What have we gotten in to???

*cheerleading* started last night! Samantha was excited- she loves it so much! And she really enjoys seeing her friends that she cheers with. There are 5 girls who are on the squad who have cheered together for 3 years already. And I love it, too, since I've been with these girls the whole time too! I'm the assistant coach this year. I was coach for 2 years, and then nothing, and now I'm assistant coach. My best friend Pam is the head coach so that helps!!
*Play practice* started a couple of weeks ago....and now it is overlapping with cheerleading. We knew it would, but we didn't think it would be a big deal. Now we are being told if she missed play practice then she will be cut from scenes. And of course she can't miss cheer. I know how hard it is when girls are not there, especially when you're stunting.
So now I need to run from cheer to play practice. Luckily, this week she only has play practice once... so that day she will go to cheer for a little bit and then go to play practice. But the play is in September and I just know they are going to want her more and more. What's a girl to do???
We won't even think about the new windows and siding going up on the house. (Dark gray, by the way, because Amy asked!) And tae kwon do three nights a week....(none this week because it's their vacation!) that helps us!!!
This play is going to be so much fun.... she is loving it and I can't wait to see it. But I hate that it's conflicting with cheer so much. I was really hoping she would choose one over the other but she wanted to do both.
Hopefully my head doesn't completely fall off due to all the spinning. Ha ha.

Look how big this bird is! This is one of the babies. There are about 5 of them in the little nest. They're so big now that they don't all fit. They have to lay this way and that, on top of eachother. They are flying now, so they're not always all in the nest. This little guy was just sitting there one day...kept staring at me!!
The parents are funny...they are actually dive-bombing us when we go out onto the porch! Or when anyone comes over...like the babysitting kids!! Ooops.
Hopefully they'll be gone soon...we want to start our big project.... new windows/siding/doors. I'm SUPER excited to do this!!! The siding on our house is white...not only is it stained and dirty, but it's just plain ugly. And the windows are horribly thin... there is always a draft. And the front door and storm door don't even close properly. Oh it will be SO NICE to have the house look pretty!! I will definitely take pictures.
Cheerleading starts tomorrow, and I'm coaching once again. Although this year I'm only an assistant coach, and my best friend Pam is the head coach. So far there are only 7 girls signed up (Could it be because last year was so awful?) We're hoping more girls sign up becuase there are rumors that we'll have to merge with the lower team if more girls don't sign up. Who knows???? I do know one thing... with cheerleading AND play practice AND tae kwon do... we're going to be awfully busy. Oh wait, wasn't Art supposed to do the windows/siding/doors??? :)
We got the final Harry Potter book last week... Samantha has read it already. I don't want to read it until I read all the others... so far I have read book one, and am about 1/3 of the way into book 2. Such good books! Very interesting! I hope the boys show an interest in them someday.
Why is 6 afraid of 7?******************Because 7 8 9!!!!!!

Cool Pictures!

Colby lost his tooth!! He lost it at summer camp...it came home in an envelope! He was so proud, he wiggled it out himself! I am so happy I got this picture, his "big" teeth are already coming in. I wanted some "toothless" pictures!!
These birds have taken up residence in the front of our house. On the top corner of the front door, actually. We think there are 5 babies. The parents are funny- they don't like anyone to go on the front porch. If you do, they fly around you in circles. It's neat, we've gotten to watch the baby birds eat the worms the mom brings them!
Just had to include this nice picture of Will. He was was rollderblading yesterday and he took an awful fall... right on his back, but he also landed on his hand/wrist. It hurt him a lot yesterday... but he was also able to play basketball and bocce ball so I knew he was okay!! I don't know who was more upset though, me or him! I don't do well with injuries.
Can't have pictures of the boys and not Samantha! I love this picture... it is Sammy and Grammy, taken on the 4th of July. She adores her Grammy so much, it's too bad she doesn't see her very often anymore.
Tonight Samantha starts play practice for "High School Musical"! She is very excited! I can't wait to see what it is all about. And just by coincidence, the sountrack to HSM2 comes out this week! She's excited about that too!!!
Daddy will bring her to play practice,because the boys have Tae Kwon Do. They are really loving it! This week they've been watching the higher belts break boards...it's really cool! They want to do it too!

Snaggletooth!!!!

The first picture was taken on July 12, 2007. The second picture was taken on June 29, 2007. He lost his top tooth, and within 2 weeks the other tooth has moved over the middle. It is SO
ready to fall out...but it is hanging (literally) by a root. Colby doesn't like anyone to touch it, and he won't let us pull on it. His other top tooth is already coming in a little, and I'm really hoping that he will lose both teeth soon so I can get a picture of him with no front teeth! Come on, Colby, lose that snaggletooth!!!

Happy birthday to me! What a cool birthday I had! I got to see Nickelback in concert! Do you love Nickelback? I do! And they were touring with Staind and Daughtry! I didn't like them as well. It's hard when you don't know the songs. But I knew every Nickelback song!!! My favorites were when they opened with Animals... and then "closed" with Rockstar. It was an amazing show!!! The lead singer is pretty funny... he talked and talked and talked. There were fireworks that were loud and cool! And a really long drum solo that was nothing but *amazing*. Wow- a really great show. :)

The and Now

I did this layout yesterday. Amy had stopped by and given me the two oval pictures. Pictures of Samantha and Abby from 2001. Samantha was just 4 years old! Awww! And then I went through my stash and found the other 3 pictures. It's neat to see the girls grow up before your eyes! You never see how much your child has grown until you look at pictures!

They both are so beautiful and I'm very happy with the way this layout turned out. Thanks, Amy!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July!! What a day it was here in NY. Cold and rainy. Not the summer day you would imagine. We went to a picnic in honor of Amanda's graduation. It was very nice! The kids didn't care about the rain. They played softball and all sorts of things outside.
We decided to skip the fireworks because it was raining. Instead, we let some off in the backyard. We bought them last year in Myrtle Beach. We had fun watching them, but Colby didn't like the noise.
We also lit some sparklers!! Samantha and Will enjoyed them. Colby was scared and wouldn't go near them...! But Sam and Will lit quite a few. Eventually they were swinging them around, making all sorts of shapes! Pretty cool! I tried to take pictures but I couldn't figure out how to get a good one. I like these enough though.
Hard to believe we're almost done with our second week of summer. Where does the time go? The kids have enjoyed playing in pool, and with their friend Desiree. Next week starts summer camp, and Summer School for Colby. Should be interesting, he really doesn't want to go.
Also hard to believe it is almost my birthday... I don't want to turn 30! No no no! I guess I'll turn 29 again. :)

Blog Builder Challenge # 6 part 10

10. What is something you wish you never had to worry about again?

This is an obvious one-- money!!!!
Usually we are living paycheck to paycheck, or close to it. It's just so hard to get ahead. It would be so nice to have money in the bank... and not have to worry about how much you can spend at one time... or worrying about not being able to pay the bills... or worrying about college for three kids.
So definitely, MONEY is my answer here!!

Here are some new pictures!! The one of Colby is his new lost tooth. He looks funny now, it's like a Snaggle Tooth! That's what I call it. It's getting ready to fall out too.... but not quite yet.

And the pictures of Colby playing with the hose are fun! I love the one of his foot. He was just splashing mud everywhere. I really think they would choose the hose over the pool!!

And here also is a picture of Will and Colby in their Tae Kwon Do outfits. They have earned their white belts and are working toward the next one. They look so sweet!!!

Today was a lot cooler than last week! Only in the 70s! And yet the kids still want to go swimming!! I used to be like that, but now I'd rather be dry and warm!! :)

We brought the kids to visit Kaden last night, and see my dad's new house. It's a nice house. And Kaden is so cute! Too bad we couldn't hold him (that's a whole nother story) but we did get to see him. There are also 4 kittens at the house, and they kids really loved them. Especially Sam. She loved the runt!!

Brought Sam to the orthodontist today. She will have a metal mouth by August 2!! She gets most of the stuff on August 1... which is also the first day of cheerleading practice! Oy!