Gotta Have Faith and Daniel: March 2013

What a fun week it's been in the Grove house! We kicked off Randy's "spring" break week with about 4 inches of snow on Monday. It was the first real significant snow we've had all year so we suited up and headed out for some fun. It took awhile to get everyone ready with coats, mittens, hats, etc. But it was worth it in the end. We played, made a (slightly pathetic) snow man, tried to catch snow flakes in our mouths and made snow angels. Lots of fun packed into the 20 minutes Faith lasted outside - which was actually more than we expected her to last. Once we put on her snowsuit she could barely walk so we weren't sure what would happen outside. As long as she had something or someone to hold onto she stayed on her feet, but her boots kept falling off. She was completely indifferent to the snow - didn't seem to enjoy or hate it, but was trying to figure it out the whole time.

The rest of the week has been spent on home improvement projects. We've (or should I say Randy) has accomplished a TON of work on our house. And the best part is we all got to spend the week together - even if we were busy. Faith was quite the "helper" bringing tools to daddy whether he needed them or not. She even learned how to climb a step ladder! We're putting away the tools and planning to spend the rest of spring break relaxing and celebrating Easter with family. Here's hoping for some sunshine this weekend for all of the daffodils and tulips trying to make their appearance in our garden.

Happy snowy spring to all of you!

The Groves

Long time no see everyone! It's been a wild and crazy month in the Grove house, but we're finally back into the swing of things. And most importantly our house is dry and should stay that way! Over a two week span we (with a ton of help from friends & family) packed up the whole first floor - our living room and kitchen including most of our cabinets and appliances and moved them into storage. Then a crew from Basement Waterproofing Nationwide came in with their jackhammers & pick axes and dug up our house. Two days, one sump pump and one inside french drain later and we were cleaning and putting it all back together. It was quite a roller coaster ride - a messy and loud one, but worth it in the end. We were away from Faith for 16 days - not that we counted ;) - which was the worst part, but we all survived. Thank god for Facetime. And now just sitting on our furniture in our living room watching Faith play while drinking coffee is the best feeling in the world.

We managed to pack some fun adventures into the chaos. Trips to the park, a visit to see the circus with Connor, and back to her weekly swimming dates with daddy. But our biggest news is that Faith is walking! She does the Frankenstein walk as we like to call it - arms straight out to help her balance. I think the "person" most effected by her new upright position is poor Joey. She is chasing him all around the house and he is NOT happy. She is still quite the social girl and is constantly "talking" up a storm. We can actually pick out a few words every now and then. And her sign language is getting better. She has at least 4 signs now and can understand many more. Her current favorite things to do are: shake her head no (which she does all the time), play peek-a-boo and take off her shoes & socks. Her love of music and dancing grows daily (thank goodness we'll be starting a new round of Music Together classes in mid April). She has 10 teeth - including her top molars. We all lost some serious sleep over those.

We are looking forward to spring - although it definitely hasn't arrived yet. Randy has spring break this week so we're planning lots of fun things to do in addition to continuing to get the house back together and spring cleaning. Hopefully they'll be a trip or two to the park (or playing in the snow!?!), definitely a visit to Jimmie Cone, seeing lots of family in PA for Easter, and of course a visit from the Easter Bunny!

We have a very busy spring and summer - filled with weddings, babies and a few trips, but we'll try not to wait so long to post our next blog. Hopefully the next time we post something we'll be wearing flip flops and sunglasses instead of winter hats!

Much love,

The Groves