Stay-cation Part Two

Tuesday of the Nealon Stay-cation was Timmy's 12th birthday. I had not been feeling well for the past couple days, not really knowing whether it was allergies, a cold, or both. Tuesday morning I didn't wake up until 10:00. I can't remember the last time that happened. But it was Timmy's birthday and I knew that the Red Sox were playing the Nats in an exhibition game.  I didn't buy tickets as I was going to play it by ear since you never know what the weather may be like in April, but Tuesday was an absolutely perfect day to go to the ballpark. But that morning I was sitting on the computer, still in my pj's, my head still feeling like it was in a fog, and trying to figure out how to get to the stadium. I really don't know D.C. that well. New York, I can handle, you either are traveling north and south on the Avenues or east and west on the streets. It's a simple grid. D.C. on the other hand has a number of roundabouts, and streets on the diagonal.  I just don't find it as simple if you don't know where you are going. Chris would have loved to have met us there for this 3:00 game, but unfortunately couldn't get out of work.  I bought a parking pass online for Parking Lot N, told the kids that we are going into the city to go see a baseball game, and that I didn't know how to get there. We were going on an adventure. Between my google map, the GPS, Shannon's GPS on her phone, and a call to Chris, we actually arrived at Lot N.  Sure we circled the stadium a few times before finding it, and of course when we did find it the first time, we were on the wrong side of the lot to enter.  So we circled around again to get to the entrance. We got the second to last spot in the lot, but we made it.

Now, most people who know us, know we are New York Yankee fans. Chris even has tags on his car that show his loyalty to his baseball team. Why would I adventure into a city that I admittedly don't know my way around to watch an exhibition game of the arch rivals of the Yankees?  Well, this picture should explain it.

This is the back of my car. I had people stickers on the back that were starting to come off and when we went to the mall with my mom for Timmy and Shannon's birthdays, we went to the sports memorabilia store where I found these new people stickers. Perfect, except for the fact that a number of years ago Timmy decided that he wasn't going to be a Yankee fan like the rest of us, but he was going to be a Red Sox fan. Really? Of all the teams that he could have liked, he chose the biggest rival of the Yankees. But that's what makes life more interesting. And so just like the back of my car, Timmy is smack in the middle of a family of Yankee fans. He definitely thinks for himself, which is a good quality.

When we finally made it to our seats, after a stop at the bathroom and concession stand, it was the second inning. My three Yankee fans and my one Red Sox fan were happy to be watching a game on a beautiful spring day. But Timmy was not alone at this game. We were definitely in the Red Sox section of the stadium because there were lots of Red Sox fans at the park.  

I thought the stadium was pretty full for a exhibition game.

The sky couldn't have been any more blue, and not a cloud in the sky.

The Nats trying to figure out what to do about the Red Sox since they were up 6-0.

Hmmm, by the 7th inning it was no longer a 6-0 game.

 The Nats had tied it up by the 7th inning.  But the Red Sox were up again by one heading into the bottom of the 9th.   With 2 outs and a runner on second, the Nats hit a single.   The runner on second tried to tie the game by heading home, but a throw to the plate was in time to end the game with the Red Sox on top. Timmy was happy because his team won.  The rest of the Nealons were happy because it's the one time that they were able to cheer on Timmy's team since it was just an exhibition game and it didn't count in the standings.

We have talked about going to different ballparks around the country. We have been to Yankee Stadium, old and new, Camden Yards, and now Nationals Park. Three down and I'm not sure how many more to go.

A Stay-cation...Part One

Kiawah, Hilton Head, Mexico, Jamaica, The Outer Banks...warm sunny places that the only accessories you need are sunglasses, sun lotion, a bathing suit, a chair, and a good book in hand. These are all the places that some of my facebook friends went to this spring break, but this year we did a "stay-cation." 


I really wanted to go away this year. This spring seems to be even busier than usual with the spring sports. I'm no different than any of my neighborhood moms with kids the same age. Their sports no longer are just at the neighborhood park or school field. Now we need to allow enough time for the car ride to get to the fields, and coaches seem to want them earlier and earlier before the start of a game. So even though I really could have used a week "not" in my own house, looking at all my unfinished projects, and have some more family time that seems to get even more precious with each passing year, I've been trying to be extra good about our family household budget and actually stay within the budget. Not an easy task for any family these days but I still wanted to have a little fun with the kids. 


Our "stay-cation" started with Grandma in the Red House and her friend Jim coming for a visit over the weekend. My mom always comes to visit the kids for their birthdays, and since Shannon's and Timmy's birthdays are only 10 days apart, she came the weekend in between. Grandma and Jim took them both to the mall. Shannon picked out some things in Bath and Body Works and Timmy picked out some new clothes from Dick's. 

Timmy trying on new shirts...showing me his game face.

After shopping and lunch, Shannon wanted to stop at Fins and Feathers to get a couple of fish for our fish tank. Over the last couple of months we have had a few fish funerals and Shannon wanted to add some more to the tank. We went in to buy fish, and yes we did add three fish to our tank, Simba and Mr. and Mrs. Speckles (every fish we've ever had has been given a name), but that is not all we came home with. I came home with a 14 year old daughter who had a "bunny" room up until last year wanting one of the bunnies in the window. I do have to say it was really cute. It's called a Dwarf Hotot Rabbit, but really...another animal in the Nealon House?!?! We already have two dogs, a cat we rescued back in September and a fish tank. We went home with the three fish and after negotiations between Shannon and myself and then between Shannon and Molly to get her to chip-in with their Christmas money from Grandma in the Yellow House, they decided that they would buy the bunny and the cage and the food and the bedding and anything else that this bunny was going to need.


So on the Monday of our "stay-cation" we went back to the pet shop and got the bunny that Shannon always wanted. When it was all said and done the girls had a whole dollar left of their money. I handed Shannon the dollar and told her she owed her sister 50 cents.

Molly meeting her new bunny for the first time.

This bunny has changed names a few times already. At first, the girls were going to call him Yankee, then they changed it to Jack. Then, when Timmy met him for the first time he said, "Hello, Mr. Bunny" and now that seems to be what everyone is calling him.

So for the first part of our stay-cation we had a great visit with Grandma and Jim and a new addition to the Nealon Zoo...


...more stay-cation adventures to come.

Pinterest Inspiration

Back in January, I was on a quest to do something, anything, with our sitting room. I had no inspiration for this space. I've had a desk in this small sitting room off of the master bedroom for years and most of my scrapbooking stuff was in this space, but there was still stuff on the floor, there were still piles of stuff that I couldn't find a home for, there was still stuff that just needed to be sorted through, but again, I didn't have a plan, I didn't know what to do and then I found Pinterest. I found this hutch that is very similar to the one I have but didn't look quite as organized.

Then I found this book shelf, so much stuff but so neatly organized with baskets on the bottom.

And then I found this one, this is what I wanted, this is what I needed to do to organize this space and make it a workable space. Notice the work table/desk is in the middle of the room.

Another version of this bookshelf only smaller. You can find all of these pictures on my Pinterest Craft Room board. I just figured out how to put a Pinterest button on the blog.

From one of the links I found out that the bookshelf was from IKEA. I now had a plan and an idea as to how I was going to utilize this small space.

The first thing I did was move my desk from up against the wall to the center of the room. I was always hesitant to do this because I thought the room was too small but it really seemed to work.

Then the bookshelves were built and added. I already had the brown baskets sitting empty in the basement from when they were filled with toys when the kids were much younger. Then I found the green bins at Target.

Remember that big black hutch on Pinterest that looked similar to mine? Well, here is mine all reorganized. The four big file boxes are each for the kids to put memorabilia in until I eventually get it into scrapbooks. The white boxes are my photos.

Before

Here's that same sitting room back in December. Now yes, it was a disaster because of all the Christmas stuff but I just gained so much space by pulling the desk to the center of the room and adding the IKEA bookcase to the left.

After

 I am presently working on Molly's room. My little girl that absolutely loves the color pink, pink, pink decided that it is now a little girl's color and that she wanted her room painted turquoise. There was lots of Pinterest and blog inspiration for her room as well. I'll try to post pictures soon.

Happy Spring 2012

What a magnificent weekend. This past week we have been sleeping with the windows open and waking up to the birds chirping and the woodpeckers pecking in the backyard. This weekend, I was in Molly's room painting. More spring cleaning as well. Once the painting is finished, I will sort through all her "stuff" and decide what will go back into her room. Her closet will need to be sorted through again, decisions of what clothes still fit and what needs to given away will be made. So after a few hours of painting I needed a break. I felt like I was missing out on this wonderful weather. I grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots in our own yard. It really was a dazzling day and color was bursting everywhere.

I love this time of year. I love this small window of time between having the heat on in the house and it getting so hot that you need the ac. There have been some years that we have gone straight from heat to ac and skipped this small window all together. It's the same thing with the spring blooms. They are only here for a very short time. Maybe two weeks if we are lucky. They pop out and dazzle us with their vibrant color and then before you know it, they are gone. 

 Then I looked at this picture of Timmy taking a break from a few hours of playing basketball in the driveway. I just bought that sitting hammock a few weeks ago for Molly's birthday. She went to a birthday party a few months ago at a place that had a bunch of swing sets indoors. Molly fell in love with the hammock and spent most of the party just hanging out and swinging back and forth in the hammock. Well, all the kids have fallen in love with it. I love that we still have a play set in the backyard. I love that as my kids get older they still have no hesitation to get on the swings and play with one another or even swing by themselves. I know these moments won't last forever, just like the spring blooms. Before I know it, shots like this one, of kids just hanging in the backyard will be gone. With three spring birthdays all within a month of each other, I've been thinking about how much my kids have grown. Shannon, who will be 14 this week, she's finishing up eighth grade and will be on her way to high school. Timmy, who is about to turn 12, my last year before having two teenagers in the house. Ryan, who turned 10 back in January but really has grown this year, not just physically but also as a person. Molly, who no longer wants the light pink room that we painted when we found out she was a girl because she thinks it's a baby color even though I know she secretly still loves the color pink.

The rest of these pictures Shannon took. She asked if she could take the camera into the yard and this is what she came back with. I think she has a pretty good camera eye.

Happy Spring 2012!