August 7th update

I did this layout today... it was from a sketch I found on another blog! I love the sketch, and I love the pictures, especially the middle one! Colby was so cute that day!
One of his gifts was some money from Grandma Lorna, and he finally got himself Heely's the other day...he is so proud of them!

Sarah got a new puppy....and she is Mini Shea! Not really, her name is actually Ellie, but she looks just like a mini Shea! It's so fun! She brought her over one day and Shea was so funny... she just kept sniffing the puppy. I wonder if she has that mothering instinct?

We found these baby squirrels the other day on Art's trailer. There were 6 of them... teeny tiny, pink and hairless. Art made sure not to touch/disrupt them as he moved their nest to a better place.

Will mowed the lawn! On the big mower! He's just like Daddy now!

My brother gave me these shoes! Aren't they just the sweetest little things?? Tiny is what they are! I think they are adorable and I can't believe the baby will have feet that small!
Speaking of baby... I am 32 weeks along today! Wow, it's really getting close now. He has been moving and moving and moving... hopefully flipping himself around, although I don't know because I still feel most movements in my lower abdomen. I'm thinking he's either going to be a gymnast or a contortionist... ha ha! I used to say he didn't move much... but lately, he doesn't stop! And sometimes boy does it hurt!!!

We've been busy doing school shopping. So far we've spent well over $100 just on SUPPLIES! Man, these lists are brutal!! Sam and Will both need flash drives, Sam needs a scientific calculator, and they all have very specific color-coded lists. Thank goodness we're almost done, not it's on to new clothes!!

It's August??

Well... I will go backwards from today....
Last night Samantha's travel team met at a Valley Cats game to have an "end of the season" party. Their coach had shirts made for them that said "EG Express, 12-0" with their name/number on the back. He also just happened to get these certificates in the mail yesterday... each girl and coach was sent a certificate of commendation from the legislature! He said they had seen the article in paper and sent them to him! How cool!

Yesterday was also the last day of Summer Camp. I've got no idea how 4 weeks went by so quickly! Whoosh-- did you hear that? There they went!
Camp was fun for the boys. I enjoyed my morning and afternoon walks to the bus stop. I love that the boys had lots of fun outdoor time, and swimming every day. Of course they could swim here, but they don't usually. We'll see if I can't change that. If it was up to Little Samantha, they'd be swimming in the pool all day long!
I'm not looking forward to "I'm bored....he hit me... there's nothing to do... why can't we do X... tell him to stop!..." all day long. But I suppose it's what I will have to deal with! I wish they would just get along.
And unfortunately we have a neighbor who is not the nicest child... and he tends to pit the boys against eachother. So I'm going to have to be right on top of that situation also.

On Wednesday I met Steve the midwife! My appt. was great. I gained 4 pounds in 3 weeks-- eeks! Hopefully that's mostly baby! My BP was good. The baby was great! Heartbeat was in the 130s. But he is still breech. The midwife showed me where the head was, and I felt it!! That was weird. He says if the baby hasn't turned by 36 weeks then they will do another ultrasound and decide where to go from there. I am SO SCARED of a C-section so I really hope he either turns or can be turned. There's still time, or so I'm told!!

We went to Rhode Island last weekend for the tournament. This is only part of the team. It was fun weekend- the girls had fun in the hotel, playing elevator tag and swimming and hanging out in each other's rooms. The parents had fun "meeting" at the bar at night.
The games were great! Samantha did AWESOME! There was one game where she hit the ball really hard, and the girl who went to get it sprained her knee and ended up on crutches... and that *really* upset Samantha.
In another game, a girl on the other team got herself out because she hit the ball and it ended up hitting her on the helmet, that was funny!
And in a game on Sunday, Sam got out in a really stupid way that we still don't understand... the player up to bat had a dropped third strike, so she ran to first, the player on first ran to second...and Sam was on third so she ran home. Well... apparently you can't do that... and she was called out because of "interference" and that she "baited the pitcher"...???? It stunk because she was the first one up and would have had the first run.
They played one team with a REALLY FAST pitcher... and Samantha was the ONLY one who hit off of her, and she did it every time she was up to bat! Go Sam!!
The tournament was cancelled on Sunday after their first game because it was raining and thundering and lightening. So we went home, got home around 6 PM.
It was a fun time! Their coach says they "tied for first place" although we may never know how they really did. I say they did great!! They won half their games that weekend.

Not much else going on, trying to do some "spring/summer" cleaning! HAGD!

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

July 25, 2008

Where does the time go? Who said July could be almost over? Why does summer have to end so quickly? Especially when you think you haven't really done anything yet....
Tonight Art and Samantha and I are headed to Rhode Island to watch Samantha in another softball tournament. Weird thing is, this is the *last* one. No softball after this until fall, when she starts fall ball. What will we do with our free time??
I'm hoping RI is fun. I've heard the teams they're up against are really hard. Let's just hope they don't get their spirits crushed.
The boys are going to spend the weekend with Grammy and Wally. They are taking them to Utica tomorrow to watch Colin race! Go Colin!
Poor Shea is going to have to be boarded at the vet because we have no one to watch her. I know she'll be fine, but last time she went she ended up with fleas. Not to mention she's very afraid of thunder, and it's been storming almost daily. I hope there is someone there to watch over her closely.
Isn't she a beautiful doggie??
Well, countdown now is 69 days. It seems like just yesterday it was 100. It is really flying by. And I am getting more and more uncomfortable every day. This belly is always in the way! Even sitting here hurts because it is pushing on my lungs somehow.
Kids are doing good... house is well... Art is working on blueprints for the deck... we've moved both boys into Colby's room to start the room transformation! That is not working out so well yet, but hopefully they'll get used to it soon. I'm hoping the new room is really "their's" so I don't hear anymore "Get out of MY room" from either of them. I know it's tough on them, but they were excited about it at one point!!!!
Have a happy weekend!! Good luck EG Express!!

So much happening in our world!!

On July 16, 2008 I went to the doctor for my monthly check up and also had an ultrasound done! Here are some pictures they gave me. In the first and last one, you can see the face. Doesn't the last one look like he is smiling at us? In the profile pics, that is his hand by his mouth. He was pretty still during the U/S, must have been napping!
Heart rate was a great 145. Estimated weight of the baby is 3 lbs... a whole half pound more than my books say he should be! Oh no! And, he is in a breech position. They weren't too worried about that, but I am!! I really hope he turns around, although he does have about 12 weeks or so still.... is that right?
My appt. was good too. Gained 5 pounds last month, I'm considering that mostly baby!! And my belly is measuring 26, where it should be 28, but the dr. wasn't concerned about that either. All in all it was a very short appt. I did get my blood work results and all is well.


Baby has been kicking like crazy yesterday and today, and now that I know he is butt-down it makes more sense that I am being kicked in the intestines!!
Oh, and we couldn't see "the goods" because of his very tight breech position. The tech said she still says boy though.

On July 12, my little brother Mike got married!!! It was so stressful for me, the whole week leading up the wedding. It's not fair, all Art had to do was rent a tux. I had to get a dress, get it fitted, find shoes, get my hair done, get my nails done, find outfits for the kids, make a card, etc. But it all worked out fine, and the wedding was awesome! It was outdoors, under a pavilion so it was very casual. I kept my dress on all day but most people changed into or wore shorts. I even had a cousin who was shirt-less for a while! Eeeks!
It was a really great time though. I loved seeing people that I haven't seen in years, like my favorite cousin, Christina, who lives in Florida.
My dad and Kaden and Becky and Brittanee were there too, which we were worried about, but it worked out great. The person who had the hardest time with that was Samantha... she really struggled over who to spend her time with, and who to eat with. But it worked out. I'm sorry she has to deal with at such a tender age.
<-- And look at the picture! You will never see Samantha in that dress (or anything similar, I'm sure...) again. She literally wore it for 2 hours and then changed into shorts and a tank top! But I loved seeing her in it. We purposely coordinated our outfits just to get a good family photo done.
And Mike and Renee, the new Mr. and Mrs. Boel! They were awesome. Renee looked SO beautiful on Saturday! I have so many nice pictures of her. Mike was glowing, you could tell he was really happy. And I'm surprised I didn't even cry, I usually do, and in my extra-hormonal state I just figured it was a given!



Art got really drunk at the wedding (open bar) but it was great for me because that meant he was willing to dance all night!! And I just love dancing with him at weddings.
The kids loved the free soda and food all day long too!
I would normally say "I can't believe my baby brother is married now" but then I think, I have another baby brother and possibly another on the way due in November. Wow. I'll be in my 50s when they get married. Ouch.

Go EG Express!!!
Samantha's travel team played their last game on Wednesday night, against rivals Classies Lassies, and they WON!! Meaning their overall season record was 12-0, they are undefeated! It was an awesome game on Saturday night, under the lights and with a very big crowd. Samantha made a great play-- bases loaded, 2 outs, she was in right field, and she caught a great hit that could have certainly flown right by her, she jumped and caught it! I was so proud, I hurt my hands clapping for her! Amazing she is. Now they have 2 tournaments left and maybe they'll really be done for the season?? This has been such a great experience for Sam, and for all of us.
This weekend the boys and Art are going camping with Boy Scouts. We think it's a little funny (odd?) that the camp is called Boyhaven.... ha ha ha. They are going Saturday through Monday and I'm sure they will have a good time. I wish I could go and take pictures but I'll deal with just hearing about what they did!!
The boys have been in summer camp for 2 weeks now and it is going great. It's so nice to not have to entertain them all day. But only 2 weeks left!!!
And last night we started moving around... put Will's bed in Colby's room, so we can do a thorough cleaning of Will's room and paint it before we move them both back in. And get (build?) bunk beds too. Busy busy!! But I'm starting to stress as baby is due in only 76 days!!!
Enjoy this awesome summer weather!!

What we did this weekend....

Happy 4th of July!!
Samantha ended up going to Virginia with my sister and her family to watch Colin's BMX race and to help babysit.... so it was just Art and me and the boys. We had a little BBQ at home with Grandpa Bill (I LOVE Art's hamburgers!!) and then we went into Rensselaer to watch the fireworks. We met another couple and their two boys, and immediately all the boys began playing football, along with a handful of other boys who joined in. It was great for them, and fun for us to watch. Who knew our boys played football??

On Saturday we let the boys ride on the quads. This was Will's first time on Art's big quad. Apparently he could make it so the quad didn't go very fast... I think Will only got it up to 7 miles per hour. But boy was he in his glory! He was so happy to be on the big quad! We're in trouble....

And here is Colby on the "little quad".... They love riding this thing around the yard!! He was riding right behind Will for a while!

On Friday and Saturday Art FINISHED the siding on the house!! It is ALL DONE!! Everything! What a load off of his shoulders.
And so of course, he jumped right into another project, the man just cannot sit still!!
On Sunday he ripped down the front porch (with the "help" of the boys) and put up a whole new one!

Don't you love the new porch?? I am amazed at how much better is looks. Of course, Art keeps saying "it's temporary" but I love it!! We only primed it last night. It will eventually be painted gray on the steps and the bottom, and then white on the banisters.
And my big joke- this project took Art about 8 hours and 7 beers. :)

Still Undefeated!

Samantha had a double-header game last night for her travel team. They played both games against Pine Bush. In the first game, Sam's first time at bat, she hit a triple! That was a great game for us, they ended the game early because of the mercy rule, we were up 13-2 and there was no way the other team could catch up at that point.
The second game was much closer... both teams played great! In the end though, Sam's team won- 11 to 6.
Will's friend Matthieu commented: "Sam is 11, she's number 11, and they scored 11". Cute.

Colby found this cute little frog at the ball field.

And I decided, just because I'm such a great mom/babysitter (!) that what better thing to do on the first day of summer vacation when you have six kids, then go to a dairy farm on a library field trip? Yes, I packed all the kids in the van and went to Peter's Dairy Farm in Castleton. The above picture pretty much tells you everyone's reaction. It SMELLED! Awful!
We got to see cows, baby ones and older ones, chickens and roosters and ducks, and pigs, babies and mommas. I don't know who smelled worse- the pigs or the cows. Either way, I'm glad I never had to live on a farm. Yuck! Although I suppose you would get used to it....
We were able to watch a cow being milked, and Will really seemed interested in that. In fact, he seemed to like the whole trip. Sami and Nick did too, apart from the smell!
It was fun- a nice outing, and they gave us free ice cream so it was well worth putting up with the stench. Ha ha ha.