tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-289602012012-02-12T18:23:52.144-05:00Twins Plus Two: The exciting, everyday escapades of Isabelle, Nathaniel, Gabriel and Jeremiah.4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.comBlogger17111100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-79559435434463135422012-02-09T20:48:00.000-05:002012-02-09T20:49:16.241-05:00

Isabelle has been letting her grow out for about two years now and it had been getting quite long. Aside from the typical problems that most little girls have who have very long hair (It was down to the small of her back), namely that it is difficult to keep it combed and looking nice, Isabelle spends three nights per week in a pool swimming. Her hair had suffered some real breakage (from having

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-28454164371537061502012-02-08T10:29:00.000-05:002012-02-08T10:45:24.619-05:00

Last night, Isabelle and Nathaniel had a big milestone sacramentally in the church. It was their first reconciliation. First penance. First confession. Call it what you will. It is a big deal especially considering they are preparing to receive the Holy Eucharist after Easter this year and one cannot receive the Eucharist with an unconfessed mortal sin on their conscious. So, in preparation for

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-86339003562225904172012-01-31T06:00:00.000-05:002012-01-31T06:00:08.983-05:00

Jeremiah is something. He loves to tell everyone he meets that he is going to be a priest when he grows up. He also loves to talk about God and Jesus whenever he can. At the age of four, he is already spreading the joy of the gospel to all who will listen, and he does seem to have quite a following among my mom friends and acquaintances. Granted, he is probably preaching to the choir, but at

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-29117532500858428522012-01-30T12:17:00.000-05:002012-02-09T20:49:45.856-05:00

Today, I had the opportunity to meet with Jeremiah's preschool teacher for a conference about his progress and development. He received his report card last week and nothing on it was a surprise. Since I volunteer in the class, I also see what is going in there and his teacher and the aide never cease to tell me what a joy Jeremiah is and how much they love having him in class. I was not

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-34471436215093849812012-01-24T13:19:00.001-05:002012-01-24T13:19:27.113-05:00

Today, a month or so late, I finally got around to taking Jeremiah to the doctor. I had no concerns for a change and he was really well behaved. The doctor examined him and he is healthy and growing and developing normally. He passed his vision and hearing test with flying colors. He did not need any vaccines. Apparently, Jeremiah decided to go on a growth spurt this year. He certainly looks a

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-67480327089345007292012-01-22T15:13:00.001-05:002012-01-22T15:13:12.953-05:00

We had another fun weekend at our house. Friday night, two of David's sisters, Susan and Lisa, came down to visit. Lisa had a dog show nearby over the weekend. My friend down the street also came over and we ate the home-made gumbo I made and drank some wine. Susan and Lisa retired earlier than we did, but David, Karsan and I were up for a while drinking Spanish Coffee and eating dessert. It

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-57749891222184152012012-01-22T13:51:00.001-05:002012-01-22T13:51:36.096-05:00

It's that time of year. Christmas is over. New Year's is over. All the birthdays are over. The Christmas decorations are down, and I am looking forward to spring. The problem is that it is only January. It's cold outside. There is snow on the ground, and we won't see our first daffodil for at least two months (that's if we are lucky--in 2011, it was so cold the first spring flowers did not appear

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-41521485471828383602012-01-15T17:26:00.000-05:002012-01-15T17:26:09.383-05:00

On Saturday we had the family over to celebrate the collective birthdays. Nothing big. Relaxed and simple. I made lasagna and salad and a Godiva Liquor Chocolate Cheesecake, which was super rich. The kids got their presents from my parents and my sister.

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-6054342857795617452012-01-13T18:18:00.001-05:002012-01-13T18:18:48.455-05:00

So, it's time to start our top ten lists from last year. The first one is easy because it's Jeremiah and his answers are not as detailed as the others. Also, he really isn't capable of putting a list in order from least favorite to most favorite, so I am not even going to number them but this should be pretty close to his interpretation of what was the most fun. Aquarium--he liked seeing the

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-7904467929960559932012-01-12T17:12:00.001-05:002012-01-12T17:12:51.805-05:00

It was Gabriel's turn to be the Star or Student of the week at school and his poster is due on Friday. He has been working hard on it the past couple of days. Here are some of the highlights. Please read until the end. Favorite Things to Do: Go to the beach Go to the Blue Ridge Mountains Swim in my pool Places I'd like to go: Florida New York The Jungle Someday I'd like to be: A scientist

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-49345001076371088782012-01-09T21:04:00.000-05:002012-01-09T21:04:00.105-05:00

I am hoping this week sees the return of some semblance of normalcy (whatever that may be--I am not sure I even know what normal is anymore having spent the last several months running around and living in a construction zone) with the kitchen being well on its way to being finished. With that normalcy, I hope that I can also return to more regular blogging, which will include, Lord-willing,

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-8030243047618206782012-01-08T23:16:00.000-05:002012-01-08T23:16:00.948-05:00

Talk about sounding old. When I type the number 39, 8 somehow seems so much younger! On Saturday, I celebrated my 39th birthday, by God's grace. David made birthday breakfast and cleaned it up! The french toast was delicious. He also took the boys to their basketball game so I wouldn't have to run around on my birthday. We had a relaxing day and then went to Mass at 4:30. I really wanted to go to

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-72742969462086203512012-01-08T12:00:00.000-05:002012-01-08T18:42:40.425-05:00

Friday was the twins' eighth birthday. Eight. That sounds all kinds of old to me and they really are growing up and maturing quickly. Isabelle and Nathaniel were very excited about their birthday and they went easy on me this year--they both agreed, instantly, on a snack for me to make to bring to class, and they both agreed instantly on the type of birthday cake they wanted. This meant that I

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-60866919416560983292012-01-06T22:49:00.003-05:002012-01-09T19:51:22.175-05:00

It's hard to believe that my precious miracle babies, the babies who made me a mother, who taught me how to be a mother, are eight years old today. Time, that perpetual and masterful thief, seems to have stolen another year from both me and from them as they have grown up before my very eyes and I hardly noticed it while it was happening. They have long since ceased to be babies, and I would no

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-38929561226079028962012-01-03T13:56:00.000-05:002012-01-03T15:43:47.046-05:00

We had a revolving door of visitors this past week, which was nice. Yesterday, we had some most special visitors, whom the children were very excited about. Father Jeremiah was particularly excited because Father Hector, his favorite person on earth, his role model, his special friend, was coming cook with us. Father Bianco, a priest from our church, was also coming and the children really enjoy

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-77991632117333846922012-01-03T12:40:00.000-05:002012-01-03T12:40:56.964-05:00

David's older kids all came to visit last week so we all celebrated the New Year together. It was just a simple celebration but David had some tricks up his sleeve for the children's entertainment. People started getting sick in our house last Wednesday. Jeremiah woke up with his whole bed covered in vomit. Then Isabelle got it. Then David got it. The big kids came on Thursday. By Friday, I was

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-17301073305526945062012-01-01T22:01:00.000-05:002012-01-01T22:01:01.586-05:00

On Wednesday, after their swim workout, I took the kids down to Baltimore to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, America's first Catholic Cathedral, and then we went to the Walter's Art Museum, which was a few blocks away. Nathaniel had been bugging me for months to take him to the Walter's during Christmas break and I can't so "no" to a child who

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-63966840247895791352011-12-31T23:52:00.000-05:002012-01-01T11:52:58.536-05:00

Here it is New Year's and I am finally getting around to posting about Christmas. One of my resolutions for 2012 is to do a better job with pictures and blogging and I am hoping things will calm down here enough for me to do so. We had a wonderful Christmas here. The kids did not get up too early. They began their day with our new Christmas tradition of looking for the little mouse that daddy

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-34305723855328124602011-12-29T11:03:00.001-05:002011-12-29T11:04:12.531-05:00

Wow, am I a bit behind in my holiday blogging this year, but at least it's finally getting done. The kids had off the whole week leading up to Christmas, which is normally something I would have looked forward to, but the house was such a mess and still under construction that week, and all sorts of contractors coming and going, the week was not very relaxing or festive. A week or so before, I

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-62385645691406078482011-12-21T22:01:00.001-05:002011-12-21T23:32:05.258-05:00

Yesterday was Jeremiah's 4th Birthday and he was super excited in the weeks preceding his birthday. I don't know what it is about kids and birthdays and kids and holidays, but the excitement leading up to these special days seems to be in-born because I really try to downplay the events. I felt really bad for Jeremiah this year because I knew I would not have the capacity to make his day special

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-86469385322676718912011-12-20T00:00:00.000-05:002011-12-20T00:00:03.563-05:00

Today, my sweet baby, my precious, last baby is four-years-old. It's hard to fathom where the past four years has gone and how quickly it has gone, especially when I consider that just 2.5 weeks before the twins' 4th birthday, I gave birth to my fourth child. And I thought life was crazy and busy then! Little did I know what crazy and busy was. Now, I find myself longing for the days when the

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-33706271908685353322011-12-18T22:41:00.002-05:002011-12-18T22:42:09.797-05:00

This weekend, the kids had a two-day swim meet at our pool. The good part was the little guys were scheduled in the morning both days, so we were finished by a little after noon each day. Each swimmer could enter a maximum of three events each day. The 25's were on Saturday as well as the 100 IM and the 50's were on Sunday along with the 100 Free in the 8 & Under age group. Gabriel swam in the 8

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-43664662549821695512011-12-14T22:01:00.001-05:002011-12-14T22:02:03.412-05:00

My baby boy will be four-years-old next week, which is so unbelievable because that sounds really old. We celebrated his birthday with his preschool today because the twins and Gabriel have off all next and I am not planning on taking Jeremiah to school next week so we can all spend some time together with as little running around as possible. Jeremiah wanted me to make pumpkin muffins for his

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-6367360574565563062011-12-14T21:46:00.000-05:002011-12-14T21:47:13.084-05:00

On Saturday, Gabriel and Nathaniel had their first basketball game. They are in a CYO basketball league that is run through our church, but is the largest and most well-respected basketball league in the county, so we get a lot of kids through the program who are not affiliated with the church. Gabriel and Nathaniel are in the K-2nd league and on the same team. Gabriel did not really want to play

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-72679013544522153952011-12-11T22:15:00.001-05:002011-12-11T22:32:12.827-05:00

As I mentioned in another post, Jeremiah has requested, insisted might be a better word, that we call him "Father Jeremiah" from now on because he wants to be a priest "just like Father Hector" when he grows up. He did give me a dispensation to call him "honey" or "honey honey" at those times when he still he needs his "mama." The kids have been praying for him at school to become a priest. Many

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-58446841697482002662011-12-11T22:09:00.001-05:002011-12-11T22:14:25.017-05:00

Last Sunday, the Knights hosted their monthly pancake breakfast after church and had their annual "Breakfast with Santa." Even though we have dispelled the Santa myth, the kids were still excited to see a man dressed in a Santa suit. They each sat on Santa's lap and indulged me for an iPhone picture that did not come out very well. Apparently, Santa did not know what a "tablet" was and a little

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-22099913658012776762011-12-07T14:25:00.001-05:002011-12-07T14:48:12.269-05:00

On Tuesday night, the Kindergarteners celebrated the Feast of St. Nicholas with St. Nick Night at school. Of course, they had been learning about the real St. Nicholas at school to get ready for his feast day. Gabriel was really excited about St. Nick Night because he and the other kindergarteners has been practicing their songs for over a month now. He was actually really, really excited and his

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-5321256660673209322011-12-05T19:57:00.001-05:002011-12-06T14:08:35.232-05:00

On Saturday, we made our annual trip to Shovaker's Quality Evergreens to pick out our live Christmas Tree. We have been to this tree farm every year since the twins were two (almost three) and Gabriel was still in his infant seat. Last year was the first year we went without our trusty red wagon. In 2008, we had a stroller and a red wagon, not to mention a tree cart for hauling two trees. Boy,

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-89492714669755246442011-12-05T15:57:00.001-05:002011-12-05T16:03:53.981-05:00

Today, Isabelle was outfitted with her brand-new headgear! She has to wear it at night and when we are just hanging out at home. Ideally, the orthodontist would like her to wear it for 12 hours per day. Fortunately, her brothers are not giving her a hard time so she does not seem to mind.  It's really not that bad looking compared to that headgear that I remember kids wearing when I was a kid.

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-3087280248288047922011-11-30T16:26:00.001-05:002011-11-30T16:49:37.551-05:00

No, not her two front teeth. She already has those, though her twin may appreciate having his in for Christmas. No, for Christmas, Isabelle will be outfitted with headgear and she is, at the moment, very excited about that because she hates her smile and her teeth and her bite. At seven-years-old, she is very self-conscious about her teeth.  I don't know why she has had this recent obsession with

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-82893183178147135782011-11-30T08:51:00.001-05:002011-11-30T08:52:55.109-05:00

The past two years, we have had our house completely decorated, save for our live tree in the living room, before Thanksgiving. It was such a blessing to get the decorating out of the way and to be able to enjoy the decorations for a few extra weeks while not having to worry about decorating in the hectic weeks before Christmas. This year, pre-decorating was not in the cards, with

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-82631754422560913852011-11-30T08:46:00.001-05:002011-11-30T08:48:07.298-05:00

On Saturday, upon his own initiative and with David's help, Gabriel started to learn to ride a two-wheeler. He was so excited! And so were we! I think Isabelle and Nathaniel also took great joy in his achievement! Way to go Gabriel!

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-24325747046067263672011-11-29T21:26:00.001-05:002011-11-29T21:40:19.599-05:00

On Saturday, we had our annual Christmas Parade in town. Nathaniel had a birthday party that overlapped with the parade time so David went to get him and I took the other three kids to the parade. It was a beautiful day and a nice evening for a parade. We got a spot on the corner near the beginning of the parade. The kids really liked it and got lots of candy and goodies. A couple of things this

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-45230356628809225332011-11-28T13:51:00.001-05:002011-11-28T14:09:38.775-05:00

Thanksgiving 2011 will be one to remember and hopefully look back and laugh at in the years to come. We had quite an eventful week leading up to Thanksgiving with both minor and major disasters coming at us and a kitchen that lacked all upper cabinets, had stripped down walls and a ripped out floor. But most importantly, we had many blessings to celebrate, to many to enumerate. God has been so

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-91862718753729201802011-11-27T13:22:00.001-05:002011-11-28T13:49:12.101-05:00

Wow, did we have a busy week leading up to Thanksgiving. I'll just give a little re-cap here. Saturday evening, we headed to the 4:30 Mass at church where the second grade students who are candidates for their First Holy Communion in the Spring participated in a special Mass of Recognition. After Mass, we went out to dinner. Sunday, we just did a lot of work around the house and went food

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-17818007603789076442011-11-21T23:24:00.001-05:002011-11-28T14:09:50.828-05:00

Monday morning, I walked the kids into school as opposed to dropping them off in the drop off line as is the usual drop-off method and I retrieved Nathaniel's report card. Once again, the grades the children receive for progress are:  I (independent), P (progressing), or E (emerging). And the grades for effort and for conduct are: O (outstanding), G (good), S (satisfactory), I (improvement

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-72981279061621506252011-11-19T14:15:00.001-05:002011-11-19T14:44:20.269-05:00

On Friday, all the children received their first trimester progress reports; only two of the children "remembered" to bring their progress reports home. I will follow this post up with Part 2, discussing the other child's progress report after I march him into school Monday morning and have the teacher personally hand me his report. Gabriel's kindergarten progress report was outstanding! His

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-17379071644577988852011-11-18T22:51:00.001-05:002011-11-18T23:21:28.164-05:00

If you would have asked me at the end of January when we first met with the architect if I would be writing a post entitled Kitchen Progress with less than a week before Thanksgiving, I would have told you that you were crazy. Never in my wildest dreams (or nightmares, as the case may be), did I foresee this project taking so long. Never in my wildest dreams could I have foreseen that I would be

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-413734917816563202011-11-15T13:19:00.001-05:002011-11-15T14:03:18.861-05:00

Before I get to this post, I just wanted to clarify something about this swim meet since people were asking why it was taking so long. This was just a 10 & Under Meet and many, many swim teams from the area participated. Some of the races ran 15 or more heats, 10-12 heats was pretty normal per race. So, that's why the meet took so long--there were hundreds of kids swimming. Last week, Isabelle

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-29220025813195122622011-11-14T14:26:00.001-05:002011-11-14T15:14:43.115-05:00

Life has been so busy that I don't know if I am coming or going most of the time, which leaves little time to sit down to blog. Over the weekend, the children had a weekend-long meet in a town about an hour and fifteen minutes away from our house. Since the kids would be swimming both days and since it was such a long drive and since we had to be there at 7:00 A.M. both days, I got a hotel room

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-16639240181602693212011-11-04T17:00:00.000-04:002011-11-04T17:00:45.761-04:00

Today, the kids had a day off from school. I am not sure why, but I was personally looking forward to a day of not running around after the week I had around here. The best laid plans.... The day started off with a doctor's appointment for Gabriel regarding his throat issues (see the post below for details), a trip to Target for a birthday present and a few other things, and then a trip with

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-66552041409657922312011-11-04T15:42:00.001-04:002011-11-25T22:46:45.530-05:00

Since reading about health issues is not the most exciting, and certainly writing about them is not the tops of my list for posts, I thought I would combine all the kids into one post. Good news first--Jeremiah seems to be fine (for now). I know I should not even say that. Gabriel--Gabriel had his cardio check-up at Hopkins on Wednesday. He was scheduled for a physical with his pediatric

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-39979971763697464652011-11-02T21:01:00.002-04:002011-11-02T21:02:25.057-04:00

The children were all very excited for Halloween this year and we had some different things on our docket and agenda than in year's past, so if you are thinking you will read a post about us going to Catonsville to trick-or-treat with my family, this is not that post. We had been planning our costumes since last Halloween and had gone back and forth, and eventually back to our original thinking

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-65778493923696379892011-10-29T23:08:00.001-04:002011-10-29T23:09:52.438-04:00

Last Sunday, the 23rd, Isabelle, Nathaniel and Gabriel had their first winter swim meet of the season. It was a small, fun meet, with no disqualifications, held at our pool. Each child swam four events. I'll recap child by child since they swam some different events. I'll start with the youngest star, Gabriel. He has been working hard in the pool two nights per week and that showed in his

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-90438216477823276162011-10-29T10:33:00.000-04:002011-10-29T23:09:17.823-04:00

Yesterday, I had conferences with the twins' teacher and Gabriel's teacher. First trimester grades won't close for another couple weeks, so final grades are not in, but the teachers had compiled averages up to this point. First, I met with Gabriel's teacher. Kindergarteners were not scheduled for conferences at this time, but since I was going to be at the school anyway, I thought I might as

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-26140165265012447512011-10-24T22:21:00.001-04:002011-10-24T22:21:36.403-04:00

On Saturday, we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins. This year marks the seventh consecutive year we have been to Baugher's to pick our pumpkins, the first year being 2005 when the twins were 21 months old and I was pregnant with Gabriel. It's really hard to believe how quickly the time has passed. It's all so bittersweet in many ways--as we have these family traditions

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-29019524305183717642011-10-19T13:11:00.001-04:002011-10-29T23:11:08.325-04:00

Last week (yes, I know I am way behind on my blogging), Jeremiah's class went on a field trip to the fire hall. This would be the third time I have been on a trip to this fire hall and the fourth time I have been on a trip to any fire hall. I tried to be excited for him because he was excited. Because I have done this so many times, I really don't have much more to add than what I may  have

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-56978607626626840322011-10-14T15:52:00.000-04:002011-10-14T15:52:33.784-04:00

Back on August 30, I posted this about Gabriel's homework displaying a picture he had drawn of his family for his homework on the first day of school. The teacher has compiled all the children's pictures together with a little biography about each child in a book. The children get to bring this book home to read and share with their families. On Wednesday, Gabriel brought the book home. His

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-49989751072692838892011-10-11T22:53:00.000-04:002011-10-11T22:53:03.820-04:00

We had a beautiful and wonderful Columbus Day weekend. Check out or pictures here: Poconos & Great Wolf After we got home from Brigantine and David got to spend only about four days of 15 with us, I decided and convinced David that we needed to take a family weekend get-a-way someplace for the kids fall break. We kicked around going back to the Blue Ridge Mountains, which all of us enjoy and

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-51877001787842550972011-10-04T11:13:00.001-04:002011-10-04T11:13:35.376-04:00

Last Friday, Jeremiah and I headed up to Father Hector's new church for morning Mass and to visit with him.  We had been wanting to visit him as a family, but he was in his home country for much of September due to the sudden death of his 30  year-old cousin, who was like his sister, who died leaving a five-day old baby and a four-year-old son. Since his church is over an hour away, and the daily

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-1200487848057324732011-10-03T14:37:00.001-04:002011-10-29T23:11:27.062-04:00

Somehow, life has gotten in the way of blogging and now I am really behind in posting. Last week, I had a conference with Jeremiah's preschool teacher. Jeremiah seems to be liking school and he is doing well. All the teachers and aides love him and say he is always happy and good. His teacher let me know that he is good in class, that he always sits right up front next to her at circle time,

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-63529445455138438082011-09-21T13:14:00.002-04:002011-10-29T23:11:57.872-04:00

Yesterday evening, we had Back To School Night at Isabelle, Nathaniel and Gabriel's school. The principal gave her talk on the school and then the PTF parents got up and talked about the myriad of events and fundraisers before we were set loose into the children's classroom. I hit up the twins' class first. As I said in another post, I am just totally impressed with the twins' teacher, I think

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-20097156620752237192011-09-15T18:22:00.002-04:002011-09-15T18:24:15.493-04:00

Recently, numerous people have asked about the progress on the kitchen. To be honest, it's been slow, but steady and we could not be happier with our contractor, who is not only extremely easy to deal with, but very, very good at his job. We are also grateful to have the help of my aunt's boyfriend, Victor, who is helping us with the interior design--cabinetry, flooring, backsplash, counters, etc

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-2101627538274272502011-09-13T17:37:00.000-04:002011-09-13T17:38:00.455-04:00

Well, the school year is in full swing and everyone seems to be adjusting well. When I was a child, I always dreaded September and the start of school. As an adult, September came to be my favorite month. I loved the cooler, yet still warm air, the blueness of the sky. The September sky is unlike the sky in any other month and though I have no words that describe its difference, I love it and

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-2626600820400605322011-09-08T14:20:00.002-04:002011-09-08T19:39:02.962-04:00

"But I think that God's got a sick sense of humor...." Nothing like another deja vu experience. Perhaps some might recall this post: by the same name that I made in June of 2009 after the dining room ceiling collapsed and the basement flooded, again. Last week, when we were without power, and hence running water, all I really wanted at that point was running water in the house. Well, God sure

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-7252416494965317462011-09-07T20:47:00.000-04:002011-09-07T20:47:15.533-04:00

On Monday, Labor Day, David and Zach woke up early and headed to the airport, then David headed to the office for the day. He's been super busy at work recently pulling some really late nights, which he will continue to do this week as he gears up for basically being on the road almost all of the rest of the month and into October. It was sad that he had to work on a holiday, especially with his

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-40528916214304669182011-09-06T22:07:00.001-04:002011-09-06T22:07:00.543-04:00

Today, Tuesday, was Jeremiah's first day of preschool. I knew he would do really well, and even though he spent the whole summer saying he did not want to go to preschool and that he would rather stay home with me, he was starting to get excited about it this past week when the big kids went off to school. The other kids were also telling him how much fun preschool was and all the activities and

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-26342848568365503732011-09-06T14:01:00.001-04:002011-09-06T14:01:35.832-04:00

Wow! What a wonderful weekend we had for Labor Day and our annual Erb-Fest. Check out the pictures here: Erb-Fest 2011. Friday night, David picked up Evee, her friend and Zach, who were our first official guests for Erb-Fest 2011. Saturday started out busy with lots of prep work in pouring down rain. It poured for nearly three hours and I just kept saying to myself that it had to stop. Well,

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-88367138188278502542011-09-01T18:34:00.000-04:002011-09-01T18:34:14.906-04:00

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-12421205262280997122011-08-31T13:50:00.000-04:002011-08-31T13:50:34.219-04:00

Today, Jeremiah had his preschool orientation. He will attend the same preschool that the other children attended and will be in the 3 year old class. Jeremiah has been a bit hesitant to go to preschool, professing that he would rather stay home with me so I won't be lonely. Admittedly, I am not too excited to send my precious baby off to school. But it's only three days a week for 2.5 hours per

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-20365545075343121082011-08-30T12:02:00.004-04:002011-08-30T16:28:24.364-04:00

We finally have our power and hence our running water back. I think I was more excited to be able to turn on faucets and flush toilets without retrieving dirty water from the pool in order to do so, than I was about getting our power back! Running water. How spoiled we are, how much we take for granted. How easily inconvenienced we are. Yesterday morning as I was hauling dirty pool water into

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-9432228620287799112011-08-30T11:48:00.000-04:002011-08-30T11:48:10.040-04:00

Here is Gabriel's Homework on the first day of school. Priceless.

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-23444539019833301362011-08-29T21:51:00.000-04:002011-08-29T21:51:18.986-04:00

Today was the kids' first day at school and Gabriel's first day of Kindergarten. I'll spare the details of why this was not a good morning (perhaps I'll get into it in another post, or perhaps not), but suffice it to say that things did not go smoothly and the kids were about 10 minutes late for school. None of it was their fault though. I felt really bad for the kids because usually I try to

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-65398431338532013652011-08-26T15:32:00.000-04:002011-08-26T15:33:13.276-04:00

Today, Isabelle, Nathaniel and Gabriel had orientation up at the school, where they would find out who their teachers were, where their classes were, and which friends were in their classes this year. First we hit up the kindergarten class, got Gabriel's books and school supplies settled in his cubby, met his teacher, looked at all the fun toys in the class. There are 18 kids in his class and he

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-15848315744459829282011-08-25T16:37:00.000-04:002011-08-25T16:37:17.821-04:00

For those interested, I posted all the pictures on the website:  Brigantine 2011 Saturday started week two at the beach. David had stayed up really late with his kids over at Kathy and Michele’s house. I woke up when he came to bed sometime around 3:30 and had a hard time getting back to sleep, so I got up and took my Kindle, my Bible, my iPhone and a chair to the beach to read, watch the

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-22501603649199871552011-08-22T19:10:00.000-04:002011-08-22T19:10:15.591-04:00

We had a wonderful, amazing trip to Brigantine for our two week family vacation. I was really looking forward to this vacation for a number reasons, but the main reason was that we all, in general, and I as a mommy in particular, needed a vacation! The kids could not wait to go on vacation each of them had a little countdown going. We had such a wonderful time, no one wanted to go home, everyone

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-34320485652592399132011-08-05T09:29:00.000-04:002011-08-05T09:29:56.629-04:00

Yesterday, the kids and I made the trip to Dutch Wonderland. We met Stephen, Diane, their kids and Diane's parents up there. The weather was perfect for a day at the amusement park--mostly cloudy and cooler temps! I think we were all thankful for the reprieve from the intense heat we have had this summer. We had a really great day, a really great time.  Some of the favorite rides of the day were

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-6234248729900347092011-08-02T14:04:00.000-04:002011-08-02T14:04:26.673-04:00

Today, the kids and I made our annual trip to the 4-H Fair, a trip that we have taken every year since we moved out here in 2005, making this our 7th annual trip! During the first trip in 2005, I pushed the twins around in a double stroller on what seemed to be the hottest day of the year while I was about 4-5 weeks pregnant, although unbeknownst to me at the time, with Gabriel. Today was

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-47739786428499489572011-08-02T13:46:00.000-04:002011-08-02T13:46:53.203-04:00

I couldn't let this quotable go by unmentioned, undocumented. You just never know what kids will say, and I have really learned to roll with it over the years. I did not flinch or even show the least embarrassment when Jeremiah said this on Sunday. By way of background, Father Hector was reassigned to another church and the good Archbishop sent us another priest. Sunday was the first time he

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-45397146122332012862011-08-01T10:53:00.000-04:002011-08-01T10:53:37.664-04:00

I haven't written much about Jeremiah on this blog recently. He is still around and growing up way too fast. He talks non-stop. He is sweet is and cuddly and just a bundle of love. He does not like to play with kids his own age and instead prefers to play with older kids--kids in the 6-8 age range. My only theory on that one is that he is used to playing with his siblings and their friends and

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-63027564072641865332011-08-01T10:39:00.000-04:002011-08-01T10:39:30.597-04:00

Sunday after church, I took Isabelle out. We went to get a pedicure, shopping to Target, out to lunch at Maggie's and then headed to the Pottery Loft where she made a mosiac butterfly.We had a great time. She was not ready to go home to her brothers!

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-66427781467014996792011-08-01T10:34:00.000-04:002011-08-01T10:34:02.782-04:00

Saturday was the last swim meet of the summer season, Divisional Championships. All the teams from the division competed in this meet and each team could send their four fastest swimmers in each event to the meet. Gabriel qualified in the free and back and also swam a relay. Nathaniel qualified in all events, but he was limited to three events plus a relay. He chose back, fly and breast and also

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-46427558638885293642011-07-29T16:26:00.003-04:002011-07-29T19:02:13.415-04:00

Yesterday (Thursday)  evening the Junior Championships were held and Isabelle, Nathaniel and Gabriel competed. This was a pretty big meet, but not quite as big as the Invitational that was held last Wednesday night. Swimmers were limited to three events and had to have a legal dual meet time to compete. Accordingly, Gabriel was limited to freestyle and backstroke. The twins were legal in all four

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-66841389192410394772011-07-26T16:06:00.001-04:002011-07-26T17:05:01.226-04:00

Intense. It's a word I know well. This was the first word my high-school track coach used to describe me. Last Wednesday night, as Isabelle was competing in a really huge meet, The Carroll County Invitational, I saw that same intensity and it was as if I were staring at myself 20+ years ago. Here she was waiting at the clerk of the course with her fists clenched, pumping them up and down and

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-44342528220670430832011-07-23T23:23:00.000-04:002011-07-28T23:07:01.171-04:00

Coming right behind the Carroll County Invitational, the kids had another swim meet today. Fortunately, we swam down in my hometown and my parents, Abigail, Sammy (Marc and Lily briefly) and Gabrielle came to watch the kids swim so that was pretty cool! They had their own cheering section, which was helpful in the oppressive heat. Isabelle had a great meet. She swam the 25 free, back, fly and

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-68405654234101734132011-07-21T15:06:00.000-04:002011-07-28T23:07:01.173-04:00

Yesterday evening a local pool in our county hosted an invitational meet open to all swimmers in the county. This means, you did not have to belong to a pool or a summer swim league to compete. Swimmers from the elite club teams could compete, as long as the swimmer was a Carroll County resident. This was a huge meet, which did not even start until 5:30 P.M., though we were there by 4:15 for

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-67512946316266290072011-07-19T13:42:00.000-04:002011-07-19T13:42:50.659-04:00

Okay, so it's not as exciting or anywhere near as Epic as U2 live on the 360 tour, but we are making some progress on the house. They put the plywood roof on yesterday and wrapped it today before it got too hot. The shingles will go up tomorrow. We are still finalizing the layout of the kitchen, the cabinet, the counters, etc., and are, quite honestly, a long way off on those fronts. You'd think

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-20916550469341408932011-07-18T17:23:00.002-04:002011-07-18T19:06:32.199-04:00

Awesome, incredible, mesmerizing, better than ever! David and I had been waiting two years to go to Philadelphia to see U2 and they did not disappoint. U2 was as good as I have ever seen or heard them, perhaps the best ever. They were good in Baltimore three weeks ago, but they were over the top in Philadelphia. We had incredible seats in section 118, row 3. We were often standing right in front

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-28715568973983560272011-07-16T15:21:00.001-04:002011-07-28T23:07:01.175-04:00

Today was our fourth meet and third home meet in a row. This coming week, we have an invitational Wednesday night and our final regular meet away. Then, the following week, we have the Junior Championships on Thursday and the Divisional Championships that Saturday, the 30th. So, just two more weeks and we will have the entire month of August off from training and competitive swimming! Gabriel

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-25416756195221538642011-07-16T13:52:00.000-04:002011-07-16T13:52:46.113-04:00

Thursday, the 14th was David's birthday. The kids were all really excited for daddy's birthday to come again this year. For some reason, and even though I tried earnestly to persuade them otherwise, the children thought we would be having another big party with 100 of our closest friends attending, just like last year. Apparently, we set the bar so high with that party, they expect it again, and

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-16538960150599801932011-07-12T08:27:00.000-04:002011-07-12T08:27:02.614-04:00

Monday, I took all four kids up to Cunningham Falls State Park, which is about a little under an hour northwest of here. I had been wanting to do this for a while because I had heard such good things about the park, lake and waterfall, and we all know my kids love their waterfalls. Cunningham Falls is a 78 foot cascading waterfall, the largest in the state. I had the kids work out with their

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-84294288625983126512011-07-11T07:42:00.000-04:002011-07-28T23:07:01.177-04:00

Saturday we hosted another home meet, our second home meet and third meet of the season. Time will tell will tell if this was the "break through" meet for Isabelle. She had a really good meet though and I was just so happy for her. My parents drove out for the meet, which is always nice, and the kids had their own cheering section! First up was Gabriel in the 6 & Under Boys 25 Free. I'll say

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-60612876045296389592011-07-10T14:17:00.003-04:002011-07-10T23:09:47.844-04:00

What a sad couple of weeks it has been, especially for the kids. I have to admit, I was pretty blown away too with the news, and it took me a good week or so to stop walking around with a huge lump in my throat or tears about to stream down my face. Our church has suffered a huge loss this summer. Our two favorite priests, and two of the best priests I have ever known, were reassigned. We had

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-31859680988846331932011-07-08T17:30:00.000-04:002011-07-08T17:30:43.372-04:00

I should have foregone yesterday's photos in favor of these! They got a lot of work done before the downpours and now it's really starting to look like something.

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-39637961265616787322011-07-07T16:08:00.000-04:002011-07-07T16:08:52.690-04:00

Now we are starting to visualize what the new breakfast room and wine bar will look like. Life with construction has not been bad, yet, but I know that is because my kitchen proper is still in tact. Once the kitchen is gutted, life will get a little more "interesting" I think. The openings in the framing are places for large windows. The morning light through this room will be phenomenal and the

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-79169010079439377792011-07-06T19:02:00.001-04:002011-07-06T23:05:04.855-04:00

Monday, changing things up a bit, we had a great 4th of July in Annapolis, visiting Gabrielle and Marty on their boat at Horn Point Marina and celebrating there. Before getting to the details of Monday, on Sunday night, as has been our long-standing tradition on the Eve of the 4th of July, we lit off driveway fireworks. This is always a big hit with the kids. We were also treated to a surprise-

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-34430196749671235472011-07-03T12:43:00.001-04:002011-07-03T12:43:00.824-04:00

Wednesday was our last day in New York. We had most of the day there though! All the children were especially sad about having to go home. They were having such a good time and they love their Aunt Gabrielle. Gabriel, in particular, seemed to be especially enamoured with the city. He kept saying over and over how much he loved New York and how he wanted to live there! I was so glad he was having

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-17928891678233757222011-07-02T16:50:00.000-04:002011-07-28T23:07:01.179-04:00

Grit. That is the one word that sums up today's performances by Nathaniel in the swim meet we had. The kids had an exhausting week in New York and missed three days of workouts. Not only were they exhausted for Thursday's workout, but Nathaniel woke up in the wee hours (after not getting to be until 10:00 Wednesday night), saying he didn't feel well and that he had a headache. I took his

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-73826030002639176762011-07-01T16:06:00.001-04:002011-07-01T17:26:29.734-04:00

Tuesday was our second day in New York City and it was a big one! This was the day that Gabriel had been dreaming about for over year, since he decided not to go to NYC last year. Gabriel's dream was the main reason we returned to New York this summer. There is nothing in this world quite like making a child's dream come true! Tuesday was also a very early day as well. We had tickets for an 8:00

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-52386509046456872172011-06-30T22:09:00.001-04:002011-06-30T22:44:06.470-04:00

Our journey to New York began on Sunday evening and things were kind of chaotic getting packed up and ready to go because we had a swim meet an hour and a half away on Saturday that took nearly 5 hours to complete, then David and I had a wedding an hour away Saturday evening, then we had church on Sunday, which included a Mass of Thanksgiving for Father Ray who is leaving this week, and then a

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-32513285567609649412011-06-26T16:12:00.000-04:002011-07-28T23:07:01.181-04:00

On Saturday, we had an away dual meet all the way down in Crofton, about an hour and twenty minutes from our house. I left the house with Isabelle, Nathaniel and Gabriel at 6:45 to get down there in time for warm-ups. David stayed home with Jeremiah. Gabrielle met us at the pool, since Crofton is not far from her boat in Annapolis. My parents also made the trip down to cheer on the kids. Each

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-71552171341712511312011-06-23T17:56:00.000-04:002011-06-23T17:56:30.365-04:00

Yesterday, as David and I returned to Baltimore, I had this feeling of "homecoming," a nostalgic feeling. It was all very surreal to me, as we sat down to eat outside at McCormick & Schmicks, where we had eaten together many times when we both worked downtown and where I had numerous business lunches back in the day. We strolled around the Harbor, passed all the places we used to go, often seeing

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-66604534454613568172011-06-21T19:06:00.001-04:002011-06-21T19:06:51.041-04:00

I promise I am not going to post a day-by-day description of our kitchen construction. But today was a big day as the foundation guy came out with his backhoe (the fifth time in six years we have had a backhoe in our yard--something tells me that is not normal) and dug six footers for our addition. I was really nervous about this because our septic is right out the back and from the looks of the

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-43437128250663116552011-06-20T23:05:00.001-04:002011-06-20T23:05:00.581-04:00

Last week, we met with our builder again, after we had finally obtained our building permit, went over a few items and wrote a large check for a deposit. He came out on Wednesday and Thursday and started ripping out the back deck and tearing down siding. He was back again today and tore down our enclosed back porch (which I was using for a mudroom--at least it's not winter and I am not in need of

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-81089198892587188512011-06-20T16:04:00.000-04:002011-07-28T23:07:01.183-04:00

On Saturday, Isabelle, Nathaniel and Gabriel had their first outdoor swim meet of the summer season. The meet, which was time trials, swum against another local pool, was held at our pool. This was a good first meet so that both swimmers and the parents/volunteers could figure out what is going on at these meets. No team score was kept, but other than that, it was official, with a real starter

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-13365479223862115622011-06-20T09:29:00.000-04:002011-06-20T09:29:23.417-04:00

Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day. It was a beautiful, though humid, day, but we'll take anything but rain or snow! We started off with our usual church service, then made a trip to Baugher's to pick up some things for our cookout. We got ready for the cookout and my parents and sisters and cousin came over around 2:00. The kids had a great time playing in the pool, playing horseshoes and

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-15859520631561220712011-06-15T15:17:00.000-04:002011-06-15T15:17:16.842-04:00

Today, we headed up to the farm to pick sweet cherries. We had a gorgeous morning to do it too and could not have asked for better weather. We had never picked cherries before in all the years we have been going to the farm. Once again, we hitched a tractor ride at the market and got dropped off at the orchard. The cherries were absolutely beautiful. The kids were very excited to pick them and

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-9153704459425246332011-06-14T14:56:00.001-04:002011-06-14T15:35:25.459-04:00

Isabelle and Nathaniel received their final report cards on Friday, the last day of school. They had an excellent year and excellent report cards. The report cards were nearly identical, so identical, in fact, that I had to hold them side by side  and compare the two. As I mentioned after the second trimester reports, the children do not receive letter/numeric grades on report cards until 3rd

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-84511136713541966022011-06-13T14:06:00.000-04:002011-06-13T14:06:38.370-04:00

Today, we made our fifth annual trip to the farm to pick strawberries. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and relatively cool compared to some of the heat and humidity we have had. We could not have picked a better day! We did our usual, picked up our baskets, loaded onto the tractor and got dropped off at the field. The pickings were really slim due to the excessive heat we had at the beginning

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28960201.post-44636099784513234212011-06-12T21:23:00.000-04:002011-06-12T21:23:21.659-04:00

Today, Isabelle, Nathaniel and Gabriel had an "un-birthday" pool party with their friends at our house. They all wanted a pool party for their birthday but they are all cold-weather babies, so the pool party had to wait. They were very, very excited for their party. On the party invitations, we asked that in lieu of gifts, each person bring a new toy, new clothing, shoes, back-to-school items,

4 in 4http://www.blogger.com/profile/01777889951783178565noreply@blogger.com0