Party on the Plaza

Our neighbor invited us to go up to Party on the Plaza tonight. It is put on by Anderson Township monthly and there is music and food and drinks with everything for $3 or less. For my Ann Arbor friends and family, it reminded me a lot of Top of the Park just not quite as big. Chris was on his way back from a business trip so I lugged the kids up along side my neighbor with her 4 girls. It was a lot of fun. The kids had fun running, exploring, dancing, feeding the fish and ducks, and just being silly together. I enjoyed being out of the house and watching the kids go crazy. It was also nice to do something that reminded me so much of home. Chris got back in town around 7pm and met us up there for about 45 minutes. In all we were there for a little over 2 hours. I'm so glad Stephanie invited us and we were able to go.

Below are a few videos I took of the kids dancing, I think they're pretty funny :) Enjoy!

New Appliances are HERE!

So when I went to buy the appliances I  found a refrigerator that I LOVED and we measured it 3 times at the store to be sure it would fit. And when it got here today.....it didn't fit. But have no fear, my amazing husband is here! After seeing that the refrigerator bowed at the top to be about 1/4" too high for our opening he decided to call our contractor and have him saw the bottom of the cabinet off in order to make it work. And now if fits and you can't even tell what we did to the cabinets. So here's the final product:

And we used the new stove to make chocolate chip pancakes, the long oval burner in the middle worked great with our griddle!

And here's the dishwasher, we haven't used it yet, but I know we will soon :)

I'm so happy to have working appliances that look good too!

New Appliances

From about day one of moving in it was clear we were going to need new appliances. When the former owners bought the house 6 years ago they redid the kitchen, but either didn't put in new appliances or put in really cheap appliances. I would guess that they didn't do new ones since the dishwasher is a style they don't make anymore and when you use the oven everything on top of the stove gets hot too. Besides the appliances being crappy we really miss having an extra refrigerator in the garage, we had one in Dexter and it was SO handy! And we had a double oven range in Dexter that was spectacular so we wanted to get one again.

So  I've been looking up appliances and researching them for the past month and finally today I decided to take the plunge and get it done. The size opening in the cabinets for the refrigerator limited us greatly on size. It looked like we were going to have to get a smaller refrigerator that would leave 1-2 inch gaps all the way around, yuck. Then I came across Kenmore and they had ones that would fix the EXACT size of the opening, they were the ONLY company with the right dimensions for us. We've done Kenmore in the past and had no problems so it seemed like it would be good. They also had a matching gas range with double ovens and a matching dishwasher - score! I took Brenden and Rylan with me to Sears today and we found exactly what we wanted AND they had a buy more save more so we got an additional 20% for buying 3 appliances - Wooo Hoooo! I'm so excited to have new appliances again and they come Thursday so I don't have to wait much longer!

So here's what I got!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms in my life! You are all very special to me and have helped me in countless days. I hope that you know how much you are loved and needed.

As for my family, they have treated me to a lovely Mother's Day Weekend. Chris started it with bringing home flowers on Friday:

And Jake gave me one of his gifts as well, a tea cup he colored with a poem on it and a packet of tea to enjoy:

And then today, Jake also brought me a nice note that he made of all the reasons why he loves me - some of them were quite funny, like that I make him nutritious dinners :) And after I got up there were cards from Chris and the kids and Michigan Themed gifts now that I'm an Ohio momma :) My family knows me too well!

Chris has let me sleep in both days and the kids are on a mission today to give me a yelling and screaming free day - the only thing I asked for :) It's a rainy day so we'll probably lay low and just hang home for the day. There was talk of going out to brunch, but really I'd rather just cozy up on the sofa and relax for the day. No matter what, I'll be happy as long as I have my family!

Alligators, Soccer, and Swim Lessons

About a month ago when we moved Jake brought home an assignment to do a report and project on Alligators. We of course waited until the last minute to get it done. The week before it was due we helped Jake gather facts about Alligators on the internet and out of a book his Grandman gave him, but we waited until the day before it was due to put it all together. And I have to say, Jake did a very nice job. We looked through pictures and picked ones out to print. He then cut them out, pasted them on poster board, and wrote down facts under the pictures. And for his report he put the facts he found into sentences in a 4 page report. Not too bad for a seven year old, and he even got a check plus for both the poster board and the report :)

Before we moved here I looked online to see if I could find anything to sign the boys up for so that they would have something to do and another way for them to make friends. During my search I came across a Soccer League through the local YMCA that looked perfect. It was for one night a week of practice for an hour and games on Saturday. The coordinator was nice enough to help me get signed up by faxes and emails since we wouldn't be moved before the sign up deadline. The league began this week and so far was a huge success. Brenden is on a team of 5 & 6 six year old boys and girls and practice for one hour on Wednesdays at 6pm. And Jake is on a team of 7 & 8 year old boys and girls that practice right after Brenden. Chris was out of town for this week so Rylan, the boys, and I headed up just before 6pm and stayed until the end at 8pm. All the kids did great, the boys played  with other kids when it wasn't their practice and Rylan played the whole time. It seems like it will be a very good league for the boys. They have one more practice before games start, but they are both excited for next week.

 

And last for me, Swim lessons. I have been having a terrible time trying to find a dive coach job since I've been here. I've had a lot of leads, but nothing has been able workout. I thought I might have a chance at the University of Cincinnati job, but it turns out it wouldn't pay enough to make up for any childcare expenses I would have. So instead of completely giving up I took the suggestion from my neighbor and applied to be a Swim Lesson Instructor at the Mercy HealthPLEX.. It is quite an impressive place, it seems to be a Rec center, spa, and doctors office all rolled into one. They offer lots of different stuff and have daycare for kids when you're at the center. I had an hour long interview today and at the end I was offered the job and told she would also list me a supervisor material if I wanted to do that in the future when the kids were older. If I work 10 hr/wk I will get a membership for myself that may include being able to drop off Brenden and Rylan while I teach lessons - Bonus! And its only about 2 miles away from my house - Double Bonus! And since I have coaching experience I might be able to help their swim team as well - Triple Bonus! I know I haven't been a swimmer for 20 years and I haven't coached swimming in 15 years, but I love coaching and I'm good at it so if all I can do now is teach swim lessons and maybe coach a swim team I'll take it!