"Labor" Day

EVERY "working" picture of Debbie had this same expression. Let's think about that.

Godmothers shouldn't be a bad influence

Emma loves to pick on Aunt Janet

Chico, barking out the orders

Go Bucks!

Sharon would be ashamed. Dennis CAN'T work and talk at the same time.

Amy making the most delicious egg rolls ever. But where's the friiirice?

Some things took a bit more work. Notice Debbie's face?!

My hard-workin' man!

Ready for the siding!

Labor Day in Ohio this year gave a whole new meaning to the holiday's name. Some of us actually did some manual LABOR over Labor Day weekend. Allan took half a day off and we yanked Will and Emma out of school an hour early to hit the road for Ohio. We arrived at Mom S.'s house just in time for a cold beer before bed. Those are the best beers.

First thing Saturday morning, Allan hit the road for Chico's to start yanking off old siding and preparing for some new Certainteed fiber cement siding. Ahhhhh!!!!! I think I saw the house tremble with excitement at being covered with such a fine product. Mom, the kids and I arrived a little later - just in time to help make egg rolls and visit with Jill, Wyatt and Evan. Yeah!!!

I have to admit that it was a bit frustrating, sitting around watching the work being done and not being able to contribute. I'm pretty sure no one reading this has EVER seen me with a hammer in my hand, so I think you understand what I am saying. I can do my fair share of work, but construction is the one activity that you won't see me involved in. Nor do you want to!

Nonetheless, it was wonderful being to catch up with the girls. It was just good to be with family again after such a long time.

And it made me happy to see Allan with his brothers. They really love to work together. It was great to be able to give back after all that they have given to us.

The kids had a great time playing with Wyatt while he was there, playing on the skateboard ramp in the barn, peeing in the corn field (inside story) and picking tomatoes. A good time was had by all!

Just the Two of Us

Jack and I have been having so much fun together since the big kids have gone back to school. If you talk to him, he will tell you that I work too much and don't play with him enough. Of course, there are always two sides to every story. I have been enjoying the one-on-one time with him and the ability to carry on a conversation without interruptions. It is seriously a battle in this house to be heard!

Yesterday, Jack and I mowed, planted flower bulbs, jumped on the trampoline and played in the tree house. It was such a beautiful day and I was so fortunate to be able to spend it with Jack. Here are some pictures of my big guy.

Another One Gone!

As if the first day of school wasn't exciting enough, Emma had to make it even more so by losing a tooth as soon as she arrived home. We were standing around talking about their day and in the midst of one of Will's long stories, Emma simply pulled her tooth out! I really think she was shocked.

The tooth fairy was so impressed that she left 3 gold coins! Wow!

No Tears This Year!

No nervous anxiety, no tears, no racing around (I'm referring to me, of course). That was this morning. Emma was up by 6:15 taking out her curlers and the boys were right behind her. Poor Will didn't even get to try out his alarm clock that was set the night before. I guess that means that everyone, including me, was ready for the first day of school.

We had the traditional green eggs and ham for breakfast, packed lunches (leftover spaghetti for Emma and clam chowder for Will) and took the traditional First Day of School pictures with signs in hand!

I have to say though, Jack was none to happy to find out that it wasn't HIS first day of school. To ease his pain, I explained that he would have lots of alone time with me. He got a big grin and said that he was going to "kiss Daddy's woman all day!" Seriously, how can I send him to Kindergarten NEXT year?! I just don't see it happening - ever.

Now that they are home, I am happy to announce that everyone (Jack and I included) had a great day!

In case anyone is wondering, Jack and I spent the morning playing Polly Pockets (his request), reading Willy Wonka and kissing. We then headed out to a new fabric store that carries Amy Butler AND Heather Bailey goodies. I was so excited I almost giggled. I picked up a few things to start sewing again. Yeah!!!!!

IOP 2009

The girls

My men

My hottie

Having fun in the water fountain

Scott & Jen

Will finds a crab while ocean seining

Scott & Allan help out with the ocean seining

A visit to Ft. Sumpter

What an incredible vacation we had at Isle of Palms! We spent the week there in a huge house, just three doors down from the beach. Best of all, our longtime friends, Scott and Jen, and their three munchkins drove all the way down from MI to join us!

I wasn't sure we were actually going to have a place to vacation. Jen and I were burning the midnight oil trying to find a "last minute" deal to house our two families. Our criteria was simple. We just needed a place to sleep for a week, anywhere along the Atlantic coast. Funny thing, as the date grew nearer, our list of wants grew longer! Not really, but we really were holding out for the perfect house, in the perfect location at the perfect price. Patience paid off, because less than one week prior to our departure, we finally had a house booked. It was nerve wracking, but worth it!

To sum up the week, we hit the beach, Allan got burned, had a visit from the family that was down for PD's graduation from nuke school, hit the beach, Allan got burned, took a break from the sun to visit Charleston and Ft. Sumpter, hit the beach, Allan got burned, hit a pool, Allan got burned, hit the beach, Allan got burned......you can guess what comes next!

The highlight of the trip (for me, anyway) was the ocean seining. We signed the kids up for this at the resort and got the best entertainment EVER for $5. A marine biologist met us at the beach with a long net. He then drug the net through the ocean just a few feet out and brought it back up to the beach. There were all kinds of critters inside and he identified them, told us the part they play in the ocean life and other interesting facts. The kids were able to touch everything and then throw the creatures back in the sea. I just can't say enough how cool this was! No surprise, Will was completely geeked out about all of the information, Allan and Scott were able to help out with the net and all of the kids got to touch crabs and fish. Jack REALLY wanted to keep the fish and just couldn't understand why he had to throw it back in the ocean when they took the trouble to catch it in the first place!

Other than spending almost every waking moment on the beach, we were able to do LOTS of talking and catching up with Scott and Jen. The kids picked up right where they left off over a year ago. We did lots of drinking and good eating. The kids even got to watch lots of TV while we were cooking or getting things ready for the day. A HUGE treat for our kids!

I told Allan afterward that this was the first vacation we have taken where I was really able to relax. There were no bottles, no diapers, no strollers. What a huge difference all of that makes! And the kids got along so well, that we just didn't have to worry about what they were doing 24/7. They simply entertained themselves!

I can't end this post without at least mentioning the worst part of the trip. Jack got lost on the beach. I now understand the meaning of the words "every mother's worst nightmare". It was a nightmare. He was missing for so long that the police had to be involved. Thankfully, I found him a LOOOOOOOOONNNG way down the beach. He was playing in a pool of water and found a white crab. He wanted to show me and just started down the beach to find me. Of course, I was right there, but he didn't see me and kept walking. I seriously don't know how he got so far down the beach. That child has NEVER walked fast. In a matter of minutes he was out of sight though. I just thank God that he was on the beach and we found him.

Our beautiful children

I love this picture!

Not to brag, but I am married to a hottie!

8.10.09 update

So, as always, I have a ton of things to blog about from the past couple of months. We have basically been spending our time running back and forth to the pool for swim team practice and swim meets. In our spare moments, Allan and I have worked on the basement and have gotten a LOT done. I also have to add that we have had quite a few visitors this year. Basically, what I am saying is that I just haven't had time to update the blog like I want. I am going to do my best to work backward in the next week or so. If not for anything else, than for the WEJ. I found a cool site that publishes the blog in a book. But that is a whole other subject!

Recently, I broke yet another camera. If you are a friend of mine, or have talked to Allan lately, you will know that cameras and I simply don't get along. It dates back to Spain and the gypsies, but I don't have enough time to go into all of that. The point is that I broke another camera and needed a new one desperately for our upcoming Isle of Palms vacation. Since the broken camera had been purchased by AmEx, I received a credit to my account after telling them my sad story. I decided to use this money to upgrade a little. Just a little, because if you read carefully, you will remember that I tend to lose/break cameras frequently. So, I wanted more than a point and shoot, but wanted something to really zoom in on the kids without them knowing and get good shots of everyday activity. Is this TMI? Anyway, as luck would have it, I received my new camera just hours before heading south to IOP. I am so tickled with this camera, that I just had to post a few shots. Remember, I was NOT in everyone's face with the camera. These are just sneaky far away shots that I was lucky to capture. :) Enjoy!