We've been pretty busy since the weekend and am just today catching up with blogging.

Saturday I met an assortment of cousins and aunts in Marysville to hit some secondhand stores for maternity clothes. Let me tell you, there isn't a great selection, especially if you wear anything over a small! I did however pick up a couple of things for Ethan and Gwen that they really needed. Gwen came with me, while Ethan stayed home with Jason and got his hair cut and ran errands.

After we finished shopping, Gwen and I raced home, I glazed some pound cakes I'd made the night before, ate some lunch and then we were all off to my Mom's house for the party for my cousin Holly's return to Washington. There was other good news to be had... my cousin Brynne got engaged. Yay!

There were lots of people there... like maybe 23 or so. My Uncle (really cousin) Shawn was there. He'd just returned from Turkey where he was doing research into authentic gyros so he can open a shop in Alaska (I think this is what he was doing... according to my Mom) and he brought us back some baklava that was really good. I love seeing Uncle Shawn (and Aunt Jenni too). They are world travelers and always have stories to share. We heard all sorts of things about his recent trip to Vietnam, of which I'm insanely jealous.

Holly (a Washingtonian once more) and the freshly engaged Brynne.














Gwen being... herself.



















My Mom and the hard to photograph Aunt Deanne. Gotcha!














Becki trying to ignore me and not look at the camera.



















My brothers girlfriend Melissa, my Uncle Shawn and my brother Michael checking out the pictures from Turkey (which I never got to see).














Aunt Daralyn tracing Gwen's foot on paper



















Gwen wanted her face traced next and Aunt Daralyn gave it her best shot :)














Ethan and the other kids (Ben - 7yrs and Kadin - 5yrs) getting restless














My Dad was a good sport and let the kids wrestle and beat him up for good clean fun :)














Sunday, we did something, but I can't remember what. Maybe we just hung around the house. Really, I can't recall at all. Pregnancy brain.

Monday the kids and I worked hard. We put away all the clothes in our bedroom (I do this like every 3 months so it takes hours), cleaned, carpet cleaned, changed sheets and basically did a bit of spring cleaning to the upstairs. I'm just now finishing up all the laundry that resulted from that.

Tuesday we did pre-school for Ethan and gymnastics for Gwen. I re-signed Gwen up for another session of this class. I'd wanted to move her up, but her teacher recommended waiting another session because she is somewhat of a perfectionist and putting her in a class with older kids could discourage her because she wouldn't be able to do what the others are doing. And although I think Gwen could do more than she's doing in this class, I can't deny that its the absolute best time for us because it fits so neatly into the time that Ethan is in pre-school. So another 8 classes and we'll see what happens.

Tuesday afternoon, a guy was supposed to come by and give us an estimate on pouring a patio for us. I'm excited about it and am determined to make it happen this year. Those who've been our deck know what a danger it is, and its irritating design prohibits us from putting a table or anything useful on it. A single level patio (which we'll extend to be larger than the deck was) will give us lots of usable space and open up the tiny backyard. There is so much that can be done with concrete these days... innumerable patterns and designs and colors that can be applied. My preference will probably be for some sort of smooth, maybe brushed, design with a decorative border. Something like this, though as our house is rather bland colored, I'd probably prefer it to be tinted differently. Nothing too fancy, primarily something useful but more exciting than a plain old slab.:


















Unfortunately, the guy didn't show up as he got held up at another job. He's supposed to come by today though. We've heard through a couple people that concrete can be far more affordable than decking and requires much less maintenance. We hope this is true :) I have a number in my head based off what people have told me their jobs cost and that number is doable for us. Hopefully, keeping the design simple and basic will help us come in around that number.

The kids are very snotty today (literally) and therefore mostly miserable. They've pretty much trashed the house and gotten into three fistfights just while I've been blogging, so I guess its time for me to stop.