An Attempt to Organize Chaos: September 2008

Friday, September 26, 2008

AHHH

In the past few weeks we have been trying to cut down bills and save money. Part of it is because we found out that I will not be having the twins but one day a week now, and the other is because we want to be saving more and paying off more debt. So we traded in one of the cars and bought a 2008 new Nissan versa which we LOVE! It is getting at least 28mpg and we have save 50 dollars in the past 2 weeks in gas already! It is awesome. We are also switching to Verizon Fios for internet phone and TV. It is going to be a lot cheaper than the comcast we have now. Well, it has been a complete nightmare today! Poor Ryan has had to deal with them all day and it is basically all messed up because of a compter error, and then transferred to us! Great!!! So all in all once everything is set up and working we will be saving a lot of money.... but part of me is wondering is the money worth the stress?? I am sure the answer is yes... it is just getting there that is trying!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Settling

So I am settling into the school routine now, and the weather is getting cooler which means..... FALL! I am getting excited for fall and all the festive activities, so in honor of fall I changed the background to fall themed! YAY!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Changing it

So I am NOT going to leave my background like this, but in the process of changing it I ran into difficulties and now I have to wait for the hubby to get some time to fix it! Don't worry, the blinding white will not be around much longer!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

First Day of School

This week Turner had his first day of school! It was emotional for me, being that I have been with him ever day since he was born and now he is big enough to go to school! Needless to say he LOVES LOVES LOVES it! By the second day he was running through the door with out looking back. He has so much fun and adores his teachers. He will be going 3 days a week for 2.5 hours at a time. There is only 11 kids in his class and he is already talking about his new friends! Ryan and I are so excited about this new step! He is such an amazing boy!

Leaving the house!

Getting in the car!

Outside school with Daddy!

Posing behind the sign after school!!

Team Spirit!

Ryan and I were both born and raised in Maryland, which means we were raised as huge Orioles, Ravens, and Maryland Basketball fans! Then Ryan went to Penn State main all four years so you have to add Nittany Lion fans to that list too! Needless to say we are raising our kids the right way as hugs sports fans! Last year our christmas card was us in PSU jerseys, then earlier this summer I put up a link to our O's pictures at Turner's first game, and now is the time for the most exciting... RAVENS!!! Ryan and I went to opening game thanks to my mom and Priscilla! We had an amazing time and we were all four decked out in Ravens gear! Here are some cute photos of Reese in her Raves outfit! (my mother does not approve... she said there is too many athletic genes in her blood to be a cheerleader... we think she is adorable and we may be dragging grandma to cheerleading competitions in the future ;) )

Outer Banks, NC

Our little family had its first official family vacation this year. We planned a trip to Duck, NC which is in the Outer Banks with some friends of ours. This is the first trip that we have taken without one of our families. We went with our next door neighbors, Marge, Dave and their 19 month old son Ryan and also my good college friends Rachel and Matt. We rented a huge house called Moby Duck about a quarter mile from the beach. The house was amazing. It had its own private pool, hot tub, pool table, amazing kitchen and a ton of bed rooms with master bathrooms each with a whirlpool tub! We want to live there forever!

It was so nice to be able to have some fun with our little family. The first day on the beach both kids were a little hesitant. Reese much more so than Turner though. By the end of the first day on the beach though both kids were running in the little waves and playing in the sand. Thank you to Grammy and Pop for the new buckets and stuff! It was really neat to be able to experience the beach from Turner and Reese's perspective. I know I have mentioned that I love having kids because it gives me the opportunity to see everything in a new light through their eyes! It is so neat to see their eyes get big at the magnitude of the ocean and beach. It was fun to look at sand as a blank palate there to be made into the most amazing of structures. It is truly special to be able to take a step back and get a new look at the world that I take so for granted!

The pool is always a hit with my kiddos. They loved swimming, and will both hop right in with their tubes on. Turner got so brave he was jumping off the side of the pool with his tube on. The both loved it. They loved that Uncle Matt and Aunt Rachel would play for hours with them in the water. We all had a great time every afternoon playing in the pool and then afterward chilling in the hot tub! I think my whole little family wants a hot tub at home now! Maybe we can convince Marge and Dave to pitch in and we can put one in between the houses ;)

The one down side to the trip was that we had to come home a day early because Hanna hit the day we were supposed to leave. Other than that though there was not a cloud in the sky the whole time we were there and the temp was 86 degrees F and beautiful! We were so lucky with the weather!

Other fun things that we did at the beach was getting to see the Wildlife museum, Corolla Lighthouse, play on the playground, take walks, a little shopping, having lunch out with our friends, big "family" dinners with everyone around the big table, flying kites, and fun times with the adults after the kids went to sleep! Here are some fun pictures from our trip: