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Helping Break in my new sand box at my preschool playground.

Today= family work day and BBQ at Shooting Stars preschool, the playground, garden and flowers look fantastic!

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Summertime = fun with water

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this is what we like to do instead of folding the laundry...playing HI-YAH is so much more fun!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Hope you have a special and spoiled day with your three favorite girls!  Can't wait until our visit, We miss you and love you!

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Us.  Cooking together while you guys make a blanket fort and have your "meeting" (no T.V. needed!)  Nights at home.  Love this.

getting there.

Just a quick note-Bre is REALLY potty training. She has been going on the potty whenever we remember to bring her at home and today at school, she pointed to the bathroom sign twice and when they brought her she went pee! YEAH! It's the first time she has ever used the bathroom at school. Small steps:)

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Daddy play (a.k.a. Hi-YAH)

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Yep, You are the third child.  Running around the house without clothes and a dirty face.  Eating cookies right before dinner off the floor and in the living room (in fact just helping yourself to the whole bag).  No rules seem to apply to you.  What would my mother say?!?

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And so it begins..... beach playing,  bbq-ing, campfireing, biking, hiking, family and friends visiting, walking, and eating icecream.  Here's to the wonderful memories only a summer in Maine brings.....

Memorial Day.

I'll always be thankful....

For the men and women who aren't at home this year having picnics with their families because they are fighting for my freedom.  Or for the men and women who will never be coming home.  We salute you and pray for the loved one's who support you at home. Look here for the final Salute.

Happy Memorial Day.

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As hard and tiring as it is being a mom to three, It's these spontaneous, unprompted moments that make me so happy that I have more than one and more than two kids.  After putting Breanna to bed, I walk into your room to find you both reading together.   Trevor reads the words and Lucas points to the pictures and says, "what's that?"  If you could see me behind my camera around the corner, you would see a grin from ear to ear and a tear forming in the corner of my eye.; my heart just leaping with love.  THIS, is what it is all about....

"Gratitude is noticing the extraordinary in the ordinary. And then taking the nanosecond to feel it."  

~ Karen Krakower Kaplan

Six.

A Very Fun surprise Mad science Birthday party, so happy we could be there!

Enjoy the pics:)

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Happy 6th Birthday Pretty Girl! (5/24)

We're so glad we could be a part of your day and your really fun MAD SCIENCE party!

The club.

Today's inspiration here.

Two.

Happy Birthday Emma!

We wish we could be there to celebrate with you, so happy you have your daddy home:)

We Miss you and love you Pretty girl!

2nd lost tooth!

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You will always have people by your side to love and support you, THAT I promise you.  But YOU, my darling......... You are the one who will bring absolute joy to all the lives that touch yours.  YOU are the one that will change the world.

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You. Right now.

You want your hair long on top and refuse to get a haircut (OH, my!)

You love, Narnia, Starwars and playing with Army stuff.

You are playing baseball two nights  a week.

You love birds and eagles are your favorite.

You love a warm day with a "gentle" breeze.

Have only a month left of first grade--YIKES!

You love gardening and water your seeds everyday by yourself.

You love cuddling up at night and reading a book together (I Love it too!)

You love life and are mostly happy and excited about everything we are doing (love this age!)

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A pair of Mourning doves visiting our yard (which now had 4 bird feeders and a bird bath).

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planted.

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Picture Me take mama (OH, MY!)

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flowers planted.

(These are my favorites)

Although we had to bring them inside tonight b/c it's going to get down into the thirties!

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I had the BEST day.  I drove down to the CKC in Manchester, NH.  TWELVE hours of ME time!  AWESOME shopping---brought home lots of loot (and lots of free stuff and amazing deals), Fun classes (learned alot).  Just AWESOME!  Can't wait to go back again next year (and I 'll stay for the weekend next time and get some scrapping done).  :)  JUST AWESOME.

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Love this!

What a special treat...a Friday afternoon and evening spent at home!  Bre used the little potty totally unprompted!  It was the gorgeous day, we had a campfire and S'mores at night.  Trevor and I completed a little clay project.  WE have a full fridge, we exercised, AND Trevor and Lucas fell asleep in the same room tonight---Hallelujah, we have our room back to ourselves after 7 years (it is a little sad though...they ARE growing up so fast)!  

this just made my day.

What hits me, is just the number of amazing people that are a part of my life because of this sweet little girl. :)

Hi Cindy,

I had the BEST session with your daughter today. First I must share with you that it my great pleasure to be able to work with her! She puts her whole self into every task I put to her. Today she and I enjoyed many giggles on the playground and she was communicating beautifully with back-and-forth requests and comments. Her combinations of signs and verbalizations are quite effective when she is engaged in an activity that she enjoys and her comprehension grows daily. With encouragement and some assistance, she participated in a brief, play interaction with her peers where she was requesting turns with objects and pretending to eat ice-cream. Her classmate had asked her repeatedly if she wanted ice cream and what flavor she might want. After staring for a few seconds, she paused, closed her eyes for a moment and then spontaneously declared in perfect form, “I want ice-cream!”

nearly fell over and cheered her on for probably too long! She looked at me as if to say, “What? Didn’t you ever hear anyone ask for ice-cream?” She’s amazing! Give her an extra hug tonite, she earned it.

Thanks for sharing Bre with all of us – we all draw straws to get in line to work with her!

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You. Right now.

You will only go to bed or nap after we read a book "one more time" and Froggie and Bunny are tucked in beside you.  You also have a fan and music on.  

Your favorite books are If you give a Pig a Pancake and DOgs colorful day.

You are talking in full sentences and love to end your sentences with "me." 

You HAVE to be in control at all times and can throw a tantrum like the best of them.

You HAVE to walk---no strollers or backpacks

You eat the wierdest breakfasts.....protien bars, pickles?!?!?!

You love ride-on toys and sports (golf, baseball anything your older brother is doing)

You love to take walks (we take one daily) and gather sticks and acorns for your  pretend "fire"

YOu Don't share and if you see someone touching something that you have claimed to be yours, you yell the loudest yell I've ever heard, "MINE!!"

Inspiring me today.

Read here.

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Mornings....

Tuesday is pick up day.

Tuesday is the day I always pick Trevor up at school.  It used to be because he had swimming lessons and it was nice to get home a little earlier before we had to go.  Now that lessons are over, it's just nice to see Trevor's smiling face coming down the hall at the end of the day and it's my day off anyway.  

     A lot of times, I like to bring Breanna with me to the school to practice walking holding hands in from the car and she LOVES to watch the buses and play on the playground.  A lot of other Mom's are there waiting to pick up their kids and you can tell that Breanna makes them a little uncomfortable at times (she is very LOUD usually when she tries to verbalize things).  I don't really care however, but it's hard for me to try to strike up a conversation with a Mom I don't really know because I feel like I don't really fit in with them.    I think it's more me than them b/c I see them walking out of school with their typically developing daughters and I sometimes look at them and wonder if Breanna will ever be there, running and playing with her friends, listening to her i-pod, or texting on her cell phone.  I can't help but feel a little sad about it.  Maybe that will get better with time, or maybe it won't.  

The weather was beautiful, sun shining, cool breeze blowing.  I see Trevor's bright shining face coming down the hallway to greet me.  Did you have a good day at school? , I asked, He said, Yeah, Can we play on the playground?  Sure, I said.  I asked Breanna if she wanted to play, she said, YEAH!, so off we went.  Trevor ran full speed with two of his buddies to the monkey bars.  and proceeded to fool around, standing on top, climbing and using their best potty-talk boy playground conversations with each other.  It is really a hoot to see.  

Breanna navigated the playground with ease, but hersometimes  funny walk and loud voice, some people would stare at her.  Then Trevor's friend said to him, Trevor your little baby sister is REALLY WEIRD!.  Trevor could have cared less and really just ignored the whole thing and went about playing and laughing.  But for me, I felt the lump come up into my throat.  This is just the beginning I thought.  This really caught me off guard.  Do I say something to the little boy explaining that Breanna has Down Syndrome and what that means?? or maybe his mom?  What would I even say?  I guess I haven't really prepared myself for this yet. I decided to ignore the whole thing and head toward home.   I felt that lump again, thinking of how long this journey will be through the school years, not just for me, but for my sons as well.  Now, I really don't expect a first grader to understand what Down Syndrome is, really.  But what scares me is the fact that there are so many older people out there who don't understand it at all.   Another scary thing is  now that Breanna is getting older,  others  are going to start having expectations of how she should be especially when they don't realize her disability. She's not just hidden at home anymore or at her special preschool.  I'm not scared for me, I'm scared for my boys.  They don't have the adult sense and reasoning skills yet.  How will it affect them when people make comments about Breanna to them, or don't want to visit the house because of her?  All I want is for her to run and play with her friends, and do the things that kids do.  I know it won't be easy, I don't expect life to be.  That is why it will be oh so great when I can look back on this post and know we have gotten there.....

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THe K-12 Art Show 2009.  I always LOVE this.

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Just loving this, it's so fun to see yourself through the eyes of a six year old (well six and three quarters to be exact!)

Mother's Day 5 K and Kids 1K Fun Run

Just super fun.....I'm hooked (and tired too)!

Enjoy the pics!

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Mother's Day 2009

• Suprised with tea in bed and Trevor's homemade cards and gifts
  
• Ran my first 5 K ever!
  
• A HUGE omlet breakfast
• a trip to Lowe's
• relaxing,reading magazines and  a having a BBQ dinner
• Josh doing everything (thanks honey!)
• A nice walk with the boys
• lots of playing, hugs and kisses
• pretty much the best day ever.

On Mothering.

Now.

                                                         And then,  My first Mother's Day, May 2003

No One ever told me.......

How hard and incredible this mothering experience would be

how much I would change with each child

That I could be perfectly happy with a life that didn't turn out at all how I had expected.  

That the fear, worry and responsibility would drive me crazy sometimes.

That I would always wonder if I was doing the right thing....

That I would put my heart and soul and every fiber of my being into this job and still love it.

That I  would forget what a full night's sleep felt like and still be fine.

That you guys would be fine if I didn't do everything perfectly.

That you would love me no matter what my mistakes were.....

This poem touched my heart:

For my kids....... (By Karin from here.)

Sometimes I miss you while you are sleeping
And I wonder if I looked at your eyes enough today
Or hugged and kissed you enough
Or made you laugh enough

Sometimes I miss you while you're at school
And I wonder if I made the right choice to keep working
Or if I should have stayed home
Or been your at-home teacher

Sometimes I miss you while you're taking a time-out
And I wonder if I'm being too hard on you
Or if I'm fighting the right fights
Or giving the right discipline

Sometimes I miss you while I'm making your dinner
And I wonder if you notice that I pour my love into every meal
Or if you'd rather I order in and spend time with you
Or invite you to the kitchen to help

Sometimes I miss you while you're playing in the other room
And I wonder if I should come play with you
Or make up a new game
Or teach you my favorite one

Sometimes I miss you while you're right next to me
And I wonder what it will be like when you've grown up
Or when you go away to college
Or when you visit on the weekends with my grandkids

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I could stop time
And play with you and savor you and love you
Or hold you until my arms don't feel the impending emptiness
Or talk to you until there is nothing left to say

Love you guys....most of all for making me a Mom and the person I am today.  

Happy Mother's Day , Mom and to all the Amazing Moms I know.  Motherhood is a gift, let's celebrate!

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Just hanging out on the back deck with a little Play-doh, a little potty training, a few beverages, an awesome steak sandwich, an unexpected flower delivery:), and a great walk to our favorite ice-cream place.  Gotta LOVE Saturdays in May.,....

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Just and ordinary walk on the marsh on an ordinary day. The highlight was throwing rocks off the bridge and looking for birds. Peaceful.

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Thursdays.

It's the get ready for the weekend day (since it's my day off) and chore day.  Meal Planning, grocery list making, laundry doing, bathroom cleaning, errand running, etc, etc.....  My system for planning meals has worked really well for us for about the past 4-5 years.  We make a menu for the week and try to mix up recipies from new magazines and our old standbys depending what is going on that week and when the work days and sports practices are.  Then I make a grocery shopping list (divided by isle) for the big shopping trip on Friday mornings (my crazy day).  Usually this helps me not to forget  anything, although there is usually another shopping/errand day on Tuesday to pick up a few more fresh things and household items.  I'm looking forward to taking part in our brand new Farmer's market this year, we have already bought into a share from a local farm.  This week is dreary and rainy, but Summer is coming.....

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rocks + puddle + worms = hours of little boy fun ("Look at this Mama!")

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Blue Point Spring concert 2009.  These group of kids were just so enjoyable.  Stay tuned for more pics and video:)

Blue point Spring Concert

Theme: Songs form around the world.....  Enjoy!

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You at two:

Your newest word, "Of Course!"

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 Some birds enjoying dinner on the feeder (boy do they eat ALOT!).

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The first big game.

And after we accidentally left our hat and glove at the field and Lucas didn't get a good nap in....well the day just went downhill from there.  Thank god tommorrow is a new day!

the look.

I wonder where she gets this look from?!?

life is too short.

I have missed a few weeks at the gym--school vacation, crazy work schedule (I know, excuses). When I got back today there were signs all over that one of the instructors (who I had been taking classes from for at least 5 years) was killed tragically and they were raising money for her children. This is what happened. Please Pray for those girls. It is so sad to see someone taken out of your life that you knew, but didn't really know. It really makes you think. Thank you God for this day, and that I can go home and hug my kids tonight and tommorrow.....

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One of my favorite summer salads.