Back Together

I've had a few inquiries regarding my hiatus from the blog again.  Well, I've been busy getting this gang back together (including our abode).  Doug did a fantastic job hanging with the sick little guys and nursing his own cold, but he warned me with a text on my travels home to keep my expectations low on the condition of the house.  He wasn't kidding.  It took me a few days to tidy up, do the laundry and then give it all a good clean, but by Thursday we were pretty much back to normal.  Just in time to have some very special friends over, Kristen and her daughter, Olive.  Kristen and her husband, Dave, used to live here in Pittsburgh and attended our small group for three years.  Right before the birth of their Olive, they moved home to Texas.  We've had only one other opportunity to meet Olive since that move (Labor Day 2012) and so we were overjoyed to find out they would be in town a few days and Penn and I could have a little playdate with them.  Yay!  Penn and Olive got along great.  It was super adorable that they both had an interest in sitting in little chairs over and over again with one another.  Just perfect for a photo opp.

Olive and Penn were fast friends and they look forward to their next playdate which we already know is going to happen in February when we head down to Texas for my sister's wedding we will be staying with Dave, Kristen and Olive for a few nights.  Penn's pretty excited.  =)  

On Friday, Koen had the day off from school for parent/teacher conferences (where we got a glowing review of his first few months of school, good job, Koen!).  Doug had to work part of the day, so I took the boys on a long walk to Tav's speech appointment at Children's and then back down to Osceola for lunch and play before heading home for nap.  It was a beautiful Fall day and we all enjoyed being outside.

On Saturday, Doug and Koen had some much needed one-on-one time grabbing a haircut for K and then a lunch date at Chipotle.  

Today I took Tav back to Children's again for speech therapy.  I snapped a picture of him working with Christal, his new therapist.  

So, as you can see we are back to normal at home, at school, at speech therapy.  Well, you know relative normal.  Each day has its nuances, special outings, random happenings, but it's great to be back doing the Melder Family thing all together again.  =)