More Summer Fun

Summer is almost over but we are pretending it's not. Cynthia learned to ride her bike and she LOVES it. She rides constantly and we have the perfect spot for her to do that. She makes Jonathan and Emma sit in lawn chairs and watch her from the driveway. I guess that's what big sisters do. Sometimes it seems as though they are her private personal "assistants"
Paul and I will be celebrating our 8th anniversary next week and plan to spend the day at the Temple. It has been way to long since we've gone and we both are looking forward to it.
Jonathan is starting Kindergarten soon and he is mostly excited to ride the bus. I am going through my usual mourning period before school starts. I miss them so much when they're at school and it feels like it is all going by so fast. I guess all I can do is try to live in the moment and enjoy them as much as I can.

Marriage

Hello Everyone!! We just got back from a nice but short visit to NH where Paul's lifelong friend Andrew was married on Saturday. It was a very nice day and both the weather and ceremony went very well. Andrew married Miranda who is actually from Granby, MA just around the corner from us. It was fun and Dawn and I had a good time dancing and waving to each other across the dance floor (Paul was part of the wedding party and so was seated at the head table without Dawn :( Oh well. It was a great way to see how our own lives have been touched by one another and remember how we felt on our special day almost 8 years ago. It is great to see how much we have grown together through good and challenging times, and how Love truly is remarkable. There was one thing the Priest said that I took to heart, and that was not to take each other for granted. That happens often these days and is reflected by the divorce rate in this country. Let's all remember to care for and love each other every day. Enjoy the pictures!!

Tie Dye and Rock & Roll

Well, we are certainly trying to make the most of our "stay at home" vacation. Dawn and I have been working on the house like crazy unpacking and organizing etc. But since this is our "vacation" we still need breaks to have fun with the kids and each other. Today we took a long break to have a picnic in our yard and do some tie dye shirts. It was great and the shirts came out really awesome!! The kids had fun and also have been enjoying all the toys we have unpacked in our playroom. It was like Christmas for them to see all these toys they forgot about. The rock & roll part is when Jonathan asked to have a Mohawk hair cut. We saw a little boy at the mall the other night that had one and he asked if he could have one too. He is still so young and it was a simple way to make him happy so I did it. I hope you enjoy these pictures from our fun day.

Balloons!!!

We went to Trader Joe's yesterday. Of course the kids all got balloons as we were leaving. I don't know what it is about balloons but kids love them so much. We got home with minimal fighting thanks to Trader Joe's gift to the kids. The moment we got out of the car Jonathan went outside and let his balloon go. He said he likes watching them float away. His sisters were flabbergasted. "Jonathan, why did you do that? You could have given it to me!" They did not understand why he would ever want to give his balloon up on purpose. He simply told them, "I wanted to give my balloon to Jesus." Cynthia wasn't convinced it would make it there. She was pretty sure it would pop first. Emma just said, "Jesus doesn't like balloons." Jonathan simply replied, "Sure He does!" and that was the end of that. It was so precious, I didn't have the heart to explain how impossible it was for the balloon to reach Jesus. For now Jonathan believes he gave His balloon to Jesus and maybe he did, any thing's possible.

Summertime and the Living is Easy?

Okay, the kids have been out of school for a few weeks now and we are getting into the lazy summer groove. It is so nice to not have to rush out of the house every morning. Cynthia had a bit of a hard time getting used to no structure in her day. Now she's just as spontaneous and laid back as the rest of us.
One thing about summer that I could do without is the snakes. I've seen several Garter Snakes just walking around in the yard. It's easy for everyone to tell when I've spotted a snake by the scream. That's bad enough but on Saturday Paul and I were cleaning out the garage. I went across the street to dump out some water and there, curled up in the grass was a Water Moccasin. If you don't know what that is it's a big, fat, black, very scary looking poisonous snake. Now I don't want to go outside at all. Paul assures me that it won't come over to our yard though. (?)
Also on Saturday one of the puppies found a dead chipmunk. Paul and Cynthia were trying to catch the dog but she was not gonna give up that prize very easily. At one point she ran inside the house with it because Emma was watching through the open door. Every time she ran by me all I could do was run away and scream. I don't think Paul appreciated my lack of help. I told him after, for future reference I don't do small dead animals.
Those were our animal adventures for this weekend. I actually did do more than run around screaming on Saturday but I don't remember exactly what. In spite of all the critters that summer brings I do love it though.

No More School!!

Well, summer is officially here for the kids. School got out a week ago and Dawn is both adjusting and enjoying having all of them home. Bedtime has quickly gone from 7:30 to 9pm!! Dawn and I are still hoping that one day they will magically go to bed and fall asleep all on their own! LOL! Lucy slept through the night in her crib finally and i still woke up because I was nervous that she was still asleep!

Our vacation is only a week away now and we are looking forward to it. We are going to Bushkill, PA and using our timeshare for the first time. If anyone is familiar with that area we would love to hear suggestions on what to do and where to go. The puppies are growing fast and getting into trouble too. They are becoming escape artists. We love them though. We hope all of you are doin well and hope to see you soon.

Storms

Well, we had some amazing thunderstorms Tuesday night that kept us awake with non-stop lightning, and howling winds. It was fun to watch, but I was glad we were inside and safe. They did make the next couple of days much more comfortable though. We finally planted our garden last night and we shall see what the outcome will be. The kids liked helping to put the plants in the ground that Dawn had started earlier this spring. She was so excited to have a garden this year, I hope it turns out good.

Well Paul ended up getting first place in his sales contest at work, and we are so happy because we need that money!!! LOL! It was a good feeling for him though, and he loves his job. Dawn is looking forward to summer with the kids and having fun with all of them at home amd where ever else they may go. We hope to see many of you in the upcoming months!