General Update - We're Still Here

Just so everyone knows, we haven't dropped off the face of the earth. We've just been crazy busy and I wanted to sum up everything so you're all in the loop. I promise more details later.

First, we headed back to MI last week to move all our belongings down south. The house hasn't sold (unfortunately) but we actually save money by having a storage unit and an apartment down here. The drive up was made longer due to a rock slide on the best route, but overall, it was good.

In MI, we did the following:
- empty the storage unit and move everything into the house (it took 6 trips in the Tahoe)
- install a new hot water heater and remove the old one (I'm so thankful my dad is handy - I learned how to use an acetylene torch)
- take Will to the pediatricians after 3 days of fever (he had the flu but is totally fine now)
- sort items into "apartment" and "storage" for the packers
- the packers took one full day (8 hours) for our little house (I couldn't believe it really took that long)
- the movers took one full day (5 hours) to pack everything into half of a moving truck - it was jam packed (another thing I couldn't believe)

The only "fun" thing I did was get my hair done and buy new boots (they are super, super cute and made my stressful week better). I am so, so sorry to Ann (whom we didn't get to see at all) Nicole (who I saw for a minute - and it killed me that I couldn't hold baby Ryan cuz I didn't want to get him sick), and Kristi (whom we got to see for 5 minutes on our way out of town) -- I promise we'll see you all at Xmas when we have more time and less to do.

A huge, huge thank you to my parents for watching the kids all week while we took care of everything - I don't know how we would have done it without you.

We made our way back to SC and invaded Barry and Cathy's for two days, as our stuff couldn't arrive until Tuesday. Monday was the planned day - but most of this move did not go according to plan. Barry and Cathy were gracious enough to put us up for 2 days, and they watched the kids for us while we dealt with the movers on Tuesday. We really appreciated their help and support.

Tuesday, Brent left for TN so I was left to unpack by myself. It was a bit daunting, but the kids were great and by Thursday, we had most everything unpacked and put away, with all the boxes broken down.

Which is good because we're packing today to our trip to TX to see Steven, Reshma, and Layla. We can't wait to see them (it's been awhile) and to relax - we've been running for two weeks now and just want a little break from the craziness.

So, that's where we're at. I'll give more details when I have some time - thanks for checking in on us!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween 2009! After much debate (seriously, every time we went to a store to look at costumes, he changed his mind) and an inability to find an Austin costume (Backyardigans character), Will decided to be Elmo. Sofia was Tigger (Will's old costume) -- we pretty much had to grease her into the outfit and pull her out of it.

We started this Halloween on Thursday with Will's school party. It was so cute! Everyone dressed up and they had a parade around the other classroom to show off their costumes and get candy. Fi and I were waiting for them when they came back.



All the kids were excited to see their parents and we disrupted the order of the classroom a bit, but the teachers were Ok with that. We helped get everything set-up to eat the orange cupcakes and then let the kids have at it. It was funny to watch them - none of them actually ate the cake part; they all went straight for the icing and orange sugar. Sofia got it all over herself (she was a Clemson cheerleader at school - thanks for the outfit, Barbara!). After snack, they read a Halloween book and we finally got them wrangled for a group shot (as best as we could). It was a great start to the holiday though!

We started Saturday out with the Fall Fest (see previous posting) and came back to rest. Will was too ready for trick or treat to rest though. He came running out of his room after about 10 minutes saying, "Daddy's sleeping, Mommy." So, he and I headed to Target to get a last minute plastic pumpkin for treats. I had bought one for Fi since I already had a cute bag for Will. After seeing the pumpkin for a day or so, Will decided he wanted one - he called it "the jack o-lantern." I should have just bought 2 - Target was totally out of stuff and we walked away disappointed. I tried Walgreens as a last resort and found a Mickey Mouse one (aren't the mouse ears cute?). That more than worked for Will and we got back before anyone woke up.

After the gang got going, we headed over to Barry and Cathy's for the main event. It was so great of them to let us come over - the kids really love them. We got everyone dressed (praying that we could get Fi into Tigger one more time) and as it got dark, we headed outside.

Of course, Barry and Cathy were our first stop (if for nothing else than the photo op) and we wandered down the street. The rain had finally let up and we had nice weather for a little while.

Most of the houses were decorated really well (not too scary for the kids) and once Will went to 2, he was ready. He kept looking for the houses with the lights on (we told him that meant people were home) and ran up to the doors to ring the bells. Sofia liked it, more or less. There were a couple of houses where the people scared her for some reason (there was no common factor, so I'm not sure what it was) and we "helped" her get candy.

Except for one house - this one lady had a really cool stuffed witch on a rocking chair. The witch actually said stuff (not scary) and the real lady rocked the chair. Will would not go near the stairs - he wouldn't move from the sidewalk. Ali, a super cute teenager who joined us later (the daughter of one of Barry and Cathy's friends), went up and got candy. As soon as Fi saw that, she practically ran up the stairs. She even pushed the rocking chair with the witch - it was great!

It started to rain and Will said he had enough and wanted to go back to Barry and Cathy's. We got back, let them have some candy, and then they helped Barry and Cathy hand out candy.

That was really cute too - Will got so excited every time the doorbell rang. He wouldn't go near the door though if the kids had scary masks. Luckily, there weren't too many of those.

Once Ali had enough candy (she was a trooper - she went out in the rain with her giant umbrella and her parents) and everyone was back at home base, we all dug into my chili. I love to make chili and think I have a pretty killer recipe. Cathy doesn't like beans, so I made a beanless batch for her and a pro-beans batch for Barry, who Cathy told me REALLY likes chili. It was a hit (plus the rainy weather kind of sets the mood for comfort food).

Ali and her family left so Ali could organize her candy (I never organized - I just ate it!). We stayed and played for awhile. Like my mom, Cathy saved all the really great toys from her kids - Will played with the old parking garage I remember Steven having and Sofia played with the old cash register.

Eventually, the kids wanted to go upstairs to play with the pool table and ping-pong table. After a little while, Cathy got out a great game - it was a kind of marble maze that you assemble and put the marble down. Will really liked that one a lot.

We finally left and headed home. It was a great Halloween!

We Won at Fall Fest!

Saturday was not only Halloween here in Greenville. It was also the Fall Festival for the Academy, Will's school. It's a pretty big fundraiser for the school. There are tons of activities for the kids (they only charge for the kids with a $40 per household max), a bake/casserole sale, and a prize raffle. We were a little worried that morning as it was raining and I thought the event was outside. Luckily, they had back-up plans and everything fit inside the school gym area.

I made a lasagna for the bake sale and also worked the bake sale for an hour. Brent bought 4 tickets for the raffle and entered one ticket per family member in 4 different baskets (you could choose which basket you wanted to win and put your tickets in there). Brent, Will, and I all lost. But, Sofia won the wine basket! :) Brent figured that since he and I never win anything, the kids would have a better chance. I took the basket so they didn't think we let our 18 month old drink wine.





It was pretty cool - we got a magnum of wine (3 liters!), 2 "regular" bottles of wine, all kinds of corkscrews (seriously, there were 3 different ones in there), wine charms, bottle stoppers, dip spreaders, cocktail napkins, a gift certificate to a local restaurant, and the bag itself (which is pretty awesome). We're very excited! Brent wants to open the giant bottle of wine, but I really think we should wait until there are more than just the 2 of us around.

The kids had a blast with everything. They started with a bouncy house outside, but since it was raining, that ended quickly. They came inside and we all headed into the gym. We started with a little obstacle course set-up by the Little Gym (like Gymboree) - they really had fun there, especially jumping on the collapsed tunnel. I think they liked that better than the tunnel itself.





From there, we headed to the ice rink. Yup - we ice skated inside the gym. It was this kind of plastic floor that you could wear ice skates on - pretty slick! At first, they didn't have skates small enough for Will so they pushed him and 2 other boys around in a little sleigh. He seemed to like that Ok. Sofia wanted nothing to do with it. We tried a couple of times to get her into it, but each time she just hung onto me. A little while later, we got some skates for Will and booties for me (put on over my boots) and we hit the ice! It was hilarious! I was holding onto Will for the first part and kind of pushing him. Then, he saw the other kids moving their feet and he decided that might be OK. But, he doesn't have the right idea of balance yet and we went back to me holding onto him. He then saw the donut tube and wanted to go into that instead of skating. We tried to get Fi in there with him but she didn't want to do that either. He went around a couple more times and then we moved onto something else.

We played some carnival games next. We kicked soccer balls into a net; we kicked a basketball into a tower to knock it down; we went fishing . .

Sofia's favorite thing was the duck pond. She got right down next to it (with both her arms in the pool - she and this other little girl were drenched and loving it!) and kept picking up duck after duck, saying "quack, quack." Very fun.

From there, we waited in line for the indoor bounce house. Sofia loved it and I had to crawl in there each time to get her out. It's a funny process - she gets in there and falls almost immediately because the bigger kids bouncing knocks her down; she spends the rest of her time crawling and trying to stand back up. It's a riot!

Will got his face painted with a blue ghost and got a "smashed bug" stamp on his hand (I think it was supposed to be a spider but just didn't turn out).

They had a great time and came home ready for a nap - I told him he had to rest before trick or treat. You'll hear all about that next. :)

SC DMV

We officially live in the state of SC now - we both got new drivers licenses, plates and registrations for the cars. And, like all trips to the DMV, it was quite the ordeal.

I went first. I went while Will was in school thinking it would be much easier with only one child. That part of it was actually fine - she was wonderful during all the waiting (a lot of goldfish crackers helped out there). I got to the DMV at 11 - this gave me an hour and 15 minutes before I had to pick Will up. I came armed with all the paperwork required - old drivers license, passport, social security card, marriage license, and a bank bill (address needed to prove residency). I can't believe all the stuff I needed - talk about identity theft waiting to happen!

I got a number and some paperwork to fill out. I didn't think the wait would be that bad, as there weren't too many people already there and there were 8 counters working. Plus, there was a great digital screen letting you know who was up next (in case you didn't hear them call you). But as I sat, I noticed they weren't going on a first come, first serve basis. Each "need" is given a different ticket number - I had a D. They were calling all kinds of A, B, C, and J's but they were very slow to call Ds. I watch the clock get closer to 12 and start to panic a bit - Will's school charges a dollar for every minute you're late (past 12:15) to pick them up. Finally, at 12:05, I decide to try to keep my late charge to a minimum and repeat this hellish experience with both kids. As I get up to leave, they call the two D numbers in front of me . . . ARGH!!! I wait . . . and about 1 minute later, they call me. I head to the counter, frantic, and Mr. Slow Country starts to process my paperwork. And he is slow . . . I finally get done with him at 12:20 and they head me over for my picture. She doesn't take too long (thankfully) and I'm frantically trying calling the school to let them know I'm coming.

I finally get to school at 12:35 - and as if I'm not feeling guilty enough, Will proceeds to ask me," Mommy, where were you? Why didn't you come pick me up?" I took a deep breath, thanked Claudette for watching Will, got him in the car, and we all headed to McD for some greasy comfort food.

Brent's experience wasn't quite so bad, although he needed almost as much paperwork as I did. He went first thing in the morning and was in and out in no time - plus, he didn't have to worry about the kids. Lucky guy!

Because of that, I went for new plates in the morning (right after we dropped Will off at school). I was seen almost immediately - by Mr. Slow Country! Too funny. Because we lease and don't have titles to the cars, we had to jump through all kinds of hoops - poor Mr. Country was walked back and forth to his manager at least 5 times before calling me down to her. She took over from there and it took a good 20 minutes. Fi was getting a little antsy at this point (as was I). When we were all done, the manager asked, "Is this all for you today?" I answered, "I sure hope so." To which she replied with a smile, "I was hopin' you were all done, but I didn't want to say so." I totally agreed with her, thanked her and Mr. Country for their help and got the heck of out there.

I'm happy to say that our licenses are good for 5 years and we can renew the plates by mail . . . I hope I don't have to see the DMV again anytime soon.

Maxwell Visit

Wednesday, the 21st, the Maxwell clan came to visit and the kids couldn't have been more excited. We were too, of course! :)

Brent was working, so Barry offered to help us get everyone and everything from the airport. The kids and I waited inside, which was quite a trick. Sofia loved the fountain and kept trying to go swimming in it - she tried to get her hands in the water, knelt by the side, put her feet over the edge . . . she just kept moving. The other people waiting got quite a kick out of it (when they weren't giving me dirty looks for not containing her better). When Will saw everyone, he ran to the escalator, screaming, "Uncle Chris!" He was excited to see everyone else too and gave them big hugs. Sofia was a little unsure, but she did go to Grandpa Jerry at the baggage claim. We went outside, got everyone loaded in with Barry, and then headed home.


Once everyone got settled, we ordered take-out from Fried Green Tomatoes (I had catfish - super good) and just relaxed and caught up. It was really great to just sit back and hang out.

Thursday, Brent took the day off and played with Sofia while I took Will to school and ran some errands. (I finally got to the eye doctor and ordered new glasses.) I got home in time to update Sofia's outfit (Brent thought her leggings were pants - I can't blame him; straight guys just don't get women's fashion) and collect the family to pick Will up.


He was so excited to see everyone again and loved showing off what he made at school. From there, we headed downtown for lunch at Blue Ridge Brewing company - it was such a nice day, we ate outside. After a great lunch, we went to Mast's General Store for the candy run. Jerry is a huge candy freak and the cashiers are always a little stunned when he checks out.

From there, we went to McPhearson Park. This is the cutest little park that the kids and I stumbled upon one really hot summer day when we were "exploring." The river runs through it, there's a public putt-putt course (bring your own ball and clubs), a little pavilion, and a nice playground - super cute! The playground is all sand, which the kids really like, but there is no shade. So, it's not so good on a hot day. But, on a fall day, it was wonderful. Will and Brent played putt-putt while Sofia played in the sand and on the swings. At one point, Fi, Holly, and Carlene were all swinging - it was so cute and I totally should have taken a picture. Holly and Chris got on the see-saw with the kids and that was really cute too.

By the time we got home from the park, it was way past nap time. Pretty much everyone took naps, except me - I decided to be good and work-out instead. That night, Jerry and Carlene offered to watch the kids so Brent, Holly, Chris and I could go out for dinner. We went to Great Bay Oyster House again, but since this wasn't a Monday night (the last time we went all together) but a Thursday, it was super crowded. Plus, they had a 50th birthday party and a charity event going on. Much more crowded and louder than last time. But, we still had a great time and great food. Plus, we played trivia - we did poorly on round 1 and came in 2nd on round 2 (maybe the drinks helped). When we got back, the kids were in bed (always nice to come home to) and we all hung out for a little while longer before hitting the hay.



Friday, it was a little overcast, but after some debate, we decided to head to the zoo - Carlene, Holly, and Chris hadn't been yet. It was a great time to go - the animals were quite happy with the cooler weather. We let Sofia walk the zoo for the first time (I just can't manage that on my own) and she really loved it. We got to see the monkeys moving around; the leopard (or jaguar - I can never remember which it is) was finally off the tree branch and we got to see him roaming around before jumping onto the tree branch; the orangutan family was playing, especially Baby Bob - he was have a great time doing somersaults, climbing the cage, making faces - it was awesome; one of the giraffes was sitting (which just looks super weird); and, Holly and Will got to see the lions roaming around (they're normally sleeping). We capped off the zoo with everyone feeding the goats and playing at the park there.






As if that wasn't enough exercise for the kids (and us), we had lunch at McD's and let them play in the playplace. We let Fi loose too and she climbed all over. Until, something happened and she was crying and wouldn't come down. So, I tested the statement that "Parents can play too" on the structure. I only bonked my head once before we made it to the slide and came down. She was all good at that point and wanted to head back in. We nixed that idea and headed home for nap time again.

Barry and Cathy came over that night to join us for dinner at Sticky Fingers. And, they brought the mini-van so we only had to take 2 cars, which was nice. We had made reservations for 10 but they mixed us up with a group of 12, so we had this huge long table (Brent saw the group of 12 squished into a smaller set-up - ours - in a different spot). Good when you have a large group, but hard to contain children with it. Oh well - we managed and had a great dinner.

Chris didn't feel well, so he, Brent, and the kids left a little bit early (which was more than fine with the kids) so I got to have a little bit of adult time at the end of dinner too. I always appreciate that.

Saturday, we all had an early start. The Maxwells had to vacate the guest apartment (someone else had made reservations before us and needed in) and the kids had a doctors appointment (their cough had been going on for some time and I wanted someone to look at them) - so we were all going before 10. Not unusual for us, but it was for the Maxwells on vacation. The kids have croup, which is just a cough that should clear up, so that made me feel better.

We got the Maxwells checked into their hotel and then we headed over to a place called the Pavilion that has an awesome indoor bouncy house area. There are 6 bouncy things - one just for toddlers, two maze/obstacle course things, 1 giant slide, 1 bouncy place, and 1 basketball court. And, the best part is that adults get to play as well - you only pay for the kids. It was a blast! We were running around with the kids and having just as much fun as they were. Sofia kept trying to ride a turtle in the toddler bouncy house. She'd try to fall off on purpose and laugh like crazy. Will wanted to race everyone through the obstacle courses and beat you down the slide. Such fun!

After all the tiring fun (we were pretty pooped) we put the kids to bed and grabbed Chick-Fil-A for lunch. Chick-Fil-A was running a promo -- any meal/food you ordered this particular day, save your receipt and you get the exact same order for free any day in November. Since we had 10 people ordering, we're going to have a great meal in November. We just love Chick-Fil-A!

We watched U of M football (well, Holly and I watched while everyone else ended up napping) and after an hour of searching for good reviews and an online menu, ordered sushi for Brent's birthday dinner. The place we picked actually got the entire order correct (not easy) and it was really good - Sofia really liked Holly's yaki soba noodles. Brent got 4 new scotch glasses, a Queen greatest hits CD, and a Grand Theft Auto for DS game. The kids and I got him 2 books.

Sunday, we hung out together before heading in two cars to the airport. We had a great time and were all sad to see everyone go, but it was easier knowing that we'd see them in a couple weeks.

Tuesday Basketball Update

Sorry this update is behind - we've been busy, as you'll soon hear all about. Last Tuesday was the first time Brent got to watch Will play basketball and they were both really excited about it.

Since we finally knew where we were going, we actually got a parking spot in the lot - score! And, while we were waiting for warm-up, a little boy walked in and Will got super excited and started waving. This was a new one for me, since I didn't know who that boy was. It worked out well though - his name is Reid and his mom and I really got along so I see some future playdates, which is nice.

Will and Reid ran off to get some balls while his mom, Jaime, and I talked. Then, they warmed up and then split up into lines to shoot hoops. Will's getting better at shooting it up. And, the coaches got smarter about keeping the kids in-line while waiting; they put little spots on the floor and have the kids move up in turn. Very good plan.



After shooting, they got in a circle on the floor again and practiced dribbling. I'm still not clear on why they need to practice while sitting down - maybe I should ask Coach Jim.

Based on the time, we thought they would be done after dribbling - we never really get the full hour (but based on what we pay, we don't complain). But, they went into lines to practice passing the ball again. Will was doing a lot of talking and wasn't really paying attention, so he didn't get too many turns. Maybe next week.

To celebrate the great time we had, we went to Chick-Fil-A. The one near our house offers free kids meals on Tuesday nights, so we were all over that. It was awesome and quite the event. We pulled up and the cow mascot was out greeting people in the drive-through line - Sofia kept trying to get out of my arms and was going, "Moo, Moo!" We get inside and it's a party - there were balloons, a "mad scientist" doing dry ice experiments which both kids loved, and a prize wheel. Every person in the family got a turn - I won a stuffed Elvis cow and everyone else got breakfast food coupons. Awesome! And, we learned that you can trade in your toy for an ice cream cone, so we finished our fun with ice cream cones. I feel a Tuesday sports tradition in the making!

Sick Day

Will had his first official sick day from school today - he woke up last night at 5 am with a slight fever and a very raspy voice. After a brief debate (very brief - it's just, for the amount of money we're paying for 6 hours a week, I really want him to go all he can - I totally sympathize with day care payers on this one), I called into the school and excused him. He slept until 10 am (about 3 hours later than usual). When he woke up and found he couldn't go to school today, he was very upset. Isn't that cute? I know it'll be all too soon when a sick day for him is a party (just like it was for most of us).

After he woke up, he was totally fine and ready to play. In fact, a short time into playing, he decided to jump off his bed and he "bonked" into Trigger, the plastic horse. He split his lip open and was pretty upset. But, he did tell me what he did (I was washing dishes when the accident occurred) and calmed down pretty quickly, so that was good.

I couldn't get him to take a nap and decided that basketball would be OK (not too much close contact with the other kids there). He had a great time (see future post) and feel asleep early tonight. So, with some luck (and a little children's motrin), he'll be even better tomorrow. I sure hope so - the Maxwell clan is visiting starting tomorrow and he's gonna need his energy.