A Big Day for Us!

When it rains, it pours!

We had so many exciting events today. The biggest news was the birth of our second nephew, Wyatt Theodore. Wyatt was born at 1:26pm and weighed 7lbs. 9oz. All are doing well.

We had purchased the privilege of attending a "pajama party" in the classroom

with a 5th grade teacher at the school auction.

While clad in their pajamas, Sydney, her friend Chloe, and 8 other girls spent two hours eating popcorn, decorating pillowcases and doing all kinds of fun sleepover activities.

Syd had a great time and now has some wishes about her class placement for 5th grade.

AJ was supposed to be part of the pajama party until we realized it was at the exact same time as her Brownie Fly-Up ceremony. We had a potluck dinner and cake and watched the girls cross over the bridge to become Junior Girl Scouts. AJ now has a green vest instead of a brown one.

Cal and Bailey weren't left out - they had a school dance. Lucky for them, I wasn't available to get any shots of that.

Pop's Projects: Before & After Part III

As I mentioned recently, Bailey's generations project phase IV involved a cool photo timeline of some of Pop's biggest handyman projects. Here are pictures from his latest project - remodeling the basement of their new home. We've never had all of these assembled in one place before. Doesn't my dad do great work? And of course he couldn't do any of it without his fantastic apprentice, my mom. Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Pop's Projects: Before & After Part II

Pop's next project was another pool. The pool's been installed, and he and my mom began the landscaping.

AFTER

After I left for college, Pop gutted our downstairs bathroom. This photo is taken from the laundry room next door looking into the bathroom where even the wall is gone.

Unfortunately, this was the only "after" shot I could find - the shower. The bathroom was navy and white with tons of tile and a 100% improvement over the old one.

Pop's Projects: Before & After Part I

In Bailey's fourth installment of her Generations Project, she created a booklet with before and after photos of some of Pop's biggest home improvement projects. This "before" shot of my brother, sister and me (and the next door neighbor) is in the backyard of our first home.

Our house was in the city, and this pool took up almost the entire backyard

We moved in 1979, and in 1981, my dad had back surgery.
During the six weeks off from work for recuperation, my dad replaced this little landing off the back door.

This is just the beginning of some huge projects Pop undertook, but I'll save some for a later post!

Soccer Tournament in Richmond

We traveled to Richmond for Bailey's soccer tournament this weekend. We stayed at the brand new Hotel Sierra in the Short Pump Town Center, and it was fantastic. The girls played well and finished second, which earned them each a medal. Mark took tons of pictures, but I'll keep it down to a nice group shot and some cool shots of Bailey in goal.

We used a lot of sunblock this weekend.  Some more than others. This was AJ's finished work, and she wouldn't have realized there was something wrong if her family hadn't laughed so hard and started taking pictures.

Great hair!

This is was one of the more painful plays as goalie.  Check out the look on her face.  She definitely took a foot to the torso area before it was over.

Nice reach!

The whole gang - cleaned up and ready for California Pizza Kitchen

Mother's Day

Or should we say Lacrosse Day? At noon, Bailey had her final lacrosse game of the season, and they won. We moved on to UVA to watch the men's lacrosse team stomp all over Villanova in the first round of the NCAA tournament, winning 18-6. It was a gorgeous day, and lacrosse is fun to watch. We wrapped up our day with dinner at T.G.I. Friday's where moms received free dessert. Perfect.

Helping Pop

Bailey is working on the fourth installment of her Generations Project which involves a project with Pop. She's focusing on a timeline of his handyman projects over the years.  In addition to the timeline, she was supposed to create something related to this whole idea, and Pop invited her to help him with his latest home improvement project. He's building a retaining wall in the backyard where a garden will eventually go. Their day involved trips to Lowe's, a trip to McDonald's and some manual labor.