Takin' It Easy

Well, this week has been pretty noneventful around the house--thankfully. Chris has been really busy at work, but took the day off to spend some time with the boys. Nosey is at camp, but Cookie and Tater Tot went to the water park with their daddy. Today Jana had the day off so we went to the Outlets to go shopping for a little while. Of course, I ended up buying stuff for the boys and then some CUTE stuff for baby Piper, but that's what I like best anyways, so...

The Apple store is opening here at 10am in the morning, so Chris and Jana are planning on waiting in line to see what they can win. The only thing I have read about so far that they are giving away is t-shirts, but usually they do something a little bigger than that.

Apparently Nosey, the lady-killer that he is, has another conquest at camp this summer. Chris stopped by to drop off some of his stuff the other morning and found Nosey sitting next to a little girl who proceeded to tell him that she liked Nosey because he was cute. I couldn't agree more! Nosey was all smiles!

We got the water turned on at the lot, so Chris' next big project is going to be running the water out to the dock. This may sound easy, but that couldn't be farther from the case. Chris seems pretty optimistic, but I think it may be quite a while before we have a fresh water shower on the floating dock. Anyway, it should be fun--to watch that is! He has to dig trenches, and bury pipes, and then attach the pipes to the bottom of the dock all the way out to the floating dock and then put all of the connections in place. It doesn't sound the least bit entertaining to me, but Chris is chomping at the bit to get started. I will definitely enjoy the end result, though!

Just Call Me Grace

I was once told that I was as graceful as a bullfrog. I know the meaning of that statement better than ever these days. Last Thursday I was simply picking Nosey up in his feeder seat to move it over to the couch so we could watch the boob tube together and I knocked the chair over on top of my toe. On any other day for any other person it would have been OUCH and then on to other things, but noooooooo - we are talking about me right? I ended up in the ER having my nail removed as the nail had cut nearly down to the bone, getting stitches, and, how did the Dr. put it? Yeah, having my nail bed reconstructed. I am sure I will have some funky looking toe nail for the rest of my life too. Chris says it will give me character--yeah, that and an ugly toe nail. And to think, I had planned to go get a pedicure that day. In case you were ever wondering about the shot they have to give you in your toe to numb it before doing the stitches -- yes it hurts. I would rather give birth than have those shots. I was tough though, aside from the screaming,  that is.

We had a pretty lazy weekend around here. Went to the dock, went for a hot and sweaty bike ride, took Jana to Costco. Apparently, they don't have ginormous Wholesale Clubs in Germany -- their loss. What would Tater Tot do without his huge box of muffins? How would we ever survive without the tub of cookie dough in the fridge?

So, we are in the triple digits here. It is so hot. Cookie played Wii almost all day today. I wasn't about to tell him to go out and play. Nosey's camp is going ice skating tomorrow. I am not quite sure how that will play out for him, but at least it will be cool. Plus, Pattison's Academy is going to be on Lowcountry Live tomorrow morning. My friends, Roshd and Robin, have graciously been putting together some video  footage of the camp and they will be using that on the show tomorrow. I hope the school gets some really good exposure. I can't wait to see...

Anyway, Jana seems to be settling in well. She is so much calmer than the rest of us. Not hard to do, I know. It is nice to see her relax some, and just be herself  more and more. We have had a really good time. Tater Tot already loves her. He hugs and kisses her, and runs to her from across the room. That really warms my heart. Cookie really likes her too. He always wants to play with her. And, Nosey likes her too. He always smiles at her voice, and she always plays with his hair, and we all know he loves that! But, I think Chris is having the most fun with it. He asks her about Germany all the time. I tried to warn her about my wanna-be-German husband, but she didn't get it. She is beginning to see now, though. And the dogs are always near her too. One big, happy family. Ahhhhhhhhh.

Jana is HERE!

The long awaited day of Jana's arrival has finally taken place. She arrived last Thursday evening despite delays caused by bad weather. Of course, true to form, I was late to pick her up. But, it was not for a lack of trying. Chris, believe it or not, was actually on time, so at least someone was there to meet her when she got off of the plane. I guess she would have learned that about us--it was just sooner rather than later.

We have had a busy weekend trying to show her around Daniel Island and Charleston. The boys all like her a lot. Tonight she went out with some other AuPairs and as she got home Tater Tot was just getting ready for bed, and almost jumped from my arms to her. I think that's a good sign.

Bobby and Katy, Chris' brother and sister, left this morning to head to Maryland. They spent the weekend showing Jana around and just hanging out. They took her on a golf cart tour of the island, went with us downtown to the old slave's market, and played the Wii until the middle of the night. 

For me, however, the most memorable experience of the weekend was when Jana, Chris, Cookie and I went shark tooth hunting. At least that's what we planned to do. However, as is often the case with this family, our plans changed. All of the paths, if you can

call them that, were completely overgrown and impassable. Nobody could ever say we didn't try, though. Jana was a great sport. She had to wonder what she had gotten herself into as we went 20mph across the old dike system on the south tip of DI. Or when a couple of wild turkeys came out of the woods in front of us and ran from the golf cart. Or when the swarms of mosquitoes covered her whole body. Or when we repeatedly had to lift limbs so that we could continue down the path that we were on. Cookie called it a Safari. It was hot enough to be one, that's for sure. It was good for some laughs, but we never were able to make it to our "secret" shark's tooth hunting ground. Instead, we chased swarms of crabs as they ran from us on the beach in front of our dock. Not nearly as fun, especially if you were the crabs.

We are off to a great start. I hope Jana likes us half as much as we like her. If so, we are doing just fine!

Let's Play Catch Up

Well, it has been a while. Not really that long actually, but so much has been going on. The 4th of July was great. Very low key. Gommy and Poppy came to spend the weekend with us to celebrate the closing on the lot. Our friends, the Perry's, came over to swim off of the dock during the afternoon. We cooked out, and our friend Roshd came over and ate with us, and then joined us on the boat to watch the fireworks in the Charleston Harbor. The rest of the weekend was pretty lazy.

Sunday evening Chris' brother and sister came to visit. The boys have had a great time with Uncle Bobby and Aunt Katy, and so have I. Chris has had a pretty busy week, so he

 hasn't been around all that much, but we have managed quite well without him, thank you very much! We 

took Tater Tot to the beach, went to Nosey's fashion show at camp, among many other things. Katy is so stinkin' domestic that it's not even funny. She even had me up until 2a.m. last night being crafty. 

Today Pattison's Academy's Fashion Show was simply fantastic! They seemed to raise a lot of money for the school, 

and the kids were simply adorable. Nosey Posey was a true rock star. He came alive 

during the auction for his hat, which of course Poppy was the high bidder for, and couldn't seem to stop laughing and smiling. It was a true joy for me to be his mother.

 I love that boy.

And today is the big day...In a few minutes we will leave for the airport to pick up the newest member of our family -- Jana, our new Au Pair from Germany. Her flight should be here in about an hour, and we are all so excited. We decorated her room, 

made a sign to welcome her, and even made a personalized bulletin board as a welcome gift for her to hang pictures and other mementos on throughout the year. Cookie is about to jump through his skin with excitement, so much so he is driving us CRAZY!

Life is full, and we are happy. We have a lot going on, and a few big decisions still outstanding in our life, but LIFE IS GOOD.

A Little Slice of Heaven

HUGE DAY. Huge. Unbelievable. We actually closed on the lot. The people who you have known to routinely move every two years or so have found their final resting place. It is unbelievable! I can't believe it. Really, I can't.

Many of you have been aware of our ongoing pursuit for this lot. We put in a contract on the lot on January 23rd, and it has taken this long to get all of the kinks ironed out, and work enough miracles to actually be able to buy this piece of property. I even said my goodbyes to the thought of ever owning it sometime back, but we somehow pulled it off. It is truly a gift from God. The combination of events that have come together to make this actually happen are absolutely amazing. 

I told Chris tonight that I never really actually believed in my heart of hearts that this would ever happen. He said, "You didn't think we'd get the lot?", to which I replied no that I never in a million years thought we'd get this lot or anything like it. Like never my whole life. I always viewed as the unattainable dream. And now we are living the dream! It is so beautiful and peaceful.

What's more, and the icing on the cake for us is that now we know where we will build Nosey's house. We are living on borrowed time in the house we are in now. No-No gets bigger all the time, and it simply doesn't make sense to modify the house we live in now for multiple reasons. Now we can build him a house where he can be happy and get around as he grows older. And to think of him growing older swaying and rocking on the floating dock enjoying the salt air makes my heart sing. I couldn't be happier!

I just want to say that we really do believe it is a miracle and a true blessing to have been given this opportunity. We want to share it with you all. Please come, share with us.