Out with the old,

In with the new.  Not there was anything wrong with our old couch.  We still like it very much.  Not only do we like it, but it holds a special place in our hearts.  It was custom designed, by us, at a furniture store in Italy.  It's 3 separate sections, each section length and shape picked by David and I.  However, it's not preschool age friendly.  Each couch section cover comes off and is washable but the sections are large and it's difficult to get them back on every-time Hannah gets a little carried away coloring.  David's dad mentioned that he was going to get rid of his leather loveseat and recliner.  I jumped all over it.  Now, I'm not typically a leather furniture person.  My experience with it has been sticky.  It stick to any bare skin.  This doesn't though.  It's nice and soft.  Plus, years ago, my girlfriend Coretta told me the reason she opted for leather seats in her car was because it's so easy to clean with children.  Makes sense to me.  And that is the biggest reason I jumped all over Bob's couch/recliner.  This weekend, David had a 3 day, which is rare in the police world.  So we drove to Atlanta to pick up the furniture.  Bob also offered up his refrigerator, which we happily took to add to our brewing adventures.  A separate fridge means we can start brewing lager beers which need to ferment at a cooler temp that ale's.  And here it is....

Our old couch, piled in the kitchen

The new...

How happy we are that it ALL reclines!

Just a day

That's all it was.  Nothing special, other than the fact that I finally paid my late fee at the library.  I'm really bad at returning things on time, that's why Netflix works so well for me!  So I had a late fine from the end of last year, so I figured it was time to try it again.  Besides, Hannah likes the library.  They have a very small play area.  It's not a great library but it is conveniently located.  This morning, we headed out at 830.  Hannah and I struck a deal, I got to run 2 laps, then she got to play at the park.  So I ran 3.5 miles, then took Banana to the swings.  She did get off the swings momentarily to play on the slide.  After about 30 minutes, she told me she wanted to go to the library, so that's what we did.  We spent another 30 minutes there.  Hannah picked out two books, I picked out two for her and one for myself.  Then I ran another two miles on my way home.  It was a great morning.

After my run

I love this feeling

"Look at me, mommy"

Oh, no!  (I'm not sure what this was about)

Headed to the library

At the library, this is one of the books we brought home.  

Playing at the library

The Rossi/doll spectacle at 10 pm last night

A little after 10 last night, I heard Hannah crying in her room.  I put her to bed at 730 and I know she had been asleep.  I went back there and she explained to  me, while sobbing, that Rossi had eaten her doll and her unicorn.  Now, as I mentioned, she had been asleep.  So she woke up and found the dog eating two of her favorite toys.  There were real tears involved!  My heart broke for her!  So much in fact, that I promised to take her today and get her a new doll and unicorn.  Geez, I'm such a sucker for that kid!  Now, what you have to understand is the doll Rossi ate was a mini barbie from a happy meal.  This is significant for two reasons; 1) i do not promote mcdonald's (especially happy meals) and never take my child there and 2) i dislike barbie and do not promote them in this house.  So, I have now been sucked into buying my daughter a barbie.  Dang dog!

Is Hannah a Regina?

While in the mountains, Susan told me that Hannah reminded her of a mini Regina, from the movie Mean Girls.  For those of you not familiar with the movie, Mean Girls is about a group of girls in high school.  Regina is the head of the "Plastics," the most popular/pretty girls in school.  However, Regina's also pretty mean.  I've thought about it.  She definitely has the prissy part down.  And my lord is she bossy!  And after our week in the mountains, I can tell you her bossiness knows no boundaries.  While she was in Tball, the other parents joked that Hannah was our "cheerleader."  It's a terrifying truth for myself, as I want my child to be almost anything but a cheerleader.  However, I have prepared myself for the day that Hannah comes up to me and tells me that's what she wants to do.  I'll look at her and say "sure thing."  I think that's part of the reason I'm trying to put her in a bunch of sports while I still have some control of what she does.  I am going to take her out to be the mascot for Hope Mills youth cheerleading.  My girlfriend, Stephanie, is coaching and said Hannah's too young to cheerlead but she could be their mascot.  I'm prepping myself.  Casey has joked that Hannah is going to be the bossy, pretty girl in school as well.  Yesterday, while dropping her off at school, two of her teachers looked at me and said "What are you going to do with her when she's a teenager?"  This came after Hannah showed them her dress, necklace, glitter shoes, and bracelet.  They got her out of the car and she reminded them that she needed her purse.  That's when I told them the story about the dress she was wearing.  She asked to wear this particular dress on Monday, only it was dirty so I told her I would wash it and she could wear it then.  She asked my everyday if I had washed her dress.  I think David and I just might be in for it!  So what do you think?

Pictures to confirm my thoughts:

Princess Hannah and Princess Sarge, poor camo bear!

This was last year, when she painted her toes completely on her own.  

Sunglasses and a cell phone, she's texting ; )

Her dancing dress and dancing shoes.

Applying make up, again, it's all her.  

Instructing Ethan 

Loving the attention

Our little getaway

Last Monday, Hannah and I loaded up in the car with fellow blogger Michelle and her kids and headed to Tate City, NC.  We were meeting our friends, and other bloggers, Gretchen and Susan.  We all met and became friends, at different times, in Italy.  Michelle and Gretchen knew each other before Italy.  I met Susan my second year in Italy.  She was my neighbor in Italy.  I met Michelle through Heather.  She lived at the end of the street Susan and I lived on.  Michelle and I spent many nights during that first Afghanistan deployment with wine on her balcony.  In between the first and second Afghanistan deployment, Gretchen moved to Italy and that's when Susan and I met her.  There was that whole toga party for Dustin's birthday.  Gretchen used the nicest sheets for her toga outfit.  Strange the bits and pieces of life we remember.  Our choice of communication started before anyone left Italy.  Susan, Michelle, and I were all pregnant at the same time and after babies were born we would open up Yahoo chat and keep an ongoing conversation between us.  Then I came back to the states.  Even though the time difference, we still did it.  Fast forward.  Everyone else slowly comes back to the states.  After some trial and error, we've managed to maintain keeping in touch through random ways; text messaging, emails, and the ever convenient Facebook.  Months ago, I sat at Michelle's house, after 1 too many beers, and said I felt like we should start an annual get together.  I felt like Michelle and I should just go ahead and plan it and coordinate and the other girls would follow along.  Susan can be quite the procrastinator!  So, Michelle and I researched and found a place.  We had it book within 2 weeks of finding it and telling the other two about it.  It was perfect.  The kids got along great, despite the wide age range, 9 months to 12 years.  For the 4 adults, it was like no time at all had passed, we fell right back into our relationship as it had been the last time we were all together, which was two years ago, before I left Italy.  We over packed and over planned but that was to be expected.  It went to well that we've already begun planning the next one, next year.  We're looking at a KOA, or KOA like establishment where smaller cabins can be rented.  One reason for doing this is that we will probably have more guests next year.  Here's some pictures of our week in the mountains.

Our mild overpacking job! ; )

Our section of the river

Hannah and Bailey, the dog that adopted us

VIvian and Avery at the river

Hannah, Lem, and Vivian

Our unbirthday party

Chocolate cake

An intense water fight

I love this picture

Lem loved my ipad, smart boy!

Tie dye at the river

Hanging out by the river

Gretchen, grilling the mushrooms for the portobello mushroom sandwiches

Kid's yoga

8 kids relaxed or n bed, 4 adults in the hot tub with Italian wine