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Thursday, 14 May 2009

Just Do It!

It's been 8 months since I've blogged. I never intended to take a break that was quite that long! Many times over the past few months I've thought about starting up again, but have always put it off. This time I'm really ready! If you're reading this blog, I hope you enjoy it! One of the reasons why I want to begin blogging again is selfish- I like to go back and read about the things that I have forgotten! Hopefully my thoughts will come together and I'll have a post together for tomorrow. It's a fun, busy time of the year!

Saturday, 06 September 2008

The Perfect Family Weekend!

The past few weeks seemed to just slide right by! Gabe is several weeks into homeschool, Paige and Grant started pre-school, Gabe started soccer and Paige is about to start a tap dance class this week. The best time that we've had over the past several weeks, though, were the days that we spent in Pittsburgh last weekend!
It was so nice to be back "home" in Pittsburgh and see so much family! During our trip in April we were unable to go to the zoo due to rain and so we planned to go this time. There were 18 of us, all family, that went and we couldn't have asked for a better time! The animals were active and fun to watch, the kids were pleasant and enjoyed their time together and so did we adults!
Friday evening, after dinner for about 15 at my Grandma's house, Chad and I went downtown to meet up with a friend of mine from high school. It was so much fun to catch up after so many years!
After the zoo on Sat. we all went to my Grandma's house again for dinner and then 13 of us met for lunch on Sunday. Chad and I also stopped on our way out of town to get new Steeler shirts for the season!
Being away from family really makes me appreciate my time with them. Every time that we make the effort to go back, we leave knowing that the trip was well worth the time and effort to get there.
Here are some pics from the weekend:
Grant, Gabe and Noah at the zoo.

My Grandma, Paige, Marissa, Aunt Sandy, Vanessa and Eddie

Paige and Maria in the monkey house

Marissa and Paige

Terri and me

Family photo!

The backyard softball game- that's my grandma at bat!

Paige at bat

Mid-game antics

Grandma running the bases and Eddie waiting for the ball

Can't wait till next time!

Thursday, 14 August 2008

Starting Another Year

I can't believe that it's been almost 2 weeks since the last time that I blogged! We had some major problems with our computer and had it re-imaged so I've had no internet use for a while.
All of our boys came back on Sunday, Aug. 3rd. 10 of them return to us from last year and 2 of them are new. They're a great group! The first week that they were back we had Student Home Vacation. We took them to the beach for a day, went tubing down a local river (a trip that included finding a rope swing across the water that I actually tried twice!), went to a movie, bowling, riding go-karts and to batting cages and out to eat all week! It was a great time and the kids were all really well behaved and a lot of fun.
It cracks me up to watch the reaction of people when we walk into a restaurant with 15 kids! It sparks a lot of conversation.
Other than that, we've just been enjoying the end of summer. I've also discovered Facebook and am loving it- I think I'm a little addicted . If you're on there, come and be my friend!
Here are some pics from last week:
Paige, the beach diva

Paige and friend hamming it up

Paige, Grant and Gabe on the lifeguard chair

Our 2008-2009 crew (minus Grant who was being cranky and wouldn't stay in the picture)

Friday, 01 August 2008

Finally, some pics!

I have been intending to get the kids pictures taken since early spring but (as usual!) kept procrastinating. The did great. The wait to pick the photos that we wanted and the lack of assistance in ordering was a bit annoying, but other than that, I'm glad that we went!
Here they are:

Monday, 21 July 2008

Creating New Grammar Rules

Since Grant has learned to talk, he has had a creative use of language. His latest is his own contraction that he uses to mean, "I am not!". Instead of combining the "I" and "am" to form "I'm", it works like this- say Gabe says, "Grant, you're being a grump." Grant will often answer, "No I am't." It sounds like he's saying, "No I am" which made no sense at all, but now that I've figured it out I think it's pretty clever!