Playdates, Painting and PCs.

What the children have been up to as of late:

Playdates! Cade and Savvy have been arranging my social life and scheduling play dates with all their Chicago friends.  It has been fun watching them pick up right where they left off nearly a year ago with their friends. It's so cute to hear them discuss what they've been up to since they last saw each other. . I really need to write down some of the stuff they say because it's pretty hilarious stuff.

Going to the pool. Although "pool" doesn't accurately describe what we do while we are there. 95% of the time we spend there is enjoyed in the giant sand pit area digging holes and building sand castles.  The remaining 5% is in the actual water swimming.

Swinging. My kids have logged about 64 hours on the swingset in the backyard. It would easily be double that if it wouldn't stop raining!  Last week it rained so much I wanted to rip my hair out.  We are so dependent on that swing set, so when it rains, we all feel a little bit lost and out of sorts. I have no idea how many underdogs I've done with them...but if I got a nickel for each one I have done, Kyle could retire tomorrow.

Painting. Cade got a very grown-up art set from his grandparents for his birthday a few months ago and is very protective of it.  Now that he is out of school and he has some one-on-one time with me when Savvy is down for her nap, we get out the paints and turn on our latest book on CD (currently Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. I highly recommend it. Cade loves it so much he begged me to put it in the car so he could listen to it while driving to friends' homes and to the pool). It's interesting to watch how methodical Cade is about his color and line placement selection. He uses a lot of geometric shapes in his artwork. I'm really enjoying watching him explore this new hobby of his. It may be short-lived, but for now he seems to really enjoy it.

Playing with Ollie II.  Barb's (our former neighbor and dear friend whom we rent from) dog Ollie died a few months ago and I didn't have the heart to tell the kids. They so loved little Ollie.  He was the best dog. And it was perfect set up for me because Cade and Savvy got their doggie fix and I wouldn't have the burden of taking care of him.  After Ollie passed away this past winter, Barb got another dog that looked just like Ollie, so she named him Ollie II.  Well, now that we are here again and there is another Ollie in his place, it's just like it was before. The best part--- the kids don't know the difference. :)  So they've been playing with Ollie 2 non-stop.

And me?

Upon our arrival to Chicago, Kyle each gifted us with a surprise of sorts. For Cade, it was his Rocket Ship Candy.  For Savannah, it was Dora Yogurt and fruit snacks.  And me?  I got my own lap top. (fair to say he must love me more, based on the gift)  It's a MAC!  I love it.  I have had my reservations in the past about Macs, but it didn't take me long to fall in love. I was quickly motivated to cross something off that one particular to-do list that is full of things which are nagging and annoying, but low on my list of priorities.  My in-box needed some attention bad.  It had over 1200 e-mails. They were all read, of course, but for some reason, still in the in-box. As if I still had something to do with them?  But with my new fancy lightweight laptop, I eagerly got to work, and sifted through every single last one of those messages. I sorted a small portion of them into existing folders and deleted the rest. It was so liberating! The goal is to keep no more than 40ish e-mails in my inbox at a time.  How does that feel? It  feels fantastic! I consider that quite an accomplishment.  And now that I have  a Mac, I guess the next thing is getting a Bosch.

Have we ever told you about a theory we've tested?  If you own a PC, you probably have a Kitchen Aid. If you have a Mac, you probably have a Bosch.   It's strangely accurate a good majority of the time. I, in fact have been a "strictly PC girl" until now. I own a Kitchen Aid.  We'll see what happens now....

I digress.  Being out here has certainly had it's adjustments and while there are some conveniences of our home we miss, there are so many benefits. Being together, for one.  Cade has been "Wii-less" since our arrival here and has survived just fine.  The children rarely ask to watch a show or movie, so it's been a rather refreshing and I love not having to fight that battle on a daily basis anymore.  Cade and Savannah spend a lot of time playing together all sorts of make-believe games and it warms my heart seeing how much they love horsing around together. I used to worry over their age difference and wonder if they would ever play together.  It turns out I had nothing to fret over at all.

So, that's just a little snip-it update of us. We are fine and dandy. So long as it doesn't rain, and then we all get cranky, because that means no pool or swingset...which then leaves us with just painting. And you can only do that for so long.  :)