yeah, yeah, yeah....

I know, I know....it's been five months since I updated this thing.  However, I want somebody to live the last five months of my life and try and maintain ANYTHING remotely extracurricular, such as, well, let's say a blog.

Here's a glimpse of what my afternoons (2:45-5:30 everyday) and weekends (9am - 5pm) have been since January:

 

 

Alas, the Spring Musical has come and gone, and Guys and Dolls will now hold a happy place in my memories.  Our kids did a PHENOMENAL job and it was worth every surge in blood pressure and emotional meltdown I had to endure.

It's been a BUSY few months, full of happy and sad moments for us and those we love.  Just before the New Year, Mom and Dad and I said goodbye to our sweet Willis.

He was such a good dog, and we miss him terribly.  Furry Murray has taken his loss pretty hard, and is actually cordial to people now.  I guess we take the bitter with the sweet.

January brought some snow days, and with them, household projects.

Yeah....that's a magnetic board I PAINTED onto the wall.  It's okay.  You can be jealous.

Anna and I had a lovely Mommy/daughter date to my friend Morgan's house to check out Kelly's Kids' spring line.  

 

 

Here's a sneak peek at her Easter and birthday outfits:

February came and went quietly, though we were able to "Romp and Roll" with Sean on his 3rd birthday.  Anna had a great time, and we are happy to report Sir Sean will be a big brother in October AND that Marjorie and Justin just moved in one neighborhood over!  I'm so excited our kids will grow up together and to have friends so close that NO excuse will suffice when it comes to getting together.

March was a bit more eventful with lots of celebrations for friends and loved ones.  We hosted a baby shower for Brad and Lauren.  They scored a whole bunch of loot for baby Gibbons, and we are anxiously awaiting his/her arrival late next month.

cake courtesy of my friend, David, who made Anna's cupcakes last year for her birthday.  he's crazy talented....

diaper cake courtesy of the craft queen herself, Martha Stewa.....oh, wait, sorry.  Jane Davis.

yes.  Brad is sitting on Anna's ladybug beanbag chair, Lola.  yes, we name her toys.  don't judge.

enjoying some hors d'oeuvres.  much to our chagrin, we discovered she likes expensive cheeses.  hopefully, plain ol' mozzarella will suffice for the near term.

sweet baby Riley, only 2 1/2 months old, daughter of our friends Mike and Marcie.

 

We were also able to celebrate the marriage of Miss Michelle Spiers and Dr. Scott Schmeisinger (yes, I said DOCTOR).  Michelle is one of my dearest friends from high school, and she called me the day of Anna's baptism as we were walking out the door and asked me to sing a duet with another high school friend, Nate.  While Nate and I saw each other just a few years ago at our 10th reunion, we haven't sung together in more than 13 years. 

The wedding was beautiful, and the reception at the Country Club of Virginia (I can die happy now...I've been to THE Country Club) was quite a class act.

Various and Sundry:

she figured out if she looks out the family room window, she can see mommy through the sliding glass door.  we proceeded to play the game of look-through-the-window-then-run-around-to-the-kitchen-to-make-sure-it-was-really-me for half an hour.

this is what clean looks like.  you don't want to see messy.

This chair....this chair was sitting on our front porch on January 13.  I remember the date because it was the night of my kids' winter concert (the one where I watched a kid take a nose-dive into the stage floor as he passed out....remember, children: don't lock your knees).  The note attached said, "Mom wanted Anna to have this.  She thought she would enjoy have a chair all her own.".  It was from Mellanie and Alexandra.  Mellanie's mom passed away last March from breast cancer, and it is probably the most precious gift our girl has ever received.  And. she. LOVES. it.

watching veggie tales on my laptop.  keeps her entertained for at least a half hour.

trying to feed the singing goat, who terrifies the snot out of her.

yeah....she did that.  i'm not sure which skill to be more impressed with -- the fact that she can balance or the courtesy she paid the wood by using a coaster.

I leave you with two H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S. videos.  Bathtub fun and the child's obsession with Stephen Colbert (God help me, my child is a Republican).

So, there you have it: 5 months of catching up in what has turned out to be something slightly less than an epic novel.