Free-time

Yesterday afternoon, when I returned home from work the evening seemed to stretch out in front of me. My kiddos were at my moms house, grad school is finished and Carl and I were having a relatively easy dinner. I could do anything I wanted! It would be just like the time after Carl and I were married...post- Scranton, pre- UE that is. We would leisurly eat dinner, chat, relax and drink a glass of wine while watching our favorite prime-time shows.

Well, it all started out that way. After we had finished dinner, Carl suggested that I take a bath. Sounds great! I just received a bunch of books that I had ordered from Barnes and Noble (5 books for 25 bucks...can't beat that!) and as always, I was anxious to get started on my newest literary finds. I chose the shortest book, "Austenland" (which is very much chic-lit) to read in my bubble bath since I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of this months book club book. A few hours later, I was climbing into bed, still reading. I had read my entire evening away, and I loved every second of it! I finished the book, it was a great quick read. Man, am I ever getting old and boring....

Memorial Day

I really enjoyed our nice long (very warm) weekend. We spent most of it at home, enjoying our backyard. We purchased a new, larger pool for our girlies to use this summer. The girls are super excited about the pool being in the shape of an alligator. I am excited that the girls and I all fit in the pool with plenty of room, and the alligator can act as a backrest for me. We were able to visit with both Uncle Danny and Uncle Travis this weekend (which was of course a special treat). Danny and Mindy had a wonderful cookout on Sunday afternoon/evening. We really had a great time (and I am anxiously awaiting to hear when I will become an aunt...hehe). Laney and Alie always love sleeping in the guest bedroom at Danny and Mindy's.

Travis and Nicole came to play on Monday. The girls brought them down to the playground and pretended to serve them a variety of different imaginary ice cream shop treats. The girls had a blast...even if everyone else was melting from the heat and humidity. Later, we convinced the girlies to come home and take a dip in the backyard to cool off before the thunderstorms hit.

always a smile

I know that I have mentioned, on more than one occasion that I adore my girls! They make me smile every single day. This morning, while I was in the kitchen making breakfast and my much needed coffee I hear the girls yelling from the living room. "Mommy, there's a man out front". "There's a man on the roof!" I rush into the living room to find the awning man putting up my next door neighbor Berkie's awning. The girls wanted to go outside to watch him (so exciting!) so I left them enjoying their breakfast on our red adirondaks watching the awning man. :)

Graduation day

Yesterday was graduation day. I didn't intend to walk, but a friend and collegue convinced me that I would regret not walking. I think he was right. My mom and girlies came out for graduation (they were hooked up with awesome seats and great parking ;)) and it was special. It was special to be graduating from the school I have grown to love both professionally and personally. It was special to be graduating in front of my baby girls. I think attending graduations always remind me of my love of academia and reaffirm my committment to and love of working in that environment. I still can't believe I finished!!!

Now I need to decide when I want to start a doctoral program...definitely not for at least another year!

third time

is the charm. i have typed two other entries before this one that never made it onto the blog. the first one was lost when blogger was having a publishing problem and the second i never finished and ended up closing by accident. not a lot has been happening in our home these past few weeks. i have been cleaning and relaxing and organizing and most importantly hanging out with my little girlies...who are hysterically funny and truly a wonderful joy! my last two attempts at posts dealt with the "adventures" of working from home. today, i don't feel as excited to post about that, although i do love getting my one day a week to work at my own pace, wearing whatever i want and in my own personal space.

friday evening was awesome. we went out to dinner (which we rarely do) and my girlies were so excited..eventhough we just went to applebees. they enjoyed the french fries and of course coloring on their placemats. it was warm out, so when we returned home they wanted to play out back with their water table. they played for a bit, but when carl went around front to mow the lawn, the girls wanted to watch him. we hung out on the porch watching all of the people walk by (one of the major reasons why i LOVE my neighborhood). every dog that walked by alie yelled out that she liked. i think the various dog owners had a chuckle. the girls also "decorated" our porch with azelas they pulled from the bushes in front of the house. when we finally all went inside (way after bedtime...still not used to the spring sun staying out later) my ladies were in need of a great big bath!

our lawn mower died while carl was mowing out front, so we purchased a brand new lawnmower on saturday. i guess my new bedroom fan will have to wait until next month ;)

wonderful mothers day

I had such a wonderful mothers day! I was able to spend the morning with my mother, mother in law, and beautiful little girls. We had a tea party...which was soo much fun! Laney had 3 cups of tea. Even more importantly, I spent Saturday baking with my little girlies and that was wonderful! We made sugar cookies (using cookie cutters from Auntie Wen), cupcakes that look like mushrooms and pie crust cups for fruit parfaits (all thanks to the Fairy and Princess cookbooks from Barb). Of course the girlies love to bake and I love having their help.

The awning also went up on Saturday. I love when the awning goes up (or down). For us, it marks the changing of the seasons. I must admit though, it takes a few days to get used to the change. This morning, when I came downstairs, the kitchen and living room seemed so dark. Of course, it is cloudy and raining.

Relaxation...here i come

I feel like I am nearing the end of a race. The race started right before I left for the wedding last Wednesday. I had a rough day at work, of course not finishing everything I wanted to have completed before I left. Then, we left late, so I didn't get enough sleep...and the wedding weekend was non-stop. I never went to bed before midnight, and woke up at 7 basically the entire time. When we returned to Baltimore we unpacked the car, made dinner, put the girls to bed and then went to sleep ourselves. After work the next day, it was repack and off to business trips (well Carl had late night meetings...i had a business trip). Yesterday evening when I returned...more later working hours, then a trip to the grocery store, before Carl and I just decided it was too late for dinner and just ate ice cream ;) (no judging...the girls were at my moms ;))

So today! After I pick my girlies up there will be pure relaxation! Carl is starting dinner before we get home and I have taken the day off tomorrow (since I'm sure my kiddos are beginning to forget who I am...never good). We have the whole weekend to do nothing (I'm DONE grad school so I don't even need to do schoolwork). We do have a tea party planned for mothers day so we will have some baking to do...but that's fun stuff.

My work trip to Ft. Monmouth was a good one though...more on that later :)

our weekend whirl-wind

This past Wednesday, the fam hopped in the crv and headed down to Beaufort NC for Wen's wedding. After a later than planned start, we arrived just after 3am....oh well. We had almost no traffic the whole way down and two very well behaved (non sleeping) little girls. The weekend, though quite fun, proved to be a whirlwind filled with finishing up last minute wedding details. I feel like I barely slept...and unfortunately didn't see my kiddos too often (although they did really enjoy playing at the beach with their daddy). Wen's wedding was beautiful and had absolutely wonderful weather (even if it was a bit windy). She made an amazingly gorgeous bride, of course. I had a great time dancing the night away with friends and family. It was wonderful to see some old friends that I haven't seen in quite a while...and to make some new ones. It was definitely a weekend of bridesmaid bonding (minus one) and I had a great time getting to know these wonderful ladies.

The trip home was not as nice as the ride down. The weather was bad. Other than that, the first part of the trip was moving right along. However, once we hit Richmond the traffic was horrid...and we arrived home MUCH later than planned. Oh well. My girls were amazing in the car again (even if we did play the same knock knock joke for 2 hours). Of course, I have to leave on a business trip tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait for the weekend to spend some quality family down time. I miss my beautiful little girlies!