December 22, 2011

Tis the Season!

I work for a retailer and it is crazytown around here these days. It's 3 days before Christmas and we're still working our buns off with no end in sight.  Luckily Christmas shopping is done, Mike did not get stuck in Boston this week as feared and returned home on time and we are not traveling this year. 

But there has been a bit of fun, like last night's Candlelight Yoga at Lululemon with some friends.

My friend Christina blogged about it here.

December 12, 2011

Santa 2011

We haven't made our annual visit to see Santa yet this year, but Sarah took the boys to see him and get their picture taken. We will make our visit this coming weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, like always.

























The letters they left with Santa are priceless. I hope Santa is able to source all of these items.  :-)


December 7, 2011

It's been forever...

It's really been forever since I blogged and since my mother-in-law (Sandy) and I were talking on the weekend about what a great 'baby book' this blog served for Hudson (and um....I have nothing for Link...) I thought I would *try* to document some of our goings-on for documentation's sake.

So...I had quite a few questions in my blogger comments about the pool and landscaping and if it ever got finished. Yes, yes it did. Although it took significantly longer than the 3 months I was promised.  But it was worth the wait and we did spend the whole summer in there. Here are some photos:



























Link is an absolute doll and still gets a bath in the sink every now and again. Hudson thinks he's a superhero. It's possible he really is because it feels that way to us. We're waiting for the other shoe to drop and for one of these boys to turn into one of the 'terribles' (twos, threes, fours) but so far, so good. They are best friends.   The dogs are getting old but they are still enjoying life, even if they are moving a little slower. We still have a zillion cats.


































































In August I started a new job back in my first love - eCommerce - working for a large retailer.  Mike took a new position with his company and we pulled the boys out of daycare and got a nanny.  We absolutely love having a 'teacher' (as the boys call her) and wonder why we didn't do it before.  They spend their days going on outings, playing and are just generally allowed to be little.

I've moved on from running (although I still do it sometimes and love it) to CrossFit. It's hard and it's fun and now my hands have calluses.

In the summer we went to New York state for a Benedict family reunion at the Old Homestead where Mike's Dad, Ralph grew up. Everyone had so much fun. We also celebrated Ralph's 70th birthday!






























Christmas is around the corner and Hudson is fully aware of it all this year. He asks every morning if Santa has come yet.   :-)   Ok, I think I'm caught up now. 


December 5, 2011

Yoga Girl

This is too good not to post.   Namaste.

July 18, 2011

My Boys Make Trouble

Mike and I were talking about a significant work issue and not paying a lot of attention to the boys. I vaguely noticed the lights going on and off once and the surround sound coming on in the kitchen. I looked over to see that the boys had pushed a chair over to reach the controls.

July 6, 2011

Peachtree Road Race 2011

This year Vickie and I ran the famed Peachtree Road Race. 60,000 people, heat, humidity and hills in Atlanta.  We clocked a good time considering the 2 bottles of wine we shared the day before and a serious lack of training.   We're hoping we can make an annual event out of it.

For those who do not know about Peachtree: the bars all open very early on that day and scores of people come out to drink and watch the runners. After the race there is a big party in Piedmont Park or the runners all head in to the bars to join in with the spectators.  It was a great time. My favorite sight was the priest outside of St. Timothy's church who threw holy water on us and gave us a blessing as we ran by.  And we didn't die on Cardiac Hill - the big, long hill that ends with Piedmont Hospital at the very top. There were bands playing and music blasting the entire 10K. 

Check out these outfits:


June 2, 2011

Pool Construction.... Part 8?

I think this is part 8.....

We have water!   We started filling it on Tuesday night and it's now 3/4 full (almost 2 days later). We also have a fire pit and a fence. We don't have landscaping yet because the guys are putting in the irrigation but I'm told soon.....soon.

Anthony and Penny are visiting for the weekend and we'll be swimming.   :-)


May 19, 2011

Pool Construction.... Part 7

I wish there wasn't a Part 7 but rather a Part 'Finished'. But not just yet..... Next week will mark 5 full months for this project.

Concrete is complete. Next week is plaster, landscaping, building the fire pit and finishing the shower (which looks pretty cool - don't have a photo of that).

All these photos show the concrete before it was sealed. 



















(fire pit, above)




















This is what the walkways look like now, post-sealing:


May 9, 2011

Mother's Day 2011

I had a wonderful Mother's Day celebrating with my baby boys!  We went to our favorite locally-owned restaurant.  Thanks Mike, you're the best husband a girl could ask for.   :-)



















(where there is Spiderman, there is happiness)