Moving Day

Today is it. The day they are loading the truck. All of our things will be on their way to Colorado Springs.

We have had a lot of fun living here in Happy Valley. We had a good time as undergraduates, and a different time as parents with two little kids. Different, but still wonderful.

Things we will especially miss, in no particular order:

11.Penn State athletics. Beaver Stadium, football games, tailgating with the Kellers and Co., basketball games, SBS, everything being blue and white. I felt like I truly belonged.

10. Going to listen to the old Phyrst Phamily, now called Family Brew. It's fantastic to go listen to a band who knows your name and will play requests, all while letting you sing along and play percussion instruments.

9. Walking down College Avenue on the rare sunny day looking in shop windows and letting the kids play on the pigs. Who knew bronze pigs could be so much fun?

8. Eating. Whether it's breakfast at The Corner Room or ice cream at the Creamery, stickies at The Diner or dinner on our neighbor's deck, we will miss it.

7. The trees. Ok, I know I complained every single fall about raking. I know I did. But when you look at the cul-de-sac and it feels like you live in the woods in the summer - well, it's just wonderful. I will miss all things green.

6. The college kids. As crazy as it sounds (because most locals HATE the kids) I will miss them. I will miss their excitement, their youth, and the general "age" of the town. After all, if THEY don't age - because they are all between 18 and 22 and move on to be replaced by a younger set - then I don't age either!!

5. My Bunko Group. They were the first group that I felt like I could just be myself with, and oh, how I looked forward to our monthly games. Have a glass of wine for me, girls.

4. Our church/my school. Talk about a welcoming bunch. True, it helped that I taught there and knew so many people and the ins and outs, but they really met us with open arms. I'm glad the kids had their First Communions there.

3. Our large back yard. Fenced, shaded, playset and sand box. Enough said.

2. Having everything within 15 minutes of driving time. You could be ANYWHERE in town in 15 minutes. Anywhere.

And finally.

1. Our friends. I have made some simply incredible friends here. Neighbors who turned out to be much more than neighbors, parents from school who turned out to be much more than just parents, and co-workers who turned out to be much more than co-workers. I'll miss brunch after church with Stephanie and Scott, inviting myself over to Mittie's or Sharon's, and walking the path next to next door to ask if our kids are over there, since they have their own bedroom and all....
And you can't replace friends. I can make new ones, and I can find my old ones in Colorado Springs, but I won't replace these. And I'll be back.

The Neglected Blog

I really WILL do a better job at this. One day. Let me go through my camera memory stick and see what's new to tell.

OK, I've found:

The Blue/White Game

It was an incredibly beautiful day here for the ol' Blue/White Game. In the 80's, very breezy, lots of friends, Chris's barbeque, and a Temple Owl-Nittany Lion engagement cake to eat. I forgot to take a picture of the cake, or if I did, I can't find it. (Perhaps it was all of the beverages consumed??) It was a great cake!!
And's what is a game without a picture of Mark and his parents!?

Chris and Co. set up at 8:00 am. As he was getting up to an alarm (which we don't even use during the work week!) he said "I can't believe I am getting up there at 8 for a 2 o'clock game..." I looked at him and laughed, replying "I can't believe you guys are getting up there at 8 for a 2 o'clock PRACTICE." But, they got our spot, and it was totally worth it. At least for me, because I wasn't there at 8.

Alright, so the timing of the whole day is backwards, but you get the point.

Next on the camera card?

The trip to D.C.!!

Our best part of the trip was something we couldn't take pictures of - a trip inside of the White House!! A friend from college, Gina, is the Air Force Aide to the President. We took advantage of it and got her to walk us through and tell us what she knows. It's a lot more than I know! So, no pictures, but an unforgettable trip. I think the funniest thing was the butterfly and the bird toys stuck on the windows that you could see as you were leaving. Gina said the girls must have put them there. Made me think that it is great to see they are treating it as a home.

Where are we here?

And here?

Or here.

Then, we kept walking...

Need another hint?

We got the spend the day with Karina and Colin, who we were VERY excited to see. We've missed our Godson and his sister!! It figures that as they move this way, we move back that way.

The next weekend I went with my peeps (Stephanie and Jean)

Here:

Our husbands sent us to Bedford Springs for a Mother's Day Getaway. Boy, do we love our husbands!!

Day before yesterday Michael scored his teams two goals at soccer. I was so proud!!

My mom and dad have been here visiting for just over a week, and I haven't taken a single picture of them. Maybe tonight. I took the week off of work to spend with them because I have the feeling we won't see them for quite a while with the move in a few weeks. So, perhaps tonight's cookout with our friends will give me a chance to get out the camera!

Miss Molly

So, the other day Molly was sitting on the couch facing her Daddy on the loveseat. She puts her little hands behind her back and says "Pick a number from 1-10, Daddy, that I am thinking of..." and she puts 5 fingers out behind her back. Well, she didn't know that I was watching! I go above her head and put out 5 to show Chris. He plays along and says "Umm...5?" She pulls her hand out, tucks in her thumb and replies "No, but you were Oh So Close! It was 4." I laughed at her and told her that I could see she had five, and changed her mind. So, she wanted to try again. She put her small hands behind her back again and said "Pick a number from 1-20, Daddy, that I am thinking of..."

I cracked up. It only took her a sec to realize that she couldn't DO 1-20 with just her hands, and she laughed, too. I love that little girl. Oh So Much.

Catching Up

SO much to tell. First, the house sold. It took a week and day, and we got 96% of asking price. We're pretty pleased. I'm especially excited that I don't have to keep it spotless anymore. Chris, however, has threatened to tell me the house did NOT sell and we have a showing once a week so I'll get a-cleanin'. He sucks. :-)

Spring Break was fun. I went with Mittie and Steph to the Crayola Factory and to Chocolate World in Hershey. I have wanted to do both since we moved here and was glad to go.

The kids got along famously and we have been doing things together ever since.

Here is a picture of the kids writing on a clear wall to explore mixing of colors. It looked like they had writing all over their faces!

Next we found a "shadow room" that took pictures and made shadows on the floor. We figured out that if you use a flash against the metal wall, you get this:

We spent hours at the Crayola Factory! On the top floor is a canal museum. The kids learned all about locks and how they operate by using boats and cargo to go up and down different levels of the river. They liked it so much they did it 3 times!

That night we drove down to Hershey and spent the night. We took the kids to the pool, ordered pizza, and just took it easy. Right after breakfast we headed to Chocolate World! The kids pretended they were working in a chocolate factory packing Kisses into packaging. They took their jobs very seriously!

It was a very relaxing "mini-vacay" with my good friends and their good lookin' 'kids!

Then we got in gear for First Communion, which was last Sunday. Here are the kids all excited for their big day.

We also went to Shaver's Creek to the Maple Harvest Festival with the Tumey's and the Fozard's. Too bad the weather was cold and rainy!!
I didn't manage to get any pictures of us all eating the pancakes, but the kids did like the bluegrass music inside!

Last weekend we went on our third Walk for Autism. One of my students from two years ago has autism and his dad happens to be one of Chris's fraternity brothers from oh-so-long-ago. Molly had her picture taken with the Nittany Lion. A different shot of her and the Lion was on the front page of our paper the next day in color!

In between all of the running around we have been playing a bit of Wii on the cold yucky days...

and finished off the days with a bit of bedtime reading. I LOVE the fact that both kids can now read to US!!
Sorry for the lack of blogging lately, but the Solo fam has been busy busy busy!

We did it!

We finally got it on the market. THIS is what we're trying to sell.

I don't think it shows everything off that we've done, but at least it's on the market. The best news? The realtor says that most houses are selling for 95-100% of asking price!!! I hope the housing market here doesn't fall flat on its face in the next couple of months.

Now, if I can just either :

a. ship my kids to my mom's so the house stays clean
or
b. check us all into a hotel.

We hope to move right after 4th of July weekend. So, I want it to sell, but not TOO quickly. See how demanding I am??

It could be worse.

We could be trying to sell this.


http://www.cbur.com/propertyDetails.php?mlsid=27839

I can't decide what I like best about this beauty. The cook top? The green carpet? The accordian doors? The dark paneling? I think I come back to the mural on the wall in the panel room, every time. Once I quit looking at the doorknob in the middle of the door, that is.
A certain friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, likes to dance on bars in private homes. I wonder if she'd like THIS bar??

Perhaps ours will sell faster than I think. If we can just get it all done to get it listed!!

"This is the BEST age!"

Chris and I seem to say this earnestly at least two or three times a year. "We don't want them to get old." "We enjoy them just they way they are!" and "Isn't this the best?"

I liked it when they were babies and napped at the same time, ate at the same time, and played with the same toys. I thought I had it made.

I liked it when they took baths together, shared so nicely together, and ate dinner with us as a family. No more naps, but we had longer days to do things together. I thought I had it made.

Now, they take their own showers, including conditioning their hair. They can turn the water off, get their towel, put on their pajamas, and hang their towels up. They bring us a book and read to US. They can get their own snacks out of the refridgerator (cheese, yogurt, etc.) get their own drinks, and clear the table after they eat. When they want to go out in the snow they just ask "Can we go OUT to play...?" After I nod, they can get on their boots, hats, coats, gloves, and scarves. I look out the window to check on them playing together. They come in, hang things up, put them away (after I nag a little bit) and play Monopoly together. I don't even have to count out money or change! They'll play chess, or draw, or play with their Lincoln Logs. They can buckle their own seat belts! I'm so glad I had two kids, of opposite sex, close together. I think I have it made.