Done with school!

I realized I needed to post an update on school! I AM DONE! My survived my first semester of full time grad school. YEA! And I got a 4.0. SUPER YEA! It was a lot of hard work but I learned a LOT and had a great time. Grad school is a lot more challenging than undergrad. I was really stretched.

I relished the time I spent in class each week. I felt like a woman, an intelligent human being, whose only objective was to learn and better herself. It was very nice to think about myself for a few hours every week instead of taking care of everyone else.

I told Aaron I still wanted to go out for a couple of hours every week by myself, to get away, be by myself, and read or write. School has been out for 3+ weeks and I've gone out once. Sigh....it is hard to carve out time when you are a busy mom. 

Looking forward to a break this summer but I am excited about next semester too. I am taking Seminar in Jane Austin, Victorian Lit, and Christian Poetics. :) :) :) 

WICKED!!!!!

We finally did it! Aaron and I went to see Wicked this weekend. We have been wanting to see the musical since we were dating. We promised each other that we would go see it in NYC for our first anniversary. Well, number 1 came around and I was 5 months preggo with twins. Then last year we were moving into our house our anniversary weekend. So, when I saw that Wicked was coming to Norfolk VA (about 4 hours from our house, at the coast) I jumped at the chance to get tickets. So, we did!

We left yesterday (Saturday) afternoon and drove 4 hours to Norfolk. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel right on the bay. It was really nice. After we checked in we walked to Outback Steakhouse. We both had steak, potatoes, and ceacer salad. I also had some scallops. YUM! Then we walked to the theater, about a mile a way. The weather was perfect. 

The play started at 8pm. We were in the second to last row in the balcony. We needed some tissues for our nosebleeds. Just kidding, they weren't that bad. The set was really cool, the lighting was amazing, and the voices were phenomenal. The girl who played Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) was mesmerizing. I was on the edge of my seat for all her solos. Wow. It was wonderful!!!

They had lots of "Wicked" paraphernalia to buy so Aaron let me buy a shirt (even though it was $35!!! EEK!) It is really cute: pink, short sleeves, that says "Popular" on the front in really whimsical lettering. For those of you who have seen the musical, it is the title of one of the songs that Glinda sings. It was too cute to pass up. 

The play got over at 11pm and we walked back to the hotel and then walked along the waterfront for a while. So romantic!

The next morning, we got breakfast at Micky D's and drove home. The boys and dog were very glad to see us. My best friend Candace stayed over with them and said they were very good. The didn't cry at all. Heh. They saved up all their crying for me when they got up from their nap and while Aaron was at youth group tonight. Oh well. Such is being a mother. It was nice to just think about being a wife for one night though. It was unforgettable! Happy 3rd Anniversary Aaron! 

Richmond Adventure

We had a really good past weekend. Aaron took off on Friday to get some school work done and work on our deck that we are building. It was nice to have him home for the day.

On Saturday, we got up at 6:30 and left at 7:45 to head to Richmond VA. (We were supposed to leave at 7am. But with two babies, what can you do?) It is about 2 hours to Richmond. We were going to visit Aaron's sister Angela for the day. Angela's husband, Pat's sister was graduating from college and his whole family was up to celebrate. (I hope you can follow that). We spend Christmas with Pat's family as well and we really enjoyed our time with them. They are a really easy family to hang out with and fun too. 

We met them at Golden Corral and fed the boys some breakfast. First I had to change Micah's clothes because he had shook his entire sippy cup of water out on his lap. He was soaked. The boys really enjoyed running around after being in the car for 2 hours. 

After breakfast/brunch we went to the hotel  and went swimming. They had an indoor pool and it was so warm. Benji was a little hesitant at first but he starting having fun after a few minutes in the water. Micah LOVED it! He didn't want to be held and was so squirmy. He wanted to "swim" away. He loved it when we dunked him under the water (if you blow in a toddlers' face RIGHT before you dunk them, they will hold their breath for the moment you dunk them under). Both boys loved to "jump" off the side. We sat them on the edge and said "jump!" and they would lean forward and scoot their butt off. My arms were so sore the next day from lifting them up and down so many times. We had a blast. Poor Aunt Angela got peed on twice. Once by Micah while she was holding him on her lap by the pool and once by Benji when he was running around the hotel room naked and sprayed a stream 4 feet across the room. :) 

After swimming and showering we ate lunch with Pat, Angela and their boys at Five Guys at about 2:00. Poor babies were so tired! The slept just about the whole way home. Micah kept waking up and crying because he was hot but he didn't want to let go of his blankie. 

We rushed home and got Goldie (who had been in our bedroom all day) and then rushed to Aaron's first softball game of the season. He has played with a church league with some of the guys from his work for the past 3 years. He got the first run of the game (a HOMERUN!) and they won both of their games. YEA! The boys had SO much fun. Micah ran around the whole time and wanted to sit on the bench with all the other players. He played with the extra bats and balls and rubbed his hands in the dirt. Benji cheered the entire game. He said YEA YEA YEA!!! every time anyone hit the ball, on either team. Both boys said YEA DA DA! It was so cute. We had a blast. 

Ummm...no.

Benji is staring to talk a lot these days. He understands even more than he can say and when we ask the "right" question, he responds in a very enthusiastic and high pitched, "YEAH!"

He has also learned to say "no." More precisely he often says "umm....no." It is so cute. He really draws out the "ummm..." like he is thinking about it. 

The other day Aaron was watching the boys while I was at class and he was asking Benji all kinds of questions, all to which Benji was answering "ummm...no." Finally, Aaron asked him, "Can you say anything else?" Benji answered very matter-of-factly, "Yeah!"

Aaron: "Well, what else can you say?"

Benji: "Ummm....no." 

:) :) :)