Our first house

Many, many years ago, Brian and I bought out very first house.  

We weren't married yet - heck we weren't even engaged!  But we knew we wanted to live together and didn't want to waste money on rent and we were both committed to the fact that we were going to be together forever so, we took the plunge.

Our house was a little split level in my little farm  hometown and backed up to a farm  and the open space on one side.   

We had only intended on living there for about 5 years. 

We were there for 11 years.  Funny how that works!

Can you tell I am drawn to grey houses with red doors?  

This was the perfect starter house and by the time Brian and I were done with it, it was totally reconfigured.  I don't have the greatest pictures, in fact I JUST found these much to my delight! 

This is the back yard.  We installed that patio the summer after Sydney was born and planted those lelands at the back property line a year or so before that. 

The deck and pergola were there when we moved in.  I loved it but the deck was very small and the wisteria just tore that poor pergola up. 

The kitchen/dining area used to be two separate rooms.  We knocked out the wall to make a half wall, made the range hood and installed wood flooring.  The cabinets were awesome - custom made - so we didn't mess with them.  I always intended to change the counter tops but never got around to it.  The kitchen was very small but so cozy.  I wish I had more pictures.  The support beam in the ceiling was covered with a wood enclosure to look like an exposed beam and I loved it. 

Our family room was quite big.  Originally, it was a family room and really big laundry room.  I decided I didn't need a laundry room that big, so we - once again - knocked out the wall separating the two and installed a bar for entertaining and made a very small laundry room.

I love wainscotting and stained very stinking piece of it myself.  I love the warmness of wood...

This used to be part of the laundry room.

We threw a ton of parties down here. I miss my bar.  When we sold the house, the buyer told me that as soon as her husband came downstairs into the nice big family room with the bar, he looked at her and said "That's it.  This is the house."

I hear they are very happy there.

And finally, our bedroom.  Brian loves red and requested a red bedroom.  It was soooo cozy. 

No pictures of the girls rooms or the dining room (which I turned into a playroom for the girls)  I'm going to try and dig up more pictures.

I miss our little house, but that's exactly what it was  - little.  The girls barely had rooms - more like closets, there was no storage and the street was getting busy which meant I wasn't comfortable with the girls playing out front, walking to a friends house or riding their bikes. 

Our little house served us very well for a very long time and we put our heart and soul into it.  We moved in  as a couple and left as a family of four.  

And the mortgage payment was much nicer. Ha! 

March

As in - holy crap it's 75 degrees in MARCH!!! 

We've been spending a lot of time outside.  I've been spending a lot of time walking the yard, looking at all my daffodils that have bloomed, my forsythia that has completely blossomed in all its golden yellow goodness and my grass that needs to be mowed - already.  (OK, it's WAY too early for that)

All that is to say, we're just enjoying life over here - taking lots of walks with the neighbors (we call them rolling happy hours because we all grab a drink and walk and talk) lots of runs with my hubby, lots of bike rides with the kiddos and lots of ball throwing with the boys. 

I took off the entire week of the girls spring break and  Brian and I are going away by ourselves for a few days and then the girls and I will hang out and do fun stuff - I"m hoping this amazing weather holds.  I wanted to go see the Cherry Blossoms, but they are in full bloom already and will likely be done by the time we could get down there the first of April. 

I picked out all my plants and started organizing what will go in all my pots.  Of course, I'm doing this in my head because with my luck I'll move my trees outside and plant some containers and we'll go from 75 degrees in March to 6 inches of snow in April.  We had our one and only snow storm in October so it's only fitting we should close out winter with a spring blizzard. 

 I officially have Spring Fever. 

That's OK - I'll take the elevator.

Going to my third Boot Camp class tonight - AND I ran a few mornings too. 

What? 

  I KNOW right? 

Each time is less painful than the last.  Thank God.

But I still avoid stairs.  At. All. Costs. 

In other news, we have gone two straight days without anyone home sick!  Brian got the stomach flu on Tuesday so he was down for the count that day.  But yesterday was pretty much the first time in two weeks that everyone was fairly healthy and back in school/work.  It was a bad 2 weeks at the Henrys, fo' shizzle. 

I have tons planned for this weekend - projects I need to get done around the house, etc. - so its a fair bet I'll accomplish nothing but laze around, maybe go see baby Nicholas (and his parents, of course), do some more reading (third book of Game of Thrones - this series is killing me but I just. can't. stop. reading.) and get in a nice long outdoor afternoon at the park with the girls.

Sounds perfect to me! 

February 25th to March 3rd

It's been a full week...

February 25th:  Beth comes into town!!  We go out to dinner and then head to a friends house for a girls night get together.  I had so much fun and I hadn't seen Beth since the Benefit Concert (for my other friend Beth  -don't get confused) and let's face it, I saw NOTHING that day if the truth be told - ha!  It was such a great night.

February 26th a.m.:  Beth leaves. Boo - it was a short trip, but seriously - chicky drove three and half hours each way to hang out with me for less than 24 hours.  She totally rocks. Love that girl!

February 26th afternoon:  Brandon and I make a late lunch/early dinner to celebrate my mama's birthday with the family at my house.  Good times are had by all.  Sydney complains of a sore throat so I give her some Tylenol and she tells me she's fine.

February 26th evening:  I notice that Olivia's jaw/under her jaw are a bit swollen and she complains that her braces have worn a sore in her mouth which she thinks might be causing it.  She's uncomfortable and - having heard from two people about their recent hospitalizations with MERSA - I figure I'm not taking any chances and Brian and I decide that she's going to the doctor in the morning.

February 26th/February 27th, middle of the night:  Sydney throws up.


February 27th:  Brian stays home with the kids and takes them to the doctor.  Sydney has strep.  Olivia does not, but her glands are swollen.  Both are put on antibiotics.

February 28th:  Brian stays home again with Sydney but Liv feels great and the doctor says she can go back to school.

February 29th:  Sydney's still not 100% so she stays with my mom.  Brian and I are in bed by 7:00 because we are both getting colds.

March 1st:  EVERYONE IS BACK AT SCHOOL/WORK!!!  I feel like crap, but since it's been so warm and I'm not running a fever I can't decide if its allergies or an actual cold.  Brian is fine by now.

March 2nd:  Sharon and Justin welcome their son into the world and I want to go see him!!! But I can't be around that sweet baby boy if I'm sick, so I go to the doctor. She sees that the girls were in earlier in the week so she orders a strep test for me.   I tell her Syd was positive for strep, but that Olivia was negative and that neither of us have ever had strep.  She bets me that I have strep.  I bet her that I don't.  I win!  But she tells me it's a cold and that I can't go near baby Nicholas for at least 24 hours by which time she thinks it'll be just about gone.  Dammit. Olivia leaves for a church retreat in Virginia with her friends' youth group.  She's excited, but very apprehensive about going since she and her friend are the youngest kids, it's not close to home, and she doesn't know all of the others very well.  Her friend's mom (who's chaperoning) assures me that she will keep an extra close eye on her for me.  Olivia texts me no less than 10 times in the hour after she leaves to tell me how much she loves me and misses me.

March 2nd, late night:  Virginia gets some wicked bad storms and I can't sleep for worrying about how Liv is doing.  She hates thunder storms and she's homesick and in a strange place and has no cell service.

March 3rd, a.m.:  I get up and haul my butt to my first fitness boot camp.  Holy kick my ass Batman!  I know I'm not going to be able to walk the next day but decide I like it.

March 3rd, evening:  With Sydney at a friends house and Olivia away at church camp, Brian and I find ourselves with a free evening!  We go to the hospital to get our baby fix and then go to dinner.

March 4th, early a.m.:  Olivia starts throwing up and they decide to leave camp early to get her home.  We get the call at about 8:00 am that she's sick and  they are on their way home.  Liv has been sick five or six times by this point but they tell me she never complained, wanted to make sure no one else was sick and didn't want everyone else to have to leave early because of her (they didn't). She's such a trooper - that girl NEVER complains and never has when she's sick.  It's a blessing and a curse - a blessing because she handles it so well, but a curse because from the time she was a little girl I never knew how sick she really was until she was really sick.   Liv comes home, climbs on the couch and promptly falls asleep.  Oh, and I can't walk. Holy pain in every muscle I have Batman.

March 4th, afternoon:  Brian and I go to Home Depot and get a shelving unit for the laundry room and I spend the next 5 hours rearranging, cleaning and hanging shelves in the laundry room all while avoiding any and all reasons to go up or down any stairs because, well, it just hurts.

March 4th, evening:  I'm sitting down, knowing it's going to hurt like hell to get up and go to bed. I'll be home tomorrow with Liv.  But Boot camp #2 is tomorrow night (lordhelpme).