Disney On Ice

Last night, Terry and I took Sam & Ben for a night out on the town. Sam & Ben are Chris & Jen's 2 'oldest' boys (4 & 3 years old) with 'baby' Joseph and one on the way as their other 2. We are so thankful to live in Charlotte near family but somehow still find it so hard to take advantage of living close to family and make the most out of being close in these kiddos lives as their 'tanta' and uncle. Ben is our godson, so he holds an extra special place in our hearts, but we just love these guys and had a blast hanging out with them.

We decided we wouldn't let the constant rain hold us down, we were going to live it up! We all met up and walked to the train in the rain. I had umbrellas for both boys, and they were so proud to each get to walk with their own umbrellas. I think Ben's was almost as big as he was, but he held on tight with both hands and worked those muscles out to hold it up, with the occasional rest on his head.

We got to our pick-up point, and Sam helped me buy the tickets while Ben and Terry took a little break.

[sorry for all the not G-rated material in the past 2 posts...boys DO love being naked...
the picture is cloudy so Ben doesn't hold this against me later in life!]

Our seats for the show were in a perfect place (though high - the better to see everything!) on a front row of our section so we could all lean on and climb all over the rail in front of us without bothering any of the other climbing children filling the arena! We settled in with a big tub of popcorn split between us and got ready for the show. I didn't even think about the fact that it was Disney on Ice so it was cold in the arena when I scoffed the idea of carrying extra jackets on the train with us (oops!) Thankfully my chivalrous husband laid his jacket out across the railing we were leaning/climbing on so no one's hands [or tongues] would stick to it.

Here's a preview of who all we got to see (pictures from our seats):

During intermission, we got cotton candy which came with a 'free' (haha) hat of Lightning McQueen, which my husband/the boys were clearly very excited about.

The second half was all the untold story of Tinkerbell which I couldn't figure out until we remembered Tink has a new movie coming out, so they must have been using this as promo. Bummer for us, we missed out on Nemo and Dory - personal favorites for our family, after all there is a shark in the movie with our family name! Ben & Sam stayed strong til the show was over around 9:30 and despite trying to jump down onto the train tracks multiple times while waiting for the train to take us back, we made it safely back to the car - the boys even carried their umbrellas on the way back from the train even though the rain had stopped.

I drove the mom-mobile back to Huntersville to get the kiddos to bed, and Sam was actually begging Jen to brush his teeth and say his prayers by the time we got in they were so tired. Terry was sound asleep by the time we got home. Parenting is exhausting, how do you all do it? How will I ever survive as the can-do-everything while being fun, cute, and organized mom that I hope to be? My order might be too tall, I might need to lower my expectations for myself so I don't end up burning out too quickly!

Fall & Football

We Bruces have already consumed our fall weekends with football and fun. "The App Family" (all 17 of us) bought season tickets together and the 2 games that we have gone to have already been a riot. Here is the season in review:


At the first game, Kat brought these to the tailgate, and they were an amazing way to get ready for the game:

Then we went camping with Matt & Kat after the game though the rain tried to stop us...we held strong! Other than the 2-hour-extra "short cut" that Matt took us on, the trip was a blast. What a great way to kick off fall and enjoy the beginning of the cold weather. We saw gorgeous waterfalls, Matt's backside (look closely at the picture - and don't miss Kat's look of utter disappointment at the picture being spoiled)- and even built ebeneezers.

This past weekend was Homecoming. 21 of us rented a house together for the 3rd annual Homecoming Bash. I missed out last year, but the first year of this event was when I met all of Terry's friends. Talk about being nervous and put on the spot - Terry even had to give me many pep talks and warnings about his friends' (okay well namely Adam Bracken's) behavior. Safe to say, people are growing up this year :) The house was perfect, the food was delicious...*

*side note:[despite Harris Teeter not having pumpkin for the 4 dozen PUMPKIN muffins I was making, and that after Terry got it for me at another store I had the batter going into the muffin pans before I realized I LEFT THE PUMPKIN OUT OF THE BATTER...and despite the fact that our dog who was in trouble for eating Terry's snowboarding gloves and goggles got to eat the 9 cups of hot sticky chocolate-covered chex mix and 3 cups of powderd sugar that busted all over my kitchen floor when I tried to shake it up in the ziploc bag and could have died from all that chocolate, but in the heat of the moment, I kind of thought she might deserve it. Don't call animal control on me...]

... App won the game, and I even look like I could be an App alum!

Let's just pretend that there aren't 2 months worth of life to catch up on, okay? Let's just pretend that I'm really good at this blogging thing. And for entertainment's sake, we'll just say it's been uneventful around the Bruce household and THAT is why we have had nothing to share in the blog world ALL SUMMER. It's a lie, but we'll say it so that we can keep blogging so I don't get flogged by Becky who reminds me every time I see her of the last date I blogged. 7.8.08, almost as monumental as 8.8.08, which might be a big reason of why we didn't blog in August (we might have watched every broadcast hour of the Olympics)...

We did plan one last weekend at the beach to end the summer on a high note and enjoy a little R&R. My sweet hubby planned a trip for us that was going to serve multiple purposes - the boys were going to Myrtle Beach to have a guys' weekend so that gave Terry other people to watch the ASU/LSU game with and then he was going to go with them to a concert Sunday night while I stayed at the resort he had booked for us through Hotwire to order room service and snuggled into my cozy bed with a good book or Lifetime movie.

Enter speed bumps.

Friday, we found out that the football game got moved from Saturday night to Saturday morning. We weren't checking into our resort until Saturday afternoon - a definite kink in plans since we wanted to watch the game with everyone. So, we decided to caravan down a night early with the guys and crash their party for the first night to stay with them in their condo. Again, we weren't supposed to leave until the next morning, so I hadn't packed or cleaned the house (really, who likes coming home from vacation to an unswept home or dishes in the sink?) So I try to be cool and not type-A and not OCD - aka, someone I am not - and do all of these things in 35 minutes before the caravan left. Enter stress. Packing should be fun - like playing a good game of Tetris

...this packing was not so much that - but it got done, and we got in the car fine. Well, as long as 'fine' includes leaving my "scooby snacks" in the house and spilling my drink all over myself as I tried to lock the door on my way out. Nothing like a 4 hour drive covered in dried sticky Limeade. It was fine because we had a good new book to read as we drove.

Fast forward, we get to the beach, stay with the guys in their friend's family's super nice condo right on the beach, go watch the game the next morning with a bunch of other App fans. Let's just skip over any conversation about the game... So we head back to the condo to get our stuff and head to check into our resort. Caution: this story takes a turn for the worse here. In case you don't know how Hotwire works, you don't know the name of the place you are booking until after you have booked it - you only know the location, and the number of stars they have rated it. So it's a little bit of a gamble, but who knew it was like Russion Roulette?! SERIOUSLY, here were the "slight" downfalls of our "resort." (Not sure if I should list these in order of their offense, alphabetically, or chronologically)...

• cigarette burns through the top of the comforter (which I pulled off the bed only to reveal...)
• 'stains' all over the motel-style velour blanket underneath (which I also pulled off the bed only to reveal...)
• 50 thread count nasty sheets
• blood stains on the walls of the elevator
• nasty black mildew stains on the inside of the far-from luxurious or clean bathroom
• 5000 people crowded into every square foot of beach outside of the 'resort' (all drunk, all leathery, and all adults)
• we are talking spring break 2008 adult version on CRACK
• the public access bar/restaurant by the pool outside our window that was like my worst nightmare (people, at the one and ONLY frat-party I went to in college, I looked around and said "isn't this a fire hazard?")

It was so bad, we weren't sure whether we should laugh or cry. I did both. And then we called the guys and begged for mercy to see if we could come back to the condo and stay with them the rest of the weekend. They knew we wouldn't ask unless it really was that bad, and they love us, so they said yes (after I agreed to not reveal any of the things that happen on these guy trips!) :)

Thankfully, it all ends well - we left the joke of a resort, went and put our name on the list at Bonefish, and spent our 100 minute wait playing mini-golf at the place next door. My husband is ridiculous, he got 5 hole-in-ones. I got 11 over par. We made breakfast for the guys the next morning as a peace offering and we ended up all having a great time together. Not quite the romantic evening away we had planned...But it was a blast, Bonefish was delicious, the weather was great, and I still got my night at home to myself cozy in a bed while the guys were at the concert - but instead of room service, I had Krispy Kreme doughnuts!

And now back to normal life. The lawn is in desperate need of mowing, the laundry is in desperate need of washing, the house still stinks of mildew despite the dehumidifier (oh yeah, in our uneventful time over the past 2 blog-free months, our basement flooded), and I desperately did not want to return to work today. But I am excited for Labor Day to have come and gone - I am finished with the heat, finished with the mosquitoes, ready for Fall, for redeeming football games...and for lunchtime so I can eat my yummy leftovers from dinner last night.

The Bean is Sprouting

Yes, yes, I KNOW he is crying, but this is probably my favorite picture of the weekend. This little guy almost never cries, but he was none too happy about being left alone on the piano bench (although better than when his dad tried to stick him in a bowl...) His face here resembles how I felt about the post office not following through on the whole "2 day shipping" policy that I paid extra moolah for so that my new lens would get to me in time for these pictures. You know, the one that would let me get close and blurry but focused in any light. Sigh.

Guess I'll have to go back another time!

And really, not like I will complain about going back to snuggle with this kind of sweetness. I even got to snuggle him in bed while teaching A&A some infant massage. He loved it - heck, who wouldn't? After their date, Adam & Ashley couldn't believe I was still sitting in the same spot they had left me still with the bean sleeping and cuddly on me. I hadn't even gotten up for homemade peach cobbler - who needs cobbler when you have this?!


He has long fingers and toes like his daddy, and his mommy's cute little button nose. Check out this frat-boy Carolina polo he's got on. His hand is covering the little UNC logo on the top, and the outfit was too big to 'pop his collar' like a true Carolina boy or he would have been lost.

Good thing, I like my boys a little rough around the edges!

Here is where that lens really would have been handy so you could see his sweet little face a little better. But, I did get a HUGE and wonderful gift of Photoshop while I was there this weekend, which has made playing with some new and old pictures very fun. Hello Actions, hello Ree! I could potentially be obsessed. It's been a good diversion to keep me from having that "I want one" conversation with my husband TOO much since I've gotten home from being with such a sweet baby. He had his 2 week check-up yesterday and is already 8 lb 3 oz, 20 inches long and healthy as can be! It sure is fun to be an aunt. Especially a favorite aunt!

bean

welcome to the world bean

This is the cutest baby EVER.

Here is the conversation that has been happening in our house ever since last weekend: "Terry, I'm an aunt!" ... "Ellen, you're already an aunt to 13 kids." ... "Oh, right, okay but still, I'M AN AUNT!"

Ashley went into labor Friday afternoon (emailed Adam to let him know she was having contractions - hilarious) and the bean was born at 6:44 Saturday morning.

Terry and I found surrogate parents and house sitters for the 6 dogs for the night and finally got in the car around 11pm to head to Cary to meet him. Picked up mom in Winston at midnight and made it to their house around 2:30, slept for a few hours and were in the drive-thru of McDonalds when we got the call that the bean had arrived!

Before going to sleep when we got to their house that night, I poked around his sweet little
nursery and took some sweet little pictures with the only light in the room being his night light. In the basket by Ashley's cozy glider are all of his stuffed animals. Hiding in among them all, poking out his little worn nose and rubbed away fur was Tigey. Tigey is Adam's stuffed animal from childhood who has been hidden, abused, slept with, hung from fans, strangled by plastic snakes, and flushed down the toilet by no other than m-e.
Do not feel bad for Tigey. Bunny has endured WAY worse, and barely lived to tell about it. But, it was so sweet to me to see this familiar face among all the new to welcome this sweet boy into the world and into his new home.

Oh, what's that, you actually want to see his face?
Okay, here he is:
Caleb Hillman Underwood
6 lb 15 ounces
19 inches
perfect

Your favorite aunt e loves you bean.
Going to take 'real' pictures of him mid-July, be on the lookout.

oh, and the other conversation in our house this week and while holding the bean: (insert blinking eye lashes longingly looking up at terry)
"I want one...."

Week in Review (the short version)

Apparently, who has time to blog when you are house-sitting 45 minutes away from where you live and running a kennel/keeping six labs on the lake?! Yes, go ahead and count them, 1..2..3..4..5..6. And dogs 1-4 are related, what fun! Here's the synopsis so far:

Here are 4 of the six (the four that are related) - kids on the left, parents on the right - watching the boys on their floats. It's the kids' birthday today (2 years old) - that means Salem's birthday, hooray!

I furminated all 6 of them, this picture does not at all do it justice -
filled up 2 plastic grocery bags
(and see that tiny pile in the bottom right, that's Salem's who gets brushed weekly,
now we know why!)

oh THIS cute boy? he's just my husband. i just love him. LOOK at his face, who couldn't love this face. He did great at wakeboarding - proud of you T!

ahhhh, summer: Pops in the Park where the symphony plays in the park for free and LOTS of peeps come and drink wine and eat yummy food. I stumbled across this cute boy while I was there. I think I like him, we kissed, we went home together, we got married. End of story.

Where am I you want to know? What are these dogs looking at you want to know? Oh, I've just been a FISH for the past week floating away in the lake, on the jet ski, totally basking in the sun. More pictures to come later, I'm behind on many adventures, but in the mean time, must go have some more!

Breaking Fast

Dear Mom (and Clissie, and Joanna, and Pam &Dale)

Second thank yous for wedding gifts and love gifts are officially in order. There were so many things we registered for when we were engaged and 'registry gun happy' that continue to sit in my cabinets, unused. I think we've used our waffle maker twice, though I'm sure we will use it more when we have kids. Our immersion blender that I was dying to have...never. Panini press that I only wanted if it was a Cuisinart...never. Yikes.

Other things though have just taken longer to use. My mom is getting ready to move to a new house next weekend and in her clean out mode (not just boxes of stuff here people) Terry and I were the blessed recipients of a grill - which we have already used MANY times. Now that I eat chicken and fish, this is much more useful! Fish is still new, mostly I've only eaten tilapia. I want to like salmon. I feel like all girls should like salmon. As Terry told me tonight, "oh yeah, it's FULL of omega 13s" (i love this boy). We had it a few weekends ago when the Bruce family was in town and I thought it was okay. In effort to master his grill skills, we decided to try it tonight as a healthy break to our fast/detox.

Wonderful Cousin Clissie gave us Cedar Planks for our wedding along with a Cedar Plank Grilling cookbook. Again, haven't used them yet, but tonight we did - and drooled over pictures of many things in the book. 'Mama Joanna' (see earlier post) brought my attention to a recipe in a Jr. League cookbook we had also gotten for our wedding from Pam & Dale, whose family I grew up celebrating holidays with. Again, sorry to say, hadn't used the cookbook yet. Mostly because I always. always. always. cook from Cooking Light, my best and annual Christmas present from mom. I ventured out tonight - strawberry salsa.

PEEPS. Maybe it was because we were breaking our fast, but I think it was just because it was amazing. All natural. All organic. Made in the kitchen over low lights, William Fitzsimmons singing in the background, Salem begging for food at my feet, a great bottle of white wine, and dancing with Terry in the kitchen while we waited for the salmon to cook.

The perfect dinner:

Go ahead and be jealous.

Thank you mom for the grill, it's amazing and we eat better because of it. Thank you Clissie for the cedar planks, they make the salmon DELICIOUS to a new salmon eater. Thank you Pam & Dale for the cookbook, I look forward to trying more recipes. Thank you Terry for loving me and cooking good food with me - especially for dancing in the kitchen with me like the movies.