Happy Anniversary - 7 Years!

Big, Fat Anniversary Weekend...

...Well, no, not really. Our recent encounter with mother nature kind of put the kibosh on our anniversary plans this weekend, but all in all -- it wasn't a BAD weekend by any stretch. Dan and Julie were nice enough to take the boys again for us, and we got a LOT of work done on Marcus' "new" office (Evan's old room), the boys' room, and just general cleaning. The house was VERY dirty from all the stuff that was dragged up from the basement last week.

I'm happy to report that a few of the mechanical devices that were submerged are still functional. We haven't fired up our desktops yet though... they've spent the week with fans blowing on them from multiple directions; in our now DRY basement!


I was really worried about putting the boys together at such a young age -- I shouldn't have been. Both have been sleeping better in the past week than they have for Evan's entire life! Thank goodness for small favors!

Here's what the room looks like now... Of course none of the furniture matches... but I'll just have to get over that for while!!!




Marcus and I spent the morning at the laundromat, and then we had lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Hall, as well as my aunt Shelley. Afterwards, my dad took us to see a movie. See? That, along with all the good work we did this weekend, is not a bad anniversary at all!




Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! I'll leave you with the Knotts boys!

I DIDN'T WANT an Indoor Pool!!!

Marcus' work-in-progress office under water.
This weekend Marcus and I woke up to two feet of water in our basement. The basement is also Marcus' office! The sump-pump died sometime in the night, the water started rising. When all was said and done and we had a new sump pump hooked up, we had about three feet of water soaking into EVERYTHING. We think we lost our desktop computers, various electronic devices (modems, wireless routers, phone, etc), exersize equipment, washer/dryer, baby equipment, files, MOST of Marcus' big, expensive law books, all my books (because I had them on the floor...), sewing machine, my wedding dress, pictures, Marcus' law degree that we had professionally matted, etc, etc, etc. Thousands of dollars down the drain, only one week after Marcus officially struck out on his own!!!! I know it could be MUCH worse, but it still is a bit overwhelming.

So, here I am, at the laundry mat during my lunch hour trying to salvage some of our clothes, which should be fine.

Utility Room
Notice the plastic tubs and toys ABOVE the water, but the hundreds of dollars of law books on the floor, waiting for a spot on the bookshelves.
Sigh...
Thanks SO MUCH to Dad, who spent most of the weekend knee-deep in cold water with Marcus and me. And Julie and Dan, thanks for watching the boys all weekend. I don't know what we would have done without all of you!!!!!!!

Time to fold clothes, and back to work!!!

Do do that new do, that you do so well...

Well, my sister and I both got our hair cut last night. I thought it was time for a change. I think the jury's still out on this one... and I'm not quite sure how to style it yet... still working on that.


Excuse the expression on my face... I'm not a huge fan of pictures anyway, but this was taken this morning at about 6 a.m.... and this is the best of the bunch!

Aloha!

Zachary showing off the new shirt he got direct from Hawaii!
This week a package arrived from Danny and Chelsie. In it were a bunch of goodies, including this adorable shirt and hula dancing doll he was fascinated with. They were ALMOST as cool as all the bubble wrap the packages came with. Zachary was in bubble-poppin' heaven!

Doing his best hula dance impression... with bubble wrap.
Backtracking to this past weekend. On Friday, I took the day off and after Evan's doctor's appointment (stats to follow later), we went down to Indy to spend some time with Karla, Nathan and Carson. First stop - Pizza Hut! Watch out!! Here come our boys!!!

We really have no idea what was going on between Nathan and Zachary, but whatever it was... it cracked Zachary up!
Then we went back to Karla's house so the boys could play and Karla and I could, well... just sit around and talk! All the boys pretty much entertained themselves the whole time. Woo-hoo!

My "top chef", of course, LOVED the kitchen set. He baked, he grilled, and at one point, he told Karla the pot was "hot", so that she would give him the kiddie-sized pot holders!

What is the saying? A watched plastic burger never grills?!!?
Grrrrr.... Big boy can't quite squeeze through the door!
"Hey Kar-wa, these pans are hot!"
Carson has no fear!
Nathan hamming it up for the camera
Evan fought sleep the entire time.
This weekend, we also got to spend a lot of time with Lehna and Maya. They stayed with us all weekend while their parents finished getting their house ready to sell. On Saturday, we did end up going to the park again...

Evan truly IS a little monkey! He wanted to be on everything. When he wanted to climb up the playground equipment, Marcus helped him. This is what happened when Evan wanted to climb DOWN!
That night, in a moment of insanity, Marcus and I decided to let the kids make pizzas for dinner. Our own little Preschool Pizzeria!

Gettin' ready to get culinary!
Papa Marcus' Pizza
(Papa Marcus must have skipped the chapter on child labor laws...)
It's getting really late, so I will stop the update there. More to follow later!

Lots of Changes

Here is Marcus' new logo, as it appears on all the letterhead, envelopes and business cards. Pretty cool, huh? It was designed by our very own Shelley Heiden (my aunt)! We were really pleased with all the layouts... now, if we could just find someone to print them properly!!!

In related news, there has been a change in plans... The firm has hired someone to replace Marcus, and since they don't want to pay two attorneys for the full 30 days Marcus was asked to remain, his last day is now going to be this coming Friday. Talk about going into overdrive! Luckily, Matt (the attorney Marcus will be doing business with) is chomping at the bit to start giving Marcus cases, so he is set there. We're just trying to get all the malpractice insurance, P.C. paperwork, office supplies,etc., so that Marcus CAN start getting cases.

"I'll just wiggle my nose and make Daddy's new business appear!"
Needless to say, it's been a little busy around here... and despite the uncertainty about the future, and the tightening of the financial "belt", there is a noticeable difference in Marcus' demeanor lately. He just seems so much more a peace than he has been in a long time. He still has a weight on his shoulders, but it seems to have replaced a much heavier version. The boys have really enjoyed having him around more too!

Woo-hoo! Weekend fun with Dad!
Evan's first tooth came in this week!
Zachary has made big, big progress in potty training this week. We've been working really hard on it on the weekends, and he's been wearing underwear almost exclusively (except when he's asleep). At home, he's done really well. In fact, he had no accidents today! At daycare, he has a lot of accidents. We're not sure why, but I suspect that he likes to be in the thick of the action, and doesn't pay attention. We'll see if he does any better after doing SUCH a good job today!!! Way to go, little buddy!!

Bust a move
in my 'big boy' undies!!!

Marcus and I did a lot of yard work this weekend during nap times, so I'll leave you with a couple of shots of our pretty yard right now. Have a great week!!