Today was a big day for us! A big expensive day!

Most of the furniture Bill and I have has been handed down to us from our families. The only piece we purchased our selves was our family room couch. It was the worst piece of furniture in our home (minus my special gold chair, which will meet its demise someday...). Our couch was stained--many of the spots were just water spots but they stained nonetheless. Unfortunately none of the cushions came off this stupid couch, so you couldn't flip them or take them off to get into the couch. Things would get lost inside of it--one time we lost the remote for months until we tipped the couch over and could hear it rattling around. There was no way to get to it without cutting a hole in the bottom of the couch. So we did. Eventually the couch developed a hole between the cushions and we were able to reach our arms through the couch and get things that fell in there. The bad part was that you couldn't see in there, so you had no idea what you might be touching--dirty kleenex, fruit snacks, or worse. One day I caught Brendan dropping a stick from his pancake on a stick down there. Apparently it had become the garbage couch. The couch started to smell, it was like a combination of spoiled milk and stinky feet. Shortly thereafter a second spring broke (I'm not sure when the first one broke) and I told Bill, "that's it! We are buying a new couch!". We had to completely cut the bottom off the couch to make sure there weren't any treasures in there we had been missing (like Liam's bad guys, or princesses, or Barbies). Bill wouldn't let me take a real picture because apparently he thought we should be embarrassed about the water bottles, dried up mini donuts, and fruit snacks that were waiting for us...

Here it is, sadly waiting on the curb. A hideous beast, it is

Bill allowed me to post this picture, but know, there was a garbage bag next to the couch full of even more stuff/garbage

So, today our new couch arrived. It is a thing of beauty--to us anyway! It's firm--you don't fear getting sucked into a dark cavernous hole. It sits high enough that you don't need someone to pull you out, and most of all, there is no way that things could fall into it and disappear. I will no longer be embarrassed when my girls come over to watch The Bachelor and I have to cover the couch with a sheet as they fight over who gets to sit on the floor!

The other major purchase we made early on in our marriage was a fridge. I am notoriously frugal and decided I didn't want to spend the extra money to get one large enough to fill the space we have. Bad move. The fridge worked fine for us, but then we had babies. Then those babies became children. Those children ate food and drank milk. Suddenly our fridge was way too small. We have lived with it until now. Since we are redoing our kitchen starting next week (say a prayer for us that we don't kill each other) we decided it was a good time to purchase a new one. It came today as well! I am in love. It's LED lights are glowing and beckoning to me to fill it with food and beverages. I could fit inside it and live there, surrounded by my favorite things.

Doesn't everyone have a fridge in their dining room? 

Our cabinets also arrived today, but we are terrified and overwhelmed at the idea of opening all of them to make sure there's no damage. We will think about that tomorrow. Tomorrow, after all, is another day!

Visits with Uncle Christopher and his Princess

Bill's brother, Christopher, lives in Arizona and he comes into town about twice a year. He always finds time to play with the kids and they look forward to his visits very much. We found out that he was going to be in town for Bill, Grandpa Casey, and Brendan's birthday's (they are all within 10 days of each other). Uncle Christopher is not married, so the kids had been praying that he would meet his Princess soon, because he has, in the past, met whatever is the female version of the proverbial frog. He has been dating Jane for a while now and she was going to come for the second half of his visit. The kids have recently been praying that she would be his Princess. We tried cyber stalking her, but those darn facebook privacy settings are impossible to get around. So we were all looking forward to actually meeting her.

When he came to town, he said he would like to come to the kids' soccer practice/clinic thing--(whatever it is, it is poorly organized but it didn't cost much, so whatever). They had only had one class the week before and apparently Liam stood around the whole time--didn't enjoy running, and Rori hadn't wanted to play soccer in the first place. However, Uncle Christopher is "magical" and they played for him. I have no idea how he got them to play!

nothing like a bribe...

Scratch that, Liam played the whole time, Rori played for about a third and then found better things to do

He also tried to teach Brendan how to skip...later you will see that Uncle Christopher is an excellent skipper...

Then, Jane came into town. We were all very excited to meet her! Jane is a lovely woman that loves Uncle Christopher very much. We liked her so much that we all proposed (sorry about stealing your thunder, Uncle Christopher) but apparently it doesn't really count unless it comes from him. whatever.

Anyway, the fall colors have been so beautiful, and Jane is actually from here and it's something that she missed. So, I suggested that we do a photo shoot since they didn't have any pictures of themselves together. I'm bossy, what can I say?

Aren't they adorable?

See, he's an excellent skipper

The day they left for Arizona, the kids wanted to go to Grandma Casey's and were very sad to hear that Uncle Christopher (or as Brendan calls him "That Guy") and Princess Jane went home. We are all looking forward to the next time they are in town, and no pressure, but we are hoping Uncle Christopher has finally met his Princess!

Happy Birthday to the love of my life

Happy birthday to the most wonderful man on the planet. Ah, Bill, what on earth did I do to deserve you? I wish that I could go on and on about how wonderful you are, but we have kids that need me, and frankly I am pretty sure if I shared it all, the women of the world would all want to stab me. I might want to stab me.

He even does dishes

I just want to thank you for all that you are. You are beyond my wildest dreams. You clean throw up of the carpet like it's no big deal. You take care of me when I am sick and don't complain about being a single parent. You make dinner, you make sure I have my "me time." You listen when I talk to you. You make me laugh. I know that you would do anything for me. Even rob a bank with a very poor choice of ski mask.

Good thing we decided against that bank robbery

And I want you to know that I would do the same for you. You are my best friend, and I honestly don't know what I would do without you. I would rather spend an evening in with you, than anything else--even more than if I had the opportunity to play opposite Cary Elwes in the remake of The Princess Bride. So my dear, for the rest of my life, whatever you ask of me, my answer will be "As you wish."

Happy 2nd Birthday for the Second Time, Brendan Rhys!

That's right, I am not allowing Brendan to turn 3. Two is my favorite age in the whole world. Forget the old adage of terrible two's. I have always had so much fun with my two year olds and this was my last one. So, I am not letting him get older.

Ah, Brendan, you bring everyone around you great joy. You are HILARIOUS! When I take you to the grocery store, you charm the stock boys, the other shoppers, and of course me. I have never met a child as expressive with his face and gestures as you. I like to think you get your humor from me ;) You are polite beyond measure--you never fail to say, please, thank you, or I'm sorry and it's ridiculously cute when you say them. (That's probably a quality from Papa).

My heart hurts at the idea of you getting older. You will always be my baby, but I know that you are growing up, time is going by at breakneck speed. I want it to stop for a minute, because I have this ridiculous fear that your wife is not going to appreciate it when I come and tuck you in every night. I want to take in every vampire-ish smile, every giggle, every gesture. I enjoy the alone time we have while the others have school. Many days you just want your yo yo (pacifier) and hee hee (blankie) and just want to snuggle with me for a good half hour when we get home from drop off. I love you my sweet boy, you bring me unending joy! So Happy 2nd Birthday, for the second time Brendan Rhys!