Another Update!

Colby and Little Samantha made a castle using *all* of the soft blocks! They were so proud, I just had to take their picture. And then of course Colby freaked out if anyone even went near it. It was probably up for a couple of hours before Shea finally knocked it with her tail.

I just had to include this picture on my blog!
I consider this total redneck! Will brought me this flower, and it was wilted on the counter so Art put it in water-- in a beer can! It thrived though, and it's still there 4 days later...

Friday, the first real day of summer vacation, we decided to go to Grafton Lake. It was fun! We went with the Coledas. The kids brought all of our beach toys in the big blue tote, and then ended up dumping them and playing with the tote instead. I thought it was funny that Will kept sitting IN the tote-- when there was a huge lake right nearby! The big tote did end up being the hit of the day though! All the kids at the beach were using it.

Here is a picture of me that Samantha took at the beach. 26 weeks and 1 day pregnant. You can finally see the baby belly!! He's in there, growing fast now.
Samantha's travel softball team had a big tournament over the weekend. They played 3 games on Sunday. The first game, they creamed the other team, 21-6. The second game, which was right after the first, they did awful. They just weren't playing up to par. And halfway through, Samantha was taken out because she wasn't feeling well and was crying. Poor sweetie! She did play the third game (they had 2 hours in between those games) and she did great. Hit a big hit way out past second base- but it was caught. This was a good game. They kept the score tied, and had to go into 2 extra innings. Unfortunately, the other team won by one.
On Sunday they played again at 9 a.m. This was a really good game. They played against Brewster. We were ahead for most of the game... Samantha hit a nice long hit that let two runners get home!!! That was probably the highlight of the game! (to me, anyways) In the end, Brewster won by one run... so they were out of the tournament. Oh well. Really, Sam needed a day of rest!
The boys spent the weekend with Grammy and Wally at Grammy's camp. That was fun for them- I don't think they've ever gone without Samantha. Grammy said they didn't fight at all. Hmm... not sure if I believe that one!

Big Congrats to Samantha!!

Today was the last day of school. Samantha finished 5th grade, and they had a slide show/awards presentation. I had no idea what to expect, but of course I went.
Well, the first thing they did was have two students get up and present a project they did that the ELA teacher praised highly...and it was Sam and her friend Hunter! Very cool! She was also given a certificate for participating in Student Council this year. AND- she was recognized for starting a reading club, and then given an award for reading 100 books!! As if that wasn't enough, she was given awards because:
She had the **highest average** in her homeroom for both science and ELA. And she had the **second highest** average in her homeroom for math and social studies!!
I am so so so proud of her! What a smart cookie I have. And of course, we all know she gets it from me! Ha ha ha.
On another note, the EG Express, her travel softball team, played a game last night against the Classie Lassies, another local team who are supposedly the best. Both teams were undefeated last night. And I'm sure you can guess, that Sam's team won! So Sam's team is still undefeated! How awesome!
Speaking of softball, she is going to be in a very long tournament this weekend. On Saturday she has games at 9, 11 and 3.... and depending on how they did will determine when/how many games they play on Sunday! Oy!!
Thank goodness my mom has offered to take the boys to her camp this weekend. So Art and I can just enjoy watching Sam play and not worry about the boys being terribly bored!
Will had his first summer bowling last night. He bowled a 90, a 99 and 109. Great job Will! He also met quite a few new friends, which is always a plus.
I ran into Avianna and Deyanna at the awards ceremony today. Oh my goodness, they are so stinking cute!! Seeing them made me really miss them. And Deyanna gave me the longest hug/cuddle. I couldn't pick up Avi though... poor girl weighs way too much for me to pick up right now.
And someone please stop me-- I am getting addicted to ebay!! They have so many adorable little boy outfits on there!! And seeing as there are only 98 days until our due date, this little guy needs some clothes!! Samantha is partial to ducks right now, so we are getting lots of little duck outfits. They are so so so cute. This will be one well-dressed little fellow!
Now if we could only decide on a name for good!!!
As I mentioned, school is over... the boys both got great teachers next year. Sam is disappointed with hers but I heard from other parents that he is great so I'm not worried. Can't believe my son is going to middle school next year!! How did that happen??? I really really hope his teacher likes him and is good with him....
Happy Thursday!

Happy Birthday, Kaden!

It's hard to believe that Kaden is a year old already. As Will said, "It's been a year already?"
It's kinda sad that we've only seen him 3 times in his whole life... but what are you going to do? His party was held at their house, and it was nice. They decorated with a Cars theme. It was beautiful weather so the kids were able to enjoy the pool. And Will really enjoyed the goulash! Ha ha. Kaden was adorable, as always. He took a liking to Samantha right away, and I think she pretty much held him the whole time we were there. He wasn't too overly smiley, but I think he was a bit overwhelmed with all the people. Not to mention, he doesn't even know us.
Happy Birthday, Little Brother!

An update!

It's been a busy week! On Tuesday Will had his third grade field day, after being rescheduled twice. I put myself down as a volunteer, and told them I just wanted to serve food. BUT- I ended up with my own group. And even the teacher admitted it was the hardest group! Seven very active and loud boys! Thank goodness two other parents came to help!
Will absolutely loves this tattoo he got there!

I guess I uploaded the wrong photo.... but here is a picture of the boys earning their blue belts! I am so proud of them, because it is definitely getting harder and harder for them. Congrats boys!

Last night our Girl Scout troop spent the night in my co-leader's barn. Her son Joe was there, as was his friend Jake (Sam's second grade crush!) and they had their guitars. Sam was really interested in them, so they taught her how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". She taught it to Will too! Which I love!
The overnight was fun! The girls had pizza, swam a few times, had a fire, played card games, and this morning, swam again! It was fun, and even though they went to bed at a decent hour (11) I am REALLY tired!!!

When I got home this morning, Art had the boys out in the backyard fishing! I was so happy to see that, because they both got new fishing poles for their birthdays!
Both boys caught fish! Colby actually caught two, but I wasn't home for the first one.
They love to fish! And I'm so glad they caught something!

Happy Saturday!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Art! And my Dad! And my Father in Law!

We had a fun, and very busy day today! It all began at 9:30 a.m., when we were out the door to begin our day! We had to be in Brunswick by 10:30 for Samantha's travel team games. She played once at 11 and again at 1. So far so good! The first game ended at 18 to 4 (EG Express won!) and the second game ended at 11 to 4 (EG Express won again!) Which means they are undefeated at this point! How exciting! And Samantha played awesome- of course! In both games, while playing 3rd base, she got players out! It is really amazing to watch her play and especially when plays well!! It's nice to hear her coach praise her, too. And he rewards their wins with ice cream, so she really scored!! The games were amazing! Hot, very very hot, but amazing. And apparently I bought inferior sunblock because we all ended up burned in some spots. Thank goodness the ball field had a pavilion, we discovered that finally and sat in some shade! And the boys found some kids to play with too, that was nice, because they were driving us crazy with their fighting and arguing.

After Sam's games, we had to go right to Colby's last teeball game. How bittersweet that it is ending already. We did stop home and picked up the easy-up and Shea and brought them both with us. Let me tell you, we were very popular people with the easy-up! And I got some cute pictures of Colby playing and posing for me! He already says he is going to play next year.
And what do you think of these pictures? Colby is loving his new cowboy hat and so we decided to take a bunch of pictures of us all wearing it! I love the picture Art took of me! And I think he looks so cute in the one of him! And Colby, everyone kept saying he could be in the Huck Finn's Warehouse Commercials! He's such a cutie!
We ended the evening by bringing Art's dad out for dinner. Did I mention he was with us all day for the games? Yes, I'm sure we tired him out!! But it was great having him with us, the kids really love hanging with him. At one point they were playing frisbee and the frisbee flew on top of a building, so they went and found a ladder and got it!! I would have just left it!
So now we are burned and tired so I am headed to bed. Have a great night!

Lovely Saturday!

This is just a really cute picture I took of Nick on Thursday! Thursday was Will's field day at school. Here is a picture of him and his best friend, Elijah. The day was great, no too hot and (like it was earlier in the week!) and no too cold (like it was for Colby's field day). We could not have asked for anything better. And oops, I forgot the sunblock and Will and I got sunburned.






Today we threw a "surprise" birthday party for Colby. We didn't actually say "surprise" but he didn't know about it at all until the kids started showing up. I thought 6 was a nice, small number of friends to invite... and then 2 extras stayed... and wow! 10 boys in all!! Between the pool and the trampoline and the hose they stayed pretty well occupied though. It was fun.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. We woke up to rain. And as soon as the party was ending, it started thundering! Perfect timing!

Here is an awesome picture of Colby in his new cowboy hat, doesn't he look so ADORABLE?

Well, Samantha's rec team won their game last night and made it to the championship game today. But they lost by 2 points. Oh well... I think it's awesome that they made it that far!!! And it's not like we don't have lots more softball in our future. We have two games tomorrow for the travel team!

We just watched "Mr. Bean's Holiday" (dumb) and Sam has a friend sleeping over. All of the kids are downstairs. I really hope they go to bed soon!!

Wednesday Update!

Gee, I didn't realize it's been so long since I've updated this blog!

Today is Wednesday, June 11, 2008. We just got out of a major heat wave- it hit 100 degrees yesterday! Thank goodness we have the pool set up. Even I have been in it twice (and that's quite a site with the belly, believe me!)

Here are a couple of pictures to share. The top one I just thought was so cute. Colby and Shea were asleep on our bed. Colby looks so comfy and Shea of course is loving being there. I really need to find a way to get Colby to sleep all night in his own bed!

The second picture is of Will last week playing tug o war with the boy scouts. He was so cute! Everyone kept yelling "Pull, Will!" and when they won (because the always did) the boys would run up and hug Will! It really made him feel good. I tried to get a picture of his "tough" face but it was too hard to catch.

And the last picture is a belly picture. This is 23 weeks. It's there, really it is.
Baby is doing well. Moving around a lot. Causing me a lot of grief- I won't complain, but I'll tell you, I could do without the constant heartburn, the painful leg cramps, the constant backaches, and the insomnia! But honestly, feeling the baby move makes it all worth it!


Other things... Samantha's softball team is doing awesome! Her rec team had their first playoff game last night and they "won"... although it was just a formality because the other team forfeited. But they still move on, next game is Friday.

I am throwing a surprise birthday party for Colby on Saturday (he has no idea) and wouldn't you know the championship game for softball is the same day/time? I almost hope they lose, how bad is that?

And I to see Kaden on Sunday because it was my dad's birthday!! He is so darn cute! I wish I had brought my camera because he was adorable. We are going to see him again on the 21st for his 1st birthday. Hard to believe he's gonna be a year old. Even harder to believe he's going to be a big brother!!! And an uncle at the same time!

Have a fun Wednesday! :)

Mystic Seaport, Connecticut

Samantha's class took a trip to Mystic on 5/30/2008. I was lucky enough to be chosen as a chaperone, and even luckier that the only kid I had to be in charge of was my own!! We left the school at 6:45 am, returned at 8:30 pm. It was a 3 hour ride (thank goodness for the motion sickness patch I was able to take!) We were on our own for about 7 hours in the seaport. Mostly we hung around with Sarah and her mom, and Bella and Heather and their dads.

We got to take a ride on a boat which almost put me to sleep!!


Mostly we just walked around and looked at everything. Some of the little houses/stores etc. had people in them, and they would tell us all about the building and what went on back in the 1800s.

I got stuck looking at a rowing exhibit- the girls left me alone with a guide who was *very* talkative. It was interesting, but....

And then, when I was finally able to leave, I went outside and the girls were giggling. Turns out when they were leaving a woman said "Wasn't there an old lady with you?" I've never been called an OLD LADY before!!!

It was a really beautiful day, not too hot and not too cold. Made walking around very pleasant.
It was great day, a fun trip, nice to spend time with just Samantha.

And Samantha, by the way, is the BEST student ever! The kids were given packets of questions that they had to answer. All 3 other girls said "We don't really have to do it" but Samantha made sure she got every question done. She is so wonderful!!