My (not so) ordinary life!

More pictures

2011-05-27T04:47:00.000-07:00

Quickly posting some more pics, catching up to today! Phew! We have covered from Will's birthday to just this past weekend at the Bronx Zoo, and many others in between.
Will update more soon.

hi

2011-05-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Adding some pictures from March and April, oops

March

2011-03-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

And time marches on...
It's funny to see how in the past few weeks it went from having a snowstorm, to being in the 50s today! It seems as though spring is definitely well on its way, thankfully! We love playing outside in the snow, but the warm sunshine is so much nicer!
Will and Colby have done round 1 of their Black Belt testing, both passed! They also went to a Tae Kwon Do Championship. it was a very long day. Each boy did board breaking- they had to a hand break, a foot break, and a 'special' break that they chose. Will came in 3rd place and Colby came in 4th.
Samantha is officially done with basketball, and now onto softball. I'm happy to say she tried out for the high school JV team-- and MADE IT!! She was the only 8th grader to try out. We're so proud of her!! I can't wait to start watching her play again.
Owen, he's good too. Mischievous little thing. He's been singing twinkle twinkle ALL.THE.TIME. :) But it's so cute!! He also lately has been telling us about all the monsters he sees and how they scare him. I wonder if he is really seeing something?
Bought some books at the library when we were there for Story Hour (Oh, see the picture of Ilana and Owen?? He had to have his hair like hers!) and one is a children's book about sex. I got it for Colby mainly, and oh was it fun to see the reaction of all 3 when they saw it.
Tomorrow Samantha and I (and tagalong Owen) are headed to Nashua, NH for a clogging convention! Wish us luck!

Can't believe Samantha is now 14!

2011-02-21T06:52:00.000-08:00

Samantha turned 14 on February 12. So hard to believe that my little baby is 14 now! It seems like just yesterday that she was laying in that incubator in the NICU, one eye open and one eye closed, all the time. We called her "one-eyed Sam" for a while because of it! Well, she is now well into her teenage years. She now knows everything, it's true, just ask her!
For her birthday she had a hanfdul of friends over to play air hockey, eat Dad's pizza and watch a movie. They also managed to go through lots of mountain dew and candy!!
On February 11, there was an International Night at CES. Colby didn't host a country, but we went along to see what was happening. Ms. Dunn did some fun dances, and Owen really liked doing the chicken dance!! He was so cute! We also had a great time sampling foods and candies from other countries. At the end of the evening there was a performance from and African Drumming Group. Amazing!! We loved it. Colby even got up and danced with them. We bought a CD and Owen loves to listening to the 'drum drums'. At the end of the night they let the kids hit the drums a bit-- it was hard to get Owen away!!
The boys are on the path to becoming Black Belts-- we have paid the required testing fees and are working on all the stuff they need to know. Each boy has a binder that is chock-full of information. It's going to be tough but it will be a HUGE accomplishment when they are finished.
Samantha's basketball team is going strong. She missed a few games but is back into the swing of it now. We love to watch her play!
Last week she was sick though, a whole week of being sick. It scared me, I thought maybe she had mono. But turns out it was just a virus that knocked her out. She tried to go to school on Thrusday but ended up almost fainting and being sent home. She's better now, I'm happy to say. Although, there is a little part of me that likes when she is sick because she is much nicer, and she likes to cuddle :)
Art also got sick, but luckily it was on the weekend. He was knocked out too, in a different way though. Where Sam was just tired and lethargic, Art was very sick. I slept on the couch, hopefully I didn't catch anything. If there's one thing a Mom can't be, it's sick.
Last week the weather here was beautiful, we were outside quite a bit. Even with snow on the ground it was so nice. But last night it snowed again and it's back in the 20s. I'm ready for spring!!!!
The boys are headed to a friend's house to sled and Sam and a group of friends are going rollderksating! I'm desperately needing to make a grocery list and go shopping... so I'm off!

February 10

2011-02-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

the Leahon household is as busy as ever!
Almost 2 weeks ago, our washer died. It's taken 2 different parts but Art fixed it last night! It's so funny that I'm so happy to have my washing machine back! I've only done 3 loads so far, there is so much to do.
The boys are getting closer and closer to their Black Belts! At this point they have to go to a special Black Belt Prep class every Wednesday, plus their other classes. They also have binders FULL of work they need to do, such as a book report, logs of exercises, etc. It's a big process. Will is really into, Colby not so much. We're proud of them for becoming Black Belts!
The kids got their report cards last week. Samantha made the High Honor Roll and Will made the Honor Roll!! I am so happy for both of them!! :) Colby also did well. He improved in many areas. He is doing great in math! All three of them seem to be great in math.
We watched the Superbowl here! We invited the Ayers over and it was a fun time! Only 3 of us were rooting for the Packers, including me. It was a great game! Poor Owen could not sleep with everything going on, so he was up until 10:30! Oy!
He woke up Monday morning with a red rash on his face, took him to the dr and he has an infection in his mouth. So he's on an antibiotic and happily eating lollipops and popsicles!
The boys also had their Blue and Gold Dinner last weekend. Since Will is now a Boy Scout, he served the dinner! It was nice to have him serve us. Colby got his Webelos patch, he is not a year 2 Webelo.

We're back!!!!

2011-01-21T05:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I never intended to stop posting to my blog! But you know, one thing leads to another, and then come the holidays! WOW! But I'm back!
I hope you enjoy all of these pictures. I wish I could tell you what they all are, but I don't even remember which ones I chose, hahaha! Most are self-explanatory, of course.

Hard to believe, but school is almost half over at this point. Samantha just recently had to choose the classes she will take in HIGH SCHOOL. Yes, high school. My baby is definitely growing up. (insert sad face here). It's exciting though. I'm eager to see what her schedule looks like.
Will is doing good. He says he already knows what he will choose-- technology. He is ALL ABOUT technology.
Colby, who knows..

It has been very cold here in NY. Snow over-flow! It snowed again last night so there's more fresh stuff out there. The kids love it. Well, the younger kids. Sam, not so much. Will, sometimes. Colby and Owen love it!! Me, well, it's prett, that's all I have to say.

Sam is well into basketball, and starting to plan for softball.
Will and Colby are just MONTHS away from being BLACK BELTS--- they will take their test in MAY!!!!! But this is where it gets tough, so wish them luck!!!

Owen's birthday party!

2010-10-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we celebrated Owen's 2nd birthday with a small party at home with family. We had a Sesame Street theme of course because Owen LOVES Elmo and Ernie right now! He was excited because he got an Ernie for a gift! He got a little Elmo, an Elmo potty, some cars, some books, and other toys. He was hesitant to open the gifts at first but quickly understood what to do!
Sam's friend Lauren made Owen his Elmo cupcakes and they were a hit!! Adorable looking, and delicious!
Today is Monday, and Will is home from school because he came down with pink eye yesterday. He's not actually sick though, so he's out on the trampoline with Owen! Owen loves it. Will is so good with him. So far today they have read books, watched an Elmo DVD, and played together. Owen is lucky to have older siblings who are so good to him!

Owen is 2 now!

2010-10-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

Look at us!

2010-09-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

The boys are now officially bodons in tae kwon do. They are very close to being Black Belts!
This past weekend we took a little trip out to the Berkshires in Massachusetts to visit a time share. We were smart enough not to give in to their sales pitch... and we were able to spend all day Saturday at the resort. The kids played on the playground, in the arcade, and they played shuffleboard! We also did a round of mini golf. It was fun, but not somewhere we'd want to go back to.
Saturday was our 11th anniversary! We took the kids out to dinner at Friendly's and back to the hotel for a swim. The boys loved the hot tub! Even Owen liked jumping into the pool!
School is going well, kids are doing good. It's a short post today because I'm extra sleepy!

back to school!

2010-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

How does that song go, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" Nah, I can't say that I totally feel that way, but I CAN say that it was time for them to head back to school, and structure, and routine.
Samantha is in 8th grade now. She is taking advanced Spanish and advanced Math. She ordered a special purple-zebra backpack and a Cody Simpson tee shirt to wear on the first day of school!!
Will is in 6th grade. He has all of his supplies color-coded and organized. He is mostly excited to get back to technology class.
Colby is in 4th grade. He didn't have much in the way of a supply list this year, so his backpack was fairly light! He got his hair cut and styled, and spent about 20 minutes in the bathroom last night blow drying it!!
Owen is here all by himself, but he doesn't notice yet. He did enjoy watching the bus go by a few times!

End of summer 2010

2010-09-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Where did the summer go?
Hard to believe, but the kids are starting back to school on Tuesday! I have mixed emotions about that. I will miss having them around all day, and I will miss the 'lazy' days of summer. But I am looking forward to the new routine!
We have done so much this summer. Just this past week, Sam and I clogged at the Washington County Fair and also the Chatham Fair. I brought all 4 kids plus Savannah to the fair, and we had a GREAT time!! We went to Boston last Friday with our neighbors and that was a really fun road trip. Unfortunately, Will couldn't go because he was going camping with the Scouts so he stayed home. Luckily, Grandpa Bill stopped by and asked him to go biking!! Grandpa Bill also joined us on Monday on a trip to Zoom Flume!! We met up with Savannah's family even though we hadn't planned to. All of the kids loved it, even Owen!!!
We're busy trying to get all of the back to school shopping done. We still need to do haircuts and some shoes. And sharpen all those pencils!!
We are all doing well. happy September!

La la la la

2010-08-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight we tried something new. Art's work having a Family Night at the Fonda Speedway. They offered a barbeque, face painting, balloon artist, a band, pit passes, passes to the track... all for FREE!! I'm never one to give up something free, :) so we went. It was fun. We had never been to Fonda before. And the kids have actually never been to the races before. The boys loved it! Even Owen, who kept waving to the cars ever time they came around. Ha ha ha. But the best part was, my DAD was there! He showed up with Becky, totally out of the blue. They had just decided to go, had no idea we were there. We loved seeing them!! It was so nice because we never see them. Too bad Kaden and Zarek weren't with them.
Yesterday the kids spent the day at the bowling alley at a lock in. That was nice for me, tee hee. And afterwards we brought Owen for his second haircut. It was getting out of control, but now I'm regretting it because he looks like a different child. Like a little boy. Makes me all sorts of sad.
I hit a garage sale last weekend and bought Owen a great kitchen set and also a puppet theater! They are taking up lots of room in the living room right now, but we really like them. Owen especially loves to climb IN the kitchen. And the older kids like the puppets.
We also went to the Great Escape last weekend. The kids had fun. Except Owen, who had a slight fever. It was the perfect day to go there, not too hot but warm enough for the kids to enjoy the water park. It was a loooong day though.
We are in the midst of back to school shopping. The lists of necessities are long so we've been getting things here and there. Sam is almost done, she was wanting to buy her supplies as soon as the list came!!! Will doesn't really care and Colby does not want school to come!
Good night all! Sam wants the laptop and even though it's 10:30, we're headed out for a little walk.

August?

2010-08-03T08:06:00.000-07:00

Seems like I've really been slacking on this blog lately!! Maybe it's because we've been so busy? As you can see from all the pictures I've uploaded, we've been all over the place!
In July Will was in Australia (I posted a couple of his pictures...), and the rest of us were in Virginia. We also left the boys home to take Sam to Rhode Island for a (very hot) softball tournament. We camped out in Uncle Mike's backyard in our pop up. The kids and I saw Toy Story 3 in the theater, and we've been to a few playgrounds. Right now Sam is at Camp Fowler for the week and Will is at Boy Scout camp. Colby is in summer camp, this is the last week.
But don't be fooled, the house is not empty!!! There are a handful of children here every day no matter what!

July

2010-07-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

It's July!
Summer is well under way now. We have been enjoying our pool and the outside and the hot weather.
On the 4th of July my brothers came over for a visit! They got along very well with the kids, at least Kaden did. It's funny, he calls everyone George!! And Zarek and Owen could not look more different, one is dark and one is pale.
We also set off our own fireworks, I love how the pics came out!
Will is in Australia as I write this. He has been there for 9 days. He was so super excited to go, and we haven't heard from him at all, so I know he's having fun! I miss him.
I will post pictures of our trip to Virginia soon.

2010-06-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of school! This year really flew by fast. I now have an eighth grader, sixth grader and fourth grader! WOW!
The weather here has been nice. Not too hot, but hot enough. We've been getting good use of the pool,the slip n slide, and the bikes.
Sam's rec team came in first place, so they were the champions! Her modified team played a good season. She is smack in the middle of the travel team season, and tonight is playing in an all stars game. Should be fun!
Colby moved up in cub scouts, he is now a bear. Roar!

2010-06-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

Colby had a school concert last week and he sang a duet with another little girl! It was so sweet. He has a great voice, he sounds nice when he sings.
Sam's rec team starts the playoffs tonight! Go GREEN!
Will and Art took a school trip last week to Mystic Seaport. Will had a great time! They took some nice pictures and Will has lots of stories to tell! I went with Sam so it's nice that Art got to experience it with Will.
Sam's clogging group that is going to competition in Nashville went to a balloon festival last weekend in Cambridge. I had Owen and Colby with me and it was fun!! We didn't know what to expect. Colby enjoyed watching the balloons take off, and so did Owen. Owen kept looking up and pointing and saying 'balloon'!!!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

2010-06-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

....isn't that how they saying goes? If it's true, well then... our family has been having LOADS of fun lately!!
Samantha's hamster Dew passed away... that was sad. Art and I were feeding her with a little medicine dropper and she seemed okay. But she was very sick and dehydrated and she passed away. Sam was very very upset. It was sad. But a few nights later we were at the pet store to get crickets... and two little hamsters caught my eye. We brought them home and their names are Thing 1 and Thing 2. They are so so cute!!! We are able to hold them and play with them and they are lots of fun. Way different than Dew, who bit everyone who came near her.

I cannot believe it is June already. School is almost over and sports are ending. Sam's modified softball is over. They had a great season and it was fun to watch! She made new friends and even made a name for herself. At her last game yesterday, when she got up to bat a man next to me that I don't know said 'now this girl looks like she knows how to play softball!'
For rec she has one of the best teams. Their last game is this weekend but they have only lost 2 games so they will be in the playoffs next week.
And her travel teams has their first double header this weekend! Sam has to miss the first game though because she has a church obligation.

Colby has his last Cub Scout meeting last night. They ended with a picnic at the town park. It was a great way to end the year!
The boys should be testing for tae kwon do this week but we just couldn't fit it in, so they will test next month. It gets so hard when you have so many conflicts!

Tonight Colby has his third grade concert and he is singing a solo!!
Will's concert is next week and he is doing a special # on the recorder!!
I think Sam has a concert too but I'll have to check.

Will's big school trip is tomorrow to Mystic, Conn. But right now he is sick and very upset and scared that he will miss tomorrow. I really hope not.

Sam marched in a Memorial Day parade in EG and the boys marched in the Castleton one. Luckily they were on different days!! In between we brought the kids (plus Nellie and Braelyn) to my mom's camp for Sunday. The kids have so much fun there!

Owen is getting so big and talking a lot. He says lots of words... lately it is bike, and 'there's a bike!' along with bat and ball. He says turn it off, get down, mine, banana, and mimics almost anything. It's so funny to hear him talking so much!! He loves reading and looking at books. And he definitely loves riding his bike, or any bike for that matter. Anything with wheels! And he loves motorcycles too. He has his own little personality. I love him!!!!

A quick update

2010-05-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

Art bought this car...a new car, or should I say, a new TOY, for him! As you can see by the pictures it's not in great shape... but it's the exact car he's been wanting to fix up. He wants to do it with the boys! They were excited, until they saw the car. Ha ha ha. But Art has a VISION. We'll see how it turns out!
Oh...and we planted flowers... so there is something pretty in the yard too!!

Home Run!

2010-04-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Opening Day for Samantha's Rec Softball Team. She had a parade at 8 am and then their first game at 4 pm. It was a great game. Samantha hit a HOME RUN!!! This picture was taken by her coach, just as she hit the home run. Amazing!! Way to go Sam!

Owen got his first haircut yesterday!

2010-04-23T04:26:00.000-07:00

I didn't really want to get his hair cut because I love, love, loved his curls. But everywhere we went, people would ask 'how old is she?', 'what's her name?' and comment on my pretty little girl. I couldn't take it anymore! So off to the barbershop we went. He was a good sport, sat still the whole time, never cried. He wanted a few hugs from Mommy during the process and I was happy oblige. It's weird how I walked into there with a baby and came out with a little boy. He really does look like a little boy now.
Softball has begun and yesterday was Samantha's second game for her school's modified team. It was a great game! In one of the pictures you can see Sam slid into third base... from our point of view of course she was safe but she was called out. Ugh. The coach tried to fight that the third baseman was blocking the base but the ump wouldn't listen. Oy. The game went into an extra inning but they lost by one.
Two proud moments for us: Will is STUDENT OF THE MONTH for April in technology class! We are so happy for him, as this is a first. I'm not surprised that it is for technology because it is his favorite class. He stayed after school often to work with the teacher, and was so far ahead in his work that he was able to build a cool robot! I love that he loves the class and has found something else he excels in.
And, Samantha was asked to played for the NIGHTMARE softball team, and also the EG Travel Team. We turned down both, as we already told her that playing for two teams was enough. But it's cool that she was asked.
Colby is in a bit of trouble and has had most of the contents of his room taken out again. But on a positive note, it looks so nice that's I'm seriously wanting to declutter our whole house!
Not much else to report, just business as usual.

Bunnies!

2010-04-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

There a two different sets of bunny pictures here. First there are photos of Nellie and Colby with Nellie's black and white bunny named Cookie. First it was named Horsey but she changed it!! This bunny is so soft and cuddly and lovable. Nellie carries it around in a little cloth bag and brings it everywhere. It loves to be held. Colby sure liked it too!
The other bunny pictures are little bunnies Shea found last night in the pit. She had them in her mouth, so Art brought them home. We weren't sure what to do with them so we checked online and it said to put them back. So we ended up putting them back, although one was already dead and the other was dying also. The third hopped right away. These bunnies were so tiny and adorable. The one was trying to nurse and it was neat to watch. Will fell in love with the 'good' one and didn't want to put it back.
This morning he went back to check on them and the two were dead, with blood on them so we know an animal must have gotten them.

Yesterday was the end of year bowling ceremony! Colby and Evan's team came in 2nd place overall!! Both boys ended up with trophies, pins and patches. We also got to have a quick lunch before we rushed off to Will's P2P meeting. And then last night Art and I were able to go out- just the two of us! We went to dinner with another couple, our neighbors, and then ended up at some new arcade playing games. We had a blast!

We survived Easter!

2010-04-16T05:29:00.000-07:00

Here we are! We're still here! I've wanted to update this blog many many times but I just have been swamped. I don't know why I take on so many things, but I do!
One thing I've been working on obviously is Will's trip to Australia. It's coming quickly-- gah!! Check out my other blog to see how we're coming. http://willswalkabout.blogspot.com/
Otherwise we are doing good.
Samantha is playing softball now, for both her rec team and her modified team. I spoke with her modified coach yesterday and she had nothing but good things to say about Sam. It's always nice to hear someone compliment your kid!! And we knew it would happen, but we got an email asking Sam to consider playing for the travel team too.
Samantha is really getting into clogging, too. In fact right now she is away with my mom in Buffalo at a clogging convention! I'm so happy for her. She will have so much fun!
Will is doing great. Bowling is over right now, there end-of-the-year party is tomorrow. He is signed up to do a summer league too and is eager to get that started. He misses bowling when it's over. Will also has discovered a class in school he loves- tech! I'm glad. It seems like something that would be in his genes, Art is very much like that.
Colby is good too. Same with bowling as Will. Not much else to report with him.
Owen is good too. 18 months old now. Cry cry. We have discovered he loves slides at the playground!! And he loves balls. He says BALL now. Also BOOT. And GET DOWN.
Enjoy the pictures!!

All about Sam today!

2010-04-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post some pictures today of my beautiful girl! She got her braces off and she is just gorgeous.

I'm still here!

2010-03-19T04:55:00.000-07:00

I'm very sorry to have been slacking in the blogging department! Here are some pictures from the past month. Yes, there are snow pictures! We had some great snow days! But now it is almost spring and the weather is beautiful and we are enjoying our time outside.
Big news- Samantha got her braces off!!! She has to wear a retainer now, which she hates. But her teeth look pretty and she can chew gum again so really, that's all that is important!
I will try and update more soon.

Samantha is now officially a teenager!!!

2010-02-14T06:59:00.000-08:00

Heaven help us, we have a teenager in the house now!!!!!!
(is this for real? are we really old enough to have a 13 year old daughter?)

She had another eventful birthday this year- at the end of the day at school, she fainted during chorus. She doesn't remember it, but she fell off the riser, hitting her leg and elbow. She has a big bruise on her arm and a bruise/swelling on her leg. Joy. It was a pretty scary situation though because I was at Colby's class for a Valentine's Day party when it happened, and I didn't have my cell phone on me... so I heard about it when I got home from Will and Sam's friend who had come home on the bus. They told me "something happened to Sam at school. I think she fainted and hit her head or something". Yeah, that was enough to send me into panic mode. But she really was okay.

On Friday night we surprised her by inviting Papa and his family over for dinner. She LOVED that. She was very happily surprised. Kaden and Zarek are so big! I know it happens, but when you don't see kids in a while it's amazing how much bigger they get!
It was very interesting to see Owen with them. Any toy they touched, he immediately went and took it away. He had a very hard time! Whining and crying and grabbing toys. He wasn't very happy with those uncles of his!
Aunt Amy and Uncle Mike also came over for cake and ice cream. It was a fun night!

On Saturday Aunt Amy and I surprised Sam and her friends Savannah and Joelle with a mall scavenger hunt birthday party! That's what all these pictures are from. We bought all the presents before hand, and then sent them around to stores, one by one, with clues to figure out where to go. It was a lot of fun!! We sent them to about 8 stores, and they had a ball. We first gave them matching (Aero!) shirts, and they all also got lip gloss, mountain dew and M&Ms. Sam got lots of cool things like a gift card to Borders, a new softball glove, aero pajamas, magazines, hair stuff, and other things. It was a fun fun fun birthday!!!

But now, she is sick (again). It seems like she is always sick! Her knees are hurting her, and her head. and her belly. She is laying in the basement watching a movie eating ice cream. She may have to miss her basketball game :*(

Happy birthday Sam I Am!! We love you Sweetheart!!

update

2010-02-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

As I'm typing this, owen is sleeping on the bed next to me. Asleep face down on the bed, still in his jacket. I sat him on the bed, he leaned forward and he fell asleep! Too funny!

On Saturday night Will and Colby had their Blue & Gold dinner. Will is now officially a Boy Scout!!! We are so proud of him! He went over the bridge and got his kercheif changed from plaid to red. He was given a new book, which is promptly lost. Grrrr. He has a meeting tomorrow so I'm really hoping someone has it. The dinner was great, roast beef, yum!!

Yesterday the kids cleaned their rooms! All 3 of them! It took the boys a little longer than it took Sam, but they did great! I love clean rooms.

Not much else to update.

Almost the end of January?

2010-01-28T04:48:00.000-08:00

My, doesn't time fly?
We are one big busy family, so updatiing this blog isn't always easy! However, I made it a priority this morning because I wanted to share these pictures!
Sometimes I think it's unfair that there are so many pictures of Owen... but then again, he *is* the baby... and the older kids aren't exactly cooperative when you ask them to pose and smile.
I posted a couple of mischevious pictures of Owen. One day he got into the baby powder and flung it all over. And another he wrote on his hand, and was mighty proud of himself I might add! And how about that picture of him smiling? He has such a cute grin, and such a fun personality! He doesn't like to sit for pictures but if I catch him at the right time...
There is also a picture of him stacking blocks, one of his new talents!
Speaking of new talents, Owen knows a few more signs now. He can do 'eat' and 'play' and 'shoes'. But no real talking yet.
This past weekend was the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. I am pleased to announce that Will came in first place in his division, and Colby came in second place in his!! This is Will's last Pinewood derby (he will be a Boy Scout soon) so we were happy he won.
We also went bowling, of course, and I took a picture of Colby and his friend Evan in their snazzy bowling shirts!
Oh yeah, there is a picture of Owen sitting eating goldfish. I took him and Adrianna to Toddler Tales last week, and they sat at a picnic table for a snack. Made me realize how 'big' Owen is getting. I had to take a picture!
Samantha is loving her cell phone, she is never without it. I'm not really sure how you can text someone 50 times in one minute but she does. (I'm exaggerating a little big of course). Conversation with her is pretty much nill now, unless you take her phone away.
She is doing great at clogging, and Grammy is taking her to the annual clogging convention this year! How exciting! I remember those conventions fondly.
Will started guitar lessons yesterday with a local instructor. I hope he has fun and learns something. He's been so eager to take lessons.
Not much else to report I guess. Have a great Thursday!

1/20/10

2010-01-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was no school, and gorgeous weather, so I took the boys outside for a little bit! A really little bit, because Owen's hands got cold and his boot fell off! But before that, he really had fun. Colby brought him sledding down the hill and Owen laughed and laughed! It was cute. Will didn't want to go sledding much. But they did stand on the sled and pretend to snowboard.
24 has begun!!!
Owen has been a silly man today... climbing on an over-turned basket and making silly faces. I HAD to take pictures of that! And oh yeah, he took off his pants. He always does that.
Over the weekend Will scored a 177 in bowling, his highest game yet! And he got 4 strikes in a row, so he got his cheese fries!!!
Owen is in a really happy mood- what happened to naps??

1/13 update

2010-01-13T06:19:00.000-08:00

No pictures, as I lost the charger to my camera battery and had to order a new one, so I haven't taken many pictures. I did get the new one but haven't had a chance to charge the battery.

Big update from yesterday: We ended up at the hospital with Samantha. She had been having pains since Sunday in her belly and I brought her to the dr. yesterday, who was concerned that it was either her appendix or an ovarian cyst. So we had to go to Albany Med and get her an ultrasound. Turns out it is neither of those, which is a good thing! We're thinking the pain is possibly a bruised muscle from her basketball game on Sunday when she was elbowed by an opponent. They did notice some enlarged lymph nodes though.

Her game on Sunday was awesome! She made the most rebounds, go Sam!!!
She had gone camping with her Girl Scout troop and came home Sunday just in time for her game. So she's tired out also.
On Friday night Art and Colby went to a high school volleyball game with the Cub Scouts. Will and I stayed home. He babysat while I worked on a scrapbook. It was too easy for him, Owen fell right asleep!!!
On Saturday the boys bowled and then we went to Will's meeting for his Australia trip. After that we stopped at Desiree's hoping to steal her for the night, but instead they kept the boys! Art and I didn't know what to do, so we went out to dinner at a little cafe we like. I was really craving waffles, and even though they did breakfast all day, they didn't do waffles all day. What a let down!!

We finished 24, so we're ready for the new season this Sunday!!

2010 and snow!

2010-01-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! 2010 is going to be a great year, I can sense it already!
We had a simple New Year's celebration this year... our friends the Finks came over and we played various board games. It was so much fun! The only one who wasn't awake at midnight was Owen.
We've been skating on the pond already. We had to buy Will new skates again, his feet great a few sizes last year! Luckily Colby got the hand-me-downs, and Sam still fit her's. Friday was beautiful weather. Sam had some friends over, Art got out the quad, and we all had a blast!! We had so much fun that we coordinated a gathering on Saturday too! However, we weren't prepared for the FREEZING weather and the heavy winds. We had a fire going, but it was still too cold... a lot of kids ended up inside drinking hot cocoa.

Here's to 2010!

Santa Came! Merry Christmas 2009!

2009-12-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hmmm.... seems like the kids were better than I thought, at least according to Santa. I wouldn't have been surprised if there was just 1 present beneath the tree, and stockings full of coal. But to my surprise, there were many presents under the tree, and stockings filled with goodies!
The boys were ultra-excited. They woke me up at 3...and then 4...and then 5... and finally at 6 and we get up around 6:30 and let them open the gifts. Daddy wasn't feeling well and was very tired so it was tough getting him out of bed.
Big news of the day- Samantha got a cell phone! She's only been wanting one for- EVER!! She was very happily surprised!
Will got some neat gifts, a chef hat with his name on it, some spices, and a new guitar hero.
Colby got his very own CD player and his favorite- the Stars Wars DVDs he's been wanting!
Owen got a cute riding toy. And he's crazy, he's already figured out how to stand on it and let go of his hands. I swear this child has no fear.
Mommy and Daddy were good too!! Daddy got the last season of 24 and a new DVD player. Mommy got a stadium seat, which I've been wanting for a long long time!
We have been watching 24 every night too :)

Christmas Eve at Grammy's was fun too. It was hard to get a couch picture this year, but I like the one I got.

Our tree is already taken down and we're trying to 'get back to normal'. But what IS normal? I'm also trying to do some deep- cleaning because I lost my camera battery charger. I lost it sometime before Christmas, so I've been taking minimal photos. I need to find it because I really don't want to have to buy a new one.

Samantha is in Kentucky with Colin and crew. He is racing. I'm sure she'll come back with big muscles in her fingers from texting! Ha ha ha.

Almost time for 2010!!!

YFC 2009

2009-12-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday we drove to Newburgh, NY for the annual Young Family Christmas Party. We were about an hour late (hey, it's not easy getting 6 people out the door@!) but just in time for the picture, and the egg nog! Colby loves the egg nog, although he doesn't drink the 'real' eggnog, which is a bit altered, to say the least. ha ha.
Samantha was very excited to see Jessica and Beth! She spent most of the time with them.
Uncle Brian set up a tree for Will to hang his origami ornaments on and sell them. He made almost $300 from the party! WOW! thank you to everyone!!!
The food was delicious, of course. Especially the bowl of m&ms for me, and the goldfishies for Owen!! He kept walking into the kitchen area and helping himself to some. It was very cute!
This year there were 3 new little boys... Owen, because we missed last year, Cole who is 10 months old,and Nate who is just 2 months old. Cole and Nate sat still while Owen was all over the place. Next year will certainly be fun with 3 little toddler boys running around!
Santa came through and brought the kids awesome gifts. They were very happy.
It was a late night but well worth it. We loved seeing the family, especially Grandma Lorna.
Merry Christmas!

finally, an update!!!!!

2009-12-15T09:46:00.000-08:00

It's not my fault, really! Blogger has been giving me a lot of trouble when I try to uplaod pictures. But I've realized they load quickly in my bedroom, so I will do it there from now on!!

let's see... lots of updates since I haven't updated since the snake!

Thanksgiving was great. We went to Grammy and Djia djia's house. Mike, Renee and Leah were there too. Leah was absolutely adorable- laughing and smiling! owen loved her, a little too much in fact. I don't think she's used to being attacked by toddlers. :) The boys ate raviolis and then 'didn't have room' for turkey. silly boys!

trying to remember what picture i posted....

Sam is growing quickly lately. She's been going to sleepovers and movies with her friends, and having friends over just to hang out. It's nice to get to know her friends and watch them interact.
Basketball has started and she's on the CYO team and also the school modified team. the CYO team won their first game, 37 to 15!
She also made principal's list again this first quarter, yippee for her!! AND- she was student of the month for November!

Will also did great on his report card. He is a solid B, which makes us happy!
LieLie shed her skin, i know i posted a picture of that. It was cool to watch.
Will found a book he LOVES-- Diary of a Wimpy Kid. he bought it on a friday and had it finished in a couple of days! It is so awesome to see him reading a book, and not being able to keep his nose out of it! He says he can't wait for the next one.

Colby is doing well also. he has had quite the personality lately! He wore his pajamas inside out and backwards- two pairs- to try to get a snowday. It worked! We got lots of snow last week. all of the kids loved it.
We saw santa, he and i and owen... he asked for a snowboard. he got a nerf gun too, which he loves!

Owen loves the snow also, even though when he falls he can't get back up! The other day when the boys went out to do wood, Owen went and got his boots and gave them to Colby, because he wanted to go outside too! it was so cute, we just had to bring him outside.
owen already has spilled water on my laptop, which makes the P not work right. Also a few more keys, including the shift key, which is why some of my letters are not capitalized when they are supposed to be. I hate that but it's so time consuming to go back and keep switching them!
Owen also saw santa, and loved him! It was very cute.
He's been talking a lot lately, even though he only says "da, dee, di" and other forms of the letter D. He babbles right along though. He also points and it sounds this "dis" (this?) so I am constantly telling him what everything is.
He loves the picture of himself in the hallway. He kisses it!

Art has finally rented his house- happy day!
And we are almost ready for christmas. We have a house full of very excited children, and adults! I love Christmas!!! We put our tree up, and then it fell down, and then we put it upagain. :)

Hope you enjoy this update!

Almost Thanksgiving!

2009-11-24T05:46:00.000-08:00

There are so many things I am thankful for. Of course, I'm mostly thankful for my husband Art and for our children. They have blessed my life and made me who I am today. I am happy because of them! I am thankful to be a SAHM and have the ability to be room mom in Colby's classroom, as I did today... they had a Thanksgiving Feast. Wore Owen on my back and he 'slept like a baby' the whole time. I'm thankful for babywearing! I am very thankful for this gorgeous weather. Barb and I went for a walk again today. It's almost Thanksgiving and we're outside with spring coats on! I am thankful for Hershey Kisses (as I pop one in my mough) and thankful for baby kisses too, even the wet and slobbery ones.

Picture update!!!!

2009-11-09T04:17:00.001-08:00

Here are our pictures from Halloween. Sorry to be doing this so late, but I've been having a problem uploading pictures. So...here they are!
We had a great Halloween. We went to a party the night before at the school. That was a lot of fun!! And then on Halloween night we went to the Ayer's for a GROSS dinner (worms and blood and guts) and then out trick or treating. Will went with his friend Elijah, and Samantha went around our own neighborhood, but with a bunch of her friends. Art and I brought Colby and Owen around, with our neighbor Jason. As usual, Colby got tired very quickly. And Owen was sleeping in the babyhawk. So we just went home.
It rained a lot, so Sam and her friends came home early and hung out in the basement. That was fun for them! And Art went to a neighbors and played poker.

The next day, we brought Colin to the corn maze. Will wasn't feeling well so we couldn't stay too long. But it was a beautiful day and we did a lot there.

Happy November!

Monday

2009-10-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

I am loving this fall weather!! Even though we wake up with frost on the ground, by the middle of the day it is gorgeous outside. Just looking out my back windows makes me smile. The colors are so bright!
Of course, that means there are leaves to play in! Will and Colby still love to jump in them. Owen, not so much. He likes to pick leaves up and look at them, but I don't think he likes the feel of them all over his body.
We have been going for lots of walks. The fresh air almost always puts Owen to sleep! If only I could get the bigger kids to walk....
Here are some new pictures of Will and Lilie.
And Owen in a cute monkey outfit a friend of mine sent him :)
And Owen eating lasagna. He loved it, ate everything in his bowl, and on his tray. He even sucked on his bowl to get everything out. But then he got sleepy and started rubbing his eyes, which isn't a good idea when you're full of sauce, so he had a nice bath after that.
On Saturday it rained and rained, so we used that day to clean and organize. We had Daddy's pizza for dinner, and watched 2 movies- SpaceBuddies (a hit with the kids, but not so much with the grown ups) and Earth, which seemed really cool except that I slept through most of it. Oh well.
There's still a lot to clean and organize but we did well.
Sam has a sore throat and a cough, but other than that we are not sick... yet. Let's keep our fingers crossed, it seems like *everyone* is sick. And we are not getting flu vaccines.
Happy Monday!

Beautiful weather!!!

2009-10-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another gorgeous day. We spent a lot of time inside because Will was home sick. But in the afternoon I decided it was too nice to stay in any longer. I'm glad we got out because it was perfect playing weather.
Owen loves the neighbor's goKart... and he's big enough to sit on it now!! Adrianna of course wanted in on the action, so we put her on too. I love the picture of him looking at her like 'I didn't realize you were back there!'

Samantha and I were able to go to clogging last night!! I missed 'my' class, but I was able to go into another room and learn a dance while Sam was in the beginner class. And another girl was there, with 2 little kids, trying to learn the same dance. She said 'join our group! It would be nice to have another MOM around and not just teens'. Hee hee. I just may join them.

There was a couple there who are missionaries to Bolgaria. Apparently they teach the kids clogging. They had a laptop with them of pics taken there and they were so sad. The kids were adorable- but the living conditions were just horrible. I think being a missionary would be neat, but I'd want to rescue all of those kids.

Makes me even happier to have the four I have!

Apple Picking/ Pumpkin Picking!

2009-10-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we decided, spur of the moment, to go apple and pumpkin picking! It was a beautiful fall day and we had nothing else to do. So we bundled up the baby and headed out. We didn't decided where to go beforehand, so we ended up at Golden Harvest on route 9. We were excited!
We were a bit skeptical when we went to buy our bags. Bags were $10 a iece and they said 'no refunds'. When we asked why, they said they had had an ice storm back in June and some of the apples didn't look so nice. We decided to take our chances and get a bag of apples.
Well, they weren't kidding when they said they didn't look so nice! Look at the picture I posted of one. Most of the apples has dents and holes in them. We had to really dig underneath to get some nice apples.
Sadly, the older kids really were't into it too much. Oh, they picked some apples... but they were sad that they coudln't climb the trees. And they enjoyed chucking the apples on the ground at eachother. Sam spent a lot of the time taking her own pictures!
Owen loved it though! It was like a candy store to him. Unfortunately, he liked picking any apple he could find and biting it- including the fallen, rotten ones.
We filled our bag as much as we could. Really, I'm as thrifty as I can be, and it was very hard to pay $10 for one bag of apples. But it's the life experience that is worth it, right?
I remember picking apples when I was younger, and eating those yummy fresh apples. My mom always made apple pies. I can't make them, but I do make some killer apple muffins!! :)
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We also got pumpkins. Had to take the obligatory pictures of Owen with the pumpkins, but they didn't come out so well. The pumpkins were already pretty picked over.

That evening, we played a game of Risk as a family. No one 'won' because we didn't have time to finish. But Dad had N. American, Mom had Africa, and Will had Australia by then.

Hudson Hat!!!

2009-10-17T05:07:00.000-07:00

October 16, 2009
Happy 12th birthday to my nephew Colin!!!!

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day. I thought it was a little chilly, but the kids did not. In fact, Will went to school wearing pants but came home wearing his gym shorts because he was 'too hot'.
It was a great mail day! Owen's new HUDSON HAT came!! My DDC friend Michelle knitted the hat for him. It's a scrappy hat, and I love it!! I think he looks so adorable. Of course, he doesn't want to wear it, he'd rather pull it off.
I knew I just had to get some pictures of the kids on such a nice day, so off to the backyard we went for some camera time. The bigger kids were not too thrilled, but they were able to be bribed :) Ha ha. I love the pictures I got, even though I only got about 6 in total. As soon as the kids hear the click, they jump up ready to be done. Very aggravating!!! And of course it's hard to get 4 kids to look and smile at the same time.
I'll have to look back at when I took similar pictures last year. I remember Owen was in his little pumpkin hat!!! And about a month old. Awwwww.....

Teddy-wearing!!!

2009-10-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Owen was practicing the art of Babywearing!! I won this child-size mai tei on line, and Owen took it out, so I put it on him with a teddy bear. It was very cute. Owen didn't really know what to make of the bear on his back. We liked it though because the bear has a jingle bell in it, so we always knew where Owen was! of course, if there's any question, he's usually in the bathroom brushing his teeth.
Yesterday was all Braelyn's fall run at school, and since neither Amy nor Jay could go, I did. I took this adorable picture of her there. And even though she tripped over someone's shoe and fell down, she made up for it and came in somewhere in the front of the pack!!

Board Breaking!!!!!

2009-10-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Tae Kwon Do. Board Breaking night!! $23 later, the boys had some fun. Will first broke 3 thick boards at once. :) His hand went right through them!!! He then tried to break 4 thick boards but he lost his balancce and only got 1 before he fell. On his second attempt, he broke the other 3.
Colby also did 3 at first, it took him 2 attempts but he broke them!! And then another single board, because if I get Will more boards, I have to get Colby more boards.

That's our news for tonight.

October 13

2009-10-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

October is definitely here in NY. Yesterday we woke up and it was freezing cold! (well, about 40) I gave in and turned the heat on... only to have Art tell me later that the furnace was turned off!! Oh well. I drank lots of hot cocoa yesterday.
I heard a little rumor that snow is on its way here soon... not sure how I feel about that!
Yesterday was Columbus Day...no school. The kids had a good day. There were a few extra kids here, so Colby had some kids to play with. Sam and Will slept a lot of the day because they went to bowling alley's Lock In from 11 pm on Sunday till 7 am on Monday, and neither of them slept while they were there. Also yesterday, Will went on a 3-mile hike with his boyscout troop. He was definitely tired by last night!
I took a picture of Colby yesterday...outside wearing shorts, a teeshirt, a hat and gloves. He just doesn't like pants!
Owen loves to be outside, so I've been trying to get him out more and more. He loves balls and sticks and anything he can touch. Mostly he likes to eat rocks though so we really need to keep an eye on him.

I have been lucky lately. I won a new diaper here and I won something off of Hyena Cart... but it's going to be a gift so I can't link it here. I love these raffles/auctions/giveaways!

Art is almost done working nights... we are all happy about that one!!!

Happy Oct 13.

October 10

2009-10-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

Today is Saturday! The weather is gorgeous. I think it's in the 50s outside and there is a slight breeze. But it's just so pretty. The leaves are changing color and falling from the trees and it makes for lots of fun- and lots of great pictures for me!
Today Art is putting carpets in the rental house... not much left to do after that, except get it rented.
Samantha is at Goold's Apple Festival with Grammy, watching the cloggers dance. I'm assuming this is my last of boycotting the festival, as I'm sure Sam and I will be clogging there next year! Sam is excited to go and watch and "do it on the side'. She is really really great at clogging. She picks it up quickly and easily and acts like she's always known what to do.
And then tonight she is going to a slumber party.
The boys had league bowling this morning and both did great. Will's average is up to 102 and Colby's is up to 79. Will scored over his average on all 3 games today. Colby did well, but he didn't get over his average.
They love bowling and I'm really glad we discovered it!! Tae kwon do and bowling are the only sports the boys are playing and it's very nice. No weekend games!!!
Last night I was supposed to go scrapbooking but it was cancelled, so I stayed home and Art made his 'famous' pizza. The kids love it so much and were very happy to hear it was on the menu! Grandpa Bill came over and enjoyed dinner with us too.
And then Art and I and the kids watched 'Imagine That' with Eddie Murphy.
Today's big jobs: laundry and cleaning out the refrigerator!!

*pictures:
Owen climbing up the basement stairs, Will and Owen with the newspaper hats Will made, Sam and Shea, Owen crying while eating.... is that all?

Happy birthday Owen!!!

2009-10-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday, Owen!! How did you get to be a year old? How did the year fly by so fast? I can remember so well the day you were born. It's like it was yesterday. And yet here we are, a whole year later. You are no longer the tiny little baby we brought home from the hospital. You are now a running, climbing, happy little maniac!! You have brough so much love and happiness and joy to our family. I could not imagine not having you around. We all love you so much. Happy first birthday, Goosey!

It's been a long time since I've updated, I apologize. Grandma Lorna was up for a week-long visit from Myrtla Beach last week. She helped us get ready for Owen's little birthday party. I also participated in a consignment sale and it took me a while to tag all of my 200 or so items! I made $170 so I'm happy. I donated the leftovers and that's cool with me, too, now I don't have to worry about what to do with it.

Art is back to working his evening shift, so it's hard on all of us. Once again, it seems like he is never around. It really bothers the kids but hopefully it will only be for another week or so.

School is going well. Or as well as can be expected. Colby surprisingly is doing his homework and not fighting us (usually). Will also. It's almost like they're excited to do it. Weird.
Will is playing the trombone and he loves it. It's neat to hear him play. He's learned a lot in just a few weeks. Amazing.

Fall has come. The weather is gorgeous lately.

It's late and I'm tired. Will try and update more soon. Enjoys the pictures.

hello

2009-09-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

Things have been so busy here!! The kids are back in school, but I am now babysitting 2 little girls. They are both 'part time' but it overlaps a little. I am loving them, they are so fun! But of course it's much different watching 2 or 3 toddlers than it is to watch 1!!
Barb and I have been trying to walk whenever we can. It's been so nice.
School is going well. Still need to rent Will a trombone.

Art has been switched to a 'night' shift, but it's actually 2-10. Which means I have the kids most of the time again! Oy! And it's hard for Art because his schedule is all messed up. We've been getting a lot done though when he's home for the day! He's such a hard worker.

Colby cut his hair with scissors. Booger.
Owen can now eat a whole apple, it's very cute to watch! BUT- he is now screaming all the time. ALL.the.time.

Gotta head to bed.

Back to Life as we knew it before summer...

2009-09-14T07:52:00.001-07:00

The kids are back in school! I'm sad to see them go because I miss having them around all of the time. However, they were getting bored with being home, and very bored with eachother. They are doing good at school and are happy to have things to do. So far, they haven't had much homework so that is nice. I'm sure it will be soon enough though!
On Labor Day we brought the kids to the Chatham Fair and let them ride the rides. It was fun, until Will got a belly ache and felt like he was going to throw up. His favorite ride was the gravitron, where they spin you around really fast. It's no wonder he was sick!!
And then a quick trip to Dair Queen for some ice cream!!!
And then school started...
And on Thursday, Will and Colby tested in tae kwon do... they are now high red belts. Woohoo!!
On Friday Art and Will went camping with the BoyScouts. They just got back yesterday. It was a fun trip, except that is rainy and windy when they got there on Friday night. But it was mostly good weather the rest of the time, and they were able to fish and hike and I'm sure Will had a great time.
Sam joined a new Girl Scout troop. The did face painting at a school ice-cream social on Friday, and Sam was able to do Nellie's and Braelyn's faces! That was exciting. Colby wanted nothing to do with the face painting. But they were giving away free ice cream, which we enjoyed-- a lot!!!
Yesterday the troop went mini-golfing. I hope Sam likes this troop.

Owen spilled water on my laptop, and now some of the buttons don't work right. Very annoying!!!

An update!

2009-09-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

It's September already.
Today we took the kids to Helen's for her annual Labor Day picnic. There were a lot of people there, and a lot of kids. Some friends of Art's have a little boy named Parker who is 14 months old, so I talked with his mom a lot and he and Owen "played" together.
Yesterday I took the kids to FunPlex to use up a 3-hour gift card Sam had. They were able to ride the go-karts numerous times, do the bumper boats, the big trampoline, the funny basketball hoops, and also the water wars a couple of times. It was really hot so the water wars felt great!!! After that we used our coupons to get ice cream at Lickety Split-- yum!
When we got home Owen felt hot-- because he had a 103.8 temp. Tylenol brought it down and it went away, but today it crept back to 100.5. Poor buddy. He seems fine otherwise.
Last week our neighbor made a homemade gokart for his grandson, so of course these guys had to ride on it too! Luckily we live on a street that is perfect to ride a gokart down! How fun!
The kids are ready to go back to school, which starts this Tuesday, the 8th.

Samantha just finished the 21-day meds for the lyme disease. She's still not feeling great so I'm not sure if she'll have to do more. She has had her school supplies labeled and ready to go for weeks now! I can't believe she'll be a 7th grader!

Will has been feeding his gecko huge crickets that Art finds at the other house. He's also been giving her a taste of grasshoppers. It's really fun to watch the gecko eat! Will is lucky that Samantha enjoyed labeling things and organizing things-- she organized all of his back to school stuff!

Colby is doing well. :) And Owen too. Owen is still getting into trouble, but we love him so much!! His laugh is so cute. He absolutely adores his sister and brothers. They can all make him laugh when he's upset!

The other day he fed himself yogurt, which is what some of the pictures above are!!

Art is almost done with the house....how long have I been saying that?

Tomorrow we're headed to the Chatham Fair! One last day of fun before school!!!

We had a visitor!

2009-08-29T03:31:00.000-07:00

We saw this snapping turtle in our backyard on Thursday. It was quite big! The kids were amazed. We of course ran out to see it up close, and our neighbor Mr. Dave helped us "catch" her and put her into a bucket so that we could show her to Daddy. Neat.

I let Owen play with the cars on Thursday, and now he loves them! It's funny to watch him. He doesn't quite get how to play in them. He climbs in and climbs out, and most often makes the car fall over. But he has fun!

One more week of summer vacation! Wow! Last night we went to the mall and bought new shoes and some clothes for Sam. When did Sam start "needing" so many clothes??

Art is still working on the house...but he says he can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!

Happy Saturday!

Join the party-- win some prizes!

2009-08-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love free stuff? Three Boys and a Dog is having a Back 2 School Blog Bash 2009! She is giving away something every day!! Check it out here http://momof3boys3702.blogspot.com/2009/07/back-2-school-blog-bash-2009-month-of.html

Monday!!

2009-08-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

It's Monday!
And oh what a day today has been!! I started watching a little girl named Ilana today, and her sister too, but her sister will only be here for 2 weeks. Ilana got along very well with Owen, which makes me very happy. They played nicely with little people and blocks. Had crackers on the deck. Played outside on the little castle and little trampoline. It's been a great day.
Samantha and Sarah were here... and then their friend Michelle came over, who is spending the night. And then Tommy came over to swim and "hang out".
Will is here. Jordan and Lucas and Aldin have been here too. Swimming and playing.
Colby went to Cameron's for the afternoon!!
The boys were supposed to go to tae kwon do tonight, but they asked to stay home because Jordan is available to play tonight. Since there is only 2 weeks left of summer vacation, and it's a nice night, and they already have lots of stripes, we're letting them stay home and play.

The kids had a great time camping with Grammy. Jenn was there so Sam was happy!!
It was so so quiet without them here. But, it's even better to have them home, chaos and everything!!!

Happy Monday!

It's Sunday!!!

2009-08-23T04:05:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday. Owen had me up at 5:30 this morning. I tried and tried to get him to go back to sleep but he wouldn't. So I got up. Didn't want to, but I had. Now it's 8 am and guess who is napping? Yes, Owen fell asleep around 7:30. I figure I will update the blog and then shower in peace.

Last week Samantha went up to Lake George for a week with her friend Alexis. She ended up coming home on Thursday because she was sick and throwing up. We first thought it was a reaction to the meds, but seeing as she had been on them for a week at that point, the dr. didn't think so. Sam wasn't 100%, but she was "good enough" to go to camp with my mom on Friday for the weekend. Actually, all 3 older kids went.

Last week, without Sam, I took the boys to a splash pad I found in Rensselaer. It is really cool! I couldn't get many pictures because, well, there is water spraying everywhere!! But I was able to get some. The boys had fun. But Owen LOVED it. Loved it!! He just walked around to all the different fountains. He doesn't like getting water in his face, but after a while he was okay with that too. There were a few beach balls there and he really liked them. I need to get him one. It was a great day and it was fun. We only stayed an hour because Owen got tired and the boys were hungry. It's closed now, but next year we'll go back!

This was a hot week so he were in the water whenever we could. The hot weather made the pool turn a little green, so Art had to shock it and fix it. There were a couple of days when Owen and I went in the pool every couple of hours! It's just so refreshing when you're dripping with sweat. (eww)

Colby caught a frog. He tried to keep it in the little plastic container, but the frog was smarter than that. Not only did it get on the edge *where Art took a picture*, but when I went to go outside, it hopped after me. So we let him loose.

Art and I went to a barbecue with Owen yesterday. It was fun! Everyone loved Owen. Art's friend made him a little sandbox, that was very cute because Owen's never played in sand before. He kept grabbing it with his little hands and then letting it seep out through his fingers. It was cute. But then it rained. We stayed in the garage, but Owen wanted to be out in the rain. We let him and he got soaked. But he had a blast! We were there for 6 hours-- and as SOON AS we put Owen in his carseat, he fell asleep!

Have a happy Sunday!

Update on us

2009-08-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Well...the results are in. Samantha has Lyme Disease. I'm so glad I took her to the doctor, and didn't ignore her pains. (Last Monday she couldn't walk, couldn't climb stairs and was in a lot of pain.) She is now on an anti-biotic that she has to take 2 times a day, for 3 weeks. She has to swallow them, which was tough for her because she is really scared to swallow pills. The first day, she opened the pills and put them in food, but it really grossed her out. Today she swallowed them!! She was so proud of herself!! She is still in a bit of pain (it's only her second day on the antibiotics) and has a headache. But the dr. says the meds should pretty much get rid of it, though it may show up in the future.

Art is still working on the house. Still.

And the other day (the 12th) Samantha informed me that it was her half-birthday. She is now 12 and a half... 6 months until she turns 13. Oh no!!

Summer is going well. We're finally getting really hot weather and getting use of our pool!! Today there were 8 kids in there! it was fun.
I also set up Owen's little "pool". He likes it. But he's rather just eat leaves and dirt. He's weird. Ha ha ha.

Small update, but I gotta head to bed. Enjoy the photos!!

Back from Virginia!!!!!

2009-08-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

It is SO good to be home!!
We left bright and early at 4 am on Wednesday morning. Poor Owen had a 102.8 temp the night before so I worried he would be sick going down. Luckily, it went to 100 by the time we left, and by the time we got to VA there was no temp at all.
We drove, 2 adults and 7 kids, for 11 hours to get to VA (added time for bathroom breaks, nursing breaks, eating breaks and traffic). Owen cried for almost 2 hours of the trip down, right in the beginning, which was pretty hard. Thankfully he settled down and slept a lot. He also ate anything the kids would feed him!
The kids were amazingly well behaved during the drive down.
We got to VA and Mike and Renee and Leah were still there. It was raining, so we couldn't go to the lake that night. Instead we visited with everyone and got acquainted with the house, and were able to tour Wally and Mom's new 4,000 square foot house on the lake!!
On Thursday and Friday we spent lots of time at the lake. It rained on and off on Thursday but not at all on Friday. We all swam in the lake (which felt so good, like bath water!) and went on Wally's boat. We tubed a bit (my arms are still sore) and some of us went on the jet ski (not me). Owen was only in the lake for a little while, he didn't like the life jacket at all. He did enjoy the boat ride though.
On the top of Wally's "dock/boat house" is a roof, and we all jumped off of it! I only did it twice... once willingly, and the other time because Colby decided he wanted to do it and then we spent 45 minutes trying to get him to jump. We finally had to get him back down the ladder, and I had to jump.
On Saturday Wally's sons and their families came to spend the day with us, partly the celebrate Wally's 60th birthday. We had cakes, gifts, and lots of fun. His grandkids were really nice to our kids, about the same ages, and they all got along very well. They exchanged email addresses before they left!
We talked for a long time with them all, and it was great to finally meet them.
"Dzia Dzia" (what the kids call Wally) was so nice to offer his home to us, and we hope to go back again!!

One minor emergency we had though... on Thursday morning, Will woke up covered in poison ivy, and his face was swollen from it. Mom and I drove him into town to the local CVS to ask them what to do. The pharmacist was worried that it was too close to his eyes, so we had to call the doc in NY, get them to call in a script to VA for a steroid, and then wait to get it filled. We also got him zyrtec and benadryl and oatmeal soap because he was really uncomfortable. It's a lot better now, somehow the lake water helped it dry up while we were there. But I forgot the steroid in VA... my mom is bringing him home today.

It's so nice to be home. Not so nice to be in this humidity with no lake! But, we have a pool and the kids are in it! Yee ha!

July 27

2009-07-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

at least, I *think* it's July 27. Time is getting away from me, and quickly!!

The big news in our house: Samantha and Will have gone to Camp Fowler for the week. We dropped them off yesterday. The camp was a little over 2 hours away, not bad. Owen slept most of the way up, and all of the way back!! We were able to leave Colby with a friend, and Sam and Will actually got along :) It was NICE. Will was excited for camp, and as soon as we got there, he made friends and started playing. Sam was nervous. She really didn't want to be there, but I think secretly she did and was just shy. She didn't know anyone (Will did) so it was even harder.
I MISS THEM ALREADY!!!! I thought about them all night long. I'm sure they're fine, but....

Colby started his final week of summper camp today. He's loving it so I'm a little sad it's almost over.

Next week we will go to Virginia for a few days.

It is really hot today!!! And I have no ice cream so that's a bummer.

I'm hoping to go to the house tonight and work on the clothes we found in the attic. I'm hoping to have them all done by the end of the week. Art has been doing so well on the house, it looks awesome! Now to decide what to do with it....

Owen is walking and trying to talk and being a troublemaker and getting into everything. He's a monkey! Climbs on everything. And a dog, eating the dogfood. We love him!!!!

Wednesday!!!

2009-07-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

A very quick update. Will update again tomorrow (if I remember, ha ha)
Samantha jammed her finger on Monday, had to have an x-ray but it's not broken. Hard to tell in the photo but it is bent and at a weird angle. And it hurts and pops. With her, if it's not one thing- it's another. We haven't been to PT in a while. Her knees are okay, and her hamstring is *almost* healed. I guess.
Next week Sam and Will head to church camp, and they are both excited!! They're starting to pack (and of course, realize what they need and don't have). I will miss them! A whole week.
Owen is doing good. Walking all over the place. And now he can "click" with his tongue. And he makes this really funny face (I tried to get it in the pic above)

It's 10 PM... so I need to go to bed. Will update again in the morning.

Friday

2009-07-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the last few days. The weather is finally getting HOT and so we are enjoying the pool more and more. It's nice to jump in and just cool off. We only have one floatie, but we somehow managed to "borrow" a couple from a neighbor and the kids are loving it. I love to see them in the pool. Last night they got in around 9 PM!! And the other day we were able to swim and watch a neighbot take a tree down at the same time!

Colby is two weeks into summer camp today. He opted not to go today and see a "girly play". That is fine with me. So he's home and there is a full house here. Not only are my nieces and nephew here, but so is a neighbor kid!!

We had fun at Hoffman's the other night. The adults went on the bumper cars, that was fun!!!

Sam and Colby and I (and Sam's friend Kylee) went on a "field trip" with the library on Wednesday night to the Mill at Miutziskill (or something like that). The woman there is a very neat artist. She had us draw landscape pictures. There is a nice waterfall on her property that Colby loved. Kylee had a lot of fun drawing dresses. Sam drew a wagon wheel. Colby drew a tree and the road. I drew the girls. It was fun. Owen was eaten by the bugs though and has quite a few bug bites. :(

Happy Friday!

Surprise, Wally!!!

2009-07-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from Wally's surprise birthday party at Hoffman's!

Owen's 9 month stats

2009-07-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

This is always fun!

Owen at 9 months: Weight 19 lbs. 4.5 oz height 28.5 in

Sam at 9 months: 17 lb. 12 oz. 28 in

Will at 9 months: 23 lb. 4.5 oz 29 in

Colby at 9 months: 23 lb. 8 oz. 30.5 in

Wow!! Owen is much closer to Samantha's size than he is to the other boys' size. I am amazed. And happy!! I love my little baby so much. My big babies were awesome too but it's nice to have Owen stay little a tiny bit longer.

And just today he got tooth #7 in.

Thursday

2009-07-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well...yesterday was my birthday...which means we're well into summer. It doesn't feel like it though. It's in the mid-70s I think. I want 90s so I can really enjoy the pool!!!
Will has done 4 days of bowling camp. One more to go. He loves it. I'm sorry it's ending so quickly. He has apparently learned a lot- because last night at bowling, he bowled 3 games over his average!! That is awesome!
Colby is also 4 days into summer camp and loving it.
I am on day 3 of watching my friend's daughter Adrianna and she is a little sweetheart!! Owen is enjoying having a "friend" to play with, even if they don't actually play together... Her mom thought she would be miserable but so far she is great!!
Samantha got her report card last week and all is well. All is wonderful, actually. She is on the principal's list again!! And Sarah is in her homeroom again next year. And she got a letter asking her to take advanced math. Reminds me, we need to get that in!!
Sam is enjoying sleeping in...and just chillin...
Will is loving bowling camp...
Colby is having fun at camp...
Owen is little Mr. Trouble...walking more and more...climbing over things...saying Dada every time we ask him to sat mama!!
Tomorrow is Owen's 9 month check up.

Over the weekend we moved Colby back into his old room. Owen now has his crib and changing table in the back living room, and his clothes in Will's room. Colby is ecstatic to have his room back, and Will is happy to have his all to himself again. Of course, now the back room is even more cluttered but oh well!!!

Last Day of June???

2009-06-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

Summer vacation has officially begun!! School ended last Thursday. Will and Colby had good report cards. Both are moving up a grade. We haven't gotten Sam's yet- we're waitng for it to come in the mail. (Because she took finals this year and they have to have the grades). Next year, Colby has Mrs. Donato, who was one of Sam's 6th grade teachers this year (science) and Will has Mrs. Harris, who was Sam's 5th grade homeroom teacher. Poor boys, living in Sam's shadow!

Next year I'm a bit worried. Colby's 3rd grade class is going from 4 classrooms to 3, which just makes each classroom that much bigger. That's not really good for Colby. And the 5th grade...well... I don't even know how to explain that one. Apparently the 6th grade teachers will be teaching 5th and 6th grade...somehow... we'll see how that goes. Again, not good for Will.

Last Friday we celebrated Colby's 8th birthday! We brought some boys to see the movie "up". It was really cute, even though it was a bit sad at times. I think the really sad parts went over the boys' heads. They all had fun, and I'm really glad to get that out of the way!!!

Owen now knows to go into the cabinet where we keep our cereal, and get a box out and start eating it. I prefer him eating that instead of dog food!! I know froot loops aren't the best for him, but he really doesn't get that many in his mouth :)

Owen also has now learned to climb stairs... so I can no longer leave him in the basement while I do laundry. And when I bring him outside, well, let's just say we cannot leave him alone for a second. He LOVES to eat grass...and leaves...and sticks...and whatever.

Will and Colby have decided to go to Vacation Bible School this week, so they are there. Next week Will has bowling camp and Colby starts summer camp.
Because I decided to not send Colby to summer school, he is doing work every day. And Sam and Sarah are helping me "tutor him". It's cute. So far it's working out good. But it's only day 2!!

Sam told me Wholly Cow has coconut almond fudge ice cream, so we'll probably head there later!!

On Sunday we had a barbecue to celebrate my dad's birthday and my brother Kaden's 2nd birthday. It was fun! Everone was here. And it didn't rain like we thought it would, which was great! The kids went on the trampoline, and in the pool, and played with water balloons! Samantha just played with Kaden the whole time <3 It was really nice to see Dad and Becky- first time this year for the kids. I wish we could see them more often. It was neat seeing Owen and his Uncle Zarek- they are the same size!!!

Well, happy summer vacation!!!