Memorial Day

Isn't this rainbow beautiful?




Here are some pictures from our Memorial Day weekend. I took the kids up to Schroon River Campsites, where my mom has a seasonal camp. We went Saturday- Monday. On Saturday night, the boys went exploring and came back with a friend- Colby's friend Haley, who is in his class at school and who lives up the street. We were so surprised to see her! But it was great for Colby to have another friend there that weekend.
There is a picture above of Samantha and my cousin Jenn... she is Sam's *idol*! And what a great idol to have... .Jenn is 23, just graduated from Smith College with a 4.0 average, majoring in math. She is going to UMASS in the fall, to graduate school. Samantha loves math too, and Jenn brought some very cool and fun math games to play. I think it's great that to keep Sam happy, all you really need to do is write out some math problems for her! She loves algebra right now.
There is also a picture of Sam and Josh. Josh is 20... and he is about to embark on a really cool trip-- he is driving cross-country to Oregon to live there. He has no real plan, but he wants to be in a band and he knows that's the best place for him to go. I wish him the best of luck-- this is perfect time in his life to do something like this!!!
And, it was also my brother Mike's birthday on Saturday, so of course we had cake for him. We also had cake for Kristy, one of Tom's son's girlfriend... and it was tiramisu... which I'd never had, but it was really yummy!
The last picture is the group... MaryLou, Grammy, Colin, Will, Jenn, Samantha, Braelyn, and in front, Colby and Nellie.
Art didn't go with us because he and his buddies went 4-wheeling on Sunday. He needed a day of fun!! He also cleaned the pool, worked on the siding, did some cleaning, and picked some wildflowers for me and had them set up in a vase to see when we got home! How sweet!!!!!

Is that a rooster?

Will really needed a haircut, but he refuses to get rid of the mohawk!! And so, we made it a "true" mohawk... he used his hair cement and make it stick right up! Yes, he looks like a rooster!
But he absolutely loves his hair like this, and it is so HIM right now. And really, how bad is a mohawk in the whole scheme of things?
The concert went great last night. Will has his solo and he was AWESOME! I used my new video camera to take a video of it :-)
And Colby's friend Matthew sat with us during the show which was nice. I tried to take pictures, but they were being too goofy! Chase ended up with them for a bit too... all 3 of them in the same seat! It was cute!
And Sam went to the festival planning to meet "Joey" her new love interest. Oh boy!
HAPPY WEDNESDAY

I thought this was so cute! Colby did it at school. Yes, he did cut his own hair... yes, he has rolled down the hill...yes, he likes oranges... yes, he likes blue... and yup, he still likes oranges! And what a great little self portrait! Looks like he's running!

Colby's class started an end-of-year countdown today... they are going by the letter of the alphabet... so only 26 days left of school! Wow, where did the year go? My daughter can't possibly be big enough to be a sixth grader... Will certainly can't be going into middle school...and Colby is old enough to be a second grader? How did that happen, really? Oy, I can only imagine what next year will be like!

Tonight Will has a spring concert and he has a solo so wish him luck!

Sam played a scrimmage over the weekend for her travel team and WOW! That's all i can say, WOW! It was amazing. The rules are totally different and the girls are really GOOD. Sam played awesome, she was right up there with the rest of them. But she really needs to learn a few things, some rules, how to slide, what the coach's little signals mean...!! I guess this is what happens when you join a team a week before the scrimmage.
And just you have something to compare the team to, Sam and I went to a Maple Hill High School Girl's Varsity softball team game yesterday... and I think the pitchers pitched just as fast as the girls on Sam's travel team. WOW!

Baby Bean is doing well. He doesn't seem to be a big mover, but I'm not complaing! Colby was always moving around in there, and look at him now!! I wouldn't be unhappy with a docile little baby! My nausea seems to have made a re-appearance though... just at night, just the last few days. I'm hoping it goes away. It's not bad enough to have to take the meds at night, so I'll live with it. We still need to decide on a name... Will suggested Billy Bob... I don't think so!! And of course now that I know it's a boy, I've been on ebay a lot looking up cute little outfits!! A friend of our's gave us little booties and a hat and they are so tiny!!!

Enjoy your Tuesday :-)

Our Results!!!

I forgot to add this picture to the blog in the last entry... but along with the landscaping we did, we also PAVED the driveway! It was very exciting because we have had the dirt/mud/rock driveway for almost 8 years. It was time!

Here is a belly shot too... this was taken late last week... Samantha took it, and I must have been talking, hence the funny look on my face! And Art just had to get in there and do a belly shot too. Let's see, who do you think will be bigger come October? (and I just have to comment on the saggy butt and tell you it's really just my pants because they are undone... I should edit that photo!!)

And the big news!!! We had our ultrasound yesterday and IT'S A BOY! They were pretty sure... they froze the frame right on the "boy parts" so it was pretty obvious. I suppose it *may* have been a cord, but it had a distinct beginning and end! His heartbeat was 141 and he is a whopping 12 ounces. He didn't move much during the scan... waved a few times and moved his legs. But no acrobatics! And I don't feel him moving in my belly all that much either... maybe this will be a child who isn't so rammy? Doubtful once he sees his older brothers though! Everything looked good as far as I could tell (and really, I'm no expert, I had thought I saw girl parts...) the heart has 4 chambers, you could see his bones... in the picture you can see his ribs... we also saw the hands ands the legs and the spine... so so cool!!
Now we get to buy cute little boy stuff again!!!

Just keeps getting better!!!

We spent yesterday (Sunday) doing a little landscaping, and I am loving the results!! It just keeps getting better and better, really!

Here is the "Before" photo... you can see the old red mulch, the empty space in the corner... but I must say I'm excited to see my day lilies and tickseed coming up!





Here is the "after" picture of that same area. Now we have black mulch, which just a few years ago I hated and swore I would never have... but for some reason I like it now!! We put in some heather on the end... and some pansies and snapdragons to fill in some empty space before the end-of-summer flowers begin to bloom. Now, if only the grass was all green....!



This is the other side of the yard... you can see the mulch and all the little annual flowers we planted. Colby picked out pansies, Daddy liked the snapdragons, Will got the little ones with red flowers that I can't remember the name of, Sam picked out the heather, and Mommy wanted the marigolds. Samantha was such a big help, she dug a lot of the holes and planted a lot of the flowers! It's great to have a helper who actually can do the work! The boys wanted to help but they ended up doing something else....


They went in the pool! Yes, they are crazy. We just put it up yesterday, and they were so eager to get in. It was pretty hot out but the water was ice cold. Obviously it wasn't too cold for them. I don't understand them!! Sam also "tried" to get in but didn't make it past the ladder.

Colby is 7 years old!

Who can believe, really, that little Colby is seven years old? It really seems like he was just a baby, just yesterday! And of course, he IS our baby....for now, anyways!!
Colby's birthday was Wednesday the 7th. He thought it was very cool that we had a party at 7 on the 7th and he turned 7!
This picture was taken at school...the spring picture. I love it so much, which stinks because I didn't plan on buying any. But they tease you by sending them home and you just send back what you don't want. Don't do that to me!! I love this picture!! And you can't even see the road rash!
Colby got a Gameboy DS for his birthday, which he has been wanting forever! Will handed him the gift, and when he opened it, he gave Will a really big hug! It was cute!! And after that he gave EVERYONE a hug when he opened their gifts! Grammy and Wally were there, Aunt Amy, Braelyn, Nellie, Uncle Mike and Renee, and Grandpa Bill. It was lots of fun. Papa even called that night, which really made Colby happy.
Happy birthday, Cheddar!

In totally unrelated news, I am happy to say that Samantha has been scouted!! Ha ha! That's what I consider it, anyways! At her last softball game, her assistant coach came up to us... he is the head coach for the girl's travel A team... and he wanted Sam on the team! This team you had to try out for back in the fall, and Sam didn't want to do it then. But she does now, and she is officially on the travel team! He said she is really good, has a great attitude and it's apparent that she loves the game! I am SO proud of her! I love that other people can see her talent besides me! (Don't all moms thinks their kids are the most talented?) So she will attend the next practice, but there really aren't many before the games and tournaments begin. The team has been practicing since the fall! Go Sam! Go Sam!

Colby started tee-ball!

On Saturday May 3rd Colby has his first game of teeball, and the opening day parade! He was so adorable! The day started off rainy, and we were worried that they were going to cancel the game. But no, they were troopers and played! It actually stopped raining before the game even started!

Tee ball is cute... everyone bats until they hit the ball, and they all run around the bases. They *can* get each other out, but most of them have no clue how to do that, and if they do, they aren't quick enough.

However- when Colby played first base, the ball came right to him, and he got the player out! It was the only out in the whole game! Go, Colby!!

Samantha also had a game on Saturday... she pitched again! She is really enjoying pitching, and she is pretty good! So, Sam!

On Saturday Will went bowling with his friend Elijah, and scored a 180! Wow, Will! That is his highest ever! Elijah's mom was pretty impressed with Will's bowling ability- he got strikes and spares all in a row! I'm glad he got the chance to bowl, his summer bowling doesn't start until the end of June.

And Little Bean is doing well. Next Tuesday May 13 is the BIG ultrasound! All of the kids and Daddy are going to go. We're really hoping we find out the gender of Little Bean! And I've hit a milestone- only 150 days left until my due date!!
Baby has been moving more and more. I mostly feel it when I lay down to go to bed. And it's always in the same spot so I'm eager to see the ultrasound and see the position of the baby... I'm pretty sure it's feet are on the lower left side of my belly. One night I was able to push on my belly and feel it hit me back... but usually it's just a kick here and there. Exciting!!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!