Monday, May 29, 2017

Got some catching up to do!

Wow, so a lot has been going on!  I need to get caught up here before we get to summer!  So, we enjoyed Easter with the usual egg coloring, baskets at home, and a great hunt and lunch at Bamma and Bampa's house!



We spent a ton of time getting our house ready to list.  Thankfully, we have an awesome support system that pitched in while we feverishly painted, packed, cleaned, and fixed!  The boys had an amazing slumber party at the Worst house!
And then the next day my parents came to entertain them while we worked.  Of course, Bamma came ready with pipe cleaners and cookie dough!

We replaced the carpet in the main living areas of the house, but not before having some last minute sharpie fun!

We all had a good chuckle when the three Rodriguez carpet installers came to the home of the 3 Rodriguez brothers!
Sam enjoyed a field trip with his Kindergarten class to Lego Land!

Isaac did some light painting.
I asked Sam to sketch a picture of what he might like the next house to look.  I'm not sure if we can find a turret or a color scheme quiet like this!
Spring rains brought HUGE worms!
The neighbors got an awesome trampoline for the girls' birthdays, it's been pretty popular on Brandywine Drive!
Noah participated in the spring Karate tournament.  He took 1st place in his group for form, we are so proud of him!

After hard work cleaning the house to get it show ready, we took some extreme measures to keep it clean!
But all the hard work paid off!  Our house was listed in the MLS system around 4:30pm on a Tuesday.  The pictures weren't even up before we got a call around 6:30pm that people wanted to come see it.  We sat in the van during the showing and by 9:30pm that night we had an offer!
It's been an absolute whirlwind full of emotions, but we are moving forward to hopefully find ourselves in a slightly better situation!  But good old 920 Brandywine Drive has been good to us, and cleaned up very nicely!


Mother's Day was pretty low key, but of course my mom helped the boys make a great gift!
Bamma continues to entertain the boys on Tuesdays with fun activities!
Noah took his turn on a field trip, he went downtown and enjoyed a Wendella boat tour!
Noah also had his Enrichment Expo where he showed off some projects he had worked on with his friends!
A Friday off for everyone ended with a pajama afternoon!
Noah had his belt testing for karate recently, he moved up to blue with red stripe!

Since we've packed up so many toys and activities, we have more space to do some fun things!  Mike made an incredible marble run for them this last week.
As he has progressed in karate, Noah now is able to start practicing his bo skills.
Sam's class enjoyed field day!
The big boys had their last day of school on Thursday, May 25th.  Noah wrapped up 3rd grade and Sam finished Kindergarten!
Noah not only was awarded a perfect attendance award, he also was class artist this year!


 Last days are always tricky for our sensitive, emotional boys; but this year, they knew they would not be returning to Waterbury in the fall and that was REALLY hard.  Thankfully, Bamma and Bampa came for that last walk home and brighten up the day!
 This weekend was wonderful!  The tough work of getting the house sold is DONE and we are so ready to hopefully move forward with a new house.  We enjoyed the time at home this weekend with family and friends and our three little goofballs!



Friday, April 14, 2017

Sweet doggers and spring break

Spring break provided us with lots of down time to work on various projects.  Sam came up with this Phineas and Ferb creation made out of play putty!
 We didn't have any exotic travel plans for spring break, and the weather here was less than stellar.  But we did get to do some fun things nonetheless.  On Monday, we headed to a nearby arcade with Mike (who took the day off).  Sam was a pro at the skiing game!
 Noah was a huge fan of the driving games!
 Isaac just enjoyed bouncing around from game to game!

 Tuesday was the "nicest" day, with no rain and a high almost to 50.  So we met up with the Worst crew at the zoo.  The animals were very perky!

 It's fun to have an older crew now that can run around, make group decisions, and not require naps!
 Sam and Hattie did their best croc impression!
 Of course, we had to send grandma the obligatory "here's a snake" picture (she hates them!).
 Wednesday we headed to 2 Toots for a lunch brought by train, we sat at the counter like big kids.
 Friday we met up with Uncle Josh and Kjersten for pizza lunch and "Boss Baby."


The hardest part of spring break was having to say goodbye to our sweet Ellie.  She had been slowing down lately and we knew she had cancer, but she had been dealing okay with it for a couple years; on Friday she didn't eat and was moving very slowly and looked to be in pain.  By Saturday morning it was evident something was very wrong.  We prepared the boys and they gave her some last hugs and kisses.  The vet discovered a large tumor by her heart and we decided to have her put to sleep.  She gave us 11 wonderful years and we are so thankful she was part of our lives!  And, of course, that goofy dog died on April 1, 2017 (April Fools Day)!
 Adjusting to life after Ellie has been hard.  Every time we come home and aren't greeted by her bark and wagging tail we pause for a moment.  Sam has really struggled, but thankfully there are brothers to comfort him.  
 Our wonderful neighbors next door have a puppy named Walter that likes to come to our fence and poke his nose under to say hi to Ellie and to the boys.  We left him some treats at their usual meeting spot with a note saying she was gone.  They gave us a wonderful framed picture of Walter and Ellie together.  Such great memories that will last forever!
 So this week, we are back in action at school and at work.  Bamma is back (after hip surgery) and up to her usual projects of fun.  This week it was animals with surprising fold out mouths.  Pretty awesome!




So, onward we go, to spring and other fun things!