Then and now, Friends, and other adventures

THEN and NOW:

A dear friend from high school, John McCann, came to visit me last Friday.  He and I go way back and have many fond memories together not only from high school, but from college days and visits to see him in DC after I moved back home after school.  John and I are a classic pair.  He is a wonderful person and it was so nice to catch up and hear what he's up to in the fast paced world of San Francisco. He got to meet my girls and visit with the folks before heading back into the city where he was staying. Thanks for taking time to come see us John!  We love you Skippy!!

 And just for the fun of it, a picture of the two of us at homecoming our Junior year of high school (1995).  He was always a good friend, and that year he was my homecoming date!  We were such cheeses.

FRIENDS:

My friend, Emily, and I attended a wedding at the Marriott Ranch.  It was a gorgeous wedding.  I missed having Shaun with me but he stayed home with the kids and I got to enjoy time with a girlfriend.  It was a lovely evening!

OTHER ADVENTURES:

Just a few pics of our first vacation away from the kids this past weekend!  Shaun and I went to Virginia Beach to enjoy a little R&R.  People say when you go somewhere with your children it's a trip, fun but never relaxing.  When you go somewhere as a couple, it can be a true vacation!  And this was.  Only two nights, but how blissful they were.  Packing only for us, sitting TOGETHER in the hot tub and not taking turns, eating at nice restaurants without worrying about food being thrown across the room or worrying where the crayons went, and enjoying quality time together.  It was truly rejuvenating!  We slept in, we ate yummy food, we sat by the pool, we did all the things we haven't been able to do very easily in the last four years!

More photos to come later, but this is just a preview of the good times we had:)  Aaah!

Grandma C's Visit

Ella and Grandma had lots of time to do crafts and other activities.  They made cookies and Elle helped decorate one day, another day they made necklaces with beads.  They were busy busy but had so much fun!

While Grandma was here we went to Burlington Coat Factory to check out the deals.  Amelia and I had fun in the accessory isle

Even though Shaun was busy with his new job, he enjoyed special time with his mama jama.  Shaun loves his mom and you can tell.  We were both so glad she came to spend time with us.

Amelia loved having time with her Grandma C.  She played with Grandma while Ella went to preschool and the two of them had oodles of fun.  Whatever Ella was doing, Amelia wanted to be right there doing it too.

 We made dinner in most nights, but we went out occasionally too.  We had fun eating local Mexican food and visiting the Consignment store!

 Elle got her hair cut while Grandma was here.  Ella did a great job and let our friend give her a cute bob that looks great on her!

 We took one Saturday and went to the National Zoo.  We had a great time seeing all of the animals.  The weather was perfect, and all went well (until the last half hour when of course someone had to melt down- Ella), but it was still a wonderful day!

 Ella and Grandma sitting with the monkeys

 The panda was what I wanted to see but he didn't come out while were there.  We got to take a picture with his statue instead.

 Family photo with the panda

 

Grandma got the girls special prizes and then made them blankies for their new "prizes" or dollies.  The girls had fun "helping" make the blankets.  Here they are with their dolls and blankets.

We already miss you Grandma C.  I probably miss her most of all!  She helped clean, cook, take care of the girls, and was a listening ear on long walks (walking off all the bad food we ate).  I really not only appreciated the help, but enjoyed the company!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming and making such wonderful memories with all of us!  We love you so much!

Thirty-three

Today has been a wonderful day!  Today I turn 33!  I've been full of nostalgia thinking and reflecting on my life, but more specifically the wonderful people I have come to know and love throughout my life.  So in the words of Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins (a very popular 90's band we listened to a lot in high school and college), here's to "thirty-three"




"I've journeyed here and there and back again
But in the same old haunts I still find my friends
Mysteries not ready to reveal
Sympathies I'm ready to return
I'll make the effort, love can last forever"


We would sing this song all of the time in high school and one of my closest friends said 33 was her favorite number.  So today I've thought about that a lot.  33 is going to be my favorite so far I've decided!  I'm going to make it great!  And it's already started out great, because I've been able to spend time with the people I love, either in person, over the phone, via messaging on FaceBook or texts.  I feel so incredibly blessed today!  Thank you all who have blessed my life.  If you're reading this, you are most likely on the list:)

What we've been up to

Since I've been a bit on the negligent side in regards to blogging, I thought I'd take some time to update what the Calderwoods have been up to.

1.  Grandma C has come to spend the last three weeks with us and we get to have her one more week before she heads home.  She's been helping us out since my parents have been gone on their cruise to Spain.  It's been so wonderful having her here.  Hopefully she feels the same.  She spends her days playing make believe with Ella and Amelia and the girls just love her.  I feel like they have really been able to bond over this visit (maybe too much).  The girls have missed their nana and papa, but it's been nice for them to have special time with their other grandma.

2.  Amelia got tubes in her ears.  She had fluid that wouldn't drain and apparently she inherited her ear canals from me.  My gustation tubes were also shaped in such a way they collected fluid and I needed tubes.  So poor little miss had surgery last week.  You wouldn't know it by how quickly she bounced back.  And she's always talking but maybe now her words may be clearer.

3.  We took the girls to the National Zoo last weekend.  We had a wonderful time seeing all of the animals and the girls were really quite good.  Ella sorta melted down the last half hour, a sure sign it was time to leave, but other than that it was great!

4.  Shaun has been at his new job for three weeks now.  He is very excited to be on his way in his career. He's hopeful this is a stepping stone to bigger and better things and is anxious to do his best and exceed their expectations.  The only downside is he's up at 4:30am and needs to be in bed when Ella's going down.  It's hard on him because of course he'd like more time to unwind, but then he pays for it in sleep deprivation.  All in all though it's completely worth it.  We are very grateful things have finally come together.  Now it's just a matter of getting ourselves ready financially to get a home of our own.  That's my hope for one year from this moment.

5.  I've continued to work at losing weight.  With family visiting I have been less than stellar.  My new goal while grandma visits is to maintain.  I think I've almost managed to do that.  I'm at 20 pounds lost and want to double that by summer's end.  Thank goodness for good classes at the gym.

6.  Grandma's been sharing recipes with me and I've been working on making better meals for all of us.  With her help it's much easier.  I could use Grandma here all of the time, but we're looking forward to seeing Nana and Papa next week, and hearing about their adventures.

Pictures of our adventures with Grandma coming soon...

Family Photos

Easter Fun!

Easter, 2012, has turned out to be the best yet! We have reflected on years past and miss family and friends we've spent Easters past with, but we really enjoyed being together just our little family. We had a fun time at our friends Easter Egg hunt yesterday. They had the perfect yard for not only the egg hunt, but trampoline jumping, hammock swinging, dirt digging, and chit chatting. The girls had a great time and we enjoyed visiting with many good friends.

While Ella was ambitious and skowered the yard and woods for eggs, Amelia could have cared less. She ran straight to the playground and wanted to go down the slide.

Amelia enjoyed watermelon while sitting on their front porch swing... felt like a summer day

The girls crashed after a quick dip in the bath, and then it was off to get ready for the Easter Bunny. He brought the girls coloring books, a movie, book, and bubbles this year! Grandma C also sent a fun movie and coloring book, and the girls enjoyed coloring all morning until church.

Oh, and the candy. Of course there was candy. And then there was the face below when I wouldn't open the next candy wrapper after a couple of servings! This face was accompanied by a very loud, very piercing scream! Ooooh she's a stinker with so much personality!

After church we tried to take a few photos. Tried being the key word there.

The photo below was an accident, but I think it says a lot. Who's in charge?

That would be Miss Ella Celeste!

Amelia wasn't much for posing for the camera, but she loved running through the grass in her new Easter dress.

And if the girls wouldn't stand still for a photo, at least Shaun and I could.

The loves of my life

Stinker 1 and Stinker 2

O' how I love and adore them!

One word... PRECIOUS!

Ella looked absolutely beautiful in her Easter dress

She even is kind of understanding the meaning of Easter. It's sweet to see her learning and understanding so much.

My beautiful girl, even if she never smiles for the camera.