OlearFamilyBlog

october afternoon

2010-10-23T16:38:00.002-05:00

Random clips from Joseph's game today:

His big play:

And Carolyn being a pretty ballerina:

time for football

2010-10-02T13:16:00.002-05:00

Joseph's first game was today! He had a great game. A very impressive carry, an awesome tackle, and 2 interceptions.

We posted a clipreel at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog. But I am a horrible camera person. I'll do better next week.

happy birthday carolyn

2010-09-12T18:07:00.006-05:00

So, her birthday isn't officially until tomorrow, but we got a jump on the celebration this afternoon. My baby is 3!!

labor day weekend

2010-09-12T11:00:00.001-05:00

Here are some photos from our trip to Virginia for Labor Day.

There are new videos posted over at The Joseph and Carolyn blog, too!

Carolyn's First Day

2010-09-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

A few shots from Carolyn's first day of "Class School" (which is what she calls preschool). These were actually the day BEFORE her first day, when we went for an orientation to meet the teachers. She cried when I dropped her off, but got over it QUICK. By the end of the hour, she cried when it was time to leave.

a new olearfamilyupdate

2010-08-31T19:01:00.004-05:00

Can you even believe it? An OlearFamilyUpdate? I know.

This is the weekend before school started, when we went to spend the day at the pool.

Then this is the following Tuesday when we went to meet Joseph's teacher and see his new classroom.Then, the next day he went off to SECOND GRADE! I of course put a note on his napkin.He was willing to give me a smile inside the car.Can you even stand how grown up he looks?

He asked us to come wait with him in the cafeteria before he went off to class. He loves having his picture made.

This is Carolyn sleeping off her ICK.
And just because she's cute, another one. And Joseph and Carolyn invite you to go see their new videos over at the Joseph and Carolyn blog!

happy father's day dad!

2010-06-20T13:24:00.002-05:00

happy mother's day!

2010-05-09T19:49:00.001-05:00

We Love You!

just another day at the beach

2010-04-11T07:34:00.004-05:00

Pics from the day we piled the Renners, the O'Lears, and Colby into Noni's minivan and headed to Jordin Lake.

get ready

2010-04-10T09:16:00.012-05:00

I've uploaded about a zillion photos from my blackberry. They aren't in any kind of order, so I'll do my best to write a caption that tells you what's up.

Carolyn got in to the vaseline. Like brother, like sister. Joseph on Valentine's morning. We gave him a new football.
Carolyn got a flower from Daddy, and a pair of dressup shoes from me.

This is Easter morning. Carolyn was crashed out after a sugar buzz by about 10AM.

Carolyn was sad the first time I left her at the neighbors for babysitting.

She cheered up and got into some princess clothes.

We didn't have much snow this year, but here's what we got.

Joseph reads to Care Bear.

They also love to make a fort with pillows and blankets, eat popcorn and watch movies.

Joseph in Michigan pants.

Joseph and his new haircut playing wii.

And being silly.

Easter morning.

Joseph painting eggs.

Joseph and Carolyn in the locker room after a bball game.

My sweet boy.

Joseph and Carolyn playing wii together.

A sweet brother sister moment in front of Target

Joseph and Carolyn on the water taxi in Baltimore

In yaya and papoo's hotel room

Driving to Baltimore watching Spongebob together

Dying eggs

more eggs

Christmas morning playing wii

Christmas Eve morning eating popcorn and watching Christmas movies

Carolyn's easter shoes

Carolyn and the Christmas wreath

The only place Carolyn likes to wear undies is on her head

Carolyn in my Uggs

Carolyn in the snow

Yes. My daugher holding a toy gun. Both funny and disturbing.

Superstar

Carolyn's favorite outfit. And eating yogurt.

Christmas morning

tubby time

Playing on the potty chair

In her ballerina outfit, wearing hightops.

Hiding under the table with her halloween bucketEaster eggs

Seeing Santa

Being cute BEFORE the vaseline incident.

got a lot of catching up to do

2010-02-20T18:43:00.001-05:00

I know, I know. Got lots of birthday stuff as well as general cuteness. To start, clips of Joseph's game today. Get a load of the dork they got to participate the Halftime Shootout.

happy birthday baby

2010-02-05T08:27:00.001-05:00

Dear Thing One:

Seven years ago this morning, my whole world changed. You and I lay in that hospital bed blinking at each other, you looking at the person whose voice you’d been hearing all those months, me trying to get to know that baby that made my body all insane. You were this tiny little peanut all swaddled up tight, which you pretty much hated from the start. I was nervous and weepy and totally high on painkillers. Together we were quite a pair.

We made it through that first day in the hospital pretty much on adrenaline and euphoria alone, receiving our visitors and smelling all of the pretty flowers and handling the onslaught of pushy nurses telling me how to hold you and diaper you and feed you, like I was without instincts or even common sense. And finally it got dark and quiet and it was nighttime, and the nurses went on to other new moms and your daddy went to sleep and I finally got to be alone with you. I was in quite a bit of pain and couldn’t really lift you in and out of the little crib, and I wasn’t sure if I was really supposed to send you to the nursery to sleep or keep you with me, so that night once you were in my arms for a feeding, I just let you stay there. We laid that way for hours, you sleeping and me staring. It was the first of many nights we’d spend like that. It was the first of many sleeps you would have in my arms because I just couldn’t put you down.

I never really wanted to let you out of my sight. I just didn’t want to miss a second of your life. You never really know how many of those seconds you have, and I certainly didn’t want to miss one where you would undoubtedly do something cute or funny or wonderful. You and I, we went everywhere together. Besides just our weekly trips to the grocery store or the farmers market or the library, you and I hopped on an airplane together to go to Florida, spent a week up north at the lake riding on a boat, and we have taken many trips to see YaYa and Papoo together while Daddy was working hard at his new job.

I even took you to your first political rally, because I had a feeling you were going to be a bit opinionated, just like your mommy.

I always wished for you to have your daddy’s best traits; his quiet calm and his athleticism and his relaxed personality that everyone likes to be around. And also his good teeth. While you have some of that, it seems I have also riddled you with my intensity and anxiety and constant questioning and curiosity and need for reassurance. Sorry about that. But the upside to being like me is that I get you. I know what it means when you ask me for the gazillionth time what we would do if there was a tornado because we don’t have a basement in our new house, or do I think we have ghosts living in our attic. I understand you like nobody else. From our earliest days as Mommy and Boy I’ve understood you – everything you’d say and most of what you didn’t – and that bond was so close, your daddy insisted we had our own secret language that only the two of us understood.

He was right. We do.

You’re my son and I love you. You are strong willed and stubborn and you want so bad to be a grown up and I totally get that because I was just like you, and I wish I could make you understand that once you are a grown up, you’ll long for those days as a child and the security and safety and love you feel by just being able to crawl into somebody’s lap and snuggle in those arms. But I know there’s no way to change your mind, and I know this because there’s no way to change my mind once I’ve made a decision about something I want. We have unbendable wills, you and I; even though we can be quiet about it and often fly just under the radar, we both ultimately do whatever it is we’ve decided is right.

You are bright and smart and have common sense, too. You worry too much, and find it hard to relax, and we see that happen most around your baby sister because there is nobody on the planet you love more than that girl. I am so glad you got what you wanted when you asked for a baby sister, and am so awestruck by the bond you two share. She idolizes you, and it alternately pumps you up and drives you crazy. If there is one thing that I truly hope and pray for, it’s that you two keep that bond between you and stay like that forever.

Over the last year you have accomplished a lot. You are a competitive student and prefer to be at the top of your class, though you don’t really have to work at it to be there. You are just naturally good at things without really having to try too hard. You have a little crush on your teacher, which makes me laugh because so does your dad. You amazed us during football season with your amazing arm and understanding of the game. I think your daddy is especially excited about that – or maybe your Papoo, since he has somebody new to bet on football with. And you talk less and less about our old house and your old friends, and seem more and more happy to be exactly where you are.

I wonder sometimes what you’d be like if you had a mom who wasn’t just like you. I wonder what you’d be like if you had a mom who was good at everything, always calm, who didn’t worry and who never yelled. I wonder what kind of lessons you’re learning about life and love and family with me and your daddy as the example. I wonder how much of you nature and how much is nurture. But even though I usually feel I am only getting this job half right on a good day, I also know that most moms feel this way because we only want the very best for our kids. And that’s all I want for you. I want you to be successful and happy and loved.

Happy Birthday, Thing One.
Love,
Mama

clipreel #1

2010-01-23T11:32:00.003-05:00

Princess Dancer Carolyn

2010-01-20T10:07:00.006-05:00

the amazing joseph

2010-01-10T10:06:00.003-05:00

Our family has a long history of doing magic tricks. Joseph learned one yesterday, and was excited to show you!

my promise

2010-01-05T11:15:00.005-05:00

I have neglected our little family blog, and my promise is to stop doing that. I'm going to start catching up all the cool pics and vids I have saved in a file on my laptop for the blog - and I'm actually going to GET THEM ON THE BLOG!!

So, to begin? CHRISTMAS.

We spent Christmas Eve a few doors down with our dear friends the Renners at their annual Christmas Eve open house. Notice the lack of heavy coats and shivering as we stand outside posing for pics before we headed over.

Naturally Joseph was less than cooperative when wanting to snap a few of him at the party. But afterward we came home and let the kids open 2 gifts - one from me (pajamas of course) and then one from each other.

Here they are in their Christmas pajamas, getting ready to head to bed.

Here's the tree, POST Santa's visit.

Santa enjoyed his cookies and milk.

And, some clips of the gift opening extravaganza.

another one bites the dust

2009-12-15T16:19:00.002-05:00

Seriously, this one makes him look like he's 16. He's very proud, and very excited for the Tooth Fairy!

a jolly bunch of elves

2009-12-06T14:22:00.003-05:00

For Aunt Jackie and Uncle Sherm

2009-11-21T11:57:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday Mom/Yaya/Carolyn!!!

2009-11-14T08:17:00.004-05:00

a long time coming

2009-11-11T10:06:00.004-05:00

I've been promising a family update for a long loooooong time. Sorry it's been a while! We've had a busy October. Joseph's football season came to a close, Carolyn's vocabulary has launched her into a whole new realm of hilarity, Joe's work continues to keep him busy (which is a good thing), and I am doing my best to document it all for posterity's sake.

The kids and I decided to go to Florida for a long weekend at Halloween, because Joseph had some time off of school. In preparaion, we took the kids to see Miss Libia for haircuts:

Carolyn got her sunglasses out and ready to take to the beach:And the night before we left, we scooped out pumpkins and Joe helped carve the faces.Carolyn continues to be enthralled with spiders, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider is the ONLY book she wants to read at night. So this is hers:Joseph's had a face that was either on fire or crying, depending on who you ask:We got to Florida with no mishaps. Carolyn, however, decided this time she would not stay in her pack and play. So there were various attempts to get her to fall asleep in our arms each night.Joseph and I took an afternoon to go to the beach by ourselves.Can you even stand how grown up he looks in this picture?Carolyn is in a phase right now where she prefers to hang out in as little clothing as possible.I have never ever in my life spent a Halloween afternoon lounging in the sun at the beach. I will admit, I loved it and would prefer to spend it no other way. These two agree:Carolyn modeling her costume. The cutest little ballerina you ever saw:My little Halloweenies:

A good time was had by all.

We got home, and a few days later Carolyn decided to pull her potty chair out to play with it. What you can't see here is that she removed her leggings AND her diaper all on her own, and is sitting on her potty! She didn't produce anything yet, but this game kept her occupied for about 2 hours Saturday morning. We celebrated Joseph's report card by going to BW-3 the other night. He did extremely well (the equivalent of all As, 2 levels higher than he needs to be in Reading, and a sticker on the report that said A+) and we were very proud.

Joe happened to check on Carolyn later that night to make sure she was under all of her covers. This is what he found:

We can't believe it's already November! Stay tuned for another hit from the O'Lear Family Birthday Singers, coming soon . . .

Some Clips from the Fair

2009-10-26T08:42:00.007-05:00

In the car on the way to the fair . . .Wading through the swarms of people going in . . .A rare moment when Joseph would let me photograph him!

Carolyn and Tinnie. This made us laugh.

The kids on a ride.

Carolyn would nibble out the onion and leave the fried part.

Mad that she had to get off the Merry Go Round. Joseph actually let me hold his hand.

The kids were thrilled with hot dogs and fries in a cup.

And this is the fried basket we discovered last year - zucchini, shrooms, onions, cauliflower and broccoli. Happy girl.

Some clips of our day!

Happy Birthday Mr Morris the Girl

2009-10-16T05:50:00.005-05:00

itsy bitsy spider

2009-10-15T04:46:00.004-05:00

She got a book about the Itsy Bitsy Spider for her birthday, and reads it about a million times a day. And she sings.

Mental Health Day

2009-09-30T11:05:00.005-05:00

So, I'm feeling a little lazy today, and Carolyn and The Great 2 Year Molar Extravaganza of Oh Nine has her a bit out of sorts, so we're going easy on the productivity. So, I set up the camera to capture a few minutes of our singing, counting, and coloring. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Baby

2009-09-29T15:39:00.001-05:00

Joe is the last of our little family's September special occasions. Usually he gets the shaft because, being last, all of the decorations are recycled, parties are combined and consolidated, and we're all a little tired of cake. But not today! Today we busted out BRAND NEW STREAMERS AND BALLOONS, and the kids made signs to hang in the windows. And there is a scratch-made pudding cake chilling in the fridge. He's got a Facebook wall full of Happy Birthday's, and his phone has been ringing with family and friends on the line to say hello. While he's still got some daddy-duty tonight, being that there is football practice and a school fund-raiser, we'll do our best to celebrate his big day with much oomph, love, and gusto.

Love you baby. Happy 34th.

Dinner

2009-09-23T12:46:00.000-05:00

A couple of nights ago I bought some turkey Italian sausage, and we had sausage and peppers. Joseph and I grew the peppers!

He asked me to post a conversation with Carolyn at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

More Cuteness

2009-09-17T10:12:00.000-05:00

Our now TWO YEAR OLD asking me for a "HarCip".

And in another moment of silence, I went looking for her and found her sitting in the pantry trying to get into a box of pop tarts.

Dear Carolyn Part Deux

2009-09-13T18:18:00.006-05:00

A few pics from the day's festivities . . .

Dear Carolyn,

2009-09-13T05:51:00.009-05:00

Two years ago this morning we checked in to the hospital to have our baby girl. Your mommy and daddy were excited to meet you, but nobody was more excited than your brother Joseph. Your second year with us was full of changes. You visited North Carolina with me to help find us a new home.

And when we got back to Michigan after that visit, we celebrated your first birthday with yaya and papoo. It was a rainy rainy day, your brother was very sick, and Daddy was in North Carolina. But you smiled your way through your first birthday celebration like a champ.About a week later, Daddy came back to help us move. We had a last breakfast at our favorite place, Tom's.

And then all of our friends came over and helped us load up the truck to help us move on to our new life. You probably won't remember the old one, but trust me when I say that each and every person in this picture is important to us, and they all helped us get back on our feet.

October was full of lots of family time. Because we hadn't really made any friends yet, AND because we had spent so much time apart that we were having a great time just being together as a family again.

You were not a big fan of Halloween.

You let Yaya borrow your bang bang to take a nap, which must mean you really love your Ya. You don't let too many people near The Bang.

Your favorite playmate is always your brother. You imitate everything he says and does, so it's a good thing he is such a good boy and loving brother!

When December rolled around, you helped taste test all of the Christmas baking.

And when we went to Michigan for Christmas, you had fun playing with all of Papoos funny costume pieces.

In January, it snowed here. While your brother had played in piles and piles and piles of snow in Michigan, this is your first time being big enough to experience it.

You still love your bang bang best. Your bang bang and your thumb.

Yaya gave us some dresses that I used to wear as a baby, and your wore one of them to Joseph's birthday party.

You also got your first hair cut.

You love Saturday mornings, because Joseph doesn't have to go to school and you can play with your favorite friend.

We took you to the North Carolina beach for the first time when the weather started getting warm at the end of April.

And have I mentioned how much you love your big brother?

Whenever the house gets quiet, we know that means you're up to something. This time you discovered Joseph's pack of gum and were chewing a big wad.

This time it was you crawling on the changing table and emptying the wipes box.

We took a summer vacation to Florida, and spent lots of time with your grandparents. You gave Papoo kisses (and you liked sharing baloney sandwiches with him, too)

And you had morning snuggles with Yaya in each morning. Though there are so many things about you that are Big Girl things, you're still my baby. You still love your naptime . . .

and cookies . .

and playing and running and eating and laughing and dancing.

Carolyn, two years ago you came along and completed our family. You have brought happiness during some very hard times, and now that we seem to be back on track you STILL bring happiness to us every single day.

We love you, baby girl. Happy Birthday.

Thank you, Sesame Street . . .

2009-09-10T14:58:00.005-05:00

. . . for teaching yet another kid how to count.

And of course a shout out to Oscar Mayer for the baloney.

9.9.09

2009-09-09T09:15:00.000-05:00

Happy Anniversary, Babe.

Football Saturday

2009-09-08T19:19:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd share some of the cuteness from the first College Football Saturday.

Joseph actually agreed to be a Wolverine that day.

Carolyn was also decked out.

Thanks to Papoo, we now have the tradition of drinking Kiddie Cocktails while watching football.

Jason was with us, too. We have his MSU and UM helmets, and the snow-globe was a gift from his mom.

This N That

2009-09-05T12:11:00.002-05:00

Adorable girl at Joseph's game. Wearing his sunglasses, upside down. Eating Popcorn. Things got quiet this morning. When I investigated, I found her back with my super long wear lipstick. All over her lips, legs, and hands.

She brought me the camera and asked me to take her "pic-sha". I was in the bathroom at the time. She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

Daddy and baby girl at Joseph's game.

Where's Joseph, you ask? Well, hiding from the camera. BUT, he can't escape my filming his games! Go to The Joseph and Carolyn Blog for some Smokin' Joe footage!

First Crush

2009-09-03T05:14:00.001-05:00

Very recently, Carolyn has become extremely interested in Sesame Street. Like me, she just sort of likes her shows on in the background while she jumps, climbs, plays, 'helps' around the house. But when Mr. Noodle comes on the screen? Well, all I can say is that is NOT the time to try to read a book, play music, or do ANY of the things she normally enjoys. She's gotta watch that man.

Interesting

2009-09-02T05:59:00.002-05:00

Joseph has posted some interesting pictures over at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

First Game

2009-08-29T11:53:00.002-05:00

Video of Joseph's first game, and the unveiling of his new football nickname, just went up over at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog!

2009-08-26T06:08:00.005-05:00

Carolyn has begun playing 'baby.' Sometimes it's with a little fuzzy Elmo (Emmo), sometimes it's with my old Cabbage Patch doll, but for the last few days it's been Joseph's Raggedy Andy. (She has her own Raggedy Ann, but she's kind of attached to Andy at the moment).

She makes her baby do lots of things Carolyn likes to do herself - dance, jump on the bed, rock in the rocking chair singing.

And since I'm always trying to convince her NOT to take her bang-bang everywhere we go (because A. if the blanket gets lost, I'm sunk. She LOVES her bang-bang. And B. it gets soooo dirty, and when I wrestle it away from her to wash it, she stands in the laundry room crying baaaaaang! baaaaang!) it's pretty cool that she can be distracted with her baby.

First Day of School Update

2009-08-25T19:02:00.001-05:00

Me: So, Joseph, what do you like about your new teacher?
Joseph: Well, she talks nice and she smiles ALL the time and she didn't get mad at us once!

This is the project that he came home with today. It is an outline of his hand, and there was a Hershey Kiss taped to the heart. He said they 'made a treat for mommies'. This is the poem that was on it:

It's my first day of school
And The Kissing Hand we read
It's about a raccoon
Who did just as his parents said.

Like the raccoon's first day at school
I was scared and a little shy
But because I know you love me
I was brave and I got by

All through the year
I'll make more things for you
So as I change, and as I learn,
You can see my growth, too!

This new teacher has no idea what a big fan I already am of her methods.

And, he had a GREAT first scrimmage. Video of his TWO TOUCHDOWNS are going up at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

A Day of Firsts

2009-08-25T07:48:00.004-05:00

So, we did it. We got up, got the lunch packed and all of the supplies and forms into the backpack, had breakfast while listening to the radio (and doing a little dancing), put on the new shirt, brushed the teeth, played a little bit on the computer, took a few pics, and then headed out - dropping Joseph off for his first day! He is so cool and calm today. In comparison to last year, when he was kind of sick, kind of shellshocked from the move, and really nervous about a new school with kids who had their first day WEEKS before we arrived, today was a total piece of cake. His biggest concern was what would happen if one of his loose teeth fell out at school. Precious.

So, here he is eating Yaya's Special Recipe Oatmeal, which is one of his favorite breakfasts.

Carolyn enjoys it, too.

He did all of his getting ready pretty fast, so he had a few minutes to go on kids.nickjr.com to play a racing game he loves. Meanwhile, I made sure we had everything packed.

And off we went!

His classroom is very near the drop-off door, so he felt pretty good about walking in all by himself. Which again is SO unlike last year! So I pulled up to the door, and the drop-off teacher came and opened the car door, gave Joseph a big "Hi! Welcome to your first day! Do you know where you need to go?" and off he went.

He didn't look back.

And then I cried a little.

As we drove off, Carolyn said "Where Jo-seh go?" and I said "school."

Sigh.

So, here we are. I am trying to decide how to fill up our day! Bon-bons and soap operas? NOT! More like CLEANING MY BUTT OFF. I'm starting on the kitchen and laundry room today - before and after pics to follow - and then heading to the library this afternoon.

And then home to make a special dinner before we head off to Joseph's football practice. He has his first scrimmage, and I can't wait to go cheer him on.

Update

2009-08-24T18:51:00.002-05:00

Tonight we all went to Joseph's school to find his classroom, meet his teacher, tour the school, and fill out a TON of paperwork. Joseph has been pretty sweet about starting school - on the one hand, he is definately not happy about summer being over. But on the other hand, he liked the looks of his classroom and his school, thinks his teacher is pretty (which she definately is), and recognized some faces from his old school. So, overall the stress level is wayyyy down as compared to last year, and pretty mild considering we're talking about my kid.

We met up in the parking lot, and Joseph let us get one shot with a semi-happy face.

All of us walking in.

This is the place.

We are really excited about the teachers. Mrs. Tafoya seemed very VERY happy to welcome us into her classroom. She's young and cute (Joseph likes cute) and has been at the school for 10 years. And all of that warm and fuzzy stuff we were lacking last year? Well, it is in abundance so far this year.

Back to SCHOOL!

2009-08-24T06:44:00.002-05:00

Today we go to an open house at Joseph's school to meet the new teacher and learn the ropes of being in FIRST GRADE.

I can't even believe I'm typing that.

For Joseph, it is bittersweet. He's a teeny bit excited about being with friends, but he's very bummed about the lazy days of summer being over. He was a big fan of laying around in the mornings, watching cartoons, going to the pool, playing outside for hours (until it got too hot), and basically being in charge of our own schedules.

He's nervous about how hard first grade will be, too. But I think he's going to be surprised by how much he likes it. Well, assuming his new teacher is not of the "make everything a competition with candy rewards" school of thought. Or, the "you must do it ALL right the first time" school of thought. And so on . . .

I love this time of year, because it's kind of like New Year's Day - a fresh start. I'm starting a to-do list, and I'm mulling over some new goals for the fall. And of course we needed a Back to School look for the blog, so I'll be tinkering with that to.

Anyway, I'll post the pictures of the First Grade Open House later tonight. Happy Back To School, everyone!

Happy Birthday Brett!

2009-08-23T07:49:00.004-05:00

Back home we have a really good friend. This guy would do anything for you - make you a fabulous meal, come help you move something heavy, fix your garage door, help you drive your moving van 750 miles all night long, then turn around and fly home the next morning, snuggle your brand new baby in the hospital, play ball with your son when your husband has been living out of town for weeks, make a cozy spot for you to sleep after you've locked yourself out of your house and it's too rainy for you to want to deal with it right away, then the next morning shimmy open a window to crawl through in order to unlock the door, move furniture for your parents, fix your broken doorbell, install your new light fixture, help you collect all of the belongings floating down the river after your canoe tips, watch lots and lots of sports with you, make your favorite nachos for dinner for the eleven-millionth time, sip Jamison's with you, give your husband a gift in a pink frilly gift bag just for laughs, and he's the type of friend to be with you during all the major events of your life, good or bad.

We know this about him, because that's the kind of friend he's been to us. Happy Birthday Brett!

Saturday

2009-08-22T09:17:00.010-05:00

Well, the post we've all been waiting for. David and Marcy Bennis were married on Saturday, August 15, 2009.

It was also my Dad's birthday, but truthfully? I don't think he minded sharing.

The morning kind of flew by - coffee and breakfast came and went in a blur, and we were all showering and primping before we knew it.

I didn't start out thinking we'd all coordinate in shades of orange, but it happened anyway. Cute or silly?

Anyway, we walked into the church together.
And as I walked in I had to snap this photo of the two mothers helping each other with the corsages.

We all gathered at the front of the church a few minutes before one.

Papoo made eyes at Carolyn, who was completely quiet until the ceremony started.

My brother got into place, and Dad was waiting to take his spot as Best Man.

Once the ceremony started I stopped snapping pictures. I'll have some of the 'official' ones to post later. Let it suffice to say that it was a beautiful, touching, loving ceremony and I did my share of boo-hooing. My brother smiled broadly through the whole thing, and my Dad was a very proud Best Man. The Maid of Honor looked beautiful in a black dress with ivory embellishments, and the bride was glowing in her flowy ivory dress holding a stunning bouquet of roses.

They said I Do, and were presented to us all as Mr. and Mrs. David Bennis. *sniff*

After the service, we went downstairs for a reception. This is where our family sat.

They had a beautiful wedding cake - that was DELICIOUS. I haven't let myself eat cake in a loooong time - but I enjoyed 2 full slices PLUS bites here and there so I could get the full experience of all of the flavors. Excellent. They also had an amazing banana cake to commemorate Dad's birthday, but somehow I don't have a picture of that.

So, here they are doing the cutting. The official photographer got the better spot - so until I get a copy of that, this photo will have to do.
Sharing the wedding cake. There were so many of us lined up to take snapshots they had to do this twice!
Joseph was VERY excited to get his piece of cake, but this picture doesn't really convey that because he HATES having his picture taken.

And here's a clip of my dad making a toast. They are words that have been used for many special occasions in the Bennis family, of which this is definately one.

Sadly, we had to pull ourselves away from the party and go change our clothes to get ready to get on the road. We really needed to get a few hours of driving behind us on Saturday, because to do it all at once is, well, not fun.

We hugged and said goodbye to everyone and moped our way to the car. We pulled off for just a minute at the outlet mall so I could run into the Borders outlet to pick up something to read. I had Koegel baloney sandwiches in our cooler, and 3 books, and off we went.

Early that evening, somewhere around Cleveland, we pulled off at one of those rest stop islands and had a potty break. We made our way over to the pumps to get gas, and happened to pull up right next to Jackie and Sherm! I got to make Jackie's day when, having NO books and craving a Koegel sandwich, I could hand her both. It was the best way to beat the sadness we were feeling by running into our family during a pit stop!

So, there we go. Our journey to Michigan. It's been really great to recreate it on the blog this week. I SO miss my family and my friends and the familiarity of everything there. I don't know when we'll be back, but you can be sure that when I'm feeling a little blue down here I will go over these posts and relive the excitement and love we all felt from all of you who made our trip so special. Thanks for taking the time, rearranging the schedules, making the plans, and doing all of the things it took to help coordinate so many fantastic days.

Friday

2009-08-21T06:12:00.001-05:00

Friday arrived, and we were in full wedding mode. That night, mom and dad were hosting a pre-wedding party - had there been a wedding rehearsal, it would have been the Rehearsal Dinner. But there was no rehearsal, just dinner.

So, we had our quiet coffee hour early that morning, then off to work we went. Cleaning baby fingerprints off of glass doors, vacuuming, last runs to the grocery store, stirring up last recipes, making lists, checking things off, making new lists.

My brother and sister in law, Joe and I headed out for lunch at a little mexican place so that we wouldn't mess up all of our hard work at home. While sitting there my brother from Florida called, and we got to update him on all of the wedding happenings.

Then, home again, and we began to primp. We got the kids all ready - but I don't have a picture. Then Joe got ready - but I don't have a picture. I ironed everybody's clothes then I got ready - and the dress that I worked so hard to be able to fit in to? I DONT HAVE A PICTURE. UGH. Hopefully, if somebody else was snapping party photos, they will email them to me and I can add them here.

AAAnyway, the big moment came. The caravan arrived from Saginaw (Township!) and I got to meet my future sister-in-law Marcy.
She was very sweet, seemed very at-ease hanging out with our family, and she and my brother laughed together a lot. I got to meet some of her family and friends, too, (of course I don't have a picture), and was very happy that they seemed to enjoy my brother - who they kept calling Dave - and I was just so happy for him.

They opened gifts, and this is a shot of them looking at a framed photo of a St. Augustine scene - they traveled there together once already, and will be going their for their honeymoon. It looks like that neat town will be a special place for the newlyweds, too.

This is the only picture I have of anyone else at the party. This was toward the end while we were all hanging out in the front yard saying goodbye to party guests.

And the one photo I got of Carolyn playing with Ben. Ben loooooooves playing with the babies, but Carolyn was a little slow to warm. Right now, however, she was playing peekaboo and loving it. Now that we're home she asks many times a day "Where Ben go?"

Thursday

2009-08-20T05:56:00.002-05:00

I woke up Thursday morning wondering how it was possible we were already at THURSDAY. That's the thing about vacations - they go by SO FAST! And being that this was a vacation where we were not laying in one place on the beach all day, rather we were going here, there and everywhere to visit with folks, time was FLYING BY.

I was usually up early - and just about every morning through the week I was able to sit in the quiet, sipping coffee with my mom and brother, chatting. That is truly what I consider QUALITY TIME. I don't have a picture, but you can conjure one up in your mind I'm sure.

One by one folks woke up and came in, breakfast was served, plans were made for the day. Mom was headed to the grocery store, my dad was resting before a doctor's appointment, the kids were running around crazy, and I was planning to slip out and have lunch with Martha.

Which, again, I don't have a picture of. But it was pretty fantastic to find an hour to get together for girl talk with my bestie. I love making new friends, but it isn't the same as talking with old friends - you don't have to EXPLAIN everything, they just know - and Martha and I had way more to talk about than we had time in her lunch hour.

When I arrived home, the kids and Joe and I had a couple of quick errands to run. Our friends were going on the annual canoe trip that weekend, and because we weren't able to join, I wanted to send along the ingredients for my special Canoe Trip Punch. We also swung by the diner that was our usual after-church place to go, but none of the girls that took care of us when we lived here were working that day. Joe dropped me off at home and went on to Target with the kids, and I got in the kitchen with my mom to start making a couple of dishes for the 'rehearsal dinner' party that she was hosting the next night. More girl talk. Mom and I are really good at hosting parties together - and really good at the girl talk while we cook.

That evening we ventured out again, to a barbeque at the Turnbows. Immediately upon arrival, Joseph and the Turnbow boys went into their big and beautiful backyard to begin playing a game of baseball that lasted pretty much all night. I presented the Canoe Trip Punch gifts. Carolyn played on the swing. Brett brought his famous ribs, and Scott grilled chicken and salmon. Dana made the most amazing taco salad AND chocolate chip cookes. We ate and drank and talked and laughed until dark.

Joseph and Jackson were our photographers for the group shots. Not bad, huh?

Carolyn eating a cookie. Unlike my son, Carolyn loves having her picture taken. I snapped this one, and she looked sad. So I said "Smile, Care Bear". And she did.

Here we all are eating and drinking and talking. See that corn on the cob? AMAZING. I love Michigan corn.
Notice the plates are empty. That's because this group knows how to do a barbeque. YUMMY.

Took us a half an hour to say our goodbyes. I cried, of course. I miss our friends. Love you guys!

Wednesday

2009-08-19T05:37:00.007-05:00

Wednesday morning began with a workout. My niece and sister in law along with Joe and I did an hour of Body Vive, which is a low-impact dance aerobics, and I loved it. Joe, however, found it almost completely emasculating, and vowed never to do it again.

Oh, if only I had pictures.

Then we got ourselves cleaned up, once again peeled the clingy children off of our legs, and headed down US23 to Ann Arbor.

We toured the town a little bit, going by the stadium (and the facelift is not as bad as we imagined), old neighborhoods, and a bit through campus, before landing on Main Street at Conor O'Neills, the site of our first date. Sort of.

Actually, it's the site where Joe was going to meet up with some girlie he had met there the week before, but he met me instead. And she never showed. Had she actually been there when we got there I might not be married now. Or, I might be married and also have a story about how I decked a girl the night I met my husband. Who knows.

But here we all are - Lisa and baby Colin, due to make an appearance in early September. Melissa, who arrived fresh from a road trip to Chicago to see Phish. Me, drinking an Oberon. Yay. Tracy, the fastest texter I've ever seen, who drove in from Hudson for the event. Hot Joe. And Dave, Colin's daddy, who is doing that whole last-minute "I might like another baby name" thing that almost caused us to have to re-monogram many personalized baby gifts.

Look at the foxy girls at Conor's! Had I not cropped the photo, you would see a yellow Corvette parked on the street right behind us. It was there for a while, then pulled out, and a minute or so later another car slid into the spot. A black Corvette this time. So I suppose that is the official Corvette parking spot, right there in front of Conor O'Neills.

Joe and Dave had an opportunity to talk much Michigan football. If I were a good fan I'd be able to tell you how many days until the start of the season. I'll bet just about everybody else at the table could do it! Hopefully we'll be able to do much football texting this fall.We finished up dinner, then headed off to another old favorite, Dominick's. Michelle got there ahead of us to hold a table outside and in the back, right by the fountain. We had talked briefly about whether or not anyone had heard from Krug. We surmised he could stop by on his way home from work, but to my knowledge he hadn't called back. I said at some point "It would be very 'Krug' to just show up and surprise us all."

Guess what? He did.

This was one of those self-portrait shots. He took it with the camera upside down, and it was a very good picture that way. But I decided to turn it around to post here.

Mike was sort of the catalyst for Joe and I to meet. Well, to meet a couple of times - the first time it didn't stick. In fact, we only barely remember that meeting at all. The second time, well, that stuck. Second time was the charm.

I love this picture because it is a photo of the 3 Hill Street roommates. Though all of us lived there, stayed there, hung out there, or hid out there from time to time, I believe it is these three people whose names were actually on the lease.

I don't know why, but I love this shot of Joe telling everyone a story that required the use of air quotes.

Another awesome afternoon with dear friends made in a time and place Joe and I both consider very special and important to us.

Tuesday

2009-08-18T05:39:00.004-05:00

We woke up at Grandma O's house Tuesday with cheers of HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It was pretty cool to actually be there on her birthday.

While Joe and the kids helped Grandma O run a couple of errands and take care of some Honey-Dos around the house, I slipped away and went in to East Lansing to meet an old friend at Brueggers. Catherine and I were great friends back in the day - starting in elementary school at Walker, and of course the all powerful Facebook reunited us a few months ago. We had an awesome time catching up over breakfast - talking about our kids as much as anything - and it was really a highlight of the trip.

I seriously love Facebook. Since moving, Facebook has brought me together (both virtually AND face to face) with some really great old friends.

Anyhow, after breakfast I met back up with the family at Grandma O's, and we continued our visit there, which included birthday lunch at Mongolian Barbeque. Then, sadly, it was time to pack up and keep moving. Thanks for having us Grandma O!

We went to the cemetary to spend some time with Big A. Now, I'm not sure if it is weird to take and post pictures of us hanging out in a cemetary, but it was a special and important part of our trip, so I'm going for it. The weather was goregeous - sunny and warm (but not hot and muggy) and the kids were happy to run around in the grass while Joe and I looked at all of the mementos that had been added since we last visited.

Jason is a pretty frequent topic of conversation in our home - every time Joseph gets a balloon from here or there, he plays with it for a while and then lets it go - sending it up to heaven for Big A. Certain things make us remember him - fall and football season, certain songs on the radio, listening to all of the CDs he made for Joe. This visit to the cemetary was sad, yes, but it was also happy. It really is neat to see the things left by friends - a golf ball from the Big A Memorial Golf Classic, an MSU football schedule, a copy of the speech made in his honor announcing the scholarship in his name. We were really happy to be able to spend some quiet time there remembering him.

When we left there, we headed to Owosso to meet Jason's mom for dinner. She and Mike were really excited to get together - it made us all feel closer to Jason - and there were laughs and tears (and cries from an exhausted baby) all through dinner.

Joseph filled the time while the grownups talked by taking pictures of us all eating.

And Janice and Mike were in full-on grandparent mode, spoiling Joseph rotten with lots of attention, questions, and a big fat ice cream sundae.

Another really special visit - our vacation was chock full of them - and there were a few tears shed as we said goodbye.

We got back to Flint to find that my Dad was called away to Cleveland on business, and my mom, brother, and brother's family had gone somewhere - somewhere where cell phones were either turned off or just not heard. We were locked out and spent some time laying around in her front yard waiting for someone to come let us in!

As it turns out my ever-prepared mother had left us a key hidden somewhere, but couldn't hear her phone ring when I called - they were sitting outside at a new downtown restaurant, and all of the downtown hustle was too noisy. But they returned home soon, and we got to see The Virginia Bennis's for the first time since they arrived.

Monday

2009-08-17T06:09:00.006-05:00

So, Monday (and Tuesday) were spent with Lansing area loved ones.

We got up that morning and did a couple of chores around my mom's place, then got the kids cleaned up and packed and headed to Williamston, our first stop. Joe got to play a quick 9 holes with Dave and Bill,

while Tosha and I snuggled the baby and watched the kids play.

Joseph and Zach got along great, doing a lot of running, jumping in the pool, swinging, oh - and did I mention running?

And he loved loved loved seeing Baby Ellie. Joseph loves him some baby girls.

He still enjoyed taking pics of his own baby sister, too.

Eventually the Dads returned, and played hard with all of the kids, jumping in the pool

playing water guns,

pushing the kids,

and setting up the Slip N Slide.

The afternoon began to wind down, kids (and grownups) were beginning to tire, and Joe spent some time with Baby Ellie, whispering her to sleep. I took these pictures thinking the time he spent with her was so reminiscent of Jason - Big A - and how he loved to hold the itty bitty ones. He taught all of us to swaddle them snugly, bounce them very gently, and whisper them to sleep. He was with us that day for sure.

The few hours spent together was fantastic - the first we've all been together since our moving day - and though it went way too fast, it was really wonderful to be back with old friends. As we were pulling away and headed to Grandma O's house Joe remarked about how great it is to come home and find that things really haven't changed - our friends are still our friends, no matter where we go. Thanks for a great afternoon!

We arrived at Grandma O's house with exhausted kids. We got their beds set up and we put them to bed soon after our arrival. Pics and stories from Grandma's birthday and our Tuesday adventures tomorrow . . .

Saturday and Sunday

2009-08-16T18:08:00.005-05:00

I sat down at the computer today to upload our vacation pictures, and I took almost 200. 200 photos of our antics. So, instead of posting a gazillion all at once, I am going to post a day by day journal of our vacation.

We arrived at my mom and dad's on Saturday afternoon - after a rainy (and smelly) drive through Ohio, the sun came out on us as we pulled into town. The kids were a bit crazy and we were all a bit stiff, so we took a stroll through the neighborhood, peeked in the windows of our old house, knocked on the door of a few beloved neighbors (hi Erin and Judy!) and really enjoyed the cooler temperatures and lack of humidity.

I didn't take any pictures of those activities, though.

Sunday we got up and got ready to enjoy our first day out and about without the kids IN A YEAR. Yep. A YEAR. After spending our first 4.5 years of parenthood very close to grandparents who could give us at least a couple of hours on our own every week, we were S.P.O.I.L.E.D. in that regard. So Yaya and Papoo were kind enough to peel clingy kids off of our legs so Joe could go golf with the boys,

and I could go lounge by the pool with the girls.

Chris and Lisa helped coordinate the festivities, hosting us at the Flint Golf Club, arranging the tee time, and keeping all of the emails going while we were in transit. Thanks, guys.

Brett came and picked Joe up for golf, and Martha met Danielle and I at church before the pool lounging began. Martha texted me when she arrived at church shortly after the service had begun. I had JUST turned my phone to silent. JUST. And I was sitting down front, smack dab in the center. Had she arrived any earlier, the entire sanctuary would have known I was texting in church.

Danielle and I sat together at church, so she witnessed the texting. She and Mike can leave their kids together when they want to take off in the afternoon - they get along well, and her oldest is mature enough to look after herself and her sibling. I am more than a little envious of that fact. Danielle also ordered the first Oberon of the day - reminding me that I was once again in Bell's Country.

Joe was back to hitting on all of the wives, just like old times.

And I wonder if this is why my mom teased me a bit about coming home tipsy. I could never hide it.

Our waitress didn't find us nearly as witty and charming as we all found ourselves. We're a pretty entertaining bunch once you get to know us.

We were very happy to be back with our people.

This and That

2009-08-07T07:34:00.000-05:00

We're all sitting around trying not to mess anything up in our clean house this morning! So, I sent Joseph outside to wash the car, and Carolyn and I are looking through pics.

Carolyn and her FAVORITE activity, emptying mommy's purse.

Carolyn has just really started paying attention to Sesame Street. When it's over, she says "Mo Emmo? Mo Emmo mama?"

The kiddos waiting for me to stop posting pictures so I can go fix lunch.

Joseph entertaining his sister at the car dealership waiting for it to get fixed. This was before The Great Public Meltdown of '09 and my subsequent nomination for Mommy of the Year.

We posted a couple of football pics over at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog, too!

More Just For Fun

2009-08-04T10:48:00.000-05:00

The kids were trying on their outfits for the wedding. Carolyn, of course, was more interesting in trying on Joseph's clothes, and Joseph, of course, was more interested in TAKING the pictures than being in one.

Rocket Man

2009-08-01T08:22:00.001-05:00

Joseph posted a video about his new favorite toy, over at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

A Few From . . .

2009-07-31T17:09:00.000-05:00

. . . our trip to the planetarium!

Joseph, Davis, and "Mia" examining slime and lungs and mucus. At the planetarium.

Having a snack before The Magic Treehouse movie started.

Carolyn telling me she was ready to go home. Really, she was just ready to go to sleep, which she did as soon as we got settled in our seats and the lights dimmed.

We had a wonderful time with Davis and his Grandmother!

Baby Wants Candy

2009-07-29T13:42:00.002-05:00

I took the kids for haircuts today. Joseph went first, and Carolyn quickly discovered the suckers. I eventually gave in and got her one. This video was taken right after she finished it.

Before and after pics of the new 'dos are posted at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

Good Times

2009-07-26T15:11:00.001-05:00

A picture of Joseph and Colby's arrival at the pool today. More of this at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

And a picture of Carolyn getting a hold of my diet coke a couple of days ago. Because we shared it, I am fully expecting the next sick person in this house to be me.

Just Because

2009-07-23T14:21:00.000-05:00

Got a shot of her perfect little pout.

All Tatted Up

2009-07-22T07:32:00.000-05:00

Maybe this fun will come back and bite us one day, but the O'Lears LOOOOVE to play with temporary tattoos.

Dinner Time

2009-07-21T09:13:00.010-05:00

A couple of clips of mealtime at our house. After a day at the pool, we weren't in the mood to come home and cook a huge dinner, so it was a soup and sandwich night - but it is at least recorded proof that they eat something besides chicken nuggets and pizza!

Then, a clip of dessert.

Joseph has also posted some clips at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

Tooth Be Gone

2009-07-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

It's a very big day . . . Joseph lost his FIRST TOOTH! And is very excited to get it under his pillow tonight. In fact, it just might be the first night in months that getting him to bed won't cause an argument! Thankfully, the tooth came out without any strings tied to doorknobs or anything that caused crying or fainting. It was just EXTREMELY loose, and came out while he was eating a Cheesedoodle.

Flo-rida

2009-07-12T19:22:00.009-05:00

The kids and I spent a week in Florida! It was so great to spend a week relaxing with family and friends. First, we arrived Sunday afternoon (because I had the fam packed in the car at the absolute crack of dawn) and met up with my brother and his kids at the pool.After swimming, cleaning up, and eating dinner we all assembled on the patio for a show - Tyler on drums, Brit on guitar, Paige on vocals, and Papoo directing the video shoot (Chip was Camera Guy, Key Grip, AND Best Boy).Once it got dark we all watched Chip light fireworks that the family saved for us for a little post-fourth celebration.

Carolyn had her favorite Yaya's house snack - yogurt.Mornings were time for snuggles . . . . . . while I took off for yoga on the beach . . .. . . or walks over the bridge . . . . . . with Aunt Ramona and cousin Garrett . . .. . . leaving me sweaty but proud after finishing our trek. Carolyn was always covered in kisses.

And I got to reunite with a very special childhood friend. After reconnecting on Facebook, I learned that she’s been just 2 short hours away from my folks place all this time! Two hours. In the year we’ve been away, 2 hours has been the key to amazing times; it’s the distance between us and the beach, the distance between us and family, the distance between our Spring Break vacation spot and good friends from home – and now, the distance between my Summer vacation spot and a dear childhood friend. Carolyn made herself right at home, too. We had our final beach party - and dad proudly displayed his new Wolverine gear.Chip and Tyler played ball.

Paige, Joseph and Carolyn dug in the sand.

And we all ate Yaya's yummy snacks.

It was a good last day.

Carolyn liked wearing my shades,

and following Brittany wherever she went.

Joseph discovered Playstation and Wii.

and Paige read countless books to Care Bear.

Another great vacation spent with people we love so much!

Happy Fourth of July!

2009-07-04T14:21:00.000-05:00

Mischief

2009-07-01T08:43:00.002-05:00

So, when Carolyn gets quiet, it usually means she's up to something. This time it meant she climbed on her changing table and started pulling wipes out of the box. The Joseph and Carolyn Blog has a little video of her explanation.

Afternoons

2009-07-01T06:33:00.000-05:00

So, life at the O'Lear's is a little different now that school is out. Once we get up and have breakfast we try to get in our morning walk. Then we check over the meals we have planned for the day, and run to the market if we need to. Joseph gets his chores done - bed made, recycling to the bin, room picked up, stuff like that. And I do whatever my chore of the day is - laundry, floors, bathrooms, whatever. We lay Carolyn down for her nap, and then have a little 'project' time - reading together, playing a game, writing. We make lunch and all eat together when Daddy gets home.

THEN. Then comes my favorite part of the day. We all get changed and slathered, and HEAD TO THE POOL. Gone are the days of Joseph's earplugs and hatred of getting his face wet - he is a great underwater swimmer, and he has a bunch of pool buddies to play with - catch, Sharks and Minnows, Cops and Robbers, and just basic horseplay. Carolyn HATES her water wings, but loves holding the rail and jumping around in the water. And for the first time ever, my kids have tan lines! Yes, even though I still chase them around with tubes of thick, greasy SPF 50 and above, we spend so much time out in the sun that they both are starting to look like Coppertone kids.

So, here are a few pics at the pool, and Joseph has posted a short video clip over at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

We've been MIA

2009-06-29T08:48:00.002-05:00

But now we're back. And I'll do my best over the next couple of days to get lots of pictures posted.
Until then, here are a couple:

Joseph made his daddy a card and breakfast in bed for Father's Day. Joseph cracked the eggs and scrambled them up himself. He put jelly on the toast, and put it all together on the tray (I did the turkey sausage). They had a good snuggle in bed while eating and watching Sportcenter. Happy Father's Day!

This past weekend we spent some time with Dale and Martha. Joseph did his usual ducking of the camera, but Carolyn enjoyed the attention. Here she is wearing Ben's shoes and hanging out with Lisa.

And there was a whole lot of "wa-cheese ma ma" (watch this mama) while she played on the trampoline.

Joseph has posted some updated pictures at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog as well!

1st Annual "Big A" Memorial Golf Classic

2009-06-29T07:53:00.004-05:00

Many of you knew (or knew of) Joe's friend Jason Andersen. They were friends since childhood, and over the course of the last few years had become especially close.

Jason died last summer of Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease. He was just 31 years old.

Those who loved him have come together to create a scholarship fund to honor his memory, and his years of work helping families and coaching children, whom he loved so dearly. And as the first anniversary of his death approaches, friends are planning the 1st Annual Big A Memorial Golf Classic, with all proceeds to benefit the Big A Memorial Scholarship Fund.

If you are interested in golfing, please email me and I will get you registration information. The event is on Saturday, July 11th at Highland Hills Golf Club in DeWitt, MI.

If you are interested in donating to the scholarship fund, go to http://www.cfnem.org/, click on 'Funds', click 'choose a fund and give online', look down the page until you find 'Scholarship Funds' and choose 'Big A Memorial Scholarship Fund' from the drop-down menu. Donations are tax-deductible.

Below is a video of how we recognized Jason's birthday, which was on June 17th. Jason was with us many times when Joseph would release a balloon "up to heaven." In the background was the song "I'm In Love With A Stripper" which is kind of an inside joke. Let's just say Jason had a thing for the ladies. When we lived in Flint there were many many evenings where he would swing by after work with a six-pack, and we'd all enjoy a beer together on the deck, so we drank a Red Stripe which was one of his favorites. And we pulled out the "Big A Box" which contains the many momentos his mom gave to us - things from his apartment, pictures from childhood, his money clip, bracelet, and watch. These things are very special to us, and instead of being sad, we spent time with these things and enjoyed all of the fantastic memories.

I know money is tight for everyone these days, but if you are interested in giving I encourage you to do so. We can't be there to golf this year, but I am sure with all of the family and friends he held so dear the event will be well attended. Again, if you're interested please let me know.

We miss you, Big A.

Joseph Oliver

2009-06-12T15:34:00.003-05:00

Joseph's Tee-Ball team finished their season last night with a very exciting game against the Tigers. At the end of the third inning (his team plays 3 innings or 70 minutes) they were down two runs, but had time to continue to play. Joseph was the third to bat, got a hit, brought a runner home, then was able to bring one home himself! They kept the Tigers from scoring, and ended up winning! They were undefeated this season. And Joseph? Well, he didn't love it, but by the end of the season he liked it. He stuck with it, improved, and his last game was one of his best - three hits, three runs, and never used the tee! He was very proud of himself.

After the game, the team had a pizza party and were presented with trophys. Joseph got his, and it read Joseph Oliver. We had a good laugh, and the team Mom says she'll take care of getting it corrected right away.

Joseph posted some video of him hitting and running in to home on The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

A Letter to our First Grader

2009-06-10T06:18:00.001-05:00

Dear Joseph:

Today is your last day of Kindergarten. When you come home this afternoon, you will be able to say "I'm going into First Grade."

This year has had its share of ups and downs that you’ve handled with such poise and maturity I never knew was possible from a boy your age.

We moved,

and you started your whole life over.
New house, New room,
New school. New friends! New allergies and new doctors and all kinds of new germs and illnesses.
New responsibilities – helping out around the house and in the yard, earning your allowance and saving your money in the bank.
You played on your first Basketball team, and had the time of your life, which made you get very interested in March Madness.You played on your first tee-ball team, and didn’t love it quite as much. Not at first. But you stuck with it, practiced hard, and have improved SO much – and after hours of playing with Daddy and Mommy in the backyard, you understand the rules of the game, and you actually have FUN playing! You had sleepovers,
and play dates, and a Bowling Party for your birthday.
You taught Carolyn to play in the snow,
and go down the slide.You really love your sister, and you're a fun, protective, and loving Big Brother.You planted your garden,and made it grow. You love going to the beach,
and riding your bike, And you canNOT wait for Upward Football season to start.
Your newfound confidence occasionally resulted in a bump or bruise.
Some of the bumps were less obvious to you. You don’t yet understand that all kids aren’t generous – occasionally, you’ll share with a kid who has no intention of reciprocating. While sometimes kids will come over just to play with your stuff,other times you’ll meet someone who will be a friend for life.
Maybe someday you’ll realize that, as far as Kindergarten experiences go, you happened to get the short end of the stick. My kindergarten teacher was warm and loving. She made us laugh, and she laughed a lot herself. The things we learned in kindergarten were much different that what you learned – we never had homework or spelling tests or math worksheets – and we didn’t receive daily behavior ‘grades.’ But you?

Well, your teacher never seemed to communicate what a privilege it was to have such great kids in her class. She was so often stressed, annoyed, or disappointed with all of you. Her style was to use a lot of competition, candy, and negative reinforcement, which was just not a good match for your intense, perfectionist personality.
So understand this, Joseph. You are wonderful, and bright, and hilarious, and fun. Your daddy and I are just astounded at all you’ve accomplished - you learned how to read, and add and subtract, and count by twos and fives all the way to a million if we’d sit and listen, and you can write a sentence complete with capitol letters, punctuation, and a brilliant message.
My biggest wish was that you would have a teacher who would help you be excited about school and help foster a love of learning, and while you didn’t quite get that from her I hope you’ll approach next year with an open mind. Because it hurts my heart to hear you beg me to skip school because there is some test, assignment, or task that you are dreading. Believe me when I say if your teacher next year is anything less than thrilled to have you in class, I will do whatever is necessary to make a change. You deserve a lot better than you got this year!
Daddy and I have had an amazing year here in our new life, watching you grow academically and socially into this curious, questioning, thoughtful, willful, independent boy. I miss my little baby, and love it when you let me snuggle you in my lap – but I am proud of the big boy you are becoming. All I want for you, my sweet boy, is to have a childhood that you remember as happy, because that is what you make your dad and me. We love you, Doodlebug.

Carolyn Cuteness

2009-06-09T11:36:00.008-05:00

Because tomorrow is certain to be All Joseph All Day (his last day of Kindergarten and the beginning of FREEDOM from the bad teacher experience) here are some clips of Carolyn's cuteness.

The Kids in the Pool

2009-06-08T11:58:00.006-05:00

We love taking the kids to the pool. Gone are the days of Joseph being afraid of putting his head under or jumping in. And Carolyn never had those days, because (as I've mentioned before) she's clearly insane. Or at the very least, driving her parents to it.

Anyway, here they are splashing in the kiddie pool.

A Few Pics from our Weekend

2009-06-02T12:15:00.001-05:00

Feeding herself chocolate yogurt

More of the same

Joseph reading to his sister.

We had a great visit with Mom and Dad - but the memories will have to live on in our hearts, because hardly a photo was taken!

Joseph updated his blog with a movie of him and Carolyn swimming in the pool, and a garden update. Stop by The Joseph and Carolyn Blog when you have a chance!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T08:19:00.002-05:00

Posting has been light lately, I know. Joseph was very sick last week - he complained of a headache monday night, and we discovered he had a bit of a fever. Tuesday the fever was his only symptom, so we figured it was just a virus, but Tuesday night he woke up very upset with ear pain. Sure enough, ear infections in both ears, and a cough that was turning into a wheeze. We left the doctor with antibiotics and the recommendation to follow up with an allergist and and ENT, and we went home and snuggled. For the rest of the week.

But, by Friday, the fever was pretty much gone and we were ALL stir crazy. We played outside a bit, and he got his strength back pretty fast. Then we spent the holiday weekend outside - we spent some time at Colby's, sitting around his pool, and at the Moose sitting around ours.

Joseph had an awesome time driving Colby's car around the yard, and Carolyn decided when sitting outside she prefers to be nude.

Not too many pics of the boy - as usual - but I do have some movies that I will upload later today. And Joseph also posted some pictures he took over at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

Naptime

2009-05-17T11:18:00.001-05:00

Joseph has always preferred to be awake. Even though it was often a struggle, he napped every day until he was about five, and even now we sometimes make him nap on the weekend, just to catch up. He had a busy and active week, and a looooooong saturday filled with running, chasing, jumping, and sweating. We could look at his eyes and see how exhausted he was, even though he was not too far off of his regular sleep schedule this weekend. He just needed some catch-up rest.

Sunday morning he was a little grumpy, and we knew we were in for a Naptime Battle.

This photo was taken shortly after throwing himself on his floor, screaming at the top of his lungs I DON'T NEED TO TAKE A NAP!!

Can you year him snoring?

Strawberry Picking

2009-05-13T14:58:00.004-05:00

Joseph is a really great kid. Smart. Athletic. Adorable. Just fantastic. And every now and again I like to do something that is totally random and fun and a TOTAL SURPRISE. Why? Just because. Just because I hope that one day he'll tell somebody how cool it was when his Mama would show up at school to pick him up early, for no other reason except that she loves him to pieces and wanted to go out and do something fun.

Today was one of those days. I arranged to pick him up from school after lunch, and we went strawberry picking with our friends from a couple of doors down. The weather was beautiful, the kids were running through the fields, and luckily we were pretty much the only ones out there. Joseph and his friend Annelise tired of picking very quickly and left it up to me and my partner in crime, Brianna. The babies were covered in strawberry juice. Then we ended the trip at the market buying farm fresh veggies (me) and home made ice cream (Joseph).

Joseph and Annelise

Carolyn

Joseph and Annelise

Baby Katie and part of Brianna.

While I am certain the best part of the day for Joseph was getting out of school early, I know he felt pretty special today. I can't wait to surprise him with something again!

More Mother's Day Weekend

2009-05-11T18:26:00.005-05:00

When asked what I wanted to do for Mother's Day, the next best thing to being with family like we were friday night, was to GO BACK TO THE BEACH. Now, I realize these pictures look a lot like the last time we went to the beach, but what can I say. We are creatures of habit.

Here's MeAnd Joe. We picked the exact same spot as last time.Joseph went right to the water.Carolyn went right for the chips.She eventually tired herself out and demanded we went back to the car for her "bang bang." Once she got it, the thumb went in, and she went to sleep. Lucky girl taking a nap on the beach. Bet that was some excellent sleep.

A couple of weeks ago I found some brackets to hang planters around the deck, and so I bought them for myself. For Mother's Day. So I said I didn't want any more gifts - just the weekend together. So, Sunday we had ice cream in bed for breakfast. We called the Moms - mine, Joe's, and Jason's. Then the Joes and Carolyn brought me cards.

Joseph made me a beautiful card at school, complete with picture, thumbprints, and sweet message. I cried. Daddy helped the kids make this one for me.

Then Joe and Joseph detailed my car, did the yardwork, and basically played while I layed around in bed all day watching movies. Yay Mother's Day!

Congratulations David!

2009-05-09T07:52:00.003-05:00

Our cousin David just completed a Master's Degree at Duke (we forgive him for the Duke part because he's otherwise a very cool guy). We went to their place in Chapel Hill last night to celebrate!All of us sitting around the dinner table.

David's mom making a lovely toast, not only to celebrate her son's accomplishment, but Kristin's too - FIVE YEARS HEALTHY!

Joseph wasn't much into being photographed. This was the best I could do.

Carolyn and Aunt Jackie

David is a big fan of the frosted cookie cake. This makes my husband love him even more.

The story goes like this: David goes to the liquor store and browses all of the top shelf (expensive!) whiskey, looking at them longingly. Then he picks up a bottle of the cheap stuff for himself. So last night he got GOOD WHISKEY!

The happy couple, Kristin and David.

David and his cookie cake.

Carolyn playing hide and seek with Joseph.

Love this picture. Mother and daughter.

General Carolyn Cuteness. I'd love to have more pics of Joseph, but he did NOT want to be photographed last night.

And, as an aside, a few pics of Carolyn's antics. She found a pack of Joseph's gum and brought it into our bed. She would take a piece, chew it, spit it out, and unwrap another one. She got through 3 pieces before I discovered it.

And, her artwork with a pencil on our (rented) white walls!

Catching Up with the O'Lears

2009-05-04T14:27:00.002-05:00

I've been battling some technical difficulties with some of the movie clips I'm trying to upload, so I'm a little slow posting updates. Instead of tearing my hair out trying to figure this out, I am backing up and taking a breath, and just posting some photos for now.

This is a picture of Joseph at bat at his first Little League Tee Ball game on Thursday. He got a hit! And when I am able to post the video, you see his hit, and later on you actually see him run from third to HOME PLATE! He did great, and I think we got over the majority of the nerves, and he almost likes it.
Joe was on call on Saturday, so the kids and I were on our own for the morning. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and all the kids were out and about. At some point, Joseph and two girls started hanging out with our neighbor across the street, Jackie. Jackie loves the neighbor kids, and always has some bag of treats for them. On this day, she pulled out all of the makings for a LEMONADE STAND. Honestly these three kids hustled lemonade ALL DAY! Enough for the three of them (and Jackie) each to walk away with $13! Jackie says she will reinvest her money into supplies for next time.

Yes, Lemonade has increased in price. Their prices ranged from $1.50 to $3.50!!!

We had to pry Joseph away to get cleaned up for dinner - we had a barbeque with some other neighbors (the wife has been my walking buddy for a while now). They have a 3 year old daughter that Joseph loved playing with, and a 10 month old daughter that Carolyn is fascinated by. A good time was had by all.

Then on Sunday was our trip to see the Carolina Mudcats. That was a fantastic afternoon - we went with another family (whose son Davis goes to school with Joseph) and the boys got a great lesson in the rules of baseball. It was verrrrrry hot and there wasn't much breeze, so we were all a little tired and cranky (CAROLYN!) by about the 7th inning, so we left a bit before the game ended. On the way out, a man who had caught a game ball gave it to Joseph!

Two Hours

2009-04-26T11:20:00.008-05:00

When we heard what the weather was going to be like in Wilson on Saturday (92 and not a cloud in the sky) we immediately started asking around about where to go to beat the heat. Obviously, I am a huge beach person – the kids seem to be following in my footsteps – and Joe is also being converted. So, we made plans to pack a big picnic, leave dinner in the crock pot since we knew we’d come home exhausted, and head to the beach for the day.

The beach is about two hours away from where we live. When I started asking around, it was interesting to me the way people reacted to that distance. Because, to me, two hours is a very small price to pay to get to a place where an awesome time awaits. Most of the people we asked had lots of great advice about where to go, where to take the kids, where to eat. But a few couldn’t believe we’d drive all that way just to spend the day.

Two hours? Too far to go just to spend the day? To think we would have missed out on all this if we thought two hours was too far to drive:

We chose a spot close to the pier. Behind us were several restaurants, shops, and motels.As soon as we put our things down, Carolyn got busy moving sand.
And the boys headed to the waves.

This time, Carolyn enjoyed letting the water spill over her feet.

And no day would be complete without her putting on somebody's shoes.

Yay! Fun at the beach!

Sand castles

Taking a break.

As predicted, we were returning home exhausted.

And, a few clips from the day.

Dinnertime

2009-04-22T17:47:00.002-05:00

Carolyn continues to master feeding herself. This time she decided she wanted a grown up fork, no bib (she always pulls at them til we take it off, so now she dines topless), and she also wanted to feed mommy. When she was done, she just went ahead and flipped the plate over! Lets hope we get these manners straightened out before we have to send her off to college.

Love the One You're With

2009-04-20T08:21:00.007-05:00

We had such a wonderful weekend.

Now, I realize that when we have boring days or down days I don’t record them here – I am always blogging about something fantastic at the O’Lear house. But after the year we had before moving down here, I am so thrilled to have an opportunity to focus on the good.

So, here is another entry about how glad we are to be living our life.

Saturday, we had such a neat day. We knew it was going to be 80 and sunny, but that weather.com description does not do the day justice. Spring in North Carolina is nothing less than spectacular. All of the colors that come out are COLORS ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS! WITH EXCLAMATION POINTS!

PINK!

WHITE!

PURPLE! GREEN! And, every time we take a walk, we see this: And this:

And this:

Saturday, we had plans to go to a cookout at a coworker of Joe’s. We planned to arrive about 4. So, we had this big beautiful day to do some things: early on, the boys took the blazer for an oil change, then Daddy came home and mowed the entire lawn (I never seem to get the front and back mowed at the same time!). We had a spectacular (healthy!) lunch sitting on our deck. Then we turned on the radio, sat in the yard, and watched Joseph play basketball and Carolyn push around the wagon and the stroller.

Eventually, some kids from the neighborhood drifted over to play with Joseph. And Daddy. And, as time went on, parents drifted over, too. And other neighbors. And before we knew it, we had all kinds of kids running around our yard shooting squirt guns while the parents chit chatted. Joseph was totally in his element! Kids everywhere, lots to play and do.

Needless to say, we could not end it all in order to go inside and get cleaned up to go to the cookout.

The best part of the day for me was hearing some other parents remark about how much they see us (and especially JOE) outside playing with our kids. What a Proud Parent moment! We ARE out there playing with the kids every day! (And not just because we don’t have many friends down here yet!)

Sunday we were feeling a little lazy. We were reminiscing about the days of being able to send the kids a few blocks over to Yaya and Papoo’s house – we SO missed the days of a movie and a nap in the middle of the day while the kids were with the grandparents! So, we were at that point between staying at home in PJs and getting on each other’s nerves OR finding something to do. We chose finding something to do. We went to a park to have a lunchtime picnic, play on the jungle gym, and play some tennis with Joseph (he has been begging us for DAYS to learn to play tennis). Then, before packing up, Joseph and Daddy did some batting practice, too.Joseph is just a natural athlete. It’s amazing.

Carolyn might be, too. She seemed to want in on the action.

So, we had another fun family weekend. We met more neighbors, we played with the kids, and we stayed active. It’s not a replacement for our Michigan loved ones, because there is no place like home, having mojitos at Bar Louie with my favorite girls or playing golf with the boys while the kids had a sleepover with the grandparents. BUT, if you can’t be with the one you love, then love the one you’re with!

Morning Reading

2009-04-15T08:04:00.005-05:00

Seriously, Joseph is the Best Big Brother EVER.

Our Wonderful Easter

2009-04-13T10:39:00.019-05:00

So, for the first time, our family was on our own for Easter! And we decided that instead of being bummed to be far away from family and friends, we would enjoy getting to do things differently this year.

Joseph had a sleepover with his friend Colby Saturday night. He was invited to come over and play that afternoon, and so we took that opportunity to, um, 'get ready' for the Easter bunny. When he called to ask if he could stay the night, we said yes thinking there was really no way he'd stay all night. He has gone for sleepovers before, armed with his blankie and his bag of stuff, only to call at 9 or 10 to say he wanted to come home, but wouldn't you know it THIS time around he did stay all night!

So, he called us at about 7 the next morning and we went and got him. He got home and the first thing he saw was the box with his basketball hoop! (We didn't assemble it ahead of time - Joe thought it would be a fun father/son thing to do together, which it was). Then he and Carolyn came in and examined what the bunny left in the living room, and found all of the eggs hidden around the house.

We decided we should have a very southern meal, so I made fried chicken for dinner. Cheesy potatoes and green beans were requested by Joseph, and Joe and I enjoyed some devilled eggs. I am the only tea drinker in the house, so we pretended to have sweet tea when really it was peach flavored crystal light - and Joseph tried some with me. We spoke to my folks, Joe's mom, and Jason's mom, then got the boys changed into jeans before heading over to Colby's house for a big Easter egg hunt. Carolyn preferred to sit and hold the basket.
Here is our Easter family!This is the video of Joseph getting home and discovering what the Easter Bunny left.

Carolyn's new phrase is MMMMM. GOOOD.

We suspect the Easter Bunny knew that Daddy was going to love the hoop as much as Joseph!

And, if you have a minute, Joseph has updated his blog with a video of his first tee ball practice, a movie he made of his sister, and pics of our seed planting! You can see them over at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

More Vacation Fun

2009-04-09T07:24:00.004-05:00

We had a rainy morning, so we went to do some touristy things. We started out at the lighthouse - which, for Ghosthunters fans, is a VERY haunted place (and one of the eeriest episodes of that show EVER!)

The family headed toward the lighthouse.

Outside the lighthouse store. The money shot. This is where the Ghosthunters folks caught the 'precocious' ghost looking over the railing, enticing a game of hide n seek. Fah-Reeky! After the lighthouse, we went down to St. George street to window shop and find some lunch.

A bit of sunshine peeked through.

Sitting outside at some little pub. Joe and I drank a Shock Top, which I thought would be a nice substitute for Oberon (which I cannot get in NC) until Mel the Beer Buyer told me it was a Bud Beer. And for some reason, that made me not like it as much anymore.
On our way back to the car, the clouds came in fast, and we were caught in a very sudden, very hard downpour. Joe and I immediately took cover under an awning, then looked over at Joseph and Carolyn running right down the center of St. George street, laughing out loud in the rain. So, we decided to pretend we were kids, too, and took a run in the pouring rain.

After we made it to the car.

The whole event, of course, tired Carolyn right out.
But not Joseph. He thinks he is the master of playing possum. But he's going to have to learn to play it without a smile on his face.

Joseph is adding a couple of videos to The Joseph and Carolyn Blog today, too, if you want to go over and check them out.

We Love Spring Break

2009-04-05T17:10:00.006-05:00

We are having a fantastic time here! We arrived Friday night (about 2 hours later than anticipated, thanks to nightime roadwork on the Georgia highways! Whoever heard of a traffic jam at 11 pm??), fell into bed, and slept for a few hours. Joseph had us up bright and early Saturday, ready for the beach. So, we sat on the lanai and had our coffee and breakfast, did our workout, iced down our coolers, made our annual trip to Wings for cheap sunglasses and tacky spring break tee shirts, alerted the folks, and all met up for a beach party. The weather was beautiful! The sun was shining, it wasn't too breezy, and a good time was had by all.

Joe Cool in his new shades.

As many times as we've been up and down this road, we have never been stopped while the bridge was up. Until Saturday, when we were stopped by it twice. Joseph found it fascinating!As soon as we got there, he was off. He absolutely loves to jump in the waves, and he and his cousin stayed in the water all day.Carolyn really didn't care much for the water - the way it moved and spilled over her feet totally freaked her out. But, like her Momma, she was very content to sit back in her chair and people watch.She eventually decided to give playing in the sand a try, and ended up being a master sandcastle maker. She also ate a fair amount of sand, which is causing a little havoc in her diaper area right now.
We also did quite a bit of frisbee and football throwing.

Carolyn also did quite a bit of eating. Not all of it was sand.

We got lucky with the weather today, too. Against all predictions, the rain did not roll in at 1pm. Instead we had bright blue sky and even warmer temperatures than yesterday! So we went back to the beach.

We still have a few things left on our to-do list; Joe wants to go to the haunted lighthouse, and we got a surprise call from Michigan friends who are also vacationing in Florida right now, hoping to make a plan to meet up somewhere. Which would be awesome. That is the best kind of surprise, and totally worth hopping in the car for!

Tomorrow night my folks arrive, and we are going to have our own Championship Game Party. And, while I am very happy that MSU was successful, and certainly helped boost attendance at the games and all - tomorrow we will be Tarheels. (The cost of team loyalty? $400. Which we stand to win when UNC beats MSU) So, Go Blue!

Ready to Go

2009-04-02T10:02:00.002-05:00

The bags are packed, the house is tidy, the sunscreen has been purchased, and now the toes have been painted. We're ready for FUN IN THE SUN!

Toes BeforeToes After

Posting will be light for a while, due to all of the laughing, playing, sunning, visiting, exploring, and eating. But we will be sure to fill the camera with our memories, and share them when we get back. Happy Spring Break, everybody!

Just to Prove to My Dad . . .

2009-03-30T11:20:00.003-05:00

. . . that we really do make Joseph wear a helmet when he rides his bike.

He had a little 'bike crash', and when I told my mom about it, she said he needed knee and elbow pads. And I am left to wonder how I ever made it through my childhood safely, with no padding, carseat, and having ingested a fair amount of red dye #5.

You can view some photos of the crash aftermath at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

I Love You, Man

2009-03-28T14:35:00.003-05:00

This is a movie of Joseph and Carolyn singing to each other. As I watched, my imagination went fast forward about 20 years to the two of them partying together in some irish pub, having a total I Love You Man moment, bonding over the survival of a childhood with their crazy mom. Just before one of them barfs.

Countdown

2009-03-26T13:56:00.001-05:00

Well, today I did it. I made my official Spring Break Vacation To-Do List. With only a week until we leave, it is time to make sure I am organized!

I can’t even tell you all how excited our little family is for this beach vacation. Together. I mean, beach vacations are great no matter what, but when we get to take one that includes Joe it gets about a MILLION times better.

So, today I started it. The list making. First, the list of clothes everyone will need, to be planned ahead so they can all fit in one suitcase (this is ALWAYS my plan, RARELY my result). From that list I determine if anything new needs to be added – and this year it seems that if something needs to be picked up ahead of time, it will only be for Carolyn. And, of course, new sunscreen. I just can’t even tell you how much I love to buy new sunscreen.

Then we made the list of things we want to do, the list of people we have plans to see, and the list of places we want to eat.

Then the list of car items – the toys and movies for the kids, road trip snacks and beverages, and appropriate road trip music.

Next, I made the list of chores. I am kind of fanatical about leaving the house neat, because it is SO much nicer to come home to a tidy house. And, my folks will be meeting back up with us here when we get back, so I’d like things to look good.

Finally, my list of picnic items. We are going to pull into St. Augustine LATE on Friday, and we will be ready to GET TO THE BEACH on Saturday. So, I want to have appropriate beach food already in our cooler, sandwiches already made, juice boxes and water bottles already cold, to avoid having to hit a grocery store and doing major prep first thing in the morning. We want to get up, have breakfast, do our workout, re-ice the cooler, then GO PLAY.

And, in the end, the lists get put aside. Because whatever it is we are going to do with our vacation time, it is all focused on relaxing, rejuvenating, re-energizing, loving, laughing, eating, and enjoying.

We can’t wait.

Just for Fun

2009-03-25T07:57:00.004-05:00

Trying for a Good Pic

2009-03-23T12:40:00.000-05:00

While we were all primped for church on Sunday, I tried to get a good pic of the kids together. Needless to say, I didn't really get a money shot. But, because they are just plain old adorable, even the not so good ones are cute!

He Works Hard for the Money

2009-03-21T09:31:00.004-05:00

So, Joe and I are those parents who do allowance with our kids. Well, for now just with Joseph, but when Carolyn turns five, we’ll start with her, too.

They get a dollar for every year they’ve been alive, and Joseph recently got a raise. He makes $6 a week.

As you can imagine, in order to earn this money, there are various chores he must complete. We have a list of ‘family rules' that all four of us must follow – they are based on scripture and have to do with being kind to one another, taking care of our bodies, doing our work without complaint, being wise with our money, and having a servant’s heart. He does not get paid money to follow those rules, rather, it us just what is expected from all of us. But, he does have chores – every day ones and every week ones – and for those he earns his money. Today, while Joe was at work, we got our chores out of the way early, and Joseph did an exceptional job. And he wanted me to take pictures! So, here's our system.

He makes his bed every morning before school, and keeps his room picked up and his dirty clothes in the hamper.

He keeps his bathroom neat. This includes keeping the towels hung, the sink free of toothpaste, and a good spraying and wiping down of the counter every couple of days.

He keeps the shoes organized by the front door. We used to have a rack, but now we know that it was not built to support the weight of a precocious 18 month old.

And he takes the recycling to the bin (we didn't take a picture of this!)

Then, once a week he empties the trash cans in the bathrooms and his room,

he strips his bed, he brings the trash can and recycling bin back from the curb, and he helps wash and clean out the cars.

For that he earns six bucks (not a bad deal for Mom and Dad, huh?) Usually he carries it around for a while, then eventually gives us one dollar for the collection plate, puts a little bit into a pack of gum, junk food at a movie, or something like that, and gives us a few bucks for his bank account, which is now up to $225. All earned by him (or given to him in quarters by his grandparents).

Throughout the week, Carolyn has things she is learning to do, too. She participates in the evening olearfamilyclutter pick-up, she helps me put clothes in the washer and dryer, and she is great at taking things to the trash can. And she is learning how to use the duster, though it doesn’t quite add up to dusting. Not yet.

Sound like a lot? Well, maybe it is. But Joseph takes pride in his work, he does a great job, and he enjoys the responsibility of helping take care of our home. He gets lots of time to have fun and just be a kid, but I don’t think I’d be doing my kids any favors by insulating them from helping around the house – they aren’t going to one day wake up and just know how to do these things. I remember being taught to do laundry, to cook and clean (though I was a pretty willful student from time to time!)

And maybe one day his wife will be out for drinks with her girlfriends who talk about how they wished their husbands helped out around the house more, and she’ll get to say, My Husband Is Fantastic That Way. I know what that’s like, because I get to say it all the time. My husband is a fantastic partner, and I’m sure it’s at least in part because that’s how his mom taught him to be.

Joseph has also proved himself a fantastic duster and vacuumer,

and sweeper of the front steps.

He also wanted to include a picture of Carolyn's room, just because.

And, we are doing OlearFamilyBrackets. I'm in the lead!

Awards Night

2009-03-18T10:03:00.009-05:00

I cannot say enough wonderful things about our experience with Upward Basketball.

First off, the value for your money is enormous. Quality uniforms, nice tee shirts, fun giveaways, professionally run games, high quality coaching, great referees, and of course the chance to win free stuff at every halftime shootout.

Second, you can trust that your kid is in a loving environment. Outside of all of the "God-dy" stuff, you are also mostly insulated from favoritism, obnoxious parents, ugly language, suggestive cheerleading uniforms or stacked teams.

And the final awards night is an absolute blast. The kids sit with their teams and make a LOT of noise, parents clap and yell and take lots of pictures, cheerleaders perform, a unicycle-riding juggler gives a brief and entertaining performance and sermon, a ton of prizes are given away, and everybody leaves feeling very, very good about themselves and their efforts.

This is a clip of Joseph winning a prize. Every single kid's name was placed on a card and put in to a box. Then, the volunteers drew name after name after name, and the kid came up to claim a prize. Joseph came away with a ball and an Upward baseball cap, and every kid came away with a very nice Upward backpack.

Joseph has also posted some photos at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

Last Game

2009-03-18T09:54:00.003-05:00

Here are the highlights from Joseph's last game.

I only captured one of his baskets, but I got LOTS of the shots he took. This week he faced a team who played very strong defense, and it was good for him.

I was also thrust into the role of playing strong defense - in the stands. I don't know if the audio quite captures the loudmouth - er, I mean vocal mom from the other team, but it was my first Upward experience where a parent wasn't cheering for everyone, rather, she was just cheering her son.

And, her son was often the one matched with Joseph. So, in effect, she was often cheering against my kid.

As you can imagine, I left the gym pretty hoarse that day.

Honey, We're Home!

2009-03-09T10:46:00.007-05:00

This weekend started out like any other – Friday night we had dinner together, put the kids to bed, and were too tired to watch a movie so we fell into bed pretty early as well. Saturday morning we went to basketball, and then because Joe wasn’t on call, we headed home to enjoy the gorgeous weather together; our plans included washing the cars, taking a walk, mowing the lawn, and playing a lot of football in the yard.

We did it all.

By the time the dinner dishes were in the dishwasher and everybody had their baths, we were looking at each other’s pink sunburned faces and were once again exhausted.

And happy.

We’ve been here together for almost six months. Six months.

We had a beautiful fall here; my folks have come to visit several times, we’ve been able to spend time with my cousins and my brother and his family. We enjoyed being outside, started the tradition of the after dinner OlearFamilyWalk. We didn't have to rake a bunch of leaves. I got to spend a weekend at the Outer Banks.

Then, surviving winter was a piece of cake; two big snows for the kids to play in, then they melted away within days. We’ve made the long drive to and from Michigan once, and the easy drive for a long weekend at my folks place in Florida. We learned our way around town and spent some time in neighboring towns as well. We rarely get lost anymore.

And now we have had our first taste of spring. We spent a beautiful weekend outside watching our neighborhood come alive. People ventured out of their houses, walked their dogs, mowed their lawns, planted flower seeds by their mailboxes. Neighbors are starting to chat about planning a block party, summer camp car pooling, and where to go on vacation.

We had a good time talking to our closest friends from home – calling both to reconnect AND to enjoy saying we were sitting outside in 80 degree weather sipping a cocktail. And we had a good time talking to our friends here – our next door neighbors talked sports with us while we watched all of our kids play, the neighbor on the other side of them made plans with me to push our strollers to the park, and the couple down the street wandered over with their 18 month old son who chased around our 18 month old daughter for hours in the late afternoon sun.

People have offered us advice from time to time, about what we need to do in order to adjust. We need to come back home for a visit to realize we’re not missing as much as we think we are. We need to make a friend. We need to find a church with a mother’s morning out. We need to find a babysitter. Some of the advice has been spot on; some not so much. I’ve enjoyed being choosy about who to socialize with, I’ve enjoyed the anonymity of a new church and a new town. It’s nice to run to the store in my pjs to get coffee or milk and not worry that I’ll run into somebody. It’s nice to NOT be noticed. I’ve preferred to protect that rather than to jump in to a new group of friends right away. Joe and I needed some time to just be together, and to reenergize ourselves after our crappy year.

But yesterday there was no denying the fact that we are home. We have new friends here, we are connected, and people DO notice what we’re up to. We’re home. And we really, really like it.

Daddy and Care Bear chilling out before nap time. Carolyn's nap time, that is.

How cute is she in her little sun hat? She is eating a banana here.

Joseph wanted to take our picture to show off our pink faces from being out in the sun.

Here is the montage of Joseph's game this weekend. He took the star for Best Offense.

The Basketball Star

2009-03-06T08:57:00.005-05:00

I've been wanting to get this posted all week - clips from Joseph's game last Saturday. He had a low energy first half, due to his week long illness. But by the second half he was a scoring machine.

I'm working on an interview with Carolyn to show off her new vocabulary, though every time I turn on the camera she clams up. What can you do?

Other than that, this week finally became business as usual! Germs to a minimum, schedules resumed, back to a dull roar. While we are looking forward to a very warm and relaxing Spring Break, we get to practice this weekend - the forecast is for sun and mid seventies, the kids are healthy, and Joe is not on call.

I can't wait.

My Love

2009-03-02T08:44:00.002-05:00

I love him.

Anyhoo, due to weather schools are on a 2 hour delay. Carolyn now has Joseph's flu. I am in need of a workout and a shower before I go to Joseph's school to read Dr. Seuss to the kindergarten class. I will post about our weekend, just not til later.

Carolyn's Plumber Bum

2009-02-27T12:52:00.003-05:00

Joseph has been sick this week. Since Monday afternoon he's had this mysterious fever - pretty much the only symptom - that has had him feeling tired and run down and just generally punky. He didn't have much apetite, but I know how important it is to push the fluids, so I made him a Papoo-style deal - I told him that if he drank lots and lots of water and juice, I'd give him a quarter every time he went to the bathroom.

And so went our week.

Finally, yesterday, I called the doctor's office to ask the nurse about the mysterious fever that has been coming and going all week long, and we agreed that if he still had one when he woke up today, they'd schedule him in.

He did still have a slightly elevated temp this morning, so at 8:00 I called for an appointment and she asked if we could have him in by 9. I took it. Then I looked over at Joseph laying in my bed, and realized he's been wearing the same clothes since Tuesday night. So I took a deep breath and made the decision to get both kids done with breakfast, in and out of the tub, teeth brushed and clothes on in time to walk out the door at 8:40.

No problem.

They finished eating while I ran the bathwater and laid out their clothes.

I plunked them in the tub, scrubbing down Joseph first.

I pulled him out, dried him off, and sent him to get dressed.

I scrubbed Carolyn down.

I pulled her out, dried her off, and brushed her teeth while she was wrapped in the towel.

Joseph did his mouthwash and brushed his teeth, I slathered Carolyn in lotion.

Joseph combed his hair while I put on Carolyn's dress, leggings, socks and shoes.

I put her down and went into the kitchen to check the time. Joseph starts laughing because Carolyn's leggings have fallen down around her ankles. 18 month pants = still too big.

I pick her up and bring her in to the laundry room to find a pair of pink leggings I know fit her. I pull off the old ones, put on the new ones, and help her with her jacket.

We all traipse to the car and I get her buckled in.

We arrive at the office, sign in, and go to the couch to wait.

Carolyn plays around for a good 10 minutes. Then she turns to crawl up up a chair and I notice her plumber bum - I point it out to Joseph and we giggle.

I go over to her to pull up her pants and realize: I NEVER PUT A DIAPER ON HER.

Nope, no diaper. Her bottom had been uncovered for a good 45 minutes.

I didn't even have one with me - I had to borrow one from another mom in the waiting room who certainly thought I was insane.

She was handing me the diaper just as our name was called, so I thanked her and picked up Carolyn and went back with the nurse. I said a silent prayer for No Pee while I stood in the hallway watching them weigh and measure him.

We followed the nurse into the exam room, and I had to fess up that I left home with my 17 month old daughter's bottom DIAPERLESS, and took a minute to get that thing covered.

Then I stood her on the floor, and as I turned my attention to the nurse's question, Carolyn sqatted down and pooped.

A Perfect Saturday

2009-02-21T21:04:00.003-05:00

So, Saturdays in our life start early. 5:30 today. Joe gets up and goes into the office, and I drink coffee. Then at 7:00, I get the kids up and give them breakfast and get them dressed, because we have to be at the church by 8:00 for Joseph's basketball game. Joe meets us there and whisks Joseph off to the locker room, while Carolyn and I find our favorite seats.

Now, basketball is something. My timid boy is extremely confident and aggressive on the basketball court. And he's a great shot. I sit in the stands and proudly listen to other parents yell "Pass it to Joseph! Pass it to Joseph!" He also prefers standing right under the opposing team's net waiting for the rebound to guarding the boy he's assigned to.

Carolyn enjoys the games, often so much that she tries to run onto the court. She also loves the cheerleaders. She claps and yells and dances around every time they come out. She really enjoys them, but I wonder if she identifies with them because she knows they are girls, so she thinks she's supposed to mimic them. I want her to know she can cheer, OR she can play basketball. Even though Daddy says Girls Don't Play Basketball, we know he's teasing. He'd love to watch her play on Saturdays, too.

After the game, the kids and I come home and Carolyn naps, and Daddy goes back to the office until lunchtime. Today, Joseph rode his bike outside with his buddies until Daddy got home, and I watched them while I did a little laundry. When Daddy comes home, we usually come up with some kind of outing, and today we went and explored the Wilson Flea Market, which was fantastic. Joseph calls it The Flea Store. We all got a little something - Joe a pitching wedge, Joseph a putter, Carolyn a Thomas train, and me - well, I got a cigar box purse with a beach scene on the side. We barely spent twenty dollars.

After our Saturday outing we come home and lounge, and play, and Joe and I start looking forward to the kids bedtime, so we can veg on the couch and watch whatever arrived in the Netflix envelopes - tonight it's Six Feet Under.

Saturdays are pretty great at our house. We caught a couple of moments on video, and Joseph would like to invite you to see them at The Joseph and Carolyn Blog.

Carolyn's First Haircut

2009-02-21T14:58:00.002-05:00

Joseph and Daddy have been nagging me for a while to get the wispy hair trimmed on Carolyn's baby head. I, however, was dragging my feet because she'll look less Baby and more Little Girl! But we finally did it. And she looks adorable!

This is the view of the wispy hair that made me say, Okay, We'll Go Do It! We paid for our groceries, and went next door to a walk-in place.She sat up in a chair with her hands folded to wait her turn.Finally, she got to crawl up into the salon chair, and she took a minute to check out her stylist.The Curl. This little curl is (was) the only one on her head, and it started to form when she was tee-tiny. Now it's in a baggie!The cutting begins. She did great! And she looks adorable. I just realized I don't have a good after picture yet - and she's napping, so I'm not going to go take one. I'll add one later today.