Silver and Gold

Today is JJ's last day of a week's long vacation (no, we aren't using his week of vacation to have a baby this year).  JJ works hard and likes to play hard but this vacation was spent working, not playing!  Since we have been busy, busy bees around here this week I have not documented this process as much as I would like so I plan to detail much of the last week in coming days.  It was an interesting and unexpected turn of events that took place and let me know that once again, God seems to be blessing our decision to pick up and move (stay tuned for details).

Tonight, I want to talk about friends, my friends in particular and they are golden!

When I have a sick child, I don't have to ask for help, my friends ask me!  All I have to do is say, I can't make it to playgroup and someone offers to run to the grocery, help with the healthy AJs, listen to me complain (seriously had friends this week offer all of these AND MORE)!

When AJ2 and AJ3 were each born, friends brought me dinner FOR A MONTH!!  Seriously, a month of friends dropping by to see the baby and bring us a hot meal.  My friends are golden!

When we rode into town on a dream and a prayer, this little city accepted and embraced us. Now, to the point and what caused this melancholy in me tonight...

A variety of things kept me from seeing a friend before she and her family moved overseas today!  The boys have been sick for a week (we even procured our first antibiotic - yuck) and as I mentioned before Jesse was on vacation, etc.  Life just kept getting in the way!

 I opened Facebook tonight to see a photo of my friend's little ones at Dulles waiting on their flight and my heart sank!!  In a few short weeks we will leave our sweet little city with our golden friends and start once again.  I will take with me one of the best secrets C-ville has shared, how to be a wonderful friend!

I'll Take Three of Everything

Yes, I am that annoying mom who dresses her children all alike.  I know that others find this annoying because, well, they like to stop me and tell me on a regular basis.  I still do it.

Getting three boys three and under out the door is not easy.  If I must (and you know there are times when I absolutely must), I can get everyone (including me) up, fed, showered, dressed and out the door within an hour and a half.  I think that is pretty impressive when you think it is an average of 5.625 minutes per task, per person and I am not even taking time out of that for things like carrying everyone out to the car or buckling them all in car-seats.

Dressing the boys alike makes my life easier.  I think it's safer, I recognize them on a crowded playground more quickly and could describe them in detail if an emergency arose.  I'm not going to lie to you though, I simply like the way they look when they all match.  It feels neat and tidy to me.

My Mamaw buys most of the boys clothes.  She buys them in triplicate now and calls me often with sizing questions as I am sure you can imagine gets confusing.  The boys receive packages regularly and when she comes for a visit it feels like Christmas to me every time (for so many reasons that I am sure to explore at a later date).  Of course, with the move to New Zealand, this too shall change.

Mamaw brought them clothes to take over when she came this last time but we need to get so many more.  You see, my boys are big boys and they tend to move up in size rapidly.  AJ 2 who will be two shortly wore 3T pants the last few days because they just seem to fit him better.

So we hit the sales over the weekend and I was thrilled to find that a very mild winter had left the racks stocked!    In case you are at all interested, what you see here represents 42 clothing items, 14 for each boy.  There aren't lots of pants in the photo but don't despair, we have denim coming out of our ears and dress pants too.

Mamaw provided these.  New winter coats, hats and mittens for each boy.  Each coat comes with an inserted fleece jacket that can be worn alone.  I'm not expecting lake effect snow, but we have it all covered!

I decided storing the clothes in suitcases was the best route for me.  I can keep tabs on what will fit and make room in their closet as I clean off more and more of the shelves.  I think eventually I will be able to fit so much more will fit in this case.

 This week we have to tackle a more pressing and immediate need, new shoes for three!  Happy shopping!!

Home is Where You Hang Your Hat

Every March I become a little homesick.  When Madness strikes, I can't help but long for the Hoosier state.  I make cakes decorated like basketballs.  I keep my kids up eating said cakes and watching games and screaming at the television until hours some might call abuse.  I am not a die hard college basketball fan but this is my heritage, in Indiana some would say it's a religion.

IU plays tonight and preparations have begun.  Alex is singing "Indiana, Our Indiana..." (please recall, he is in fact a Hoosier even in he speaks with the accent of a Wahoo).   My grandma and I are planning bath times around the tip off.

This has started my mind working on the things that I will soon miss from Virginia.  We have been here for almost three years now so I have become attached to some of the features Charlottesville has to offer.  Here is a short list of what I expect to miss.  I have LOTS of friends who have spent years here and have already moved on, I would LOVE to hear from them on what they ACTUALLY miss about this sweet little city.

First and foremost I will miss the Blue Jays.  I don't like birds in general but I fully enjoy the Jays that take over our yard twice a year.  These aggressive birds chase the others away as they swoop down regally.  They remind me of my Grandpa Jay and bring a smile to my face and of course a story to mind to share with the boys.

I will miss the trail.  The amount of time that I have spent at the Saunders-Monticello Trail is probably only second to the amount of time I have spent at my home here in Charlottesville.  You can learn more about the trail here http://www.monticello.org/site/visit/overview-saunders-monticello-trail.  If you ever have the opportunity to visit Jefferson's Monticello, you must hit the trail too.  I like to think it gives you a glimpse of what enticed Jefferson himself to the site.

My bakery.  The first time I saw the man who works behind the counter at his "other job" and he knew my ENTIRE name and my preferred method of payment, I was a little bit freaked but now it's kind of a comfort when I see him out and he calls me by my full name, middle initial and all.  Bread Works is a fabulous bakery committed to amazing work.  I highly recommend them.  http://www.breadworks.org/  They provide job training and employment to persons with disabilities.

I am sure as time goes on I will think of a thousand more things I will miss and will probably share more.  Please bear with me, I am not too good at goodbye.  Soon, we will hang our proverbial hats in a new location and find new things to miss someday but I will relay them to you as new adventures!

Attention, Attention Please

It seems that for many years now JJ and I have been making at least an annual announcement of major life change to our families and friends.  In 2008 we announced that we were expecting AJ1.  2009 came and we announced that we were moving from Indiana (where we were born, raised and to this point had always lived) to Virginia.  The birth of AJ2 was the big 2010 announcement!  AJ3 joined us in 2011 (do you see a theme here).

No, we are not expecting AJ4 (yet)!!  If you did the math above, you might realize we have three AJ's, three and under and this mamma is busy.  What does every family with essentially three babies need, I ask you?  A move around the world!

2012's life altering announcement is a move to New Zealand.  If you know us, you know this was coming.  We thought it was a little further out into the future but we are so very excited to embark on this chapter now!

I am in a bit of scramble mode as JJ is scheduled to begin work in Auckland in June (hello it is the middle of March).  I have NO plans for any part of this move.  I don't even know if I can take car seats on the airplane!

I do know that we are taking VERY LITTLE along.  I am attempting to cleanse my family of its need for possessions (something I have wanted to do since we had to bring a semi trailer to VA).  This is definitely a journey beginning now!

The two oldest AJ's have a very favorite phrase right now.  I hear them say it to themselves.  I hear them say it to one another.  I am asked to say it countless times a day.  I could not think of any phrase more appropriate for our phase in life at just this moment so here goes...Ready...Steady...GO!!!