Vacation - Ohio!

Our vacation may have been over 2 months ago but I still want to get these posts finished up to have. So please excuse me for being so behind. Anywho...

We drove down to Ohio on Saturday, July 6 taking our time. It rained off and on the whole ride there, sometimes pouring so hard we could hardly see. We made our annual stop at Cabela's where I'm sure we walked out with several items that Gabe thought we just had to have but in reality didn't. Ah well, at least we only go there once a year.

I was really hoping to make it to the Ox Roast by closing time but the rain and Noah really slowed us down. (Side note: I now realize that driving in the rain scares Noah which was why he was not a happy traveler this day.) Unfortunately we didn't make it on time but my wonderful mother still brought me home my most favorite lemonade from there!

The next morning we made it to the Ox Roast and had a great time. The weather wasn't very hot but boy was it humid! The kids wanted face paintings and as only they would, they chose the silliest but still adorably cutest ones.

Afterward, we headed over to my sister's house for a family get-together. The guys started a fire for s'mores. At one point I looked outside to find Gabe and my brother rounding up dead sticks/branches for firewood and caught them attempting to break a big one. Looks like a recipe for disaster, doesn't it? I had my camera ready to catch the next $10,000 winning Funniest Home Video but sadly luckily for them, no one was injured, impaled, or hurt in the breaking of that branch.

We did another grandchild picture like our Michigan one and it went surprisingly well. There were no tears and everyone cooperated! And just look how cute!

In order of oldest to youngest - 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 5mo, and 2mo

Here are just a few more random photos from our first couple of days.

Games with Grandma

Daddy's shirt makes a perfect sleep shirt.

And my favorite pic of the trip.... This is how Noah spent quality time with his grandparents.

The Red is Dead

So I mentioned last week how I was going to paint the bedroom. Well I did... Sort of. I got the wall primed. Half of it. But that's beside the point! I just need to get it out there so I can get the umph to finish the job. And I will, oh yes I will.

We had this big dream when we bought the house of having a half red wall with a chair rail and it was going to be glorious... And then life got in the way. We had to move in before the painting was done, I was pregnant, then we had two kids under two, and yada yada. Long story short, the red was AWFUL and it's one of those "What were we thinking?!" type of things. We've been discussing for a while now a much better color of blue for the bedroom and I think I finally hit the breaking point and just decided to go for it.

So here is the somewhat before... (we moved some things and I've already got plastic down but you get the point)

Yeah.... that's quite an obnoxious color of red, isn't it?

I used a High Hiding Primer from Valspar and one coat covered it great. I was afraid it would take more because of the darkness of the red but this did the trick and I'm very happy with it.

The color I've picked is Turquoise Mist from Olympic. It has a hint of green to it. I debated going with a blue that had hints of grey since that is really popular right now but I like green.

One of these two walls will be the blue wall but I just can't decide. Any suggestions? Should we paint just one wall, both pictured, or just go for the whole room?

How Many Reasons

I was talking to my husband today and was saying a few reasons of why I wanted him home. So a great idea popped into my head! Why not write down all the reasons?

So here goes...

1. I can go shopping ALONE. -No more dragging two squirmy kids with me everywhere I go.
2. No more leftovers. -This is a big one since I'm not too good at eating leftovers and I always seem to make what would be enough for all four of us.
3. No more bedtime battles. -Wrestling both kids into pj's and bed in two different bedrooms and try to get them to STAY there and SLEEP is on average a 2 hour process.
4. A certain non mentionable act between the two of us. -You can figure it out. ;)
5. Having another child. -See #4. We would love a few more kids to add to the pack.
6. Showers. -I take them at nap time but with a four year old who is trying to convince me she doesn't need them anymore, showers are harder to come by.
7. CLEANING! -Daddy would be able to occupy them while I can actually get something done. Have you ever cleaned while the kids play? It's like shoveling the driveway while there's a blizzard.
8. Sleep. -It would be so nice to be able to sleep in once in a while.
9. I can actually have a face to face adult conversation with him. -Just having an adult conversation would be great!
10. Having someone to cuddle with. -My kids are NOT ones to cuddle.
11. No more sleeping alone. -I don't totally mind having the bed to myself, but on the nights where I have fears of someone breaking in, I can be more at ease knowing my husband would be there.
12. DATE NIGHT! -This doesn't even need an explanation.
13. I'll have my handyman back! -I can't even count how many times I've had to do a husband/man's job of building and fixing.
14. I won't have to answer these same questions nearly every day... "How do you do it? Are you sure daddy's safe? When's your husband get home?" and so on...
15. Confidence boost. -I never realized how much better I feel when I'm in public with my husband.
16. Getting out of the house will go faster. -Well, at least when he's home from work, but still.
17. Discipline. -I will not be the only bad guy anymore.
18. I'll have something to look forward to during the day. -Right now, I look forward to bedtime. I (and the kids)would be able to look forward to daddy's arrival home from work.
19. Bath time. -Gabe is so much better at giving them baths. I freak out over every splash that flings water out of the tub.
20. Dining out! -I can finally go to real restaurants again! Sorry, I don't exactly count McDonald's and such.
21. I'll have a reason to look pretty. -Some days, I have zero motivation to even look decent.
22. I can stop the constant worry. -I won't have to worry if he's dead just because he didn't call.
23. Driving duties. -Sometimes it's nice to sit back and enjoy the ride.
24. Finally being just mom again. -Being mom AND dad's not much fun.
25. I won't have to dread birthday parties and invitations to dinner so much. -I honestly HATE going to these without Gabe there to "back me up". If I don't know anyone, at least I would have him.
26. Weekends. -Without Gabe here, weekends just don't feel like weekends.
27. Happy kids, happy mom. -All around, everyone will be happier.
28. We can finally put the Army and deployments behind us.
29. No more 50/50. -So far we've spent half of our 5+ years of marriage apart.
30. Obviously the best reason would be that he'd be HOME! -Need I say more?

30 reasons...I'm sure I'll come up with more. But these are the biggest ones that I can think of right now. Got any more reasons?... Leave me a comment!