We had a surprise party and actually pulled it off.

A couple of funny things inevitably happened. He showed up at home on Jim’s motorcycle, borrowed for fun (what else would Andy do on his 30th birthday?). But that meant his car was still at the office. Which we needed to “go out to dinner.” So my mom and I had to squeeze in picking up his car along with all our crazy running around town for last-minute party stuff.

Logistically, it was interesting getting her and the kids out the door BEFORE US when they were just “going to the park.” Thankfully Andy didn’t ask too many questions. I already felt like I was in the hot seat, trying to come up with explanations/excuses on the fly.

Then when we were trying to leave, the heavens opened and TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR ensued. What in the world?! It wasn’t even raining over by the church! The highway was slooooooow going because of poor visibility. I thought we’d never get there and it was doubly frustrating knowing tons of people were standing around waiting for us. Oh and THEN, my sister and two of my kids (finishing up the last of the food when we left) passed us on the highway. Me, trying not to laugh, PRAYING Andy hadn’t noticed.

When we got off the exit I made him lay his seat back and cover his eyes since I forgot a blindfold. He thought we drove way past the church and was a little surprised when we ended up there. Everyone had parked in the back so the entire parking lot looked empty. I told him we had to just pick something up someone had left there for us and then we could go to dinner. Ha. Worked like a charm.

So it all worked out in the end.

Happy Anniversary Andy! Love you more than ever!

(I love my baby girl but) I cannot tell you how relaxing it was to just SIT and CHAT and EAT and not chase or feed anyone. I love parties where the dads play, too.

Andy’s first house is closing today. We are SO thankful to be on this side of the process! Lots of lessons learned and I’m sure more to come. He kept telling me through the job hunting that he had a feeling we’d be pleasantly surprised “when all this is over” and I couldn’t help sometimes but to smirk. I KNOW God is faithful and I KNOW He always had a plan for us. But sometimes it’s hard to see and it’s hard to keep going, blind and without any sort of reassurance.

And yet here we are.

Welp, I’m meeting a friend for tea in just a bit and have an OB appointment later this afternoon. (So I guess I should at least wash my face.) Oh, speaking of OB appointments, I haven’t gone to any in at least 2 months. Sick kids, no babysitter, storms, no power… I had to cancel several times. That glucose test? Still haven’t had it. I thought I could squeeze by without it since I’m rather close but no, the nurse wants me to take it anyway. (Ugh.)

And G sent me a coupon for kids-eat-free at Chili’s so I’m thinkin’ we’re going to do that tonight. Celebrate Andy’s first closing – why not? (He can eat vegan there, right? ;) Besides, our 9th anniversary is tomorrow and he turns 30 on Thursday. Enough to celebrate for an entire week, yes?

This looked so bright and cheery on the kids’ breakfast table this morning. We’re expecting a storm today so I’ve got all the lights on and I’m staying in my comfy pants. I can’t go anywhere either, since our mechanic is attempting to slide our van past the state emissions test today. (Let’s all groan together now.)

In other news, Andy is LOVING his new work. He is sooooooo busy though. (Like came home from the office past midnight a few days last week.) I did text him one night and said “you better be working and not just shooting the breeze!!!!” He wrote back “ha!” (I’m always a little suspicious because he’s working with a good friend and they have a really great time together.) But, regardless, sooo thankful. Now if we can just eek by until the first closing (earlyish May). God is faithful and does provide. The end.

(SOOC)

#20

This one needs a little backstory. Sometimes, Andy thinks he’s so very funny to bring me the smallest serving possible when I ask for something. This was last night’s “bowl” of chocolate ice cream. In a ramekin. (He usually has the real one waiting around the corner.)

(Also, he brought me a CRUMB when I asked for a corn chip to scoop up the last of my chili at dinner.)

Day 7.

First, a little backstory. Or two.

Andy’s gone through a couple (ahem) cell phones. Dropped one in a can of paint; I think another got the washer treatment… stuff like that. So we typically buy $20 cheap phones from ebay instead of paying for phone insurance each month on top of a $50 deductible for a replacement. All that to say, he’s currently without a phone because we are waiting on another one to arrive.  It’s a pain.

So, last night, he left to make a coffee/ice cream/Redbox run since we’re out of coffee beans. A friend had given us some pumpkin spice coffee, which is great for me, but since Andy is a coffee purist he said he couldn’t have two mornings in a row with flavored coffee.  (I know.  High maintenance.)  And since he’s without a phone, he took mine.

I was sitting on the couch, minding my own business and nursing the baby, when there was a knock at the front door.  (I should also mention that it was 10:45 at night.)  I wondered why on earth he knocked instead of just using his key but it turned out to be my neighbor instead: Andy had locked his keys in his car and was waiting for me at the Redbox.  He had to call her to reach me because we have no house line and again, HE HAD MY PHONE.

She took the baby, and I jumped in my van to go rescue my stranded hubby.  I thought about how nice that ice cream was going to smell come this morning, locked overnight in a car and all, and mentioned that when I picked him up.

Maybe, except it turns out he never even made it to Walmart!  Apparently there had been an accident and some rerouting so he turned around and decided to get the movie first.  Stopped at the Redbox and was chatting on my phone with one of his buddies and the next thing he knows, he has a movie but no car.  (Well I mean, he has a car, but no way to drive it.)  Oops.

No coffee.

No ice cream.

No keys.

No car.

And [we died laughing at this point], still no phone!

Arianna, covered in blueberries.

(Vintage 1960′s edit via Picnik.)

He had pureed blueberries and apples for her IN OUR [cleaned out] COFFEE GRINDER. (Such an Andy thing to do.) And apparently she loved it!

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads!

Last week when we went out for our anniversary, these were sitting on my seat when I opened the car door:

Dried and gone now, but I’ll always have the photo. (And the sweet husband.)

He took Drew to his check-up and then they went out for ice cream.  The girls and I ran a ton of errands, including birthday cake (Publix – ’cause I’m lazy) and picked up a couple of presents.  We brought home a pizza for lunch and threw wrapping paper on everything so he could open his gifts before the kids had time to blurt out what he was getting.  (Happen to you, too?)

We’re also starting a big attic project – putting down more flooring to greatly increase the storage space up there.  He spent the afternoon emptying out my van (into the yard, it was attractive) and going Home Depot/Lowe’s.  (Every man’s dream birthday, right? ha!)  He took the kids to church in his car since mine was full of wood.  And I had a wonderful, QUIET hour and a half to get things done here while I was ALONE.

[Sidenote: we tried to go out to dinner for a birthday/anniversary combo but couldn't find any childcare.  So hopefully we'll be able to do that next week and we went with Plan B.  (Which clearly involved a lot of wood.)]

Once the kids were bathed and in bed, we hauled it all in and Andy carried each sheet up to the attic.  That’s how I found myself vacuuming out my van at 11 o’clock at night.  FUN TIMES.  But hey, all the wood is up there ready to be nailed down, and my van is super clean.  So I guess that’s a win-win.

We didn’t get everything cleaned up and ready for today until about 1 am.  So, needless to say, this morning was um, difficult.  Madeline’s last day of preschool – Carnival Day!

Although, it was Madeline holding the rod when the fish bit.

(She has experience.)

The backstory.

What goes around comes around.

(And also, he shaved right after that photo. In case you were worried.)

(PS- I asked him if he was thinking about becoming an Olympic swimmer again.)

Andy 4.

Moriah 0.

(So. Not. Fair.)

(And it was like 90 degrees out.)

They got one coat of one whole side finished. We’re going from a whitish-gray to a grayish blue. Shutters were gray and now they’ll be white. I doubt I’ll post a picture, sorry. Maybe of the color, I’ll think about it.

Okay, here:

I got home this afternoon from running errands to him mowing our front lawn. He has spent all his time priming the house lately, he hasn’t had any time to cut the grass. We even had someone stop and ask if we needed them to cut it. (For a fee, of course.) I politely declined.

Anyway, about halfway through, he must have mowed over a yellow jacket’s nest. He only got stung twice (thank goodness for having worn jeans!). Our neighbor called and asked if we knew our lawn mower was sitting in a huge swarm of bees. Yeah, we noticed.

So the destruction of their nest took the rest of the evening. I watched (and may or may not have laughed my head off) from the comfort of the girls’ bedroom window.

(You would have laughed too if you saw the number of layers he put on and what he looked like with a hoodie cinched around his face with a pair of safety goggles. I’m just saying.)

And then lastly, he had his re-audition for our city’s professional choir. I know he did well; he made me listen to the recording. The only bummer about that whole situation is they have rehearsal on one of his days off. Which, okay, is not really that big of a deal.

Me???

Besides running errands (alone), I can’t really remember what I did yesterday. I did actually make dinner (rare) and last night managed to give all three kids haircuts.

Not that you can tell from Drew’s morning bed hair.

(Which never fails to amuse me.)

We’ve been planning on painting the exterior of our house all summer (and by we, I mean Andy) and have been slowly stripping the one really weathered side over the past few weeks.

Yesterday we (meaning Andy) started priming that side. Thankfully he had a friend — an actual painter, no less — help for a few hours in the morning. My job was to keep the kids out of the paint.

(Our kids feel strongly they should be involved in everything.)

So we packed up and went swimming. I know summer is slowly coming to a close so we’re trying to soak it up as much as possible.

And it all finally clicked yesterday for Adelaide; she figured out how to hold her breath underwater. Which means she spent a lot of the day like this:

And I STILL have yet to capture her actually jumping off, but this is the closest I’ve gotten:

Definitely my water baby. Maybe if I start her in lessons now, she’ll be ready for the 2024 Summer Olympics?

Andy had finished painting by the time we got home, so I put everyone down for a nap, fixed my hair and makeup, and ran back out to do the grocery shopping ALONE.

Sooooo nice. That’s all I need to say about that.

He also managed to snag a babysitter THAT AFTERNOON so we were able to go out to dinner at the very last minute last night. I let him choose and surprisingly he wanted to go to his own restaurant that he sees nearly every day. (Which speaks highly of the place, yes?)

We spent about two and a half hours there, just talking, relaxing, and eating. (Ohmywordthatwassomuchfood.) A very nice treat for the end of a busy day.

(Even if my date was covered in paint splatter.)

Andy tried to get a Redbox movie for us while I put the kids to bed, but the kiosk that we usually use wasn’t working and he came home empty-handed. That was really fine by me because I promptly fell into bed and fell fast asleep.

(Even if it was only to be waken fifteen million times by various children and one pregnant bladder throughout the night.)

(Why is that?)

Today Drew’s school has their closing chapel so we’re going to that. I’ll try not to cry. (How did I get a kid this big? Wasn’t he born yesterday?) And then later Andy and I are heading out to a bed & breakfast since my mom is here to keep the kids and let’s just say that I CANNOT WAIT!!!

No one will wake me up tomorrow morning!

(It’s the little things.)

Also, thank you all for your congratulations yesterday! Many of you asked what the kids said/thought. We haven’t actually told them yet. We (meaning I) decided to wait until they wouldn’t have so long to wait. Time is eternal when you’re 3.

(That and them asking me every five seconds if the new baby is here yet. They would SO be doing that.)

(It’s called maintaining the peace.)

It was the fall of my sophomore year of college, and a friend and I were chatting in one of our dorm rooms when she casually mentioned that I “needed to be nice to people who smile and wave at [me].”

What! What is that supposed to mean!

I asked her WHO did I not ‘smile and wave’ to? and she would not say. But it was such a pointed remark, I knew she was talking about a specific instance involving a specific person, but one that I clearly did not remember.

Finally she said, “just be nice to Andy,” and tried to leave it at that. I thought she was referring to another, different Andy we were both sort of acquainted with, and was confused as to why on earth she’d care whether I said hi to him or not.

After a little more discussion that I can’t go into here, we figured out we were talking about two totally different people. And then she said she was referring to Andy ______. (Last name omitted for obvious reasons.)

Me: “who’s Andy ______?” I’d never even heard of him before.

(See? How could I have been expected to WAVE and SMILE to someone I didn’t even know existed? So there!)

So of course at that point, I started asking about this mysterious Andy and she declared him “really cute.” That obviously piqued my interest, and she and I started scheming an introduction.

A couple of days after that, we were about to sit down in the cafeteria and she grabbed my arm and nudged me; quickly and discreetly pointing over to a dark-haired guy already seated at a table, I think with one of the professors. She was right, he WAS cute.

A few more days and I spotted him sitting and eating with several of my friends, so I nonchalantly walked over and sat down next to Suzanne. Andy didn’t see me and was standing up to leave, realized I was there, replaced his tray on the table, and sat back down.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Um, excuse me, are you my husband? Because I’m pretty sure you just turned into Santa Claus.

(If you’re wondering how on earth a mostly-normal, reasonable man would volunteer for such a tremendously exciting Friday night, I should also tell you that his friend planned on bringing his Xbox. Whatever that is.)

(Men.)

So I got on the phone, posthaste, and talked two of my friends into dinner and shopping with me last night.

And, since I’m a fair friend, I told Nicky if she didn’t want to spend any money, she was welcome to sit and wait for us in the car.

I’m very thoughtful, I know.

After dinner we browsed Ann Taylor Loft and all three of us found some good deals. (So no, she didn’t take me up on my car-sitting offer.)

At World Market, I found a few fresh tea towels (because mine were just sad). I bought this green one on top:

And this bicycle/flower shop/Arc de Triomphe one on top:

The three of us at Starbucks:

And then I came home and found this, which made me fall on the floor laughing:

My living room rearranged to accommodate Xbox Fest 2009.