Time Flies

Has it seriously been 2 months since I've blogged? How did that happen?! Where does the time go. I don't mean to be a slacker but it seems to come naturally anyhow. I suppose it has something to do with having two little people. By the time I get actual free time, I'm too tired to be creative. And don't get me started on how many pictures need to be downloaded off my camera and uploaded onto our computer and eventually this blog. Yikes. I am working today and am lucky enough to be in the "Study Room" where students have to be quiet and do their homework, which leaves me with 6.5 hours in which to surf the net. How happy am I? It's like a paid break! So, here's a recap of what I can recall over the last 2 months and what we've been up to,

I am very, VERY happy to report that we are no longer living in a house with white, vinyl flooring and stained, white carpeting. We finally bit the bullet and ordered new carpeting and hardwood floors. OMGILOVETHEMSOMUCH! My super-duper handyman of a husband spent 4 days installing the hardwood (because hiring someone doubles the price and why pay someone when husband is capable!). I'm fairly certain that A) he had no idea what he signed on for and B) he'll never do it again, but they are beautiful and he did a fantastic job. One of these days I will upload pics of our actual house, but for now here is what we went with.

And, the best part is? We actually went a full 3 weeks without one scratch. That is, until Miss Eva got a hold of the meat tenderizer and tenderized a few wood planks. Good thing for her that mom over measured by 100 sq. ft. and we have lots of extra wood laying around. Math never was my strong point.

In other April news, the kids, grandma and I spent 4 days in Colorado visiting "Unca Byan" and checking out the house in Castle Rock. Unfortunately, I was sick during the entire vacation so not too much fun was had but I still managed to get out and spend some time catching up with friends. I didn't get nearly enough time with everyone, nor did I get a chance to get outside and enjoy the scenery. Hopefully I'll make it back this summer.

And of course I got up early to watch the royal wedding on the 29th. Would I miss it? Please. I am obsessed with the royal family, so not for the world would I even dream about catching the replays later in the day. I spent the night at my parents house and my mom and I had 3 am mimosas, croissants and cakes. I even busted out my wedding tiara for the occasion. I am now obsessed with Kate Middleton. In fact, this is my new favorite website. And I would give anything to have these shoes that she wore but sadly, they are all sold out and I can't bring myself to spend nearly $300 on shoes anyway.

May has been somewhat uneventful. Our weather here in Minneapolis has sucked and I think it's safe to say we got almost no springtime. Most weekends have been rainy. However, the few nice days that we had were spent in the yard. I've been weeding the garden and Thomas planted a veggie garden. I'll try and get some pictures. I've got all sorts of unidentified plants and my new "favorite" game is "weed or not a weed?"

Declan finished up his first year of preschool. I can't believe the difference 9 months makes. He's matured so much. One more year and then it will be off to kindergarten :( I am happy to report that he is FINALLY done with the pacifier. Daddy took him to visit his grandparents in Illinois and told him he wasn't allowed to bring it and if he did then Grandpa Kevin wouldn't let him on the tractor. That was the end of the paci. This was a MAJOR, MAJOR step for Declan.

Eva is FINALLY learning to talk. She doesn't say much but she manages to get her point across ;) So far, her words consist of:

Mommy
Daddy
Puppy
Owww (this means cat. As in "the kitty cat says owwww")
Guck (Evanese for duck)
Mal (Evanese for milk)
Nonni (either banana or her bunny. It's sort of a dual use word for her)
Cookie (this means she's hungry and you'd better produce a graham cracker/pretzel/gold fish/cheerio or cookie STAT!)
Boppa (that's grandpa)
taintu (thank you)
shooo (shoe)
Dee Dee (her blankie)

Eva is our little firecracker without a doubt. Eva wants what Eva wants and will screech until she get's her way. She also climbs onto EVERYTHING and get's into EVERYTHING. Half my life is consumed by cleaning up after Eva. She's lucky she's so darn cute.

We celebrated our 6th anniversary last Friday evening with dinner at Fogo De Chao. We had made the decision to try and NOT spend a small fortune on dinner and figured that since FGC was part buffet this would fit the bill. Boy...we couldn't have been more wrong and we ended up blowing twice the budget. Oops. Afterwards, we headed to the Acme Comedy Club. All in all, it was a great night. I can't believe it's been 6 years since we got married. How time flies.

So, that's a run down of what I've been up to.

Confessions and Goals

I have a confession to make. Today I downloaded a Justin Bieber song. It's no secret I love me some bad pop music so this should come as no surprise to anyone, but considering that I also have a Miley Cyrus song on my ipod, sometimes I wonder if I ever matured past the age of 13. I can say with some authority and confidence that the answer to that questions is NO.

I needed some new music to run to and today Justin Bieber fit that bill. Along with my ever-faithful running companions Britney and the Black Eyed Peas. I set a goal for myself to run a 10k sometime this year. I know that is really vague but I am taking my training super duper extra slow to not aggravate my back. So far I am up to 2 miles. That's a 1/3 of the way there already! I hope to knock it out of the ballpark sometime late summer, early fall. In the meantime, I am going to run the Mother's Day race for The Cure. Anybody care to join me?

Anyhow, that's my confession and my written goal. Now that I've put it out into the universe I can't back out. Especially now that everyone is laughing at me for my playlists.

Life and things

Life has just been chugging along lately. Nothing too exciting has been happening here lately. Unless you count a case of pink eye and severe constipation exciting. Poor little Eva has just gotten over a nasty case of both.

Friday night I kicked the husband and the kids out of the house for an evening and had the ladies over for a Passion Party. We drank a lot of wine and talked sex all evening long. It was the most fun I've had in a really long time! I think everyone was a little nervous at first, not really knowing what to expect but after the 2nd glass of wine most inhibitions went out the door. I highly recommend hosting a party. It really was a blast! There is nothing like spending the evening with your best girls over a bottle (or two, or three or...) of wine and some sex toys ;)

Today was spent looking at new carpeting. We've (I really mean "I" but Tom has no say in this since he's not the one who has to keep it clean looking) decided to put all new flooring in the house. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to use all white flooring in a house that was meant to be occupied by families but they should be strung up by their toes and beat with a wooden spoon. Since the original builder put standard grade flooring in, to say it looks like shit 12 years later is an understatement and keeping it looking clean has been backbreaking. I know I've mentioned that before but it really deserves another paragraph.

So, anyhow...this spring we WILL get new carpeting, new kitchen flooring and a deck. I don't want to spend my summer worrying that my kids will fall out of the 2nd story door.

Who owns a house for 12 years and never installs a deck? This deserves a blog of it's own.

On another remodeling note, I finally "finished" the main floor bath. It won't officially be finished until we can afford a new toilet and pedestal sink but that's at least 15 years away so we will revisit at that time. For now you will have to use your imagination as my camera is charging. It looks awesome though if I do say so myself. It only took 4 coats of paint, a layer of primer and a return trip to Lowes and a visit by a plumber because my husband nearly flooded the basement installing a new faucet. But you didn't hear that from me.

We also got the wallpaper off the kitchen walls and a fresh coat of paint applied as well as new cabinetry hardware. I like to refer to it as my "lipstick on a pig" kitchen because a) the ugly floors and b) the cabinets that are in desperate need of a jackhammer.

So, that's what's been going on here. Eva is FINALLY starting to say some words. She says mommy, daddy, doggie, cookie, duck, up, hot and ouch. She can also point to her belly, ears, nose and eyes. And her butt. I really wish she would stop growing up :(

Declan is growing into a little boy. And by boy, I mean ALL BOY. He loves his cars, trucks, tools and penis. Those of you who have boys know what I mean. I am ill-equipped to handle this stage of boyhood. He is about to finish his first year of preschool. I just cannot believe how much he has changed in the past year. I know my days of having him all to myself are numbered so I have been trying my hardest to enjoy every second. He's been very cuddly lately and I dread the day he no longer lets me just lay under a blanket on the couch with him.