Father's Day

Hi out there!

Sunday the 17th found us celebrating Father's Day at Hershey Park this year with Jen, Scott, and Paden. The weather was beautiful!!

They have a new water area in the middle of the park now.

It looks like fun, but it is kind of overwhelming! This is just one section. I started out not getting wet, but trying to capture the others on camera... very difficult because it was hard to find the right places to stand and not get wet. I waited and waited for Sammie and Keith to come down one of the big slides, only to see them get to the top and be turned away... Sammie was too small. So I finally put the camera away and was going to join them, but heck if I could find them in that maze! I had more water fights in there with other people's children in my quest to find my group. When I finally got to the top, I looked out towards the entrance and saw them all walking out and looking around for me! So I climbed back down after all that! ha ha ha

We got a little dried off and headed for the car for a picnic lunch... Not only was it Father's Day, but our 7th Anniversary. Here we are:

Seven years...can you believe that? The last couple years have just flown by! (Don't pick on my hair -- It is after being soaked and I can't do a thing with it! But look at those teeth!!! (I still am so happy with my teeth! he he))


I call this one, "Mommy, why do I have to stand with the giant poop?"

Paden, David, and Samantha enjoy a fast ride...


Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil...

The amazing part is that we got all three of them to cooperate at the same time! ha ha ha This was taken on the monorail around the park.

Giant Animal Orgy...


Then we got the most laughs when we came across the Boogie Bodies stand! Ah, green-screen technology at it's finest! ha ha ha
Here Paden and Samantha get ready for their video shoot. David said it looked embarrassing and that he didn't want to be a "Bobble Head", so he didn't participate.

Here is the result of our silliness...

Oh, we're in trouble if Sammie grows up to have a body like that!!! ha ha ha

We had a wonderful day... a great start to summer!

Hope all is well with you! Miss ya!

My son...

The Kindergarten Graduate!!

Here is David with his wonderful teacher! This year went by so fast!!!

The Lighter Side of Work...

The National Court Reporters Association posted a link to this video I'd like to share. It's a cute and funny look at depositions from a legal videographer's perspective.
Sometimes depositions are videotaped to be used later by the attorneys or to be played in court before a jury if the witness would not be able to appear personally, and that's where the legal video specialist comes in.

My favorite element to this clip is how the poor guy is struggling with steps and hills and traffic to get his equipment to the job locations because, even though I have less equipment than that to haul around, one of the crazy things about this work is just trying to get to the job -- especially if we're dealing with older buildings that have many steps but no ramps or elevators! The worst I have had so far was an older building in Baltimore where they wanted me up in the third floor conference room... no elevator, just spiral staircase. Yes, that was fun. There have also been occasions where you could have watched me walk in circles down or up through the many levels of a parking garage because an elevator was out of service and I had to park on Level 8 or something. In one case I demanded the owner not charge me for parking since I was seriously inconvenienced...and one more floor they might have had to call the paramedics! LOL!

So here it is... The Depo Trail!

Catching Up Post...

Well, I've been away for a while, so I'm just combining it all here!

Some big stuff and some little stuff happened recently, and so I'll just show you!

I got a new smile! What do you think? (And apparently a hanger sticking out of my head!) Thursday the 24th meant new teeth for me... surprisingly minimal pain, but lots of healing to do yet. It's a horror show under those new teeth, let me tell ya!! ha ha ha



My lavender-colored roses are blooming...



I went to Philadelphia for three days for work:
LOVE sign



Waterfall at City Hall



This sign on the Amtrak on my way home struck me as funny... in case you need to escape quickly and are in an unusual circumstance?? he he he


Kids got some bubbles and we played in the yard:



David has just two more weeks of school, and then summer can officially begin!!!
What have you been up to? We miss you!
**Hugs from us all!**

My Celebrity Look Alikes...

See, I could be living the good life...only if I had talent! ha ha ha ha

http://www.myheritage.com

It's funny because I have always had a little crush on Brendan Fraser!

It's not that...

Here's my "It's not that..." post. ha ha ha

It's not that....
I haven't taken any photos lately
I haven't been anywhere lately
I haven't enjoyed life lately

it's just that...
I have been working
I have been working
I have been working...

Last year, this was a challenging and difficult thing because I was stretching my skills and reaching beyond myself a little -- while poorly managing time. I would say, "I've been working" with a different tone and meaning... meaning more like, "I've been struggling to juggle."

When 2007 began on a sour note, I felt I was doomed for the year, but I can say that career-wise, 2007 is kicking butt! I am so happy right now... it's like a breath of fresh air. I have turned work into a positive, and it is allowing other areas of my little world to be brighter... in spite of the fact that we still have some challenges we are dealing with right now. "I've been struggling to juggle" has turned into, "I'm finally starting to balance." I wouldn't say I've got it all figured out...just that it is 75 percent better! I'm excited now, not worried.

So though I would have loved to share so much these past couple of weeks about the kids and stuff, I can just squeak two pictures in here for the moment. I will start posting more again soon...if anyone is still out there reading this! ha ha ha

Here are my two favorite pictures of the moment....
1. "The Mouse Takes the Cheese" (Knoebels)




2. "I'm Sensitive, and I'd Like to Stay that Way" (my little flower picker)


Oh, and a little Random Act of Cuteness...

Samantha comes up with a scribble drawing of a flower. Her scribbles are actually starting to resemble things now! ha ha She hands me a marker and says, "Mommy! I want you to draw a Honey Bird." Oh, a honey bird, huh? What is a honey bird? She replies, "A honey bird has a long nose and it sucks out the honey!" I respond, "Oh, yes, a honey bird!" So I drew her a scribbly rendition of a humming bird and she was very pleased that I captured a perfect image of a honey bird sucking honey out of a flower.

Happy Spring!!! Love you all!

Our Backyard Bun-Bun

Baby Bun:

Another Random Act of Cuteness!

I got home this evening, and Keith wanted to show me something in the yard.... except what he wanted to show me had an issue!

He went over to the one window well and then told me to get the shovel. HUH???
Me: Oh, no, don't tell me there is some dead animal in there!!??! (Three basement windows on the south side of the house were created, and the ground was dug out to allow that, so the wells are lined in concrete and about two-feet deep.)

This tiny baby bunny was cuddled up in the corner down at the bottom of the window well. He fell in and couldn't get out! Poor little bun-bun!! He is no bigger than the palm of my hand! So I climbed in and tried to pick him up to return him to ground level, but he got a little scared and was hopping all over. After a few strokes on his little head, he trusted me enough to let me lift him out. At that moment, my in-laws showed up with the kids and the bun-bun ran into his little hole between two of the windows... it wasn't deep though...he was just kind of protected, but not under the ground. He sat there and let us pet him a little bit.

Oh, so the funny comment for the RAC today is what my father-in-law said, and it relates to the Van Gogh post below. He said, "Tell that bunny to stay away from Samantha or he might lose his left ear!"

Random Act of Cuteness for March

(I've been keeping this one in my head and very late to post it, but I can't just let it slip away!)

While hanging out in the kids' room, I overhear this role playing by Samantha and her "Holly" (Polly) Pocket dolls:

(One is a boy and the other a girl.)

Girl: (In a shrill pretend voice) "Marry me or die!"

Me: What? Samantha! Do you think you have to die or get married?
Sammy: I want you to marry me, Mommy!
Me: I can't marry you! I'm your mommy!
David: I'll marry you, Mommy!
Sammy: Yeah, you can marry David!
Me: I can't marry David either! I'm already married to Daddy!
Sammy: Okay. Then you can die for Daddy.
Me: Oh, really? Let me think about that one!
David: Yeah! You grow up. You get married. You are happy. Then you die.

If Van Gogh were alive and trying to take over the world...

He'd start with this little (f)earless army of bunnies!!!







I kid you not... this is how it went down:

While sitting down to Easter dinner at my in-laws' house, they told of how they presented these cute little bunnies to a sweet little girl to play with...and within minutes, strange bits of colored fuzzy things were scattered on the floor around these bunnies. When asked what happened to the ears on the bunnies, Samantha reports, "I don't know! They just fell off!!"

What I don't seem to get is why she chose to only amputate the left ears!

Have a wonderful start to spring, everybody! We miss you!

And another little bird spreads her wings and tries to fly...

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures, mostly because I'm running off of very minimal sleep, but Samantha stepped onto the kindergarten campus today and began the registration process! I can't believe how time flies. (I know, I always say that!) It just seems to keep getting faster and faster though. Wasn't I just doing the registration process for David? Now the boy is reading and writing and telling me all about worldly things with such excitement.

Samantha is nothing like David though! David has been the model student so far from start to finish. I don't know if it has to do with his age or his personality. Samantha though is like an electric tumbleweed!

First I tried to get her ready for registration. She was on the floor in front of the TV in her underpants watching Noggin. She yells to me, "I don't want to go. Take Caesar!" Yeah, like I'm going to dress up the cat and pass her off for my daughter... although, Caesar probably wouldn't have shoved his paw up his nose and then stuck it in his mouth in front of the principal like a certain someone ended up doing! Arrrggh!!! She scored very low in her evaluation, so she might become an all-day kindergarten student, but that will probably be good for her. I expected this because she hasn't been as interested in the alphabet and numbers as her brother has always been. She marches to her own little punk-rock drummer, and you can't get into her stubborn little head when she is having one of those moments. Nonetheless, she is growing up too, and she is looking forward to school...if only they wouldn't start it so early though! ha ha ha

Down the hallway from the library...I made my way to David's classroom to drop something off. He was so surprised to see me there! His teacher is the sweetest. There he was working hard on a drawing and story for the day. His little classmates are so cute. They all looked up and whispered about the unexpected visit. If only you could just bottle every moment like that!

Another visit from the Tooth Fairy...

Well, they are just dropping right out these days! David lost his third tooth yesterday, the one right next to his two new ones at the bottom front. (See that little space there? ha ha) I guess it was feeling a little crowded by the big new adult teeth! Three more are loose too: The one on the opposite side of the two new teeth is loose, and the top two front teeth are a little loose! The tooth fairy is going to be broke at this rate! LOL!

Arts Night

This past week found us at David's school for an art show. Colorful little masterpieces were displayed throughout the halls, and there were a few tables set up along the way where the children can make a few small projects. Samantha came along too and said, "I like this school!" That's good because she's going to be there this coming fall too!

One of the sections featured creations from the children from their lesson on sumi-e. Here is David's rendering...



Not too shabby, eh? David really enjoys painting and drawing, so I'm thrilled that his school takes the time to really encourage art and celebrates the creativity of the children.

I hope everyone is feeling great and happy. Hugs from all of us!

Slow and Hapee

Even though, in my opinion, this looks like some sort of mutant animal performing some bodily function, (But hey, that's just me!) this is actually a very quick and spontaneous scribble on an envelope by David of a turtle that really made me laugh out loud. He was so sincere about it, and I just had to smile.

The message is simple, and it's one I often forget. That happens so easily, doesn't it?

I always worry if I'm doing my best to teach my kids everything they need to know... but every day, when I stop to pay attention, I realize that they are teaching me. I have to remind myself that once in a while you need to be slow and happy.

Hi everyone! I miss you guys! Sorry I'm cheap on the e-mails... I really should be better at keeping in touch. The weather warmed up this week, but now we hear we may get more snow. I took the kids to the park yesterday, and will post a couple as soon as I can. Take care!

You know that saying...

I believe it goes, "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger." I have spent many moments thinking that to myself, but I also realize I have spent many moments just "surviving". You know, I'll even learn the lessons I need to from these challenging moments in life, but have yet to be able to say that I always take what I've learned and applied it.

Some of this, I believe, is out of fear. Do I fear change? No, not much... what I fear is judgment. I hold myself back because I decide in my head that I'm going to fail anyway and get laughed at. Well, lately I have been taking it in baby steps. If I try to change everything at once, I will fall apart. I set myself up for failure that way.

So I'm challenging myself every day to make positive change, if even just a little bit.

I just wanted to say hello to you friends out there that I miss. You are so far away on the west coast, and I wish we could sit down for a good laugh together. I just wanted to wish you well today and send a smile your way!
*hugs*

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

David celebrated at school with Cat in the Hat activities and eating green eggs and ham.



What have you been up to lately?

Little Pinky

In her new little pink dress from Jen and family.

Working on the look...

Hello!

I did some updating a little on the blog's look. I lost some of my links though, but the ones I miss most are the one's to my friends. I think though that some of the sites were a little outdated and a couple of you have new blogs. Can you e-mail me a good link for your most up-to-date blogs??? Sorry!!!

Happy Valentine's Day...

From the Cookie Protection Program!!!





Unfortunately, though David doesn't seem to mind, school was canceled due to the weather conditions today...so David will have to deliver his love letters tomorrow...if there is school tomorrow, that is!

Now that's more like it!

Actual scoopable snow!

First Annual Valentine's Preparations!

Yes, it's David's first year of school, and thus the first year to make Valentine's!!!!!

Here's all the loot!


Mr. Casanova himself...

working on a very, very, very special Valentine for the little cutie he has a crush on...


And Samantha had some of her own to prepare too for David, Daddy, and Mommy!


It's just the beginning of many years of holiday school traditions, and it's so much fun! Remember those days of picking out who got which card, and being careful not to give the kids you didn't like that much one that said something too mushy! How about the anticipation of getting all the cards from your friends... awwww, the innocent days of puppy love! LOL!

Updates in the Gift Shop!

Hello, folks!

I don't mention the Cafe Press shop very often, but lately have been wanting to add some fun designs. I added two new products. One is a set of greeting cards with the image of Stormy looking out the window. I thought it made a good "miss you" card or something. Second, I added greeting cards and postcards with the Happy Feet design. All cards have blank insides.

If you might want to take a look, click here.

More snow, but just a little bit!

Well, we got a little bit more snow on Wednesday...but I doubt it was even more than an inch. There wasn't even enough to shovel...so we used a stiff broom! The kids enjoyed it for a little bit anyway. It was all melted away by this morning, except for a little blob of the former snowblob named Fred.




So happy to have a little snow and a two-hour delay to start school!




Fred the Snowblob. Just a tiny little guy, but enough to make David really smile!




A close-up shot of Fred the Snowblob. David had a hard time getting the raisins to stay in!





This little one was only outside for a short time. She's such a spoiled girl and got cold quickly. LOL!

VOTE FOR STORMY! VOTE FOR STORMY!!

Stormy is in the Stuff On My Cat contest this week!!!!

Here is the link: Stuff On My Cat




Please help her win a cool kitty water fountain! ha ha ha

Thanks friends!

************UPDATE*******************
Well, Stormy couldn't compete with Lulu and her Viking hat, but she did get lots of votes! Thanks for making her feel special and showing your support!

I want to go out and play...

Just a little snow...

This is 32

Tomorrow (Monday) will be my 32nd birthday.

Keith and I went to the Macaroni Grill for a lovely lunch...and to our surprise when we came back out, it was SNOWING!!!



I got on the phone right away to David to see if it was snowing in York too! He was soooooooooooo excited! He's been wishing for snow for weeks now! He just sounded so cute!

I don't have any profound reflections on turning 32. It's a boring number, and the new year got off to a crappy start... so let's just see what I can make out of 2007. I can say that I'm hopeful and looking forward to some good changes.

Wrap me up...

I explored the world of wire wrapping yesterday at the SGB-MA quarterly meeting.

Here is what I created during the great demo given by Ms. Stevens, one of our members. I have always liked silver, and this was quick to make! I took one of my recent beads and wrapped this pendant. I still have more I want to add to it, but for now, here is my creation. I may take some of my other beads to this next step now that I have some new inspiration.

I still miss you...

I just want to pick up the phone and hear your gentle voice and tell you funny stories. I just miss you so damn much.

Sammie and Comb Over go to the dentist.

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

To a dear copule and treasured friends of ours...

We love you both so much and wish you a wonderful Second Anniversary!! Hope the coming year is full of fantastic opportunities and great moments! We are so thankful to have you in our lives!

Happy Feet...

Music from Heaven...

Since my family is in California, at Christmas they send money and ask me to shop for the kids, rather than wasting money on excessive postage. No problem! So this year, I bought the gifts...and needed to sort them out on Christmas Eve for wrapping and assigning.

I tell the kids that Santa delivers these special presents from people we love that are far away. I try to match them up appropriately...but this year I was looking over the gifts and sudden inspiration came to me.

I flashed back to our trip two years ago in 2005 to California. We made a trip to downtown L.A. and visited Olvera Street, where we got the kids two colorful little guitars. They had so much fun here on Grandma's front step playing with them... (David wanted the pink one!)




When we returned to P.A. though, It became clear that these novelty items were not really the best for teaching the kids how to actually play a guitar, and they've been sitting in my closet, where they will be safe. David asks about them often, and sadly I have been denying his request.

Funny though... a few weeks before Christmas, I was in Target and suddenly stopped to see an end cap full of kids Little Lyon guitars that came with an easy learn guide. Perfect!!! Something inside of me just told me to buy them, especially for only $20 each!

So now I'm sitting on the floor wrapping presents Christmas Eve, and I'm still having a hard time losing Grandma the night before...and it came to me... these guitars will be from Grandma... this is how I applied the Christmas money she sent.

The kids unwrapped them Christmas morning...and I made sure they knew that these were gifts of music from Heaven.

So David and I are learning. Sam is not quite ready to sit and learn yet, but David really has a knack for music, I think. He picks it up quickly, and we had a lot of fun...


We are having fun. We are learning together. We are smiling and thinking of Little Grandma with each new note we figure out.

Cafe Press Shop Update

Message for my family:

The Cafe Press shop has one product set ready of memorial items for Grandma. You can visit to get an idea, but please don't act yet because I want to add more sets of different images. IF THERE IS A PICTURE YOU KNOW I HAVE THAT YOU ABSOLUTELY LOVE AND WANT ON ONE OF THESE PRODUCTS, OR WANT SOME CUSTOM WORDING, LET ME KNOW, AND I WILL PUT UP A CUSTOM ITEM!!!

Like I said...I have other pictures, and I'd like to add more, but if you get inspired, LET ME KNOW!!

Here is the link: www.cafepress.com/steno

Scroll down to the bottom of the shop for Memorial group. If you have any questions, ask!

No one can make my heart bleed more...

than the angelic voice of Laura Pausini....

Just wanted to share these two.... one sad...one hopeful.

"One More Time" from the movie "Message in a Bottle"...


and one of my all-time inspirational favorites...
"Le Cose Che Vivi"

Home again...home again...

"Jiggity Jig"??? (I don't know why that was in my head! LOL!)


(A view of the sunset on the plane as we were coming in to land yesterday. I wish I could have captured how spectacular and bittersweet it actually was as we glided above the clouds and the gorgeous red, orange, and yellow softly danced across David's face.)

We are back. We are tired. We are sad. We are still sick! Can you believe that? Samantha has been puking since she got home. I don't know if it's the same bug or a new one we picked up on the way, but I'm hoping she doesn't give it to the rest of us.

I don't know how, but the last two weeks have felt like a whole month, and I have to shake it off and get my work done. The holidays are over...the goodbyes are over... and now it's time to get back into the swing of everyday life.

QUICK NOTE TO ALL FAMILY AND FRIENDS:

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU GUYS ARE WONDERFUL!! You know who I mean...I mean you reading this right now because of the wonderful warm thoughts you sent, or the big hugs I got from you on Wednesday and/or Thursday, or all the buzz you have created about what I wrote further down the page about Grandma. You are all so beautiful, and I love you very much.

ABOUT PICTURES:
If there are any pictures of Grandma and/or Grandpa you know I have, and you want a copy, let me know. If you have a Walgreens or Wal-Mart close to you, I can upload them to print out at your local store for you to pick up. If you don't have either, I can also do the traditional snail mail for you or e-mail the file.

Second.... I have a Cafe Press shop. I'm going to upload there sometime this week a few different images of Grandma and/or Grandpa I like. I will pick out a few products that are more along the lines of memorial related, and if there is something you would like, you can order from them directly through the site. I'll post something about it when it's ready.

I didn't take many pictures on this trip, and the ones that I took for some reason were not that good...many out of focus somehow. Here is one of me and the kids taken by Keith on Thursday after the funeral (He cut part of my head off, but it's the best picture of the bunch from that day.)



I promise happier posts in 2007. REALLY!!! Thanks again everyone!

(LOL -- I just noticed from this picture that Samantha's shoes were on the wrong feet!!! She must have had them on that way all day, and in all the rushing around, nobody noticed. Ooops! I just thought it was a little funny.)