Play group

Was a huge success!! The kids had a blast -- all 33 of them. Everyone got along so well -- they played in the basement and tented everything (swing set, treadmill, Barbie house etc) with blankets and played hide & seek and house for over three hours. There were scooters, bikes and toddler ride-on-toys racing around the kitchen island. There were little girls stripping down to their undies in the middle of the living room so that they could play dress up and have tea. There were cartwheel contests. There was a parade with WAY too many whistles. Poor Max (Andrea's oldest son) was covering his ears due to the noise. It was REALLY LOUD! Thankfully I had just gone to Costco, so we had enough juice boxes to go around! They had snacks, and only two levels of the house needs a touch up... They weren't nearly as messy as I had feared, and thankfully they followed the one rule -- stay out of Matt's study room... All I can say is... holy cow, that many kids running around makes for complete chaos! LOL. But, I wouldn't have it any other way... Which reminds me, we need a bigger house to accommodate that many friends.....

For those of you who don't know... Matt and I are thinking of moving. We've been toying with the idea for a while now, but I was really resisting moving out of the neighborhood. I know I've said it a million times, but we really do have the best neighborhood, and you just can't put a price on that... Anyway... there is a house in the backyard coming for sale. It's directly behind us, and one to the right as you look out on our deck. (It's directly next door to Andrea's house). The couple is Chinese (the only reason I mention this is because their English is really poor and they are incredibly difficult to understand), and the husband (I have no idea what his name is) originally did research for Texas A&M. He decided to transfer to Iowa State, which is why they moved to Des Moines. For what ever reason, he really didn't like it, so now is working in California -- UCLA, I think... They tried to sell their house last year, but weren't successful, so since their son was going to be a senior, they pulled it off the market so that he could graduate here. It's going back on the market any day now, and we're considering selling our house and buying that one. No one in the neighborhood has been in the house, but Andrea told me that it's the same builder as her house, slightly bigger -- and thus more expensive, but generally similar floor plans. If that's the case, I'm all for it. And how easy... we wouldn't even need movers this time! All of the neighbors have already offered to pitch in! Yes, this is a GREAT neighborhood.

Tonight we are going over to Troy and Andrea's for a little BBQ. They are grilling shrimp (it's lent), but since I don't eat anything that swims, the kids and I are having pizza! LOL!! It's also sooo nice here that tonight we'll probably get to play outside. Oh, how Caleb loves to run free! Hopefully it's dry enough to play in the backyard, because when we're out front, he makes a bee line for the street....

Today after playgroup, we went downtown to have lunch with Kelly -- a good friend of mine that I met while working at Principal. Katherine absolutely adores her, and calls her "Aunt Kelly". Every year, we go trick-or-treating at Kelly's the day before Beggar's night. (They don't let kids go trick-or-treating on Halloween in Des Moines, so they made up Beggar's night...). The kids get all dressed up, and Aunt Kelly showers them with little toys and tons of candy. She lives in an old part of Des Moines filled with tree lined streets. Katherine was sooo amazed with the sights, that she's convinced that Kelly lives in a forest! LOL!! All she could talk about the whole way home today is going to visit Kelly in her forest again soon! This whole "forest" concept is so foreign to her -- sooo not her reality living in a new development. So this fall, we'll have to make many visits over to Aunt Kelly's house so the kids can jump in the leaves!