change

i always saw myself as someone that thrived under stress. in college, i procrastinated and would write my papers the night before or even the day they were due. i told myself i did better because of the added stress. i love working at st. margaret hospital, but over the last few months i have been asking myself if i get everything i need from my job. so, i applied for a couple different positions in the upmc system and have had 2 interviews. i was offered and accepted a job as a care manager for ccbho (community care behavioral health organization) and will begin my new position on june 8. i am excited, nervous, stressing out over my change in schedule and location of employment, but happy. i will be working evening shifts and rotating weekends and i will now be working downtown. but i feel good about it, and i am getting a pretty significant raise, so really, i can't complain. ben is also going back to his job on tuesday- he has been off on an fmla since january. i have been spoiled by having my husband be a "stay at home dad/rock star musician" and am nervous but happy with the upcoming changes. my friend angela will be watching the boys while i wrap up my old position and orient on daylights for 1 month. cross your fingers for me that all will go well.

signs of summer

this weather has been a bit unpredictable, however, i must say today was beautiful. you can always tell when summer is a coming in the keller household. this means it is time to shave the boys' heads. porter was exempt, of course, but the older boys love to look like their daddy. here are some pictures of the boys with their new summer dos. yum, i could totally go for a cinnamon roll right now.







and, i couldn't leave out my portie, so here are a few of him as well. he is now sitting up like a champ.

late night practice

i'm pretty sure i have mentioned how much i love it when argyll's revenge practices at our house. of course, it is acoustic only, hence why the boys don't wake up. this is often when they write new songs. here are a couple pics of the boys rehearsing together at our house. don't forget to come to the bloomfield bridge tavern friday night, may 29, 2009 at 8:00 pm to see 2 opening bands and then argyll's revenge play. $5 to get in, and cds will be on sale for $5 as well. i promise you will enjoy!

i'm a pilgrim, i'm a stranger

this was my first year attending the midwest pilgrims' retreat near chicago. paula, sadie, beth and i left at 6:30 am on friday and drove to chicago. the retreat was in rockford, a town about 1 hour outside of chicago. the ride was long, but definitely worth it. i don't think i can put into words what an amazing experience it was for me. many of these ladies have since moved to places like new york, minnesota, new jersey, massachusetts, alaska, and utah, but it was so amazing to have the opportunity to be surrounded by old friends and reconnect as well as make new ones.



some highlights of the weekend

~journeys
~belief-o-matic
~claudia bushman
~heavenly mother
~when the journey gets dark
~finding our own personal relationship with our heavenly parents
~the squishy toilet
~yummy food and snacks
~a handsome priest
~rooming with sarah
~pittsburgh reunited
~good sex with jennifer
~caramel popcorn
~sitting by the lake with a good friend
~feeling peace
~singing in the choir
~did i mention awesome friends???
~a safe enviroment
~happiness
~growth
~laughter
~joy
~forgiveness

for those that attended, i am interested to know what you have gained. feel free to add to the list. and for those of you who would like to know more, feel free to ask-i encourage everyone to be involved in an experience like this. i know i have emerged a better saint, a better person, a better friend, a better wife, a better mother. thank you again benji. and thanks to all you amazing women who put so much time and effort into making this retreat possible.

more pictures:

chicago bound

i should be sleeping- or at least packing- in preparation for my trip to chicago tomorrow for the retreat! i am so excited. i have wanted to go for the last couple years and just never felt able to spend the time away from the boys. but now, ben is a pro at home, so i am running off for the weekend. paula, sadie, beth and i are driving out to chi town to join 70 others for a wonderful weekend! did i mention i was going without the boys? ben has a weekend planned too, with chris, colin, and pa-going to cec with the boys tomorrow and the chinese buffet in cranberry on sat. have fun and thanks honey! you're the best!

my new workout

i joined the gym in december when i was on leave from work. i was very dedicated at going for approximately 2 weeks. i have not worked out until last night. the boys and i played the wii together. jonas totally kicked my butt at wii boxing. i am sore. i also golfed and played tennis. really, i was sweating like crazy. it was awesome! we played for about 1 hour- hey, if i do this every day, maybe i can lose the last 10 pounds of baby weight!

happy mother's day!

i know i am a day late, but i wanted to say happy mother's day to all you wonderful mothers out there. we had a wonderful weekend of celebration. friday night we went to dinner with the kellers and then had a bonanza fun night at our house (after the boys went to sleep!!!) saturday we went to the deere's for dinner for my dad's b-day and for mother's day. happy birthday, dad! sunday was FABULOUS!!! i slept in until 9:30 am and then ben made me eggies and toast for breakfast. we went to church and then after had our big dinner for a late lunch- bbq chicken, corn on the cob, and spinach salad. delicious!!! this was much to ben's chagrin. he had planned a "fancy" dinner, but i wanted to grill. anyway, after our lunch, portie and i took a 2 hour nap. then we went to the park to play and feed the ducks. then we went to coldstone for dessert. i got my usual cheesecake ice cream with raspberries. yum! after, we spent time at gma and gpa kellys and the kellers. it was a full day, but wonderful!

i am amazed at the joys that motherhood brings- and the sorrows, too. i do feel extremely blessed in my life to have these 3 little guys that absolutely adore me and whom i adore. but honestly, i am the mother i am because of my hubby. he completely rocks- in multiple ways! motherhood is difficult at times, but when partnered with a spouse that is so willing to help and take an active role, it makes it so much more enjoyable. i love that ben and i have such a full partnership in raising our children. i love looking at these little boys, seeing them smile, and giggle, and dance, and sing. i can not imagine how my life would be different if these boys were not in my life. i am grateful. happy mother's day!

the duet of jonas and george

what's up

not too much here. the band is down in the basement practicing. all the boys are sleeping. i have been uber cranky today, so i thought i would add some random pics of the boys to make me happy.

gryffie is cute- he lost his sweatshirt at ross park mall this past week, so if you are there and see it, let me know!



ben is very talented at balancing port stuff.



jonas is flat out crazy...



port is beginning to understand this whole "sitting up" thing. my baby is lazy...or just so voluptuous that he has a difficult time holding all of himself up. you decide.



and as way of a small announcement, care and steve had their baby. grayson michael gardner was born on tuesday morning, weighing in at 7 pounds 15 oz. i spent a couple hours with care, steve, and little grayson tuesday. he is absolutely wonderful! congrats to care, steve, and lochlan!

rachel's shower

i know this could be confusing, but this is a shower for rachel clark. i do shower daily though, just so you know. this past friday we went over to leslie's house for rach's wedding shower. rach tried on her dress for us- i won't post a picture of that as then it would be bad luck if colin sees it... anyway, she also tried on her sexxxxy lingerie. ow, ow! the food was delicious, and the company even better! here are some pictures! i can't wait to join colin and rachel in all the celebration june 5-7!

100 posts and 13 miles

wow, today was quite the day. first, this is my 100th post on our blog. well, i think ben did make 1 post, so technically it is my 99th, but still we know have 100 posts on our blog! i am proud of myself for being so diligent.

today was the pittsburgh marathon. it was the first time in 6 years that the marathon has come back to pittsburgh. ben of course wanted to participate. he has been in numerous 5ks and even a mini-triathalon, but this was his first marathon. my day was lovely. ben woke up at 6:00 am and headed down to the strip. the boys slept in until 8:30 am. woo hoo, and port didn't wake up until 10:30 am!!! ben completed the half-marathon! i am SO proud of him. (and gosh, you have to know i am proud because i used caps!) here is a picture of my awesome man with his shirt and medal.

after ben came home, we headed over to gma and gpa kelly's for lunch. delicious. this evening we had many of our friends over for a bbq. it was quite fun. there was only 1 bloody nose- poor lochlan. thanks everyone for coming over. we used our new grill and picnic table. ben bought quite a fancy grill cover. and in the spirit of pittsburgh and the marathon, i thought i would include a picture.

the rex and shootz

here are a bunch of photos of argyll's revenge playing at the rex last friday and shootz this past wednesday. the rex was a benefit concert for the lymphoma and leukemia society. the boys were awesome! then, at shootz, the band had their first gig in which they were headliners- and got some money! woo-hoo! 55 people came and the band sold all of their cds as well. (side note, they have 2 cds, each with 6 songs each, and sell for $5 a piece. if you are interested, let me know.) anyway, we had so much fun at both the rex and shootz. here is a video clip of "third floor window," played live at the rex. if you can, please join us on friday may 29th at the bloomfield bridge tavern. the show starts at 8:30- 2 bands will be opening and then the boys will take the stage. cost is $5 to get in the door and have your ears did- you won't regret it!

wii like to box

the boys love playing the wii, and i think it is hilarious to see them fight one another- in boxing. the fighting in real life, i do not like, but this kind, i can handle. ahh... it will be nice when jomi is off to kindergarten so they will be separated a bit more from one another. although, i have a feeling they will miss each other. sorry, i'm being a bit tangential. here's the video. oh, and my favorite line- "mommy, i knocked gryffie out again." ben replies, "momma will be so proud."

fun in the sun

last weekend was so beautiful. our weekend was spent doing some home repairs outside. ben worked diligently to fix our rock wall that had toppled over and i cleaned up a whole lot of pine needles. that was the not so fun stuff. however, we bought the boys a sprinkler and let them play outside. they were out for a couple hours. george even decided to join in the fun. here are some pictures of our sprinkler fun.