Our Time in New Jersey - Week 2 Recap

Two down, one to go. That's right, our time in NJ is two thirds of the way over. We've been having a great time, but I'll be honest, we are ready to go home. Keeping busy has been making the time fly, but it has also been wearing us out. Zeke and I are being hit the hardest I think. But, it's been wonderful seeing all the people we've been seeing and doing all the things we've been doing. So, without further adieu, here is week two!

Sunday we went to church at my old church, Scotch Plains Baptist Church, and it was wonderful. I truly felt like I was at home and it was great seeing everyone there again. I think they were prety excited to see us too. Deacon handed out smiles left and right (as is usual for him), and Zeke just flirted with Miss Anissa, who is absolutely beautiful, so I really can't blame him. After church we went back to my mom's house, had some lunch, put the kids down for naps. Then Josh's best friend, Steve, came over and spent the rest of the day visitng with Josh, while I went with my stepdad to bring the twins to camp and visit some friends up there. It was a good day for both of us, reconnecting with people who mean so much to us like that.

Of course, there was the part of the ride home from camp where my stepdad and I sat in traffic that had been stopped because of an accident. And when I say stopped, I mean stopped. Going in both directions. People were getting out of their cars, walking their dogs, letting their kids run around. It was crazy. But it finally cleared up and the usual 1+ hour car ride wound up taking 3 hours. Good thing we were in good company.

On Monday, after the boys got up from their first nap, we packed them up and headed over to visit Josh's grandfather. It was an interesting time visiting Grandpa Walter, as usual. The boys got antsy kind of quickly so I took them outside to play while Josh visited with his grandpa. Then my father came to pick me up for lunch, and Josh used that as his cue to bring the boys back to my mom's. Lunch with my father was a really good time.

Later, after dinner, we packed up the boys again and brought them to visit the Bible study Josh had started years ago at his friend's house. The only ones there were his cousin Evan and Evan's wife Aubrey. It was nice visiting with them, but then Deacon started throwing up a little bit (he ate WAY too many carrots at dinner) so I brought them back to my mom's, got them ready for bed, put them in bed, then headed back to Plasma, as the study is called, stopping at Rita's for Italian ices on the way. After study, led by Evan, Josh started up a pinochle game, but I was exhausted (it was 10pm) so I went home, and his friend Karl brought him home around two in the morning or something like that. He had a great time, and I'm so glad he got that time to spend with his friends and cousin.

Tuesday was a relatively uneventful day as our days here go. We took the boys to Target after they got up from their first nap and then to Applebee's for lunch. That was an experience and a half. I think it'll be awhile before we take them to a restaurant to eat again. Then we just hung out and after dinner we headed back to Josh's parents house for the next week.

And before I continue on, I'm not sure whether or not I wrote about this yet, and I'm too lazy to go back and look, but Deacon started taking steps while we were at my mom's house. He would take two steps here, three steps there, two steps over there, and so on. We wouldn't say he's walking yet (as of this point), but he's so stinking close.

Okay, where was I? Ah, Wednesday. Wednesday Josh and I ran to the mall down the road from Josh's parents house to look for clothes for my cousin's wedding next week. We didn't find anything. After we got back, we packed a bag, packed some snacks, dressed the boys in their suits and took the down the shore (Josh's parents live, literally, seven minutes from Seven Presidents Beach). We spent about an hour or so there, mostly playing in the sand, then headed back to the house for lunch and naps only to find...Aunt Linda, Uncle Jeff, and "brand new cousin" Sam were there! And let me tell you, that boy is TOO cute. I'm in love. And he just loves Josh too. Josh was talking to him about string theory (or something nerdy like that), and Sam just sat there staring at him the entire ten minutes he rambled, just totally enthralled. Sweet baby.

Thursday, Linda and I went to Mom's chiropractor. It was FABULOUS. Not only do they do adjustments there, but they massage you first (and I mean, seriously massage you, ahhhh) to loosen up the muscles and things where they're going to work, then adjust you. The doctor had me cracking up too. It was just great. Now my neck is realigned and feeling better, and my back feels a bit better, and it really was fabulous. So fabulous, in fact, that when all the kiddos went down for their afternoon naps I took a nap too. I can't remember the last time I took a nap. It was sweet. That evening Linda and I went to Borders then did a Dunkin Donuts run. Yum, yum, Dunkin Donuts! Oh, and the Army came and took away all of the stuff that had been hanging out in our parents houses (and friends house) while we were in Germany. That should be in Oklahoma before we are. Good times.

Friday, well, let me bring you back to Tuesday first. Tuesday evening, as we were driving down to Josh's parents house, I noticed that the battery light had turned on. Josh pointed out then that the battery level was really low. Weird, we thought. The Jimmy was running fine, nothing out of the ordinary. When I turned on the lights, it went down a little lower, so I turned them back off. By Friday morning, it had died. SO, Josh spent most of Friday morning running back and forth getting the car fixed. It turns out the alternater was kaput. This is also the day that Josh has declared that Deacon is officially walking. He toddled his little big self right across the family room and it's been so fun to watch him ever since. As for the end of the day, we ended it on a high note. Josh and I went on a date. Our first date, in I have NO idea how long. We went to dinner at the Olive Garden, and it was delicious. I love the Olive Garden and it was so nice to be able to eat dinner without having to shovel food at Deacon while listening to Zeke melt down in the next room (because that's how dinners have been going lately).

Then today, Saturday, Josh and I took the boys to the mall to go shopping for the wedding again, and to get some lunch. Josh did get a suit, which is being altered to fit him (mostly...he's just too skinny!), we had some Chinese food (not the best thing ever, but Deacon sure enjoyed it), and walked around a little bit more before heading home to put the boys down for naps. This evening we had a big "family" dinner. Josh's parents best friends, Mr. & Mrs. Schoepp (whose son and wife have our cat) came down for dinner, as did Josh's cousin Joanna, her husband, Pat, and their 2-year-old, Leah. It was a full house! But it was a lot of fun, and now I'm here, blogging, as the guys play pinochle and the ladies look at Linda's pictures of Sam. Who, by the way, is an adorable baby. I know I said that already, but it needs repeating. Really, he's great.

And that's it for week two. Is your head spinning yet? I know mine is. And I will tell you now that week 3 doesn't look to be too much calmer. But I will write ALL about it when I get back home to Oklahoma. Ooooo-klaaaa-hoooo-maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!