Men At Work

***Editors Note***

Can I tell you one of the reasons I haven’t been blogging as much? I get frustrated with trying to layout pictures, drag them around, type in—between the photos, etc. I just figured out how to blog via email...woo-hoo! Since I email all day long, I’m hoping this will be an easier way to get my blog on! :o) Adding: I couldn't get my images to upload that way...back to the old drawing board!****************

A few weeks back while up at Grammy and Grampy’s, Chase and Addy (ok, Chase) helped Grampy unload the whole back of his truck full of dirt, into the wheel barrel and then dumped it around their ornamental well...I saw the pictures a few weeks later and about died!

Here are Chase and Grampy, hard at work...Chase is only in his boxer-briefs and Crocs...I love my mom’s mind-set...why have him work fully clothed, he’s only going to get filthy anyways, right? All of the men, including Frank the dog, working hard

Another action photo...with proof that the dirt does make it into the wheel-barrel!

Serious look on his face...he’s working really hard...Addy couldn’t be bothered, she’s busy building sand castles in the background

AND this one...is amazing/silly/ridiculous/awful and it is CHASE to a T!!!

Definitely on the list of photos to mortify him with later in life!

The Carnival Came to Town!

We were on a play date last week and the kids were mesmerized by the carnival they could see over by Dulles Town Center Mall...so that night we loaded the kids up and headed over.

Chase was my little wild-man, holding his arms up in the air like he was on a roller-coaster (Ok, I taught him that!) and Addy was a MESS! She hated the little intro, "even babies like this ride" kind of ride...the choo choo train. After that, we went to more familiar territory...the merry-go-round. After the horror of the train massacre, she took a while to warm back up on the ponies:

Here is proof that we weren't torturing her (yet!)...see, she is smiling doing that bucking-bronco rodeo thing on her pink princess pony...please keep this in mind while looking at the next sequence of events ;o)

After the pony warm-up, we headed over to the little dirt-bike/jeep ride...Addy was exited b/c she got the glittery pink one...Chase was super-psyched as always

"Oh Crap, what have I done!?!?" "Moooom..."

Nooo!!!

She rode like this the rest of the time...we were laughing...I felt really bad (sort of!) Maybe if we would have put Chase in front of her, she would have been ok? They could have even ridden together on the same little buggy...way to go, Mom!

After that Chase and I left her with Bruce and headed off for the "cool rides" with Chase...we were too busy being bad-asses to take any more pictures!

Because it's an easy post

My Topsy Turvy Plant is my little project...and I am proud to say that it is beating the PANTS off of the potted ones we have on our deck.

I have a little trick that makes me feel like quite the Martha/Green-thumb type...the soil dried up really quickly in the planter, so when I would water it, nothing would absorb and it would all just run down the inside of the bag and right back out the bottom. SO! I dumped a huge cup of ice-cubes inside (there is about a 6-inch gap between the top of the soil and the lid) and poured another large cup of warm water over top...luckily I didn't shock the plants to death...but the ice cubes allowed the soil to absorb water slowly and become more "friendly"...and it worked! I did that 2 or 3 days in a row and now no more watering problems!

Tah-Dah! I can't wait until they all ripen up!

Here is one of the beef-steak tomatoes...and soon to be 3 of his neighbors to the left

and this is the "other kind" that I don't remember the name of...going to town!

Waaaay Behind!

OK, OK, I know...I have been slacking big time!

I have tons of stuff to talk about, but since I’m so far behind, I’m feeling kind of overwhelmed! I’m making a list to get myself going!

I just pulled pictures off of my camera and some of the things I need to post about are:

4th Annual Richardson Pig Roast
~A GREAT time as always, the kids were maniacs playing, and Carol and I broke the tree swing
Richardson Family Trip to the Nationals Game on Father’s Day
~Chase and Bruce were all hyped up to run the bases after the game...and Chase chickened out
Hilarious pictures my Mom sent me from a visit from Chase and Addy
~Chase was doing manual labor in his underwear...makes sense, less laundry, right?
Chef Chase making eggs for breakfast
~The kid is a speed-cracker, and I have the pictures to prove it!
Took the kids to the Carnival
~Chase loved it, Addy was not much of a fan...hilarious pictures!
Rocked out while making pancakes with my little buddy
~Chase dancing on the counters
Addy had a mystery ailment last week and was a complete mess
~Awesome picture of her mid-meltdown at the pool...she’s better now!
Chase got a big-kid bike!
~We call him Lance Armstrong!
My Topsy Turvy Tomato Plant
~It’s kicking butt!

So! My goal is to do a post a day until I’m all caught up!

Stawberry Picking

After Bruce's Triathlon, the kids and I headed up to pick strawberries with Bruce's mom and sister...we went to Wegmeyer Farms from a friends suggestion...what a BEAUTIFUL drive and a fun time! We didn't take many pictures...to busy picking, you know!

Chase marching off to get to work...he's all about business

Beautiful red berries!

Addy was my super-assistant...she would pick the berries, put them in her mouth to suck on them but wouldn't bite them, and then she'd throw them in the bucket after they passed her test. She was covered in strawberry juice! Here she is, being silly...this is how she takes EVERY picture...grinning with her eyes closed...I must need a faster camera, eh? :o)

In TOTALLY unrelated news...I have a topsy-turvy tomato plant...I HAD to have it, the infomercial is on all the time at work...it's all I wanted for Mothers Day...Bruce and Chase searched everywhere...my co-worker ended up finding me one. Just a picture update...I wish I had taken pictures earlier on to mark the progress...but it's rocking along, Chase and I planted it 3 weeks ago...looking forward to our yummy topsy turvy tomatoes this summer!!

Bruce's First Triathalon!!!

On Sunday Bruce participated in his first triathlon...it was a "sprint" triathlon, which is a great way to get started...I'm not sure what the distances were, but it looked challenging and FUN! I would love to train for one! We were so inspired by the variety of competitors...there were a handful of younger kids around 10 or 11 (I think) AND there were some older folks too...there was at least one lady who was 69 and a man in his 70's...that is AMAZING to me!

Just a few pictures...I wish we had taken more! Here's Bruce right before the race began...showing off his number, and trying to hide his gray chest-hair (seriously...)


Swimming...it was a "serpentine swim" up and down the lanes, you swam down a lane, ducked under the rope, and headed up the next lane to the opposite wall, all the way down the pool...from there they ran outside and got geared up for the bike ride
Here is Bruce coming up on the dismount line from his bike ride...

Run Forrest, Run!!

And here's my guy, booking it through the finish line...I have NEVER seen him run this fast...we work out together 3x a week, and he always "jogs" and he was flying down the home stretch after running 1.5 miles (I know all of my running friends are probably like whoop-de-doo, but seriously, after swimming and biking, I was IMPRESSED!!!)

Bruce finished in 51 minutes...a FANTASTIC time for his first time out (the time on the clock above isn't right...that was from the time the first swimmer entered the water...they started in 5 second intervals)

Great job Babe, we are so proud of you!!!

And a special THANK YOU to Brian, for getting Bruce involved and for training with him!! **Side Note, Brian placed 2nd in his age group...way to go Old Man!!! :o)**

Email my mom just sent me

Gotta love modern technology...even my mom has a blackberry!

Chase and Addy are up at her house today, and this picture just popped up on my email...I added Spongebob for everyone's sake! Looks like Big Brother is trying to show Addy the ropes...she's sitting on a mini-throne...I still haven't found out if she went or not ;o)