Our Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend! It was nice to be home and just enjoy being here together. Don had a four day weekend which was an extra treat. We attempted to clean our garage out on Friday and got quite a bit accomplished actually but still have a lot to do before we try to sell our house!

Then the pool opened on Saturday! woo hoo. We were the first ones at the pool this year. The boys were thrilled. We packed a lunch and headed up to the pool that Saturday around 11:30 a.m. Last year Daddy wasn't home for pool season, so this was the first time he got to see our wild man, Samuel, splashing around in the kiddy pool and having a ball like his big brother. Samuel managed to fall off of a picnic table while we were up at the pool and crack the back of his head pretty good. ugh. He was screaming and crying but luckily he was okay. (We were also the first ones to fill out an accident report at the pool this year due to this incident).

Sunday afternoon we enjoyed more time at the pool and managed to escape without incident! Phew. The boys LOVE the pool and even though the water was close to unbearably cold they had a blast.

Monday we headed out to Great Country Farms and went strawberry pickin' with our good friend, Nelly and her two kids, Brooke (4 yrs old) and Reed (2 yrs old). We got there before the day really heated up so it was rather enjoyable. My boys (including Don) all LOVE strawberries! It was our first time picking strawberries (except for Don who had done it several times as a child). And the boys did pretty good about picking only the red ones and not actually eating them while they were picking them.

We stayed for lunch and many of the attractions that the farm has to offer... farm animals, moon bounce, playground, etc. Then we headed home for nap time.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. When I think back to what was going on in our lives last year at this time it makes me smile and thank God for all that we have as a family and that we're able to share each and every day together. We are still experiencing many firsts with Daddy and both of our boys embrace him with so much love and happiness that it's hard to imagine him ever being away from us again. I am so thankful to have our soldier home safely to share days like Memorial Day that honor those soldiers and their families who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Family Snapshot Outtakes

While we were at the wedding in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago we had my sister-in-law, Nancy Ford, take a few family photos of us. You may have noticed my new banner at the top of the blog page with the best of those photos.

What you haven't seen are the other ones that had potential to be really nice pictures but didn't quite make it! I thought I'd share those now since they make me giggle every time I look at them. These kind of show more of the boys' personalities... one of them being silly and the other one laughing along. Boys will be boys. Enjoy!

Our Trip to St. Louis

Wednesday:

On Wednesday, May 13, we loaded up the car and left for a brief stop in central Illinois and a weekend in St. Louis, Missouri. Don's cousin, Natalie, was getting married and we decided to make the trek! We left around 4 p.m. on Wednesday (after Benjamin finished up at preschool for the day) and figured we'd take our time driving out... stopped at Cracker Barrel and then drove until around 11:30 p.m. The boys now LOVE Cracker Barrel! They have a great kids' menu and Benjamin enjoyed exploring all the toys in the gift shop and taking in a game of checkers with Daddy.

Thursday:

We stayed that Wednesday night at a Hampton Inn somewhere near the Ohio boarder. And we enjoyed some time at the pool (which opened at 7 a.m.... perfect!) before we got back on the road. Again, we took our time making the rest of the drive to Don's parents' home in central Illinois. The kids enjoyed stopping at one rest stop in particular that had a great playground. And, overall, they were really well behaved the entire car ride! (Thank goodness for DVD players in vehicles!)

We had a great visit that Thursday night with Grandma and Papa Chapman and Don's sister, Nancy, and family. The kids LOVE playing with their big cousins. And they were totally spoiled with all the attention they got.

Friday:

Friday morning we got moving rather early once again. We met up with Don's cousin, Eddie (who some of you may remember was the Best Man in our wedding.... almost 10 years ago), his wife, Ashly and their two boys, Griffin (4 1/2 years old) and Graydon (5 months). We followed them to St. Louis and spent the day with them at the City Museum. If you have never been to this place and are anywhere near St. Louis... you HAVE to go. Little kids and big kids alike will enjoy it. It's a totally bizarre and fun-filled museum. It is located in an old Shoe Factory Warehouse and aims to recycle local things and turn them into unique kid friendly things of all sorts! We arrived around 10 a.m. and stayed until around 4 p.m. There was sooooo much to explore and do there. Don and Eddie took the boys through many tunnels and slides which they absolutely loved. And since Benjamin has recently declared that whales are his new favorite animal... he was thrilled that they had a huge whale that they could climb in! We all left the museum a bit exhausted (to say the least) and headed to Union Station for dinner. They have a nice lil pond where the boys also enjoyed feeding the koi fish. After dinner, we said our farewells to Eddie, Ashly and their boys (as Eddie had to work the following day so they weren't able to stay for the wedding). We were thankful for the time we had with them and enjoyed every minute.

As soon as we were in the car the boys were asleep. It was a long and exhausting trip already! We headed to the hotel where the boys and I promptly headed to bed after a quick and much needed bath time. Don, however, mustered up some energy to head down to the hotel lobby where he was able to visit with uncles and cousins that he rarely gets the chance to visit with these days. His good friend, Steve Nenonen, who we went to college with (and was also in our wedding) was also able to stop by the hotel to visit! It was a late night for Don but I'm sure he enjoyed every minute of the time he shared with them all.

Saturday:

Finally, the day of the wedding! But the wedding was not until 5:30 p.m. The boys and I were up early and Samuel and I headed down to breakfast while Benjamin lounged and Don caught a few more winks of sleep. Samuel and I had a chance to visit with family then as we enjoyed all that the Drury Inn had to offer in their complimentary breakfast.

We managed to get Don and Benjamin moving somewhat early as well and all enjoyed a little time in their pool. The boys LOVE the water! Then around noon, Steve Nenonen came by with his two boys, Parker (age 9) and Reed (age 7) and we piled into our truck for a trip to a nearby elk wildlife park then to a train store that had wooden trains that the boys truly enjoyed playing with. It was nice that Steve and his boys took time out of their weekend to meet up with us (unfortunately, his wife had to work). I don't think that we have seen them since our wedding (almost 10 years ago now... and Parker was just an infant!).

After some much needed naps, we were ready for the wedding! The wedding was held outdoors at the AKC Museum of the Dog and the reception was immediately following at the same location but inside a banquet hall. It was really a beautiful place and Samuel really enjoyed all the dog statues (he's our animal lover!). As you can imagine, I took a gazillion photos, so I will try to post just some of my favorites here.

We all had a wonderful time and it was great visiting with Don's side of the family. The kids had a blast dancing as this was Samuel's first wedding ever and maybe the first wedding Benjamin will remember! The bride and groom tossed out some candy just for the kids and they were also given bubbles. They loved that! And the following morning as we were packing things up, Benjamin said "Don't forget to pack our candy and bubbles!"

Sunday:

Sunday morning we tried to get another early start but that proved difficult as we had to pack up then went down to meet up with family for breakfast before heading out. We ended up leaving St. Louis around 9:00 a.m. central time so we knew we were in for a long day. Don was scheduled to work that Monday so we were trying to make it straight through. ugh. Let's just say the ride home was NOT as fun as the leisurely ride we took out there! The boys did great though... it was just a really long day and we didn't get back home until around 2 a.m. eastern time.

Thank goodness we had Memorial Day weekend to follow that up because I think we may have finally caught up on some sleep now!

Sorry for the long post... hopefully, I didn't put everyone to sleep reading!

Photos from the New Camera

As I mentioned in my last blog post, for Mother's Day, Don and the boys got me the camera I've been craving for sometime... a digital Canon Rebel. And I'm happy to report that I LOVE it! I'm still learning some of the features but so far so good.

We have been extremely busy but I wanted to take a minute to post some photos from my new camera! After having it a week I think I had taken over 300 photos. At first, I think the boys probably felt like I was stalking them with the camera lense always chasing them around but hey, they make great photo subjects!

I'm sure I will post more soon from some of the stuff we've been up to lately... but I just wanted to share some of my favorites for now!

(Click on the images if you'd like to enlarge them).

Mother's Day 2009

Today was a nice day... not unlike many other Sunday's at the Chapman home. Although, the boys woke up just shy of 6 a.m. which was a bit too early for any of us. ugh.

Don managed to get up with them while I tried to get a touch more sleep with a pillow over my head to muffle out the early morning energy that the lil men in my house exert. Then Samuel came up and said "muffins!" then he grabbed a hold of my shirt sleeve and said "go." He is a man of few words but determined to get his point across and at this point he was not letting me slip back into my sleepy state. So, up it was. My hopes and dreams of getting to sleep until 8 a.m. yet again shattered. Someday... like when they're teenagers, we'll see who wants to be awake that early.

At breakfast the boys presented me with homemade cards (which Daddy had crafted with them yesterday!) as well as a new digital camera! I have been wanting this camera for a long time so I am absolutely thrilled. As I learn how to use it I'm sure the blog will be flooded with lots of photos! (But for today it remains in the box... hopefully, tomorrow it will be charged and ready for action).

We had a nice morning at church where all the ladies received a flowering begonia. Samuel was so proud of the begonia. He didn't let it out of his sights... or hands for that matter, until we made it into the house. We will plant it together this week.

We had gone out to dinner last night with some good friends and I really wasn't too thrilled about going out to eat again (Mother's Day or not) so we ended up playing it low key around the house today and enjoying some much needed nap time as well as some outdoor time.

I am so thankful for the wonderful women I have been fortunate enough to have in my life through the years... my mother, my mother-in-law, my grandma, my sister-in-laws, my aunts, cousins, friends, etc. I have been so blessed in so many ways to have strong women in my life who have given me guidance over the years and help me become the woman and mother I am. Happy Mother's Day to all you women!

Mother's Day Celebration with Benjamin

Benjamin's preschool class celebrated Mother's Day this past Wednesday. Luckily, I have a neighbor who agreed to hang out at my house during Samuel's nap time so I was able to really get some quality time with Benjamin.

We were spoiled by a whole basket full of assorted things that would make any mother's heart melt... a book of questions answered by Benjamin about his mom, some artwork, a trivet, a recipe book that the kids came up with, a pen topped with an artificial flower (mine was a blue flower, of course), poems, etc.

The kids also sang a couple of songs to us and we did a craft where we decorated a picture frame with artificial flowers. We enjoyed a nice snack and before we knew it we were on our way home. I'm including a video clip of Benjamin singing one of the songs during his class. And I am also including a clip of him singing the other song they sang to us. It is about a butterfly which they had been learning about recently and just happen to released several that came out of their cocoons that day. However, I took this video clip this morning at the breakfast table. He loves to sing and remembers words and hand motions to most songs that he is taught.

Here is what the booklet that Benjamin gave to me had to say about his Mom...

My favorite thing about my mother is... she plays computer games with me.

I know my mother loves me because... I came out of her tummy.

My mother looks prettiest when... she's wearing blue and pink and purple and all the colors.

My favorite thing to do with Mom is... play "Duck, Duck, Goose" with her.

If I could give my mother something special just from me, it would be... a girl baby.

I want to thank you, Mom, for... bringing me to school.

I loved all his answers to the questions but I was especially touched by the idea of him wanting to give me a girl baby! He has told me that he wants me to have a girl baby so that I won't be the only girl in our house anymore. He came up with this one on his own!

Now for his recipe that was included in their recipe book:

Quesadillas

Ingredients:

Lots and lots of tortillas

Lots and lots of cheese

Put the tortilla on top of the cheese. Put the tortilla in the oven. The oven is really hot. Take it out 1 minute quick. You wait for it to cool off. When it cools off, eat it.

The whole recipe book is quite cute with a picture of each child donning a chef's hat on the page with their recipe. And each child came up with some pretty entertaining ways to prepare things from Mac and Cheese to Strawberries.

Duck, Duck, Goose

We have had our share of rainy days here in Northern Virginia this Spring and this past weekend was no exception.

Saturday there was a break in the rain and we took the opportunity to go on what we call a "Nature Hike." Last year a neighborhood nearby opened a Nature Preserve area with a wooden plank trail. It's just the right length walk for my boys. We hadn't been since Don's return from Iraq but Benjamin points out the Nature Hike every time we pass the area.

So, I packed up a lunch and we were off on our excursion.

We have been playing the "Duck, Duck, Goose" game a lot around our house. It has really become a family favorite in the evenings after dinner. So, it was fitting that as we approached the pond area there were two ducks and a goose. So, Samuel lit up and exclaimed "Duck! Duck! Goose!" He truly is an animal lover and gets excited to see any animals. I think he could have stayed and been entertained by those birds for hours.

We sat and enjoyed our sandwiches and were visited by lots of geese and a couple of ducks. Both boys enjoyed sharing their sandwich crusts with the geese and ducks. It was definitely the highlight of the outing. (Next time we will pack bread special for our feathered friends).

28 Weeks and Counting...

Here I am... 28 weeks into the pregnancy with Baby Chapman #3. I feel pretty good and people tell me I look good too. Somehow, I find it easier to accept that compliment during pregnancy. Probably because as my belly swells and contorts, it helps to know that maybe I really am glowing and don't look as tired as I often feel!


I spent the morning at doctor appointments while Don stayed home with the boys. I had a routine appointment with, who we now refer to as, "the baby doctor." It is a rainy day and getting to Bethesda National Naval Medical Center took me about an hour and half. Yes, this is the place I will deliver if all goes well. Both of our boys were born there and it's a great facility. I was a half hour late for my appointment today and as I sat in traffic, I couldn't help but think that if I was in labor on this particular morning, I would NOT be delivering at this hospital as planned.


Luckily, they had other cancellations and the doctor was still able to see me. The baby's heartbeat was in the 150s and the appointment was over in a mater of minutes. Then I was off to my second appointment... a health screening in the clinic. In order to prepare for our move to Germany, the military requires that we all have physicals. So, it was my turn.


Lucky me.

All went well and the doctor ordered up some blood work that, apparently, I hadn't had done in years... routine stuff. I was already scheduled to stop at the lab for my glucose screening (routine at this point in a pregnancy). So, I ended up getting a bunch of blood work done at once. The good part is that I won't have to go back and get stuck again. I have a STRONG dislike for needles. The bad part is the first vain he stuck ended up collapsing and I think I will be bruised for days on my right arm. ugh.


Overall, my pregnancy is going well. Most days, I feel great... drained and tired but what mother isn't? And we're still on target for a July 21 delivery. I have a very active baby in my belly who likes to stir just about the time I decide to go to bed every night. It makes for some restless nights but I like to think it's his or her way of preparing me for some of the restless nights I have ahead of me.