Blacksburg's Still Got It

After spending 5 years at Virginia Tech and marrying a man from there, I quickly realized what a special place Blacksburg is. I have many (many, many, many) fond memories from college. And while everytime I go back the town has changed a lot, I'm happy to report, Blacksburg's still got it. It still has a small town feel with all amenities close at hand. It's still got lots to do, or total peace and quiet - whatever suits your pleasure. And most importantly, it's still got family in town so we can go there often with a free place to stay!

 

Jack was out of town this past weekend celebrating Mike's bachelor party weekend at the beach. I was craving a change of pace, so the kids and I packed up and headed down to Blacksburg for a fun-filled get-away. And let me tell you, we had a blast! I've been talking up the town and Blacksburg and how awesome it is - and, it really is - but the truth is, we really wanted to go there to spend time with Nini and Poppa. Here are some of the fun things we did:

The Playground

Since the Donohoe's live next door to an elementary school, one of the kids favorite things to do is go to the play ground there. They absolutely love it! They played on swings, slides, sand boxes, and even learned all about the USA on a map on the pavement!

Swimming

It was kind of cold and rainy while we were there - definitely not your typical August weather. But that didn't keep us away from the water. We went to the Aquatic Center and enjoyed some indoor swimming fun! Nolan jumped off the diving board and they both had a blast playing with Poppa and Nini in the water.

Drive-In Movie

This was one of my favorite things to do in college - the Starlight Drive-In Theater. Can you believe they've been around for 80 years? So cool. We had a picnic dinner and watched the movie Turbo. It was a cute movie and overall fun experience. 

Price's Fork Fair

This really wasn't that exciting, but hey, here's to supporting small town local adventures right?

Virginia Tech Football Scrimmage

What's better than VT football? Not much - especially when it's free!

Movies/Shopping and Ice Cream

The boys went to see a movie (Planes, btw) and the girls went shopping and to ice cream!

Putt Putt at Cox's

One of my favorite things... putt - putt! Nolan was suprisingly good - he beat us all on the first hole! And I loved Abby's enthusiasm throughout. She would usually start her ball about 3 inches from the hole, but when she got it in, she celebrated like no other. I loved it!

Ok so that's all for now. I think it's safe to say we all had a great weekend, but we were glad to get back home to Daddy when it was over!

Random Thoughts

Here are a few random thoughts that weren't really exciting enough for a post of their own...

1. Kids say some of the funniest things... but of course when I sit down to write about them I can't remember anything. One thing I do know, is that one of my favorite things that Nolan says right now is "ridiculous" - only, it sounds more like "ridicky-lus". And for some reason every time he says it I just crack up. "Mommy, you're being ridickylus" etc.

2. Abby is the most polite little girl I have ever met. She is not even 2 yet and knows how to appropriately use the words: Please, Thank You, You're Welcome, Bless You, etc. I can't really even take credit for it, because I didn't really do anything special to make her so polite. I think she just picked up on it - kids learn everything from observation after all!

3. One thing Nolan and Abby got from their father is their love for singing and dancing. One of the things Jack and Nolan like to do together is watch music videos - Jack sings and Nolan dances. Thanks to on-demand they can watch whatever they want whenever they want. Lately their favorites have been "Wagon Wheel" and "What Makes you Beautiful" by One Direction. Recently we were in a store when One Direction came on and Nolan proclaimed "that's my song!" Sorry Justin Bieber, Nolan has a new favorite now...

Abby has not really gotten into the music videos, but she loves singing. Every morning she comes into our room to wake us up, and shortly thereafter, stands on top of the bed (because apparently you have to be standing to sing - you get the most projection I guess - see, just like Jack), and sings the ABC's. It's really cute - I should video it. It sounds mostly like "ABCBABC,uhhhhhh, ominomiPee, etc." She follows that performance with a rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. And that's how we wake up each morning!


That's all for now. I'll save the rest for another post :)

Dentist!

Another milestone for our big boy Nolan... last week he got to go to the dentist for the 1st time! 

I have no idea at what age you are suppose to start going to the dentist, but when looking at a recent pay stub I realized (again) how MUCH we pay for health insurance. So I decided we needed to be taking advantage of it. Since we are already paying for it, and Nolan seemed to be mature enough to be able to handle it, I decided to take him in for his first check-up. 

I'm proud to say that he did an awesome job. They had Disney Jr. on in the background so that helped distract him. He followed directions and best of all, had great teeth! The doctor said everything looked great! 

And in the end, he got to pick out a new toothbrush (which he was particularly excited about)!

So proud of our big boy!

6 years!

Warning. Cliche ahead: Time flies when you're having fun! I know it's cheesy, but I wrote it anyway because it's true. 6 years ago Jack and I got married. I cannot believe it has been that long. It seriously feels like ust jyesterday that I was camped out in the church kitchen (the coolest room in the building) while we waited 45 minutes for our pastor to show up late to our wedding. The past 6 years have gone by so fast! We've had our share of ups and downs - but mostly ups. I can't tell you how many times I think about how grateful I am for Jack. Like, it happens multiple times a day. And I'm not exaggerating that. God has blessed us both greatly and I'm excited to see what the next 6 (and beyond) years bring!

Now I'm sure you are wondering... what fun, exciting, cool thing did we do to celebrate our 6th anniversary?
And the answer is...
1. putt-putt
2. worst movie ever made
3. dinner at a steak house

What? Doesn't sound that exciting? Here's why we did those 3 things...
1. because I love putt-putt. It's one of my favorite things to do.
2. because we don't get to go to the movies very often. And if we do go, it is usually one of us going with friends without the other. So for us to get to go together is a real treat! Only problem is that there was a limited selection of movies at the time we needed and the one we ended up seeing was, well, terrible. Parts were funny. But overall I sat there the whole time going "I can't believe I spent $11 on this". At least the popcorn was good!
3. because we had a giftcard, and I wanted seafood and Jack wanted pasta. So this was the best compromise. See, that's what 6 years of marriage has gotten us - the art of compromise :)

So anyway, none of that may sound that great, but for us, it was awesome just to be together and enjoy the company and conversation without certain little people constantly needing something.

Summer

Summertime. When school is out and teachers rejoice. When kids abound with excess energy and parents wonder "What the heck am I going to do to entertain you all summer long? Because if I don't do something, I will go crazy." Or at least, that's what THIS parent is thinking.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being home with my kiddos in the summer. But if I don't have sufficient activities planned for the week my kids might kill each other. Abby absolutely adores her older brother and wants to do EVERYthing that he is doing. I think it's quite cute. After all they say the highest form of flattery is imitation. Unfortunately I don't think that means much to a 3 year old. To 3 year old Nolan that's just plain annoying. Hence his declaration the other day: "I don't want to be a brother anymore!" So anyway, in an effort for all of us to keep our sanity, here are a few things we've done so far this summer:

• Pool - we have access to a neighborhood pool this summer, so we've been trying to take advantage!
• Movies - the theaters around here offer a selection of FREE movies in the summer. Abby could care less, but Nolan enjoys it, and I enjoy getting out of the house and the fact that it's FREE. 
• Visits with friends - trying to do this as much as possible!
• Day trip to the beach
• trips to the library
• Richmond zoo (Jack and Nina went with the kiddos while I was away)
• Science Museum
• Trips to the farm (where there is always something interesting going on)
• Playgrounds
• Playing in the rain

The summer is still young, so here are some things that are still on our to-do list:

• Go to an amusement park (or 2 - Hershey Park and Sesame Place are on the list)
• Visit more friends/family
• Bowling? The bowling alley has some good deals during the summer - thought it might be something worth a shot
• Reading (mostly for me)
• Potty training (for Abby - looking forward to the end result but not so much the process of getting there)
• Some sort of fire pit/s'mores making
• Several weddings, bridal showers, and birthday parties
• Movies - lots of fun movies (for all ages) come out in the summer! 
• go to the lake

Etc. Etc!! 

While there are plenty of "work" and "project" things to do this summer, I hope we'll take the time to enjoy some of this "fun" stuff too! Either way, I'm just excited and grateful for a job that allows me this time with my kiddos - even if they do make me crazy sometimes.

We're building a house!

The big news in the Donohoe family is that we are building a house! I hope I am not jinxing anything by putting it out there on the world wide web. But I'm so excited I thought it was worth sharing!

So yeah. We are building a house out in the country! I always find it ironic because I grew up on the farm, and I always dreamed of living in "town" in a neighborhood just like everybody else. Then I got married and bought a house in "town" in a neighborhood just like everybody else. And it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. We are living in a great neighborhood now, but honestly, I can't wait to get back to the country! You can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl. Or something like that.

Anyway, our house ETA is Christmastime. Really praying that it gets done in a timely fashion. Wouldn't that be the best Christmas present ever? So here are some pictures of our house progress so far:

This is our future back yard:

Our future front yard... minus the rubble:

Here is how we got rid of the rubble:

Nolan posing with a stake that marks the septic system site:

The stake in the middle marks where the corner of the house will go!

So there you have it. More updates to come as we go along this process!

Girl's Weekend 2k13

Every once in a while, someone really special comes into your life. 11 years ago I was blessed to have 2 such people - girls that would become my college roommates and best friends. The best part about our friendship is that throughout the years, even though none of us live in the same state, I would still consider these girls my bestest friends. They've been with me through it all. We laugh together, pray together, and generally just enjoy life together.

Once husbands began to come into the picture, we decided we needed to set aside some special time each year to spend as just us girls. We've been taking Girl's Weekend trips for 8 years now. This past weekend was our most recent one. Amanda and I drove up to visit Rachel who just moved to upstate NY. It was the perfect weekend - we ate good food, sat around on the "beach" by the lake, did some shopping, and talked. A lot. The weather was great and the company even better. I love these girls so much and the time we get to spend together is always a blast!

Here is another pic from our trip:

It looks dreary in the pic but trust me there was plenty of sunshine! 

This trip was made extra special because I got to do it kiddo-less. Jack and Nina stayed with the kids while I was gone so I could get some much needed girl time. They seemed to have a good time while I was gone - they went to the zoo, science museum, had lunch with Uncle Brendan and dinner at the farm, and went to the movies. I'd say all in all, it was a great weekend for everyone! It was sad to leave NY, but I missed my family so much I was ready to get home!

One last pic... Here is Nolan and Abby playing with Pops on the trampoline while I was gone: