Birthday Videos!!

Every year, since Lauren turned one, I have done a birthday video for each kiddo.  The video is meant to celebrate the prior year, and includes photos of our favorite moments, set to music.  I normally posted the video to facebook, so I could share it with friends and family, but they have cracked down on copyright material.  And since I use copyright music, I have finally been bumped off facebook.

So in an effort to circumvent that craziness, I decided to post the videos here and link it to my facebook page.  If you are coming from my page...welcome and enjoy!!

Lauren Year 6!

Charlie Year 3!

Since these videos won't show up on my printed blog, I would like to talk a little about the videos here.

Lauren's video was set to The Script's "Hall of Fame", and dealt with the "Kiddo Hall Of Fame".  We highlighted Lauren's year and showed why she deserved to be in that hall of fame.  She accomplished so much and it was fun to compile those photos and videos.

Charlie's video was more sweet.  It was set to Lonestar's "Let Them Be Little" and depicted an adorable little boy.  There were many lovely pictures and videos to show, and I hope that Chad and I will look back and think about that sweet little boy.  This past year, there were many timeouts and plenty of "terrible two" moments, but this video showcases the gentler side of our Charlie Jack!!

Easter 2017!

This year, we were in Salisbury again for Easter!  The kids were already there for Spring Break and we mostly spent our time there to get the Cambridge house ready for the market.  Chad and I did manage to make it back home for a day to go to a Capitals Playoff game and so I could get my hair done!

But we quickly hurried back to Salisbury so we could celebrate the holiday with our family.  We were staying with the Fishers this year, which worked out well since the kids were already there!

On Saturday morning, Chad and Grumpa went to the Cambridge house to get some more work done, while Grammy, Lauren, Charlie, Meemaw, Grandpa, Aunt Sarah, Quinnie, and I went to Rockawalkin UMC for their Easter Egg hunt.  There were not as many children as usual, which worked out well for the kiddos, because they got a TON of eggs.  We actually had to empty their baskets into a garbage bag so they could keep getting more eggs.  The kids loved it!

                       

           

That afternoon, Quinnie came over to Grammy's house and we watched all 3 of the kids.  I really enjoyed getting some quality time with my niece.  Living 3 hours away means that I don't get to see her nearly enough and it was so fun to play with her and watch her interact with the world.  She truly is a thinker and I love watching her examine how everything works.  Such a beautiful girl and mind!!!

       

On Sunday, everyone came over to celebrate Easter together.  We had an egg hunt in the backyard for the kiddos, followed by an egg hunt where Lauren hid some eggs for the adults.  Then we played around until dinner time.  It was so much fun to spend relaxing time with our amazing family and I feel truly blessed to have so much support and love from these wonderful people!!

                               

It was a great Easter and I am so glad that Lauren and Charlie are able to spend these holidays surrounded by love of their family.  We are creating some amazing memories that I hope they will always remember and hold dear!!

Another Hockey Tournament and Rental House Reno 2017!

Earlier in the ice hockey season, we committed to a tournament in Ocean City.  We figured it was close to our family and would be fun.  Luckily, the tournament fell around Lauren's Spring Break, and was close to our first home in Cambridge, Maryland.

Right before the tournament, we decided to put our first home on the market, and knew it would take a lot of work to get it ready to sell.  Thank goodness we were nearby, so we could do some major work.

The kids and I arrived in Salisbury on Thursday, April 6th.  We initially stayed with Meemaw and Grandpa, and on Friday, we headed to Ocean City for Lauren's first hockey game, around 2:30 pm.

The tournament was held at the Carousel Hotel, where they have a little ice rink perfect for mini mite games.  The whole family showed up, complete with signs, and Chad was coaching.  Lauren volunteered to play goalie and we braced ourselves.  She let in a lot of pucks, but she kept her chin on the puck and was mostly focused throughout the game.  She even had a few good saves.  The kids lost, but they had a fun time playing the game.

We stuck around until Lauren's second game, which was after dinner.  Lauren skated out this game and played great!  She went after the puck and the entire team played great.  They still lost but we were so proud of those cute kiddos!  Lauren had 2 more games, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.  It was so much fun to watch her play and I think everyone had a great time, including her fan club...the Score34 Gang!!!

The rest of the weekend, and most of the following week (which was Spring Break, thank goodness), we spent time at the Cambridge house to get it ready for the market.  We had to paint almost all of the walls and most of the ceilings, get a new microwave, caulk holes in the siding, repaint the entrance, change out the outdoor lights, have the entire house scrubbed/cleaned, change the locks, powerwash the fence, fix the outdoor water faucet, recaulk/grout the masterbath shower, and replace all of the carpets.  It was quite an undertaking and would never have happened without the help of our amazing family.  They came to work and also helped watch our kiddos while Chad and I worked.  In fact, Lauren and Charlie stayed over at Grammy and Grumpa's house most of the week, and got to spend some quality time with their cousin Quinnie!  

We can never THANK them enough!! 

And while these are just a taste of the work that was done, here are some photos of what our house looked like this week...

(As a side note: I got to drive my old Jeep around that week.  My parents have my "Pearl Turkey" and it was soooo much fun to drive her around the old hood, even if I had to get used to a 5 speed again!)

           

           

                             

  

  

As you can see, we had our work cut out for ourselves.  Fingers crossed that all of our hard work will pay off and we can sell this house soon!!  It was a wonderful house and we loved our time there, but it is now time to say goodbye...to Cambridge and to renters!!

Lauren's Birthday Weekend

Lauren had quite a birthday weekend this year.

For her actual birthday, it snowed, so we had a nice snow day at home.   The kids played on the back deck.  We didn't get too crazy, because Charlie was still recovering from his surgery and was on "minimal activity" orders.  But we managed to build a tiny snowman, have a snowball fight, and the kids shoveled snow around with this tiny shovel.

                               

That night, we went to the local Mexican restaurant for dinner.  Lauren requested that restaurant, because we love the food and she wanted them to sing her Happy Birthday.  Little did she know, that they also bring out a fun sombrero for her to wear.  She was thrilled with her choice, and I have to say, she looked great in that hat!!

The next day, on the 16th, the kids went back to school, so Chad, Charlie, and I brought lunch to celebrate with Lauren.  We sat with her friends at school and had fun listening to all of their crazy stories.  These kids are so sweet and we always love these school lunch times.  Every day, Lauren always sits with her two buds, Grady & Cooper.  The other kids change, but we seem to meet every kid when we go in for lunch.  =)

We also brought in a sweet treat for Lauren's class.  Since we already had cupcakes for Lauren's birthday, we asked Susannah, my college roommate, to make cookies for school.  She did an adorable "Clark Bear" cookie and everyone loved them.

We continued the festivities the following weekend.  On Saturday, Lauren's best bud, Sam came over for the afternoon, because he was going to miss her birthday party.  He lives down the street and we met his family at the bus stop.  He and Lauren sit together every day on the bus, and she loves everything about her buddy Sam!  They had a great time running around and playing.  It is so nice to have such great kids down the street and I hope they continue their friendship as they get older!

Most of the family was up for the weekend (Grandpa and Uncle Kevin were sick with the stomach bug and stayed home...thank goodness).  So Saturday evening, we opened up more presents and had some ice cream cake.  Lauren is very lucky to have such a great family!!

       

The next day, Sunday, Lauren had her birthday party.  So after the whole family got ready, we all headed over to "Pump It Up" for her party.  This was the first year we invited kids who were not part of our family/friends group.  Lauren invited most of her Kindergarten class, along with neighborhood kids, and most of them showed up.  The kids had a GREAT time jumping in all of the moon bounces, and then celebrated with some amazing cupcakes, made by a daughter of Chad's co-worker!

       

                       

           

       

                       

Lauren had so much fun on her 6th birthday, and it was a blast celebrating with so many close friends and family.  It was also fun to watch Lauren with all of her school friends.  We never know how school is really going, and as a parent you worry that your child won't make any friends.  Well, we don't need to worry about that...she has plenty of buddies and they all seem to be great kids!!