Busy is an understatement

To be perfectly honest, I don't have time for this blog.  And I really don't have time for this post.  But I feel guilty.  I'm trying so hard not to.  At times, I'm ready to stop blogging.  At least the family blog, anyway.  Other times I'm not ready to give it up because it's a great way to keep the memories documented until I get around to putting pictures in the scrapbook.  So for now, I'm just laying dormant, and posting when I can.  I'm sure you understand.  If you want to get your fix, I'm still being pretty good about posting recipes, but only because I have a stockpile of posts in the docket just waiting to publish...

Here's my best version of what's been going on lately.  With pictures, of course!

In early August, the boys and I went to my mom's house for an extended weekend getaway.  The boys got spoiled with toys, books, t-shirts, and more.  We went to the zoo, the mall, Dairy Queen, and hunted for bunny nests in the back yard.  While I was gone, Hubs painted two-thirds of the main floor of our house.

Buddy Man loves Dumbo, and therefore "Eff-ten-tents"! 

We left on a Monday, and Mama and Little Brother came home with me.  They spent the night and on Tuesday we took the boys on their first ever Metro ride into DC to attend my uncle's promotion at the Pentagon.

At the end of that week, Hubs took some time off work.  We finished painting the downstairs (to include the two-story foyer and down the basement steps) and all of the upstairs except the master suite.  Hubs also installed chair rail in the upstairs hall.  We changed out the hardware in the kitchen (cabinet knobs and drawer pulls), the light fixture in the kitchen above the table, light fixture and faucet in the powder room, and the door knobs on the two main floors.  It all looks great and we just have a few more things to finish up those projects.  We're saving the work in the basement for another day because we have some rather lofty project ideas for that floor...

I attended a week of Nursing School orientation.  The boys started daycare.  They both did great and really loved it.  The first couple of days Buddy Man didn't eat so well, but that resolved in less than a week.  At the end of that week (nearing the end of August now!) we celebrated Big Brother's 32nd birthday!  Manassas was commemorating Stonewall Jackson's Raid on Manassas, and he's a huge Civil War buff, so they came out here to celebrate.  We spent the morning at the "parade" (it was lame, with only about 20 people) and walking around the reenactment sites, museum, and farmer's market.  Then we came home to grill burgers for lunch and enjoy ice cream and cake.  Later, we went back downtown for a bourbon tasting (which closed an hour before it was advertised to end).  Instead, we got drinks at a local bar.  Buddy Man was a saint, but Dutch was fussy.  We headed back to see the reenactment of the burning of a railcar, but it was paper mache and the cannons scared Buddy Man.  He screamed until Hubs took him to the car.  I said goodbye to my family and we skedaddled outta there!

Us with Stonewall Jackson

And thus began the last week of August....  I started my actual classes and Buddy Man came down with croup and then had a rash (which ended up being nothing) so we had two days of one of us coming home early to take him to the doctor.  He seems to be doing great now, except for a running nose that is just going around.  I blame allergies!  

This past week Dutch had his six-month check-up, got five vaccines (to include a flu shot) and then came down with the sniffles a couple of days later.  He was a brave little man with those shots, though, and didn't cry until the third one!  He's gaining wright like a champ, eating like a horse (started meats this week!), and crawling around like a mini Marine.  I suspect he'll be crawling by the end of the month!  He's loving day-care and has a reputation for being the smiliest baby there!!

Buddy Man is also learning a ton.  We hear snippets of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", the "ABCs" and more on a daily basis.  His appetite resembles my father's (which was HUGE) and his vocabulary is taking off like a rocket.  He loves recess (especially the slide) and is getting more brave about trying new things.  He naps well at school, hates to come home, eats all his lunch, wolfs down supper, and is in bed by 7:00.  I'm so blessed to have such easy-going kiddos.  And the picky toddler stage we were struggling to overcome?  Totally gone.  Buddy's eating everything in site, always eager to at least taste something new (even my grapefruit the other day!) and today ate all the same meals as Hubs and me.  Seriously.  Dude at three pancakes (and an apple) for breakfast; a hot dog, baked beans, and apple for lunch; and two bowls of potato soup and an apple (I had a few that were about to go bad, so they really needed to be eaten!) for supper, along with a chocolate chip cookie.  Maybe he won't be a skinny little guy forever?!?!

And that brings me up to today.  We went to the park this afternoon.  I really should have spent that hour doing some reading, but the kids had been cooped up all weekend.  It was a gorgeous day.  We hadn't spent any time all four of us all weekend.  They deserved it.  I deserved it.  And it made me feel less guilty about not having as much time to devote to my favorite people.  At least for that hour, anyway.

And now, back to the grind...  See you next month, or whenever I have time to write again later!!