The Chapman Family

little artist

2012-01-05T17:40:00.001-05:00

One of Trevor’s favorite gifts from Christmas was an art desk/easel. He loves to color with crayons and colored pencils, but his FAVORITE is when he is allowed to paint.

Christmas Sampling

2012-01-05T15:56:00.001-05:00

I took way too many pictures of our Christmas celebration….way too many. But, to catch up and start the year off right, I’ll go through our Christmas super fast.

opening christmas pajamas

“Where’s Santa?”

After church, I asked a parishioner (who also happens to be our Realtor) to do us a favor by taking a family picture for us—that the favor would be easier than finding us a house. Clearly, I lied. Exhibits A, B and C.

After Christmas, we packed up our stuff and headed up to CT for a week to spend time with family and celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary.

Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T08:27:00.001-05:00

Just in case you aren’t in the holiday spirit yet, here are some pictures from Trevor’s school program this week.

Christmas may be in two days…

2011-12-23T21:31:00.001-05:00

But we are still playing in leaf piles down here in VA…..

an overview…

2011-12-16T09:49:00.001-05:00

Funny how I seem to blink and two weeks have gone by.

We’ve been super busy getting ready for the holidays coming up, but things seem to be kicking into high gear with this weekend.

We have the house pretty much decorated…still need to finish outside. Our roof lights are up, and our angel is in the front flowerbed (I’ll have to get a picture of that—her positioning makes her look like she is mourning the death-by-unknown-animal suffered by my favorite hydrangea ::tear::) but I haven’t been able to choose what I want to do with the porch railings or a wreath on the front door.

Trevor is going to be in the Advent pageant at church this year (like a Christmas pageant, only there is no baby Jesus because it. is. not. Christmas. yet.). That is Sunday, I am not convinced he will do anything more than stand there and make one adorable donkey/cow/sheep. That, is a silent role my son is good at.

Tuesday is Trev’s holiday program at school….he has been doing parts of whatever is a part of the program at home, so I really don’t know what to expect, but I am sure it will be fabulous given our experience so far at West Ghent. (PS, decision to send Trevor to WGS = one of the best we have ever made)

Wednesday Shane goes on leave for about 3 weeks. It will be great to have him home…but we will get to that more later.

I finished my first semester of graduate school this month. Interesting experience…very different from my accounting class experience at ODU. Ended up with a 4.0 after a perfect score in the class….amazing what happens when you care about the subject matter, eh?

I feel the need to include some cute Trev photos, for good measure…

opening Ornament presents from Grandma and Grandpa Chapman a special prize goes to the person who correctly identifies the movie trev is watching in the above photo.

I hope that everyone’s holiday preparations and celebrations are coming along well.

it’s the holiday season…

2011-11-30T20:50:00.001-05:00

It must be, because a family of reindeer just moved into our living room!

Sub-Zero Saturday

2011-11-12T08:04:00.001-05:00

I woke up this morning to a frost covered yard, scraper-worthy car and a temperature app that notified me that it is 28 degrees outside. My poor heat pump had kicked on the auxiliary heat in order to keep up (that is a story for another day though.). I am thoroughly confused. I thought I lived in VIRGINIA, not Connecticut. Let me say that again, just in case Mother Nature needs me to slow down a bit…VUR-GIN-YA, not CON-NET-I-CUT. Cold weather is more than welcome….in December. Or January. But this, this is ridiculous. I haven’t even picked up my winter coats from the dry cleaner yet. Give me the chance to do that first, ok?

Moving on…

I have been fighting something all week….not sure what, but it makes me randomly tired and I have a lovely voice that only my family can appreciate (read: I cannot talk.). So, this morning Shane and Trevor took over breakfast duties…

Delicious!…I am pretty sure it is the aprons. Shane had one too, but will not allow me to share the photos.

And now Shane has it in his head that he wants to head downtown to the farmer’s market (?!?!)…Off to locate the ice scrapers! Happy Saturday!

Halloween!

2011-11-12T07:53:00.001-05:00

We had a great Halloween this year! Like last year, we met up with the Settars and Chase and Trev spent the night together.

Before we went out, we did carve our pumpkin…

Trevor was not a fan of sticking his hands inside the pumpkin. It’s DINOSAUR time!!

All Saints Day Celebration

2011-10-31T16:54:00.001-04:00

Continuing the tradition we started last year, Amy and I dressed up for our R.E. All Hallows Eve celebration yesterday morning. And because I love sharing my humiliating moments on here, below is a picture of us in our costumes:

Amy is St. Therese of Lisieux and I am Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. We went with a nun theme this year……

BTW, see that the picture is a little fuzzy? That is because Amy’s son took it and was laughing so hard that he couldn’t stand still….This is actually the best out of 4 takes.

Friday Night Party!

2011-10-31T16:46:00.001-04:00

Ok, so maybe it wasn’t a party, but Trevor still had an exciting evening this past Friday. We invited his friend Chase over for the evening and the boys had a great time playing and having dinner at their own special table.

Trevor’s Big Boy Room

2011-10-31T16:41:00.001-04:00

Trevor has done a number on the wallpaper border in his room over the last several months, so last weekend we tore it down and did a quick makeover of his room. We took it from baby turtle nursery to big boy in a day! We are really happy with the way it turned out (so far)!

We still have to get picture frames and put his name letters back up on the wall, but for now, it will do.

P.S. I made the curtains myself. Susie Homemaker, whaaaaat?!

Catch Up

2011-10-24T13:57:00.001-04:00

To catch me up, here are the highlights from my SD card, photo-dump style.

Happy Founder’s Day!

2011-10-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

…to all my Zeta Tau Alpha sisters. Celebrating 113 years of seeking the noblest! Here’s to many, many more!

(Note: This is my first attempt at auto-publish. So, if you see this before October 15, I am aware of the correct Founder’s Day date. ZLAM)

So long September!

2011-10-03T09:06:00.001-04:00

As I sit and write this, my desktop weather thing is reading a chilly 48 degrees, so I know that summer is officially gone, so we can settle in for a cozy autumn. To recap our September:

We started swim lessons again at the YMCA…..Trevor’s friend Chase is doing them with him and they are both having a great time.

Lots of September was rainy and nasty here, so we took Trevor bowling for the first time…he had a blast!

Things are very busy here at the Chapman household…..work is picking up for Shane, work is steadily crazy for me, Trevor is in school, I am in school, Shane is toying with the idea of applying to school (please feel free to text and call him offering encouragement!) so our calendar is full and we never seem to slow down too much!

Pre-School Art

2011-09-15T07:26:00.001-04:00

Tuesday Trevor brought home his first pre-school art project. I promise I will not post about each one, but being that this is the first one, I wanted to share.

Apparently they read “The Kissing Hand” and this related to it….I have never seen that book before, so I guess I know what I’ll be taking a peek at the next time I go to Barnes and Noble.

First Day of School

2011-09-08T14:33:00.001-04:00

Today was Trevor’s first day at pre-school!

He did great and went right into his classroom and started playing when I dropped him off—no tears, no hesitation, nothing! He didn’t even say goodbye to me! I am so glad he did so well on his first day.

Me? I can’t say I did so well…..I managed to drop off our tuition check in the office and make it out to my car before I broke down bawling. Preschool is apparently much more traumatic for the parent than it is the child……

Anyway, here are some first day of school photos:

Leaving home for the first day of school! We had some extra time to kill before we could go to drop-off, so we swung by my office and a co-worker tried to take pictures of us.

You, Me and Irene….

2011-08-29T08:01:00.001-04:00

Well, power was restored to our house last night thanks to the hard-working men and women of Dominion Power. WHOOO!!

Ironic that You, Me and Irene was the movie playing on FX all Saturday while Hurricane Irene blew through. Not that we watched it, but so I heard from the people who never.lost.power. during the storm.

Anyway, we made it through Irene with no real damage to the house, or the pool (very important you know). We thought we just had a lot of limbs down in the back of the house, but after pulling those out yesterday afternoon, turns out that we lost two tops off of trees that we are going to have to chainsaw out of there as soon as we get our hands on a chainsaw.

I have some videos of the storm coming through…which I cannot figure out how to upload (help! savvy blogger friends!), but here are some pictures of the storm and the mess it left.

Sky Friday evening

Our backyard after:

Shaner working on cleanup

And Trevor had branches of his own to help with!

Yes, I am fully aware that my son is running around outside in his skivvies….it is close to 90 degrees, we have no power, and we are potty training. He was as happy as he could be given the conditions…I own the underwear wearing action.

Our debris pile, is taller than I am….and there is more to come.

Earth, Wind and Fire…

2011-08-26T08:52:00.001-04:00

Well, it looks like Mother Nature will be completing the trifecta with Irene’s arrival tomorrow.

For the past month we have had a wildfire burning in the Great Dismal Swamp, delivering a lovely campfire scent to the air on most days. Personally, I enjoy smelling my freshly spritzed Burberry Brit perfume as I walk out the door to work, but um, I guess the “smoky” smell is in this season.

Tuesday afternoon, as Trevor napped in his room, we experienced the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that was centered in Mineral, Va. No damage to report from our area—many people didn’t even feel it—but the earth definitely shook beneath our feet. Not something I’d like to experience anytime soon though.

For the balance of the week, we have been glued to the news, watching the tracking of Hurricane Irene. As of now, it looks like we are going to get hit with a nasty Category 2 storm. Thanks to everyone who has contacted us to see what our plans are and to ‘wish us well’ as we head into this thing. For those we haven’t spoken to, our plan is to ride this baby out. We are “battening down the hatches” and are praying for the best. We have supplies to last us for a few days, the van is full of gas and because we live on the side of the water that we do, we can access two emergency routes that will eventually get us out to I-95 and to the safety of my parents’ house in NoVa, which is only supposed to sustain a tropical storm.

We will keep everyone posted as to how we come out on the other side. Until then—Irene, Let’s dance.

Clearly, I need an intervention…

2011-08-23T12:40:00.001-04:00

I think someone needs to come to my house, figure out the parental controls on my television, and block HGTV. I think I have crossed the line.

So, to explain….

To fill my new office, I acquired a pair of sitting chairs for my office. They were in good condition, but were a little dated. SO, enter my wealth of knowledge learned from HGTV…….

and voila! beautiful new office chairs!

the one on the right is the original chair. the left is the first chair that we did. both have been reupholstered in the same fabric.

I took these beauties into work this morning and WOW, they look fantastic in my office.

Kansas Trip

2011-08-15T08:34:00.001-04:00

Thursday evening we returned from our road trip to Kansas. I had originally intended to do a series of posts about the trip, but I know that if I stuck to that plan I would never get it done. So, here is one, enormous photo-dump of a post that encapsulates the highlights of our trip.

The first morning we were there, we took Trevor to see the catfish in the neighbor’s pond. They were huge!

That afternoon, we headed out to do some fishing.

And that night we went out to dinner at this place that had a slide inside. Trevor wasn’t too sure of the slide and wouldn’t go down from the top, but he would climb a few feet up and slide from there.

Sunday morning the three of us went to church and then picked up my brother and headed to Joplin. We drove through the area hit by the tornado in May and were amazed at how it still looks like a warzone over there. We did take pictures, but I don’t feel right posting any on here…too many lives were lost and torn apart in the damage in the pictures that it doesn’t seem respectful.

Sunday evening there was a get together at one of the community centers in Pittsburg for the entire family, so that took up most of the time there. Trevor had a blast playing with the other kids and was exhausted by the time we got home.

Monday everyone got up early and headed out to go shooting at the range while Trevor and I stayed home and enjoyed some sleep.

And on Monday afternoon, we headed up to Kansas City to see my best friend Liz, who lives in Iowa. We took Trevor to the Wonderscope Children’s Museum and everyone (adults included) had a great time.

Playing with Uncle Brian and Zack Monday night. Who knew Legos was a contact sport?

Tuesday morning we headed back out to do some more fishing. Trevor had a great time riding in the boat and even caught his first bass!

Tuesday afternoon we hung out at Aunt Tiff’s aunt’s house swimming for the afternoon.

We stopped by to see the pig on the way home and Trevor got to feed Petunia some apples. After she ate them, she retreated right back into her house, of course, Trevor tried to coax her back out to play. Needless to say, she declined his invitation.

Exhausted from a busy vacation!

Funny pictures from the ride home. Trevor did great entertaining himself in the backseat….the portable DVD player helped too.

So now we are home and adjusting back into our routine. Trevor starts school in a couple weeks, so we are trying to soak up the last bit of summer freedom that we have.

Road Tripping…

2011-08-09T00:35:00.001-04:00

This year we traded in our sandy toes and beach towels for a trip out to Kansas to see Shane’s family. My brother came along for the ride and this past Thursday we headed out west.

West Virginia. wild and wonderful

trying to be just like Uncle Christopher

Charleston, WV

When we got to Louisville, we stopped and toured the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

I missed the sign for Missouri, so the Gateway Arch will have to do.

Sunset as we crossed the state line into Kansas.

This is supposed to be the Kansas sign. My brother took the picture and would like me to add that “everyone should get the general idea” even if they cannot read the sign itself.

We’ve been busy since we got here. Many more updates to come. I am still quite thrown by the time change, so for now, it’s lights out.

Beach Babies!

2011-08-02T08:41:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was my first real day off in about 3 weeks. We rolled right from moving into the new building, into preparation for dedication, then right into VBS setup for a week and then a week of actual VBS. Because I had no.reason.to.go.into.work. (my new mantra….maybe one day I’ll believe it) we headed to the beach with our friends Jenn and her son Chase. The boys had a great time swimming and playing in the sand.

Building Dedication

2011-07-16T08:58:00.001-04:00

As I have been buzzing, on here and over on Facebook, last night we had the dedication of our newly renovated and expanded space at Sacred Heart. The Bishop came down to bless the new “Sacred Heart Pastoral Center,” and the parish community gathered to celebrate. In his remarks, the Bishop commented how the new building reminded him of the before and after shows you see on HGTV. The building is gorgeous, and we are going to be able to do so much more with the new space. Here are some pictures of the evening:

This window, featuring the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, is the original window that was over the altar of the first Sacred Heart Chapel in Downtown Norfolk when Sacred Heart was still a chapel of St. Mary’s Basilica. It dates back to at least 1894. Once completed, the window will once again be over the altar, but in the new daily mass chapel.

Looking from Commons entrance into 520 Graydon.

Library

Nursery

Remember that tile wall fundraiser I did my first year at Sacred Heart? Here are the tiles that were painted by parishioners at that event. The contractors actually built the wall up so it appears that the tiles are a part of the wall.

This is the new entrance to the Pastoral Center.

Staff of Sacred Heart Church—missing Jim

From original 520 Graydon entrance.

The office that Amy and I used to share. Now it is just Amy’s office.

Fr. Dan’s office

My Beautiful Office

Adult Formation Room (Just ONE of the many new classrooms we gained in the renovation!)

Me in my “Big Girl” office….

I usually don’t get all “preachy” on here, but after last night, I feel that it is only appropriate: Thank you Father, for your blessings upon the new Sacred Heart Pastoral Center. Bless the work that will be done there in Your name, as well as those who do it. Thank you for the generosity of those who made its construction possible, and for the hard work and dedication of the hands that built it. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

What is better than a pool?

2011-07-15T07:34:00.001-04:00

Apparently, a pool with a fountain.

4th of July

2011-07-14T07:25:00.001-04:00

We had a pretty low-key 4th of July celebration this year…the weather was iffy too, so we definitley scaled back from years past. Our friends came over for swimming and a cookout and once the rain came to wash away any chance of going to see the fireworks we all went our separate ways. We did have a blast though, especially Trevor with his friend Avery.

We didn’t get pictures of anything else during the day—but these two on the swings were priceless!

…to Connecticut!

2011-07-13T08:53:00.001-04:00

The day after we returned from the wedding, Shane drove back home to get back to work and Trevor, my mom and I headed up to Connecticut.

Trevor had a blast playing with some of his cousins in the backyard at Great-Grammy’s house.

Aunt Sally helping him to dunk on both hoops!

On Wednesday, we took a day trip to Mystic, CT to meet up with my friend Sam at the aquarium. (She is much more on top of her blogging, so this is probably old-news to most) We had a great time catching up and watching the kids check out the fish together.

Connor checking out the fish.

I think Ava was telling Trevor not to try to climb in with the fish…..

Continuing on….

2011-07-13T08:39:00.001-04:00

After Vinny’s wedding in WV, we stayed the night with Ben and Heather and visited with their new baby girl Ava. The next morning, we headed back to my parents’ house and spent the afternoon at the pool my brother works at.

Baby Ava

Swimming with Uncle Christopher

pardon the interruption….

2011-07-06T21:53:00.001-04:00

I will get back to blogging about my Connecticut trip tomorrow.

Tonight though, calls for a celebration.

Why, you ask?

Because tomorrow, I will no longer have to share one very small office with two people and my toddler (for a while there—thank God for amazing babysitters).

Tomorrow is moving day!!!!

After 14 months of temporary office space and unconventional classrooms, we are moving into our new building!!!

HOORAY!!!

stay tuned for blog posts about our travels, with cute Trevor pictures that you might actually be interested in. this was purely for my personal benefit.

West Virginia Wedding Bells

2011-07-05T08:17:00.001-04:00

Weekend before last, Shane and I attended Vinny and Laurel’s wedding in West Virginia. My parents watched Trevor for the weekend (once I get those photos off my phone I’ll get them up here). and we enjoyed some quality time with our old Navy friends.

heather and i on our way to the wedding.

laurel’s dad made each of the centerpieces—too cute!

this sight brought Heather and I to tears…..after all these years (and some crazy adventures) the boys are still the same as they always have been….just older)

Congratulations Vinny and Laurel! We are so happy for the two of you and wish you all the happiness in the world.

my brother….

2011-07-05T07:58:00.001-04:00

has decided that Trevor needs to learn how to longboard at the age of 2. great.

Evening Swims

2011-07-05T07:51:00.001-04:00

As usual, summer has hit hard here, so we are spending every moment we can in the pool. One of our favorite things to do is to get back in for a dip after dinner but before we start getting Trevor ready for bed.

will catch up soon!

2011-07-03T08:37:00.003-04:00

The Chapman family is still alive and well...I know there has been a lack of blog updates, but there is no need to send out a search party...hopefully updates of our very busy last week will come back starting tonight....after I perfect my tan this afternoon. (dear clouds hovering over the Tidewater area, your presence is no longer required. GET OUT OF HERE!!)

now i know why…

2011-06-21T22:06:00.001-04:00

people always wish that time could really stand still.

Dear Trevor, Please don’t ever grow up. Love, Mommy

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-02T13:38:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday, I was ~~goofing off with my co-workers~~ working very hard in the office (my office-mates and me have a great time.) when my cell phone rang at 11am. It was Shaner, calling to say that he was on his way home and that they gave the shop a ‘96,’ meaning that he had a four day weekend and didn’t have to be back to work until Tuesday. As I posted over the weekend, the deck was finished on Friday and we spent the balance of the weekend either in the pool or on the deck. We also made a trip up to Poquoson to see Mandy and her family. It was a fabulous weekend.

Trevor is such a little fish this year. He can get all over the pool on his own and like any other kid, hates to get out of the water (no matter how cold!)

On Monday, we headed for Downtown Portsmouth for the Annual Memorial Day parade. It was a great time and Trevor had fun sitting on Shane’s shoulders waving at the people in the parade and waving his little American flag that he got at the parade.

waving at people in the parade.

Trevor didn’t know what to think of the marching band, hence the face.

Trevor loved waving his flag……and trying to steal daddy’s glasses.

Happy Memorial Day!

The strife is o’er…

2011-05-28T09:14:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite Easter hymns is The Strife is O’er by Palestrina. We’ve been singing it regularly at church since the Easter season started…..it’s a good one, so it has stuck in my head….back to this in a moment.

Yesterday, we finished the deck, and I have re-written the previously mentioned hymn for the occasion….

The strife is o’er, the deck is done, the work of building with tools is done. The Chapman’s summer has begun, Alleluia!

Google the hymn to hear the tune, it works, I promise.

And now, the finished deck:

Re-Charged

2011-05-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

I apologize for the long break in blog updates. Our camera died halfway through a wedding we attended a few weeks ago and we just got around to re-charging the battery yesterday morning.

Speaking of that wedding, two weekends ago, we traveled down to Ft. Myers, Florida to attend the wedding of our friends Andrea and Chris on Sanibel Island. It was a beautiful evening, and we couldn’t be happier for the newlyweds!

Hanging out on the beach in Ft. Myers:

The Jenkins Wedding:

it was perfect. after this monsoon--

this handsome fellow:

and this stunning lady:

became Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins.

like in the storybooks, only better.

Deck in a Day

2011-05-08T20:48:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we spent the entire day outside working to build the lower portion of the deck. Around 8:30 last night, Shane and Kyle laid the last piece of decking. We still have to put the stairs on (and the entire upper level), but we are in homeowner love with it. L.O.V.E

trevor was a little helper all day with his toy drill!

shaner and kyle putting the last piece of decking on

Finished product:

who wouldn’t want to spend all their time sitting on this deck enjoying the view :)

our week in photos…

2011-05-07T08:33:00.001-04:00

we’ve been keeping busy here this week…

the weather has been great, so we’ve broken out the summer clothes and spent a lot of time playing outside.

On Thursday, Shane re-enlisted in the Navy for five years. It was a nice ceremony, and it was nice to go meet some of the people that he works with.

Shane’s cake for the event…we figured the last eight years were pretty awesome, so the next five will hopefully follow suit!

On top of that, we’ve been working on the newest edition to what my dad calls “The Chapman Estate.”…a deck on the back of the house.

and just like everything else around here, we’re building it ourselves! (with the help of a friend who actually knows what he is doing)

Here’s the plan:

The footings and posts you see here, are for the lower level deck, that is going to be the main sitting and dining area. The two posts are where a set of steps will go to an upper deck, which will be level with the pool, providing pool access and an upper sitting area so you can see better when people are in the pool. Once finished, it is going to be pretty sweet.

Parish Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-07T08:12:00.001-04:00

Last Sunday, we took Trevor to the Easter egg hunt at Sacred Heart. He had a great time running around and trying to find eggs in Stockley Gardens!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-26T21:16:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter from our family to yours! May the Peace of the Risen Lord be with you this entire Easter season!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T21:13:00.001-04:00

We had a very busy Easter weekend! I spent Thursday through Sunday running back and forth from Sacred Heart, setting up for and attending Triduum services. (Thank you again Jenn for watching Trev those mornings, I couldn’t have made it through the weekend without your help!) Saturday afternoon we went to Jenn and Matt’s house to celebrate Chase’s 2nd Birthday. Jenn did an amazing job with the party and we had a great time. After the party we went home to dye Easter eggs and to rest before I had to head back to Norfolk for the Easter Vigil. Sunday morning we attended church as a family and had an amazing dinner. It was a simple Easter, just the three of us, but we had a wonderful time together as a family of three!

Chase’s Birthday Party:

Coloring Eggs:

Easter Sunday:

Shane insisted that the Easter bunny leave a trail of eggs to help Trevor find his basket

crazy morning hair for trev!

playing with the bubble plane….and watering the flowers with bubbles

(i was very proud of the dinner i made :) pork tenderloin, green bean casserole and au gratin potatoes)

Sliding Into Fun

2011-04-19T21:53:00.001-04:00

This weekend, we put together a swingset for Trevor in the backyard. It was far more complicated than we thought it was going to be, but Trevor has been having a blast playing on it!

MIA

2011-04-19T21:40:00.001-04:00

Once again, I have been MIA from the blog…

I’ve been busy…with a weekend trip to Richmond with some awesome ladies:

and meeting Fr. Bernard, pastor of my parish’s twin parish in Lascahobas, Haiti:

See? Very very busy. I’ve also been doing a bunch of stuff with Shaner and T-rex…..and since we all know that Shaner is never going to hop on here and blog I’ll recap that stuff for you in another post.

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss….

2011-04-02T08:25:00.001-04:00

or, the post in which I travel to Heather’s Baby shower.

So, as if I wasn’t tired enough already from Trevor’s birthday festivities, I thought I would throw one more trip in to round out the month of March. This trip, was more than worth it—I got to see Heather!!! (and Bean-o…for a minute)

Last Friday, I loaded Trevor into the car and drove up to my parents’ house. He stayed with them on Saturday while I continued on up to Pennsylvania for Heather’s shower to help welcome Baby Ava. I was only able to stay for a couple of hours with her, as I had to return to NoVa to collect Trevor and then return back to Portsmouth to go to work on Sunday morning…but those two hours were wonderful. Thank you Heather (and your families) for inviting me to spend this special occasion for you. I can’t wait for your beautiful (and hopefully red-headed!) baby girl to arrive!

SURPRISE!!!!

Special Visitors

2011-04-02T08:14:00.001-04:00

For Trevor’s birthday, Shane’s mom and cousin Jonie flew out from Kansas to help celebrate! In addition to the zoo and the party, we spent the majority of the weekend just hanging out together so that Trevor could spend time and play with them. Here are some photos from their visit:

Trevor’s Clubhouse

2011-04-01T18:39:00.001-04:00

For Trev’s party, we went with a Mickey Mouse theme. We had amazing weather so we were able to do the majority of the party outside in the yard, only coming in to do presents and cake. Trevor had a great time and we hope that everyone else who was here did too!

here comes the bounce house---thanks again laura and mike for bringing it!

trevor LOVED his card that played the Mickey Mouse clubhouse theme!

future William & Mary student!!!

or will it be Pitt State?….

or Iowa State, perhaps?

confession: trevor has these three shirts, plus one from WVU…and none from Old Dominion, my Alma Mater…that is bad.

To the zoo with you!

2011-03-30T13:11:00.001-04:00

Trevor’s birthday celebration began with the arrival of Aunt Liz on Wednesday night. Thursday, Liz was kind enough to watch Trevor so I could go into work for a bit in the morning and then we just spent the afternoon hanging out at the house and running errands.

Friday morning, the three of us (Liz, Trevor and myself) went to the zoo in Norfolk. The weather was beautiful—it got up to 88 degrees that day—so we made sure that we took advantage of it. Trevor loved seeing all of the animals and had a blast riding on the train there.

I apologize for T’s lack of photogenic-ness…..he was WAY more into seeing the animals than hamming it up for the camera.

Happy Birthday Trevor Francis!

2011-03-21T21:47:00.001-04:00

Today our little man turned two…I can’t believe that it has been two years since they placed him in my arms and our lives were changed forever.

We had a super busy week and weekend, filled with visitors and celebrations. All for our little boy. In the past couple of days I have really seen how he is no longer the cuddly little baby he used to be, but a growing, learning toddler who is taking life for all it is worth. He is happy, healthy and strong…and we love him, more than anything.

Happy Birthday Trevor Francis! We love you little bug!

We are going to take the next couple of posts to recap all of the birthday happenings—there sure were a lot of them!

Ok, ok.

2011-03-19T08:52:00.001-04:00

It has come to my attention that people may be getting tired of looking at pictures of our bathroom reno…I know I always say it, but we have been super busy…since then we have made a trip to CT and are now in the middle of Trevor’s birthday celebration. (He turns 2 on Monday, but the celebrating started with Aunt Liz’s arrival Wednesday night. Remember Aunt Liz? If not, you can take a trip down memory lane here and here. )

Anyway, so the request for new photos of Trevor have been made, and thank goodness I have some. We took no pictures of our time in CT(whaaaat?) but we have been blessed with some amazing weather in the two weeks since we have been back so have been able to spend tons of time outside. So here is T-Rex a-la-backyard! Enjoy!

Bathroom Renovation

2011-03-03T18:56:00.001-05:00

It was no secret that Shane and I planned to do a lot of updating to our house when we bought it in 2009. For the most part since then, we have done little projects here and there—replacing the carpet, painting, adding ceiling fans, replacing the tile in our entryway…stuff like that—but nothing too big. Last weekend we tackled our first big project—the hallway bathroom. It wasn’t supposed to be a big project, our plan going in was to just replace the vinyl flooring and vanity. Everything in there is what the builder put in in 1991, so it was time for a little updating and freshening up. Once we starting tearing stuff out though, we found that the builder had an affinity for gorilla glue (discovered when removing the sidepiece of the vanity top) and the previous owner had a love for seashell-print wallpaper (discovered when we removed the mirror). Nice, right? So, as we did more demo, we found more things that needed to be fixed...our small update project became an all-out gut. Shane still has one more towel rack to hang, but I wanted to share pictures of our “finished” project. I hate to brag, but I think that the transformation is pretty darn awesome.

Before:

After:

Things we did:

New porcelain tile flooring
New Vanity/Countertop/Faucet
New Mirror
New Light Fixture
New Bath Accessories (towel rings, towel bars etc.)
New Light fixture
New Baseboard and Quarter-round molding throughout

Busy Weekend

2011-02-24T18:14:00.001-05:00

As we are getting ready to begin another epic weekend here at the house, I figure it is about time to update from last weekend.

Saturday I took a group from work to Richmond to participate in the Ordination Liturgy. A young man from my parish was ordained a transitional deacon at the liturgy, so it was really cool to see. Of course, being at a liturgy where there were easily 100 priests, deacons and 3 bishops in attendance is always a cool thing to participate in. Bishop DiLorenzo gave an outstanding homily, which I could go on for days about, but anyway…I was in Richmond, Shane was on T-Rex duty at home, end of story.

Shane took Trevor out to the VB convention center for the train and toy expo and Trevor was in heaven! From what I have gotten from Shane (as we all know, life at the Chapman household is a never-ending game of 20 questions) there were a lot of trains, all set up for Trevor to look at. There were even big trains that Trevor could blow the horn on too. The end. You’d think that I would be better at the questions game after all this time…

Sunday I was right back to work in the morning, and Shane was serving soup kitchen afterwards. Shane’s cousin Keaton just got stationed here, so he came over on Sunday afternoon and stayed until Monday when we took him back to the base. Shane was really happy to have him around. That afternoon, we thought we would take advantage of the still nice-ish weather and meet our friends Laura, Mike and their daughter Caylee at Mt. Trashmore. I forgot the camera in the car, but our park time was short-lived, because in the 20 minutes it took us to get there it dropped from 70 degrees to a windy 55. BRRRR! We ended up moving our little get-together to the nearby coffee shop for hot chocolate.

Tomorrow we start tearing apart our bathroom for real (there was some talk about doing it a few weekends ago) so wish us luck!

Spring-like Weather!

2011-02-22T08:37:00.001-05:00

Last week we were spoiled and teased with spring-like weather for several days. It got up to 75degrees a couple of days, giving us perfect outside weather! Of course, now it is right back down in the 40s, complete with dreary grey skies and the sniffles and coughs that accompany 30degree temperature shifts from one day to the next.

everything stops when a plane flies overhead.

working on our soccer skills! Uncle Chris should be proud!

Valentine’s Day

2011-02-15T21:16:00.001-05:00

Valentine’s day seems like such a different holiday from the one that used to be celebrated before Shane and I were a couple, or even in our early years of dating and marriage. This year, we still bought cards for each other and for Trevor, but our celebration of “love” was not centered on the idea of romantic love, but focused on family love—the three of us, how much we love it being just the three of us, and for the day, we took the time to think about just that.

We started the day with Trevor making a card for me at child care at the Y. It was so nice, definitely a card that I am going to cherish forever. After naps, we headed to run some errands, and by the time we got home, Shane was home from work.

It got up to about 70 degrees in the afternoon, so we packed up the car with picnic stuff, grabbed dinner from Panera and headed to the park. We had a picnic dinner and then Trevor played on the playground and walked around the docks until the sun was setting. It was so nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air for once. I do think that these random spring-like days are a tease---come on Spring! Stick around for a while!

Once we got home for the evening, we spent the evening reading books and baking cookies as a family. It was a perfect day. The best Valentine’s day ever!

Superbowl!

2011-02-06T20:32:00.001-05:00

As I type this it is half time of the super bowl, and so far it has been a decent game…the Black Eyed Peas gave an awesome show at half-time and Christina Aguilera royally botched the National Anthem….so, a good evening over all. We are just spending the night at home, and even Trevor is enjoying the game….from his Kansas City blanket!

As we say around our house….there’s always next year.

Happy Sunday!

City Park with Chase

2011-02-04T12:26:00.001-05:00

You may recall from our Halloween post that Trevor has a little friend (well, not little, he’s actually bigger than Trevor) named Chase. Anyway, so last weekend we got the boys together to go to Portsmouth’s City Park. The boys had a great time playing on the jungle gym and going down the slides, and an even better time feeding the ducks.

(photo from Jenn—thanks!)

(another one of jenn’s)

i love this picture of shane and trev

and it is a close tie for this one too

Trevor was so excited to see the duck swim under the bridge! He had to climb up to get a better view…and scared the daylights out of me in the process!

Chase and Trevor giving high-fives before we headed home.

(again, one of Jenn’s pictures)

Virginia Air and Space Center

2011-02-04T08:16:00.001-05:00

Trevor’s love affair with airplanes started early last summer when we began to spend long afternoons in the pool out back. One of his favorite things to do was to sit on the steps into the pool and watch the planes fly overhead. The love of planes got stronger when we flew out to Kansas to attend Liz and Daryl’s wedding in Ames, Iowa.

A couple weekends ago we took Trevor up to the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, VA. Trevor had an amazing time and loved looking at all the airplanes hanging up in the building as well as getting to walk through two different planes and sit in the cockpit of a couple others. Many of the smaller exhibits were over his head (they are interactive things meant for upper elementary and above). That just means that we will be able to take him back again when he is older and he will still be able to get something out of it.

Swim Lesson Update

2011-01-17T17:05:00.001-05:00

I don’t have any photos to share from the last week or so, but I can update you on how swim lessons went this Saturday. This was Trevor’s second lesson…he has four more to go after this. I spoke with the instructor after the lesson this week and she told me that Trevor was a different child this week. We arrived a little earlier this week to give him time to play and get used to being in the pool, and once the lesson started, Shane took him into the big part of the pool and I left the deck and hopped on the treadmill for the rest of the time. I am so glad that Trevor is doing well in the lessons, it will make our summer days spent in the pool a little more enjoyable.

In other news….you may have noticed on here and in my updates on Facebook that we have been spending a lot of time at the gym. In the spirit of starting anew for 2011, we have joined our local YMCA and have been taking full advantage of our membership on there. I really want to make a change for the better as far as my health and lifestyle are concerned (Shane can speak for himself….who knows what his plans are haha!). Losing all of this extra weight is going to be a great start for me…I’ve been blogging about that, and other stuff on my other blog…which will be shared at a much later date…until then, swim lessons and other Trevor antics are going to continue to be the main feature here.

Have a great week!

Swim Lessons

2011-01-12T20:36:00.001-05:00

This past Saturday, we started Trevor in swim lessons at the YMCA. He spent a lot of time in the pool in our backyard last year, but these classes are all about them feeling comfortable and confident in the water. For it being his first time in an indoor pool, he did pretty well with the class. There was a little fussing here and there, but part of it was that Shane was hanging out on the deck while we were in the pool, and he wanted to be able to go see what Daddy was doing. Trevor is smart—he saw an out and was going for it! Anyway, here are some pictures from our first week of lessons:

4th Wedding Anniversary

2011-01-03T08:35:00.001-05:00

On December 30th, we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary while we were in CT. My aunt and uncle surprised us by taking us up to Foxwoods for dinner and to see Carrie Underwood in concert. We had an amazing time, and our seats were out of this world! Thanks so much Carol and Dino!

December 30, 2006:

December 30, 2010:

Trip to CT

2011-01-03T08:25:00.001-05:00

Once the roads had gotten better (and I mean that relatively) we packed up and headed to Connecticut to visit family. We had a great time seeing everyone again, and Trevor loved getting outside to play in the snow up there. Here are some photos from our trip up:

Snow for Grampy’s Birthday

2011-01-01T12:13:00.001-05:00

Christmas night, it started snowing, and by Sunday morning, everything was covered! It snowed all day and by the time that it finally stopped, we had about 14”. Needless to say, we were snowed in. We never get that much snow here, so the area isn’t prepared to clear it at all. We spent the day watching movies, venturing outside now and then to shovel the driveway (with a broom and our trench-digging shovel) and for a few minutes with Trevor. He didn’t last long—his snow suit was from last year and did. not. fit. Christopher got him into it, but he was NOT comfortable. Thank goodness we were able to get a new one for him before we headed to CT.

Sunday was also my dad’s birthday, so after dinner we celebrated with ice cream cake! Trevor was in heaven!

Merry Christmas!

2011-01-01T11:52:00.001-05:00

Christmas Day, Trevor woke up around 7:30 and was ready to go. Shane kept Trevor back in our room for a little bit while the rest of us got coffee going and took care of the dogs outside. Once we were ready to go, Trevor came running down the hallway from our room. When he got to the living room and saw all of the presents piled up by the tree, he backed right out of the room! It was too adorable!

After opening up some presents, we took a break and had breakfast before heading to Norfolk to go to church. Once we returned from mass, we settled in for another round of opening presents. Later on in the day we made a delicious ham dinner and just enjoyed hanging out around the house watching Trevor play with his new toys. He was a very lucky boy this year, and got more toys than imaginable! It has been a week since Christmas now, and he still hasn’t even gotten half of his presents out of their boxes to play with them.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-01T08:33:00.001-05:00

This year we spent Christmas at our house and my parents came down to stay with us. While we were waiting for them to arrive on Christmas eve, we kept busy by baking cookies (or at least, trying, to bake cookies) and visiting with Uncle Cliff, who stopped by for a visit.

After my parents arrived, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of lasagna before heading out to check out some amazing Christmas light displays at houses near where we live. I have a video I need to figure out how to upload of it, but this one house had music and crazy lights in time with the music…it was amazing!

After we returned from seeing the lights, we each got to open one present—Christmas pajamas! After he was in his pajamas, Trevor set out milk and cookies for Santa and was off to bed.

Hey there, Santa!

2010-12-22T18:19:00.001-05:00

Trevor went to visit Santa Claus today! He did so great!

All smiles for the man in the red suit! (This is Trevor’s shy face. Well, part of it. It is more of a shy act.)

Favorite Things

2010-12-18T08:17:00.001-05:00

Since it started playing, I have had my radio tuned to XM 23 Holly…Christmas music all the time. I have heard the My Favorite Things song a million times already, so this morning, I thought I would share two of my favorite things with everyone. (And reveal some drastic changes that were made last night)

So, before I slide (literally, our sidewalk is still ice since we here in Southeast VA don’t own a snow shovel) out the door to pageant rehearsal, are our two favorite things on this cold December morning:

snuggling on the couch in pajamas watching Mickey Mouse

and, dying your hair a delicious shade of milk chocolate brown :)

Happy Saturday!

Virginia Living Museum

2010-12-12T17:26:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, our friends Mandy and Paul came down from Richmond with their twin boys to visit and have a play date with Trevor. The boys had such a great time that we knew we needed to get them together again soon. Mandy’s mom had the outstanding idea of taking the twins to the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News and she and Mandy invited us to come along. We all had a great time, and the museum was awesome. They had tons of interactive stuff for kids to do (of course, the boys are too young right now) but it is something that we can go back and do again once they are older. It is actually much closer than we thought it was—and on the drive up there, we discovered a cute area of Newport News called Hilton Village. Shane and I are hoping to get back up there to do some exploring eventually.

Here are some of the pictures of our adventure:

Mandy and I strolling with the boys

we then thought it was a good idea to let Trevor and Caleb run free!

Trevor wouldn’t climb into the turtle shell, so we had him sit on it instead.

this, i think, was the best photo of the day—all three boys looking AND smiling!

passed out on the ride home!

confession: the adorable blue corduroy train overalls that Trevor is wearing in all these photos—belonged to my brother back in the day. circa 1994 we think. goes to show, Oshkosh is always in style :)

Deck the Halls

2010-12-09T20:59:00.001-05:00

We began decorating for Christmas this past weekend…so far we just have the advent wreath and tree up, but we still have more to go. Shane is waiting for the sub-arctic temperatures to take a break so that he can put the lights up outside. I think it should be in the 40s tomorrow, so maybe the warmer weather (and I mean that relatively) will get him outside and motivated to climb up on the ladder to put the lights on the roof.

So far one thing I have noticed that is different this year is Trevor’s reaction to all things Christmas. Everything seems so magical to him—the lights, the sounds…everything. He loves to go into the kitchen and dance to the Christmas music that I have constantly playing in there…every morning as soon as he gets to the living room after running down the hallway he lets out a big “OOOOO!” when he spots the tree. As the holidays this year are turning out to be so much more magical for Trevor, the holidays are becoming more and more meaningful for Shane and I.

With all the cheer that has taken residence at our house, I am ready to settle in for the evening and take care of my favorite holiday activity—Christmas cards! Hope the holiday cheer is taking up residence at your house too!

Thanksgiving Travels

2010-12-04T18:24:00.002-05:00

As per our usual routine, we headed up to Connecticut to spend Thanksgiving with my family. We left here on Wednesday afternoon, drove to my mom’s house in NoVa and then we all drove up to CT together on Thanksgiving morning. The drive up wasn’t as bad as I would have thought—but am I the only person who thinks there was way more traffic on the roads Thanksgiving morning than there was last year?! Still, not bad—we even got to see some snow as we were passing through Delaware and the southern part of Jersey.

We were in CT Thursday through Sunday morning and we had a great time. Trevor loved spending time with his cousin Connor and the two of them had a blast. On Friday the boys (with the exception of Trev) went out bowling and to a hockey game, so it gave me some nice time to spend with my aunt and grandmother. It was a great time and I hope to be back on the road up there soon—after Christmas maybe?? Shane has a hankerin’ to go skiing, so I think it might be a MUST.

The Holiday Season Begins!

2010-12-04T14:53:00.001-05:00

To kick off the holiday season this year, we decided to head to Norfolk for the Grand Illumination Parade. On that night, all of the skyline of downtown Norfolk and Portsmouth are illuminated at once and then there is a huge parade through Downtown Norfolk. Trevor had a great time sitting up on Shane’s shoulders watching all of the different bands and floats go by.

Trick-or-Treating!

2010-11-04T16:47:00.001-04:00

This year we actually took Trevor trick-or-treating. He had an AMAZING time!

We went with our friends Jenn and Matt, who have a little boy named Chase who is the same age as Trevor. The two of them were so adorable going around together and they both had a great time. Trevor was unsure of what he was doing at first, but after a couple of houses he figured it out and was OFF!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-01T08:31:00.001-04:00

We had been so busy that we didn’t get to carving our pumpkins until about 4:30pm on Halloween afternoon. We had a great time though, and Trevor even participated a bit!

Halloween/All Saint’s Day Celebration @SHC

2010-10-31T16:14:00.001-04:00

Today at work, we invited all the kids in the program to dress up as their favorite Saint…not that the church discourages the celebration of Halloween—we are all for it! We just figured that we could combine our feast day celebration for tomorrow (All Saint’s Day) with the fun of Halloween (dressing up) into one educational event. My kids came wearing awesome outfits and had a lot of stuff to share about who they were dressed up as. I could tell that a lot of time and effort went on at home to make all the great costumes. I can’t share any of my student’s photos on here, but I will share with you my costume. Both Amy and I dressed up for the occasion:

I was St. Joan of Arc and Amy was Saint Lucy!

Halloween Party!

2010-10-31T16:00:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we threw a Halloween party for Trevor and all of his little friends. Everyone dressed up and had a great time!!

goodie bags and treats

my scaredy-cat veggie tray!

craft time!!

ghost bowling

Handy Trevor!

2010-10-29T13:37:00.001-04:00

No, Trevor’s halloween costume for this year is not Handy Manny. It is even better, and Shane and I will match…it is going to be great….once I finish the costumes (read: halloween sweat shop in my kitchen tonight).

Anyway, so as everyone probably knows, we are undergoing a renovation and construction project at Sacred Heart. They really got into the heavy work the past month and a half and it is so exciting to see it progress every day. I have some awesome pictures to share, but I can save those for another post.

Yesterday, I was over at the church running copies on our RISO machine (read: ancient glorified ditto machine), and Fr. Dan stopped by to say hi to Trevor and I before heading to the hospital. Fr. then takes Trevor outside to watch the construction workers for a bit---Trevor is FASCINATED by the workers and all their machines. Ten minutes later, Father Dan comes back in (sans Trevor, mind you) and says, “Don’t you have your phone on you?” At this point, I grab my phone thinking I need to call 911 and see that he had sent me a message. That message contained the following picture:

Trevor was out on the bobcat, pretending that he was digging the foundation for the new building.

So we then went outside to where Trevor was making outstanding friends with the guys out there. What will I do to keep my child entertained after the project is finished??

25th Birthday and a Busy Weekend

2010-10-25T08:17:00.001-04:00

Friday was my 25th birthday, and thanks to Shane and all of my friends, it was a great day. I got to spend most of the day at home with Trevor just hanging out and working on halloween costumes and relaxing so that was nice. Liz and Daryl from Iowa (Liz’s birthday was Friday too—love you babe!) sent one of those edible arrangements, and that was a great surprise. That evening, we got a sitter for Trevor and headed out to dinner with some friends. Thanks for coming guys!

trevor snagged a grape and was surprised at what it tasted like.

michelle provided some delicious cupcakes—check out the advertising :) YOU can support Sweet Temptations Cupcakes too—check it out on Facebook!

Saturday my parents came to visit and in the afternoon we headed out to Virginia Beach for Miss Caylee’s 2nd birthday party. It was a great time and Trevor had a blast. By the end of the day, we were all exhausted, so we hung out at the house with my parents…I was the first to go to bed (I must be getting old) since I had to get up for work in the morning.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-22T10:51:00.001-04:00

This past Sunday we took Trevor our to Hunt Club to pick out pumpkins for Halloween. While we were there we also went on a hayride and Trevor got to go to the petting farm again. He had a great time!

Recap

2010-10-22T10:42:00.001-04:00

I cannot believe that it has been almost two months since the last time I posted….well, actually I can, but I just don’t want to admit it. I will try to recap everything…it is going to be disjointed, but hopefully pictures will redeem my poor english and lack of planning this post out well.

Since our Labor Day, my R.E. program started back up at work. We are undergoing construction, so are in temporary office and classroom space (read: the offices took over the rectory, and we holding classes within moveable partitions in our commons area—until that goes under construction, then who knows. Anyway, so work has kept me super busy. On top of that, Labor Day weekend I started back up with school, taking two classes, which finished last week.

As far as a family as a whole, we have been looking into preschools for Trevor to go to and are on the waiting list at three great places in Ghent, praying that we get a spot this year, but feeling like it may be the summer or fall before we secure a spot for good. We have done some decorating for fall, which Trevor loves. We have a ghost, cat and pumpkin decorations that sit in our front window and he loves to stand by the window with them and talk to them about what he sees outside. Trevor has also made a new “friend” in the scarecrow that we have in the front yard. He always stops while he is outside to say hello and goodbye to it.

Petting Farm

2010-09-09T22:29:00.001-04:00

On Monday, we decided to take Trevor to the petting farm out at Hunt Club Farm in Virginia Beach.

Trevor had a great time seeing all of the animals up close—especially the sheep. He wasn’t too sure about feeding the animals, as they got pretty pushy, but he was fine doing it with a little help. He also got to go on his first pony ride, which was tons of fun!

No Greens Fees Here!

2010-09-09T22:21:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, we had our friends Michelle, Nick and their daughter Blair over for some swimming and a cookout. Since the weather was going to be so nice, we planned on spending the whole afternoon outside—so we pulled all of Trevor’s outside toys from the garage to the backyard for them to play with. While we were doing this Trevor played with his little golf set, hitting the balls around (sometimes) and pushing his golf bag around from place to place in the backyard. Maybe I have found my excuse for getting both Shane and Trevor out of the house for a few hours on the weekends…..when Trevor is old enough of course.

“We’re not buying a car today…”

2010-09-02T20:34:00.001-04:00

Famous last words.

For real.

Last Friday, Shane got off work early so we decided that it was a good time for us to take the Nissan in for its state inspection. We switched the carseat into the Jeep and got ready to go. We drop off the Nissan at the shop and get back into the car. Shane says, “Let’s go look at the new Toyota Siennas.” We have been looking at them online and stuff, but wanted to see one in person, just to see what they were all about. Of course, Shane’s suggested activity was followed by me reciting “We aren’t buying a car today. We are NOT buying a car today.” Right—long story short, we go to dealership, they show us how awesome the new Siennas are, make us a killer deal on one, give us an even better deal on our trade in and off we went…..owners of a 2011 Toyota Sienna.

It is a minivan, yes, but it is the sweetest minivan ever. I am in LOVE.

And for your entertainment, may I present….the SWAGGER WAGON.

Visiting the Millers

2010-09-02T20:24:00.001-04:00

This year we made it back up to see our friends Ben and Heather. Trevor stayed with my parents while we went up, so it was a good break for Shane and I. We drove up to my parents on Friday and waited for them at the house while they were on their way back from dropping my brother off at WVU. Trevor made himself right at home and became best friends with my parent's dogs.

Shane and I left on Saturday morning and drove up to Heather’s grandparent’s house in Carlisle, PA, where we spent the day with her family. That night we went back to their house in Hagerstown, MD to hang out and then spent the day at Augustoberfest the next day before heading back to Woodbridge to pick Trevor up.

And then our camera died….

2010-09-02T17:04:00.001-04:00

To be more specific, despite all our efforts to “protect” the camera while on the beach, sand got in our lens and our trusty camera was done for.

Sooooooo….I did my research, realized that I wasn’t ready to make the commitment to a digital slr, and bought a new camera…and its pretty sweet. Have you seen the Sony Cybershot commercials with Taylor Swift taking the sweep panorama photos? That’s the one! We love it!

Yay for new cameras Mommy!

Kure Beach 2010

2010-09-02T16:57:00.001-04:00

This was our third year of spending a week at the beach in North Carolina. We stayed in the same condo this year that we did last year and had a great time! Trevor was able to do so much more this year, and as the week went on he got more and more comfortable on the beach. We also spent some time away from the beach doing some sightseeing, which was fun too.

Our first day there was rainy so after church, we drove into Wilmington to go to the Children’s Museum.

We stopped off to see the animals at the zoo…

Shane and Daddy having fun at the condo

On the ferry heading to Southport for the day

Hanging out on the beach!

Dinner our last night in town and then watching the fireworks on the boardwalk!

Two Stowaways in our Suitcases

2010-09-02T16:31:00.001-04:00

When we returned home from Liz and Daryl’s wedding, Shane’s mother and cousin Jonie met us at the airport in Kansas City and flew back with us. They stayed with us for a week and while we were here we had tons of fun showing them around!

Liz and Daryl’s Wedding

2010-08-15T20:10:00.001-04:00

Friday morning we got up early and drove from Kansas City up to Ames, Iowa. The drive was really pretty and other than a little rain in Des Moines, we had no problems on our way up.

Once we got to Ames, we got settled into our hotel and then Liz, Suzie (Liz’s older sister) and I headed out to get our nails done for the big day. That night we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was at this restaurant on the Iowa State campus up on the 7th floor and it overlooked the entire campus. It was such a beautiful view! After the dinner, all of us ladies headed out for Liz’s bachelorette party and had an absolute blast!

The day of the wedding we started the morning out by getting going to get our hair done and spending some girl time together. From there, we made a quick stop by the hotel to pick up our dresses and then were off to the church!

The ceremony was beautiful…I, of course, cried my way through it…After pictures at the church, and then on the Iowa State campus (which is GORGEOUS, by the way) we were off to celebrate at the reception.

Congrats Liz and Daryl—Best wishes for a lifetime of love and laughter!

Visiting in KC, MO

2010-08-11T21:56:00.001-04:00

My childhood best friend Liz got married this summer to a wonderful man named Daryl. The wedding was taking place in Ames, Iowa and for the sake of cheaper airfare, we decided to fly into Kansas City, spend a day with friends and Shane’s family and then drive up to Ames for the wedding.

Thursday, July 22, we flew to Kansas City. It was the first time Trevor had been on a plane and he did really well. There was so much going on that he was distracted and entertained the entire time, so there were no meltdowns—which I was very worried about.

Once we landed in Kansas City, we were greeted by Shane’s parents and brother and sister-in-law. We visited while we collected our luggage and then everyone headed to our friend Todd and Sarah’s house a few minutes away. Everyone just enjoyed they day together watching the kids play (Todd and Sarah have a 2 1/2 year old son, Aiden). It was nice to visit with everyone. Later in the evening, Shane’s family left to head back home, while we stayed the night at Todd and Sarah’s house so we could rest up for the next part of our trip.

Here are some pictures of the day in Kansas City, Missouri: