One woman's trash...

The day after K's preschool program we moved to a different apartment in the same complex (3 bedrooms feels SO much bigger than 2!!). Everything is the same for our address, but add 32 to the house number. :) Joseph was in the midst of pre- and early finals, so the timing wasn't great, but it all worked out. I have WONDERFUL and AMAZING neighbors and friends and family who helped so much - we moved all the kitchen/shelving/closets on Friday, then all the big stuff the next day. It was our 8th move in the almost 7 years of our marriage. Ugh! :)

A few weeks before the move, the city in which we live had their big Spring-cleaning-large-item-pick-up day -- my friend Heidi and I lovingly refer to this event as 'Bulky Trash.' The garbage company goes through half of the city, alternating every other year, and you can dump whatever you want on the curb, and they pick it up early Saturday morning. So Friday night, the race is on to find the best trash. :) We find all kinds of stuff -- tables, chairs, dressers, baby gear (plenty of strollers!), bikes, etc.

This year we found an enormous frame, about 7 feet long, still in it's packaging. No back or glass or anything, just the frame itself. Heidi kept it in her garage for me till after we moved, and then it was time to figure out what to do with it! So I skimmed through all my pictures (the family shot is from Jared and Deb's camera, and the temple picture came from Mindy -- thanks!!!), took the kids out for a mini-photo shoot ("Hey, kids, get some clothes on, I need a picture of the two of you where you're clean and don't have a bucket on your heads"), and did a little photoshop editing. I bought hardboard at Home Depot to mount the pictures on, got a little creative with hanging hardware, and one woman's trash became another woman's treasure. :)

I think my kids are cute. And I like my trashy decor. :)

Back to Blogdom...

So, it's been about two months... Sheesh! At first I didn't post anything because nothing was quite as exciting as my trip to Chicago. Then life got a little crazy, and now I'm way behind. So please humor me (or just skip these posts) as I recount the last little bit in our lives - this is the closest thing to a journal that I have right now (any of you have great ideas for how to archive or print a blog??), so I might as well hit the remaining highlights of April and May before we move on to June!
K's fabulous preschool experience culminated in an open house in the end of April, which included a little program -- 'singing' by the kiddos (aka chanting/yelling with bits of pitch variation by a few). I've been so pleased with this preschool -- it's run by a Methodist church near our home, and the teachers are wonderful, the other families are great, the kids are fun. It's been a good way for K (and I) to ease into formal education. :)

More to come -- I had to at least break the ice and get ONE new post up here, but it's pushing bedtime, and my body is NOT liking my cute little hard wooden desk chair. :)

Chicago!!

Last weekend I did something fun and crazy that I've always wanted to do - a trip all by myself (ie, no children except for the one in utero) for a roommate reunion weekend!! I met up with two of my most favorite people in the world, Rach & Tiff, and we spent a jolly holiday in the Windy City.

Here's the reflection of the city (and the three of us!) in "The Bean" (I'm in the middle taking the picture)

The view from the top of the Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier

Chicago deep dish pizza with my internet/digital scrapping buddy, Alison who just happened to be in Chicago the same weekend - good timing! It was so fun to get to know her in person.

Walking back to the hotel after our wicked night (Joseph told me not to pick up on any guys while I was away, then laughed and said, "Nevermind, you're pregnant!" So our wicked night was just the musical, a lovely dinner and a stroll through downtown Chicago).

The three of us roomed together and/or next door to each other for the first three years of college, and each got married the same spring/summer before our senior year. I just adore them! It was so great to take a break from everything here at home. Thank you, thank you, Joseph, for supporting my little adventure, and many thanks to my in-laws for taking the kids!

Easter!

We had a great Easter - egg decorating and hunting with cousins, Grandparents, aunt/uncles & friends on Saturday and a quiet and mellow Easter Sunday (in between sugar highs).

Spring time!!

I can't believe it's the end of March already - time is flying by.
We've been busy with the usual - my endless projects (finally finished my taxes!!!!, a sewing project I began over a month ago, new pictures for the walls in my room, organizing and re-organizing closets, etc), Joseph enjoyed a rural rotation (pediatric clinic in a Winnebago, anyone?) and a Spring break (working on HIS projects - car maintenance, cleaning the storage shed, studying school work, fishing and playing with the kids, camping with scouts, basketball with buddies, etc). K had Spring Break the week before Joseph and is now back into the swing of piano and preschool, and J-boy just goes with the flow.

These pictures are from a Sunday afternoon trip to the park at the beginning of the month - still chilly, but SO good to be outside in the sun. Oh, and I had to add one Joseph took of J-boy cleaning his room. Anyway, pretty normal stuff -- just truckin' along.

Quote of the Day

J-boy came downstairs after he woke up, climbed up on my lap (I was checking email), caressed my hair and said,

"Hey mom, your hair looks hot."

I don't know why he thinks my hair appears to have a temperature. I've decided to just take it as a compliment. :)

Ultra Ultrasound

We got to go take pictures of our baby yesterday - K was sure it was a girl, and J-boy was sure it was a boy. The rest of us didn't have a clue. :) Here's what the technician discovered: