THIRTY....

how i found the dad and his girl... brushing out princess barbie's hair...

not sure who had more fun!!

my cool dude boy!

how i found the princesses this morning!

today is my birthday. my THIRTIETH birthday. phew... i feel old! yesterday, a woman mistook me for a high schooler and tried to offer me a summer job. sweet! and i got called "kiddo" by the guy helping me at the car place. (still trying to get our car registered here, and STILL failing! it's just funny at this point!)

tim mcgraw's "my next thirty years"

• i think i'll take a moment, celebrate my age
• the ending of an era, the turning of a page
• now it's time to focus in on where i'll go from here
• Lord have mercy on my next thirty years
• 
  
• hey my next thirty years, i'm going to have some fun
• try to forget about all the crazy things i've done
• maybe now i've conquered all my adolescent fears
• and i'll do it better in my next thirty years
• 
  
• my next thirty years i'm going to settle all the scores
• cry a little less, and laugh a little more
• find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
• figure out just what i'm doing here in my next thirty years
• 
  
• oh my next thirty years, i'm gonna watch my weight
• eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
• drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
• maybe i'll remember my next thirty years
• 
  
• my next thirty years will be the best years of my life
• raise a little family and hang out with my wife
• spend precious moments with the ones that i hold dear
• make up for lost time here in my next thirty years

i love this song... and even more so now! david wrote me a SWEET card this morning about loving the part of the last thirty years that he's been a part of, and how he can't wait for the next thirty years. i can't wait for that either. and i am so thankful for where i am at 30. i love my family. i love this adventure we are about to embark on. i love my kids, my husband, my place in life.

someone asked me recently if i was "ready" to turn 30. i wasn't sure what to say. but when i sat down and thought about what "younger" me would have wanted by 30, i think i am there. (there is always room for improvement....) i would never dreamed that i weigh what i did in college. that i could fit (and look decent in) my high school prom dress. that i have amazing friends all over the world. that i have a man who loves me, when i am pms-y, crabby and crying, or at my best. (hopefully those two aren't the same thing!) that i have two wonderful children, the oldest of whom routinely prays thanking God that He saved her from her sins and died on the cross and rose again. and for the wonderful things He made. and tells me ALL THE TIME how much she loves me. and that her little brother is doing the same.

last night, we went out to dinner at an awesome place called "christie's". if ever in newport, check it out! super good food! on the way home, we decided to get some ice cream at "kilwin's". also, check it out! the whole way home after that, nora kept asking to eat her ice cream. i told her, "when we get home". REPEAT about 500 times, until i said, "if you ask again, you will not get your ice cream. i said you could eat it when we get home". i tried to say it lovingly, before i got mad. she said, "mommy?". i said, "do not ask for ice cream". she said, "i wasn't going to ask for ice cream, mommy. i just wanted to say, "i love you". " aww....

so there you go. i am thirty. and am excited about where i am at! my next thirty years...

have two more kids

get my business off the ground

have kids that love the Lord

and are college grads, doing what they love

be getting ready to retire with my love

still be vacationing with my fam (marco, anyone?)

have grandkids

be blonde again, at least for a bit!

still be madly in love with my hubs

be even more in love with my Savior!

and now off to friends' for a birthday celebration...

ahhh.....

phew... we move in two weeks. and it's two more months of transition. not being settled. not being in my house. just being. (that sounds like complaining... i do get to be with family, doing cool things and being around for my sissy's wedding...) a good reminder that this world is not my home and i am not to grow roots too deep here. that my first love should be God.

i am starting to feel anxiety about it. not bad. just phew. there's stuff to get done. but so much of it can't be done until right before. and so much CRAP i want to get rid of!! and a few more things i want to get before i move to an island...

and, the school i had REALLY wanted for nora called and she is "provisionally accepted". a month ago i would have been SO EXCITED! but, now we found a 2-day a week preschool, which i think i might better. the only problem with the first preschool is that it is EVERY. DAY. that's a lot for a little girl who might go to preschool for two more years! and a mom who has to drive her and might want to be at the beach...

i don't want to burn bridges, in case i want her there someday. but i think i might say no to it! and i am sad about that. phew...

and i have wanted to update so much more. like pictures (but i am too lazy to go get the cord for that right now... you just get me and my thoughts tonight!!). these last few days, we've been relaxed. i don't get us out the door by 8:30 am. it's been nice (for a time. but i do crave my scheduled days, work-out first thing. etc).

oh, and i turn 30 in two days....

an update on my babies... the boy is SO BIG! i don't think i always notice it, because i am with him every day. but, he is speaking so much more clearly. and is just so quick! he's so cute. and funny. he loves to play "who's that" with cards or lines from movies. it's so cute! he can quote books and count to 13. he knows all these hymns that we sing to him! he is OBSESSED with any and all things veggie tales.

nora. is doing SO WELL with her new gluten-free diet. it's been just over a week. two weeks ago, we were FIGHTING to put her to bed at night. it was knock-down, drag out. she would run away and hide. and scream. and slam doors. and kick. and yell. it was AWFUL! more often than not, at night, she would complain of a stomach ache (not related to the temper tantrums), as i put her in bed.

in the last week, she has only complained of a tummy ache twice. both times, i realized she accidentally had gluten that day (once at school...). but no other time. and, she is a DREAM to put in bed. it's been so EASY! (knock on wood... i know i have just jinxed myself...) but, related or not, there is a change this week in both those areas!

she loves to play. she had her princesses lined up today and they were the disney parade. and we got to go to disney together and ride the rides in her room. she can "read" several books by memory. she has figured out who people are... ("mommy, your mother in law is grammie. that's daddy's mommy".) so cute. and so grown up. and, she would LOVE to go to school five days a week!!!

sleeping... a trip!

a tired girl.. she slept longer than her brother!!

he was more concerned in the show!

she was not happy to have been woken up!

the cute man i married! love him!

hanging out with coco and her sweet friend!!

watching uncle j fly the helicopter. i wish i could have gotten the kids faces! it was priceless...

so my mom is here this week! we are having a good time! i have gotten a bunch of things done (including ALMOST having our car registered here in rhody). i get to blog while she is finishing up dinner!

the last few weeks have been so encouraging. in random ways. a fun birthday party for ME! the sweet man at the y telling me how i make his day (it could be that i am wrangling my kids and bargaining with them to get them in faster and up the stairs!), an email from an old friend, skype date with a far away friend. thank you... so much more! but, it's dinner time!

ant invasion...

did i post this? my sweet daughter!

a school production!

playing baseball...

grammie came down (again!!! i am going to MISS this!), and played some baseball!

a new "product"... my friend ordered one from me... for my birthday party!

some friends... karen and angie! both due any day. they have been hanging out a bit at our house. after the left, the next morning, nora climbed in bed with me and said, "mommy, you don't look like you have a baby in your belly". umm, since i DON'T have a baby in my belly, i am thankful for that!

the girls who came out to celebrate my birthday!

my sweet friend, whom i met 5 weeks ago at kids' swimming lessons, threw me a birthday party. i was so thankful! it was fun to have some rhody girlfriends together in one place. i will miss this place!!! h went all out, and decorated in all pink hydrangea, too! (flowers, plates, napkins...) she was doing some serious PR for me that night!

our friend a came over with her two boys... nora just snuggled up!

jamey saw this as his opportunity to "play" in the doll house!!

and then, snuggle up with miss a!

so, we have ants. i mean, ANTS. there were like 20+++ the other night i killed in about 10 minutes! my sweet hero of a husband went out and got spray and traps. i have only seen two since! LOVE him.

we had a great weekend away up in new hampshire... more pics to follow!

prom...

yesterday, nora wanted to play dress up with me. so, i did what any self-respecting mom would do... put on my prom dress from sophomore year of high school!! it was fun. i spent the afternoon in it... sewing away, running up and down stairs holding the dress out of my way. i did change before i went to pick up david on base. thought the guys at the gate would look at me a little funny...

my kids the other day... having a "movie theater" in the castle. it was so cute to watch them play and just lay together...

nora really wanted to play "trains" with the dominoes. guess we are starting her early!! she had RULES (read, i never touched a domino because i didn't do it right...), and told me she learned them at grammie's. she had so much fun!

to die for... LOVE those little tushies! they might hate me for this some day!

how i found the kids cups the other morning...

packing!!

it's been a fun and busy week. on sunday, i got to spend an hour g-chatting with a DEAR friend. it was a wonderful way to start the week. we have just stayed busy this week... getting to spend time with friends, impromptu visits to hold 1 week old babies, and a trip to the gi doctor. nothing really different. he wants to do an endoscopy, but david and i decided we are going to do a diet change and see how that works first. so, today is day one of gluten-free living!! so far, so good! (and no tummy ache complaints today!!)

i just called the preschool that we are considering sending nora to. i had a few questions about uniforms, etc. (they don't have one), and then asked about shoes (thinking i was asking if they had to be sneakers, closed-toed, etc.). she told me they don't have to wear them, except maybe when the go on field trips it's a good idea. oh yeah, we are moving to hawaii!!

did i tell you i fell in love with a house? but i can't do anything about it until we are actually ON the island (meaning i can't have someone else go look at it and make a decision). it was nice, because i had prayed for a door to be wide open or just shut. this seems pretty shut for now! (it SEEMS to be an awesome house, for an AWESOME price. and i think it's been on the market since january- yes, that could be a red flag- so we'll see) maybe it will be available in five weeks, and we'll go from there!

in 2 1/2 weeks, they come to pack up our house and ship it to a tropical island! anyone want a washer/dryer, some wintery clothes, a north face fleece, pots and pans, a black pleather couch from ikea... an entertainment center/coffee table/side table? i am going to start posting to craigslist... here we go again!!!

updating...

grammie has come down a few times recently to hang out. it has been SO NICE!! the kids love having her, and i have done some fun things without kiddos!

cheese... last time, she brought two quilts for the kids. (i thought i had pics of them... and now each kid is sleeping with their new one...) jamey's has "cars", "veggie tales", "brown bear" and "dr seuss" on it. he went NUTS!!

hiding...

jamey refused to smile...

james decided to go down head first. the obvious way.

finally a cheese!

uncle dave and auntie rebecca came down to visit...

out to lunch...

after waking him up, he went right to auntie rebecca to snuggle. mind you, he won't even go to daddy when he is that tired!

opening his birthday present...

snuggling with his new dog...

cheese!

girlfriend has tumbled twice on the brick stairs. sadly, i think this means she is more like her mommy...

my sweet girl...

a busy week. a fun week. i started out the week helping a friend. she was being induced and i was her "person" in labor. she wanted to do it all natural. and, she did, in three hours! it was AWESOME!

a few playdates and a swim lesson later... on friday, some friends came over for dinner. the kids went to bed so easily and the adults got to hang out for awhile. it was so nice! saturday was fun with the swanies, and then i hung out with a girlfriend. it was so nice to just chat.

i am purging belongings and trying to decide what we moved and haven't used... and what i want to buy before we leave... to be shipped.

i found a house i LOVE in hawaii. it is a half mile from the house our friends want to move into. but, we can't do anything until we GET to hawaii about renting the house we want. so, it's available now. and seems to be perfect. and i am trying hard to trust that God is in control of where we will live and that we will end up in the perfect spot.

1700...

so, i got my camera back, but my hard drive is full. i plugged in my external, to make sure that the thousands of pics i deleted before were on there before i put more on there. they're not. they seem to be gone. SAD! but, i just went through and deleted 1700 more (you know, those extra pictures that you just never delete and sit in that abyss on the computer...). so, i should have some more space to upload some more pictures!! phew... another 2000 pics before i have to worry about more room again! that should last me a few months!