A Year of Dates - Part Two

I don't mean to brag, but so far I'm 2-for-2 with my 2015 New Year's Resolution. I'm a little behind on the writing part, but last Tuesday I went on my second "date" of the year. February was a no-brainer just like January. Kristin Tuckey is one of my nearest and dearest friends and she celebrated a pretty important birthday on Feb. 28th. (We won't mention what number it was or anything.)

We actually had made plans to get together a week earlier than we did, but a sick kiddo changed things up. We were determined to get it done in February so we rolled with the punches and bumped it one week later.

The original plan was to do some shopping, eat lunch and then go for a hike or walk before the kiddos got home from school. But then the temperature dropped to non-Kristin-approved levels so we stuck with the indoor activities.

After I dropped Eli off at school, I headed to Bubbletown to pick up Kristin and then we headed to the outlets in Gettysburg. Of course I hadn't actually checked to see what time they opened so we were a little early - one of the only times in my life that I have been early for anything. But that just gave us more time to catch up. It had been way too long since we have taken the time to check in so the catching up was good for the soul.

Then the stores opened and we got to work. It was so refreshing to be able to take our time trying on clothes and not hearing the whining voices outside the dressing room asking if we're almost done. (And that's just what Matt and Jeff sound like - I wasn't even taking into account the children.)

We tried on lots of stuff and made some excellent purchases - although we both had to say no to the shorts we tried on. The shorts themselves were awesome, but it's hard to get a clear picture of what they are going to look like when you're wearing knee socks. And did I mention it was cold? For those reasons we just couldn't pull the trigger.

We loaded the van and started talking about where to eat. We consulted the GPS for suggestions and headed toward Dobbin House Tavern, or so we thought. Mrs. GPS was a little off, but we decided to follow our memories instead and finally arrived.

Photo credit to Stefanie Sweger

I had seen the sign for the restaurant, but had never actually eaten there. Kristin thinks she did, but can't really remember. So basically neither of us knew where we were going. We wandered around the parking lot and house before we found the door that led to the dungeons steps to the Springhouse Tavern. It was the perfect mix of creepy and cool as we descended into the tavern.

The atmosphere was cool, the food was great and the company was even better. After the delicious meal we climbed out of the dungeon and started the drive home.

Although we haven't seen each other in awhile, we picked up like we had just talked the day before. I love having friends like that! It was a great day and a little hard to return to reality. We don't plan to wait a year to get together again...and we might even let the husbands and kids join us next time :)

A Year of Dates - Part One

I think we've already established that I'm awful at New Year's resolutions. But I'm also persistent. So I'm giving it another shot in 2015. This year I resolved to make a "date" at least once a month to spend quality time with one or more of my favorite people. I figured it gives me at least 28 days every month to make this happen.

When I told Jeff about it, he immediately moaned and groaned that he would only get one date in the next year. So I have since amended my resolution to include (at least) a monthly date with my loving husband and an additional "date" with someone else near and dear to me.

As I was looking at January, it really was a no-brainer who I was going to choose. My mom's birthday is in January. And since I wouldn't even be here if not for her, she pretty much had to be first.

So last week we started tossing around ideas of what we could do. After a few misses, we opted to go to Sight and Sound in Lancaster to see Moses.

Mom had already seen it once, but was more than happy to see it again. Every other production I've ever seen there was amazing and Moses was no different. I'm always wowed by how they do some of the things they do. For instance, when Moses' staff turned into a snake and then back into a staff - how do they do that stuff??? It was creepy and cool at the same time. For only getting our tickets last week, I was pretty pleased with our seats. We were 3 rows from the front of the balcony smack in the middle of the stage. It was a great view of the production and of the ushers reprimanding the people who touched the camels as they passed by their seats. Good times.

After the show, it was time to eat. I told Mom to pick the place. She toyed with the idea of going to Olive Garden since that's pretty much her favorite place on earth to eat. But then she remembered we were in Isaac's territory.

We enjoyed delicious soup and sandwiches and each other's company. I dearly love my children and other family members, but it was fun to just be able to talk with my mom for a good part of the day. It's not something we get to do very often. It is a day I will cherish forever.

So I would say that Date No. 1 of 2015 was a huge success. And although some people doubted my gumption to follow through (Don), I did and I'm looking forward to 11 more dates this year!

What resolutions? and Isaiah's Music Video

So I stink at keeping New Year's resolutions. Let's move on....

We are enjoying the swimming offseason and while Rachel and Eli are playing spring sports, Isaiah is not and has some extra time on his hands. So he used some of that extra time to create this masterpiece:

I still can't decide on my favorite part. It's a toss-up between the singing to the bear on the swingset and "riding" on the RC Hummer. We have had quite a few laughs over this. I absolutely love his creativity!

So back to the swimming offseason...it's glorious! I pick up Eli from school and then actually come home and stay there! It's a bit of a change from the taxi service I operate during the swim season. But it is worth it. Isaiah and Rachel both made it to Y States at the end of March and both of them finished in the top 12 and got ribbons! I'm one proud Momma!

So I'm not making any promises about when I will take the time to write again. Even though I haven't written forever, I want it noted that I did keep taking pictures until the end of February. But then that resolution bit the dust. Oh well, I'll give it another shot in 2014.

I'm not really a slacker

So while it may seem that I have been a slacker and totally bombed at my kitchen window series, rest assured that I have not. While I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks, I have kept up with my photo series and haven't missed a day! It was pretty late one night when I remembered I hadn't taken a picture yet, but I still got it in before midnight! I won't bore you with all of the photos since I last left off, but I will post the ones from last night and today since they have snow in them. I particularly like the one from last night.

I took this around 10pm but the snow was reflecting the light of the moon and it looks much earlier than that. We got about 3 inches of snow that prompted an early dismissal - before even a flake had dropped. Whatever. Rachel and Eli headed outside to sled on the the little bit of snow/mostly grass this afternoon when I took today's picture.

So what has happened since I last wrote...I've been busy with work and doing a side project for Keystone Financial Associates. The kids have been doing a lot of swimming as usual. We had our last home meet last Saturday and I had fun taking pictures again. Here are a few from the meet:

Isaiah, Jackson & Max taking off in the 500 free

Isaiah pulls ahead of Jackson on the last lap of the 500

Isaiah, Jackson & Max after finishing the 500. Isaiah dropped 43 seconds and finished 2nd!

Rachel working hard in the 50 fly

Check out that form!

Wyatt and Eli's 25 back start.

I thought this was a cool one of Paige in the 100 free

And I liked the lighting on this one of Daniel in the 200IM

I got this one of Alex's backstroke start from behind the blocks

Kaylin coming into the wall after the back portion of the 200IM

Well, I'm gonna get going. We are headed to Rob & Niki's tonight and I can hardly wait! We had to reschedule when we got a nasty storm after Christmas. I've been waiting a whole month and can't wait to catch up!

Two-hour delay

So let's start with my photo from last night when we got home after swim practice:

This morning I got up bright and early to head to the Y to workout. When I got there and got on the treadmill I saw that we had a 2-hour delay. Talk about bad timing. But at least I got in a good workout before I came home, showered and took a nap :)

We got enough snow, sleet and rain to make a nice mess.

I was planning to take off this morning to do some work here at home and then go to the Y when Eli was at school. But I ended up being home all day because I think Eli ended up with a little touch of the stomach flu. To quote my favorite 5-year-old, "Momma, the poop just shot out my butt!" Only he can get excited about the velocity at which his diarrhea exits his body. Love that boy! Fortunately that was his last trip to the bathroom and has been feeling much better. Hopefully that will continue through the night so he doesn't have to miss Gym 'N Swim and school tomorrow.

Getting caught up

So I had a bit of a dilemma this weekend. We were going to Maryland for the weekend for the SPY Winterfest meet. So what could I do about my kitchen window photo series?!?! I figured I had three options - 1) ask someone to come into my house to take a picture out my kitchen window, 2) skip those days or 3) take a picture out some random window while I was away. I chose number 3.

So this is the view out our kitchen window on Friday morning. The clouds looked really cool. Rachel pointed them out while she was eating her breakfast.

And this was the view out Don and Kevin's dining room window on Saturday morning. We stayed at their house Friday night and then they went to the meet with us on Saturday. It was very nice to spend some time with them. And the bed Jeff and I slept in really made us realize how much we need a new mattress. I slept like a baby!

And this was the view out our hotel room on Sunday morning. It was an overcast, spritzy kind of morning. I've discovered that staying in a hotel is not as fun with kids. Well, at first it is because everything is new and fun and it's cool to see it all through their eyes. And then it's just annoying that all 5 of us are in the same room. Eli requires space to burn off his energy. When that is confined to a smaller space with 2 beds just far enough apart to launch himself back and forth, the whole hotel thing quickly loses its appeal.

So my photo series will have some blips in it when I put together the time lapse video at the end of the year. But I think it will be neat to see some different windows thrown in there to remind me of the time we spent away from home this year too.

So we were away from home for the SPY Winterfest meet. It is the largest closed YMCA swim meet on the east coast. Over 1,500 swimmers competed at the University of Maryland over the course of the weekend and Isaiah and Rachel were 2 of them! You have to qualify for the meet. Isaiah qualified in a couple of events 2 years ago so we had been there before. I think that helped both our kids coming into it this year. Rachel swam the 50 and 100 back and 50 and 100 free. Isaiah swam the 50 back and 50 and 100 free. Aside from Rachel's goggle malfunction in the 50 free, they both dropped time in all of their events. It was amazing to see them moving so fast. And Rachel would even tell you she wasn't very pleased with her turns in several of her races. So that shows she has more time to drop. I think they both do. I love watching my kids swim, but I get very nervous for them. I want them to breathe as little as possible so I try to breathe for them. I know it's ridiculous and makes no sense. But it's what this mother does to get through the meet.

This was the view out the window this morning after I successfully dragged everyone out of bed. We got home last night right in time for everyone to go to bed. Even though I pretty much sat all weekend - either in the car or on the bleachers - I still was exhausted. So needless to say, I did not make it into the Y this morning. But as long as the rain stops I do plan to walk in the morning with Randie.

Oh I almost forgot!!! This afternoon Eli and I came home for a few minutes between dropping off Isaiah at the Y and picking up Rachel at school. I was getting a drink of water and noticed birds sitting on the deck railing by the bird feeder. And then they started eating!!! I don't know if the word spread while we were gone over the weekend or if this was the first time they were there. But I was ecstatic to see the little guys and girls snacking away. I grabbed my camera and quickly took some shots so I wouldn't be too late picking up Rachel. This one of all 3 of the birds that visited is my favorite.

I hope this is just the beginning of our backyard visitors!

Backyard visitor

So I finally got something interested in the bird feeder. Too bad it wasn't actually a bird. While I did see some huge black birds in the yard this morning, the animal I found peering at the bird seed was a squirrel.

In our 7 years in this house I have never seen a squirrel on our deck. We are guessing this guy got a taste of the spilled bird seed on the ground and ventured upward to see if he could find more. He looked longingly through the rungs of the deck right by the feeder for awhile and must have read the "squirrel proof" sticker right by the lid. Then he sat on the railing sunning himself for a few minutes before heading back to the ground.

This is the picture I took right before I noticed the non-bird visitor.