So apparently I forgot about this blog for the past 6 months. Where does the time go?! Actually, I have thought about posting numerous times, but just could never find enough time to sit down and collect my thoughts and post picturers. Between work, family, holidays, etc it just seems like we stay busy week after week after week.
A lot has happened since my last update. Some good and some not good at all. Without question the saddest part of the past 6 months was the passing of Bill's father, aka Grandpa, in September. It was one of those situations where we all knew it was coming, but you're still never quite prepared for it. He had fought a very long battle with Alzheimer's, so there was also comfort in knowing that he no longer had to struggle with that dreadful disease. We just got back from visiting Grandma Dallas and Aunt Kelley in Waynesboro today, and Grandpa was very much missed this holiday season.
Now its time for the good stuff. The boys have been fully potty trained for several months now. Woohoo!! They still wear a nighttime pullup to bed, but that doesn't bother me in the least. In due time they will eventually get rid of those too. It is SO much easier to go places with the boys these days and not have to worry about a soiled stinky diaper! Of course, a sure fire way to ruin a meal out is hearing the words "Daddy I gotta poopoo". Because using public restrooms with 3.5 year olds isn't much fun. But for the most part we have adjusted well to the public restroom issue. I may need a chiropractor soon if I have to keep holding the boys above those tall public toilets so they can pee. But I figure the money we are saving in diapers can cover the chiropractor copays.
In August we went to Virginia Beach for a week, and that vacation was far and away better than last year's vacation to the same beach. It's amazing what a difference a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo can make compared to a hotel suite! Speaking of 2 bathrooms, I am amazed at how often Brandon and Colin have to use the bathroom at the same time. Every time they both have to poop simultaneously I thank my lucky stars for having more than one bathroom (and multiple potty seats)! I honestly don't know how my Granny Epperly did it raising 8 kids very close in age with no indoor plumbing. I am clearly not cut from the same cloth as my sweet Granny. And I am also reminded by that anytime I try to bake something. I made zucchini bread for the first time in my life last weekend, and while it was decent it was not as good as the zucchini bread that Granny was famous for.
How did I go from pooping to zucchini bread in the same paragraph??
The other big development is that after nearly a year at their current daycare we have decided to put them in a new daycare in Blacksburg called Rainbow Riders. Well, it wasn't as simple as "us" deciding. I got on their waiting list when I was 3 months pregnant and they (allegedly) did not have any openings for our boys until recently (I pestered the woman every 3-6 months asking for updates). I'm still a little bitter about that btw. But at long last Rainbow Riders called me with openings and we decided to try them out. They are one of only 3 daycares in the New River Valley that has NAEYC Accreditation (National Association for the Education of Young Children), which is granted to only about 7% of daycares nationwide (according to Rainbow Riders website). Truthfully I don't so much care about that rating as much as I am hoping that it means our boys are going to learn a lot of stuff and be really smart! Because frankly I think we stink at teaching them stuff like letters and numbers :) The new daycare also happens to be about 1/4 a mile from where I work so it will be ultra convenient. They start there on January 2nd. I'm hoping we love that daycare, because we've been through so many over the past 2.5 years that we're running out of options..
This was the first Christmas that the boys really got into the idea of Santa and presents. I knew this would be a fun Christmas just for that reason. But I should know better than to get my hopes up about some things. A few weeks back we went to downtown Blacksburg to see Santa at the Lyric Theater before the Christmas parade. We waited in line for at least 30 minutes, and we prepped the boys on what to do when they finally had their big moment with Santa (ie. tell him what they want for Christmas). Brandon and Colin were both very excited at the thought of seeing Santa in person...until it was actually their turn to sit on his lap. Brandon threw a hissy fit and refused to go anywhere near him. And for the third straight year in a row Colin refused to sit near Santa without Daddy holding Colin. Aside from that minor fiasco Christmas was indeed fun this year. They were genuinely excited on Christmas morning to find presents under the tree and stockings stuffed. And for a couple of weeks leading up to Christmas we watched things like The Polar Express, Rudolph, and Frosty The Snowman. It was pretty cool to watch them enthralled with the terrible claymation action in Rudolph, just as I was 35 years ago.
Speaking of Christmas, on Christmas Day we went over to Mom and Dad's house in Willis for a Christmas feast. My brother and his family also made it. And just to make the get together even more merry and special, my cousin Steven and his 2 boys, Christian and Nathaniel, also drove the crazy winding roads to Little House in the Boonies. We haven't seen Steven since his last visit in August 2003, when Christian was about 3 years old. He is the son of Mom's older sister, Doris Sue, who lives in California. My Dad also has a sister whose name is Doris Ann. And there is something I have come to realize over the last several years, thanks to my English major husband. Apparently I have been mis-pronouncing their names my entire life. I hear it now and I don't understand how I went this long calling them both..."Darse". What. The. Heck?! Clearly I have my elders to blame :)
Alrighty I'm through rambling for now. But I do want to wish everybody a wonderful New Year! I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures next and let you figure out where they were taken.
At the Epperly reunion:
My cousin Steve with Christian and Nathaniel:
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