All about Gavin

There are a few things you should know before you continue to the main thrust of this anecdote. First, I am eating a piece of Key Lime pie as I write, before I dive into the woods for 4 days tomorrow. Guilt free pie tastes GREAT!

Second, Gavin has an unhealthy obsession with cars. He gets really excited to see cars and trucks on the road, and gets upset when cars are damaged on television. He was beside himself, totally upset at a trailer for Transformers when Bumblebee transformed from a car into his anthropomorphic form.

Today was Gavin's first trip to Sears, and he went crazy. I had to go pick up a filter for our shop vac, and we entered Sears in the tool department. Gavin took off like a shot, and all I saw was Conni trying to keep up, as he literally ran from the saws to the lawnmowers, touching and laughing at everything he could see.

I wish I had a camcorder, so that you could see for yourself this little redhead with a smile bigger than his face, touching and pushing and running as fast as his stubby legs could carry him from shiny tool to fascinating object. I thought I liked tools, but I was completely outclassed.

He didn't want to leave, and he loves riding in the car more than anything. I guess I should make that "he loved riding in the car more than anything". When at the door, Conni and I said, "Let's go, Gavin, to the car." he said, "No" and ran back into the tools section, all legs and arms and red hair. I swear, he was not that excited on Christmas morning.

Also, he threw a box of nails for a nail gun. The box had to weigh 5 pounds, and he had this enormous grin, which said "This place is WONDERFUL". I had to run to the end of the aisle to stop him from throwing a second box. That kid will be the death of my tool box, I just know it.

Finally sain enough to post

So, It's been like 2 months since my last post and I am feeling pretty positive about how long I've stayed on the "non-blogging" wagon. Seriously...

We had a REALLY stressful month of May waiting for the house to close. My mom came and went, my sister came and went...4 days later we finally got the keys to the house. Yeah!! (I'll let Karl timeline our home buying experience)

It's been a week and a half and we've started the transformation. Last week we started moving boxes in. This week we spent Monday night weeding the front/side yard and planting flowers. Tuesday we had the sump pump system replaced, fios installed and the new washer/dryer and fridge delivered. Tomorrow we're having drywall work done and then I can start painting! I am excited and a lot overwhelmed at the painting that needs to be done. I think it will definitely complete the house for us.

The kids are happy to be on summer vacation. It's only been 5 days and I'm ready for MY summer vacation away from them! CJay is preparing to leave for Salt Lake City on Monday for 3 1/2 weeks and I am not looking forward to him being away. I know he will have a great time though and that's what matters most. Conner is asking to take swimming lessons along with his weekly fencing lessons with Karl and CJay. Gavin is getting into everything and he's quite a bit OCD. He is the neatest little boy I've seen. I am really enjoying being home with him. I think I missed a lot of CJay and Conner's childhood when I worked.

Words of Advice: Part 1

Always question whether your actions lead to your desired results. Then question the worthiness of your desires.

I was pondering on self-correcting behavior, and if I had one piece of advice to give, that would be true for a lifetime, what would it be. Specifically, I was aiming this at my children.

Also, Mom asked me to detail our housing struggle, so you have THAT to look forward to.

Yes, I realize I ended that sentence with a preposition, which now allows me to quote Winston Churchill, when it was pointed out to him that he had done the same:

"This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put."