles!

Resurrection Party

At the encouragement of a dear friend, I hosted my first Resurrection Party today. It wasn't very big or fancy and I really hope more people will be able to come next year, but we had a great time. The culture has influenced holidays so much that I think it is easy to forget what we are celebrating. So, today we celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the true meaning of Easter. I only did two specific activities and the rest was just free play and visiting. It turned out great. Once our friends were here, we read through the Resurrection Eggs. I found these last year for about $10 at a bookstore in town. The kids LOVED it. I was impressed with their attention span. They all took turns opening the eggs and we talked about the tricky words in the story. Next was snack time. I was going to make a resurrection cake that walked us through Jesus's death and resurrection again, but I could not find a good picture to go off of. I did find the directions for a cross cake though, so I made it instead. It was really easy and tasty!

I decided to make a tomb out of the extra piece and used a R1tz cracker as the rock for the kids to roll away and see that the tomb was empty.

Widdle ate the cracker and now it just looks like a doorway, oh well. We had a great time and really enjoyed the special time with my sister and our friends, the M girls!

Jeans

I would be willing to bet that jeans are a girl's second least favorite thing to shop for. They are for me at least. First would be swim wear- yuck! I took care of that last summer though and shouldn't have to update it again for at least a couple of summers. Considering it won't get any use this summer, it will still be brand new next summer!

Jeans were the mission for last night. I have three pair of the exact same style jean that are all out of style now. I bought the first two pair in the store before Widdle was born. The third pair was ordered off the Internet either before or after Waddle, I can't remember. The first two pair were "regular" length, which is about 6 inches too long for me. One pair is practically brand new because they are so long and hardly worn. The second pair, I cut off to the "right" length, then they unraveled a bit and now are only the "right" length after I've worn them for a day and they've stretched out. They are great for rolling up to capri length though. The third pair were my "nice" jeans. You know, the jeans that are to unraveled or worn, they looked decent with ballet flats, flip-flops, just about anything. Well, apparently I've started being a lot harder on my jeans. In the last three years I've worn a hole in the right knee of three pair of jeans. The last two holes came over the last month.

Last week I was going to write about how I was totally out of style with my jeans and that my last good pair were one good floor cleaning, owie kiss, toy clean-up away from a hole in the knee. Well, I am too late and they have fallen apart. I am now completely out of style. At some point, I think while I was pregnant with Widdle, they stopped selling my jeans in the store, I could only get them on-line. That was fine, I knew my size and shipping was cheaper than the stress counseling I would need for going to the mall for one pair of jeans. (just kidding) But I'd rather save the gas and order anyway. After Waddle was born, they were still available on-line. Now, after Piddle and a hard winter on my knees, when I am desperate for a new pair, they are totally unavailable and I am completely out of style. So, with no other option, we went jean shopping last night.

When we were in CO, b/p (before pregnancy), I did a little jean shopping. Albert and I went to G@p and I found a cut that I really liked, but they didn't have my length. Length is almost as important as waist size for me! So we left, jeanless. Yesterday I had a coupon for The L1mited, so I thought we'd shop around before heading to G@p, where I was pretty sure I'd find what I was looking for. The first three stores we went in were totally trendy, NOT me. I can not wear and refuse to try on the skinny jean. And jeans that are called leggings mean nothing to me. Almost every pair fit in my waist and hips (which is a miracle in itself) but the cut of the leg was just crazy. Some were snug to the bottom of me knee, then flared out. One pair looked like I was ready for a flood whether they were rolled down or up. It was just one thing after another. We headed into Dill@rd's and found that nothing in the Juniors department appealed to me, so we headed up to the Ladies. With great anticipation I tried on some of Reb@'s jeans. She always looks so classy and stylish. The moment I fastened them, I felt like this. I took them off immediately! The first time I felt like this was when I went into @E and asked the sales girl about my jeans and if they started selling them in the store again. She replied, "No, but if you are looking for a mid-rise jean, we have these that are a little higher." We left immediately and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

So last night I tried on pair after pair and was starting to wonder if the problem was me, the jeans, my old jeans what? I certainly wasn't comfortable in new jeans that are stiff and snug. My jeans haven't fit like that in at least two years. I had one thing in mind and I wasn't finding it anywhere. Finally we headed over to G@p and they had my exact size. It was so exciting! They fit great, though I am 12 1/2 weeks along. They were comfortable from the beginning and just fit exactly how I want my jeans to fit. My sweet husband bought me two pair. I should be set for the next 2-4 years!! Yeah!!