Craig Morgan & Billy Currington Concert

Joe and I have been really diligent about trying to get completely out of debt (we have a huge amount of school loans) and have been basically foregoing a lot of luxuries in the past several months. We are making good progress, and I am excited about reaching our goals.

One thing that we have enjoyed in the past is attending concerts. We haven't been to one in forever, and since we live in a small area there aren't a lot of concerts around here. A local radio station has been advertising a concert for Craig Morgan and Billy Currington, and Joe had mentioned a few times that he thought it would be fun to go. Naturally, I shut him down, saying we couldn't afford the tickets, but the other day the radio station had some tickets that they were selling buy one, get one free. I was busy at a Primary Presidency meeting, but a good friend of ours went to the station and picked up some tickets for us so I could surprise Joe.

The music was good at the concert, but it had the lowest energy of any concert that I have attended. The event staff was actually walking around making people sit down to watch. There was to be no standing, and certainly no dancing. It was really weird. Finally toward the end Billy Currington said he needed to have a crowd of people in front of him to sing "People are Crazy" and then everyone was standing because they couldn't control it anymore.

It was great to be able to have a fun date with Joe. Our awesome friends who watched Madeline even agreed to keep her overnight, so we didn't have to worry about rushing out afterward to go pick her up. We know it will be awhile before we get to do anything like that again, and we sure enjoyed it!

The Countdown Begins...

35 weeks

It is official. There is less than a month until another precious girl be making her grand entrance into our family. Remember when I was saying that I was being all proactive and getting a lot done really early for the baby? Yeah, that sort of tapered off, and now I am in the usual semi-panic that comes with thinking about how much I have left to do, and how little time there is to do it!

We still haven't painted, and of course I feel like that has to be done before I can put everything else in place. Hopefully that will get done soon. Joe isn't working as long these days, but it just seems there is always something going on. One of these days....

Otherwise, things are going well. I am feeling pretty good, with just minor bouts of nausea. My hip has been way better this time around, which I attribute to not nearly as much walking as when I was pregnant with Madeline. With her I was still in college so I was walking across campus several times a day, and I think it really aggravated it. Now we still walk to the school playground or the library, but it doesn't compare. The biggest difference this time around is that I am having massive braxton hicks contractions, which can be pretty uncomfortable. Otherwise, I can't complain. Just the usual annoyance of getting so big it is hard to bend over or get up. I'm trying to enjoy my last days with only one child to care for, and lots of sleep. We are all getting excited for another sweet baby to hold, and looking forward to welcoming her into our family. Even Madeline is constantly telling people, "I'm going to be a big sister!"

Happy Birthday, Madeline!

Madeline is a big 3-year-old now! Hard to believe, since when we moved out here she was only 5 months old. Her birthday was August 4, and since Joe is on Rear-D he was actually here to celebrate on her birthday. We didn't want to have a big party, but we did have several friends over to eat cake and ice cream that evening. Joe wanted to video when we did the singing, but I made him take pictures so I could post them. I really regretted that, because it was so cute. She sang along to herself, and then right after we were done one of her little friends got so excited he blew out the candles for her! She didn't even have a chance. So, we re-lit them and she got to blow them out herself.

She was very specific about the kind of cake she wanted. Strawberry cake with pink flowers. I have a few friends who are really into cake decorating and love all those cake shows they have on TV, but let me tell you, I am no Cake Boss. I don't know if it is because I never had elaborate cakes growing up or what (but I did have homemade cakes - thanks, mom!), but I really don't care that much. Anyway, I didn't want to let her down so I let her help me make the cakes (we made chocolate too, for those who didn't want strawberry) and then I spent the morning rolling out Starburst candies and cutting them into flower petals. They looked pretty cute, and they tasted good, but they were not so cooperative when I was trying to cut the cake.

Strawberry cake with pink flowers.

Chocolate cake with sunflowers.

3 Candles!

Madeline and some of her pals enjoying the cake and ice cream.

I think every toy we own was taken out during the course of the evening.

This is Madeline's friend Liam. Madeline and Liam only have eyes for each other. If you want to see a super cute post about these two, look at my friend Marla's blog.

The big present from us was a "big girl" bike with training wheels. She loves to ride it, and she is young enough to think that it is cool to wear a helmet. It is nice for me because we can play outside and I don't have to push her on the swing so much because she is splitting her time between the bike, her Little Tykes car, and the swing set.

She also got another Fancy Nancy book from my grandma. She loves Fancy Nancy so much, which does not surprise me since she is a fancy little girl herself. She jumped up and down and I think I almost have this new one memorized already.

Her favorite present might have come from my friend Dani, who sent her a Princess dress up box. Talk about a dream come true! The moment she opened it, she had to open it up and start trying things on. Every single day since then she has spent the majority of the day dressed like Cinderella or Ariel, and even I have been adorned with beautiful "gems" on my ears and fingers and wrists. It is very fun, but I haven't taken any pictures yet.

Happy Birthday, Madeline! We are so glad to have you in our family!

More Visitors!

One of my best friends, Dani, had a vacation planned with her parents and siblings to D.C. at the beginning of July. Dani and I have been friends since Jr. High but we also went to college together and were roommates for awhile. During college I got to know her family really well, and they sort of adopted me into their fun family traditions including family vacations and get-togethers. I absolutely love all of them, and cannot get enough of the Drury fam.

They thought that as long as they were going to be on the east coast they would make the trip up to come see our place and have a short visit. It really made me feel special that they were willing to hop in the car and drive several hours out of their way just to see us, but we had a great time.

I forgot to take any pictures while they were here, but luckily Dani's dad loves to take pictures and he e-mailed some to me.

They were only here for one full day, so we decided to go up to the Thousand Islands region and take a boat tour through US and Canadian waters to see some awesome mansions and a castle. The weather turned out really nice, so it was the perfect activity for the day.

Later that night we barbequed some kabobs at our house and Madeline entertained us all with her trampoline and a dance performance. It was pretty hysterical.

We ended the evening with a trip out to one of the many ice cream stands in this area. I really think it is a unique feature of Northern New York - I have never seen so many ice cream stands in one place. They consist of just a small walk-up building with some picnic tables and a grassy area around it to eat your ice cream. I seriously think I could name at least 6 within 15-20 minutes of my house. It sort of makes me laugh, since they obviously have to close down for the majority of the year with the horrendous winters we have. But they are fun and it was a great treat.

We love having visitors, and are so glad the Drurys made the trip up!