Life

I know Ben posted about our trip on his blog, but I thought I'd add on to it a bit.

Thursday:
Checked into the hotel. Our room was awesome. (other than the noise factor) I LOVED the view. Also, the bathroom rocked. The bath tub was huge. There was also a good size seperate shower. The floor and shower were made of travertine. It was very modern. I could have stayed in the bathroom for the whole trip. The furniture looked nice, but wasn't very comfortable. The bed was comfortable. There were down pillows, but I'm not a big fan of down. It always flattens half way through the night and wakes me up. I would give our hotel 4 stars.


Friday;
I really don't remember much of what we did Friday. We walked around. We went to William Sonoma and got a few things. I love that store. We went looking for a sweater or something for me to wear to the concert. Something I could tie around my waist. This of course was Ben's favorite part of trip
We went back to the hotel. I freshened up and we headed out for the night. I was a bit nervous about going to the pre-concert party. I am not very good at talking to normal everyday people. So you can imagine how I felt going to a party where one of my favorite bands would be. I felt like I would vomit. Luckily, Ben talks enough for both of us. We ended up having an awesome time. It was so cool to meet the band, and interact with them. We met the lead singer's wife and daughter. They were really nice, and sat with us through the whole party. We got to meet the whole band. So cool.

After the party we went over to the club. When we got there we told them we were on the Too Much Joy guest list. They stamped our hands and let us in. Ben and I were about to burst with excitedness. I had to keep myself from doing an embarassing happy dance. We stood right against the stage for the show. They played all of our favorite songs. I felt 16 again. I really didn't want the night to end. But it did, at about 1:45 a.m. I was beat. I had blisters on my feet from all the walking that day, and I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. We went back to the hotel, ate, stuffed our ears with earplugs, and went to bed.
Here are some pics from the concert. And here.

Saturday;
Walked around some more. Went to a couple of museums. Ate in little Italy, Didn't like the food. Too fancy for me. They did have good calamari though. Got some chocolate gelato. Yummy. Bought some souvenirs from a guy who thought Ben was a Canadian. (?) He looked at Ben's id when we were buying stuff and asked Ben where he was from. Ben told him "Virginia". The guy said "Really?! I thought you were Canadian." Huh? People are weird.

Sunday;

Didn't do too much. We were pretty tired.

Summary:

NY is awesome. One of my favorite things, was just listening to the little snippets of conversations as you walk past people. I can't wait to go back. We still haven't done the Statue of Liberty or Empire State Building. Oh well, next time......

This Thursday, Ben and I are off to NY city for our 10th anniverasry. Usually for our anniversary we go out to dinner, and sometimes a movie. On our 5th anniversary we were adventurous and went to NY. It was my second time there, but first time doing any site seeing. I loved it. About 2 years ago we went again with our friends Charisse and Sterling for Ben and Sterling's 30th b-day. We went to see the broadway play, Spamalot. We had an awesome time. If we didn't have kids to raise, or need to eat ever again, we would totally move there.

We don't have too much planned for this trip. We'll be there Thursday through Sunday. The only thing planned so far is a concert on Friday. Other than that, I'd like to visit the Statue of Liberty. Possibly the Empire State building. I think Ben mentioned an art museum. We just want to have a nice, kid-free, relaxing weekend. The hotel we are staying at is right by a park. It looks really nice. We wanted to stay at a modern-ish hotel, and I think this one fits the bill. I read some good reviews of it. We proablly aren't their typical costumers, we are so not the trendy-hip-type. It's nice to pretend sometimes.

Here are some photos Ben took of our Spring Break Adventure.

It's been a little while since I posted, so I thought I'd give everybody an update on my exciting life!

Here's a break down of last week:

Monday: All three of my kids were home, plus I had Hannah(the little girl I watch) and her sister Abby all day. A little chaotic, but we survived.

Tuesday: My mother-in-law, sister-in-law + kids, Ben's cousin who is visiting + her hubby and 2 kids, Elise, Jake, and the aforementioned Abby, all went to Mount Vernon for the day. I stayed home with Claire, Hannah, my niece Jennifer, Zoe (mentioned in this previous entry). I was actually surprised at how well the girls behaved. No serious altercations occured. I even got a little painting done.

Wednesday: I ended up not having to babysit that day. I slept in, getting up at 9 for breakfast. I then went back to bed, and turned the tv on. I got out of bed at lunch time. I then went back to bed, turned the tv on and finally got up around 2 to take a shower, and to make sure my kids were still alive. It was a wonderful day.

Thursday: I had the rest of the week off from babysitting. Can't remember what I did this day. Must of been exciting.

Friday: Got up at 5am to get ready to go to the Baltimore Aquarium. We had tickets for 9 am. The Rodericks, Ben's cousin's family, Ben's parents, Ben and I + kids all went. We had a great time, other than the fact we were all pretty tired. The Baltimore Aquarium rocks. All the kids loved it. We were there till about 12:30. We ate our picnic lunch in the parking garage. Oh yeah, did I mention it was freezing that day?! We then decided to stop by the Awakening on our way home. Traffic was horrible. We got there around 3 I think. I love the Awakening, it's one of my favorite things in D.C.

Saturday: Got ready to leave for Maryland. Left around 6pm. Arrived around 8:30. Spent the night at Nicoles' house.

Sunday: Woke up, got everybody ready for church. Left around 9 am. My niece Dana was blessed. She looked super cute. After church we went back to Nicole's to get ready for Easter dinner. The kids did an Easter egg hunt and went through their baskets. We opened some b-day presents for those who had b-days the past couple months. We stayed till about 6. It was a good Easter.

So that's it. My spring break.

Lately, I have been hearing from friends and family about how they wake up at 5 or 6 in the morning to exercise. I thought,"Sounds like a good idea, but there is no way I could will myself out of bed that early." Several times I have set my alarm early. Each time I hit the snooze or reset it. That is until today. I woke up at 5:20. I exercised from 5:30-6:30. Took a shower and got dressed by 7:15. 7:15 is when I usually get up. It felt awesome to have all of that done before the kids were even awake.

I always thought I would be exhausted if I woke up that early. But so far, today I've had a lot of energy. I did a lot of laundry, the dishes, and more. All this before 1 p.m. I don't know if this is a result of getting up early and exercising, but I'm willing to try it for a few days to see how it goes.

Today is my sister, Kimberly's, birthday. Happy Birthday Kim! March is a busy month for my family. I have 2 neice's, a nephew, brother-in-law, and sister's b-day. Luckily, none of my kids were born in March. I don't think I could afford it. I am so happy spring is here. Even though winter weather started late, it was really cold . I am ready for pretty flowers, and warm weather! I want the kids to be able to play outside without the risk of frost bite. Winter is my least favorite season, and I am happy it's over with.

Life Update:
Not much going on. Just the same old daily routines. I'm trying to get back into the routine of exercise. It seems to be harder for me then I thought it would be. I really want to loose weight before Ben and I go to NY. Ughh.

March
-Say Hi To Your Mom concert. (They are awesome!)
-Game night with our friends.
-Celebrating b-days with family.
-Dana's blessing(March or April)

April
-Easter
-Spring Break (hopefully we'll do something fun with the kids)


May
-May 3rd is our 10th anniversary! We are going to NY city. One of our favorite bands (Too Much Joy) is doing their first concert in 10 years! Since Ben does their website, the lead singer put me and Ben on the guest list. How cool is that!? We are planning on going to NY for 4 days. I love NY.

This year for Claire's b-day we did a valentine themed party. It was originally planned for the day before Valentines day, but because of snow days, it ended up happening a week later.

I used pink and red decorations. Six of her friends came dressed in pink or red. We played a few games and did cake and ice cream. Having 7 little girls in the house was a little crazy, but I think they had fun.

Here are some photos:

My sister Kim had her baby yesterday! On Claire's and my brother-in-law, Kevin's b-day. That's crazy. It's rare that you meet 2 people that have the same birthday, but to have 3 family members have the same birthday , is even more unusual. It must be a special day.

Kim had to have a c-section, but her and the baby are doing great. Dana weighed close to 9 pounds. Me and Ben and the kids are going to go see the baby on Saturday. This is Kim's first baby, so it is very exciting! My sister Nicole posted some pics on her blog of the baby.

Congratulations Kim and Marshall!!!

This day did not start off good. To sart with, our guinea pig, Pooky, died this morning. She has been battling bad skin problems, and an infected foot. Of course, me and Ben were the ones effected most by her passing.

Today I started aerobics class again (the one at my church). When I got home there was a note from my water company. Not a good sign. I went inside and of course, they had turned off my water. I was not happy. I looked through my bill file and I'm pretty sure we never received a bill for January. I called the water company. I asked them why my water was turned off. They said that we had sceduled it to be turned off because of a move. Grrrrr. I said, No, I scheduled it to be turned ON two months ago. When I had called TWO months ago they had messed up the order then. I ended up having to call them twice. It's not that complicated, right? Don't they deal with this all the time? Argh. Now I really need a shower, and I have no idea when they'll be here to turn it back on.

Happy New Year! We had a nice relaxing weekend. On Saturday we debated whether or not we would paint the living room. We decided sitting around all day and doing nothing sounded much better. We didn't really do nothing. We actaully got a lot of cleaning and organizing done. It was nice to not do a big project. The rest of the holiday weekend was spent at home. It was so nice to not HAVE to do something.

Christmas turned out pretty nice too. It was pretty crazy with everybody here, but with our new house it seemed a lot more manageable. On Christmas Eve we had the kids make felt ornaments to hang on there very own real tree. The day before, Nicole and I bought a little "Charlie Brown" tree to put in the family room. Nicole gave us the idea for the ornaments. There were 8 different Christmas shapes that had a special meaning. After the kids decorated and hung the ornaments, we told the meaning of each shape and read some scriptures. I think we sang a couple carols at the end. It turned out pretty nice. We also had a fun dinner.

A few years ago my parents went to Belgium.. While they were there, they had a dinner using Raclette Grills. They thought they were really cool. The next year they gave my sisters and I a raclette grill for Christmas. We decided to pull out all three and use them this year. It was a lot of fun! We grilled meats, veggies, and pineapple on top. We then put the grilled items on top of cheese and potatos in the little cups. These cups go under the grill to heat up and melt the cheese. Then you slide it on your plate and enjoy. Everyone had fun cooking whatever topping they wanted. I think we had at least 7 different kinds of cheeses to try. Now we wished we had used them sooner. They are a great idea for a fun interactive dinner party.

Christmas morning was crazy. There were a ton of presents. I think everyone was happy. Even me. I got 2 robes! And a tiny little ottoman from Ben. (there's a story behind that gift, maybe Ben will tell it on his blog) After presents we had a huge pancake breakfast. People sarted to pack up and leave after breakfast. At around 3 o'clock we headed over to Ben's parents. We opened presents (a 72 hour kit from Ben's Parents!) and had a nice dinner followed by game time. We didn't stay too late. Everyone was pretty tired, and I was feeling sick (bad cold).

In short; I think the holidays were a success. Too much food (not enough exercise), too many presents (especially the kids), and a lot of family time.

I hope everybody had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas is almost here. I've done most of my shopping. I have a few more presents left to get. I'm almost done my wrapping. Moving right before Christmas may not have been the best idea. We still don't have our tree up. I think we may put it up tonight. We had been debating whether or not we should paint our living room (the room where the tree will go) before Christmas. It looks like that probablly won't happen. This month has been crazy!

Last Saturday was the They Might Be Giants concert. It was awesome. The kids loved it. The kids always hear about the different concerts Ben and I go to. It was so cool to be able to take them to one. It was great that it was such a small venue. It had a very intimate feel to it. We had the best seats in the house, front and center! It was one of the best family outings we have ever had.

Anyway.......back to Christmas. This year my family is coming to our new house for xmas eve and morning. It'll be fun/crazy. Like a big slumber party with 7 kids and 8 adults!

I hope everbody has a great Christmas!! Enjoy the holiday!

Life has been pretty busy. With the move,babysitting,church etc.... This is the first time in a while that I've been able to sit at the computer. The move seemed to take forever, and I'm pretty sure my left hand is permanently damaged from all the lifting. We didn't have a washer or dryer for 5 days. I hate doing laundry. It's going to take me forever to catch up.

I am excited to be in a new house, with so many possibilites. The problem is, it's hard to pick a starting point. I'm hoping after Christmas, I won't be as busy / brain dead. We did paint our family room. It was dark wood paneling. After 2 coats of primer and a coat of paint, it looks much better. No more black hole effect. We painted it a light bluish gray. Some day I'll post pictures of the new house.

I am excited for tomorrow. We are taking the kids to Philadelphia. We told them we are going to do site seeing. We left out one thing when we told them that. We are also going to see a special They Might Be Giants concert for kids. I am so excited! My kids love them! Jake has all their songs memorized. They won't know about it until we get to the venue. I can't wait.

Have a nice weekend, everybody!

Don't let the easiness of the recipe fool you. It tastes and looks incredible. It is really, the best apple pie I have ever eaten.

Ingredients:
2 premade refrigerated pie crust
(Approx.) 3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
(Approx,to taste) 2 Tbs cinnamon
(Approx.,to taste) 1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer until small bubbles form at top and it looks caramel like. Stirring occasionaly.
2.Toss sliced apples with 3 Tbs of lemon juice(to keep from turning brown). Then toss with 2 Tbs of cinnamon and 1 tsp of nutmeg.
3. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
4. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Notes:
I like to use gala apples. I put a cookie sheet under the pie pan in the oven. It likes to bubble over while it's cooking.