A long and crazy summer....

Hello everyone!  Finally fall is here and maybe just maybe

my insane life can get back to normal!

This past summer has been filled with incredible highs and devastating lows....

The summer started off great....we bought a new house and were looking forward

to swimming in our new pool.....

my daughter was cast in her first ever theater production...

The Wizard of Oz....as a Munchkin in the Lullaby League!

Yes she wore all blue....in the book version all the Munchkins wear blue~!

She did the first 4 weeks of the summer show, they triple cast the Munchkins....

It was a wonderful time for both of us....getting to see her perform on the same stage

that I worked on while pregnant with her brought

so much joy and happiness to my heart.

I was so excited to share my love of theater with her and she seemed to love

every....single....minute!

Then the bad stuff came.....my father got sick in the beginning of July and it eventually turned into a massive blood infection that would take his life on July 23rd......

laying my father to rest was one of the most painful things I have ever had to do....

I have always been a Daddy's girl and knowing that he would

not get to see my children grow up just about broke my heart....

I am just ever so grateful that they were all old enough to know and love him.....and most important of all

remember him

Two weeks after my Fathers funeral I had surgery.  I had been suffering from

extreme anemia and they found that I had a giant fibroid in my uterus that had to go....

so it did!  I have finally started to feel human again after 3 months......needless to say

all the bad things delayed most of our unpacking as I was in no mood or condition to do

any of it......so here we are with the winter snows already

upon us and finally starting to get things done around here......

I hope to have some projects to share with you soon.....we are decorating our daughters

new bedroom and I am making her a vanity and a

dress up cabinet from an old dresser

Dress Up Head Quarters

......found that one on pinterest.....

Do you Pinterest?  It is fast becoming my new obsession....I will NEVER have enough hours in my LIFE to make all the things I have pinned!  LOL

Crafting weekend.....

        So this past weekend was the first of Spring and WOW was it really here!  It was almost 70 degrees and sunny....we threw open the windows, wore short sleeves and well quite frankly I felt wonderful.  I truly think I must have not enough Vitamin D and that is why I am always so tired!  This weekend I was a whirling dervish!  I cleaned, I sewed, I played.....hardly any time on the computer, which made hubby happy! :)

          So the boys and I had a lovely weekend making projects.....I made up my things for the Tilda swap as I HAD to get it in the mail Monday....happy to say I did it! I haven't sewn in years and maybe it wasn't the best idea to start on a project for someone else???  However I think what I made was very sweet and cute, and I have already started on the same set for myself/daughter..... I also made up some sweet boxes for a Handmade Pass it on from FaceBook, first time making jewlery,earrings to be exact.....sent those off Monday as well and everyone recieved them today and like them very much, much to my delight!  My little one decided that she too wanted a "project" so she took out a whole ton of batteries, screwdrivers and tried to take apart her little piano.  When asked what she was doing she replied...." It's my project, I TOLD you"  Okey dokey then!

        James was working on his Egypt project for school.  He made two different pyramids, one from foam blocks and one from clay.  He also made a tool of wood, twine and metal.  He worked in the garage with my hubby banging away having a grand old time for himself.  I will add pictures of that tomorrow.   He did such a wonderful job on the crafting part and his 4 page paper ( tpyed but still)......we are so very proud of him....6th grade has been very difficult and challenging for him and his ADD does not help.  He has worked very hard despite his challenges. 

    Jack was bent low over James all weekend trying to be of some help in the projects.....I went out and got them more foam blocks so when they don't have school they can make something together.....it is so nice to see them hunched up together, making a plan.....


So what did you do this weekend?

So thankful.....

As I sit here watching my boys out the window getting ready to go off to school I am just feeling very thankful and blessed.  We had a great, nice, calm morning.  Something that does not happen often in our hussle bussle lives. 

So many things take up our time that it is hard to just sit and realize how truly lucky one is.  I have 3 truly amazing kids. They love us and each other and well who could ask for more?

  My oldest is dear to me because he was my first.  For four long years I prayed, wished and hoped for him....he is truly a miracle.  He is one of the kindest, gentlest souls I have ever met.  He can break my heart with a smile.  He is so good to his little sister.  And while he and his brother fight he loves him just as fiercely.  He has a wildly creative imagination, loves to run wild outside, works hard on the things he loves, and wants to help people.  He is such a good kid and I can't believe how quickly he is growing up....seems like just yesterday he was born and all my dreams were realized. 

 My middle boy is special to me because he "gets" me, looks like me, loves all the things I love and is my mini me in almost every way.  He was and still is the calmest child.  He has the sweetest, softest cheeks that I love to kiss.  He is ALL boy, from his stinky feet to his dirty fingernails.  He is  little professor and wears the glasses to go with it!  :)   He also loves his brother and sister so much and while not as emotional as my oldest, when you get a squeeze or hug from him, it is worth the wait.  There is nothing like his laugh or the accents he uses....one day I hope he realizes his thespian and singing potential...something I love to do and would love to share with him

And finally my little Miss....so dear to my heart because she is my last and she is everything I could have dreamed of for myself but didn't know I wanted or needed in a little girl.  She is sweet, funny, sassy, sour, gorgeous and loving.  Her brothers are her favorite people.  She is my little shadow and delights in cooking anything, even just boiling water for mac and cheese.  We put on our aprons and get to work.  She loves to sing, dance, twirl, paint, jump, hop....well you get it, the list is endless.  I was convinced when I was pregnant with her that I was having my third son and I was thrilled with that....I could not have been more surprised when she was born....and my love of all things girly and pink could be realized and acted on!  LOL  My husband used to say it looked like a pepto bismol bottle exploded in our home!

So today I am just feeling thankful, for my husband, my children, our home, our health....and well pretty much everything!

What are you thankful for today?

Great news!

So my husband got a job! He has been out of work since May 1st and we were starting to get very worried...we were ok for a few more months but well in this economy you never know. He should be starting in mid August once they sign the contracts they are working on...he has already been given an offer so we wait. There are several things that he is not happy about....not that he is complaining it IS a job and that is the most important thing. The commute will be an hour and half each way, he will be making alot less then he used to, and the worst part of all...he may have to be gone for 7 weeks at a clip to other sites....that is going to be SO hard! My kids are very connected to my husband. Prior to getting laid off he was working from home 3 days a week...to say that we have grown accustomed to having him home is an understatement! My daughter is only 2 and he is very sad that he may be gone when big things happen for her.. Hopefully it won't be that bad, but if it is I will make it my mission to make it as easy for him as possible. I feel so blessed that even during this time he didn't want me to work, that he wanted me home with my baby....that I feel it is so important to let him know that we all support him 100% even if we miss him. I will cherish every last minute that we have him home with us until August!

My Unplugged Staycation

Ok so last Sunday we decided that we were going to be pretty much electronics free for the week. We would check email, as that is the main way several people contact us, and we would watch a movie here and there but other then that, no TV, no computers and no video games. Following is the brief journal that I kept druing our little experiment!

Monday July 20th 2009

Well it’s day one of the no electronics and already Jack is driving me MAD! He is the main reason I felt we had to do this. The child spends way too much time indoors and while I don’t want to force him to go outside….he really needs to. So the morning started off with us running late, as usual, for the first day of Vacation Bible School. We had never done this before but heard great things about it from friends and since it was free we thought why not. Well as soon as we dropped the boys off I told my husband….”Jack is going to quit this the second he gets home…he will say they make us sing and dance and there is NO WAY I am doing that!” Well guess what I was right and he does not want to go back. Oh well at least he tried. James thought it was fun and his friend is there so he will go back. While they were at camp I got to work on ridding Emma of TV time….we played dolls, did puzzles, read 5 books several times each, made block towers that she kicked down, she helped daddy stack wood in the yard, and she rooted out toys from the depths of the basement, that had not seen the light of day since the boys were little….Fisher Price Farm house…. The boys home we all had lunch and it was off to bed for Miss EmmaAnnie B called and invited the boys up to swim….and now they are back playing wiffle ball in the yard…so far Jack is doing ok without his plugged-in entertainment….hopefully the rest of the week is this easy….though I doubt it will be.....

Wednesday July 22, 2009

Day 3 of our little experiment and things are looking up. For the first time ever, Jack said to James instead of the other way around “ James want to play outside?” OUTSIDE!!!! OMG we are making progress. They stayed outside all day and into the dark of the night catching fireflies for their baby sister and playing wiffle ball. I could not be more thrilled. James continues on with VBS (vacation bible school) and actually asks to listen to the CD of Christian music they handed out on the first day. They will have a little show at the end where they will sing several of these songs, and he actually LIKES them. He has always been a very spiritual boy and this makes me happy.I went out tonight to see a show and the kids went with hubby for a bike ride. I saw “Anything Goes”….and it should have gone…far far away!…nuff said….the only good part was my friend the tap dancing/ singer who was amazing as always. Had a nice night out afterward despite the fact that when I got back to my car the battery was dead. These two really nice older men ( who were with their wives ;) helped me jump the battery and we were on our way to some delicious food at UNO!! YUM!!!

Thursday July 23, 2009

So today we decided that in addition to swimming at the lake we would take our bike riding on a high adventure and do the bike paths at Ordiorne Point in Rye, NH. Ok, so to say this was one of the worst days of my life would NOT be an exaggeration! OMG we took a wrong turn off the cement bike path and ended up in HELL!!! Yes HELL!! We got onto a hiking trail, not a bike trail, which was littered with very large bumpy roots, huge rocks, overhanging branches that slap you in the face and head as you try to ride by, sloggy mud rivers and sand….oh the sand….have you ever tried to pedal a bike in deep sand? Well let me tell you, it SUCKS!!! What should have taken us 30 minutes had us out in the woods for over and hour…did I mention that it was getting darker and darker the farther into the woods we went? I haven’t cursed that much in a looooong time! We eventually found the correct path back to our car…I have never been happier to see a minivan in my life! The only good part was when we came out on the beach and got to rest in the breeze free of the horrible bugs and collect shells. After my torture ice cream was in order~! I should have gone with my gut and stayed home with book 2 of the Twilight series in my flannel jammies with a cup of tea…..I will not make that mistake again!

Friday July 24, 2009

Well it is the last day of our little experiment and it has been great. I realized that I do not need to be connected at all times. I read 3 books ( including Twilight, which I thought I would hate but LOVED) and countless magazines and newspaper articles this week. We played too many games to count including but not limited to: Jenga, Battleship, Picture Link, Poker, Memory, 20 Questions…..the list is endless. We went on countless bike rides, swam at the lake, built branch shelters in our yard, hunted snakes ( ok I didn’t do this but the boys did), played wiffle ball ( the boys were amazed at my batting skill), painting, playdohing, reading and spending a lot of time just being together. I loved this week, and despite their initial resistance so did the boys. We are all determined to spend less time plugged in and more time doing creative things together. All in all this has been a wonderful week and I highly recommend unplugging your family and taking an electronics free staycation!