where to start....

hello! i've been dying to find time to get on here and update y'all on what's been going on. let's see...daddy came home early from his school and was able to help us move...and able to go on vacation with us to singapore! oh, let me back up a minute and give you the whole story. we moved in and it went pretty well. i was supposed to run a 10k a couple of days after we moved, but i messed up the ligament in my knee and couldn't run the race. i was super bummed. anyway, on the friday right before we were to go on vacation, h was cruising the new 'hood on his bicycle with a new friend. and lo and behold, he came home and calmly said "um, mom, can you come out here? i think i broke my arm." now, remember, this is h, who is really dramatic and screams things like "i'm bleeding to death" when he scrapes his knee. so, i called out the front door that i'd be out in a minute. when i went out, he was still pretty calm but said he was in alot of pain. so i get on the phone to daddy, since he was on his way home. he tells me to look at h's arm and when h removes his hand, the forearm kind of just sags like there aren't any bones in it. i almost passed out. i get all the kids in the car and we meet daddy halfway to the hospital. almost 7 hours later, daddy and h get home with a sling, splint and the news that h has broken his ulna and radius, and it's pretty bad. he might not get to go to singapore. i think i was just in complete denial that this could happen. anyway, we had to go to the hospital on the monday morning that we were flying to singapore. our flight was around noon. we packed separate bags and if it was a no-go, h and daddy would stay behind. however, they casted h's arm, cut seams in the sides, to compensate for any swelling on the flight, and we were off to the airport. it was an awesome vacation. i highly recommend visiting singapore if you get the chance. it was beautiful, CLEAN, friendly, easy to get around, CLEAN, amazing shopping, CLEAN, and did i mention CLEAN??? they really do fine you or cane you for littering, spitting, chewing gum, vandalism and the list goes on. we got to experience so many cool things, and do it as a family, which made it all the more special. of course, daddy did get to fly alone on the tokyo/singapore/tokyo flights. go figure. that last minute ticket had to be on a separate airline. we were very lucky in that the flights were arriving and departing within 30 minutes of eachother, and we did get to leave here and arrive here together. our vacation was so awesome and i really can't describe it all, but here's the skinny on what we did and saw: we ate, shopped, saw chinatown, sentosa island, toured the merlion statue, road a monorail, visited an awesome science center, ate breakfast with orangutans at the zoo, and also rode an elephant there, did the night safari, went to the national museum, and so much else.

what else is new?

daddy changed jobs and will be home alot more, which is really such a blessing that we can't even begin to appreciate it. he's been gone so much of the last year and a half that it feels like he just visits us here now and then. we are all so excited to have more family time and are thrilled with this new opportunity.

we got a puppy. he's a french bulldog and will be 6 months old at the end of this month. he's been super with the kids and even daddy is starting to like him. it's so weird having a dog that is not over 150 lbs and a drool monster. oh, his name is russell (from survivor). he's a little white guy with all this confidence. except our russell is more of a cream color, but still fits the bill.

ok, that's about it for tonight. i'm ready to fall asleep at the keyboard! i'll post pics tomorrow, since i'm somehow not able to connect to the desktop from my laptop. darn wireless issues!!!

you are all loved and missed.