So Much Going On, Part Two

Well we got back from NJ Monday night, and Tuesday afternoon Phil and I drove to Dayton and flew to Kansas City, MO. The children reluctantly stayed at home under the care and supervision of their grandparents. Phil had a job interview in Garnett, Kansas for a job that would have been his dream job. This was exactly what he wanted and was so excited about this possibility. Sadly he ended up not being offered the job. Not only that, but we weren't officially notified of their decision. We found out by reading the minutes of their Board of Education meeting where they approved the new hire. The only reason I mention this trip at all was because we got to see Julie and Travis! They drove 4 hours from their home in Nebraska just to spend the afternoon in Kansas City and have dinner with us. Then they turned right around and went home. I was so touched that they were willing to make that long drive just for a day. We had a fabulous rib dinner at a local restaurant and talked for hours and hours! It was so good to see them and get to spend some time together without my kids running around interrupting.

We got home on Thursday and headed into the busy holiday/birthday weekend. Memorial Day weekend is typically busy for us. May 30 is Phil's birthday and May 31 is Matthew's. For Phil's birthday, we couldn't do much to celebrate. The lack of income will do that. But Nathan (Phil's best friend) and his wife came into town for the day Saturday and we were able to go to dinner together just the 4 of us. My best friend watched the kids for us. Yay! Getting to spend time with friends and have a quiet, grownup dinner is a rare occurrence in our house. This ended up being a perfect way to celebrate Phil's birthday.

Matt's birthday fell on Memorial Day this year. My baby turned 5!! I can't even believe he starts kindergarten in the fall. Everyone was right when they told me to enjoy my kids while they are little because they grow up fast. Matthew is a bundle of energy that NEVER sits still. He is on the go from the time he wakes up (usually 6:30 or 7 a.m.) until he finally collapses in bed at night. He likes to play pretend and will set up his action figures, tell me who I get to be and even tell me what to say. Being the youngest, he isn't often in control of anything so he especially loves this. He also loves reading books. Well he can't read yet, but he likes being read to. Bedtime especially is a long process because I end up reading 5 or 6 stories to him. How can I turn down the chance to snuggle with my baby boy and read stories? He certainly won't beg me for this forever so I will enjoy it while I can. He is quite good at playing games on the computer actually. It amazes me to see him using the mouse and playing games, just like the big kids. So much has changed over the years. I had never heard of a computer when I was his age! (I know that makes me sound old) He also loves to be silly and clown around. If something he does gets a laugh, he'll do it over and over again.

For his birthday we didn't have a big party or anything. We had an ice cream cake with presents at home the splurged and had dinner at Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. On the way home, we stopped at Walmart so he could spend the birthday money he'd received from various relatives. Boy did he have fun picking out toys. And it was such a hard decision too. He wanted everything and was so disappointed when I told him we could only buy a couple things. But I think he loved the experience of getting to pick out some of his presents himself.

I was going to post a recent picture of him, but don't seem to have many recent pictures of him on my computer. I'll try to add one later.

So Much Going On, Part One

So where have I been lately that has prevented me from blogging? Well we spent a long weekend in Runnymede, New Jersey with Phil's family the weekend before Memorial Day. His grandfather was the pastor of a church there for 55 years. The church was celebrating its 100th anniversary and invited the whole family to come back for the celebration. Lots of firsts that weekend: the 1st really long car trip for the kids (12 hours, including stops at every rest stop between Cincinnati and NJ), 1st time seeing NJ (the kids and I had never been there before). The most fun 1st though was the trip to Ocean City on Saturday with Phil's cousins and their families. It was cloudy and a little cool (only about 65 degrees), but that didn't stop the kids from playing and splashing in the waves and having a fabulous time! I loved seeing the Boardwalk and checking out all the shops. We ate lunch at a place claiming to have the World's Largest Pizza. One pizza measured 26" across. It was HUGE!! But we still managed to polish one off. Yummy!

The church graciously opened up the parsonage for us to stay. This was the house Phil's mom grew up in and Phil visited when he was younger. It was so fun hearing stories from the family about adventures in the house. Friday night there were 19 of us crammed into that smallish house (the 6 of us, plus Phil's sister and 2 of his cousins, plus their spouses and kids). Saturday night we had "only" 14 of us there and Sunday night it was down to only 9 of us. The 6 of us Hahns slept in 1 room on the floor, which was another first. We did manage to get some sleep, although the kids enjoyed the adventure of it more than Phil and I did (we are TOO OLD to be sleeping on the floor!)

The church service Sunday was amazing! Phil's mom played the piano beautifully, his uncle preached a terrific sermon and his cousin sang. It was a tiny church and I think that people related to Phil made up more than half the congregation. At one point the current pastor of the church asked people to share blessings. Rose, David and even Matthew each stood up and shared something. After the service, the church had put together a potluck for us. There was so much food there, including this garlic bread that was absolutely, hands-down the best garlic bread ever anywhere in the world! I ate far too much of course, but the kids evidently didn't because they were hungry a couple hours later.

Monday morning we headed home after a fun, but exhausting weekend. The car ride home was much easier than the trip out. Not any shorter, but at least the kids didn't fight as much! The pictures I posted are of us at the ocean, Phil's mom playing the piano at church, the huge pizzas we ate in Ocean City and a group shot of the whole gang of us that made it back east for this fabulous weekend!