In coming to Florida the kids learned a lot about the local wildlife. We saw alligators at the zoo yesterday. Hope's biggest wish was to see a real dolphin. So, in crossing Banana River to head to the beach today I reminded them to keep an eye out for dolphins and Sarah saw one! It was hanging out next to the bridge. We quickly stopped and when he surfaced the first time we could have reached out and touched him he was so close! We watched for a good 15 minutes in awe. As we were preparing to the leave, not more than 15 feet away this giant tail came out of nowhere and we all recognized the classic manatee! He sat in the water within view for awhile, but never resurfaced for us. Still it was quite exciting!
We then headed off for a fun day at the beach! We spent several hours there, just our little family and Sarah. The water was great! However, our neighbors, well, let's just say shocking!!! The 2 ladies next to us were sun bathing in the buff, or nearly. They at least had the decency to keep their bottoms on, though there were little left to the imagination with their tiny string bikinis. And yes, they were topless, and NO Cape Canaveral is NOT a nudist beach! The shock on several of the men's faces walking by was priceless! Sarah and I couldn't stop laughing at one in particular. He was kinda creepy and kept walking back and forth pacing in front of them. He would openly gawk, then sit and just stare at them, get up and pace, the sit on the other side of them and stare. It was crazy!!!
There were also 2 fisherman just past the bathing nudies and one of them caught a large sting ray. He was probably a good 3 foot in wing span. The kids enjoyed watching him real him in, then set him loose again. We spent the rest of the time building sand castles so Bethany could destroy them and catching minnows. Roman and Sarah also did some boogie boarding.
After that we headed back to the house for a swim in the pool and dinner. After dinner we kidnapped Andrew (he was finishing a final!) and headed back to the beach for an evening walk. This time to Cocoa Beach as Andrew wanted to show us where he works. He works at an Inn in Cocoa Beach about a mile from the pier. We met the two dogs that live at the Inn and headed for the beach. We started towards the pier, not expecting to actually make it. Roman and Bethany of course headed straight for the water and wasn't long before they were drenched, despite numerous threats and attempts to keep them from the water. They didn't grasp the concept of walking on the beach. Why go to the beach and not get wet?? Kids! About 3/4ths of the way to the pier Sarah remembered it was karaoke night there, so we set off to join the fun. Of course we all arrive in bare feet, covered in sand, no money, and 2 dripping kids, but hey, it's the beach! No one even gave us a second look. After 1 fantastic singer, and too many horrific ones to count, much griping from Andrew about wasting so much time there, and 2 sleeping kids, Sarah's turn finally came. She same Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson and did fantastic!!! It was great and lots of fun.
On the way back to the Inn Hope announced she had to pee.... NOW. Andrew weighed the options, grabbed her and ran back to the pier. We saw her riding on his back as he ran thinking, what an idiot! LOL NO WAY would have put her on my back! LOL We knew all was fine when they returned later the same way. Once back at the Inn Andrew gave us a tour of the hotel. It was neat for the kids to see what goes on behind the scenes. He also took us back to meet his birds. Andrew was hired on 2 years ago primarily to maintain 2 Macaws that live on the property. Although he does many other things for them now, he still also take cares of the birds. One red, one blue, they are absolutely gorgeous! They are too big and their claws too sharp for the kids to handle, but they did get to pet them and we got pictures (again, if Sarah will send them to me, I'll post some!).
After a dolphin, a manatee, a sting ray, 2 macaws, a full day in the sun and water, plus a 2 mile walk on the beach, the kids crashed hard!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Happy Memorial Day!!
Today Ronda, Andrew, Sarah, James, Roman, Hope, Bethany and I headed to the zoo, well, after Ronda took us for a detour! Yup, she got lost on the way!! We're following behind her with James in the passenger seat... "Where does she think she's going?" "It's off Wickham, I'm telling you, it's off the Wickham!" "The woman couldn't get herself out of a brown paper bag!" "Does she ever come off the island?" "I'm telling you, she missed the exit." "She's wrong!" Of course we get off the next exit, which is a good 10 minutes up the road and my cell rings.... "Julie, where's the zoo?? Andrew thinks we passed it and should have gotten off at the last exit! I thought it was this one." hahahahahahahaha, yup, James's "I told you so's" were enough to drive even the sanest person mad!
In route back to the zoo, we stopped at RJ Gators for lunch where all 3 of my kids actually ate alligator tail! AND, they LIKED it!!!
Finally we arrived at the zoo. We toured La Selva, then quickly made our way around the Florida wildlife exhibit to get back around in time to see the alligator feedings, which about 15 minutes after what should have been the start, we read the small print that says, "Wednesdays and Saturdays only" Ooops! Roman was disappointed to miss the feeding, but loved seeing the alligators up close like that. Next we went on the train. It sucked! We didn't really see much on the train ride itself, and the conductor was all kinds of rude, but seeing James get in and out of the tiny kid sized train was worth the laugh! Sorry hon, but it was funny!!! After the train nightmare we stopped for cold drinks and headed to Australia. Several years ago when Andrew and Joey were maybe 12/13 years old, we took them to this same zoo and in the middle of the Australia exhibit they got their first real up close and personal lesson on the birds and the bees as we had to explain just what exactly these 2 Kangaroos were doing! Andrew couldn't stop giggling through the exhibit just thinking about it, and fortunately, my kids were spared this life lesson!!! They did however, thoroughly enjoy feeling the Lorey's. They were beautiful and fun. I'll post pics if Sarah sends me some. There were tons of them everywhere and the kids got to hold, pet and feed them. Can't say as much for the giraffes though. When we got to Africa the only animal in sight was the white rhino. While he was awesome to watch, we were disappointed to learn the giraffes were not out and our tickets to feed them were worthless. Oh well! Overall it was a really nice day!
Oh yeah, and later in the evening, Sarah pulled Hope's tooth #9 out! Hope was thrilled!!!
In route back to the zoo, we stopped at RJ Gators for lunch where all 3 of my kids actually ate alligator tail! AND, they LIKED it!!!
Finally we arrived at the zoo. We toured La Selva, then quickly made our way around the Florida wildlife exhibit to get back around in time to see the alligator feedings, which about 15 minutes after what should have been the start, we read the small print that says, "Wednesdays and Saturdays only" Ooops! Roman was disappointed to miss the feeding, but loved seeing the alligators up close like that. Next we went on the train. It sucked! We didn't really see much on the train ride itself, and the conductor was all kinds of rude, but seeing James get in and out of the tiny kid sized train was worth the laugh! Sorry hon, but it was funny!!! After the train nightmare we stopped for cold drinks and headed to Australia. Several years ago when Andrew and Joey were maybe 12/13 years old, we took them to this same zoo and in the middle of the Australia exhibit they got their first real up close and personal lesson on the birds and the bees as we had to explain just what exactly these 2 Kangaroos were doing! Andrew couldn't stop giggling through the exhibit just thinking about it, and fortunately, my kids were spared this life lesson!!! They did however, thoroughly enjoy feeling the Lorey's. They were beautiful and fun. I'll post pics if Sarah sends me some. There were tons of them everywhere and the kids got to hold, pet and feed them. Can't say as much for the giraffes though. When we got to Africa the only animal in sight was the white rhino. While he was awesome to watch, we were disappointed to learn the giraffes were not out and our tickets to feed them were worthless. Oh well! Overall it was a really nice day!
Oh yeah, and later in the evening, Sarah pulled Hope's tooth #9 out! Hope was thrilled!!!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
And....... we're off!
After a busy night with the wedding, we all slept in. I unpacked and repacked the suitcases, weighing them in to make sure we didn't go over the 50 lbs weight limit that would cost us an additional travel fee. Once complete we set off for the airport. Jim dropped us off. He is going to bring our car over to long term parking next Saturday to save us a few (or $60) bucks. When we arrived we went through baggage, got our boarding passes, walked through security, stopped to pee, and walked right on the plane. No waiting whatsoever. The pilot even shaved a full half hour off trip. We were scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 5:05 pm and arrived instead at 4:35 pm. We had luggage in and hand and were picking up the rental by 5:05! Ahead of schedule we headed off to Merritt Island. I know they have been having a dry spell, but I am seriously surprised by just how brown everything is on our beautiful beloved island! Anyway, we arrived at Ronda's a little after 6, dinner was waiting, and the kids quickly found their way to the pool, where I believe they would probably spend the rest of our trip if we let them!!!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
The Wedding
The kids' officially have a new aunt! Welcome to the family Aunt Karla! (officially - as Karla has been with us for over 6 years!)
Today Rob and Karla got married. The ceremony was beautiful, as were her two little flower girls! Although we were running a tad late to the wedding and weren't 100% sure we were even going to make it in time, and things got a little stressful getting there, once we arrived, all was fine. The wedding was outdoors at a lovely old mansion. The weather was perfect and overall the entire evening was too! The girls came down the aisle with their heads held high and smiling the whole way. They forgot to throw the rose petals till about half way down, at which point Bethany all but froze, grinning from ear to ear I think she dumped every petal from her basket as her feet appeared glued to that one spot and the bridal party tried desperately to coax her down further. She just stood there grinning and even waved at a few! Finally as the bride began to make her entrance, Hope just pushed her the rest of the way. It was priceless! Bethany told me before the ceremony that she just didn't think she could stand there that long and not talk, but she did great, once she made it down the aisle!
The reception was just as wonderful. Bethany danced her little behind off with nearly every guest in attendance. She finally began to crash when they slowed things down to throw the garter and bouquet, but she hit the dance floor immediately after determined to keep up. She was half asleep and sitting on her bottom in the middle of the dance floor moving to the beat when we finally drug her away to say goodnight! Hope was a little off this evening. She just wasn't feeling well, a little peaked, and coughing. I just hope she's not getting sick for our trip! And Roman, well, I think for him at this age weddings are just icky, boring at best. He did love that London Broil though, as he went back for 3rds and then 4ths when the chef wasn't looking!
It was a beautiful wedding and I wish Karla and Rob much happiness!
Today Rob and Karla got married. The ceremony was beautiful, as were her two little flower girls! Although we were running a tad late to the wedding and weren't 100% sure we were even going to make it in time, and things got a little stressful getting there, once we arrived, all was fine. The wedding was outdoors at a lovely old mansion. The weather was perfect and overall the entire evening was too! The girls came down the aisle with their heads held high and smiling the whole way. They forgot to throw the rose petals till about half way down, at which point Bethany all but froze, grinning from ear to ear I think she dumped every petal from her basket as her feet appeared glued to that one spot and the bridal party tried desperately to coax her down further. She just stood there grinning and even waved at a few! Finally as the bride began to make her entrance, Hope just pushed her the rest of the way. It was priceless! Bethany told me before the ceremony that she just didn't think she could stand there that long and not talk, but she did great, once she made it down the aisle!
The reception was just as wonderful. Bethany danced her little behind off with nearly every guest in attendance. She finally began to crash when they slowed things down to throw the garter and bouquet, but she hit the dance floor immediately after determined to keep up. She was half asleep and sitting on her bottom in the middle of the dance floor moving to the beat when we finally drug her away to say goodnight! Hope was a little off this evening. She just wasn't feeling well, a little peaked, and coughing. I just hope she's not getting sick for our trip! And Roman, well, I think for him at this age weddings are just icky, boring at best. He did love that London Broil though, as he went back for 3rds and then 4ths when the chef wasn't looking!
It was a beautiful wedding and I wish Karla and Rob much happiness!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Big Foot Boy
Last night we had to go and buy Roman new shoes as he was blowing a toe out of his old ones. He was in a size 4, just slightly smaller than MY feet. The new shoes?? A size SIX!!!!!! His foot is much bigger than mine now and he's only 8 years old!!! My baby boy is getting too big too fast! I was shocked and a bit saddened to realize that his next shoe shopping trip will most likely be in the men's department, no more boy's! It didn't help at all that he also bought a new shirt while we were out... a small men's! How did this happen?!?
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A drunk, an amputee, and a blonde try to move a couch....
Sadly, there's no joke about this one! Though I have NEVER laughed so hard in all my life!!!!! So, Jeni (the BLONDE!) is moving to Kansas next week. She wanted to give her couch to Bernice as she's not taking it with her, but didn't have a way to move it. So last night I go to help Jeni move this couch. Bernice meets us there to get it off Jeni's 2nd floor apartment and into my truck. Brilliant idea by the blonde.... let me go see if my neighbor, Jim, will help us move this thing! Great. She's gone a lot longer than expected and Bernice and I are trying to figure out what the heck she's doing. So she comes running back up hysterically speaking something about a Jim and a missing arm. Turns out Jim, who is drunker than a skunk, has a brilliant idea too..... let me ask my friend to help us! Problem being, the friend is an amputee with only 1 arm! Bernice runs down to peak and see what's going on and comes running back up the stairs holding her side, bent over, laughing hysterically.... "Oh my god! Jeni got us an armless man to move the couch!!" I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in all my life. Not AT the man's prosthetic arm, not AT the man himself, he was just as sweet as could be, but at the thought of a drunk and a one armed man moving this big couch we were all too lazy to move ourselves! To make it worse, the drunk comes upstairs and pushes the couch down the stairs for the one armed man to bear the brunt of the weight, then he proceeds to SIT DOWN on the top step and push the couch down one step at a time as he scoots his behind down each and every step! I was in tears and had to hide in the back room. It was just too much!!!!
Took them 30 minutes, but they FINALLY got the couch down the stairs and into the truck. We set off for Bernice's. Now Bern lives all the way on the other side of Richmond and took us through a scenic detour straight through downtown Richmond. It was a nice drive, but we had no idea where we were by the time we got there! Well ,as we pull up her daughter in law comes over to help. She's DRUNK! LOL She is trying to perfect the appletini and was practicing a wee bit much last night! Before we left she comes running back across the yard with a shaker in hand to share. I got out of sampling cause I was driving, but Jeni sucked it up and had a drink. I thought she was gonna get sick! Apparently it was VERY strong!!!
So finally we're in route to go home. Bernice gives us directions, right, right, left on Laburnum and take 64 all the way out to 288. Easy enough! We get on 64/95 and start talking. Thinking we were on 64 and knowing it's a bit of a drive neither of gave the time lapse a second thought. Besides we were yapping away and not paying attention anyway. Next thing I know Jeni says, "Have we passed Broad yet?" I dunno, let's see if we can figure out where we are..... Oops!!! We're on 95, NOT 64!!! And we're just a few miles from Kings Dominion by this point, a good 30 minutes north of where we needed to be! So we turn the truck around and finally head back. It was after 8 before I got Jeni safely home. We're thinking "The three hour tour, the three hour tour!" by then!
It was an adventure of a night to say the least!
Took them 30 minutes, but they FINALLY got the couch down the stairs and into the truck. We set off for Bernice's. Now Bern lives all the way on the other side of Richmond and took us through a scenic detour straight through downtown Richmond. It was a nice drive, but we had no idea where we were by the time we got there! Well ,as we pull up her daughter in law comes over to help. She's DRUNK! LOL She is trying to perfect the appletini and was practicing a wee bit much last night! Before we left she comes running back across the yard with a shaker in hand to share. I got out of sampling cause I was driving, but Jeni sucked it up and had a drink. I thought she was gonna get sick! Apparently it was VERY strong!!!
So finally we're in route to go home. Bernice gives us directions, right, right, left on Laburnum and take 64 all the way out to 288. Easy enough! We get on 64/95 and start talking. Thinking we were on 64 and knowing it's a bit of a drive neither of gave the time lapse a second thought. Besides we were yapping away and not paying attention anyway. Next thing I know Jeni says, "Have we passed Broad yet?" I dunno, let's see if we can figure out where we are..... Oops!!! We're on 95, NOT 64!!! And we're just a few miles from Kings Dominion by this point, a good 30 minutes north of where we needed to be! So we turn the truck around and finally head back. It was after 8 before I got Jeni safely home. We're thinking "The three hour tour, the three hour tour!" by then!
It was an adventure of a night to say the least!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Baseball Season
As I've mentioned before, Roman is playing baseball for Reams this spring. They have yet to win a game, and while I have strong opinions on why and how to resolve the problem, I will keep all that to myself so as not to stir the pot!
Most games Roman walks away with his head down in complete frustration. It is hard to watch. He is a competitive spirit and all this losing is wearing him down. Last week James took him to the batting cages and we bought a pitching practice net that is not only helping his accuracy, but also his catching as the ball returns as hard as is thrown! Basically we decided we'd take it upon ourselves to truly teach him a game I have always loved.
The result.... at last week's game he hit his first ball. Truly hit it, hard enough to safely make it to base. Of course he had to slide into 1st, but not from pressure, all for show! LOL He's been dying to do that! After a few more plays he found himself on 3rd base. For a team that had to date only scored maybe 5 runs all season and faced such ending scores as 1-20 more than once this season, scoring was HUGE! So, as Roman's awaiting his first score of the year, the ball is hit. He's running.... the ball is being thrown home.... the catcher is standing ON the base awaiting the catch and blocking home plate. What does Roman do?? He never slows, he puts his chin to his chest, with batting helmet on, he plows over the catcher, who is half his size, and sends him flying backwards. Coach West (his football coach) begins jumping up and down cheering him on beside James. "THAT's my lineman!!" "No fear!" "Can't wait till football season!" "Did you see? That kids' built like a brick house!" began ringing all around us. Later I asked Roman what on earth he was thinking..... he says, "Mom, that was Providence.... PROVIDENCE!" (the ONLY team to beat them in football last season) "All I saw was that kid that knocked me down at football and he wasn't gonna stop me this time!" LOL I told him it was NOT the same kid, he swore it didn't matter, they may have lost the baseball game to Providence in the end, but Providence did not take Roman this time around!
James jokes that they're on track for a perfect season.... of loses! It really is a bit pathetic, but we are slowly seeing a little bit of improvement in the team with each game. And I am getting a lot of compliments from the other parents on how great Roman looks at the plate. His batting stance has been perfected and he is good for one big hit almost every game now! Who knows, maybe they will pull off a win before the season's over!
Most games Roman walks away with his head down in complete frustration. It is hard to watch. He is a competitive spirit and all this losing is wearing him down. Last week James took him to the batting cages and we bought a pitching practice net that is not only helping his accuracy, but also his catching as the ball returns as hard as is thrown! Basically we decided we'd take it upon ourselves to truly teach him a game I have always loved.
The result.... at last week's game he hit his first ball. Truly hit it, hard enough to safely make it to base. Of course he had to slide into 1st, but not from pressure, all for show! LOL He's been dying to do that! After a few more plays he found himself on 3rd base. For a team that had to date only scored maybe 5 runs all season and faced such ending scores as 1-20 more than once this season, scoring was HUGE! So, as Roman's awaiting his first score of the year, the ball is hit. He's running.... the ball is being thrown home.... the catcher is standing ON the base awaiting the catch and blocking home plate. What does Roman do?? He never slows, he puts his chin to his chest, with batting helmet on, he plows over the catcher, who is half his size, and sends him flying backwards. Coach West (his football coach) begins jumping up and down cheering him on beside James. "THAT's my lineman!!" "No fear!" "Can't wait till football season!" "Did you see? That kids' built like a brick house!" began ringing all around us. Later I asked Roman what on earth he was thinking..... he says, "Mom, that was Providence.... PROVIDENCE!" (the ONLY team to beat them in football last season) "All I saw was that kid that knocked me down at football and he wasn't gonna stop me this time!" LOL I told him it was NOT the same kid, he swore it didn't matter, they may have lost the baseball game to Providence in the end, but Providence did not take Roman this time around!
James jokes that they're on track for a perfect season.... of loses! It really is a bit pathetic, but we are slowly seeing a little bit of improvement in the team with each game. And I am getting a lot of compliments from the other parents on how great Roman looks at the plate. His batting stance has been perfected and he is good for one big hit almost every game now! Who knows, maybe they will pull off a win before the season's over!
Monday, May 12, 2008
I survived!
Happy Belated Mother's Day to all!!! I hope each of you had a wonderful one. I actually got to spend it with my mommy, so who could ask for anything more?
So, we survived the weekend!!! Bethany's recital was at 10am. We had to be there by 9:15. She was too cute for words. All the concerns on what she might do on stage with that big of a crowd were for nothing.... she was nearly perfect! Just the picture perfect little ballerina who barely missed a step through her entire performance. I didn't go to the parade as it was starting to drizzle as we left B's recital and I wasn't sure if they were done by then or not. James and Roman seemed to have had a good time when we met up with them later. Apparently Roman horded his candy while his fellow scouts tossed theirs very quickly. By the end he was the only one left with anything! Hope's recital was at 6 and we had to be there by 5:30. Her 1st number was tap, which was done to the old country song "Convoy". A song i truly don't like! They enter the stage in squatting formation scooting in backwards while holding on to the person in front of them. I have dubbed this number the "train wreck" since the first day I saw it! Boy did they make me look the fool! Those girls were fantastic. For 6 year olds it was quite shocking. They all did fantastic!!! The ballet number went almost as well. Poor Hope was expecting flowers and at least one sibling to greet her in excitement after her last performance, instead it was just me. I told herI didn't get her any flowers, and that greatly disappointed her..... I didn't, my mom did! When we got back to our seats she was thrilled with her awaiting reward for doing so well. We stuck around till the end so she could go on stage with all the big kids before heading home and literally crashing!
Sunday came much too quickly. The kids brought lots of goodies to my bed. A beautiful stain glass butterfly picture frame from Roman, a wonderful hand print with poem from Hope, and a finger painting picture from Bethany to name a few. We then went and woke Grandma up. We all got dressed and headed to church. Then out to lunch at Olive Garden with the Perkins before saying goodbye to mom. The rest of the day was spent lazily watching movies and relaxing with my babies. A perfect Mother's Day!!!
So, we survived the weekend!!! Bethany's recital was at 10am. We had to be there by 9:15. She was too cute for words. All the concerns on what she might do on stage with that big of a crowd were for nothing.... she was nearly perfect! Just the picture perfect little ballerina who barely missed a step through her entire performance. I didn't go to the parade as it was starting to drizzle as we left B's recital and I wasn't sure if they were done by then or not. James and Roman seemed to have had a good time when we met up with them later. Apparently Roman horded his candy while his fellow scouts tossed theirs very quickly. By the end he was the only one left with anything! Hope's recital was at 6 and we had to be there by 5:30. Her 1st number was tap, which was done to the old country song "Convoy". A song i truly don't like! They enter the stage in squatting formation scooting in backwards while holding on to the person in front of them. I have dubbed this number the "train wreck" since the first day I saw it! Boy did they make me look the fool! Those girls were fantastic. For 6 year olds it was quite shocking. They all did fantastic!!! The ballet number went almost as well. Poor Hope was expecting flowers and at least one sibling to greet her in excitement after her last performance, instead it was just me. I told herI didn't get her any flowers, and that greatly disappointed her..... I didn't, my mom did! When we got back to our seats she was thrilled with her awaiting reward for doing so well. We stuck around till the end so she could go on stage with all the big kids before heading home and literally crashing!
Sunday came much too quickly. The kids brought lots of goodies to my bed. A beautiful stain glass butterfly picture frame from Roman, a wonderful hand print with poem from Hope, and a finger painting picture from Bethany to name a few. We then went and woke Grandma up. We all got dressed and headed to church. Then out to lunch at Olive Garden with the Perkins before saying goodbye to mom. The rest of the day was spent lazily watching movies and relaxing with my babies. A perfect Mother's Day!!!
Friday, May 09, 2008
Baseball, Recitals, Moving, Grandma.... Oh MY!
Whew! It's been one crazy week, even by my standards! This week we had Bethany's recital rehearsal on Monday, Roman's baseball game on Tuesday, Hope's recital rehearsal on Wednesday. On Thursday I helped Jeni pack for a few hours after work and Roman had cub scouts. Tonight mom arrives, tomorrow are the girls recitals .... they got stuck in different shows!... and Roman has a parade for Cub Scouts, then Mother's Day on Sunday! All this after having NO weekend last weekend and working a 50 hour work schedule!
This is insanity, even my standards!!!
This is insanity, even my standards!!!
Bethany the Baker
Last month Bethany snuck into the kitchen undetected while James was playing video games. A short while later he discovered her in the kitchen with a small ball filled to the brim with cake mix and water and about to crack in egg to add. Not knowing what measurements she had already used, he went ahead and transferred the contents to a larger bowl and helped her finish her cake. It was AWFUL! And Bethany couldn't have been prouder!
So, earlier this week B came up to James and said, "Daddy, can you play some Call of Duty or Halo please?" As she gave her sweetest, 'I'm not up to anything, really!' smile. He questioned, "Why?" Finally she confessed... she was gonna try to sneak in and make another cake for Mother's Day.
So, earlier this week B came up to James and said, "Daddy, can you play some Call of Duty or Halo please?" As she gave her sweetest, 'I'm not up to anything, really!' smile. He questioned, "Why?" Finally she confessed... she was gonna try to sneak in and make another cake for Mother's Day.
Hopey-isms
Hope was just laying here talking about she had to spit out her chit-chat and get all her 'chit-chatcherin' done before she gets to school. That got James asking if I had ever bloggedabout her 'Hopey-isms'. Here's a list of a few regulars that always crack us up:
This fall she was be 'cheerleadering'.
At ball games she goes to get hotdogs at the 'concussion' stand.
okay, those are the 3 I can think of off the top of my head this morning... hey, it's still early! I'll keep this list updated as they come back to me.
This fall she was be 'cheerleadering'.
At ball games she goes to get hotdogs at the 'concussion' stand.
okay, those are the 3 I can think of off the top of my head this morning... hey, it's still early! I'll keep this list updated as they come back to me.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Life through Roman's Camera
I uploaded Roman's camera, as I've been using it to take pics too... hey, his is nicer than mine!!! LOL Anyway, here are a few pics worth eternal capture from the eyes of my son....
The Crazy Tooth
Okay, so this post is nearly a month late and I can't remember the exact dates, but it must be documented! Last year Hope lost her 1st 2 teeth, the bottom center ones. Before doing so, both permanent teeth came in behind them and pushed them out the front. What dentists dub "shark teeth"! So I suppose it should not have been overly surprising that her top 2 front teeth were just as stubborn. I do not have a pic of the first on that came out, which was literally loose for more than 6 months!!! By the time it came out her second one was loose too and looked like she had lost her 3rd and 4th top teeth, which she hadn't. Then her permanent tooth came down and popped the 1st loose tooth out. Then the second permanent tooth came down and for weeks that blasted tooth would not come out. Here's a pic taken on 4/14 (Wacky Wednesday). The following week I pulled it out cause I couldn't stand looking at that crazy tooth anymore! LOL
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Catch up
Well, it's been awhile since I posted and I'm determined not to let this get away from me again. I have several drafts started from the last few weeks, but need to set aside some time at home (hahaha) to upload some pics for them before publishing. Overall life is insanely hectic in the Trettel house!!! We are winding down dance this week. Baseball is in full swing. Cub scouts and Daisies are winding down too. The kids are in testing and end of year stuff which stresses Roman out. It stays light entirely too late outside making bedtime near impossible these days, so we're all more than a little sleep deprived! And I am busy busy busy working on a big project at work that has had me insanely busy. I'm not the type of person to put more more into a job than is required in my 40 hours a week. To be honest I don't care for overtime because it takes away from family time. Sure the money is great, but is it worth it?? This project hasn't bothered me much as I know there is a firm end date. We basically have 6 weeks of this project and the bonus pay will come at a good time. I've tried to maneuvre OT to early morning hours that don't interfere with the kids, but it is exhausting! This past weekend was my turn to work. Although, for Jeni, unrelated to work, I elected to miss Roman's Sat baseball game, having to miss Sunday's as well because I was just too exhausted just about killed me. I NEVER miss games and that was a guilty stab in the heart. I tried, but man I was tired. Basically my weekend went something like this... Saturday got up and mowed the yard. Went to Jeni's for a Cinco de Mayo party and stayed until she kicked me out around 6. Watched a movie, then went to bed at 8 and slept till 11. Got up, started pumping the caffeine and settled in to work from home. By 3 am on Sunday it was clear that I was not going to get everything done from home, so off to the office I went. Returning home a little before 9 am Sunday morning. Roman had a 1 o'clock game, so after finishing up a big more work, I finally crashed at 9:30 planning to sleep for only 2 hours. When James woke me at 12 to tell me they were leaving I felt like the worse hangover ever and had to admit defeat and spent the rest of the day sleeping and watching movies. They didn't come home till 7 that night. It was the first time I had seen the girls since Friday at dinner as they spent the weekend with Gma. I had barely seen Roman and James much more than that all weekend. I managed a nice last minute dinner with the 5 of us and we all hit the sack for an early bedtime.
So on top of work and regular routine I am trying to make it up to them with some one on one time this week. Yesterday was with B as she had her dress rehearsal for her recital. Hope's in on Wednesday so I'll get some time with her then. Roman has a game tonight that I will NOT miss. Thursday I am ditching them all to help Jeni pack and mom will arrive on Friday. hmmmm, guess with Mother's Day coming up on Sunday, all I really want this year is some kid time. I sure do miss them when times get crazy like this!
On the 23rd of this month we head to Baltimore for Rob and Karla's wedding, then fly to Florida on the 25th for a week of much deserved vacation! I can not wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So on top of work and regular routine I am trying to make it up to them with some one on one time this week. Yesterday was with B as she had her dress rehearsal for her recital. Hope's in on Wednesday so I'll get some time with her then. Roman has a game tonight that I will NOT miss. Thursday I am ditching them all to help Jeni pack and mom will arrive on Friday. hmmmm, guess with Mother's Day coming up on Sunday, all I really want this year is some kid time. I sure do miss them when times get crazy like this!
On the 23rd of this month we head to Baltimore for Rob and Karla's wedding, then fly to Florida on the 25th for a week of much deserved vacation! I can not wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Bike Riding
I am slightly embarrassed to say none of my kids know how to ride a bike. Roman is now 8 and still using training wheels. Problem is we haven't lived in a place they could learn to ride bikes since we left Florida... Roman was 2, Hopey just 9 months at that time. Our current neighborhood has great streets for bike riding. So, with gas prices so high this summer, we decided do something different and "go green" and take a little of our tax returns and invest in a great family activity... bike riding! Yup, even James and I got knew bikes, which neither of us have owned since we were kids. Boy did we forget how fun it can be! Bethany is a hellion on wheels. No big shock there, right! Hopey is slow and lazy and doesn't want to peddle for long. She fell once and tried to give up for good. Yup, no big shock there either. But Roman. That boy won't even try! He's demanding we put training wheels on his new bike before he'll get on it. He's EIGHT! It just kills me and James. He'd rather ride his scooter or even rollerblade than bike ride. Still he got a new one and we're forcing the issue. This summer we will be spending a lot of time close to home from the looks of it. Instead of wasting the gas to drive 3 blocks to the pool, they WILL be riding their bikes back and forth. Wish us luck as we get their little chunky butts in shape and teach them this great childhood pastime. Surprisingly, a lot of their friends don't know how to ride bikes either. What is happening to this generation!??!
On a side note.... OUCH!!!! My butt still hurts from those few hours of riding on Saturday!
On a side note.... OUCH!!!! My butt still hurts from those few hours of riding on Saturday!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Cold Packs
The Dobie, has recently been renamed to Dr. Hope. See, Hope is the only one in the house that ever seems to know exactly where the bandaids are. Secretly I think she's been hiding and hording them, but haven't been able to prove this theory as I still have no idea where she keeps getting them from. With spring in the air and baseball season in full swing, it was time to restock the first aid kits, something we do every spring. Since Hope was doing such a great job patching boo-boos and reminding everyone to wash their hands and whatnot we decided she could be Dr. Hope and bought her her very own first aid kit, a Medibag. The idea was for her to keep it under the sink in the kids' bathroom and note that it was the only one the kids could get into without help or at least asking, and maybe the ones in the other bathrooms would miraculously be there when we need them! Hope agreed to these terms and was given the responsibility of her new Medibag.
Of course this means the B-monster got into it! I came home late last week to find the contents scattered throughout MY bedroom. I called Hope in to address it, pick up the mess and put it away where it belongs. Aside from confirming it was Bethany's doing she did so with little complaint and in doing so discovered the cold pack. "Mom, what's this?" "That's a cold pack, be careful with it, cause if you crack it it won't work when you need it and it's a one time use thing. Use it, then throw it away." "Ohhhhhhh, okay, the next time someone gets a cold I'll crack it and toss it! Will that make them better faster??"
Of course this means the B-monster got into it! I came home late last week to find the contents scattered throughout MY bedroom. I called Hope in to address it, pick up the mess and put it away where it belongs. Aside from confirming it was Bethany's doing she did so with little complaint and in doing so discovered the cold pack. "Mom, what's this?" "That's a cold pack, be careful with it, cause if you crack it it won't work when you need it and it's a one time use thing. Use it, then throw it away." "Ohhhhhhh, okay, the next time someone gets a cold I'll crack it and toss it! Will that make them better faster??"
Wacky Wednesday
Wacky Wednesday just may be Hope's most all time favorite school day!! She came home the day before and it was all she could talk about. She must have matched 20 different outfits to come up with the PERFECT one for Wacky Wednesday (yes, she really did wear this to school, and out to dinner, and to Roman's baseball practice!)
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Report Cards
I'm not sure I've ever bragged on my kids schooling in the past, and certainly not in awhile at least. So here goes. Roman and Hope are both amazing!!! Both were blessed (and seemingly B too) with natural intelligence. Or rather, they easily just get it! Schooling has always come easily for them. Both could have (and most certainly Bethany, though it ain't gonna happen) started Kindergarten a year ahead of schedule and I have no doubts in my mind that they would have excelled and done just fine. We don't have to work extremely hard on their academic lives and for that I am soooooooooooo thankful. I am truly blessed in this department!
Their latest report cards.... drum roll please...... Hope Elizabeth got ALL E's!!!!!!!!!!! That would be the equivalent of straight A's. Roman dropped off a little this time around. He came home with 5 S's and 4 E's. Most kids would kill for a report card that great and it would be the equivalent of A/B honor roll. But Roman, he was pretty devastated. He's known he's been "off" lately. We've discussed it, his teacher has apparently discussed it with him recently, and according to him he's been having a lot of issues with his friends at school on top of the added pressure of helping out more at home these last few months while James has been laid up. He's just going through a rough spell, but that's another post for another day.
Last night was baseball practice, so of course all the mom's are asking the kids how they did. One of the mom's asks Hope.... "How did you do on your report?" Hope, "I got 5 S's and all the rest E's. I did grrrrrrrreat!" ummm, Hope honey, that was ROMAN's report card you were looking at not yours! So when I told her she got all E's, she just shrugs and says, "Well, that's good too." and walks off. LOL Roman on the otherhand was even more devastated to hear that Hopey pulled all E's, something, thanks to his chicken scratch handwriting, he's yet to pull off himself. All the same, we were thrilled with them both and stopped by the store on the way home from practice to pick up "Alvin and the Chipmunks", a much wanted and well earned DVD.
I know Roman is a bit upset over it, but I'm so proud of them both!!!
Their latest report cards.... drum roll please...... Hope Elizabeth got ALL E's!!!!!!!!!!! That would be the equivalent of straight A's. Roman dropped off a little this time around. He came home with 5 S's and 4 E's. Most kids would kill for a report card that great and it would be the equivalent of A/B honor roll. But Roman, he was pretty devastated. He's known he's been "off" lately. We've discussed it, his teacher has apparently discussed it with him recently, and according to him he's been having a lot of issues with his friends at school on top of the added pressure of helping out more at home these last few months while James has been laid up. He's just going through a rough spell, but that's another post for another day.
Last night was baseball practice, so of course all the mom's are asking the kids how they did. One of the mom's asks Hope.... "How did you do on your report?" Hope, "I got 5 S's and all the rest E's. I did grrrrrrrreat!" ummm, Hope honey, that was ROMAN's report card you were looking at not yours! So when I told her she got all E's, she just shrugs and says, "Well, that's good too." and walks off. LOL Roman on the otherhand was even more devastated to hear that Hopey pulled all E's, something, thanks to his chicken scratch handwriting, he's yet to pull off himself. All the same, we were thrilled with them both and stopped by the store on the way home from practice to pick up "Alvin and the Chipmunks", a much wanted and well earned DVD.
I know Roman is a bit upset over it, but I'm so proud of them both!!!
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Sarah for Brevard Idol
My niece, Sarah, is in a local singing competition in her hometown, similar to American Idol. You can go online to view her performance and vote. Voting ends today, but we've spent hours this week logging votes for Sarah and it shows as Bethany can not stop singing the "Sarah Song". In an attempt to capture the moment for Sarah, I got this video. In it you will see her frustrated in the beginning where she proceeds to hit Roman for singing with her. Later on Roman's game controller sitting on the table begins to vibrate and sounds like someone farting. B can't help but jerk her head to look. Then in the end she is upset over her substandard performance... which was captured half a dozen more times, but this one was just too funny not to share!
Good luck Sarah!!!! We love you!!!!!
Good luck Sarah!!!! We love you!!!!!
Army Time
While spring cleaning this weekend Roman found his watch. It's a camouflage band with a compass and other military type things on it. So, after lunch the boy comes in, looks at his watch and says, "Dad, it's 12:04." All proud of himself he walks into the den and sees that the clock on the Verizon box says 12:02. He comes back into the foyer where James and I are talking and says, "Well, it's really 12:02, but it's 12:04 Army time. That's just cause there's 100 minutes in an hour on Army time!"
Let's go to Canada... where the camels are!
So, we're driving to Jeni's yesterday taking the "scenic" route and of course it's the long way around and the kids were cranky and tired and hungry and the "are we there yet?"'s started about as fast as we got out of the neighborhood. Finally Hope makes a comment, "We have to be getting close to Baltimore already we've been driving so long!" NOTE - it's been about 15 minutes in the car! I look at our direction and make comment, "Well, in this direction we'll end up in Canada before we get to Baltimore." And Hope says, "REALLY?!?! Canada!! I can't wait to see all the camels!"
Under further investigation we discovered that the further north you go the warmer it gets because camels live in the desert. At one point she makes a comment, "You know Canada... where the camels are!" in this slightly airheaded voice and Roman hits his head with his hand in a 'd'oh fashion' and says, "HOPE, it's not the camels, it's the moose! Lily says, 'I'm from Canada, you know, where the mooses are' not camels!" Hope's response, "Oh yeah, the moose!"... those of you not up on Hannah Montana this comes from an episode where Miley's friend Lily is in disguise as 'Lola' her assistant so no one will put Lily and Miley together to let out Miley's secret of being Hannah Montana. When someone asks who she is she says, "I'm Lola.... from Canada.... (with hands up in antler fashion) where the mooses are!" Hope was clearly confused, but at least she knew enough to know camels live in the desert!
Under further investigation we discovered that the further north you go the warmer it gets because camels live in the desert. At one point she makes a comment, "You know Canada... where the camels are!" in this slightly airheaded voice and Roman hits his head with his hand in a 'd'oh fashion' and says, "HOPE, it's not the camels, it's the moose! Lily says, 'I'm from Canada, you know, where the mooses are' not camels!" Hope's response, "Oh yeah, the moose!"... those of you not up on Hannah Montana this comes from an episode where Miley's friend Lily is in disguise as 'Lola' her assistant so no one will put Lily and Miley together to let out Miley's secret of being Hannah Montana. When someone asks who she is she says, "I'm Lola.... from Canada.... (with hands up in antler fashion) where the mooses are!" Hope was clearly confused, but at least she knew enough to know camels live in the desert!
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
April Fools!!!
Yeah, I know it was yesterday. It's been awhile since I actively participated in this evil day or fun and I had forgotten just how much fun it can be. And so it started off as normal as any other day. At work James called me... we need to prank the kids, what can we do?? After tossing around this and that we decided he would yell at them when they got home from school and ground them. Here's the tales told by the kids....
HOPE - Well, dad said, "Hope, why did you get a bad report from music class today?" and I said, "I dunno" and he said, "Hope, what did you do that was so bad in music that the teacher had to send a note home?" and I said, "I dunno" and he said, "Do I need to ground you for a week?" and I said, "I don't know what you're talking about." and he said, "April Fool's!" and I said, "Oooooooooh, I get it now. (hehe) He's funny!" And then at school I said to Cassie, "Cassie, there's a dolphin behind you" and she turned around and I said, "April Fool's!" and then she says, "no there's really a dolphin behind YOU" and so I turned around and she said, "April Fool's!" and then.....
ROMAN - Dad got me goooood! I was really freakin' out!!!
Yup, that was all I got out of Roman, so had to turn to James for the run down of how this one played out. And apparently when Roman got in James met him and immediately began laying into him. "What happened in the lunchroom today??" "Nothing" "Who were you trying to pick a fight with today in the lunchroom?" "No one, I swear!" "Why did Mrs. Dunn have to call me then?" "I didn't do anything, I swear! I sat with my boys today, but we didn't cause any trouble, I swear it!" "And I guess you're gonna tell me that you didn't get moved to the silent table either! I think I'm gonna have to take away Xbox for 2 weeks since you won't fess up to it. I've already spoken to Mrs Dunn, she told me everything." At which point Roman was completely freaking out and on the verge of tears and James couldn't keep it up.... "April Fool's!!!!" He didn't find it as funny as Hope did!
By the time I got home I was greeted at the door and informed I had poisonous spiders on my head, a bear behind me and a goat in the kitchen! All I have to say is those kids better beware of April 1, 2009, cause it's on now!!! To add to the fun of the evening I did fix an April Fool's dinner for them that I think they all loved. When called in for dinner they were greeted with mini cheeseburgers, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas as well as a big birthday cake for Trooper.... yup, our boy turned 1 yesterday!!! Happy Birthday Trooper!!!.... anyway, as Roman griped about the size of the meal, which was small, he soon came to realize it wasn't all it looked to be. The mini hamburgers were made of cookies and starburst, the mashed potatoes and gravy that they all came in griping about having to eat was really vanilla ice cream and caramel, and much to their shocking surprise, the peas were, well, peas! LOL I told them it was a small dinner cause we had a big cake to eat. Roman (thank you grandaddy!!!) did his well known "Oops" swipe on the icing of the cake and I just wish I had the camera at the ready to capture his face when he realized it wasn't icing, but the real mashed potatoes! hahahaha I had made up a meatloaf over the weekend and baked it in two round cake pans, stacked and iced with mashed potatoes, then decorated with grape tomatoes and topped with a Scooby Doo candle in honor of Trooper's birthday. I even left a jar of cherries on the counter to throw them off, and they had NO IDEA! It was priceless! Of course that was the real dinner, and yes, instead of saving the leftovers, Trooper got to eat the remainder of his "Cake". He was in heaven!!!
I'm loving the kids being old enough to appreciate such things!!! The ideas for next year just keep flowing.....
HOPE - Well, dad said, "Hope, why did you get a bad report from music class today?" and I said, "I dunno" and he said, "Hope, what did you do that was so bad in music that the teacher had to send a note home?" and I said, "I dunno" and he said, "Do I need to ground you for a week?" and I said, "I don't know what you're talking about." and he said, "April Fool's!" and I said, "Oooooooooh, I get it now. (hehe) He's funny!" And then at school I said to Cassie, "Cassie, there's a dolphin behind you" and she turned around and I said, "April Fool's!" and then she says, "no there's really a dolphin behind YOU" and so I turned around and she said, "April Fool's!" and then.....
ROMAN - Dad got me goooood! I was really freakin' out!!!
Yup, that was all I got out of Roman, so had to turn to James for the run down of how this one played out. And apparently when Roman got in James met him and immediately began laying into him. "What happened in the lunchroom today??" "Nothing" "Who were you trying to pick a fight with today in the lunchroom?" "No one, I swear!" "Why did Mrs. Dunn have to call me then?" "I didn't do anything, I swear! I sat with my boys today, but we didn't cause any trouble, I swear it!" "And I guess you're gonna tell me that you didn't get moved to the silent table either! I think I'm gonna have to take away Xbox for 2 weeks since you won't fess up to it. I've already spoken to Mrs Dunn, she told me everything." At which point Roman was completely freaking out and on the verge of tears and James couldn't keep it up.... "April Fool's!!!!" He didn't find it as funny as Hope did!
By the time I got home I was greeted at the door and informed I had poisonous spiders on my head, a bear behind me and a goat in the kitchen! All I have to say is those kids better beware of April 1, 2009, cause it's on now!!! To add to the fun of the evening I did fix an April Fool's dinner for them that I think they all loved. When called in for dinner they were greeted with mini cheeseburgers, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas as well as a big birthday cake for Trooper.... yup, our boy turned 1 yesterday!!! Happy Birthday Trooper!!!.... anyway, as Roman griped about the size of the meal, which was small, he soon came to realize it wasn't all it looked to be. The mini hamburgers were made of cookies and starburst, the mashed potatoes and gravy that they all came in griping about having to eat was really vanilla ice cream and caramel, and much to their shocking surprise, the peas were, well, peas! LOL I told them it was a small dinner cause we had a big cake to eat. Roman (thank you grandaddy!!!) did his well known "Oops" swipe on the icing of the cake and I just wish I had the camera at the ready to capture his face when he realized it wasn't icing, but the real mashed potatoes! hahahaha I had made up a meatloaf over the weekend and baked it in two round cake pans, stacked and iced with mashed potatoes, then decorated with grape tomatoes and topped with a Scooby Doo candle in honor of Trooper's birthday. I even left a jar of cherries on the counter to throw them off, and they had NO IDEA! It was priceless! Of course that was the real dinner, and yes, instead of saving the leftovers, Trooper got to eat the remainder of his "Cake". He was in heaven!!!
I'm loving the kids being old enough to appreciate such things!!! The ideas for next year just keep flowing.....
Monday, March 31, 2008
My awesome girls!
This weekend we bought a full set of crate style furniture off a lady on Craigslist. Roman had baseball practice during the time we set to pick it up, so Jeni came over and road with us to help with lifting as James's back is still not 100%. When we arrived we met the nice lady who I had been corresponding with. Her husband had lined up a few friends to help us load the furniture - totally unexpected! Overall it was the easiest transaction ever. They were a really nice couple with an adorable 8 month old daughter.
So, anyone who knows my girls knows they seldom ever meet a stranger. They are obnoxiously friendly and very outgoing and being that James and I constantly have people hanging out, they are just as accustomed to interacting with adults as they are children. No surprise they took to this lady immediately! By the time the furniture was loaded and I went to round them up to head home, I find Bethany curled up in her lap with Hope sitting as close next to her as possible all singing and talking to the baby. I just shook my head, grinning (who could help it!), apologized explaining they know no strangers and have issues with personal space. Lucky for them they are both adorably cute with bubbly personalities that makes even the most hard hearted of people melt. Apparently she was enjoying every minute of it. This morning when I arrived at work I found an email for her awaiting me. This is what she had to say....
What an overwhelmingly awesome compliment! Can you even imagine?? I have been grinning all morning, just so proud of my little ladies! I mean *I* know they're terrific kids, but there's just something so heartwarming when others, particularly complete strangers, go out of their way to acknowledge it! This is a first time mom of a small infant and to hear her make that last comment about hoping her baby turns out like my girls just makes me overflow with pride for them! I love them so much!!!! And when you get a compliment like this, you just have to stop and let that warmth and pride of it wrap around you a bit and hold tight to knowing that you must be doing something right, cause let's face it, parenting is scary stuff! Yes, they can be rotten at times, but overall I really could not be prouder of my kids. All of them! (Roman just wasn't included because he wasn't there!)
So, anyone who knows my girls knows they seldom ever meet a stranger. They are obnoxiously friendly and very outgoing and being that James and I constantly have people hanging out, they are just as accustomed to interacting with adults as they are children. No surprise they took to this lady immediately! By the time the furniture was loaded and I went to round them up to head home, I find Bethany curled up in her lap with Hope sitting as close next to her as possible all singing and talking to the baby. I just shook my head, grinning (who could help it!), apologized explaining they know no strangers and have issues with personal space. Lucky for them they are both adorably cute with bubbly personalities that makes even the most hard hearted of people melt. Apparently she was enjoying every minute of it. This morning when I arrived at work I found an email for her awaiting me. This is what she had to say....
Julie- I hope you didn’t have any trouble getting the furniture moved in and you are happy with it. I also wanted to tell you that your daughters are absolutely precious. Polite, friendly and a joy to be around… I hope Megan is exactly like that when she is older!
What an overwhelmingly awesome compliment! Can you even imagine?? I have been grinning all morning, just so proud of my little ladies! I mean *I* know they're terrific kids, but there's just something so heartwarming when others, particularly complete strangers, go out of their way to acknowledge it! This is a first time mom of a small infant and to hear her make that last comment about hoping her baby turns out like my girls just makes me overflow with pride for them! I love them so much!!!! And when you get a compliment like this, you just have to stop and let that warmth and pride of it wrap around you a bit and hold tight to knowing that you must be doing something right, cause let's face it, parenting is scary stuff! Yes, they can be rotten at times, but overall I really could not be prouder of my kids. All of them! (Roman just wasn't included because he wasn't there!)
Spring Break
I do believe all in all we had a boring, relaxing, easy spring break this year. The kids were happy to be heading back to school today and James and I were happy to send them! They had a lot of late nights, sleeping in till noon, eating a lot of junk, watching movies, playing video games, and playing outdoors. We made it to the park twice, managed a bit of spring cleaning, and had a "date" with our neighbors while James got a much needed break.... since Rich was out of time (convenient being spring break and all!) Tracie invited me and the kids over for movie and popcorn one night. That was nice, something different, and as usual the kids (and I) had a great time! Otherwise it was just hanging out with some much needed downtime!
On the down side there was LOTS of fights and bickering. Tons of dramatic tears, even from Roman, and basically I've decided that my children are doomed to be constant movers and over-achievers. It is quite clear that they have no concept of downtime or how to just relax. hmmm.... I can't imagine where they'd get that from!
On the down side there was LOTS of fights and bickering. Tons of dramatic tears, even from Roman, and basically I've decided that my children are doomed to be constant movers and over-achievers. It is quite clear that they have no concept of downtime or how to just relax. hmmm.... I can't imagine where they'd get that from!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Inherited Boo-hoos
I have determined that this MUST skip every other generation.....
For a bit of history let me tell you of my beloved mother! She is an amazing person. Probably the strongest person I know. She is very kind hearted, always thinking of others before herself, especially her children. My mother suffers from a great deal of pain, but rarely will you ever hear about it as she is not one to ever complain! I can not say enough wonderful things about my mom, nor how proud I am to be her called her daughter. And yes if she is reading this she is most likely already beginning to tear up!
See, my mom isn't perfect. What mom is? My mom is often naive and for some reason things just always happen in her presence! I could spend days, weeks, maybe even months writing up tales of her, but for now, that's not what this is about. See, my mom is a crier. She cries at nearly every movie she watches. She boo-hoos through her soaps regularly. Tears stream down while reading a book. And yes, she was the embarrassing one with the white hanky in the front row blowing her nose, wiping her eyes, and waving her hanky at me on stage for every recital, concert, play, speech, basically every moment of life regardless of how big or small! I have teased her unendingly for pretty much the entirety of my life.
Me? No, I'm not much of a crier. True something will hit me every now in then, but I seldom cry. Kari, being a much more emotional person than I, still isn't much of a crier... not like mom! Sure I swell with pride and want to yell out, "Hey, that's my kid!" when I see my 3 in the spotlight, and while I may occasionally wave, never has it been with a hanky in hand.
In my previous mention of hysterical genetics skipping generations I must confess.... my girls have totally inherited the boo-hoo gene from my mother! Hope can not watch a movie without crying. She cries over books and pretty much everything in life. A complete drama queen. Even movies that she has seen 2,000 times she STILL cries over (yup, just like her grandmother!). For instance in High School Musical 2 Troy and Gabriella break up. Hope KNOWS this as she has the movie memorized, but still as soon as Gabriella breaks into the "break up song" she loses it and goes into complete hysterics!
Bethany has always been a stronger, more independent spirit... so we thought. B tends to cry more out of anger than anything, but last night as I lay in bed with my girls watching the movie "Eight Below" and listening to her sob, these heart wrenching painful sobs, literally crying herself to sleep over a dog that gets left behind all by himself, I couldn't help but laugh thinking, "Yup, every other generation and both my girls are doomed to be hanky wavers!!!!" (she was asleep before they confirmed that dog had died, boy was I thankful for that!)
For a bit of history let me tell you of my beloved mother! She is an amazing person. Probably the strongest person I know. She is very kind hearted, always thinking of others before herself, especially her children. My mother suffers from a great deal of pain, but rarely will you ever hear about it as she is not one to ever complain! I can not say enough wonderful things about my mom, nor how proud I am to be her called her daughter. And yes if she is reading this she is most likely already beginning to tear up!
See, my mom isn't perfect. What mom is? My mom is often naive and for some reason things just always happen in her presence! I could spend days, weeks, maybe even months writing up tales of her, but for now, that's not what this is about. See, my mom is a crier. She cries at nearly every movie she watches. She boo-hoos through her soaps regularly. Tears stream down while reading a book. And yes, she was the embarrassing one with the white hanky in the front row blowing her nose, wiping her eyes, and waving her hanky at me on stage for every recital, concert, play, speech, basically every moment of life regardless of how big or small! I have teased her unendingly for pretty much the entirety of my life.
Me? No, I'm not much of a crier. True something will hit me every now in then, but I seldom cry. Kari, being a much more emotional person than I, still isn't much of a crier... not like mom! Sure I swell with pride and want to yell out, "Hey, that's my kid!" when I see my 3 in the spotlight, and while I may occasionally wave, never has it been with a hanky in hand.
In my previous mention of hysterical genetics skipping generations I must confess.... my girls have totally inherited the boo-hoo gene from my mother! Hope can not watch a movie without crying. She cries over books and pretty much everything in life. A complete drama queen. Even movies that she has seen 2,000 times she STILL cries over (yup, just like her grandmother!). For instance in High School Musical 2 Troy and Gabriella break up. Hope KNOWS this as she has the movie memorized, but still as soon as Gabriella breaks into the "break up song" she loses it and goes into complete hysterics!
Bethany has always been a stronger, more independent spirit... so we thought. B tends to cry more out of anger than anything, but last night as I lay in bed with my girls watching the movie "Eight Below" and listening to her sob, these heart wrenching painful sobs, literally crying herself to sleep over a dog that gets left behind all by himself, I couldn't help but laugh thinking, "Yup, every other generation and both my girls are doomed to be hanky wavers!!!!" (she was asleep before they confirmed that dog had died, boy was I thankful for that!)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Happy Belated Easter
I completely forgot in my last post to say HAPPY EASTER!!! (even though I know it's 2 days late). We had a great Easter. We got up early Sunday. The kids quickly hunted down all the eggs and found their baskets. Before breaking into them though it was upstairs to get dressed for church. We had to be there by 8:30. They each were allowed a small handful of candy to take with them, but otherwise their new goodies had to wait till we got home.
At church the kids had an Easter egg hunt during Sunday School and scored tons more candy and stuff. It was the first Sunday the band played so far this year. James being laid up with his back and Debbe out fighting breast cancer has kept the band appart since Christmas. Stacey was working, so I was recruited to play bass guitar. Boy was I nervous! I hadn't picked up a guitar in over 10 years and even then I was no actual player, just learned a few songs to humor James! I had practiced hard on 1 of the 3 songs, but the other two I didn't even know about until Sunday morning! Yikes!!! I pulled off an almost convincing show though. Don't know how, must have been a God thing! The kids also played handbells and did a fantastic job as usual. Bethany is so expressive to watch, a true little entertainer.
After church, Jeni went with us to Robius Landing park for a picnic dinner. We hid some of the kids plastic eggs and let them search for them. Roman and I threw the baseball around some, practicing his catching. We played on the little dock and went for a hike in the woods. It was a really nice day. Cool, but nice! Afterwards we said bye to Jeni and headed home. Once home, everyone laid down and slept a good 3-4 hours! I think we all needed that very much. Gma came by for a late dinner and we all snuggled down to watch Enchanted before heading back to bed.
Overall it was a nice quiet family day, so very different than the year before. Looking back through it does not appear that I blogged on last Easter. I know, I wasn't a very good blogger at all last year! But a year ago on Easter Sunday 2007, James was baptized. Anyone who knew him prior to this would have said, "Hell would have to freeze over before you get him to church on a regular basis!" Well, apparently there was some truth in that because on Easter Sunday of 2007 we got our only snowfall of the year here in Richmond! LOL It will take him awhile to get past the certainty that hell must have frozen over that day as he handed his life over to Christ! Afterwards we had a last minute party at our house to celebrate. The day before I had 2 people coming over after church. They held band practice that afternoon and James asked if he could invite anyone that didn't already have plans to join us..... no one had plans! LOL We went from a planned meal for 8 to feeding 50+ in less than 24 hours. I just threw on another turkey and added a ham and a few more sides and voila! It was a fantastic day but sooooo opposite this year's Easter. Equally wonderful, just different!
At church the kids had an Easter egg hunt during Sunday School and scored tons more candy and stuff. It was the first Sunday the band played so far this year. James being laid up with his back and Debbe out fighting breast cancer has kept the band appart since Christmas. Stacey was working, so I was recruited to play bass guitar. Boy was I nervous! I hadn't picked up a guitar in over 10 years and even then I was no actual player, just learned a few songs to humor James! I had practiced hard on 1 of the 3 songs, but the other two I didn't even know about until Sunday morning! Yikes!!! I pulled off an almost convincing show though. Don't know how, must have been a God thing! The kids also played handbells and did a fantastic job as usual. Bethany is so expressive to watch, a true little entertainer.
After church, Jeni went with us to Robius Landing park for a picnic dinner. We hid some of the kids plastic eggs and let them search for them. Roman and I threw the baseball around some, practicing his catching. We played on the little dock and went for a hike in the woods. It was a really nice day. Cool, but nice! Afterwards we said bye to Jeni and headed home. Once home, everyone laid down and slept a good 3-4 hours! I think we all needed that very much. Gma came by for a late dinner and we all snuggled down to watch Enchanted before heading back to bed.
Overall it was a nice quiet family day, so very different than the year before. Looking back through it does not appear that I blogged on last Easter. I know, I wasn't a very good blogger at all last year! But a year ago on Easter Sunday 2007, James was baptized. Anyone who knew him prior to this would have said, "Hell would have to freeze over before you get him to church on a regular basis!" Well, apparently there was some truth in that because on Easter Sunday of 2007 we got our only snowfall of the year here in Richmond! LOL It will take him awhile to get past the certainty that hell must have frozen over that day as he handed his life over to Christ! Afterwards we had a last minute party at our house to celebrate. The day before I had 2 people coming over after church. They held band practice that afternoon and James asked if he could invite anyone that didn't already have plans to join us..... no one had plans! LOL We went from a planned meal for 8 to feeding 50+ in less than 24 hours. I just threw on another turkey and added a ham and a few more sides and voila! It was a fantastic day but sooooo opposite this year's Easter. Equally wonderful, just different!
Easter and the Easter Bunny
We have never really talked about the Easter Bunny much in our house. It is the one holiday I try to downplay in the commercialized hype and stick to the real reason we celebrate. Of course we do dye eggs and the Easter Bunny does come and hide the eggs and leave treats in the kids' easter baskets. We don't decorate the house, and if we do it's with flowers, crosses, doves, mostly spring or religious symbols instead of cute little chicks and bunnies. The eggs don't even get dyed until the night before right before bed and pretty much either get eaten or tossed in the trash the next morning after they've found them. Easter baskets are packed full of candy and a few toys or odds and ends. I try to keep it to around 3 non-candy items and we never make a big deal out of the gifts, the candy or the Easter Bunny. To me, Easter is the number 1 most important religious holiday on the calendar and from a spiritual standpoint pales next to Christmas - which I will fully admit, while the birth of Christ is a significant event too, I totally get caught up in the gifts and fellowship, the cookies, the smells and everything about Christmas. Easter is more of a relaxed time of reflection. We don't build the commercialized hype of the holiday and to the kids the biggest preparation of Easter is picking out the perfect dress or shirt AND tie, to dress to the max and go to church on Sunday morning! Even in the years when they were young and we were not attending church, they still got new outfits and dressed up for a nice family dinner. (you'll notice from previous entry.... for Hope, Easter is definitely about the clothes! haha)
Roman and Hope are both at the age of recognition right now and they want answers. "Is that bunny in the mall real?" "Is that the REAL Easter Bunny??" NO, he's a man or lady in a ridiculously big crazy suit making it fun for the kids (my kids have NEVER gone to have their pic taken. Yes, we do do Santa though!) So, in the midst of a walk last night, I found it very interesting to hear their "Tale of the Easter Bunny!" What do kids think who's parents have never really addressed nor fully acknowledged the Easter Bunny. Who's parents admit that there is no big costumed bunny like those in the mall coming to our house. Who's parents don't even comment on the Easter Bunny except to say, "No, I've never seen the Easter Bunny and I'm not sure anyone else ever has either." What assumptions do they come up with once outside stories, fables, and commercialization come into play... especially in a public school setting??
Last night Roman and Hope discussed it with me over a walk. I was a bit surprised at their acceptance and story, but they universally agreed this IS the true story of the Easter Bunny. It's also one I've never heard before and couldn't help laugh at the convenience of it!
According to Roman and Hope, the Easter Bunny is quite small, like and average bunny, who hops around from house to house. But when he gets to a front porch he grows to be huge, the size of a grown up person in order to reach the knob to come in. He's very concerned about kids, so he disguises himself as a parent or familiar adult before entering the house to hide the eggs and deliver the goods. That way if a child wakes up and catches him, he won't be scared of a gigantic bunny, because it will appear to be a familiar face, even though it's really not. Or as Roman puts it, "The Easter Bunny is a small average bunny that hops to your house, then grows and grows big and tall before morphing into you, Mom!"
That sure is one clever E.B. huh!
For the record, I don't think I ever bought into the whole bunny thing, not even as a little kid. I think it's the most ridiculous of all the imaginary fairy tale creatures, but like my younglings I liked the candy, the toys, and even hunting those eggs, so I kept my mouth shut! LOL The toothfairy, Santa, even Roman's most favored - the little Leprechauns, are more believable! And I never understood, still don't, the correlation between a bunny and eggs. If anyone would care to explain that, go right ahead!
Roman and Hope are both at the age of recognition right now and they want answers. "Is that bunny in the mall real?" "Is that the REAL Easter Bunny??" NO, he's a man or lady in a ridiculously big crazy suit making it fun for the kids (my kids have NEVER gone to have their pic taken. Yes, we do do Santa though!) So, in the midst of a walk last night, I found it very interesting to hear their "Tale of the Easter Bunny!" What do kids think who's parents have never really addressed nor fully acknowledged the Easter Bunny. Who's parents admit that there is no big costumed bunny like those in the mall coming to our house. Who's parents don't even comment on the Easter Bunny except to say, "No, I've never seen the Easter Bunny and I'm not sure anyone else ever has either." What assumptions do they come up with once outside stories, fables, and commercialization come into play... especially in a public school setting??
Last night Roman and Hope discussed it with me over a walk. I was a bit surprised at their acceptance and story, but they universally agreed this IS the true story of the Easter Bunny. It's also one I've never heard before and couldn't help laugh at the convenience of it!
According to Roman and Hope, the Easter Bunny is quite small, like and average bunny, who hops around from house to house. But when he gets to a front porch he grows to be huge, the size of a grown up person in order to reach the knob to come in. He's very concerned about kids, so he disguises himself as a parent or familiar adult before entering the house to hide the eggs and deliver the goods. That way if a child wakes up and catches him, he won't be scared of a gigantic bunny, because it will appear to be a familiar face, even though it's really not. Or as Roman puts it, "The Easter Bunny is a small average bunny that hops to your house, then grows and grows big and tall before morphing into you, Mom!"
That sure is one clever E.B. huh!
For the record, I don't think I ever bought into the whole bunny thing, not even as a little kid. I think it's the most ridiculous of all the imaginary fairy tale creatures, but like my younglings I liked the candy, the toys, and even hunting those eggs, so I kept my mouth shut! LOL The toothfairy, Santa, even Roman's most favored - the little Leprechauns, are more believable! And I never understood, still don't, the correlation between a bunny and eggs. If anyone would care to explain that, go right ahead!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Easter Outfits
Hopey, "Mom, I HAVE to have a new outfit for Easter tomorrow!"
umm, sweetie, tomorrow isn't Easter, it's Thursday, Easter's on Sunday. We still have time.
Hopey, "NO, tomorrow is Easter at school. We're having an Easter egg hunt and I HAVE to have a new outfit. I always get a new dress for Easter."
Took some convincing, a few stores that had nothing of major interest - aside from some very impractical mini prom dresses-, and the breakdown of buying her Easter dress for Sunday, but finally she agreed to wear regular clothes to school today. We're in VA, home to lots of red clay and it rained all night. No way was she getting a new dress to destroy at school during her egg hunt! She was cracking us up with her determination though. Where does she come up with this stuff??
umm, sweetie, tomorrow isn't Easter, it's Thursday, Easter's on Sunday. We still have time.
Hopey, "NO, tomorrow is Easter at school. We're having an Easter egg hunt and I HAVE to have a new outfit. I always get a new dress for Easter."
Took some convincing, a few stores that had nothing of major interest - aside from some very impractical mini prom dresses-, and the breakdown of buying her Easter dress for Sunday, but finally she agreed to wear regular clothes to school today. We're in VA, home to lots of red clay and it rained all night. No way was she getting a new dress to destroy at school during her egg hunt! She was cracking us up with her determination though. Where does she come up with this stuff??
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
H.B. Solicitations
So yesterday at lunch I notice I have a missed call on my cell. It came in at 11:15am from my sister Ronda. Ronda is next to impossible to get in touch with most days and rarely remembers to call for a chat. Her having the same gripe about me and we don't talk nearly as often as we should, or as we used to I should say. NEVER does she call in the middle of the day, at least not since I moved from Florida. So, knowing it was her birthday and curiosity getting the best of me, I called her back, expecting to get voice mail as usual, she answered. We talked briefly for a few moments. She wanted to know what sizes the kids are wearing these days and general chit chat. After a few moments she stopped and says, "Come on, aren't ya gonna say it?" "Say what??" "Come on, starts with an H, second word begins with a B...." "What ARE you talking about?!?" as I try to hold back a laugh. To which she blurts out "It's my birthday! You're supposed to say Happy Birthday!" .... seriously Ron, you're calling just to solicit Happy Birthdays?? hahahaha
As planned, the kids and I called her last night to sing Happy Birthday! As expected, we had to leave it on voice mail! hehe
As planned, the kids and I called her last night to sing Happy Birthday! As expected, we had to leave it on voice mail! hehe
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Leapsters
Gma hasn't seen much of us since she moved out last month. With me being sick over the weekend, James decided to take the kids out to let me rest. They met up with Grandma and spent the day shopping! When they arrived back home the kids were the proud owners of several new Leapster games. Leapster is a hot item in our household. All 3 kids now have their own, but it hasn't curbed the fighting over them. It's inevitable that at least one of them can't find theirs when the others are playing. Not to mention we only have 1 copy of each game. The biggest winner of their games has been "Pet Pals" where they adopt a dog and earn points through different activities and carrying for the pet. They are all obsessed! The fighting has been at a high over this one simple game.
So last night around 9 o'clock I put the kids to bed. I go in and read while James is playing on the computer and listening to music. We talked for a few hours and he finally fell asleep. I was a bit wired still from spending too much time in bed over the weekend and stayed up a bit longer reading. At 11:30 I heard a noise. It was enough to jolt me away from my book, but then as I listened I didn't hear it again. A little bit later I heard another noise. Getting up to inspect the house and make sure everything was okay, then peaking in to check on the kids one last time. I gave Roman a kiss and tucked him back in and as I was leaving his room I heard a noise again. I walked in the girls room and all was quiet. I noticed Bethany wasn't in her bed. That's nothing new, she seldom sleeps in her bed the entire night. So I climbed up to check on Hope and I saw a little light shining through the comforter towards the bottom of Hope's bed. As I pulled back the covers I found Bethany, huddled in a little ball playing her Leapster! By the time I confiscated it and grounded her from it for 2 days, got back to bed and it was after midnight. She was asking for it back first thing this morning. It's gonna be a long 2 days!
So last night around 9 o'clock I put the kids to bed. I go in and read while James is playing on the computer and listening to music. We talked for a few hours and he finally fell asleep. I was a bit wired still from spending too much time in bed over the weekend and stayed up a bit longer reading. At 11:30 I heard a noise. It was enough to jolt me away from my book, but then as I listened I didn't hear it again. A little bit later I heard another noise. Getting up to inspect the house and make sure everything was okay, then peaking in to check on the kids one last time. I gave Roman a kiss and tucked him back in and as I was leaving his room I heard a noise again. I walked in the girls room and all was quiet. I noticed Bethany wasn't in her bed. That's nothing new, she seldom sleeps in her bed the entire night. So I climbed up to check on Hope and I saw a little light shining through the comforter towards the bottom of Hope's bed. As I pulled back the covers I found Bethany, huddled in a little ball playing her Leapster! By the time I confiscated it and grounded her from it for 2 days, got back to bed and it was after midnight. She was asking for it back first thing this morning. It's gonna be a long 2 days!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Of course, with St. Patrick's Day being on a Monday I completely forgot about it this year! If I hadn't have been too lazy to take out my green earrings still on from Saturday I would have been the target of a lot of pinching. As I walked into work I was greeted by the guard with a cheerful "Top of the Mornin' to ya!" That's when it hit me! Yikes, it's St. Patrick's Day!!! Being of scot-irish heritage myself, this is normally a big deal holiday in our house. I take my green very seriously. As I reached my desk I realized it was too late to call and make sure the kids had on green as they would have been getting on the bus roughly at that moment.
Jump ahead to this evening. I get home from work and am welcomed by the girl, dressed in jeans and a pink and brown shirt while the boy, who's wardrobe is almost half green to begin with, is wearing jeans with a yellow and blue striped shirt. He has a look of exasperation as I ask how their day went.
HOPE - "You didn't tell us it was St. Patrick's Day. Hello! I walked into school without green on and everyone started trying to pinch me. Miss Neal gave me this pin (a green four leaf clover pin) to wear to save me."
That was very nice of her.... so Roman, how was your day?
ROMAN - "I got pinched.... a lot! EVERYONE in my class and nearly everyone in 2nd grade pinched me. I even got pinched by older kids AND younger ones!" as he gave his 'what's up with that' look enhanced by the dramatic extended arms, palms up, shrug of his.
Smiling I asked why Mrs. Gregory didn't give him a pin to wear or something green like Hope's teacher had. To which he replied, "Give me green?? Heck, she was first in line to pinch me!"
Jump ahead to this evening. I get home from work and am welcomed by the girl, dressed in jeans and a pink and brown shirt while the boy, who's wardrobe is almost half green to begin with, is wearing jeans with a yellow and blue striped shirt. He has a look of exasperation as I ask how their day went.
HOPE - "You didn't tell us it was St. Patrick's Day. Hello! I walked into school without green on and everyone started trying to pinch me. Miss Neal gave me this pin (a green four leaf clover pin) to wear to save me."
That was very nice of her.... so Roman, how was your day?
ROMAN - "I got pinched.... a lot! EVERYONE in my class and nearly everyone in 2nd grade pinched me. I even got pinched by older kids AND younger ones!" as he gave his 'what's up with that' look enhanced by the dramatic extended arms, palms up, shrug of his.
Smiling I asked why Mrs. Gregory didn't give him a pin to wear or something green like Hope's teacher had. To which he replied, "Give me green?? Heck, she was first in line to pinch me!"
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Football Mania
Wow, as baseball practice began, football started with a vengence! Crazy, huh. Our first meeting went really well. I've decided to head up fundraising and possibly oversee concessions as a subset of that. In the past concessions has brought in little money to the association. I hope to rectify that this coming season. Should be challenging and fun. Bethany and Hope will both be cheering for the flaggers this fall and Roman is all signed up for minors. He is beyond thrilled with that knowing this year he gets to wear the pads and the helmet and hold nothing back. This mama's still a big nervous about that, but he knows the game well, listens, and only does what he's told to do on the field. We have a fantastic coaching staff that will see that my baby boy remains safe and has fun. Today we had a first registration day. With 6 months to go this gives the parents time to budget and make payments on their child's fees. It was thrown together at the last minute, but we went for it all the same. About half a dozen families just hanging out as car after car came by to sign up their child and see what was going on. With 10-15 boys out playing flag football in front of the school on a Saturday morning, people wanted to stop and see what was going on. The result, approximately 35 signups!!!! That is a fantastic start to the season! Our goal this year is 25 kids per each of the four teams. From that plus the verbal confirmations from past players it looks like we already have a full flagger team and 40+ minors! That's right, almost double our team goal in Roman's age division. Coach West is looking into possible 2 teams out of Reams. Roman wants to be on A team bad and has already begun watching what he eats, practicing throws, and tackling everything, just as he did through last season. It's gonna be a loooooooooooooong 6 months till football officially kicks off! As for me, my first assignment is coming up fast. In mid-April we will have our second registration day. This time it will be a community event, "Spirit Day". I have a list of ideas and a dozen calls to place, but if it comes through, it should be a great event, a lot of fun, and hopefully start us off right with fundraising for the year!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
What's up with the Trettels
The end of 2007 and start of 2008 has had us run ragged. So, what have we been up too?? We'll start from the youngest and work our way up....
Hope - This past Sept our Hopey headed off to Kindergarten! But a stroke of last minute good fortune she was placed with our all time most favorite K teacher, Ms. Neal!!!! We are thrilled to have her back in our lives. Most kids when you ask them, "What happened at school today?" just shrugs and says, "Nothing" or "How was school today?" *shrugs* "Fine" or at least this has always been life with Roman. Not Hope! LOL Day 1 she came home. "Hope, what happened at school today?" "One kid cried ALL DAY LONG! One girl got in trouble already. And I got fussed at during carpet time." "YOU?? What did Ms. Neal have to fuss at you for?" .... fully expecting to hear how she was running her mouth to a new best friend.... "I kept taking my shoes off and apparently that's not appropriate!" Mainly throughout the last 100+ days to date of school, Hope has excelled wonderfully. With this exception of PE... another "shoe thing".... she pulled straight E's on her last report card. She continues to be the sweetest, most kind hearted child ever. Yes, still a bit of blonde in that head of hers, but truly just a heart of gold and a complete joy! When she says, "Mama, I got $10 for my birthday, can you take me to the store to pick out new toys for Roman and Bethany?" how can my heart not melt??
Roman - August of 2007 gave Roman a YES to a question that has plagued me for years now. "Can I pleeeeeeeeeeeease play football!" With his growing interest in the game and knowing that it would be his last year to play flag football, I caved. This is something I have been adamantly against since the day he was born. I did NOT want my child playing football. And now.... I'm stuck for life! The boy is completely addicted. And I must admit, I was in no way prepared for the drastic change in this kid either. And I'm not talking about pounds that seemed to melt off him from 4 day a week 2 hour practices in the hot late summer, early fall temps. I was not prepared for the discipline and structure of football, the pride and team spirit of 5-7 year olds. It was crazy! We have had Roman in team sports since he was 3 years old. He played 7 seasons of soccer and 3 seasons of teeball prior to joining sports. I know about team sports and what to expect of this age group... I did not know about football! It is like a completely different mentality of hard, near military structure. The coaches are gruff, they bark orders.... and the kids LISTEN! They stress healthy living, healthy eating habits, fitness and hold nothing back on the seriousness of the game and how easily someone can get hurt who is not properly prepared and in shape. They preach about respect of parents, coaches, teachers, and community leaders. They demand excellence in and off the field and poor grades and trouble in school will get a child benched. YES, Roman is only in second grade, but in the football world, flag to pro's, they train and learn the game all the same. It was the craziest most all-consuming thing we've ever done as a family. The 5-6 day a week commitment alone is insane. I mean practices start the first week of August in the middle of summer, for 4 hours a day M-F for an entire month before school ever starts. Crazy, I tell you! The coaches, the staff, the parents, the kids have to give 110% of total dedication for 4 solid months. And you know what? My boy THRIVED!!!! His attitude at home improved, his manners improved, and he had the best ever start to school this year (I also attribute that to the fabulous Mrs. Gregory who seems to just know him inside and out!). Roman has always done well in school. He's an E/S student and rarely ever causes any trouble, but even that has IMPROVED. This last report card Roman pulled straight E's with the exception of handwriting... we'll give him slack on that one, it was always my worst subject too! Aside from football, he is totally into SPORTS! LOL I took him too his first hockey game a few weeks ago and we had a fantastic time. Can't wait to take the whole family in the near future. Coming into spring he had a big decision to make... soccer or baseball through RRAA. He chose to go with his school and we look forward to the kick off of baseball season next week, though I am a bit sad that he will not be playing soccer. Outside of sports the big 8 year old things right now are Transformers, still some Star Wars, and Halo, okay, anything Xbox 360, or gameboy, or even Leapster... so video games! LOL Roman is 100% all boy, but he does have a sensitive side. He is very sweet with his sisters, and I have enjoyed watching him evolve into his own person with his own mind who's not afraid to stand up for what he believes in and put his own unique stamp on what has become his style. There is no more baby, or even little kid left of him and I couldn't be prouder of the boy he's become!
Bethany - In Sept of '07 B became an only child M-F from 8:50-3:50. As Hope headed off to Kindergarten Bethany's world shook. Being the youngest of 3 children less than 4 years apart in age, we expected her to react heavily to this enormous change, but true to her natural born independent streak, she worked it out just fine. Bethany quickly learned that she loved the one on one time and has just thrived over the last several months. Her personality, large as it was, has literally exploded this year. She is still a bit devilish, always up to no good. She loves to sing and dance, must be the center of the universe and quite the entertainer. She is still sucking those fingers and still leaving a trail of hair everywhere she goes (My Little Pony hair for quite sometime now). Recently she cut her own hair (see picture). A large hunk out of the front of her head. While it was not a devastating cut, it did shorten her hair from more than midway down her back to about chin length! As usually her hair is growing like weeds and after barely a months time is about down to her shoulders already! Her favorite place to go right now is Build a Bear Workshop.
Hope - This past Sept our Hopey headed off to Kindergarten! But a stroke of last minute good fortune she was placed with our all time most favorite K teacher, Ms. Neal!!!! We are thrilled to have her back in our lives. Most kids when you ask them, "What happened at school today?" just shrugs and says, "Nothing" or "How was school today?" *shrugs* "Fine" or at least this has always been life with Roman. Not Hope! LOL Day 1 she came home. "Hope, what happened at school today?" "One kid cried ALL DAY LONG! One girl got in trouble already. And I got fussed at during carpet time." "YOU?? What did Ms. Neal have to fuss at you for?" .... fully expecting to hear how she was running her mouth to a new best friend.... "I kept taking my shoes off and apparently that's not appropriate!" Mainly throughout the last 100+ days to date of school, Hope has excelled wonderfully. With this exception of PE... another "shoe thing".... she pulled straight E's on her last report card. She continues to be the sweetest, most kind hearted child ever. Yes, still a bit of blonde in that head of hers, but truly just a heart of gold and a complete joy! When she says, "Mama, I got $10 for my birthday, can you take me to the store to pick out new toys for Roman and Bethany?" how can my heart not melt?? Roman - August of 2007 gave Roman a YES to a question that has plagued me for years now. "Can I pleeeeeeeeeeeease play football!" With his growing interest in the game and knowing that it would be his last year to play flag football, I caved. This is something I have been adamantly against since the day he was born. I did NOT want my child playing football. And now.... I'm stuck for life! The boy is completely addicted. And I must admit, I was in no way prepared for the drastic change in this kid either. And I'm not talking about pounds that seemed to melt off him from 4 day a week 2 hour practices in the hot late summer, early fall temps. I was not prepared for the discipline and structure of football, the pride and team spirit of 5-7 year olds. It was crazy! We have had Roman in team sports since he was 3 years old. He played 7 seasons of soccer and 3 seasons of teeball prior to joining sports. I know about team sports and what to expect of this age group... I did not know about football! It is like a completely different mentality of hard, near military structure. The coaches are gruff, they bark orders.... and the kids LISTEN! They stress healthy living, healthy eating habits, fitness and hold nothing back on the seriousness of the game and how easily someone can get hurt who is not properly prepared and in shape. They preach about respect of parents, coaches, teachers, and community leaders. They demand excellence in and off the field and poor grades and trouble in school will get a child benched. YES, Roman is only in second grade, but in the football world, flag to pro's, they train and learn the game all the same. It was the craziest most all-consuming thing we've ever done as a family. The 5-6 day a week commitment alone is insane. I mean practices start the first week of August in the middle of summer, for 4 hours a day M-F for an entire month before school ever starts. Crazy, I tell you! The coaches, the staff, the parents, the kids have to give 110% of total dedication for 4 solid months. And you know what? My boy THRIVED!!!! His attitude at home improved, his manners improved, and he had the best ever start to school this year (I also attribute that to the fabulous Mrs. Gregory who seems to just know him inside and out!). Roman has always done well in school. He's an E/S student and rarely ever causes any trouble, but even that has IMPROVED. This last report card Roman pulled straight E's with the exception of handwriting... we'll give him slack on that one, it was always my worst subject too! Aside from football, he is totally into SPORTS! LOL I took him too his first hockey game a few weeks ago and we had a fantastic time. Can't wait to take the whole family in the near future. Coming into spring he had a big decision to make... soccer or baseball through RRAA. He chose to go with his school and we look forward to the kick off of baseball season next week, though I am a bit sad that he will not be playing soccer. Outside of sports the big 8 year old things right now are Transformers, still some Star Wars, and Halo, okay, anything Xbox 360, or gameboy, or even Leapster... so video games! LOL Roman is 100% all boy, but he does have a sensitive side. He is very sweet with his sisters, and I have enjoyed watching him evolve into his own person with his own mind who's not afraid to stand up for what he believes in and put his own unique stamp on what has become his style. There is no more baby, or even little kid left of him and I couldn't be prouder of the boy he's become!James - Well, he's still James! LOL His Star Wars geek status took a bit of a back seat to football season. James enjoyed football every bit as much as Roman and plans to get more involved in RRAA for this coming fall. We actually have a meeting on that this Friday. Just before Christmas, on December 23rd to be exact, we were coming back from a visit in Baltimore and swung off to mom's for a brief visit as Gloria, Ashley, Joel and John were in town. Well, it was rainy outside and the entrance way into mom's apartment is all tile with 3 steps to go down to get to her door. James took a slip on the top step and came down hard landing on the three stairs with his arm wedged into the railing. Took me and 3 guys to get him up and I thought for sure he'd broken something. It's been a long recovery. Took 2 weeks to get him up without 100% assistance. Was able to then transition him to a walker and eventually a cane. He is out and about now. He is driving, but not comfortably enough to do so with just the kids in the car, unless in an emergency. He is even starting to venture around the house some without his cane now. The back spasms are still bothering him often, but overall he is doing awesome right now! That has certainly put a damper on things lately. With the exception of scouts, we have cut out all activities for all of us. Honestly, it's been good for us. Barbara moved out in the midst of it all and we have been working hard at adjusting to life as 5 again, settling into our house, and spending a lot more quality time together as a family!
Trooper is doing well too. He spent way too much time being cooped up in the crate while James was recovering. I think 3 adults in the house all with different rules and commands was more than a little confusing too. After Barbara moved out James and I sat down and worked out a training plan for the boy and he is just thriving on it! What an amazing difference in such a short time. The chewing is a LOT better now, he is 100% housebroken, almost completely leash trained, and after spending a bit to properly dog proof the first floor, he is one happy pup and very much the family dog we had hoped for!
As for me, well, my part of life hasn't been without drama either. LOL Last August was a nightmare, but worthy of it's own post, so you'll have to keep looking for that one! Just before Thanksgiving I was "laid off". There was a helpdesk opening that offered to me in place of termination with a pathetic severance package that would not have gotten us through the end of the year. So, for my family, I begrudgingly accepted it. With a turn of good luck, 2 guys announced they were leaving the week I started on the helpdesk. I applied for the new opening (that otherwise wouldn't have come as we are in a hiring freeze here thanks to the real estate market taking such a hard hit lately) and the day after Christmas was offered and accepted it. It took a stressful month and a half to get me fully transitioned over to the new job. I've been here, working on the server team for about 3 weeks now and I absolutely love it! Funny thing is, this position was open once before, about a year ago and I didn't apply because I was in comfortable misery where I was... meaning I didn't care for my job or the management changes occurring with it, but it was a job, paid well, and I stuck around without motivation to move on. In that way the lay off has been a true blessing as I probably would not have bothered to apply for this one had I not been downgraded to helpdesk! Outside of work I am making a conscious effort to work on ME. I have taken to going to the gym M-F, getting up at 4:45 to hit the gym at 5am. What am I thinking?!?! I feel really good when I make it and don't beat myself up too bad if I don't. I haven't been dieting, but have been watching what I eat and managing proper portion control for everyone at home. Must be doing something right, cause people I don't see everyday are starting to take notice and I've had a few people this week that I do see nearly every day stop and ask what I've been doing to drop the weight. In truth I've only lost about 4 lbs in the last month, but I have dropped a full pants size and things are just shifting I guess, probably due to the exercise. I am feeling great though, loving my new job, and life just seems to be going right for once!
Baseball season starts next week. The girls were supposed to be playing soccer this spring, but we have pretty much decided to continue on our easy path. They both have dance still anyway, so it's not like they are without or anything. Hopefully the rest of the school year will remain relatively calm, stress free and NORMAL for once!
A Disgusting Night
Recently a good friend of mine began her blog and in reading over it I realized just how much I really do miss this one. I was quite addicted to this thing in the beginning, but with 3 active kids, over time I've just gotten away from it. In reading back through my own words I realize that although I do blog about the crazy antics my kids get into, including some that have lead to the ER amongst other places, that I very rarely post about the bad, the hardships of life. Honestly, it's probably just not in my nature, and Hope will someday shoot me for posting this, but here it is, a horrible night gone completely wrong with the Trettels!
Tuesday night on my way home, it's dreary, misty, overcast and overall miserable. If it hadn't been 60 degrees out I would have sworn we were in for a major snowstorm! However, as usual we weren't even close. I called James to let him know I was going by the store, we addressed dinner. He wanted to go out, I did NOT. I wanted to curl up with the kids, some popcorn, maybe a little pizza and a good movie, okay, one we at least hadn't seen 2 billion times already! So I run into Target.... BINGO! They have a sale, $10 movies for ones like Ratouille (however you spell it) and TMNT (which Roman has been dying to see). So I splurge and buy a few new movies, a big box of microwave Movie Theater Butter popcorn and toss in a box or 2 of candies, sparing nothing here. Ready for a full blown movie night at home!!! Walk outside to head to Little Caesar's for a couple pizzas to finish off my "meal" and it's super sunny, bright and cheerful, no more rain, not a cloud in the sky. I was quite disappointed.
James is on the phone before I can get out of the parking lot. It's kids eat free night at Lonestar, can we pleeeeeeeeeeeeease go tonight Okay, I give in. So I pick up the family and we head to the restaurant. Gma meets us there and has appetizer ready and waiting and everyone is in high spirits. Hope starts handing out her share of the absolute most cheesiest fries ever, which is somewhat out of the ordinary, but not enough to send up flags. By the time we're finishing and soups and salads are arriving, Hope has to go to the bathroom. No big deal, the child has always been infatuated with seeing bathrooms. We go in and she is taking FOREVER! Next thing I know there's a huge potty explosion, or rather, she has major diarrhea. After another 10 minutes she's all better. We go sit down, I scarf down my salad and shes running back to the bathroom. I feel really bad for her now. We get back to the table and everyone's eating and I sit and scarf down my dinner as fast as possible and tell her to come on and we'll go wait in the truck where she can laydown and be a tad more comfortable while the others finish up and pay the bill. So she stands up and proceeds to throw up.... EVERYWHERE! It just kept coming and coming and she couldn't stop. It was projectile vomit everywhere. I'm running for cover. Mom of the year I am not and I do not handle puke at all, not without contributing my own to it at least. Fortunately we were over in a corner away sorta hidden away from others and didn't disturb anyone else's meal. I pawned it off on the waitress while the waitress pawned it off on the poor bus boy and I ran for the door with Hope as fast as I could before I joined her in her puke-fest. She was soooooooooo embarrassed. I felt really bad for her, but honestly I have never seen or smelled anything more disgusting in my entire life!!!!!
We came home, the guys stayed downstairs playing video games while the girls and I laid down upstairs with Hope's new movie, Ella Enchanted, but we decided to forego the popcorn and candy!
Tuesday night on my way home, it's dreary, misty, overcast and overall miserable. If it hadn't been 60 degrees out I would have sworn we were in for a major snowstorm! However, as usual we weren't even close. I called James to let him know I was going by the store, we addressed dinner. He wanted to go out, I did NOT. I wanted to curl up with the kids, some popcorn, maybe a little pizza and a good movie, okay, one we at least hadn't seen 2 billion times already! So I run into Target.... BINGO! They have a sale, $10 movies for ones like Ratouille (however you spell it) and TMNT (which Roman has been dying to see). So I splurge and buy a few new movies, a big box of microwave Movie Theater Butter popcorn and toss in a box or 2 of candies, sparing nothing here. Ready for a full blown movie night at home!!! Walk outside to head to Little Caesar's for a couple pizzas to finish off my "meal" and it's super sunny, bright and cheerful, no more rain, not a cloud in the sky. I was quite disappointed.
James is on the phone before I can get out of the parking lot. It's kids eat free night at Lonestar, can we pleeeeeeeeeeeeease go tonight Okay, I give in. So I pick up the family and we head to the restaurant. Gma meets us there and has appetizer ready and waiting and everyone is in high spirits. Hope starts handing out her share of the absolute most cheesiest fries ever, which is somewhat out of the ordinary, but not enough to send up flags. By the time we're finishing and soups and salads are arriving, Hope has to go to the bathroom. No big deal, the child has always been infatuated with seeing bathrooms. We go in and she is taking FOREVER! Next thing I know there's a huge potty explosion, or rather, she has major diarrhea. After another 10 minutes she's all better. We go sit down, I scarf down my salad and shes running back to the bathroom. I feel really bad for her now. We get back to the table and everyone's eating and I sit and scarf down my dinner as fast as possible and tell her to come on and we'll go wait in the truck where she can laydown and be a tad more comfortable while the others finish up and pay the bill. So she stands up and proceeds to throw up.... EVERYWHERE! It just kept coming and coming and she couldn't stop. It was projectile vomit everywhere. I'm running for cover. Mom of the year I am not and I do not handle puke at all, not without contributing my own to it at least. Fortunately we were over in a corner away sorta hidden away from others and didn't disturb anyone else's meal. I pawned it off on the waitress while the waitress pawned it off on the poor bus boy and I ran for the door with Hope as fast as I could before I joined her in her puke-fest. She was soooooooooo embarrassed. I felt really bad for her, but honestly I have never seen or smelled anything more disgusting in my entire life!!!!!
We came home, the guys stayed downstairs playing video games while the girls and I laid down upstairs with Hope's new movie, Ella Enchanted, but we decided to forego the popcorn and candy!
Friday, February 08, 2008
The Capital of Russia
This is one of the best Hopey-isms I've heard in months. It's definitely good enough to bring me out of the shadows to post again.
Tonight Hope and Roman and Bethany were one upping each other.
Hope "I can could by 10's!"
Roman "Well, I can count by 5's, 10's, and 20's!"
Bethany "So what, I can count by 1's!"
James, in over hearing this pipes in, "You guys think your sooooo smart tonight, so, who can tell me the the capital of Russia?"
Hopey gets this cocky smirk on her face and grinning from ear to ear proudly announces that SHE knows the capital of Russia. "The capital of Russia is R!"
Tonight Hope and Roman and Bethany were one upping each other.
Hope "I can could by 10's!"
Roman "Well, I can count by 5's, 10's, and 20's!"
Bethany "So what, I can count by 1's!"
James, in over hearing this pipes in, "You guys think your sooooo smart tonight, so, who can tell me the the capital of Russia?"
Hopey gets this cocky smirk on her face and grinning from ear to ear proudly announces that SHE knows the capital of Russia. "The capital of Russia is R!"
Friday, July 13, 2007
I Love Up
One of the new shirts Hope bought yesterday during her impromptu shopping spree was a cute little brown shirt trimmed in pink and across the chest has 'I (a pic of a heart) (a pic of an arrow pointing up)' that is supposed to read "I love me". In asking Hope what her shirt says she tells me, "It means I love up! You know, like the sky and the stars, the sun and the moon. Oh and ME! hehe"
How Far will Hope go when Daddy says No to Shopping....
Yesterday James and the kids were in Baltimore to take Buz to the airport. They went up early to beat rush hour traffic through DC. Anyone who's ever driven it before knows why! So to waste some time they went to Arundel Mills. Hope's most favorite thing in the world is SHOPPING! She is a shop-a-holic. Yes, at 5 years old my daughter is an addict! As they were walking around she spotted the Limited Too. <-- a Hopey fav! Daddy quickly said NO as he knows he has a weakness for the Hope-Hope when it comes to feeding her clothing fetish. So as she told me on the phone, "Mom I just got so excited I peed my pants!!!"
Yup, that'll do it! LOL Hope wins! She got her new outfit. LOL Actually it didn't quite happen that way. Hope apparently got really excited when she saw Limited Too and started doing the pee-pee dance. Well the one really bad thing about Arundel Mills is that bathrooms are few and far between. She made it to the bathroom, but had an accident while getting on the potty, part in floor, part in toilet. You get the picture. Enough that a new pair of shorts was necessary. They did not make it back to Limited Too, but instead James discovered Children's Place. Fortunately our closest mall at least does NOT have one of these, and luckily it's summer clearance time at TCP! They didn't get too out of control, but that pair of shorts turned into a skirt, 2 shirts, shoes and flip flops for Hope. Of course Bethany can't be left out so she came back sporting a new purple skort, matching striped shirt, and matching purple flip flops, with an extra pair of flip flops thrown in for good measure. Who can resist $1.50 flip flops?? And wouldn't you know it, TCP had Hawaiian shirts on sale in Roman's size. James and Roman have a huge thing for Hawaiian shirts (gag!), so throw 2 of those in the mix and there you have it....
Cost of peeing your pants 155 miles from home?? PRICELESS!
Yup, that'll do it! LOL Hope wins! She got her new outfit. LOL Actually it didn't quite happen that way. Hope apparently got really excited when she saw Limited Too and started doing the pee-pee dance. Well the one really bad thing about Arundel Mills is that bathrooms are few and far between. She made it to the bathroom, but had an accident while getting on the potty, part in floor, part in toilet. You get the picture. Enough that a new pair of shorts was necessary. They did not make it back to Limited Too, but instead James discovered Children's Place. Fortunately our closest mall at least does NOT have one of these, and luckily it's summer clearance time at TCP! They didn't get too out of control, but that pair of shorts turned into a skirt, 2 shirts, shoes and flip flops for Hope. Of course Bethany can't be left out so she came back sporting a new purple skort, matching striped shirt, and matching purple flip flops, with an extra pair of flip flops thrown in for good measure. Who can resist $1.50 flip flops?? And wouldn't you know it, TCP had Hawaiian shirts on sale in Roman's size. James and Roman have a huge thing for Hawaiian shirts (gag!), so throw 2 of those in the mix and there you have it....
Cost of peeing your pants 155 miles from home?? PRICELESS!
Thank God for Jelly Bread
Hope's dinner prayer:
God is Great, God is good
Let us thank Him for our food
We fold our hands, we bow our head
Thank you Lord for Jelly Bread!
God is Great, God is good
Let us thank Him for our food
We fold our hands, we bow our head
Thank you Lord for Jelly Bread!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Congratulations Heather!!!!
A big Congratulations to my cousin Heather on her high school graduation!!!
This past Saturday we headed to the Eastern Shore to celebrate Heather's graduation at her grandparents house, my Aunt Deanie and Uncle Charlie's. I sure hope Heather had a good time, cause I know with out a doubt the Trettel's had a fantastic time! The girls were in heaven. Let's see.... Heather, Leia, Abby, Megan, Rionna, and even baby Emma! Add Hope and Bethany and let me know tell you, that is a LOT of girls! Poor Roman, painfully outnumbered once again.
We had great company, great food - including lots of steamed crabs! Yummy!!! - beautiful weather, and ATV's! What better way to get some testerone back into this party than by pulling out not 1, but TWO 4-wheelers. Uncle Charlie has some great trails marked off through the woods at the back of his property and the kids got their first taste of 4-wheeling. And yes, they're all addicted! The girls screamed, FASTER, FASTER! and Roman got to drive himself once he became familiar with it. It was by far the highlight of the trip. And James is already pricing them out... though my foot is planted on a big fat NO to that.
We left Roman there with Grandma (my mom) with plans of an amazing fun-filled week. He spent yesterday and part of today in DC with my mom getting spoiled, swimming, and going to the movies. They will be heading to Aunt Philly's later today for swimming and a carnival where he gets to ride all the rides with Leia. Then tomorrow afternoon James' dad is picking him up there and he is headed to the lake in PA for the remainder of the week. We plan to join him there on Friday and look forward to bringing not only him, but James' cousin Buz back home too. Buz will be visiting with us next week, so lots going on around here should I not get a chance to check back in.
This past Saturday we headed to the Eastern Shore to celebrate Heather's graduation at her grandparents house, my Aunt Deanie and Uncle Charlie's. I sure hope Heather had a good time, cause I know with out a doubt the Trettel's had a fantastic time! The girls were in heaven. Let's see.... Heather, Leia, Abby, Megan, Rionna, and even baby Emma! Add Hope and Bethany and let me know tell you, that is a LOT of girls! Poor Roman, painfully outnumbered once again.
We had great company, great food - including lots of steamed crabs! Yummy!!! - beautiful weather, and ATV's! What better way to get some testerone back into this party than by pulling out not 1, but TWO 4-wheelers. Uncle Charlie has some great trails marked off through the woods at the back of his property and the kids got their first taste of 4-wheeling. And yes, they're all addicted! The girls screamed, FASTER, FASTER! and Roman got to drive himself once he became familiar with it. It was by far the highlight of the trip. And James is already pricing them out... though my foot is planted on a big fat NO to that.
We left Roman there with Grandma (my mom) with plans of an amazing fun-filled week. He spent yesterday and part of today in DC with my mom getting spoiled, swimming, and going to the movies. They will be heading to Aunt Philly's later today for swimming and a carnival where he gets to ride all the rides with Leia. Then tomorrow afternoon James' dad is picking him up there and he is headed to the lake in PA for the remainder of the week. We plan to join him there on Friday and look forward to bringing not only him, but James' cousin Buz back home too. Buz will be visiting with us next week, so lots going on around here should I not get a chance to check back in.
CBBT
Saturday morning we awoke early after a rough night with Trooper, packed up Roman's bags for the week and hit the road. Our destination: Heather's graduation party in Princess Anne, MD on the Eastern Shore. The kids have never been out that way via VA, only through MD, therefore they got to experience their first trip across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, or the CBBT. James has horrible memories of the CBBT as he generally despises bridges, and even more so, tunnels, so 24 miles across the Chesapeake Bay is not very thrilling for him. Me, however, I have great memories of driving that route. I LOVE water and it is just a very relaxing, peaceful drive for me, and I always remembered stopping in the middle of the Bay at this little gift shop, restaraunt and the CBBT being so long that you couldn't see land in either direction while stopped there. I told the kids about it the whole way there, and as we're coming out of the 2nd tunnel with no sign of the middle of the Bay stop I remembered, it became evident that you CAN see land in both directions from the middle of the Chesapeake Bay Bride Tunnel. I was a little taken back I'll admit. How is this possible? I clearly remember seeing nothing but water for as far as the eye could see, and even more so, James also remembers the bridge being sooooooooooo long that land could not be seen. He also remembered 3-4 tunnels along this path, and I thought for sure it was right.... nope, there's only 2!
As we sat there pondering how crazy our perceptions as children differ from today and how enormous this bridge complex once looked to us, Roman spoke up from the back seat to clarify everything. "I bet it used to be really really big, huh mom!" "Yes Roman, that's how I remember it". "I bet they shrunk it some since then. You know, took out the other 2 tunnels and made the bridges smaller!" LOL Yeah Roman, cause the Chesapeake Bay has shrunk that much since we were kids! LOL You always hear how the Bay is endangered, apparently by the Trettel standards, it must be in grave danger! LOL
We never did find my restaurant/gift shop/pier in the middle of the Bay, at least not on the way up there. On the way back I realized it's at the 1st tunnel entrance from the mainland, literally just a couple miles off the mainland and the entire coastline was clearly visible as we went inside for dinner. So much for not seeing land! Was I really that blind as a kid??
As we sat there pondering how crazy our perceptions as children differ from today and how enormous this bridge complex once looked to us, Roman spoke up from the back seat to clarify everything. "I bet it used to be really really big, huh mom!" "Yes Roman, that's how I remember it". "I bet they shrunk it some since then. You know, took out the other 2 tunnels and made the bridges smaller!" LOL Yeah Roman, cause the Chesapeake Bay has shrunk that much since we were kids! LOL You always hear how the Bay is endangered, apparently by the Trettel standards, it must be in grave danger! LOL
We never did find my restaurant/gift shop/pier in the middle of the Bay, at least not on the way up there. On the way back I realized it's at the 1st tunnel entrance from the mainland, literally just a couple miles off the mainland and the entire coastline was clearly visible as we went inside for dinner. So much for not seeing land! Was I really that blind as a kid??
Blackberries
Bethany overheard a conversation James and I were having last Friday about the new blackberry I was just issued at work...
James: Where's your blackberry I want to check it out.
Julie: Oh, I left it at work sitting on the charger. Didn't think about it.
This is where Bethany butts in...
"Ohhhhhhhhh, that's not good"
Julie: Bethany, what are you talking about.
"You left blackberry at work, that's just not right!"
Julie: Why?
"Cause it'll probably be bad by the time you get back to work. That's just wrong. I love blackberries, we should have eaten them, now you'll just have to throw them out!"
James: Where's your blackberry I want to check it out.
Julie: Oh, I left it at work sitting on the charger. Didn't think about it.
This is where Bethany butts in...
"Ohhhhhhhhh, that's not good"
Julie: Bethany, what are you talking about.
"You left blackberry at work, that's just not right!"
Julie: Why?
"Cause it'll probably be bad by the time you get back to work. That's just wrong. I love blackberries, we should have eaten them, now you'll just have to throw them out!"
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Hope Update - 5 1/2 years old
Hope Elizabeth turned 5 this past January. She is gearing up to start Kindergarten in the fall and is very very excited about it. She is our little book worm. She spends at least part of everyday practicing writing and drawing. She is also infatuated with learning Roman's math facts flash cards we've been working on this summer and she is beginning to read. I know she will fly through Kindergarten with no problems. In March we took her to see a pediactric opthamologist after she failed the eye exam for her Kindergarten physical. Turns out she's already near-sighted. She does look adorable in her new glass though! She has been busy this year playing soccer and she began dance classes, ballet and tap. In May she had her 1st recital and so just so beautiful on stage!!! Her big passion right now is music. She LOVES music. High School Musical is her fav movie of all time and she can recite it word for word songs and all. It is too cute. She too has made a lot of friends this past year. Her best friend right now is probably Evangelina. Other friends include Madison, Cole, Quinn, Rebecca, and Ella. She is still the sweetest child ever. Still oh so dramatic at times, the ultimate Drama Queen. And still 120% GIRL. It's all about the pink and the flowers and the purses and the clothes. She is a bit of a shopaholic and we're having to keep that in check these days. Oh, and she refuses to clean, it is beneath her, so she has been paying her brother to do it for her. "I just don't clean, it's gross and it's not me." Her big ambitions in life has upgraded (I think) from her former desire to be a cashier at Food Lion. She nows dreams of owning her own business.... an ice cream truck to drive around the neighborhoods selling ice cream to kids!
Roman Update - 7 1/2 years old
Roman has just completed 1st grade. His teacher was Mrs. Powers. He did fantastic in school, his reading has really taken off. School studies still are coming easily for him. Sometimes a little too easy making him hard to keep motivated. He has gotten so big this year it's not even funny. Amazing what a difference a year makes! His best friend in the whole world is still Josh Sammon, whom we did get to visit with last month (but that's a whole other post of it's own!). He has made lots of other friends this past year as well and is becoming quite social. His friends list today include Elijah, Josiah, David, Truman, Quinn, Cole, Matthew H., Matthew J., Ian, Kyle, Zach, Steven, and Chloe. Notice the girl side of his list this year took a dramatic plumet. Roman spent this past year active in soccer and Cub Scouts as well as church - a great change for our entire family. He is gearing up to play football for Reams this fall and quite excited about that, though torn about missing fall soccer. I haven't paid for either quite yet, so we'll see where that leads us. His biggest interests still revolve around sports, cars, Star Wars, and Pirates. And his future ambitions still are pointing towards a career in the military, though the branch has shifted, right now his heart is set on the Army (but last year was all about the Navy). Roman is stubborn and a tad hard headed. He's an observer and the quietest of the family. He is very kind and loving, especially to his sisters. He is reserved and tends to keep things bottled up inside a little too much at times. He is 110% boy. Last night there was a dead fly on the floor in the den and he was determined to examine it. When I fussed as he picked it up he tells me, "It's okay mom, I'm a boy. This is just what we do!"
Been far too long
The kids are growing like weeds and I'm been too busy and too exhausted trying to keep up with them to keep this place up and running. Sooooooooooo many wonderful times and great memories have been missed and a few already forgotten I'm sure. AS life starts to settle back in I'm going to try to get this place back up and running.
A quick update on the last 6 months....
Barbara's house finally sold in March. We are busily trying to get the final touches completed on the Redbridge house to get her moved in early July. Looking forward to getting my house in order once and for all, as well as a few projects I want completed.
Last October we began going to Trinity Church of the Nazarene and have become very involved with out church. It is a small church and very family oriented which is just perfect for us. James has joined the band for the contemporary service and is loving it. We've made a lot of really great friends through our church. On Easter Sunday this past April, the unimaginable happened, James was baptized! Yup, it really truly did snow that morning! LOL
In May we took a trip to Florida to visit the Sammons and then to South Carolina on the way back up for Joey's graduation.... I'll post a full post on this as it was just too big a moment and needs to be captured all on it's own!
Earlier this month we adopted a puppy. He looks like a purebred beagle, but is suspected to be some sort of hound/beagle/basset mix. His name is Trooper and he is too cute for words, and for his own good for that matter. He is a biter and we're having a few issues with that, but otherwise he really is a perfect dog for our family and fits in so well! He travels well, he's obnoxiously friendly (like his big sisters!), and most of the time quite sweet. The kids have so far been doing a wonderful job with him!
Yes there was, of course a lot more to my time away, but those the main things to note for now. I'm sure I'll think of something else later.
A quick update on the last 6 months....
Barbara's house finally sold in March. We are busily trying to get the final touches completed on the Redbridge house to get her moved in early July. Looking forward to getting my house in order once and for all, as well as a few projects I want completed.
Last October we began going to Trinity Church of the Nazarene and have become very involved with out church. It is a small church and very family oriented which is just perfect for us. James has joined the band for the contemporary service and is loving it. We've made a lot of really great friends through our church. On Easter Sunday this past April, the unimaginable happened, James was baptized! Yup, it really truly did snow that morning! LOL
In May we took a trip to Florida to visit the Sammons and then to South Carolina on the way back up for Joey's graduation.... I'll post a full post on this as it was just too big a moment and needs to be captured all on it's own!
Earlier this month we adopted a puppy. He looks like a purebred beagle, but is suspected to be some sort of hound/beagle/basset mix. His name is Trooper and he is too cute for words, and for his own good for that matter. He is a biter and we're having a few issues with that, but otherwise he really is a perfect dog for our family and fits in so well! He travels well, he's obnoxiously friendly (like his big sisters!), and most of the time quite sweet. The kids have so far been doing a wonderful job with him!
Yes there was, of course a lot more to my time away, but those the main things to note for now. I'm sure I'll think of something else later.
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