Our 8th anniversary

Here is my incredible anniversary present from my husband. He has always been pretty creative with his gifts and has wowed me a few times before, but I think this takes the cake. Luckily I was able to see it tonight, before my actual anniversary.

We were married eight years ago on July 21, 2001 in Portsmouth, NH at Prescott Park. Our wedding was outside, on a grassy peninsula, next to the water. There was a light breeze, so the July weather was not too hot, but warm enough to be comfortable outside. I rode with my parents in a horse and carriage, and they both walked me down the aisle to my prince. We had a short ceremony, and departed together in the horse and carriage. We shared a bottle of champagne to celebrate the beginning of our life together. Our reception was an incredible celebration with all of the people we loved. It was amazing how so many people, from so many places and times in our lives, came together to drink and be merry! We stayed up all night with our friends who had traveled in for our special day, and left very early the next morning for Miami. From there, we boarded the Carnival Paradise for a cruise of the Eastern Caribbean, including Nassau, Bahamas, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas.

Eight years, and two children later, we are enjoying an incredible life together. Heres to love, marriage and blissful happiness. I am lucky enough to have it all!

The Last Day of School

Ahhh....here I sit on the last day of school. I look forward to this day starting at Christmas! The students are gone, my room is packed up, all files have been updated, and now I wait. I wait for a luncheon at 11:30, to bring closure to the this school year. I have been told that it is quite an event and that I wouldn't want to miss it. So I will attend and celebrate another school year gone by!

This summer will be eventful for us. First of all, it is the last summer with Julienne as a pre-schooler. She will begin Kindergarten in the fall. She is so ready, and amazes me with how mature she has become this year. One of the big initiatives in this area is preparing our preschoolers for school, and the phrase "Success by Six" has been used. I have been really happy with the education that Julienne has received at her daycare center. She has been there since she turned two years old, and she has been in the preschool room for the year. With the help of her teachers, she has learned so much. Recently, the teachers gave her an evaluation that will be sent on to the school she will attend in the fall. She scored perfectly in every area of the assessment. Things come so naturally and easy to Julienne. I hope that she will be challenged in Kindergarten, and continue to grow intellectually, emotionally and socially. I am confident that the school she will attend will help to achieve these goals.

Secondly, we have lots of mini trips planned for this summer. Last year, we took the mini trip approach and it worked well. Our first trip will be to Maine, where we are renting a camp with my Aunt Lori and Uncle Donald. It is located on the lake and we will be able to go fishing, swim in the lake, relax and enjoy the family. I hope that my parents will join us at the camp many of the days, and even David will be home during the week we are there. The kids are super excited to go, and especially to fish. Julienne said that going to Maine was more fun than any other vacation. She says that because both of kids love their Grammy and Grampy so much, and they are spoiled when we are in Maine. Mom has promised them some individual time with Grammy and Grampy. They will each get to spend the night at their house all by themselves.

Next we may spend a couple of days camping with our friends the Weisers and the Ludholtzs. We will not camp the entire week with them, since TJ has to work, but a couple of days might be possible.

Our next trip will be a four day trip to Virginia Beach/Williamsburg. We loved the beach last year, and definitely want to return this summer. We will go to Jamestown, so I can begin teaching my children about the first permanent English settlement in North America! There is always a History lesson to be taught! :-)

We will be camping for a weekend with the Fornadel family. I am really excited about this, because we have never camped with them. They have rented a cabin and we will take our camper. I know it will be a fun weekend!

We will celebrate our 8th anniversary on July 21st. We have not solidified our plans for our anniversary, but we are planning on doing something special to celebrate our marriage.

Our last trip of the summer will be to Pigeon Forge, TN and Dollywood. This will be the first time that we attempt a large amusement park with our children. Julienne is very timid when it comes to rides or water slides. We have explained that this trip will be the test to see if we can go to Disney World soon. She has told us that she is no longer afraid, now that she is five!

We will then spend the last few weeks of summer at home, relaxing prior to the start of the new school year on August 14th. I look forward to lazy days around our pool, and spending time with friends who come to swim. Of course, my girls will be coming each week this summer. I really look forward to these days, especially now that we don't work together anymore.

So I think that is the summary of our summer plans. I will try to keep my blog more updated over the summer when I have more time.

1st camping trip of 2009

We just arrived back after an excellent weekend camping trip with the Weisers. We planned this weekend to begin our Spring break week. On Friday, Lisa and I accompanied our families to the campground, and then left soon after for our monthly book club. I met a new member to our book club, who I have not met since I have taken my book club hiatus! :-) After a couple of hours at book club discussing the book The Shack, we left and headed to Walmart where we picked up candy and plastic Easter eggs to hide at the campground. When we got back to the campground, all of the children were asleep and our husbands were relaxing by a blazing campfire. What a way to return!

The weather on Saturday was blissful. 65 degrees with a slight breeze. These days are always my favorite, when I can wear long sleeves and be comfortable, with warm sunshine on my face. The kids played outside, collecting worms for fishing later in the day. Around lunchtime, TJ, Lisa and I took all four kids to the pond to try our luck at fishing. I didn't even believe that there were fish in the murky pond, but within five minutes, Allison had caught a HUGE fish! It was pretty impressive. The rest of us fished in vain, without even a nibble, until Julienne casually said, "Where is my bobber?" and reeled in her fish! I guess it was ladies' luck on the pond, and "Big Daddy Fisherman" TJ, was shown up by the females of the group! During the afternoon, the kids played at the playground and Lisa and I read our books by the campfire.

For dinner, we cooked pork chops over the fire, stuffing and green beans. We made s'mores for dessert, and then the kids were off to bed for the evening. Chris, Lisa, TJ and I played Spades and TJ and I emerged victorious! It was much more fun than poker.

On Sunday, we slept until 9:00 and then cooked a big community breakfast of pancakes, bacon, scrapple (yuck!), scrambled eggs and toast. There were ten of us eating, and we ate everything except a few pieces of toast and 2 pancakes! That is a lot of food! TJ and Tre left for baseball practice in H'burg around 12:30. The weather was again glorious and Chris took the girls and Ethan down to the pond for fishing. Lisa and I stuffed the Easter eggs with candy items, and watched the movie Twilight, as I had just finished the book. When the girls returned, they joined us for lunch and the last of the movie. TJ and Tre returned around 4:00, and we sent the kids off while the adults hid all 66 eggs around the campsite. The kids returned and the hunt began. We had found some camoflauged eggs, so it made the hunting a little bit harder. The kids found all but 3-4 eggs.

After the Easter egg hunt, the adults started another game of Spades while the kids played at the campsite. The Ludholtzes came to visit, and eat dinner, so we postponed the rest of our Spades game. The Weisers were beating us by about 300 points, and we stopped at a mere 10 points! The Weisers and Luds ate burgers and hot dogs, and we cooked steak, macaroni and cheese and broccoli. After dinner, it was friendship and conversation around the campfire. The kids went into the Weisers camper for a movie, and we said goodbye to the Luds. We resumed our Spades game, and miraculously, TJ and I came back to win our third game! We played one last game, and the Weisers finally beat us, horribly! Off to bed we went, after laughing until our bellies hurt during our game. It was so much fun.

We packed up this morning and headed for home. Back to the 'burg!

Feeling nostalgic

I have gone completely digital. One of my best friends became a CM consultant and with her guidance, I decided to make the digital conversion. It is great! I am completing pages in minutes, and will never be behind again! I was browsing through my old pictures and thinking about how my children have grown up so much. In my nostalgia, I decided to create a movie of me growing Tre! I have attached the video, enjoy!

Exciting news!

Oh, I forgot to share in the last post the most recent exciting news. My brother David, the perpetual bachelor, is going to have a baby! Well, not him, but his girlfriend Andrea. Although I was quite shocked at first, I am now very happy for him, and excited that I get to be an auntie again!

Blog Break

Well, I have taken quite a break from updating my blog! I tend to be a slacker at this time of the year. I think it is the post-Christmas let down. I take far fewer pictures of things, and there just does not seem to be much going on. Here are the updates from January to today.

1. On December 29th, I began going to Weight Watchers again. My goal is to lose 50 pounds. I have lost 17 so far. Woo hoo!

2.We had our annual New Year's Eve party. Julienne was quite the entertainer and sang karaoke.

3. Julienne turned five years old in February! I still cannot believe that my baby is five. I am attaching a video of her birthday festivities.

4. As Christmas gift, Libby and Tommy gave us a wonderful gift of a night away for Valentine's Day. We went to Arlington, VA to stay at the Doubletree Hotel. We shopped at the Pentagon City mall, and ate a dinner at the revolving roof top lounge. It was amazing!

5. Tre had an accident at school. He fell of the monkey bars after one child wrapped her legs around him, and another child pried his fingers from the bar. He fell flat on his back and thought he couldn't get up. Luckily I was home that day with a sick Julienne and could make it to the school before the ambulance left. Julienne and I rode to the hospital with Tre in the ambulance. Thankfully, he was fine and only sore for a few days. Both of the other children were suspended for a day. Over half of the parents of students in Tre's class called to check on him that night. The kids each made cards wishing him well and gave them to him the next day. The love and support were overwhelming. Tre is a very loved child.

4. We have decided to try to sell our house. We would like to find a house that is a bit larger, with a bigger garage and more closet space. We will see what happens.

Christmas Dinner at Lori's house

The men of the family.

The women of the family.

Who loves Christmas? This guy!

Jon wishes he had TJ's arms.

Ian gets reindeer antlers. The antlers are his intitiation gift into our family. There is no turning back now!

Tre opens his gift from Aunt Lori and Uncle Donald.

Brian loves Kayleigh's Dora nightlight.

Merry Christmas Kayleigh!

Kayleigh LOVES Dora and Grampy!

Tre helps hand out the gifts.

Silly Jon and Tre.

Silly Julienne!

In the afternoon, on Christmas day, we headed to my Aunt Lori's house for dinner and more presents. Our family is pretty large, so instead of buying for each person, all of the adults draw a name to buy for, and each adult buys for the kids. We try to keep the presents focused around the children. We opened our adult exchange gifts at Lori's house. I had Brian to buy for and TJ had my cousin Kassandra.

My aunt Lori always had an amazing spread of food. She is really good at preparing appetizer- type foods, and I look forward to her house for the food. My favorite item that she makes is Strawberry salad with poppy seed dressing and sunflower seeds. YUMMY! This year, we had all of the fixings for sandwiches, meatballs, vegetable and fruit platters, caramel coated cashews, and shrimp. I ate for hours!

Our family is definitley not a traditional Christmas card picture family. Here is a list of things we are and are not:

Things we are not:

1. Organized

2. Patient

3. Appropriate

Things we are:

1. LOUD- The loudest talker gets the floor!

2. funny

3. together- we value our family time

4. Loyal and protective of one another

5. Loving

Is it over yet?

Christmas Morning

After a fun Christmas Eve get together, TJ and I helped get the kids ready for bed since they were staying at Grammy's house. We had been tracking Santa's trip on Norad, and as it got later, Santa was getting closer. After checking the computer, Julienne came barreling down the stairs. TJ was there and started to tell her to pick up her coat off the floor. Julienne, in a flush of excitement said, "I don't have time for questions Dad, Santa is in CanaGa!" It was adorable!

After tucking the kids in to bed wearing their new Christmas jammies from Grammy, and after helping my mom clean up, we headed back to the hotel. The plan was for us to wake up early and be back at my mom's house before the kids woke up on Christmas morning. We woke up early and arrived at my Mom's at 8:00am, just after Julienne had woken, and just in time for the Christmas festivities.

We waited for Shonna, Brian and Kayleigh to arrive before we began opening presents. Then, the fun began. The kids always get so many things at Christmas. It makes me feel very fortunate to have the means to spoil the kids in such a way. It also makes me wary that my kids do not realize how fortunate we are. We always try to go through our old toys and things before Christmas, to weed out toys that are no longer used. Then we usually donate these items, so that children who are not as fortunate can have nice things for Christmas. One of my biggest goals as a parent is not only to provide for my children, but also to raise them to be humble, and appreciative of all the nice things we are able to provide. So far, I think we are doing a good job.

We opened presents for a while, and then my dad cooked a huge breakfast. We ate until we had Santa bellies, and basked in the warm glow of Christmas and family. We had more plans for later in the day, so soon we are dispersed to our own homes, or hotel. We would shower and dress there, and then journey to my Aunt Lori's house for Christmas dinner in the afternoon.

Christmas Eve: Family Photos

Here is my crazy Maine family!

Christmas Eve: Yankee Swap

On Christmas Eve, my parents always have a party at their house. All of our family gets together to celebrate. For the past few years, we have had a Yankee Swap. Each person buys a wrapped gift that they would want to receive. Each person draws a number in the order that they will choose their gift. Once they have chosen a gift, they may choose to keep it, or to swap with someone else. The person who draws number one has the advantage because they get to draw the first gift and then swap at the very end. Last year, after a person drew a gift, the immediately unwrapped it to decide if they wanted to swap. TJ had purchased lottery tickets, and they were swapped several times. At the end of the swap, my mom had ended up with the tickets. Then she went to scratch them and discovered that the tickets were already scratched! TJ had pulled a fast one on my mom!

This year, TJ suggested that we not unwrap the gifts. Then there would be more chance involved in the choice to swap gifts. No one would know what their gift was until the end. Some of us like the new way, others did not, so we swapped without unwrapping, but then did another swap at the end. I ended up with candles that are in little coffee cups that match my kitchen perfectly. TJ ended up with the Rubik's cube that he brought. My gift of a Dunkin' Donuts gift card was the gift that was swapped the most.

Visiting Kringelville

The day after we got to Maine, the temperature was a balmy -1 degrees and we were under a blizzard warning. By Monday morning we had received about 18 inches of snow! It was so great to know that we would have a white Christmas. Christmas in Virginia with warm weather and no snow, just isn't the same kind of Christmas.

Entering Kringelville, into Santa's cottage.

On Monday evening, we met my mom after work and made a very special visit to Kringelville to see Santa. Kayleigh had already been to visit Santa, but Tre and Julienne had not. We trudged through the snow to a cleared pathway leading up to Santa's cottage. It was a small red building, jammed packed with people. We waited outside in the bitter cold, until we could finally squeeze into the building. Once inside the toasty bulding of Santa, we waited patiently as Santa heard each child's wished and requests. Santa was perfect; jolly red cheeks, twinkling blue eyes, an immaculate red suit and a beard was a white as the two feet of snow outside the door. He had a kind manner about him and he gave each child individual attention and care.

Tre got to go first and talk with Santa about how he had been a good boy this year. Next was Kayleigh, who sat like abig girl on his lap and even smiled for me to take a picture. Julienne was next, but decided she wasn't having it. She wanted nothing to do with Santa, or sitting on his lap. TJ even took a turn with Santa, to tell how he had been a good boy this year.

Before we left, each child got to sign, or have Mrs. Claus write his or her name in Santa's book.

Each child also got a letter from Kringelville, with their names on the letter. It was a wonderful experience for the kids, and the snow made it absolutely perfect!