We have a hole!

BEFORE:
Here is what our kitchen counter looked like "before". Yes, it's a bit messy but I figured I would take a picture in it's true form! Ha ha ha.

The hole inside

Here is Art making a big ole Hole in our kitchen. Wow! It's so weird to have no big counter, no window. And of course since we're putting in a door, there is an even bigger hole then just a missing window would make!
Art is a great handyman... I can't believe he knows how to do all of this!

Our hole Outside
And this is the view from the backyard. The very messy backyard!! You can see Art there by the apple tree on the right. That big hole in the wall is where our door will go... the window next to it is the other end of our kitchen. Eventually there will be a deck too!! I can't wait!
One step at a time!!

Goin' Fishin'

I brought my Girl Scout Troop fishing yesterday. The weather was awesome-- not too hot, and certainly not cold. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting and most of the girls gave up.
But not Samantha! She waited and waited... and after two hours she finally caught a Sunfish!! Yippee!! You can see how happy she was. There were other people at the pond we were at, and the little kids were catching all sorts of fish... but not our girls :( Samantha was getting very upset, until she caught her own!
Here she is putting a worm on a hook. Yuck. She was the ONLY girl who would do it... even the boy who tagged along refused to touch the worms! I thought it was funny when he asked Sam to do his for him!!
Here is Sam holding another kids' fish... but can you see the fish is sucking right onto her finger?? Yes, one of the dad showed us this. I even held the fish like this, for a second or two!! It was pretty fun!

Two more FIRSTS for our family!

Colby is now a TIGER CUB SCOUT! He had his first meeting on Wednesday night. He is happy that he has lots of friends in his den. And Daddy is his Akela.
It is so cute to see him all dressed up like this!! He has Will's shirt on, which he practically is swimming in!! And I forgot to get him a new slide...so he is wearing a wolf one (oops). But he's got his book, and he's super excited, so that's really all that matters!
Now, all three of our children are Scouts :)








It's always fun to do something for the first time!!


Samantha was SO excited to start playing the SAXOPHONE! Thankfully, Art had a sax from when he was younger. So she is using that one for her lessons.


We got it cleaned tuned and Tuesday was the night it was picked up. So it was Samantha's first time to play it. And yesterday was her first lesson at school... now we get to hear "Hot Cross Buns" all the time :)

Our busy weekend, part two!!!

Art keeps working on the house! He has now moved on to the back, which of course is harder than the front and sides! In this first picture you can see the side of the house is gray, and the back is ugly white. (You can also see the fallen apple tree... we haven't been able to fix it yet) See Art down there by the window? Unfortunately, he ordered the wrong size...and they are custom order...so he had to cut a bigger hole in the wall.

This is a view of the window inside. We really like it how it goes up to the ceiling. Our basement is such a mess!! Art has been "working on the basement" for about 4 years now! But I think after this big project is done he will really finish the basement!

And here is a closer up of the area he is working on.

Our busy weekend!

Samantha had her play this past weekend!!! She was in "High School Musical" and she had the role of a cheerleader. Here is her picture by the poster!!
Here is Samantha and two fellow cast-mates!! Can you tell who they are? The blonde on the left is Sharpay and the girl on the right is Gabriella!
And here is a picture of Samantha and Colby with the guy who played Ryan. He and Sharpay really stole the show! They were so good!!
The show was awesome! What a talented bunch of kids. The youngest were 10 (including Sam) and the oldest were in college, and two adults. Everyone was so good!! It was so fun to watch. The singing and dancing was awesome! And it was fun to see the kids sing along...and after the show, to see all the little kids want autographs! (including Colby!)
Sam had a great time and it was a great experience. I'm so glad we decided to do it!

Six year ago...

Six years ago today, the World Trade Center was hit by terrorists.
Six years ago today, many people lost their lives.
It's hard to believe it was really six years ago. But I know it was because my little baby boy was only 4 months old. I really being scared. Scared of what had happened, and scared of what I thought was coming.
On the morning of September 11, 2001.... I was at my sister's house babysitting. My 3 children were there... as was Nellie, and Paige. It was Colin's first day of preschool. Since there were 5 children there, all under the age of 5, we spent the morning watching PBS. I called my mother to ask her someone, and she was crying. All she said to me was "We're at war". I had no idea what she was talking about, and she told me to turn on the news. What I saw stunned me. I was mesmerized. I was glued to the TV. I was obsessed with the news coverage. My mother works for Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and they had an office in the World Trade Center. Some of Art's family work in the city and had to walk out. My friend Sarah took her picture at the top of the World Trade Center just days before. I cried because I didn't know what would happen; would our country be attacked again? What kind of life would my kids have?
I was hard to shield my kids from the news... I wanted to watch it constantly. But I didn't want to scare them so I didn't let them see it.
And here we are six years later. There was a program on last night about one of the planes and it's passengers... We started to watch, until it mentioned a little girl and then we had to turn it off. Too sad. But Samantha was intrigued, wanted to know what it was, what had happened. I tried to tell her as lightly as I could... but how does one tell the story lightly?
I remember that day vividly. I will never forget. A big THANK YOU to all the men and women in the military who stepped up after 9/11 and are helping to keep me and my family safe. God bless them all.

Another question...!

Blog about the last time you went shopping. What did you shop for?
I ran to Target last night with Samantha. We ran in after cheerleading. My reason for going in was to return a bedspread I had bought for Will but I decided I didn't like. And I was going to buy some scrapbooking adhesive.
I got a $20 refund for the bedspread....and then spend $55!! How did I do that? Let me tell you!... my little 10 year old has turned into a preteen who "needs" new clothes whenever we are shopping.
As soon as we walked in the door I heard "Let me look at the clothes!" and she picked out two shirts that she (and I) liked. That was $20 right there.
My new adhesive tool was $11, plus some scrap goodies.
A new lamp for Sam, M&Ms (to reward Nick when he goes potty), and some little odds and ends... and I spent $55.
Tonight is Parents' Night for K-1. I'm excited to meet Colby's teacher and hear about the room. He is in an inclusion class this year, and there are only 17 kids in his class! That means there is almost always at least 3 adults in the room... so the ratio is about 6:1. I love that! I'm really hoping Colby gains some confidence in his reading skills this year.
And I just realized about an hour ago that I forgot to give Will his medication this morning. I wonder if it is affecting him at school or not? He was so bad when I forgot to give it to him on Sunday...
Rain, rain, go away. It has been raining every day since Saturday. Today it's rained all morning and it's even been thundering. Unfortunately, Shea hates rain and hates thunder... and I think she didn't want to go outside and go potty and so instead she left me a "present" right on the kitchen floor while I was eating lunch. YUCK!! Shea felt bad, you could tell... she immediately sat on her tail with those big eyes... poot baby!!!

Look Now!

Look how far Art has gotten! I came home last night and the house looked like this! Yippee! It looks so nice... so different! It's almost like we're at the wrong house :)
Of course, I had to take pictures of Art too, because it's all his hard work making this happen!
And now, doesn't it figure, it is raining and thunderstorming. Art doesn't mind working in the rain... if it's light. But it just happens to be pouring and thundering.
Not to mention, Shea is afraid of thunder... so he needed to calm her down.
I spent the morning at church with the 3 kids. It was the first day of Sunday school, and a picnic afterward. My new friend Anita was there with her two daughters, so it was really nice to sit and chat with her.
And now I am acting like a drill sargeant... having my boys do LOTS of chores because they were *horrible* during church.
HAG Sunday!!! :)

Another Blog Prompt

Another from Jozzie.
Blog about a book you’re currently reading.
I am currently reading "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", book #6 in the series. I brought Samantha to a party on the night book #7 came out, and she read it in a few days. I got so into the "hype" surrounding the book that I decided to go ahead and read them myself. I had tried to read them years ago, but just never got into them. This time, I'm SO into them!! I bought book #1 in July, and now I'm half way through book #6. I actually think this is a much better way to read them, as I don't have to wait a year between books!
It's funny how this book is responsible for a lot of conversations. I bring my book to the Y to read before my aerobics class, and many people have stopped me to talk about the book.
I usually have it on me (I always have my nose in a book!) so people have chatted with me about it at Sam's play practice, in the school parking lot, at the ice cream parlor, in my front yard... it's neat because it's an ice breaker. Most people know who Harry Potter is, and almost everyone has an opinion about it or is eager to talk about it.
When I had just started book #1, I was at Sam's play pratice walking around outside, and I walked by a parked car and all of a sudden realized someone was sitting in it, and it startled me. Well, I looked and he was reading Harry Potter! #7 of course, so I gave a sheepish grin and showed him my book and he laughed!
These are really great books. I hope my boys decide to read them someday. They are so creative and fun.
I can't wait to get to #7!

blog challenge question

From Jozzie...
3. Give a review about the last movie you saw.
I saw the movie "Clan of the Cave Bear". I love that series of books, and I've been wanting to see the movie ever since I heard there was one! I got it from Blockbuster and I was so excited!
The movie itself is so-so... doesn't do the book justice AT ALL. But, that being said, it *was* a very interesting movie. I loved seeing how the producers interpreted the book/characters versus how I interpreted them. The costumes were interesting too... the cave men!
Nicole Eggert played a young Ayla in the movie... I was happy to see her name on the credits because I knew I recognized her!
I think everyone should READ THE BOOK and then see this movie.

Update!

It's been a while since I've updated... so sorry! But we've been so busy! Plus, I'm trying to switch all of the photos on my computer to discs and that takes forever!!
Here are some pictures... sorry they're all out of order! I uploaded them and they came out in this order.... dunno...
This first picture was taken this morning, of Will and Colby. Waiting for the school bus, as today was the first day of school! They were so excited! Will was up at 5:30 am, dressed and ready to go! I can honestly say that will probably never happen again! Ha ha.
It's nice to see them so excited for school, since a week ago they both were saying they never wanted to go back!

And here is Samantha! With her backpack-- the one she weighed this morning, and it weighed 30 pounds!! It's too bad we couldn't go and drop her stuff off ahead of time.
She was excited too, although their was a little drama with her... her new shoes didn't fit...somehow they're too loose... she was almost in tears. And, you know, of course, it was MY fault they don't fit right. So she had to wear her old, beat up sneakers... oh well. Life happens!
I can't wait until they get home to see how their days went!
Here is an update on the house... this is the right side. Art is almost done! He just had to finish those things on the edge up at top near the roof.
In the meantime, he's moved on to the left side. Please don't hurt yourself trying to look at the picture, I can't figure out how to turn it. SORRY!!! Anyway, as you can see, he's more than half done with that side too! It's really coming along!
And the front window finally came in...so he's going to finish the front soon!
And here is Colby, another picture I took this morning. He is getting so big! I can't believe he's going into 1st grade! Can I really have a 1st, a 3rd and a 5th grader? Amazing! I really am starting to miss them...the house is way too quiet.
Well, I will update again soon. I have tons more photos... we spent time at the Chatham Fair, and my mom's camp, and a picnic, and outside playing... Sam also had her first football game (they WON!) and play practice continues.
Take care!