This morning Wendi called to see if she could drop Scrubs (their dalmatian) off at our house while she waited for housing to come inspect their house. They had a cleaning lady come yesterday and clean the entire house, an empty house, from top to bottom and she didn't want him to make a smudge anywhere (who could blame her?). And I was more than happy to have him come over to play with Brick.

Christopher asked me, after Wendi left, why Scrubs was at our house and I told him so he wouldn't get their house dirty. He said, "Oh, and our house is already dirty, so it's ok if he plays here."

Thanks buddy.

I was planning to use today to tackle the messes that we do have in the house. He just doesn't know that he's going to be helping me.

So there!!

Thursday night we had our residency banquet. It is the best night of the year b/c you get together with all of the residents and their spouses, dress up, leave the kids at home and have tons of laughs. This banquet started out like all the rest, a great meal, some funny and serious awards, followed up with some videos made by the faculty and each residency class. We sat with Matt & Tiffany, Eric & Andrea, Casey & Phil and Casey's dad. We laughed our way through dinner and then when it was time for the awards we learned that Brandon won the Gyn award (a hilarious one to win, but still an honor). I was so proud of him!!! I know he's a great doctor, but I was really glad to let others see that too. (Matt also won a big award and Tiff and I felt the guys were long overdue!)

Then it came time for the videos. The faculty did a great video with clips of their impression of each senior resident. (I missed the intern video b/c I had to run to the bathroom.) Brandon's class never got around to making a video so he and Dave came up with a spin off called Weekend Up-To-Date (SNL meets medicine) and it was great too. The night ended with the senior video which has never disappointed in their 3 years here. Of course they had to go and end it with the song by Green Day, "The time of our lives" and credits that included all of the things that happened during their three years here. Next thing you know they lights are on. I was starting to tear up and then when I looked at the table next to me and saw Joia sobbing I lost it. Her whole class jumped up and ran over to her and they all cried together. I just turned away until I could try to compose myself.

Now, I'm not a third year residency spouse, but I became an "honorary member" b/c I live between three of them and have hung out with them a LOT over the last two years. It has been a roller coaster of emotions for Brandon and I (mostly me, b/c well, I am a girl) over the last few months as we've tried to prepare for this class to move away from us. I can not begin to tell you the bond that these women have with each other. It is truly amazing!! Here they/we are:

Now, I can't write this post without writing a little about each of these women. I'll start from L to R just like the photo.

Jodi - She is the babysitter extraordinaire. The only one without children and was the babysitter of the group. If you ever needed her for anything she was there. She would go above and beyond whatever was asked of her. One of the sweetest people I have ever met. She would come babysit at 6:00 in the morning and then hang out with you and keep you company when you got home. The kids absolutely ADORED her and we never had any doubts about why. Heck, we all adored her! They are moving far away.

Sarah - Her sweet family was one of our neighbors. When Brandon was on a sailboat last year and was hit in the head knocking him in the water, she called me before I had a chance to call her and told me to bring the kids over so she could watch them for me. She is so kind and her husband always had us laughing and her oldest daughter was the girl of the bunch until everyone had #2. Adorable family!! They are moving far, far away.

Wendi - Oh how I wish that I could have known her for so much longer! When I first met Wendi she had just found out she was pregnant and just adopted a sweet baby boy. She was mostly stuck inside her house my first year here just trying to survive with two babies. But we became dear friends very quickly. It is going to be very hard for me to see them pull out of their driveway (another neighbor) when they move this summer. Our youngest babes could be twins, but we laugh and say we are glad they aren't b/c neither one of us could handle it. She has helped me see things through fresh eyes. We were in MOPS together and also in the same Bible study group. I will always laugh at the time a mover thought I was her returning to a friends' house that we were helping. Other than the fact that she is blonde and 6'3" and I'm brunette and 5'3", I swear we could be twins. They are moving far, far away.

Joia - Sweet, happy, Joia. Oh how I could go on about her too. She is one of the happiest, most creative, always up for a challenge, loveliest people I know. Our boys share the same birthday. She will literally find something that someone has thrown on the side of the road, take it home and make it into something awesome. If you are wanting a place to take your kids to play, she's the girl to call. She knows where every park and play area is. I have never seen this woman without a huge grin on her face and that is one of the many things I love about her. You can't help but feel better and happier when she's around. And I'm glad b/c she is going to be around for four more years. Yeah!!!

Andrea - She is the very first person I met when we came to visit the residency during our last year of medical school. She was extremely friendly and made me feel so welcome. I knew that if she was loving it so much, then I would too. She was so kind in letting me contact her while we were trying to move here and find out about different programs and churches in the area. I couldn't wait to get to know her more when we moved here and I'm glad I did. They are moving far away.

Tiffany - I'm not sure if I can write this one without crying and everyone knows it. (shoot, it's already started!) When we moved here, we met her parents before we met her and Matt. They were on a cruise with his family and we hung out with her parents and their son, William, while they were gone. The week they got home, we bonded instantly and haven't separated for two years. I don't even remember that period of of "should I call? will I seem too eager?" b/c we both just dove in head first. Our husbands are just as close as we are. Tiffany and Matt have been an answer to prayer for Brandon and I. It is hard to make couple friends that both people can love being around as much as the other person. I could say that about any of these women, but these two were "it" for us. (and I can say that without hurting anyone else's feelings b/c they knew it as much as we did) They live behind and a few houses down from us. I have even cut a path with the lawn mower just to walk to their house without stickers getting us. They are moving away.

They told us about our church. She got me in MOPS. She told me about Mother's Day Out and our boys have been in the same class for 2 years. The only reason we did not hang out with each other every single day for 2 years is b/c one of us was out of town, running a fever or had a virus. If one of these three things happened, the other was lost. If we didn't talk at least once a day (which I'm pretty sure it was more like at least 3 or 4 times a day) it's b/c one of us was out of town. And we have been known to talk at least once while out of town.

When she called me a few months ago to tell me that Matt might be going to Korea and she and the kids are staying here, she was crying and I was literally jumping up and down screaming. Christopher asked me why I was so happy and I told him William might not move and he looked at me like I was crazy b/c he didn't think William was ever moving to begin with. This was so huge that everyone came up and asked me just how excited I was. Then after way too many months of being told way too many different stories and a majority of the time thinking they were going to be here, they finally found out 3 weeks ago that they are moving to TX. I was just glad they had a final answer and that it was the one they originally wanted. I felt relief for them and didn't care about how I felt. Again, everyone came up and asked me how I was taking the news, but this time even they looked like they were going to cry for me.

I'm one of those people that it takes a while for things to sink in. The night of the banquet was when it hit me. I was sitting next to my best friend who was going to be leaving me in 2 weeks and I wasn't sure I could handle it. I'd already sobbed uncontrollably to Brandon several months ago about it. Our friends were leaving and what were we going to do about it?

They are the last family to move away and I'm dreading the day that July 8th rolls around. I'm not sure if I'm going to hide in my closet or be at their driveway, but I'm sure it will be the latter. I'm not looking forward to having to carry Christopher home with his tears running down my back b/c his best friend is not coming back in a week from vacation. I'm hoping that he won't get it and will carry me home instead. He started to get tears in his eyes when he saw the movers at Della's house and he didn't play with her nearly as much as William.

But God always has a way of providing us with just what we need, just when we need it. If it wasn't for Matt & Tiffany we wouldn't have our church and I wouldn't have met all the wonderful people who go there. God has also brought wonderful people to the residency (last summer and this summer) that I am looking forward to getting to know even better over this next year.

I'm going to miss those that are leaving and I really hope that we will stay in touch so I can hear how their experiences are going in their new homes (hello facebook again). But the thing that is going to be the hardest is not having the friends across the street from me or the friends behind me that we can literally run out the door and play with.

We are going to be the ones moving next summer. I just hope that it's going to be easier than this move is for us! Now, if Motrin would just get rid of crying headaches I'd be a whole lot better!

I woke up to find that Brick had gone to the bathroom on the floor, but it had been hours so it dried. Pulled out the cleaner and got it all up. Or at least enough for the moment. (I'm planning to rent the carpet cleaner from self-help one day while the kids are at school and do the whole living area. It's gross.)

Got myself and the kids dressed, couldn't find my flip flops, so had to change clothes b/c tennis shoes just don't work with a dress. No matter how casual the dress is.

Got everyone rushed out the door and went to pick up William. Rushed through Burger King b/c I didn't have time for breakfast thanks to the dog and the lack of shoes to be found in the house. Kids start asking why they didn't get anything and I did. (I'd already bought them breakfast once this week and nobody ate it.)

Brandon calls to see if I can bring him lunch after VBS b/c the cafeteria was closed today. Couldn't hear why, but knew I'd want lunch to if I were him so I agreed. Called my mom to see if she would be up for driving to D.C. with the kids and I next month b/c I found out the other day it will cost us around $1000 to fly there. I figured we could stop and see family on the way. Middle of our conversation my phone dies. I had 2 bars left. This happens WAY too often. (Now I just want a new phone.)

Arrive at the church and can't find Sophie's backpack anywhere. Can't find a single diaper anywhere either. At least I had a snack and a drink. Get the kids dropped off.

Go to all the rooms to do our last craft of the week and before we know it we are done! I had amazing people to work with and if we weren't going to be moving at this time next year I'd do it again in a heart beat. (Big compliment this week: someone asked me if I was a teacher b/c she thought I was doing a good job. It made my week!!)

Load up all the left over crafts and drop them off where they need to go and head to pick up the kids. I get Sophie and am relieved to find out she was nice today. (Yesterday I found out in a really nice way that our little attitude had come out. Great.) We go to get the boys from their rooms and then discover that I don't have my purse with the cards I need to pick them up. It is locked in the closet I'd been using all week and it's upstairs. We go up there. It's locked. We go back down and finally find someone that can help me. We go back up. Get my purse and go back down. I get the boys and we finally make it out to the car.

I drive through Burger King (again) and get lunch for Brandon. I run home and call him to tell him I'm on my way with food and my cell phone died so I'm calling from the house. He tells me, "Don't worry about it. I found something to snack on." I growl. (Yes, I actually growled.) He asks me what's wrong and I told him that I had his lunch in the car and I was bringing it to him. He missed that part of the sentence. He was glad he misunderstood me b/c he was still hungry. I told him I'd be there in 5 minutes. We drop his food off and I feel relief just seeing him. We discuss the yard sale I've been planning to have tomorrow and he talks me into putting it off until a later date. I'm glad b/c all I have done to prepare is make a list of the items in the house I want to sell. Nothing has been labeled, pulled out of hiding, no signs posted and no cash to make change with.

I love my husband.

We are home and I'm about to put Sophie down for a nap, give Christopher the iPod to play with and then crash on the couch with lunch and watch some more episodes of The Good Guys. (I found it yesterday and liked it. You should check it out if you are looking for a summer show to watch.) I'm a little sad that I won't be able to get rid of all the stuff I was hoping to never see again, but instead I think I'll take my little coupon to Joann's and get some more fabric so I can finally sew a project I've been trying to get to for a while now.

Now, if I can just get the kids to behave while I'm in there. Wish me luck!

One more day. I don't have any exciting stories to tell about the car ride there or home. It was mostly fake bodily noises and other things similar. Fun stuff, huh? It has really been a lot of fun, but I don't know how moms work 5 days a week and get anything else done. I have always had a huge respect for working moms and this week has just reinforced my feelings on the topic. Yesterday my neighbor Tiffany watched Christopher so I could finally get to the grocery store. I didn't get home until 5:30 and that's not my favorite time to shop for anything.

But I have to say that the worst part about this week (and the only bad thing) is that I really miss Brandon. He is on a really, really bad rotation that is making him work an insane number of hours. He doesn't get home until 7:00 at night and last night it was 8:00. He's there by 6:00 every morning too. Oh, and remember when I told you that he was going to be one of the chiefs his third year? It's been a really bad week for being chief. I know that he has to be there and I don't have a problem with it, but it seems like every... single... time that we have tried to call each other just to say hello and get/give a pep talk something goes off, either a child wailing or a "pager" buzzing and we don't get get through our "hey! how are you hanging in there?" Talking to each other for only 30 minutes a day is not good enough for two people that enjoy each others company like we do. He's on call Saturday too which really stinks b/c that means he really doesn't have a break for two weeks straight. Honestly, I don't know how he does it. Sometimes I just want to drop the kids off at a friend's house and go kidnap him and take him out for ice cream and not let him go back to work the rest of the day.

I feel terrible b/c I didn't get to give him a proper shout out for Father's Day. He is an INCREDIBLE dad to our kids and is always coming up with some way to make the day an adventure for them. I honestly can not tell you just how much Christopher and Sophie adore him. They literally start bouncing off everything when they find out he's on his way home and scream with sheer joy when he walks through the door. It's my favorite time of the day. I may be frustrated with the kids and look like I'm ready to whack someone, but I love seeing them attack their daddy when he walks through the door. Sophie can't wait to help him take his shoes off. Christopher can't wait to tell/show him the latest thing he has built. I feel a lump just typing this.

I'm really excited about tonight b/c we get to dress up a little and go to a banquet for all the residents. They do this every year at the end of the year and it is so much fun! You gather as couples (leaving the children with sitters) and have dinner together, watch hilarious videos that each class has made and give out some very funny awards to the graduating class members. Speaking of, I need to go get cleaned up while I have one kid asleep and the other distracted with a movie. Thank you so much to the Storeys for watching the kids tonight! We'll return the favor any time!

I usually delete forwards when I get them in my inbox, but I happened to open this one when trying to go through my emails. I thought it was hilarious and thought you moms out there would find it just as funny! I'm wondering if I will ever have to write a note to the teacher like this myself one day. I hope not! (Thanks Lisa for sending me this!)

I went to pick up the kids from their classrooms and found out a fun little tidbit when I got to William's room. I about wet my pants. I wanted to find out what William had to say about it so when we got to the car I asked the boys the usual questions:

Me: "Did you guys learn anything new at Bible school today?

C/W: "Yeah!!!"

William: "God's word is surprising!"

Me: "Great! What else did you learn?"

Christopher: "Paul had a snake and threw him in the fire."

Me: "What??? Was he ok?"

Christopher: "Yeah, God took care of him."

Me: "Good. William, did you go on the playground today?"

William: "Yes." (He tells me about how they played superheros and he pretended they were bad guys. He's really into superheros right now, it's cute!)

Me: "Did you play with any little girls?"

William: "Yeeeeessssssss." (he's grinning at this point)

Me: "Did you kiss her????"

William: "Yes." (huge grin by now)

Me: "You did?????"

William: "But don't tell my mommy and daddy. They might spank me. Please don't tell my mommy."

I laughed b/c I knew that his mommy would not spank him and his daddy would probably give him a high five. Oh, and the other little detail is that the little girl he kissed on the lips has been buddy-buddy with another little boy and that little boy is the one who told the teacher.

And so it all begins.

On the way home I asked the boys what they learned at Bible school, they said, "I don't know."
I asked them if they learned about Paul being on a ship during a storm, I got nothing.
I asked them if God comforted him while he was on a boat that was rocking and going crazy in the water and Sophie yells out, "Yeah! And dat man took Nemo and and and da boat and got 'em!"

At least 1 out of 3 paid attention to what happened in their class today.

Yup. I did it. (Breathe, Caroline!!!) But don't panic, I only trimmed it. And if I'm going to be honest, I did it about 3 weeks ago. I was waiting to see if Brandon noticed before I posted anything on here. Her hair was just becoming a mess and it wasn't a pretty mess either. If you pulled it down it would go halfway down her back, let go and it springs up into tight curls that were not fun to try to comb out.

So, we set up shop on my parents' driveway, plopped Sophie on a stool so she couldn't move and gave her some Oreos to make sure she sat still. I cut maybe an inch off the bottom and then layered the back a little. It was amazing how much the curl came back after doing that. I have no regrets. And I apologize to anyone who disapproves of cutting curly hair on children. I am vain when it comes to how they look sometimes. I will admit it. Here are the photos to document it: