We were able to be quite productive today before picking up the boys. I had a bunch of items to drop off at Good Will:
Our bedroom is pretty much organized. We moved some of the instruments and added a new desk/work space. We have a few more things we want to do, but the mess I had all over the floor on Saturday is now gone!
I hardly ever eat meat anymore, but realized today as I was gagging on the food that meat is just not my thing. I have a bit of a stomach ache just thinking about it now!
The boys are gone for the day/night. It is odd here without them, but kind of nice. Chris and I have been talking about how much can get done when there is no one else around to take care of...and how much we procrastinated while we were younger. Which made me think of college and how much we procrastinated then...and that led me to a few hours of looking at old photo albums. If you think I take a lot of pictures now... you should have seen how many I took back in the non-digital photo age. (where you had to pay to develop pictures to see what you took...crazy)
Anyway...I went through album after album of my college days at Cortland. We procrastinated a lot, but we had a ton of fun doing it. I have the photos to prove it. It's crazy to look at pictures and not be able to remember a place or a person in it. But, something I will never forgot is 18 Monroe Heights living with four of the greatest people on this earth.
Our apartment:
Jocelyn and I met in August of '96 at the beginning of field hockey season. We got to know each other through hours of practice, games, study hall sessions that our coach made us do, etc... The next year we roomed together in a suite. The last two years we lived together on Monroe. Jocelyn now lives in Oregon with her two sweet children and husband. We got to go out there for their wedding back in '04 and had an awesome time. I can't wait to take the boys there someday soon! Here is a picture of Jocelyn and I from the fall of '98 and one ten years later in '08!
Jen and I met towards the end of our freshmen year. We got to know each other a lot more the following year. I think we were the ones to find the house on Monroe. She now lives in New York with her sweet son and husband. I get to see her a little more often when I go home to see my family. The first picture is us in December of '99 in front of our Christmas tree. Yes...we had a live tree each year. The next picture is from twelve years later in Nov. 2011.
Erin and I met in the fall of '96 as well, she played field hockey with Jocelyn and I. She lived in the suite with us the next year and was our RA. At one point she almost set our dorm room on fire by baking brownies in our illegal microwave. Needless to say...she was a super strict RA. :) Erin currently lives in Germany and has been travelling all over Europe for the past few years while on breaks. The first picture is from May of 2000, a few days before graduation...we liked to run to get to places faster. Then next one is from the summer of 2010. She was in the states for the summer and was all over visiting everyone. She made a stop in Raleigh to see us.
Lesley and I met in the spring of '97. She was roommates with Jen and they lived in the same dorm as Jocelyn and Erin. The first night we met she told me we were going to be best good friends forever...and she was right. :) She lives in California with her sweet son, husband, four cats named after breakfasts and desserts, and is expecting a daughter in a few short weeks! The first picture is Feb. of 2000. The second one is from this summer, Aug. 2011. We travelled from NY to NC with three kids and she spent some time here in Raleigh.
Here is a picture of the five of us in our apartment in December of 1999. I'm pretty sure we called this a family photo. Check out the decor above us. We each put up picture of us as a child and in the center was a family photo from our sophomore year. This is just a quick glimpse at four special people who I have thought a lot about today. If you're ever at my house...ask to see an album or two. :) (and yes, we're all wearing the same shirt)
So this post was not about the "Holcomb" family...but, Chris and I did not do a lot today to take pictures of. I finished organizing our room and it looks great, if I do say so myself. We did a little shopping and then went out to eat at Vivace in North Hills. It was delicious and I'm still full!
The boys were supposed to go visit MooMa, PaPa, and Jessica this weekend, but Austin had a fever this morning. We didn't want his yucky germs to be spread around so we decided to keep him home. Everyone was disappointed. Especially Hunter, who spent most of the morning sulking and just laying on his bed. He turned back into a silly guy after a bit though:
Austin does not like Hunter wearing the nose glasses...he is sitting on my lap as I type this, pointing at the picture saying, "Nooooo!"
Austin spent about 20 minutes playing with this jack in the box...over and over and over. In the video you'll see him signing for "more" even though he can say the word.
I spent at least half of the day tackling a massive amount of "stuff" that was taking up way too much room in our bedroom. When we first moved into our house we each had our own office. My office turned into Hunter's room. So stuff got shoved into boxes, tubs, closets, etc... Then Austin came and we were now without an office completely. So, our bedroom became an area to dump things.
I was able to get everything sorted into like properties (something I learned from teaching 1st grade). My way of doing this is by taking EVERYTHING out so I can see what I have...then putting it all away. I hate to even post this picture, because it looks like I could be on the show hoarders...but, here it is:
I'm not quite done yet, but I had to take a break after about 5 hours of working on this. Pretty much everything has a home, a ton got thrown away, and I have a bunch of things to drop off to Good Will tomorrow.
Austin likes to brush his teeth. He found a cup tonight and was filling it himself to drink.
He went to bed with a mild fever still. Fingers crossed he'll be well enough tomorrow so the boys can go visit Laurinburg!
Austin is a bit of a climber. He has been climbing out of his crib for awhile now. He also climbs over the gate in the doorway of his room, so we have to double gate him at night so he doesn't get out. This morning I heard him talking, so I went to go get him. Instead of being in his crib or in his chair, this is where I found him!
So...now he's figured out how to get up on top of his dresser. He had pulled out all of the wipes from the container and a bunch of other items. Scene of the crime:
I'll probably get in trouble from the YouTube police so here is my disclaimer. The camera just happened to be left on a shelf in his room, I have removed all of the items that could potentially hurt him if he was to try this again, and it looks like we are going to have to add drawer safetly latches to the dresser so he does not do this again. I obviously do not want him to fall off and get hurt. But, I am pretty sure he is a superhero and has special powers.
Eating breakfast...check out the dogs waiting for the opportunity to grab some food.
Playing guitar and resting...in a laundry basket.
This is what happens when Austin is not allowed to play with the camera.
Relaxing in his tire swing...
Sweet brothers...Hunter will be 6 in one month. Austin will be 2 in two months. Crazy crazy!
And, just for fun...here they are together just two short years ago!
Today I took Ella and Austin to the Rainbow Room. It's a company that sells playground equipment and they have a bunch of models set up outdoors. They also have a huge structure set up in a room for open play and parties. They had been once before, but they both were afraid of the slides, which are pretty high and fast. But, today, after a little bit of reassurance from their friend, Gabby, they were going down on their own.
Here's a video of Austin...climbing up the ladder and going down feet first.
Hunter had his 5th basketball game tonight. He is becoming much more aware of the game and is really trying hard to play defense. He's also working on getting open so his teammates have someone to pass the ball to.
I ventured out with three kids under 2 today. We went to play at the gym at Lake Lynn again. I pulled out my camera to take a cute picture of Cam and...it would not turn on. :( Regardless, it was a fun morning and it got us out of the house on this rainy day.
Since Austin is now climbing out of his crib, this is where I found him after his nap today. He was all curled up in the chair with his blanket on him. We've talked about putting him in a real bed, but we do not have a side rail and I do not feel like dealing with him falling out of the bed over and over. He is quite the mover when he sleeps. This picture also shows something new...the hair he is finally getting! Now besides a curl in the back he is sporting one on top of his head too!
Apple lovin' boys...Austin was mad because I started cutting his and he wanted to eat his "big" like "bro bro". Hunter has to eat his apple with the side of his mouth because he has another loose tooth!
After eating an ice cream sandwich...really??
Hunter's last day of his first elective is tomorrow. I had him write a thank you note to the teacher who taught the class. "Dancin' Dudes" was the name of the elective. I helped him stretch out the sounds and he wrote what he heard. I also used my finger as a space, because he writes all of his words together. Not so bad for a five year old!
Translation to the card above: I hope you have fun with the other kids. I like the robot dance.
Does anyone know where Austin is? On the table drinking out of Hunter's water bottle.
Austin acts like getting on the table is a "normal" thing. After I took his picture he said, "Get Down!" And pointed to the floor.
For those of you who know Hunter...you know what he is famous for. He's been bouncing on this couch since he was younger then Austin. (one of the reason we still have our old couch). He has rock hard abs from this bounce move. It's really hard to do...try it. Now Austin tries to copy him.
Breakfast for five. Four with waffles. One with plastic baby toys (BPA free of course).
Baskets are clearly not for toys.
Ella found the gem thingys in our craft drawer. I put glue on them and she stuck them on her paper. We talked about the pink flowers, blue hearts, purple squares, and red circles. Austin did it as well, but then pulled them off and tried to eat them. He even hid under the table to try one out. I drew a picture of a boat on the ocean and we made up a song to go with it. It was called, Austin and Ella in a boat.
It rained yesterday and it is supposed to rain tomorrow. So, with a sunny day in between all the rain we ventured out on a walk. Austin insisted on bringing two balls with him. I knew that was a bad idea. He started throwing the balls out and watched me chase them about 1/4 of a mile into our walk. Then he tried getting out of the wagon. I figured having him out walking beside me was better then chasing balls all over the place. He walked/ran all the way home. He would not hold my hand, but stayed right next to me. Thankfully Ella was content staying in the wagon.
Cam was snug as a bug in the ergo and took a little snooze.
At any given point during the day I'll find Austin sitting in front of the computer saying, "moooooooo" That's his way of saying, "I want to watch cows on YouTube. He loves cows and believe it or not, there are many, many videos of cows online.
Hunter playing the old version of Super Mario Brothers...the one video game I can actually play. Austin had to try it out afterwards. He ended up throwing a huge fit when I took the controller away.
Sweet brothers getting ready for bed. Austin always rubs his ear when he drinks out of a sippy cup. Hunter is so sweet to his baby brother. Austin has been calling him "bro bro" recently. So cute!
Guarding the door...or sitting by the fridge. Depends on who you ask.
