Summertime

It's finally that time of year when I don't have to think about what shoes I'm going to wear and where my coat is. It's summertime! It's hot outside consistently enough that I don't need to check the weather report in the morning before getting dressed. I love this time of year! No one appreciates good weather more than New Englanders. :) I think it's because we've been beat over the head for so long by winter.

I have so much to comment on and not enough time to do so. Hmm, maybe if I posted everyday? Ha! I can barely shower everyday. There are just not enough hours. Man, I don't know how I ever complained about no time to myself before I had kids. Not that I would change it for a SECOND, but the free time that I used to have...someday I'll have it again. In the meantime I'm living with and loving chubby hands hugging me, sticky popsicle lips kissing me, and falling into bed exhausted each night from the time I have with these little busy men of mine. They are sweet and beautiful and lovely and mine.

A quick rundown on what has transpired in the last few weeks (this is not in chronological order):
1) we spent a week in NJ visiting friends and family
2) my goddaughter Michelle graduated high school and we went to her graduation party
3) my nephew Thomas was born!!!
4) my nephew Alex turned 12
5) Emily moved into an apartment
6) Zach and Kevin got matching buzz cuts

The buzz cut thing was planned, but I think we were all surprised at exactly how SHORT Zach's hair ended up! He looks super cute though and you can see his cowlicks really well now. I think we'll let it grow out a bit before cutting it again. It's a little too short and I'm afraid of his scalp getting sunburned. Lucas officially has longer hair than Zach now and I think it's going to stay that way for awhile. Lucas really does need a haircut, but he has the cutest curls in the back of his head and I can't bring myself to take him for a haircut. He may just be a hippy baby for a little longer.

Matthew, Zachary, William, Lucas

We had a fantastic trip to New Jersey! Kevin gets a ton of vacation time and needed to use some up before July 1st, so we planned a trip to see friends and family. We hadn't been there since Thanksgiving which is the longest we've gone in years! I was also able to see two of my best friends -- Debbie, who is my goddaughter Michelle's mom, and Kim, who is one of my best friends from high school. Debbie lives about an hour away in Pennsylvania, and Kim lives about 10 minutes away from Sandy and Bob. My pictures from the first half of the week are still on Kevin's laptop so I can't share any from my trip to PA, but I have a picture of my two boys and Kim's two boys that I think is adorable! Matt and Zach are both 3, Will is 6, and Lucas is 1. It makes me SO happy that my children are friends with my friend's children!

Emily getting some brotherly love

While we were in NJ Emily texted me to let me know she was moving in with her girlfriends. She has been home since Christmas (figuring out her life....) and it just hasn't been working out that great. She doesn't have any independence at home -- she works but doesn't have a car (or a license) so is dependent on me to take her anywhere (including to and from work, which is really hard on all of us). She was spending all of her free time in Brookline with her friends, and they invited her to move in, so she did. She transferred her job from Natick to Boston and it's working out pretty nicely since she can take the T to work. I'm anxious about her money situation, but she is making efforts at getting her life on track and in order so I'm trying my best to stay out of it. I think this is the best thing for her and she's super excited so hopefully it works out!

Also while we were in NJ our new nephew Thomas was born! It was so nice to be around family when he was born -- even though Scott and Rachel were in NC and we were in NJ, we got a lot of updates and all hugged and laughed and got teary-eyed when he was born. We also toasted later with champagne! I can't wait to meet him and give them all big hugs in person. He is such a sweet baby and has tons of blonde hair. I think he looks like Rachel, so I'm sure he will be beautiful just like she is.

Fishing for prizes

You can't have a visit to NJ in the summer and not hit the beach, so we headed for the Jersey Shore for a day, a challenge considering the whole nap schedule thing. We decided to say the hell with the nap schedule and took off mid-morning for the shore. Lucas slept for about 10 minutes in the car and then was wide awake while we were on the beach. He ate a little sand and had a great time! Zach is the biggest beach babe and always has a blast. He and Kevin dug holes on the beach and Z and I played with the waves, running from them before they could "catch" us. Sandy came with us and it was great to have an extra set of hands. I have to take pictures every year of her and Lucas on the beach at this particular beach and with that particular beach umbrella (sorry Sandy, but rusted or not, you can't get rid of it!) After we had all had too much sun (I burned and peeled and am currently really itchy), we left to get some lunch on the boardwalk at Seaside Heights. Those of you who watch Jersey Shore on MTV know that this is the boardwalk where they film that tv show. I'd been before with Em when she was younger and we wanted to bring Zach because we knew he would love it. He did! He rode rides (his first), played games (first time ever), and had a blast. The boys had a great time and Zach crashed hard in the car. We even carried him asleep upstairs and he finished off a nice long nap in the bed for another 45 minutes or so before dinnertime.

Like our grass? This is the back yard!

Now it's July 4th weekend and we are busy at home trying to do yard work, house work, and play with the kids. Again, not enough hours in the day! It's not that hard to do with Zach, but Lucas is into every thing so one person always needs to watch him closely. Our big purchase of the weekend (of the summer probably) was a new lawnmower. Ours died a few weeks ago and we had been borrowing our neighbors. We got lucky for 2 years because the lawnmower came with the house so we didn't have to buy one when we bought the house. But it wasn't easily or cheaply fixable and we couldn't keep borrowing the neighbors (and their lawnmower is 47 years old! they told me that today). Kevin bought a nice one that mulch mows, which will save us lots of lawn/garden bags and having to store the filled/heavy bags in the garage.

Tomorrow we're having some friends/neighbors over for a cookout. Kevin used the new mower today, and we also borrowed our neighbors huge ladder to clean out the gutters (trees were growing in them). We're going to fire up the grill and put out the kiddy pool and sprinklers (two!) and pray that it doesn't rain. Our inside is semi-updated, but we still don't have a lot of furniture/places to sit, so I'd rather have an outside party than an inside one. :)

Next up is Zach's birthday party -- the weekend after his birthday. It's going to be a joint party with his best friend. I think we're getting him a new bike (shh, don't tell him!)

Who is that masked man?