Tank and Tummy Night

Tank and Tummy night here at the Linthicum/Alderin house means going to dinner and then the aquarium store. Apparently that is a big deal of fun for Will and Spencer -- me...not so much.
BUT...I had to tag along this time....because I wanted to control the $$ spent at the fish store.  However, I am pretty sure Spencer and Will talked idiots at the pet store into taking the snakes out of the cages SEVERAL times just to make me run to the front of the store in a panic. Trying to make me not want to go with them next time, right?
They spent over an hour looking at fish...seriously...I spent less time picking out my new car.
Then they decided on sharks.  Spencer got a red-tail black shark (he named Kenny) and Will got a Black shark...that's albino...so yeah, his black shark is white.  And quite ugly. We call Will's shark "ABS" for albino black shark or possibly A Buttugly Shark...not sure which. (I guess "Powder" wouldn't have been a nice name?)

Spencer was so excited about his new fish, we let him sleep on the living room couch so he could fall asleep looking at the aquarium. .

Loo Loo Again

This weekend was a Girls Crafting weekend-- filled with scrapbooking, sewing, jewelry making, card-making and of course, Hurricane Irene tracking.  We had a couple of great dinners out, went to see The Help, raided the craft section of Mighty Dollar, planned Julie's baby shower, giggled through Jen's Zumba demo and Dee learned a valuable lesson...ALWAYS lock the bathroom door. (my poor Dad is STILL embarrassed!)

While I had a girls weekend away, Will and the boys took a break from their weekend of eating junk and playing video games to tour the HPU campus to see where Will is now working.

First Day!

Today is Spencer's first day of 5th grade.  And his last "first day" of elementary school.  How did my baby grow up so fast??
I remember when I took him to his first day of Kindergarten and I thought the 5th graders looked HUGE--way too big to be bustling down the hallways with our wittle kindergartners.  Now I am wondering if other Kindergarten parents sat this morning thinking the same thing looking at Spencer and his friends going into school, high-fiving over weekend soccer goals and plans at recess later....

And yes, Spencer picked out his own first day clothes.  The boy, will NOT wear anything other than soccer clothes!

Today is also Will's first day on the job at HPU.  The middle picture is him showing his new work ID badge and he is making the same face as in his ID picture--- it looks like he had to poop really bad and then a four year old drew a straight line across with a sharpie for his mouth...quite unfortunate.  He could fake he lost his ID and get another one...but there is a $50 replacement charge--- so I say he has to keep the poop/sharpie mouth picture!

5 months later....

What's the 5th month anniversary?  Jewelry?   Furniture Pads!
Will and I have been married for 5 months but he has still been working in Raleigh and commuting each weekend. But as of this past Friday, he is an official resident of Trinity. After a wonderful career at NC State Athletics, he is ready for his new challenge at High Point University. (If you mix Carolina Blue and State Red you get purple anyway, right? So HPU is a good blend of our "house divided" marriage.)

Of course, moving is never fun.  Jimmy backed the truck and trailer into the front yard and missed a tree by mere millimeters! You couldn't fit a packet of kool aid in between the trailer and the tree---but there was no damage!
The house is a mess, we have boxes and furniture everywhere!  Hopefully we can celebrate our 6th month anniversary all settled in! But I am not complaining-- I FINALLY have my husband home all week instead of just weekends!

Fit for a Queen

Back in May, for either her Birthday or Mother's Day (I forget...) I gave Mom a gift certificate to The Lexington Tea House for a British Tea Luncheon.
Then I proceeded to work 70 hour weeks on a huge project and we haven't been able to go...until today.  I actually took a lunch break for the first time in months!


Our tea luncheon was...OH MY GOODNESS....

The British tea included: 
May Flower Tea Sandwiches • Cucumber Tea Sandwiches• Chicken Salad Croissants • Fresh Fruit • Cheese Straws • Pastries, Cakes and Scones with Devonshire Cream and jam• Pot of Hot Tea and Iced Tea of the Day
There was twice as much food as we have EVER gotten at a normal tea house. We ate our fill and had a huge takeout container full for Spencer!

Not too many Dicks around

Have you noticed that fewer and fewer kids have nicknames?
I am talking real nicknames--not ones like Scooter, Skippy, Fartface, etc.
When was the last time you met someone under 60 named Dick (for Richard)?
Almost everyone at Spencer's school goes by full name such as Michael (not Mike) or Stephen (not Steve) or Jeffrey (not Jeff).

Traditional names that customarily got nicknames (Robert, William, Joseph, Richard, etc.) are not as popular anymore and somehow it became vogue NOT to shorten a child's name.
"This is my son, Alexander."
"Hi Alex!" 
'No! It is Alexander!!!"

So why do I care?  I don't.
I just happened to overhear a kid snap at another kid's grandparent at a soccer game when the grandpa cheered for "Chris" and was immediately corrected to "Christopher."  I am sure the Grandpa's generation shortened Christopher to Chris without any implied insult.
Geez!

Sugar High!

How happy do my boys look?

After an evening of visiting Nana Linthicum, dinner and a little shopping-- we decided to end our Friday night with a trip to Krispy Kreme,  The "Hot and Now" sign was on so we HAD to stop.  Sometimes it is the simple things that make family time memorable.

The Phone Call Every Parent Dreads

Today started out nicely.  I received not one BUT TWO very happy letters from Spencer.  The envelopes were still all hosed up, but the letters were happy and said he was having fun---made my heart feel good!

Then I got a call from a camp counselor.  Spencer was throwing up and had severe ear pain. He either had an ear infection, something in the ear or swimmer's ear.  They recommended I come get him (the camp is only 30 minutes away) and take him to the pediatrician for evaluation and then bring him back to camp assuming he only needed an antibiotic.

So I got coverage for my meetings and headed out.  About a mile or so from the house...I got the dreaded phone call.
Spencer had gotten severely sick, near passing out, dizzy, lost feeling in his extremities, blurred vision and the camp director said he LOOKED "very wrong"- so she had to call emergency services. The Fire Chief had just gotten there and an ambulance was 3 minutes out.
Then she said she would call me back when she knew more.
So I drove.    FAST.    And cried.     And called my mom.     And cried some more.
And made my poor 4 cylinder Honda CR-V whine and shake at 90 mph.  And I thought-- we have two freakin muscle cars at home -- I am pretty sure the 69 Mach I (with a big ass 351 Windsor V8) would have no problems passing this stupid Mountain Dew truck on a double yellow line....but oh yeah, it doesn't have AC. Never mind.
I whipped my little (non muscle car) Honda into Quaker Lake Camp in record time pretty much on two wheels Dukes of Hazzard style and fish tailed through the driveway landing in the parking lot in a cloud of dust and gravel like Dale Jr. on meth.
I ran (or my version of running. shut up.) to the infirmary just as the EMT team were finishing their work up on Spencer.  They suggested that either I take him to the doctor or transport him to the hospital.  I called his pediatrician and they said they would be ready for him so I chose to take him on.  They had gotten some fluids in him and he was talking but was still having cramping, headache, nausea, etc.
As I signed the release and was getting him ready to go, my brother and my mom came barreling up in mom's Honda Pilot...in their own version of a redneck gravel cloud.
Jimmy got Spencer in Mom's car with me--and then he drove my car back home and Mom took me and Spence to the pediatrician's office. Spencer was evaluated and it was a classic case of heat exhaustion and dehydration but it was magnified with swimmer's ear AND an ear infection.  That's a recipe for a biological implosion in a 78 pound 10 year old.
Fluids, a big shot to the thigh and SEVERAL prescriptions later, Spencer came home, rested up for a few hours and as soon as he re-hydrated and the meds kicked in, he was BEGGING to return to camp.
So... we took him back to camp. The director will keep him on modified activity and lots of fluids with his new meds.
I will keep myself on some Xanax tonight.  It was a day I hope I never have to relive--but I am VERY thankful it wasn't anything worse and I am so glad Spencer was able to bounce back to quickly!

Second Verse..Same as the First

I got another letter from Camp today.  The good news is that Spencer AT LEAST signed this one.  The bad news is that "envelope addressing skills" is obviously not on the punch card of camp activities. Spencer sounds a few degrees above morosely homesick but still...for the amount of $$$ I am paying for this camp would it hurt the little bugger to even hint that he is having fun??

I checked the agenda and tonight is their camp-out.  Just the boys, their sleeping bags, a campfire and the wide, starry night sky -- no tents, all nature. That should be punishment enough for improper envelope addressing, right?
(Obviously I am NOT a go-camping Mommy!)


Most of you know I work from home.  As I was dialing into to an important conference call, I could hear Bowser rooting around in the dirty clothes basket I had placed at the steps to take down to the laundry room.  The next thing I know, his little snout pushed through the door and he was carrying Spencer's dirty Star Wars T-shirt.  
He brought it to me and laid it in my lap.  I had to hit the mute button on my headset and take a deep breath to keep from tearing up.  
Poor lil' Bowser misses his boy, too.  
For the next few hours, Bowser slept with the T-shirt.  How sweet is that?  He looks really angry in this picture but I had just woken him up with my flash (ooops!)

Sealed With a Lick Cause a Kiss Won't Stick!

In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people's lives.  ~Anatole Broyard

Spencer is at his first full week away at"Big Boy" camp.  He, along with IV and Jordan, are at Quaker Lake Camp this week. It is a traditional summer camp--filled with activities to help the kids learn, mature, gain confidence, etc.  It will be good for them....hopefully.


I got my first letter from Spencer today.  And it was painfully obvious that correspondence through letter writing is a dying art to my son's generation.  He can text and whip out an email....but check out his first addressed envelope:

All those years of addressing thank you cards for him, I never really taught him to address an envelope by himself. And I guess I have not taught him to spell my new married name either.  That could be rather important, huh? And I know he knows his zip code--but it looks like someone else wrote the zip on here---and it is the wrong one!
As we say here in the south.....oh bless his heart. 


Once I got past the initial shock of how the envelope was addressed, next up was the letter inside.  And I use the term "letter" loosely.

Sigh.  My little man didn't even sign it.  Just drew a picture of a crying and quite swollen looking caricature of what I assume is himself.  I'm not sure if I am more concerned about the sadness or the fluid retention.  I miss him like crazy and it breaks my heart to see the little sad face drawn on this letter...but c'mon...I just had to laugh a little.  I mean, THIS was his first letter home from camp.  And it is PRICELESS!

Well that's just Pawesome.

Bowser kept scratching at his foot the last few weeks.  He is a dog -- they bite, lick and do all kinds of weird/gross stuff, right?  Well, then I noticed he had gnawed a dime-sized circle of hair off.  I guessed he had a skin allergy so I took him to the vet.
The vet looks at my over-sized pup..... Asks if I can second mortgage my house and then for ☑ Shits ☑ Giggles he runs $300 worth of tests to determine poor Bowser has ringworm.  
No big deal-- he just needs some fast actin' Tinactin, right?
WRONG.
He needs Grifulvin V 500 mg  42 pills for $270.99 
He takes 3 pills a day.  That's a 14 day supply.
Oh and a $20 bottle of special shampoo.
And here's an interesting twist-- he has to take the pills WITH FAT for absorption.  So I shove it in a pat of butter, rolled in bacon grease, wrapped in cheese, dipped in lard, covered in scrapple, and then folded into a sausage patty.  

So $600.00 for the medical equivalent of doggie Athlete's foot.
This is freaking ridiculous that we can go to CVS and get something for $6 to kill the same fungus that takes $300 in vet visits and $300 in Rx and $20 in shampoos for dogs.  If there's a walk-a-thon / fundraiser / bake sale / raffle / whatever to raise funding for research on this one you bet your rawhide I'm interested!

Color Blind?

What the hell is this?

Green Means Go.
Red Means Stop.
Don't make a freakin' GREEN Stop sign-- are you nuts? Is that a passive-aggressive yield?!!!?

Less Rock N Roll...More Like Easy Listening

Laura and I had a Girls Night Out last night. In the past, GNO meant wild nights, crazy pictures to be deleted and usually one of us ended up with a new stalker....

But last night's GNO was so mature I bet folks barely recognized us. We started out at Sephora, where we modestly purchased needed items, then continued shopping until hunger pains sent us for a late dinner.  We chose an old tavern near Elon College that Laura used to hang out at years ago...but it had changed to a more family atmosphere and THEY HAD DRAINED THEIR TAPS for vacation. Luckily Malibu Barbie our waitress said they at least had bottled beer, so that and $5.00 worth of hummus appetizer made things right while we swapped husband stories, exotic vacation wish lists and the occasional suggestion of being reincarnated as Bradley Cooper's cargo pants.

I love this picture of Laura showing off our new key ring blood-alcohol breathalizer (just for fun) and we are totally oblivious to the creepy guy in the background.  We were in our own little world with dirrrrrrty mad libs (again...just for fun), and relishing in "damn it feels good just to be out of the house without the kids."
When's our next date night?

And now we wait...

Will and I love Limoncello--and most of our friends love a good freezer shot of Limoncello, too.
It is yummy and such a wonderful summer time drink that often an entire bottle disappears in a matter of minutes.  For example....

For that reason, we decided to make a batch of our own. At about $25 a bottle...it's an expensive treat.

Everyone says it is super simple to make so I decided to give it a shot. (hee hee--pun intended)

$6.00 worth of lemons + $21.00 with of alcohol-- for two bottles-- and it will take about 2 weeks to "set."  Let's hope it is worth it!

It was a pain in the ASSorted joints and muscles in my hands to zest all those lemons. And then I couldn't just throw away those naked lemons-- I had to go ahead and juice 'em, right? That put about 3 cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice in my freezer for God knows what.
And where was my wonderful husband with his big, strong, manly hands during all this time when I could have used his help??? Oh that's right...he was outside playing on his new toy...I mean mower.

I got yer Blue Balls right here...

A little while back I received a package in the mail asking me as a "blogger" if I would use a product and post my review on my blog. Well after I stopped laughing hysterically I told my husband, "Isn't that funny? They think my blog is a typical mom blog about laundry and recipes and cute anecdotes about how wonderful our children are....They have no idea they have just mailed themselves into a world of sarcasm and fart jokes.
And look how easy they made it for me: A canister of blue balls and a label that says, "Squeeze and Sniff!"

So I began my future blog post.  Do you know what I have here:

Did you guess Papa  Smurf's undivided attention??  Didja???!!!

Oh well, about a week ago, I said, "Well, these smell good so I'm going to give them a try." And the damnedest thing happened.  I saw my funny, sarcastic blog review dissolve like a cheap crayon in the dryer.
They. were. awesome. 
There goes all my Blue Ball jokes.  I was very disappointed-- the kind of disappointed my son gets when he expects football on TV and he races to the remote, turns on ESPN and gymnastics is on...or worse...ICE SKATING!  He will double check the guide at least twice because ESPN should NOT be televising anything where balls are covered in lycra instead of kicked, bounced, punted, dribbled or batted!

Back to me and my blue balls..err...Downy UnStopables.  I LOVED THEM. That's an understatement. By day three, I was ADDICTED. They are like little Downy Crack. My sheets were washed 4 days ago, been on the bed for 3 days with a husband who was promoted to first chair on butt trumpet (well I'll be! I did work in a fart comment!) and two pups who think they have a California king sized doggie bed they share with us. BUT...my sheets and bed covers smell just washed fresh.  And you're thinking, "Meh! So what. A dry bounce dryer sheet tucked in the foot of the bed is good enough."  But no-- these smell JUST WASHED FRESH.  Like every time I open the bedroom door I am greeted with the scent of fresh sheets.  That luxurious smell that normally disappears a few hours after you make the bed with freshly laundered sheets.  Every time I open my lingerie drawer, it smells so good I look totally creepy standing there sniffing my own panties.  Every time I get a wash cloth or towel, it smells JUST like I am standing there folding fresh towels straight out of the dryer. You know...on that rare occasion when the towels get folded and don't just sit in the laundry basket on top of the "orphan" socks without matches.

Did I even tell you what it was?  It is a laundry scent booster.  Dissolving scent beads you add in with the clothes at the beginning of the wash.  It's not detergent, it's not fabric softener--calling it a perfume makes it sound like heavy fake scents are attached to your clothes-- it's just laundry smell extender stuff.

So...I don't get to make fun of the blue balls and the "Squeeze and Sniff" label---and, even worse, I'm addicted and doing the rah-rah mom thing on my blog. Geez!

The accompanying literature said there would be sample offers coming soon at VocalPoint --hopefully we can get coupons and find out when it will be hitting stores soon! Because I NEED to find out where I can buy a case...or two...or three... oh my.. did I mention how awesome my sheets smell?

Don't pay the ransom.....

I'm here!

Yes, I know, my blogging has been slack for the last few months--but hold the newlywed jokes.
Bank of America has owned my soul for the past 3 months on a project that has has had more things go wrong than in my entire 19 years with the company combined.  I have been working long hours--nights, weekends, holidays -- and Spencer wants his Mom back, Will wants his wife and even Bowser has brought me his leash on a few occasions as if to say, "Hey...remember this? We USED to go for walks each day. Now get off your fat ass and lets go!"

Hopefully Independence Day marks freedom from that project as well.  It *should* be normal hours from here on out! Just in time to whine and bitch about how it is too hot to do anything outside....

Since I haven't blogged in a while--- here's a quick update.

We celebrated Father's Day and my Birthday a couple of weekends ago:

Boppa got lots of fun gifts. A gift card to a country ham store (his favorite, his cardiologist...not so much) and some very special antique pocket knife letter openers for his collection.

Will got a new hammer. I am resisting making a Thor joke here.
Will also got goodies (Red Velvet Cake Balls) and the TICK on DVD---a very funny series, by the way.

Somehow balanced in with all the work I managed to have a few dinners with the family, take Spencer to see CARS 2 (very cute movie) and I taught crafts every night at Vacation Bible School at our church and had a WONDERFUL time with the kids! We made spin art with marbles, we painted hot rocks by melting crayons and making VBS medallions, we decorated fake guitars and we made rhythm sticks-- VBS ROCKS was a great theme for crafts!  Of course I can't show other peoples' kids on my blog but look at how cute Spencer, IV and Jordan are and how good their crafts turned out:

Our 4th of July was calm -- dinner with parents, rented movies, small house projects, etc.  (by the way--DON'T see Sucker Punch -- Suck is the keyword on that one!) Joe was on vacation with other family and Spencer was off camping with other family. So we had a 3-day, kid-free  weekend to do nothing---just relax. It was perfect!

Ending the school year

Today was the last day of school and the final awards day.

Spencer got several awards-- Straight As for the semester, Straight As for the entire school year, Student Council Vice President, GO FAR, Perfect Attendance for the Last Nine Weeks..... I AM SO PROUD OF HIM!

IV got straight As for the entire year and was voted Bulldog of the Year by his class.  He was so cute when they announced his name--he practically sprinted to the stage!  Now if we can only get him to run that fast on the soccer field....
Spencer's best friend and fellow Thunderbolt, Jordan,  won Bulldog of the year for his class, too!  Spencer won last year and STILL loves his trophy so I know IV and Jordan will enjoy this honor all summer long!

Dirty Dirty Fun

We took the boys to Hiddenite NC for a day of gem mining at Emerald Hollow Mine on Saturday.
I thought we would spend about a half a day or so there---but it was so much fun that we ended up staying ALL DAY LONG.

We left early that morning, had breakfast en route and the boys watched TRON on the way to Hiddenite.  We got there mid morning, paid our admission and began sluicing.  This was Spencer's favorite part of the day-- digging in buckets of dirt, finding rocks and pebbles and washing them under cool running water to see if you found a semi-precious gem...or a clump of mud.
We later found out that the buckets were salted (planted with gemstones that aren't even from the mine)--but we all had fun anyway.

After the sluicing, buying creeking permits and renting tools, we made our way to the creek. The water was cold which toned down the afternoon heat. The shade from the trees and cool water made the entire afternoon quite nice where it was 91 degrees here at the house.
Joe and Will really enjoyed creeking and found several stones. Spencer enjoyed playing in the creek and got quite muddy.  I "creeked" for a couple of hours...then I rested under the trees with my kindle and enjoyed having an afternoon off from work.

We found several cool gems. Will immediately started researching rock tumblers and planning our next gem mining adventure. Spencer picked out his prettiest piece of amethyst and gave it to his teacher.  Sweet kid, huh?

They had legends posted on several places on the property to help you identify your findings. In the collage above (middle right), do you see the tiny, wittle, itty, bitty speck of a stone on Will's finger tip?  Yep, that's the ONLY emerald we found at Emerald Hollow Mine. We didn't see any Hiddenite AT ALL.  They should call it Red Mud Holler. 

By the end of the day, the boys were identifying their own stones and it turned into a great learning experience.  Next time we are going deeper into the NC mountains and seeking out unsalted territory!

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

We spent Memorial Day weekend at a soccer tournament...basically getting our butts whipped.  No need for additional details---just know it was hot, we played like crap and our only goal all weekend came from Spencer...who plays defense.

But afterwards, we all came back to Nana and Bopppa's for a pool party, cookout and awards banquet. The kids had a blast!



 The best part of the evening was when Coach Melissa got her special reward....

Mother's Day Weekend 2011

Spencer (along with a few friends and family) ran in the Wheatmore 5K this past weekend. He did VERY well again--despite the muddy cross country style course, he had a great time and finished 5th overall and first in his age group!  Very proud of my boy!

After the 5K, we spent the day at his school's Spring Fling. Well I spent the day volunteering--and he spent the day playing--but he had fun and the festival was a HUGE success! I did not have time for a bathroom break let alone get any pictures though :-(

Later that evening we celebrated Joe's 13th birthday and Joe celebrated Mother's Day with my Mom since he would not see her Sunday. We all had dinner out then went to see Thor in 3D.  Afterwards, the boys stayed up late playing Kinect on the XBox and cracking themselves up!

As for Sunday, Mother's Day, I had a beautiful day yet failed to take a single photo.  That is totally unlike me--yet here I sit, updating my blog without a single picture of me with my son and the beautiful necklace he gave me. Yep, no pictures of my first year as a step mom and pictures of the wonderful Lush products from Joe.  No pictures of me with my mom and the gift certificate to a British Tea luncheon that I gave her.  Zero pictures of Nana with Spencer and the candy he gave her.......yeah, I suck :-(

Doppelganger Fail?

Spencer and I were shopping in a local sporting goods store tonight and one of the guys who worked there asked me if I had ever seen the movie "Prefontaine"-- of course I didn't even know what a Pre Fond Tang was...
He told me that my son looked just like the star of the movie--and if Spence were older--AND HAD A MUSTACHE-- it could be his twin.

Very odd indeed.

So I googled the movie.  It's about an olympic hopeful runner who dies.
I don't see where the resemblence to my son is so striking that a complete stranger would walk up and comment on it... But on a related note, Spencer is much cuter without facial hair.

GO FAR Little Spencer!

Spencer ran the Go Far 5K in High Point this weekend along with IV, Jimmy, and several of our friends.  It was his first marathon.  I begged him to add a "T" to his T-shirt so it said GO FART-- but he wouldn't.  Geez.

Anyway-- my little 10 year old, 73 pound goofball of a son actually came in 25th in a race of 1269 runners.  He was the first kid in his school to finish--and he averaged a 7:21 mile and finished the 5k in 22:46.   I know next to nothing about running, but from what I gather, he had a pretty impressive race.

IV also did EXTREMELY well and placed 214th with a finish time of 29:07 / 9:24 mile average.
My brother-- who has lost about 130 pounds in this past year ran for the first time without any training and managed to place 410th with a finish time of 32:47/ 10:35 mile average. We think it was his special day glow running shoes!

Easter

Has it really been a month since I updated my blog?  Has that EVER happened?? Goodness!
And it isn't like I haven't had plenty to talk about... it's just been a blur of activity! Post honeymoon stuff, Dad's surgeries, soccer, work, work work, house projects, etc.  In other words....life.

Oh well-- How about I just start fresh with a post about Easter Weekend?

Our boys were quite the egg artists. They enjoyed dying eggs and impressing us with their unusual decorations and colors.
Easter Morning--the tradition stands that the Bunny hides the baskets and the boys have to SEARCH for it.  Spencer found his fairly quickly.  Joe's basket was BESIDE Spencer's but he had a more difficult time with the hide and seek portion of Easter morning--but Will and I enjoyed the snortles!

After diving through their baskets and making a breakfast of candy and junk, the boys were ready to begin their day. After lunch we went to Nana and Boppa's for the traditional egg hunt. (I just had a typo and put tarditional...and debated leaving it...)

In the past, the hunt was full contact and full of hijinks-- not for wussies! This year Mom and Dad had stricter rules about contact and cheating so that the kids could play.
Mom and Dad hide plastic eggs in their front yard with $$ in them. But it really isn't about the $$, it is about the fun and bragging rights. 
The "golden egg" has a $20 bill and the rest of the eggs have $1 bills and $5 bills.  60 eggs (total $130) was hidden.  Yes, I found the $20 egg-- WOOHOO!

My eggceptionally challenged sister-in-law found one egg.  $1.00 egg at that.  She sucks.
My eggstra special husband found 5 eggs.  And yes, I see the irony of his "Epic Fial" T-shirt and his lack of eggs in that totebag!
And yes, I see the irony that I used a wine bag for my egg tote...
The kids all did well!  They found lots of eggs and enjoyed getting some cash of their own.
As normal, it came down to me and my brother.  We both found 13 or 14 eggs each. He has lost about 130 pounds this year where I have gained (mumble grumble) too much weight--but speed doesn't help you in this egg hunt.

After the hunt, we sat around Mom and Dad's living room and counted our money, delivered gratuitous amounts of teasing at the inlaws, and begun smack talking up next year's hunt.

The family balked at a traditional Easter dinner this year, so I made a big spaghetti dinner.  While we were cooking and cleaning, the rest of the family opened the pool and played a little disc golf.  Of course the kids "accidentally" fell (shoved by my brother??) into the cold, nasty pool water. {{{{Shudder!}}}}

Mr. and Mrs. Linthicum

Our special day started off with a small ceremony at Wesley Memorial chapel-- just my family and Will's Mom. It was simple and beautiful--just what we wanted.

After the ceremony, we had a quick lunch at Will's Mom's house and then we had an easy drive to Charleston. We did some touristy things downtown (Meeting St.), then had a nice dinner at California Dreaming.

The next morning, we took a shuttle to the port and started our honeymoon cruise.We had a fabulous time---so much, in fact, we are ready to book our next cruise.

Some highlights:

• We exchanged wedding gifts-- I gave him a Wenger watch and he gave me an Alexandrite pendant.
• Family and friends surprised us with onboard credits, a big photo album, photo vouchers and drink vouchers.  We were wow'd with generosity!
• I won enough $ the first night at the casino to gamble on the rest of the trip ☺
• We rented a jeep for an excursion in Freeport and spent the day touring the island and the beaches--it was BEAUTIFUL!
• I won the drawing at Diamonds International in Nassau.  I won a one carat midnight sapphire necklace. The necklace is very nice, but DI was REALLY slow with the paperwork from our other purchase and caused us to miss our semi-submersible submarine excursion ☹
• Our favorite activity was watching the crystal blue water and spotting sea life-- we got several photos of turtles, dolphins, hammerhead sharks, fish, etc.
• We ate WAY too much. We drank too much.  We laughed too hard.  We slept too late.  IT WAS PERFECT!

We had several portraits done on the ship-- our biggest expenditure was photos!

 
When we got home from our honeymoon, we had a small reception for our families to meet. It was a great party and I hope to have photos to post soon!
 
♥ We are beyond happy and appreciate all of your well wishes, wonderful gifts and sincerely appreciate all the love and support.♥

Well...If you insist

I had a meeting with my travel agent today at lunch and she gave me and Will a bag of candy for our trip (along with our boarding passes, luggage tags, etc.)


Is it just me or are "Slo Poke" candies a hilarious choice for a honeymoon care package? :-)
 

 

Counting Down the Days

We have about two weeks!

Will and I spent the weekend getting stuff ready for the wedding.  I guess I should say honeymoon since the wedding is basically a planned elopement.  We pulled out clothes, shoes, suitcases, made packing lists, picked songs for the drive, confirmed reservations, etc.

I had my wedding band sized and appraised.  It is beautiful and I can't wait to wear it! When the jeweler/appraiser was evaluating my band, he took a peek at my engagement ring and said that he had been in the business for 30 years and mine was only the 6th natural alexandrite he had seen.  It was only the 2nd one the sales person had ever seen in all her years working in jewelry. I love having a unique engagement ring.

I got my first wedding card in the mail yesterday! My friend Kristin made me a beautiful Celtic knot "Happily Ever After" card. It is sitting up on display in the dining room and when I walk by it, I smile. I can't believe our special day is almost here!


And other than the usual soccer (Spencer and IV did great!) we also celebrated Boppa's 66th birthday!