A Tale of Two Lil' Waldners

August 29, 2010

We are alive!

Hello All, it's been awhile since I posted a blog! We've been busy unpacking, organizing, decorating, landscaping, hosting Nana/Papa/Grammy...phew! And on top of all this craziness, Jack went to camp for 2 weeks at the beginning of the month. He took a school bus (a big deal!!!) to an awesome camp for the entire day...2 weeks in a row! This was the most that we've been away from one another and it was a little hard (for me!) at first. Reagan and I had lots of quality girl time which was fun! Now we are getting ourselves in order for school - Jack starts on the 9th (note: tears are flowing when I think about my little guy going off to Kindergarten!) and Reagan begins her 2nd year of preschool on the 16th. We will be hitting the beach as much as we can until the start of school...fingers crossed for good weather!

Here are a few pics that I've taken this past month...I have to admit, the camera has NOT been with me alot of the time! Sorry!!!

Riding on our favorite carousel

Cheesy face!

Dress up time with Reagan's friend, Hadley

Gotta love bedhead! :)

Check out Jack's new shades...

awesome face painting with jack's friend, johnny

July 18, 2010

Dig right in!

And that's just what Matt did...his first priority for the new home - NEW landscaping! Have I mentioned before that he's really handy in the yard???? He loves to landscape and couldn't wait to doctor up our new yard. It had been neglected for quite some time and I'm sure the yard was happy to see Matt! He took what was already there and moved it around...and then added just a few plants & a Japanese maple tree. It looks A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. - such an improvement from before...

Just doing a little bragging on my awesome hubby! :)

view from street - hasn't worked on the side next to my car, though!

about to spread the mulch - see butterfly bush on corner? yea!

Japanese Maple and other bushes...

hard at work!

Look for more pics soon! Back patio, etc! :) We've got alot of work to do (read: Matt has alot of work to do!!! ) before his work party on the 7th of August!!!

We're moved in!

We survived the move (barely!!!) and spent our first night in the new house. No strange noises...which is what I was worried about. When a home is built in 1721 - it's a big concern, don't you think??? The move only took 12 hours (HELLO!)...but all of our belongings are now in the home. Let the REAL work begin because I have no idea where anything is! ugh!

Here are some photos (only had a chance to snap a couple) of our adventure:

See Ellie right in the middle of the walkway - her fav spot! The movers loved that! ha!

Our "famous" home & land...

The moving truck

The "mover" - Jack helped out a bit!

July 15, 2010

Hello, Goodbye!

Hello...New HOME!

Goodbye...Apartment!

Yes, we FINALLY closed on our new home this Tuesday. And we were definitely holding our breath up to the very last minute - but it happened and everything went well. Now the work begins...we are packing, un-packing, moving, playing (well, just the kids) and WORKING hard to get into our new house by Saturday night. The kids are very excited to spend the night in their new home...and Saturday is our goal. We are doing alot of the move this week - boxes, toys, etc. But we've hired a mover to help with the big stuff - furniture and that cavernous storage unit we rented for the past year! Of course, yesterday we did find some time to do some shopping (me!!!) and some landscaping (Matt!!!). ha! We do have priorities...they just aren't the same ones. ha! Matt spent some time at his favorite nursery drawing up a plan for the landscaping...as you will see in the pictures, it needs HELP! But I have total confidence in my hubby - he is the landscape master!!!! He will have our yard looking amazing by the end of the summer (yes, he DOES work that fast! it's amazing!). And don't you worry about the interior of the home...I'll take care of that! :) I made my first home purchase yesterday (will post pic soon!) - it's a beautiful antique dresser with glass knobs. B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L - and totally in my budget - I won't even brag about how little I spent on it! (the trick - hit estate sales and consignment shops for some awesome treasures!!!)

Reagan & Jack's rooms were painted yesterday...their comments as they walked into the painted rooms for the first time:

Jack: "Wow, it's pretty dark - I like it!" (his first choice was black paint for the walls but I helped him to pick a dark blue instead) note - it's the same blue we've used in his past 2 bedrooms but he didn't notice! ha!

Reagan: "Oh my, it's perfect for me. Just like a princess room - beeeeeeuuuuutiful!" (she chose pink, of course!!!)

Here are a few more pics of the exterior of the house...and more to come, I promise!!!

"hello, anyone out there? please help me, matt! i am overgrown and very sad!"

our backyard (aka outdoor ice rink come this winter!) - jack's already asking for us to build a rink! our little hockey guy!

front view from park across street

welcome to our front door - can't wait to put some urns with beautiful flowers (mom? your job!)

another view of home...

July 13, 2010

Livin' it up at Long Pond!

A BIG thank you to our friends (the entire Carolan family, really!) for inviting us to their lake cottage at Long Pond in Plymouth. Life really slowed down as we were driving down a dirt road past lake cottage after lake cottage. As soon as we arrived, we kicked off our shoes & jumped in the water (really, we did!). The kids couldn't start the fun fast enough...they dived right in to lake living - swimming to the floating dock, "fishing", kayaks, eating, drinking, etc! Here are some pictures...

The girls swimming back from the floating dock

Here they come!!! All by themselves...

Jumping off the dock...

Cruisin' the lake with Sarah & John

Daddy & Jack chat time

Jack is having soooo much fun!

Johnny & Jack on their kayaks

Johnny showing us how it's done!

July 10, 2010

Celebrate!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend...it is definitely turning into one of my favorite holidays of the year! It's a time to feel proud of who we are and where we live! Our little New England town does an amazing job of celebrating the 4th with festivals, a parade, fireworks and LOTS of FUN!!!

We kicked off the weekend with fireworks on Friday night...a big thank you to our friends, the Carolans who invited us for a BBQ at the yacht club with probably the best view of the fireworks in Hingham! We all went early so that the kids could catch jelly fish & crabs off the docks, dance to the DJ and the adults could eat/drink before the sun went down. At around 9:30, the fireworks show started...and both Jack & Reagan enjoyed it! (note: Jack is NOT a fan of loud, sudden noises so we weren't 100% sure he would like the fireworks.)

On Saturday - another beautiful & HOT day so we thought it would be fun to take a boat out to one of the Boston Harbor Islands. Jack chose Lovell's Island to visit so off we went with our picnic lunch, bathing suits and sunscreen! We did a little swimming, some hiking through old forts and relaxing on the beach - it was a perfect day!

view of the Boston skyline from one side of Lovell's Island

Reagan - being sassy!

Boston Light in the far left background

Reagan's the leader on our hike

checking out a VERY old fort

jack's just chillin' at the fort

beach at Lovell's Island

Heading home on the boat after a FUN day on the island

On Sunday, our town had their parade...we always head over to a friend's house to watch the parade...their driveway is prime seating for the parade and the kids ALWAYS get the good candy - ha! (like they need more sweets, but hey - it's a holiday!!!) This year, we even had a sno cone machine to cool us off on the REALLY hot day. Unfortunately for Matt, he got stuck helping our friend John making them for the long line of kids! :)

the boys waiting for more candy!!!

the girls in their "front row" seats!

jack enjoying the sno cone made by daddy!

THE sno cone machine!! a big hit!

July 3, 2010

What have we been up to?

I haven't been blogging lately...just too busy, I guess! End of school activities (graduation, shows, etc.), Reagan's ballet recital, visits from both sides of the family, Tee-ball, Lacrosse - phew! Here are some pictures from the past few months...