etc and more etc.

dare i show my face in here? almost 3 months has passed since i last posted. as always, i have EXCUSES for why i haven't had the time to post. well, correction...i've had the time, just not the concentration perhaps.

the move...
we are now residents of northern VA. we moved during the middle of july from a single story 4 bedroom house to a home with 3 levels, 4 bedrooms, and a huge basement. there's a fenced backyard with a good-sized deck, 2 swings for the kids (which will be a source of irritation soon, 2 swings for 3 kids means lots of arguments in the future), and we're on a pipestem off of a cul-de-sac so we have a thick line of trees behind us for a little extra privacy in back. we really love the house. i'm not sure how long it's been a rental but it's probably seen its share of tenants, it's a little beat up here & there...but just enough so that don't have to panic about what our kids might add to it.
we like the area well enough so far. there's lots of shopping available (if that's your thing) and we seem to have moved near a really good school, and it's only a few miles to the nearest target, grocery store, panera & starbucks (all in one PLAZA even, how wonderful!). sometimes it's just a little too much...but that's why i like coming back to this peaceful house, just a few houses down there's a big open common area to use. yeah, it's on a hill but what isn't around here?!?!? :)

the road trip...
i decided we didn't have enough drama in our lives so i packed up the 3 kids, boarded the dog, and hired a petsitter to check on the cat and drove back to iowa for a short visit in early august. we went for the sweet corn, the homegrown tomatoes, to hang with the grandparents, and to check out the iowa state fair.

we had a ball last year at the fair...not so much this year. reese & cade picked that day to become superbrats (and yes, that's brats as in asshole kids, not bratwurts...mmm..bratwrusts...). anyway, i threatened to leave them home when i saw how our day was headed but really, i WANT them to see the fair, like i did when i was a kid. although now everything costs 4x as much and kids today think they're ENTITLED to a dozen rides on the giant slide. when i was a kid, wandering around was the fun part. reese thinks we're just supposed to go from spot to spot so that she can do something at each place, whether it's a ride or eating or buying some tacky, possibly lead-coated toy.
they got the corndogs, the iowa t-shirts, the $25 of giant slide tickets (hell yeah, i went too, that thing is fun!!), some ice cream and they wore me down to buy them toys on our way out the gate that afternoon. i could have stayed longer if it wasn't for their whining. we didn't even make it to the poultry barn. :/

the first day of school...
was fine. we just finished our first week of school and i'm already overwhelmed with the begging for volunteers from the PTO and reese's teacher. i plan to help out, i just have to find a babysitter first. i'm going to volunteer in reese's room, i didn't get to last year (and if i had, i probably would have run away screaming, with 36 5 year olds in one room), but now that cade is doing afternoon preschool, i think finding a babysitter for elisha will be easier. or even a sitter for an hour or 2 in the mornings for both of them.
can you believe i didn't get pictures of reese's first day? we were 1/2 way to the bus stop and i realized i forgot the camera. we had time to go back but rob said to me, 'it's ok, no one else will have their cameras either.' note to self...rob is full of beans. when the bus pulled up there were at least 15 parents, about 20 kids, and 9 cameras beeping and snapping away. sigh.
cade's first afternoon of preschool is on monday, i will be bringing the camera for that.

etc...
i got reese signed up for brownies/girl scouts. the neighborhood troop is really on the ball, i'm a little intimidated. our daisies leader in florida left a lot to improve on, i guess. the girls already have a camping overnight scheduled and a 'warm up' overnighter just down the road at a neighbor's house. i believe there's 16 girls in this group. can you imagine 16 6 year olds "sleeping" at your house?!? and the hostess is the PTO president, i really hope reese keeps her hands out of her nose and butt while she's there. we're going to have to do some intensive training during the next week. also on the brownies schedule: a trip into DC during december to go see the nutcracker ballet. i'm really torn about this. i don't think i'm brave enough to get myself to DC, do i trust 2 women to take 16 kids into the city and have them sit through 2 hours of ballet? i've heard wonderful things about these leaders, but this seriously scares the shit out of me. this might be one of those things that reese skips, i don't think there's a badge involved, it's just a holiday excursion.

why does it seem like so many things get scheduled for the same weekend? the first weekend in oct seems to be that weekend for us. there's a 'light the night' walk that i want to go to on saturday night, and i was planning on taking reese with me but that is the brownies camp out weekend. rob heard about a 5K/fall celebration about an hour away that he's planning to do on saturday morning. i'd really like to stay local in case the campout doesn't turn out well for reese and we need to go pick her up. we'll come up with some solution.

speaking of weekend activities...
the 'step out to fight diabetes' walk is october 18, locally. i'm not sure why, but i feel like i should participate in that as well. what's up with my desire to walk around for sick people?!? i don't know that many people with diabetes or with complications due to diabetes...although it's a disease that is claiming more and more lives. my interest in 'light the night' comes from a blog that was shared by a fellow member of a mommy board. poor poor max. what a brave little boy...and there's so many sick yet brave children out there..and actually both of these organizations help people of all ages, not just children. it can't hurt to go do it, right? it can only help.

more etc...
elisha is now a 2 year old! her birthday was last sunday. she had her 2 year checkup this past week and she's 30 lbs (birthweight was 8.13...a gain of 21 lbs in 2 years) and 35" (birthlength was 21.5"...a gain of 13.5 inches in 2 years). we have to go get Xrays this coming week, she's extremely flexible in her hips and she prefers to "W" sit so the doctor wanted to make sure all was well with her hip joints (esp with my hip pain and my mom's recent hip replacement).

• why didn't anyone before now tell me how COOL nina simone is??? i downloaded an album of hers and i could listen to it all day. i'm trying to decide which album of hers to get next.
• only 9 more days til rob is done at the base down in georgia!!! yay!!! he hopes to return there for a weekend function in october, but otherwise he'll be living up here soon. he'll take 2 weeks of leave and then start his new job in DC at the end of september.
• hummus rocks. red pepper hummus to be exact.

ok, i've dorked enough time away on this post. it's almost scary how long it takes me to compose my thoughts into a semi-logical arrangement on here. if this presentation frightens you, then you definitely don't want to see my kitchen.