Memorial Weekend

We had a nice Memorial weekend, staying close to home as we continue to clear out Barbara's house of 25 years of clutter, and most notable, we joined Shenandoah's community pool and had a wonderful time there this weekend. The kids are skeptical of the water still, but this is the first year we've joined a pool and the first major access to a pool since we left Florida. Hoping this is THE year for the kids. The water has always been a big part of life for me and James, so our kids refusing to learn to swim has been a bit disheartening. We haven't had the best start either, but hopefully as they get more and more comfortable and confident in and around the water things will change. We plan on spending a lot of time at the pool this summer!

We've Lost Our Minds!

In a move of true insanity, we have halted the remodeling project of our home. Why? Because we're gutting and remolding Barbara's instead. Why? Because we're selling it. Why? Because she's moving into our house and we are about to go to contract on a new house! Our friends Jason and Angie recently announced that he is being relocated to UTAH. We are all a bit devastated by the news, but hey, we know better than most that you gotta do what's best for you and your family, and this is a great opportunity for them. So, they made a good deal on their house, which is in our same school district and one of two neighborhoods we have been watching closely, and quite frankly James, especially, LOVES this house. It will be a great house for the kids to grow up and we will finally have some true stability in our lives, and well, we already know we love the neighbors! But, the madness of what all has to be done to get through this summer is truly overwhelming. One day at a time from here on!

Heaven Sure is Cold

Most cemetaries in WV sit way up on top of a mountain. The locals way back when believed this helped them reach heaven faster as they left this earth as close to heaven as possible. I was explaining this to James and the kids as we were bouncing around along a "goat trail" up the side of a mountain to a family cemetary only reachable with 4x4. Makes you wonder how they get them up there to bury them, huh! Anyway we of course talked a little about God and heaven and how beautiful the mountains are. We even had a baby deer run right across us up the side of themountain. When we arrived at the "dead yard" as Roman had named it, we all hoped out to put flowers on the graves of ancestors and listen as uncle Dave told stories about some of the folks buried there. Well, it was quite windy up on that mountain and as we entered the cemetary Roman tugged on my shirt and whispered, "Mom, heaven sure is cold!"

West Virginia

This past weekend we were in West Virginia with Aunt Philly, Uncle Dave, Steven, Vickie, Leia, Riona, Kari, Kermit, Abby, and Megan. Growing up we would also go up to WV over Memorial Weekend to pay respects to our ancestors and visit with distant relatives and listen to stories of life long ago. I took James many years ago, but this was a first for the kids. We stayed in a log cabin with nice views of the river, and although the cabin wasn't up to everyone's standards, we did have a great time. We visited the cemetaries, threw rocks in the river, hiked 1.5 miles up and back to the observation tower at Seneca Rocks - boy was I impressed with my babies! Roman and Hope both walked with next to 0 complaints all the way up and all the way down. Bethany Nicole walked her little 2 yr old legs off as she hiked all the way to the top on her own and then James and I switched back and forth carrying her down. They all loved it, as did James and I! We also had a great bonfire and let the kids cook their dinner (hotdogs) and dessert (s'mores) over the open fire. And we ended the trip with a tour of Smoke Hole Caverns. It was a really nice weekend and everyone had a great time!

The Broken Recliner

What insanity one little broken recliner can cause! Last week the recliner basically went caput. It's been dieing, leaning to one side and not reclining right for awhile, but last week it began to recline the back all the way backwards as soon as you sat in it, reclined or not. So James and I decided it was time for new furniture! We went out on Thursday evening to look at our options and both fell in love with a dark navy, arguably off black, leather sofa with 2 recliners built in and matching recliner chair. It is soooooooooooooooo comfortable! We went ahead and bought it on the spot and it will be delivered on later this week. Well, that brings us to our next dilema, the walls in the living room are tan, and will not look good with the navy furniture, so I went and picked out paint, a cool "fog" color that's either grey or light blue depending on your perception at any given moment. WEll, that brings us to our next dilema! The floor is nasty, dirty tan berber that we have hated since day 1, and especially with navy furniture and blue/grey walls, so we have shopped around and found a great deal on laminate flooring. The plan now is to paint the walls, pull up the yucky carpet and lay light beech laminate flooring. Originally we going to do carpet in just the living room and hallway, but for less than that cost we are doing the laminate in the living room, hallway, kitchen, and utility room. It should be gorgeous when we're done! All this because one little recliner broke!

I Want My Teeth!

Yesterday evening Roman was sitting on my lap eating an apple when he started to choke, then gag. I got him to the sink and he was able to spit it out and threw up a little bit. This is the 3rd time this has happened recently and it's scary. So out of frustration I ask, to no one in particular, "Why does this keep happening? Why does he keep choking all a sudden?!" to which Roman yells, "Because I can't chew, I don't have any teeth!" Then he sort of went hysterical and started bawling, crying over and over, "I just want my teeth back!" It was really pitiful, but I had to leave the room from laughing so hard!

Come Back and Visit Tomorrow

A miracle happened this weekend. Some sucker (sorry Angie! hehe) willingly volunteered to take ALL THREE of my kids for a sleep over! She was gluten for punishment for sure! Angie had asked it they could come over Saturday evening and they ended up staying the night - ALL of them. This has NEVER happened for us and the kids were thrilled! Of course we called half a dozen times, but tried to refrain from driving her too insane. We missed the little monsters like mad, but knew they were excellent hands. The house was way too quiet, but we did actually accomplish a lot on a huge remodling project we've recently started. At about midnight I sat up and said, "Oh no! Bethany doesn't have a baby to sleep with!" Funny how things just pop into your head like that. Bethany apparently did great without her baby doll and did not sleep with one last night either, though she was asking for it. Angie also worked on potty training her, so I was worried James would never let me pick her back up! LOL Anyway, we finally went to get them around 3 yesterday afternoon after nearly 24 hours. Can you believe it? There was one minor incident where Bethany fell off the steps and conked her head, but we're used to those types of accidents with that child and she was fine.

I must say, the best and worst feeling of all is coming to pick up your children and hearing "Oh no, they're hear, HIDE!" LOL It's great because at that moment you KNOW they had a great time and were well taken care of. There is no doubt what-so-ever. It sad because, we'll it would be a little nice if they were excited to see us! LOL We hung out and let them play a little longer and when it was finally time to go Hope started whining, "but we haven't had enough time to play, it's not fair!" Okay, 24 hours is just not enough time to play with the Sammons. Hmm, wonder if they'll still be that excited to be around each other come July 1st after a week together at the beach! So finally get Roman and Hope heading out the door and Bethany goes running up to hide in their swingset. So, I try the usual, 'we're leaving without you' bit and say, "Okay Bethany we're leaving, bye!" and instead of being greeted with the normal squeal and "No WAIT!" as she runs as fast as she can to catch up, I am instead greeted with "Okay mommy, come back and visit tomorrow!"

Hope and Alex

Last fall there was a little boy named Alex on Hope's soccer team. This year he moved up to Roman's division and his father is coaching his team. Well, on Saturday Roman's team played Alex's team. Hope was soooooooooo excited to see him. They were too cute together. In the middle of the game Alex decided it would be best if he and Hope went to the playground instead of playing/watching the game. Of course I said no, as did his mom, so Alex says, "Come on Hope, you can sit with me then." He then takes her hand and they walk off hand in hand. They looked like a pair teenagers snuggled together lovingly holding hands as they watched the game. Everytime they'd get up they had to hold hands while walking together. It was too sweet, and we definitely have to keep an eye on that kid with our daughter! LOL They did eventually make it to the playground for a few minutes at least.