This one's for you Tracey! ;-)

Had a weekend visit with Steve's cousin Rob and his wife Tracey and their 3 children (Erik, Lauren and Jason) a couple weeks ago. Most of my pics didn't turn out so well but this one one was a winner. Hope you like it Tracey!



ps~ for all of you who don't know, Steve is 5ft 11. Rob is tall! :-)

Happy Father's Day

Hope everyone out there is enjoying the special day. We decided to gather up the kids and take a ride out to the Shenandoah Mountains for a picnic. It was a nice day.





Too bad this one isn't in focus...I love Cal's smile!




This lady scared me so much holding her child while sitting on the wall. I found myself a bit anxious just standing close... nice picture though huh?




Max making room for himself in the back seat.
Nolan having his one and only melt down. He had a really good day for all of you that know us and have been out with us. ;-P He fell asleep soon after.

Helen has been playing with my camera...funny.

Found this:

and this (it's a little misleading in the beginning...don't worry it's not x-rated!):

Patio is ready to go. Just need some sun.

Lately, I feel as if I have been living in Seattle Washington. SO MUCH RAIN! What's up with that?

Steve took off from work last week to finish the swingset project but found himself building it piece by piece in the garage. The rain just wouldn't let up. He finally did get much of it together outside but it is still not completely finished.

This weekend was too busy to devote any time to the swingset as Max had his junior prom on Friday evening. This was not an easy task as he went to the prom back in NJ with his friend Sarah. He had a great time so the effort was worth it and he looked great in his tux. Sarah's dress was stunning. Steve even picked up Italian subs on his way home the next evening. We miss our NJ subs!!!!

And finally, my patio set which was on backorder since March, has arrived! It's a nice long table with plenty of room for all of us at it! woo hoo! So we are getting there. Could really use some sun though!

A wonderful Mother's Day.

Guess what I did today?

Absolutely nothing...or so I thought. You see it's Mother's Day and everyone is giving me the day off to show appreciation for the many things I do for them daily. Not that we are looking for a constant reminder of their thankfulness, but a little appreciation can go a long way. Like today for instance.

I was telling my children what a wonderful day I had and thank you for giving me the day off. "I didn't have to do anything today", I bragged. But Helen, my daughter who looks forward to these little battles of wit, hesitates a moment and gives a little choked giggle. "What?" I say trying to figure out what she's making fun of me NOW for.

Well, you didn't actually "do nothing".

I didn't do a thing!

Yes, you did. You unloaded the dishwasher and made the little kids lunch and then reloaded it.

Okay, but I let you kids (the older 3) warm up your own leftovers for lunch. So, I really didn't do much at all. Your father did breakfast.

Well, I saw you fold the towels and then wash my gym uniform earlier too.

And it's still in the dryer missy, which I just may let you fold when it's dry. :-P

Well, then you made us pizza for dinner and I bet you'll clean that up too.

It was frozen pizza Helen, hardly mentionable. I thought it was the least I could do since Daddy is buying me takeout from Bonefish Grill when he gets done building your swingset this evening. He's been out there all day. And... I didn't even make my bed today either. So there, I didn't really do anything.

I saw you feed the dogs.

I sigh...

Helen just looked back at me with the all knowing gloat that she has gotten down pat. Not another word though.


So, for all you mothers out there who didn't do anything today and took the day off. Enjoy it! Even if you did do a few things, nothing feels better than pretending you didn't!

And I really didn't do anything today...comparatively speaking of course.

I turned 42 last Wednesday.

I know I haven't been keeping up with this blog. Been having a hard time living in the present lately. Lots of thoughts swirling through my mind the past few weeks. Hard to wrap my brain around it all. I feel like I have been watching a video of my life and I keep pushing the rewind button. I am sure a lot of it has to do with joining facebook and seeing all those familiar faces from a time which seemed to be a life time ago yet at the same time seems like only yesterday. I think much of it is also about turning 42. I suddenly realized that I am going to wake up one day soon and find myself at 50. It's going that fast. I never get hung up on birthdays much but for some reason this one has landed me in an emotional place. I have also been feeling pretty ill lately which hasn't helped the situation. This thyroid problem has really gotten the best of me. I'm tired most of the time and just not in the mood to do much of anything or go anywhere.



So before I totally go depressing everyone, I will post a picture of the beautiful flowers Steve brought home for my birthday along with a big bottle of "Calyx" (my favorite perfume).





AND...


A big thank you to Tracy from http://myminivanrocks.wordpress.com/ for thinking of me!!!! No one has ever done something like that for me! (Although as of lately, I really deserve the "lame blogger" award!) You are a sweetheart! I will respond soon!

The swing set saga continues...

The land has been cleared and only stumps remain. Steve rented a piece of machinery this weekend to grind down all the stumps. This thing is LOUD! Anyway, it's going to take him a while. The kids have been hanging out on the screen porch enjoying the show.

Starting to get the screened porch together. We moved the ping pong table out there and one of our old patio sets. I am looking forward to enjoying a few margaritas over a game of table tennis. It is a nice place to watch the children play on their swing set too. We ordered a new dining set for the main patio area and expecting it to be delivered late April.
It's a big long table that seats 10! I'm excited!

Lastly, poor Cal had to have minor foot surgery to remove both the sides of the nail on his big toe. He kept getting ingrown nails and they were very painful. I had the same thing done years ago and so did my father. We have bad toe genes! haha Here is is soaking his feet.