So Sad.....:(

It has been a trying week in the Darley household. The weather is freezing outside for most of the day (yes below 32 degrees) and therefore means no time for the boys to run wild and burn off ALL their energy in the yard. No park, no walks, no nothing outside. We are going stir crazy! Who's crazy idea was it to leave sunny SoCal and come to this mess????? Oh AND Chris is out of town....in Arkansas in the SNOW! I really might cry if he gets stuck on Thursday and can't come home. I do love the rain and have enjoyed being back in the rain zone. We have even had a few good thunderstorms, mmmmm my favorite. I am NOT excited about the rain they are predicting for Thursday....the freezing type! YUK! You can't even go out and play in it, no snowman, no sledding no nothing...grrrrrr. We have cabin fever yes we do.....and a little grouchy thrown in. Did I mention we have not been blogging b/c our camera is broken:( You can only do so many post with no pictures....they just make it more exciting. Maybe by the time we thaw out we will have a new camera....Valentines day is coming, we shall see. Hmmmm, do I want a new camera or the fun over sized teddy bear from the NY post.....that is a hard one b/c I hate sleeping by myself when Chris is gone. Did I mention we awoke to a glaring alarm at 3:20 this am....our alarm was going off! What do you do? Run go check on the boys and risk running into an intruder with a gun, stay in bed and hope whoever is out there runs far away, shut the alarm off so it doesn't wake 2 sleeping toddlers and risk really having an intruder? What to do? Chris with bat in hand saves the day....nothing there, nope not a thing....2 sleeping toddlers and a really freaked out wife, that is it. Really what do you do when the alarm goes off in the middle of the night? Thankfully we have friends from Clemson in town visiting and I don't have to go at this ice storm/burglar alarm alone:) That is what true friends are for:) I promise to get some sunshine soon and put my crabby streak in the closet....at least until the next cold snap and rain of the wrong variety:) Miss everyone. love us

We now have help!

It is wonderful having help around the house these days! We took a close look at our budget and decided with Chris traveling we were going to need some help to get things done. So far we have found help with the laundry, a handyman and his helper, a gardener and someone to clean the garden. Clearly there is a difference between the gardener and the garden cleaner. You see the gardener arranges our pine straw and the cleaner picks up the misplaced straw, leaves and sweeps up the dirt in the garden...all is a huge help to us. We are currently looking for a cook and a maid for the bathrooms and floors. Please send us any references you may have. We are not looking to add to our permanent help right now, some temporary help would be great. Our budget may allow for more permanent help in another 3-4 years.

Our handymen helping daddy measure the garage opening....will both cars fit and ALL our stuff?











Our laundry helpers....

Our gardener (Peyton, on left) and Parker our garden cleaner (in blue hat)!

New York

We had a wonderful time in New York. It was fabulous seeing the city decorated for Christmas. It was nice for just the two of us to get away. From the looks of the previous post we got away from more than just the boys. We've been teaching the boys to share....just didn't realize what they were sharing with everyone in arms length! It has been crazy since Christmas and we just finished up all our family celebrations the 6th of January. Chris' brother borrowed our laptop to make his Amazing Race video application (it runs in the family) so I haven't been able to blog:( It was just the four of us over this past holiday weekend and it was nice to have the boys to ourselves again. It's wonderful being able to spend Christmas with our families but with all the commotions and festivities you really don't spend quality time with your spouse and children. We loved being back in our own home and not having to share the boys. Yes, selfish I know but honest. We have included some other pictures from our trip here and I hope to have more on our Family photos link soon. I am still trying to figure out how to put an album on...I think that requires going to our main computer upstairs, thus leaving the boys alone downstairs....not sure what would still be standing when I returned.




We walked out of the Rocket's show and were going to Rockefeller Center to see the tree...us and everyone else in NY. So sweet....we look up and saw this couple getting engaged....why isn't he down on one knee?
Chris was in heaven! Chocolate:) His favorite picture in Times Square, the M&M "guy"!


I wanted this little guy so bad. Isn't he cute! He would be a great bed buddy on those cold nights Chris is out of town. Maybe he will come in the mail one day:) For now he is all alone at FAO Schwartz in NY:(

We walk out of the sub way and see a million and one Santas walking by. How do you explain that one to a kid? You would definitely leave out the part that 98% of them were carrying brown bag beverages with them. We later found out it was the official "drunken Santa march"...hummm

Sorry its been so long. I will try to be better. To our friends in Cali, we miss you and will see you soon! How does the end of February sound:) No boys though:( We will be in AZ for CFA seminar and are going to drive on over:) love us