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Taking all the kids to IHOP for a late breakfast.

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Having the time of our lives at Ocean Breeze Water Park

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After staying in a hotel, eating our breakfast in a a Wal-mart and going to two places to have our tires fixed and hanging out in a closed mall for the morning, we were finally on our way and arrived in Virginia Beach!

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After we got a flat tire, were stranded on the side of the highway, got towed to a Pep Boys and they couldn't help us until morning, the Kids and I ate supper outside of a supermarket parking lot on these tables in Dover, Delaware.

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ROAD TRIP! A lot of fun, sunshine and summer will be coming our way very soon......See you back here July 5th!

Me.

I can't imagine my life without...
My hubby & three kiddos. They are my everything.

I would love to win a shopping spree to...
Amazon.com---you can get anything there (plus good prices on photography stuff!)


If I could be anywhere, I'd be...
with my family on a vacation or at the beach.

My least favorite chore is...
dishes. I hate touching the dirty stuff.

If I could be on any tv game or reality show, it would be...
Deal or No deal,

My guilty pleasure is...
ice cream!

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Summer Vacation....First day (and the sun was actually shining!)

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Last Day of first grade.

We remember.....

• Lunch from home everyday (except when we were getting tired of it at the end of the year) in your black spider lunch box
• Danimals Crush cups
• Shorts every day until "December"
• How late the bus was the first week
• how you were so excited when you started reading Let's Read.
• Riding your scooter to the bus stop
• Flag Football
• Bus 34-Will, Will, and Grace at the bus stop
• Mercy Watson
• Basketball
• Writer's workshop
• Morning Message (no bricks for lunch today)
• Elephant and Piggie
• Frog and Toad
• passing the 48 inch mark, the 50 lb mark and the size 1 shoe mark.
• Mrs. Ly
• You using words like "enjoy"
• Pick up days on Tuesdays for swimming lessons
• Snowpants on the bus ride home so you could play in the snow right when you got off the bus.
• Making your own Valentine's (Star Wars of course!)
• Read Across America (100 books in 3 weeks!)
• Volunteering during reader's workshop
• Star Wars
• Nick H. , Troy, Niall and Nakita
• Baseball (the home run hitter!)
• Catalina Magdelina Hoopnsteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan was her name
• Supercalafragalisticexpialadocious
• Eagles and birds
• First Grade presentations (wearing winter clothes in June!)
• All the rain the last weeks of school
• Narnia
• How you said today on the last day, "Mom, it's the last day of school today....I hope it goes by slow...."
• How I hugged you tonight in bed as you cried your eyes out about missing your friends and your teacher so much (I wish you could stay in first grade forever too , buddy.)

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Celebrating.....the last day of school tommorrow (last night of making lunches tonight!) with some playing, laughing and a special dinner out ( we haven't been out to dinner with the kids in a year--this time no highchairs needed!). Looking forward to many more times to celebrate together this summer...

love this.

Parents bill of rights here.

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The last Monday of school this year....my morning this morning....it's raining again! Dishes followed by three hours of laundry, then off to work....Looking forward to vacation next week (and hopefully some summer-like weather!)

Remember this.

What I loved about growing up with my Dad.....

• His weekend morning breakfasts (what were in those pancakes anyway?)
• His love for music
• Sled rides behind the tractor
• "Doing" wood
• The way her worked so hard so we could have everything.
• Helping me with my Physics and Algebra homework until I "got it"
• Camping trips
• teaching us lessons and the value of money....like turning lights off, taking shorter showers and doing the work yourself.
• The way he valued family time and vacations
• Special dinners (for good grades)
• that I was his only "little girl"
• Our father-daughter Christmas shopping trips.

Happy Father's day Dad!

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Because I don't say it nearly enough, Thanks......for EVERYthing you do.....

For taking Trevor to his birthday, parties, sport, etc......

For working from home so we don't have to put the kids in daycare,

For cleaning the garage and helping me plant my garden

For taking care of us when we were sick.

For changing all those diapers even when it wasn't your turn...

For dealing with the kids (and bedtime) so I could have a break..

For letting me sleep in.

For being there, for me and and our kids, I would never trade our life for anything.

Watching you be a dad to our three kids has been a true honor in my life, I always knew I could do anything because you were by my side, I was never afraid. You are a great inspiration to the Mom I want to be. Happy Father's Day, I love you.

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Our summer to do list...it seems to grow longer every year (and the summer seems to grow shorter)...

365::170

a VERY special day for a special bunch of first graders. The first grade presentations....songs, music and poems followed by a visit to the classroom to see Trevor's best writing projects of the year (I will post those later) . He has come SOOO far in one short year, it really was amazing (thanks to an amazing teacher--seriously, another teacher like her will probably be really hard to come by again in a school career). A really fun (and a little emotional), and very RAINY afternoon.

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Totally You...

Looking "cute" today (in a Punky Brewster kind of way:))

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Goodnight.....

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You are never too old for swings...

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the cutest little moment of the day. She actually let HIM brush HER hair. (I wish she would let me...)

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It rained today.

And it was just one of those days when you feel like you can't even muster up the energy to get up at 6 am one more time, to prepare another meal, clean up another spill, do another dish, play another game or read another book. BUT and great dinner out with the girls (love that!) and a phone call with a "sister" gave me a re-newed energy. Somehow, someone above always knows when I need a little pick-me up. Now I can hit this new week head on !

Nature is amazing....

sighting a hawk in our yard!

This kid.

has baseball in his blood.

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no matter what else happens in our lives....times spent with family are the most important times of all.....

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Our fridge right after grocery shopping day. I LOVE all the summer goodness that is starting to make it's way into our local grocery store. Peaches, Plums and organic grapes--YUM! Can't wait until the farmer's market starts up in a week.

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Look what's popping up in our yard!

Reading

Embrace the path you are on....

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Our bedtime routine (which, when all is said and done takes sometimes three hours). But, I'm glad for the time we can spend cuddling, reading and talking about our day, getting "secret" snacks and drink all so we can comfortably drift off to dreamland (with maybe a little less crying...). Lucas' favorite book right now is HUG. it is so cute to see him reading it (that's a picture for another day).

“I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.”

John Burroughs

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Today, Trevor got to write the morning message for the class.  They have to try to trick each other with common spelling and punctuation mistakes and a nonsense story.  He was so excited that it was his turn!  

I WON!

A scrapbooking contest!

I can't believe it, my day is looking up afterall !!

(BTW, I've given up TV since the end of may to start scrapbooking again, and I'm LOVING it!)

Go here to see. I'm SOOO excited!

365::160

Is it Monday already?

Some days, you just can't wait until they are over, even from the start.  I hate feeling that way.

Picture to follow....

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Today.  

A quick trip to the playground (the only time I think I saw HER smile all day.)  And taking a Sunday drive by the old house (which is now for sale again).  Seeing how the plants that we planted there have grown, seeing the yard, the deck that WE stayed up our nights building.  We will do the same here, our sweat, our hard work...every detail of making our house a home we have done ourselves (no wonder it takes a lifetime to finish!)

The party.

As always, Thank you to Kevin and Amy and family for great company and a very relaxing and fun evening:)  Enjoy the pics!

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may all your wishes come true.

two.

Happy Birthday Sophia!  We're looking forward to being there to celebrate with you.  Love you pretty girl!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Pop-pop! The way you have lived your life and worked so hard is such an inspirtaion to us all.  Wish we could be there.

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Our morning routine.

• Lucas up at 5:30 AM (we turn on C. George and shuffle back to bed.)
  
• Us up at 6:30-7 AM , make beds, put in laundry, Josh starts his work day
  
• breakfast to the radio, usually panckakes, frozen waffles or eggs and fruit. Lucas cries until someone picks him up.
  
• Lucas, not much of a breakfast eater,  gets crackers, oranges and "nella" milk for breakfast, he gets down from the table and dumps all his food (oranges too) in the back of his little tykes car and says he's driving to "work"
  
• Breanna eats some and then gets down and reads books
  
• I get lunches together, pack bags and put stuff in the car.
• Trevor finishes, goes upstairs to get dressed (doesn't need a sweatshirt b/c it's warm out according to him), brushes his teeth and comes down.  
  
• Lucas wants to walk to the bus with us so we need to find his shoes (which are wet and sandy and still in the car from last nights' beach walk)
  
• Trevor is crying about not having his socks.
  
• Lucas starts walking to the bus stop, but is too slow.  He needs to go back inside and has an absoulte fit
• Off to the bus we go! Deep breath, We made it another day:)
• Gosh, I don't want to to be done first grade....

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Down the beach.

We're finding a rhythm to these late spring days.  We're counting down the days until everyone is home again. Until then, it's still just You and I in the mornings.  You always ask around mid-morning, "Down the Beach, Mama..."  How could I not honor that request? Who needs to do laundry and dishes anyway?

Our daily walk.

The smell of the air.

The sound of the waves.

Time for just you and Me.

The feeling of sand and mud between our toes and fingers as we build sandcastles and throw rocks in at the water's edge.

Alot of, "Look at THAT mama!"

Peace.

I look at my watch and notice that life just moves more slowly down there.

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These are a part of our life right now.  I can't say I'm a big fan of them (It's kind of like admitting that we need a tool to have a regular family life), but whatever works.  

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Seriously.

("Mom, I just wanted to call you and tell you that I think I just saw Jumpy Squirrel in the woods")

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Monday.

"Mom what is your favorite morning sound?"
"I don't know"
"Mine is the birds..."

My eternal optomist....I wish I could be that happy on a Monday morning.