Porch, Custard, Love Day

Last week/end was a bit busy.

• Jack was off from work all week. He kept busy with house and rental projects.
• I was out of town for work for 2 nights. (Jack said that every 20 minutes or so, Justin would ask for me.) And the boys' voices on the phone = best sounds ever!
• Jack planned a camping trip with friends, but it was canceled. He ended up doing a camping trip at Grandma's with the kids instead
• I went to a baby shower and experienced my first bite of East Coast Custard. Oh my. Delish.
• The boys are now sharing a room. No comments from me because I don't want to jinx anything! =)
• We celebrated "Alexis Love Day"
• Justin, unprompted, looked at me and said, "mama, you're beautiful" and kissed me.
• Colin told me "dad is the smartest adult in the family. but don't worry, you're smart too. Dad is just the smartest. And I'm the smartest kid in our family. But Justin is getting smarter everyday."

When we bought our house, the porch was hideous. So hideous that I never really took pictures of it; hence no "before" picture. The paint was peeling and it started to buckle in one area. Jack watched a youtube video (no lie) and turned our porch from this...

Into this! (minus the blue painter's tape.) Nice job, honey!

 We had a couple days of wonderful weather and the boys enjoyed backyard playtime. "I'm the king and you can be the President." C said to J. (Obviously kings have crowns and presidents don't.)

 I started at CWRU in 2005, and one of the very first people I met is now a great life long friend even though we are states apart. Well, she's having a baby and we celebrated this weekend! Amazing how quickly 7 years goes by and how much changes. =) While I was out having girl-time, Jack took the boys camping at G-mas. The only pics I found on the camera were of Justin. He's wearing Colin's hat backwards and Colin's crocs. Not sure how that all happened. Boys + Dirt + Outdoors = Fun. At night, Justin and I went back home to sleep while Colin and Jack stayed in the tent to camp overnight!

 

And then we celebrated "Alexis Love Day." We love Alexis and made a day out of celebrating her - including eating an East Coast Custard Pie. Oh my. Ah-maz-ing! Justin planted kisses on her and Colin & Alexis scratched a big $5 win on their lotto game tickets! (and yes, Love Day was such a huge hit, we have Colin Love Day and Justin Love Day coming up this summer. Don't you want a Love Day in your honor too?!)

I have been in Ohio for 9 years now. Yes, NINE years! Lots of ups and downs, but family and friends keep me grounded and in a very happy place. C & J are certainly growing up with a network of family and friends who love them dearly, and for that, we are so thankful for everything that we have. But if you have any ideas on how to get the rest of our family & friends to move to Ohio - please send them my way. I'm always open to ideas and having everyone closer to us is icing on the cake. =)