YES.HE.DID!!!!

Jack started Kindergarten!!!!! We have entered a new stage of our life..."FOR REAL LIFE" school (and the "for real life" is Reagan's new phrase she says ALL the time! oh boy!). This past week, our little 5 lb baby boy has grown into a 40 lb Kindergardener. Where did the time go???? Seriously, for those of you who do NOT believe time flies by...believe me, it does! And the reality of it hit me like a ton of bricks on Thursday as I watched Jack walk into school for the first time. (as a side note, we live right across the street from his school so he does not get the privilege of riding a bus but I get the comfort of knowing he's just across the street!!! ha!)

Here are some pictures from the first day of school...Reagan wouldn't really cooperate with the whole picture taking experience. But that's okay - she doesn't start Pre-K until next week so she's got time to warm up to that camera! :)

Jack was pretending to walk to school without me (I.don't.think.so!!)

Reagan & Jack showing each other some love

Daddy & Jack

His BIG red backpack

Mommy and Jack

Breakfast of Champions (aka Kindergardeners) - orange julius!


jack's class walking into the school

coming home from school - soooo excited! :)

An Interview with a Kindergardener

Check out this video of Jack...I interviewed him on the first day of Kindergarten. I'm biased (ha!) but I think he is such a cutie...he was SO excited about school and SO ready to start his adventure. Watch out St. Paul's, here comes Jack Waldner!

click on the white arrow below

Car Wash!

Doesn't everyone wash their car shirtless????

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

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!

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...