five on friday

1.  We spent a few weeks this Spring seriously thinking of moving further south.  Bryan was offered a job and we went down to Raleigh for a weekend to check it out but in the end it just wasn't right for us right now.  So we're happy to be sticking around B-more for a while.  And...

2.  We bought a house!  Our "new" little house was built in 1958 and the woman we're buying from is the original owner.  It's totally an old lady house (i.e. blue flowered wallpaper and salmon-colored walls) and I love it (and can't wait to make it our own.)

3. We have to be out of the home we're renting by tomorrow and our closing date on the new house isn't for a few weeks so technically we're homeless for a month.  I was stressed about this until I realized that means we won't be paying rent or mortgage for an entire month.  I have big plans (in the form of new furniture) for that saved money.  And thank goodness for our wonderful parents who are letting us bum with them for a few weeks.

4.  Jilly was super terrified all her treasures wouldn't make it to the new house (don't tell her, but this is not an unfounded worry since I've been doing my best to Marie Kondo my way through our house.)  She has been constantly begging to help so she can make sure nothing gets cut.

5.  Packing is quite a treasure hunt, even after only living here for a year.  So far we've found Mattie's missing jelly shoe deep in Jilly's closet, some toys I bought for the girls and forgot to ever give (jackpot!), the tv remote that has been missing for 3 weeks (stuck inside the couch, not just under the cushions but somehow inside the couch- no clue how it got there), a library movie (grrr), and my Sacramento library card.

In the midst of all the hard work, we did have some fun this week

Popsicles in the backyard-

Superhero masks from the library-

A huge thunderstorm then a beautiful sunset with the coolest clouds-

Turns out an empty house can be really fun-

One last lunch with our Boston-bound friends (Connor is showing exactly how we feel)

She works hard for the money-

When Jilly saw our empty living room she said "Oh it's like a ballroom!" and immediately started performing-

Mattie insisted on sleeping on the floor with Jilly (note the pack-n-play all ready for her.)

A summer weekend

Bryan has started his summer schedule at work so he works an extra hour ever day and gets every other Friday off.  Not only has he been going into work an hour early but also staying late many nights so he could finish all of his projects.  After a long week we felt so happy and lucky to have him for a full day. We went to Hammerman Beach, a little beach area on the bay.  Our little fishies played in the water nearly all day, we ate a full package of oreos and an entire bag of doritos (and some healthy food too, promise!), we read and took naps.  It was really, really great.

On Saturday Bryan spent all morning helping a friend move and then came home and spent all afternoon working on our house.  That night we got a babysitter and went to see Jurassic World.  While in the movie I got an alert on my phone that there was a tornado warning in our area.  I was freaking out and texted the babysitter (who is awesome) that maybe she should take the girls down to the basement.  She did, and sent me this sweet picture of them asleep downstairs.  Never was I so grateful for a competent babysitter.  A little while later the power went out in the movie theater and they sent us all home.  By the time we got to our car in the parking garage and left the worst of the storm was over, there were just thunderstorms for the rest of the night.  But it was definitely a night to remember (and now we need to see the last 20 minutes of Jurassic World!)

By Sunday the storms had cleared away for a hot Father's Day.  After church, naps, and dinner we went out to the lake so Bryan and the girls could throw rocks and sticks.  It was an appropriate day for Jilly to tell me "I like you, but I like Daddy the best."  Can't say I blame her at all.

five on friday

Five scenes from our week:

My sweet little reader.  Mattie found these shoes in her closet; I think they're hand-me-downs from my friend Megan.  And fancy shoes call for ladylike posture.  

She's an original for sure.  Jilly came up with this outfit then went around singing and doing a "hoochie dance" (in my defense we learned a cute (and very tame) song called "Hootchy Cootchy Dance" in our music class this winter) 

Sometimes I'm the funnest mom and the most hated shopper at the same time.  Ankles beware!

 

Jillian asked to borrow my phone and brought it back to me with this sweet picture.

New pink dress = happiest girl you've ever seen.

five fact friday

one- We're experiencing a true East Coast Spring/Summer.  It has rained quite a bit and we can practically see the grass/plants/flowers growing in front of us.  All around us is the greenest green and it's so beautiful!



two- This was a week ago but I felt I needed to document that we did not let National Donut Day go unheeded.

three- Jillian loves to be the first to go in when Mattie wakes up from her nap.  The other day she brought with her half the contents of her bedroom and all of the books from Mattie's basket.  I was listening in the hall and was surprised that she had memorized many of the books and could read them almost perfectly.  

four- We live near Johns Hopkins so we have lots of friends who are here for school/residency/fellowship programs and a few of them are finishing and moving this summer.  We've been going to goodbye parties like it's our job.  It's fun to have an excuse to get together but sad to say goodbye.

five- Hellooooo Summer!  We hit the 90s this week and Mattie was sick (of course!) but Jilly loved playing in our new sprinkler.  We're going to get a lot of use out of this little caterpillar this summer.

Heard this week...

Coming home from spending a night camping with a bunch of 12-15 year old boys-

R: Are you tired? Want to take a nap?

B: Oh no, I'm fine

15 seconds later...

Jilly sees a dead bird in the road

J: (singing) dead, dead, dead in the road, dead, dead, dead in the road

Picking Mattie up from nursery-

M: Mommy, I ha fun! I ha fun! 

(she cried for a full hour)

Up in the middle of the night with a feverish Mattie who had gone to sleep wearing dress-up

M: Gee-yen aseep?

R: Yes, Jillian's asleep

M: Gee-yen wear jammies?

R: Yes, Jillian is wearing jammies

M: Mommy wear jammies?

R: Yes, I'm wearing jammies

M: Me jammies?

R: Do you want me to get some jammies for you?

M: NO! Me dess up!

Leaving for church-

B: I wish I could wear my favorite shirt to the grocery store and the park, then to book club, and then to church 

(he's a collar hater and I maybe wear this shirt a lot)

J: So do you just like really really really love soda?
R: What would make you think that?
J: You drink it every day
R: (thinking) We've got to get this girl in school asap

crafternoons

Deciding not to send Jilly to preschool was quite the ordeal, but I haven't ever regretted it.  I have loved all the time I've spent with her this year, and I think we've done a great job of staying busy.  The hardest time is the long afternoons during Mattie's nap.  Jilly alwaysalwaysalways wants to watch a show, and I'll admit, there are plenty of afternoons when I give in.  But I try really hard to come up with other activities for her, and crafts are some of her favorites.  

^ We love to make chains to count down to exciting events

^ I hated having to rinse off brushes every time Jilly wanted to change colors so I finally bought enough brushes for each color and, yes, Lazy is my middle name.

^ Pinterest makes my life a million times easier

five on friday

ONE- This week has been cool and rainy but the two weeks before that were bright and sunny.  Right now nothing sounds better than long, hot, full-of-fun summer days.  Jilly and I decided to read all of Janssen's 100 Picture Books to Read This Summer and it's so fun to have a goal as we make our way through piles and piles of library books.  

TWO- Mattie brings new meaning to "picnic basket."  Also, she's obsessed with making little goggles and saying "I see you!"  This little lady is not lacking in personality.

THREE- Jilly had her second real dentist visit (she'd been to my dad's office a couple times before that) and it was (happily!) completely opposite from her first visit.  And now she begs to brush and floss her teeth and insists that going to the dentist was the best thing we did this week (closely followed by a trip to Costco.)

FIVE- Mattie decided she's a big kid and now sits on the bench with Jilly instead of her booster which has lead to lots of dinner love

FIVE- Over Memorial Day Weekend we met up with my family at a park in DC.  Jilly has never ever passed up a chance to ride a carousel (especially when there's a zebra) and Tyler is the best uncle ever to go along her.

RVA weekend

Last weekend my sister Jenn was visiting from Utah so we went down to Richmond so "Gigi's whole family" (Jilly's words) could be together.  We had a fantastic time and I kind of wish we could go back and do it all again this weekend.  On Saturday we went to Tyler's early-morning soccer game, to a carnival at the middle school, played at the pool for a couple hours, had a picnic at Maymont, played PIG in the driveway, and then ended the night roasting s'mores in our backyard.  It was busy but so fun.  On Sunday we took some family pictures after church then ate dinner and celebrated all the May birthdays.  We let the girls show everyone their scooter skills then packed up and headed home.  Jilly fell asleep before we even got to the end of the street; a sure sign of an excellent weekend.

^Mattie loved her snow cone til it was gone and she realized how "ticky!" she was

^ Our family has been going to Canterbury pool since forever and it's so fun to watch my girls play at the pool I grew up loving. 

^ I'm sure I never realized how awesome my parents are until I became a parent.  We're so lucky to have Gigi and Papa.

^ "the Original 8"- I wish I could remember what was so funny

^ the Scooter Brigade- the girls taught Uncle Neal a few new tricks