Christmas with the Amies

Some new friends. His train stool.

First glimpse of the train on Christmas morning. Big hit.

"Choo choo!"

Some new books.

I really like wrapping presents.

Tree

Owen had just as much fun decorating the tree.

He really liked the strands of beads.

And the glittery bulbs. He only broke one and pulled the hooks out of five or six... :/

Lights... I love this picture. It sums up his awe of all things Christmas.

Decorating.

Helping Daddy with the bulbs.

Decorating Frank.

Mother of three, for three days only.

We finally planned a trip to Columbus that involved bringing additional children with us home to Wheeling. We went up on Tuesday and brought Andrew and Allie back home with us for three nights.



They were jam-packed days, and not everything went according to plan, but we still had an awesome time.

Early morning piano shenanigans.

Three hot kids on a chair.

Approximately 10 minutes after arriving back in Wheeling, our power goes out as I am making grilled cheese sandwiches for all the kids. I think it's important to note that it was exactly 96 degrees that day. The kids were uncomfortable. We went and rented a movie, and by the time we came home, the power was back on and we enjoyed a dinner of chicken enchiladas.

What I did not realize, was that something happened to the refrigerator during the power outage. The light was still on, the freezer was still cold, but by Thursday morning, the fridge was getting less cold than it should have been. I was thinking it may have had something to do with the excessive heat.

So, Thursday we packed up Andrew and Allie (Grandma stayed with Owen at our house) and went to Sandcastle. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures while at Sandcastle, because my phone was stored in a locker while we ran around the waterpark.

We first hit up the wave pool (always a favorite). The kids weren't sure what to expect, but once the waves started churning, and the kids started getting bounced around, we knew they were having an awesome time. Then Clint and I both got a double innertube to go down the Blue Tubalooba with each of the kids, the most awesome water slide in the history of water slides. After going down it once the kids immediate screamed, "Let's do that again!!!!!" The lazy river was not quite as big a hit, so we went back to the wave pool before lunch.

After lunch, Allie and I went to the kids' pool, which even as an adult, was awesome. I can't wait until Owen gets a little bigger so he can enjoy that. After the little pool, we tried to see if Allie could go down some slides in a single tube. Thankfully she was tall enough, so we each went down two more slides side by side. She was having a blast. Meanwhile, Andrew and Clint were going down the terrifying really tall slides. We met back up to go in the wave pool one more time before heading home.

We left Sandcastle at 5:30, and didn't reach the Fort Pitt Tunnel until 6:45... It's approximately 10 miles, maybe less. There was so much traffic. It was disastrous. The kids were exhausted and both took a nap in the car, but woke up before we even left Pittsburgh.

Below is Allie passed out in the car on the way home from Sandcastle.

When we got home, my mom says, "Kara, I don't think your fridge is keeping things cold..." The refrigerator that I bought 2.5 years ago when we first moved into our apartment is now ruined. Friday morning brought stress and refrigerator estimates. One company told me it would cost between $200-400 to fix it. Another company was going to charge me $80 just to come look at it, and they couldn't come look at it until the 20th (I called on the 9th)...

New refrigerator it is! I got a pretty sweet deal on a Whirpool brand (bottom freezer) refrigerator that was half off!!!! It was a good day to buy a fridge.

The rest of Friday was spent at the park, Andrew and Clint hitting up Cabela's, and Allie, Owen and me going shopping at Target where Allie got some cute new outfits and I got some new sunglasses to replace the ones broken at Sandcastle. (I cannot be without sunglasses on sunny days.)

Owey was also a fan of the shades.

Owey and his best friend (substitute polar bear), Andrew.

If the polar bear is not near, and Andrew is, Owey is happy! I have an almost identical shot of these two from our trip to the Columbus zoo.

The night in Columbus consisted of Bananagrams with my gutter-brained husband, Scott and Cristie, and two defunct dictionaries that couldn't keep up with my vocabulary. Thank God for Scott's iPhone. Good times, friends.

I just want to say how adorable Allie is with all her little dresses. I have known this little lady since she was nine days old, and in the past five years, I don't remember ever seeing her wear anything other than dresses (except for pajamas). Cristie says it doesn't happen too often.

Allie is very good at making Owey giggle.

Especially when she acts like she is biting his hands. The expression on Owen's face is his deliriously happy face.

And Allie can fly!

Action shot of Allie~!

Bubbles! Allie was blowing bubbles and Owey was chasing them.

Down the tubes.

Saturday morning, the entire Kimmins fam had breakfast in the Amie abode. I don't do it very often, but when there is a special occasion, I love to cook up a big breakfast. Cristie always prepares a huge breakfast for us the last day of our visits to Columbus, so I thought it only fair I return the favor. It was awesome having them all over! I'm looking forward to having a house with more livable areas so that I can do more entertaining (without having people climb three flights of stairs)... I'm pretty sure Owey was very sad to see his friends leave, and I'm sure he is looking forward to another visit soon.

Back to the fridge drama. Because it was considered an "emergency fridge," they did not give me a time window on when the fridge was going to be delivered, only that it would be Saturday. Clint went and got a few breakfast essentials this morning, and more ice. I had everything from the fridge within a cooler and a huge freezer bag.

I figured it would be delivered midday. Nope.

At 4:00pm, I called Lowes to find out where the fridge was. They took my number and told me they would call me back. At 6:00pm, with no word from Lowes, I called back. This new girl I talked to contacted the driver while on the phone with me, only to find out that they were "backed up" but it would definitely be today. I was upset. By this point, all the ice had melted from everywhere, and everything in the cooler and freezer bag was ruined. I told them I had kids in my house and needed to be able to have essential food items. I had planned on going shopping as soon as the fridge was delivered to replace everything that was ruined. Luckily, I stored all of our meat from the freezer with our upstairs neighbor, who was very accommodating, even though she is vegan!!! I relayed this to the girl on the phone, who promptly transferred me to a manager.

I'm kind of surprised at this. I wasn't really angry, I just wanted to know when the damn fridge was going to be delivered. I am not one to hold back a complaint at places like restaurants and retail stores. I worked as a waitress and a sales associate before. I know the deal. Customer's are paying you for a service, and if that service is not delivered as expected, the customer should benefit. But in this case, I wasn't even that mad when on the phone. Clint said it sounded like I was going to cry, but I think I was just really tired. This phone call resulted in the darling manager from Lowes leaving $15o dollars at the customer service desk for me to replace my groceries. I'm still ticked that I had to replace a 2.5 year old fridge, but that was a huge help, especially with Clint being laid off and all that. Thanks Ashley the manager!

The fridge was finally in place in my kitchen at 8:15pm.

After the crazy week I have had, I made some plans with my dear Natalie for sushi and secret-spilling. The sweet-potato rolls were sweet-ass. After sushi-fest, I hightailed it to the grocery store to replace all my perishables, courtesy of Lowes.

Tonight, the house is quiet after three days of being a family of five. While I know our family will likely only ever be a family of four, having Andrew and Allie with us made me look forward to giving Owen a sibling in a few years. He was clearly sad when he woke up from his nap and realized that the big kids were not there anymore.

Kids are awesome. One of Clint's highlights from the week: Listening to Andrew and Allie giggle while watching "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." It was infectious. Love it.

Columbus Revisited

With Clint still out of work, we have a lot of time on our hands. We decided to go visit our friends in Columbus. I think I should stop calling them friends. They are more like family.

I knew Owen liked trains, but now it is clear that he LOVES them. Well, I know what SOMEONE is getting from Santa Claus this year!

Cristie making Owey giggle.

Owey hard at work on the Kimmins' computer.

Ah, is this what it would look like if we had a girl next. Ah, swoon.

Funny girl.

Abbie on the grass.

Abbie and Owey

Clint, Andrew and Owey. Scott, Clint and Andrew all went golfing on Wednesday. They had a great time, but it was probably 1,000 degrees out and they all came back with sunburn.

Owey liked to show the girls how good he is at closing doors.

Adam on the slide. The entire time we were there, Adam only called Owen "Baby Owey." It was pretty much adorable.

Allie taking Owen down the slide.

Owen kept taking Abbie's stroller, so she had to run away with it :)

More train-playing.
Being in Columbus did something to me this trip, and I don't mean make me nauseous when Owen started throwing up in the middle of the night due to strawberry overload during the day. Of course I am from Columbus, spent the majority of my childhood there. I don't know if it's desperation talking, but Clint's job search in the Ohio Valley is getting ridiculously depressing. He has applied to so many jobs, soo sooooo many jobs, and hasn't gotten any interviews. I don't know what the problem is.

On the way home from Columbus, Clint and I started talking about what it would be like to live there. I'm familiar with it already, we have FAMILY there who would make the transition so much easier in so many ways, a booming job market for Clint, so many more housing possibilities...

I have an excellent job that I have no plans of leaving. If we lived in Columbus, I could come back to Wheeling on a Friday afternoon, work my weekend, stay at my mom's and go back to Columbus Monday morning. I could take Owen with me two weekends a month, and leave him in Columbus with Clint two weekends a month. That way, Clint wouldn't be overwhelmed with Owen for three days straight, and my mom would still get to see Owen frequently. I'm really happy with my work schedule, and I think that my commuting for the weekends wouldn't be that difficult. If Clint can get a decent-paying job in Columbus, I think we should try to make it work.

First things first, we have not put the house on the market yet because we figured our next step would be buying a house in this area. If we MAY move out of the area, that won't work. So, either way, we need to sell this house so we can keep our options open. We need to be able to be in a position to move rather quickly (3 months or less) and we may not be able to do that while owning this house. So, a realtor is coming to our apartment on Tuesday.

We have explored so many options. I don't know what the right one is. It's really hard to figure it out. The idea of moving to an area where Clint can find decent work, being close to people we know and love, and being within easy travel distance to our family... seems like a good idea. We shall see.

And - HUGE congratulations to Mrs. Laura Jackson Roberts and family on the birth of new baby Benjamin Michael!!!!

Random thoughts

• Summer has gone from non-existent to horribly persistent in a matter of days. I hate when the air is heavy and hot, makes me feel sticky, and the only solution is a pool.
• I love swimming. I think Owey is going to love it as well. We were at a barbecue for Memorial Day, and he took it upon himself to climb into the kiddie pool. With his shoes on.
• Clint is thinking about taking coal-mining classes. Yes the job market is that bad. He has had a couple of mental health positions he's been interested in, but they pay next to nothing. Is it worth it?
• I have been looking for houses online. At first it's exciting, but then it just gets depressing.
• In order for us to buy a house, things need to happen in this order: Clint needs to get a job, we need to get a realtor, we need to sell this house, and find the house we want to buy. Ugh. Can we fast forward to the last step?
• I really really really want to buy a house in Woodsdale, but I don't think it's going to happen.
• My darling Natalie K. has been making me many mix CDs, and they help me get through long nights of QC at work. Natalie, you continue to improve my life every week. I love our 15 minutes on Sundays.
• YOU, (yes you) should be listening to Emily Haines (with or without the Soft Skeleton and other various accompaniments). Crowd Surf off a Cliff and Bottom of the World are two of my new favorite songs.
• Owen will now willingly wear sandals, sunglasses and/or a hat. He has a little baseball-like hat, and it's slightly too big, so I turn it to the side and he looks like a little gangster.
• My darling Laura's bun is nearly cooked. We must have one more night out for crab legs before you become a mother of two.
• I recently reconnected (through Facebook!) with a little girl I used to babysit all through college. I started watching her when she was 5 or 6, I think. She is now nearly 15. Wow. The first time I watched her, she made me stay on a swing by her garage while she rode her bike up the street, making sure to keep in contact via walkie-talkie. I have so many good memories of that little lady. I hope we get together soon.
• I really really really want a new car. I refuse to make a new mix CD until I can make one for MY car, and I'm getting impatient.
• Owen has started running. It's more like a fast, exaggerated waddle, but it's adorable.
• My good friend Annie from high school is visiting while her husband is doing some training in the military. It's so good to see friends from your past, who after all the time are in the exact same place in their lives as you are. So good to see you and little Alex!
• Clint and I watched the entire first two seasons of True Blood in two weeks. It's scandalous. There is a lot of cussing, effing, biting and killing. Good stuff.
• Owen still doesn't say many words, but he talks all the time in little baby-talk sentences. He uses a lot of inflection and various different sounds. I'm convinced one day he is just going to start talking in sentences. He says, "dada, mama (very rarely), hi, kitty, yeah, mmmmm (when he likes something to eat), what's that, uh oh," and he makes exaggerated kissing sounds when he kisses things. He also kisses everything that he loves. I also saw him hugging a little Shrek doll today.
• Yesterday, my mama turned 64!!!! Happy Birthday Jude.

Ok, my little list turned into a long list.

The following pictures are totally out of order, and it's more complicated than you think to rearrange pictures in Blogger once you upload them. So... here they are... out of order, bear with me.

At the Columbus Zoo, all of the kids and Clint. From left, Owey, Clint, Abbie, Andrew, Allie and Adam (wedged between the l and the t!)

Allie, Adam, Andrew and Owey in the Asian part of the Columbus Zoo.

This little man took a thirty minute nap on the way to the zoo, and lasted almost the whole day without a nap. Needless to say, Clint and I bet on how long it would take him to fall asleep once we were in the car. He fell asleep exactly four minutes out.

Allie was teaching Owey how to write with a pen. We keep noticing Owen favoring his left hand for things. Do we have a little South Paw on our hands?

Andrew became Owen's new favorite person. Andrew, always the wonderful big brother, was happy to oblige.

The Amie fam.

Me and Abbie walking to Adam's soccer game! Andrew, me, Abbie, Allie and Owen at Adam's soccer game!

The Kimmins fam at the Columbus Zoo. Too bad Scott had to work!!

My little happy man. I think he's thrilled with himself because he just went #2 for the second time that day. The kid never poops, but he poops twice in a very public area... It was tricky.

Helpful kids.

Abbie feeding Owey pancakes for the first time.

As usual, we had a fantastic time visiting our friends in Columbus. We planned it so we went up on a Tuesday afternoon (Owen napped in the car on the way). We got to go to Adam's soccer game and grill with Cristie and the gang. Owen did not like the group bath, but still managed to sleep a full 12 hours in a pack-n-play. Great success! The next morning we got up, had a big breakfast, packed a picnic lunch and went to the Columbus Zoo! The zoo was great! My favorite part was seeing monkey families. There were two new baby monkeys being held by their mommies with the daddies looking over their shoulders.

All the kids had a good time! I don't know if Owen got a lot of out of the animals, but he sure enjoyed pushing his stroller around! Aside from the fact that he barely napped all day, we were pretty thrilled with how he behaved. Toward the end he got a little stubborn and grumpy, but it worked out.

We are looking forward to visiting Columbus again soon to see the Kimmins gang again!