Merry Christmas!

Anna (7), Gracie (4.5), Maddie (2)

Anna is 7!

Wow!  Anna turned 7!

I can not believe that this past Monday, Anna turned 7 years old.  It is crazy that seven years has passed.  Just as everyone says, including me (my grandmother used to get cross with me when I related time to a roll of toilet paper), time goes by so quickly.  

40 Signs You're A Binge Thinker

This is me in a nutshell....

40 Signs You Are A Binge Thinker

Ok, Joe says that this is too long to read and not all of it is me.  I disagree, it is not too long to read unless, like Joe, you are trying to watch Fast and Furious 6.  I do agree, not EVERY statement describes me, but some are pretty spot on.  I think it is pretty funny.

Big Weekend!

Last weekend was a big weekend!  Our friend Brent Allen came into town with his girlfriend, Caroline.  We had never met her before, but we liked her a lot and hopefully they enjoyed their visit.  We went out to some good dinners and walked around downtown, which we hadn't done in a while so it was a lot of fun.  Here is a picture of Brent, I meant to get a picture of Brent and Caroline (sorry Caroline) while they were down, but I have been a little slack about pictures lately.

Brent, Puppy, and his beloved BMW.  

 Also, this past weekend Gracie was in the Nutcracker!  She was a party girl of course!  She has been practicing every weekend with the company Mt. Pleasant Performing Arts that is out of the studio she takes ballet lessons at.  Friday night was a dress rehearsal and Saturday and Sunday they had performances.  All the dancers did a great job, and it was impressive.  Gracie and her little buddies did a really good job dancing (they had two little dances) during the party scene and were all very cute.

Party girl Gracie!

Also, Anna turned 7 this past Monday!  I can't believe it.  Pictures on Joe's phone, will upload later.  She is funny, her dinner of choice was hot dogs, popcorn, and Joe's brussel sprouts.

Festival of Lights

Whew, this month is going by so fast that I can't keep the blog updated fast enough, well the whole fall has been like that.

When my Aunt Joan was in town over Thanksgiving we went to the James Island Holiday Festival of Lights.  It is really cool, there are so many light displays and a village with santa!  Here are some pictures.

On the train that takes you around the park to see the light displays

Oh, Daddy made the picture!

We (not Joe) love a merry-go-round!

Anna in front of the picture that her school did.  They didn't win the contest, but should have.  Before I even knew it was her school, I walk over and said I really liked it.  The contest is probably rigged.

Christmas Tree Tradition

Every year we go on the day after Thanksgiving we go pick out a Christmas tree.  It is so much fun, we go to a Christmas tree farm, bring our own axe, ride on a horse and buggy to the tree lot, pick out the perfect tree, and then drink hot chocolate.  Yeah right!  We go to the Christmas tree farm (Lowes) and pick out a tree.  We are actually pretty quick and good at picking out a tree (although apparently we underestimated our ceiling height and our tree could have been a foot higher.  But it does look good and I didn't have to pay for a taller tree, cha-ching!  Everyone is happy).  We chop down our tree, (grab from the stand, who is anyone kidding there is no way we could bring an axe and kids anywhere together someone would definitely lose a body part) and the tree does some twirling, which the girls looove, since they feel twirling should be incorporated into everything and then we put it into the carriage (Joe's arms).  We get some hot chocolate (gatorade) some other things we need for the house (the list never ceases) and go home.  It may not be a Norman Rockwell painting, but it is fun and usually quick (which minimizes the chance of breakdowns), so we will be sticking with it!

Does this tree look good?  I don't know about the tree, but that lady and her angels look pretty darn cute!

People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Overachieving Elf on the Shelf Mommies

Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love Christmas.  Yes, I am actually disappointed when the Christmas music doesn't start the day after Halloween (I have been known to listen to Christmas music in the summer).  I secretly get excited when the decorations for Christmas start being stocked on the shelves in September.  How can you not love Christmas?  It is such a happy, happy, season.  Family, cheer, joy, laughter, cookie exchanges, Joe's Yorkshire pudding, bubbly, really the Christmas season has it all.

It also has that damn Elf.  If you have kids, you know what I am talking about.  This stinking Elf tradition is NOT about Christmas, but about another way the "Martha Stewart" mothers can show the rest of us up.  (Yes, I totally buy into because I don't want my kids to be excluded and it does keep them in check, a little bit.)  But it is a huge PAIN-IN-THE-ASS.  Our slacker Elf never comes out at Thanksgiving (maybe he is still drunk) and we always have a lot of explaining to do on why he is still in the same spot as yesterday or has only moved an inch (again, could be a hangover).  Right now the explanation that he is just "really tricky" seems to be cutting it, but it won't for long.

So here is my favorite post of all time for this season (I think I am going to take her up on her last suggestion):

People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Overachieving Elf on the Shelf Mommies:

New Ride

Anna, Gracie, and Joe on a scenic lake tour

Joe bought himself a canoe.  I know, another boat, I am beginning to think Joe might be a hoarder, boats, cats.....Just kidding.  To his defense we actually use all of them quite often, how could we not we live on the water/coast!  It would basically be a crime to not have a fleet of boats for all the different bodies of water around here.

The canoe is for the lake in our backyard.  It is a pretty big lake that definitely is a 15 minute tour.  The girls love the canoe rides, well, Maddie hasn't been out yet, this seems to be an adventure that happens during her nap, but she will love it.

The canoe is a big hit and will provide many, many, hours of family fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  With Anna, Uncle Ted, Gracie, Aunt Joan, Joe, Grammy, Popi, and Maddie.

Maddie dancing to the footfall game half-time show.  She was copying the singers moves! It was impressive how she copied the singer, even with her feet, and hilarious!

More Maddie footage. 

Community Sailing Oyster Roast

Also, on Maddie's birthday weekend Anna volunteered at the Charleston Community Sailing Annual Oyster Roast.  Charleston Community Sailing holds the oyster roast to raise money to maintain their fleet and also to provide scholarships for underprivileged kids to be able to sail in their program.  Anna chose this opportunity to volunteer because she loves to sail at Community Sailing, and she loves the director Jessica Koenig.

Anna helped set up and sell raffle tickets at the check in table, I heard she was a pretty hard sell and you better buy one.  Also, she called the numbers when they held the raffle.  It took her a couple of tries with the microphone, but she did pretty well!

Hopefully it was a successful event for Community Sailing and they got a portion of the monies needed for new Club 420's and for their scholarships.

Here is Anna rockin' the mic.  Nana, Grampa, and Popi were there to support her too, she did a good job!

Maddie's Turned 2!

Maddie is 2 years old!

Make a wish!

I can't believe that Maddie has turned 2!

She is doing great!  She is starting to talk, her favorite word though is still "poop".  However, she can say many more now including "mama" and "daddy".

She is also super self sufficient.  She is pretty much the only one in the family (at least one of the kids) who actually throws things away when they become trash, takes off her and other peoples shoes and puts them away, gets her own cups/plate/utensils when she needs them.  It is quite amazing and helpful!  Apparently this might stop in a couple of years, let's hope not!

She is growing like a weed.  She is going to catch up with Gracie in a couple of years I think, they are now only about four inches apart.  She was 34.5" the other day at her doctor's appointment.  Almost 3 feet tall, go Maddie!

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Anne Bowen/Dabney and her admirers at Maddie's party

Wild Oyster

This past weekend was the Wild Oyster Regatta for the International Lightning Fleet (results).  It is sailed here in Charleston, hosted by Carolina Yacht Club.

It was a great weekend for it!  Perfect temperatures for an oyster roast and good sailing.  We finished 8th out of 65 sailing boats with the oldest boat in the top ten, thank you very much.  We had one over early and a couple of bad starts (Joe thinks we are sailing 420's, the lightnings are just a tad bit heavier) but we are fast, fast, fast and our consistency is getting much better which is great!  We missed being the top local boat by one point.

Joe and I are really excited about our lightning sailing!

Our boat is the one at the other end winning the pin.  Unfortunately instead of us, it was the boat to windward that one the race.

Curb Appeal

Apparently, the previous owner, not the people who we bought the house from, but the lady before had a planting philosophy, "just plant wherever the plant looks good and don't worry about silly little details like growth, sunlight or food needs, etc".  Needless to say we are a lot more picky than the people we bought the house from and we are working hard on our entire lot, to make it what we think, is more attractive, functional and hopefully helping some sad, sad, plants.

We are working on the whole front yard, as you can see a border on the after photo, but we have only installed new plantings around the front of the house so far.  Right now is the time to plant, the risk of immediately killing something is very low.

Also, I just want to throw out some appreciation to Joe, who pulled all of the bushes, except the orange tree, out of the front of the house.  He also tilled and prepped the soil, he did a great job!

Before

After

What Else Did We Do In October?

We went to the Riverbanks Zoo!

Caroline Roberts making bird friends

Joe and Anna on this huge climbing structure

Emily Roberts, Anna Pitcavage, Olivia Smith, Madeleine Pitcavage, Gracie Pitcavage, Caroline Roberts, Henry Smith, Elise Roberts

Train Ride!

Gracie

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!
Maddie = Kitty, Gracie = flower girl, Anna = Hermione from Harry Potter

What Did We Do This Weekend?

What didn't we do?

 Joe took the girls shrimping and they had a blast!  Grace loved picking up the shrimp and throwing them into the bucket.  She also helped out a few stuck fish and threw them back into the ocean.

Anna wasn't quite as enthusiastic about touching the shrimp and fish, but still had a great, great time.  Both girls keep asking to go again.

They also had a Halloween party with some of their friends and had so much fun!  The girls call it their "annual" party, even though we have only had it once before, and look forward to the party each year!



We also had a group of people over from our old neighborhood, Shemwood II.  It was really great to see everyone and have them over to visit and see our new house.  We love our new house and neighborhood, we definitely miss the people in our old neighborhood.

Shrimping

Mandy throwing the net

Last week I went shrimping with Joe,  Anne and Dave Dabney.  We did pretty good.  After the heads were popped off (curtesy of Joe) we had almost a gallon freezer bag full, which is what Joe pretty much has been catching all season.  We had a lot of fun.  It was my first time shrimping.  Joe didn't think I would be able to throw the big net, but I did pretty good and even caught a few shrimp myself!

Three more weeks of shrimping left.

Gryffindor

Gryffindor - 10 weeks

This is our new cat Gryffindor.  His is almost 11 weeks old in this picture.  He is really, really sweet and little.

He is named Gryffindor "Gryffin", yes, after Harry Potter's house at Hogwarts.  Anna and I are big Harry Potter fans.

I did think Tiger Lilly would be a cute name if we named radar Captain Hook and if Gryffin was a girl, but he is not.  Although Gracie constantly calls him "she" (which is understandable because he is small and dainty).

Or if we had named Radar Midnight we could call him Twilight, but again, Radar is Radar, so that won't work.

Anyway, speaking of Radar he is kind of mad at us, but at least isn't trying to eliminate Gryffin anymore.  Radar might not be speaking to us, but he will at least let us feed him three times a day.

Gryffin is scared of Max, but seems to be doing better.  As you can see, he is starting to snuggle with Max.

The girls are doing well with the Gryffin.  He certainly still gets LOTS of attention, but they are getting better about sharing him.  And Gryffin is VERY tolerant of the girls and amazingly doesn't hid very often.  He actually seems to really enjoy being held all the time by Gracie, Maddie is another matter, and Gracie is a kitty hog, so poor Anna really doesn't get much kitty time.  But I will say, Gracie is very good at carrying him.

Will Gryffindor survive kittyhood?

Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking (Thank God!)

Max is 6 (this picture is a little old)

This past Friday we had a big scare with our dog Max.

He fell down the stairs, literally, the entire staircase.  I didn't see it happen, but heard it.  My initial thought was it was Grace because I didn't hear her yelling at me anymore, but amazingly she was sitting quietly next to Maddie's crib.  I couldn't imagine what had fallen so I ran over, looked down and there is Max just lying there.

So I ran downstairs and poor Max was a mess.  He was vomiting, urinating, and pooping everywhere.  (I actually feel bad now because he walks by Maddie and she says "poop".  She is going to give him a complex.)  My thoughts were, either he has broken bones, internal bleeding, or he is dying.

We called Joe to come home and cleaned Max up.  I checked him for broken bones, because he kept trying to get up, and he didn't whimper, so I guessed he was OK, but didn't know if he was just in a lot of pain.  The girls and I just tried to keep him awake and still until Joe got home.

Joe got home and we loaded up Max and Joe took Max to the emergency vet around the corner from our home.  Unfortunately, there was miscommunication and I thought Joe was going to our vet, so Maddie, Gracie, and I drove around for about two hours, but Joe said it was better that way instead of trying to have the girls in the waiting room.  Luckily Joe went to the emergency vet, because Max was in major shock.  Falling down the stairs is traumatic, but if you know Max and his high anxiety falling down the stairs from him is 10x more traumatic than any other dog.

Initially the vet had two guesses for diagnosis, one, that he had ruptured his spleen or two, he has large masses and Cancer somewhere.  After a quick ultrasound and blood work the vet couldn't figure out what it was, there were no masses and his blood pressure and white blood cell count were super low.  Also, his blood was not clotting and his lymph nodes were swollen around his intestines.  The good news was he was sitting up, like a normal dog, without any broken bones.

So the vet loaded him up with fluids, antibiotics, and gave him some blood plasma transfers and he was responding very well to that.  In fact, that afternoon we went to see him and he was looking much better and apparently had been walking a bit.  The vet then was thinking maybe it was his gallbladder.  However, the ultrasound that afternoon showed everything normal.  The next morning he walked right into the exam room we were in to see him, wagging his tail, and was back to about 70% normal.

Turns out they don't know exactly what caused all this, most likely just a bad infection.   We wish we knew if he got into something, although that is not like Max, or if he just caught something.   They think what happened is that the infection lowered his blood pressure causing him to faint at the top of the stairs and fall.  He came home Sunday and is doing great!  Almost back to 100%.  He is not very happy about not being able to play ball for a while, but is doing a good job resting.

Camp St. Christopher

Anna in the salt marsh/mud pit

Last week Anna went to Camp St. Christopher for two nights with her school.  Teachers and volunteers take the Lower El (1-3 grades), Upper El (4-5), and Middle (6-8) on different trips.  The Lower El, Anna's grades, go to Camp St. Christopher for two nights.

Camp St. Christopher is on one of our barrier islands, Seabrook, and is located on 314 acres of beach, maritime forrest, and undisturbed salt marsh.  It is a pretty special place and Anna had a blast!

The kids participate in the Salt Marsh/Mud Pit and how much fun it is to get muddy!  They also learn about our ecosystem, reptiles, sea critters, and have family style meals, and of course campfires!

We really, really appreciate the teachers who volunteer to put this together and the parent volunteers who go (it is so popular with the parents that they have to turn away volunteers).  It is such a great way for the kids to bond and learn about the environment and themselves!  Anna is truly lucky to have such a great experience.

#14495 Smooth as a Babies Bottom

Before (Please ignore the cluttered background)

After - WOW!!!!   (I had to get my car washed so it would be shiny too and look good next to the boat)

The Ol' Aye Patch

The Ol' Aye Patch

Here is a picture of the boat being worked on.  We (Joel) had to fill in a lot where the boat sat on the trailer bunks because they left some nice indentations that are not fast.

We (one of our friends) figured out that the boat trailer is really for a Lippincott Lightning, we have a Nickels, that boat has a narrower bottom then our boat.   This is causing the indentations on the bottom from the bunks, because it is the only spots supporting our boat, so Joe gets to make new bunks to support the bottom all the way across.

Anyway, Joel says that she is going to be very fast when he is done.  So no more excuses Joe, now that we have a smooth and fast bottom, we better be winning the races!

Crabbing at the boat landing

Maddie, Gracie, and Anna checking the trap

We are super lucky and have a boat landing and

dock in our neighborhood.  We also have a lake in

our back yard, but only fish no crabs.

Gracie had been dying to get a crab trap, so this 

weekend Joe and the girls went and got one.  We

had it set all weekend and we caught only a few crabs

but the girls had a blast doing it.

Hello Mr. Crab aren't you happy we decided not to eat you

Joe Versus the Rat - Round #4

Rat can't get back into attic due to slippery pipe shoved in hole and all other holes boarded up.  Rat living on bird seed in garage...................

RAT - 4
JOE - 0

Not In The Business

Last Thursday Anna's teachers Mr. Scott and Miss Karen invited all the families of the kids in the classroom to the school to have a "get to know you" night.  They may have actually called it "Growing the Community" because the goals were for everyone to get acquainted and to help with planting and cleaning up the lower school garden.  Plus, they are big on the idea that the kids in the classroom and school are part of a community.

All the kids had a great time catching toads, lizards, and any other reptile that unwillingly landed in a small persons hands.  Eventually, most of the kids got involved including Gracie who loves anything of that nature.  Well, there was another little girl there, we won't name names, we will call her The Captain.  The Captain decided that Gracie was not allowed to try to catch anything because "she was not in the business".

Poor little Gracie was so upset by this and just determined to show The Captain that she was par for the job.  So Joe and Gracie tried their darnedest to catch some unsuspecting lizards so Gracie could once again be part of the group.

Well, Gracie and Joe didn't catch anything that night, BUT the other day they found a pretty cool snail in the yard.  I took a few fabulous pictures with my camera whose memory card happen to still be in the computer, oops.  It was a small slimy brown snail with a long brown shell.  So I say, "take that Captain!  Guess whose in the business now!"

Goodbye Old Friend.....

For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

-Proverbs 23:18 (King James Bible)

Last week was a sad time for the Pitcavage family.  We had to say goodbye to the Jetta.

The Jetta's transmission was beginning to fail and we decided to get a new car.  It was going to cost a lot of money to fix the transmission (lets just say, easily a couple of years of payments) and we had already put a lot of money into the car this year, so we did the financially responsible thing and went out and spent a lot more money on a new (used) car.  (Which Joe says we stole new the car from the dealer.  When the monthly bill comes in, he may not feel quite the same way, but it is nice we got a good price, good job Joe!)  I am not sure how that works out in our favor, since fixing the car would be a lot cheaper than spending money on a new car.  I guess we are putting money into a car that is not supposed to break as quickly.  Also, our mechanic (who is not paying for our new car) recommended that we pull the trigger and get a new car.  We figured we had to really take into consideration his opinion because he is honest, stands to lose a customer (who seems to be paying him pretty well periodically), and had to email us the quote for the new transmission because he was too scared to tell Joe over the phone, and if you knew him you would know, probably not that much scares him.  So, there we are.

Anyway, Joe said hearing her turbo for the last time was heartbreaking.  It is sad, we have had that car for almost 10 years, for just a couple of months shy of when we got married.  It has taken Joe to Boston to be educated, moved us to SC, gone on trips,  and toted our kids around.  Plus, she is a fun, zippy car to drive (German engineering and turbo) and gets good gas mileage.  I love that car!

Well, considering it is a total high school/college girl car, as Joe pointed out to me when he was trying to make me feel better about driving an uncool "practical" minivan, and he is right, I have only seen one other guy driving a Jetta! (Joe said he was probably just borrowing it from his wife/girlfriend/sister.) We are hoping that someone fixes the car and it gets a second life with one of those girls who can love it as much as we did.

Joe versus the Rat - Round #1 (really there has been 3 rounds)

So, we have a little rat problem.  We have one large rat, not sure of any dependents, living in our attic.  We also have some unidentified, but assuming rats, living under our house.  We haven't tackled the ones under the house yet, (this weekend) but Joe has gone up against the large rat in the attic.

ROUND 1 - Joe let Radar (fierce wild cat) lose in the attic to take care of rat.

RAT - 1
JOE - 0

ROUND 2 - Joe attempts to grab rat as it heads up hole in the ceiling.

RAT - 2
JOE - 0

ROUND 3 - Joe puts rat traps up in the attic.  Apparently, rat so big, cannot get head stuck in trap to eat poison.

RAT - 3
JOE - 0

Joe has patched up the holes in the ceiling and put a pipe in one that Rat should not be able to climb back up.

TO BE CONTINUED.........

10 Years!!!!!

Joe and Mandy in San Francisco - July 2012

On August 16th, Joe and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary!  Yay!  (I know that I am using a picture from last year, but as you know, being mom and the picture taker, I never make it into the picture.  Someday, when someone is researching ancestry, my name will be "who is that?".)

Anyway, I am very proud of Joe and I.  I think we are a pretty top notch couple.

Are we perfect?  Is our relationship perfect? No, because who or what is?  But it has to be pretty darn close.  We know how to work together through both stressful and good times, and we make a great team!  We have fun together!

 Also, we are very happy with each other and with our relationship.  A friend said to Joe not to long ago, "Joe, you are my only married friend that is happy".  While, some of that statement may not be true, I am sure that there are other happily married men, what I can say is true is this, that 10 years after our wedding day, we are still in love, committed to each other, and happy.

The Ol' Aye Patch

 Here is a picture of our Lightning, The Ol' Aye Patch.  She is an old school Nickels, meaning she is probably as old as Joe and I.  But, she is super fast and we are really enjoying sailing her.  Joe drives, I do the bow (which is the most work, thanks) and we sail with our friend John Bowden who owns the Quantum Sail Loft, Quantum Sails in Charleston.

We have had a blast this summer.  We have sailed three regattas, two locally, placing 3rd in one regatta, and one in Wrightsville Beach, NC.  While we haven't always placed where we would like to be, we have learned a lot to improve and we have had a blast!  Joe is doing fantastic driving the boat and John has been a great, great teacher.  Joe is super impressed with my ability to gybe the jib from inside the boat, most of the shorties (other foredeck people, mostly women, small but strong!) have to get on the bow.  That makes up for a few bad tacks I have had.  Hey, I am just learning my boat handling for this boat, but I will get better!

 Here is The Ol' Aye Patch upside down in our garage.  She does not have the smoothest bottom and maybe a few dips where she sat on the trailer bunks. (I will have to post another picture of the trailer later, it is a beauty complete with hub caps!)  So we are going to get the bottom flat and smooth, much faster.  Watch out Charleston Lightning fleet!

Oh no!  The Ol' Aye Patch has been commandeered!

Madeleine

This is Maddie.  A.K.A "The Politician", she loves to greet everyone and shake hands.  (Much different from her first year of life when she wouldn't even look at people.  It pretty much took until she was a year old to like Joe.)  She is 21 months old.  Here is a little information about Maddie.  She will be great at the game Simon Says, but lose each time because she loves to mimic (and doesn't understand the rules yet).  Her older sisters are teaching her a lot, which she immediately copies.  Gracie has taught her to hit and throw, while Anna (who is more gentle) has taught her cuddles and kisses.

Her mimicking includes words and she loves to try out what you say.  So you better be careful about any adjectives/nouns that may slip out after lets say, you hit your finger with a hammer.  We are happy to report that she is saying:  "Mom", "uh-oh", "Ma" (for Max), "Bee Bo" (belly button), and some others.  Her favorite word is "Hi" and she says it so chipper and when she says it, hi-EE her face lits up and her voice gets real high as she hits the EEE sylable (her hi is two sylables).  It is really cute.

She is a pretty good eater, she loves to play with dolls, balls, barbies, etc.  She also loves the toilet, it is just her size and has all these cool features.  She loves to flush, slam the lid, not all of our toilets have the plastic lids either, and she loves to dip everything in the toilet and put it in her mouth, yum.  We are very glad Gracie has started to flush.  Also, note to any visitors, please store your toothbrushes in a safe place Maddie can not reach or find.

She is also starting to get into dress up clothes and still takes one nap a day.

On Wednesday Anna had her first day of school.  She is going to a new school for first grade, East Cooper Montessori School.  Here is the link if you would like to check it out (http://eastcooper.ccsdschools.com/).

It is a great, great school and we are so excited for her.  It is montessori, so she is in a classroom of 1st-3rd graders, which is an environment she does wonderful in.  The student to teacher ratio is 24:2, and each teacher is both montessori and state certified, and the lead teacher in each classroom is also certified gifted.  It is a public charter school that starts at 1st grade.  The school has great parent support, the kids learn through so many different experiences and working with different groups.  We really can't say enough good things about the school and environment.

She is doing great so far, a bit tired since her days of late night partying with Gracie and late mornings have come to an end (at least the late mornings).  I asked her the other day at pick up how she likes it and she said "Mommy, I love it."  She also has a few friends from preschool and is making other friends.  In fact, she also says she has a boyfriend.  She moves quick, I mean, it has only been two days for heaven's sake!

Starting Over

Alright, we had a blog once.  A long time ago, you probably remember.  It was so long ago I can't remember what was on it or recognize the people in it.  Also, I am not the best at keeping people up to date with our life (I am sure there is at least one person out there who is interested).  So, time to start again.

I know a few changes have happened since our last blog and I will try my best to fill in the blanks of the past.

I hope you enjoy!