Controlled Chaos

Merry Christmas! Ho Ho Ho

2011-01-20T20:47:00.003-05:00

Hello January are you out there? You aren't here at Controlled Chaos because we are still in the Christmas season! I can't even say that I have made an effort to take a Blogging break to focus on those important moments in life. Nope - we have been just too plain busy. I made a pledge that I would read more so I am off to bed to read, but for now here are the pics of the tree decorating. It was the Boys turn to put the star on the tree and he was so excited and proud. Bella did a great job of placing similar ornaments on the same branch and the Hubby, well he was as silly as always. Christmas day to follow!

Santa Meeting Take 3

2011-01-09T12:53:00.005-05:00

This was the last Santa meeting and it was one of those wait in a long line for Santa. Grandmom hadn't seen the kids with Santa so off we went to the local garden store. This was also a great Santa. He was an old Grandpa type of Santa.

Santa Meeting Take 2

2011-01-09T12:40:00.005-05:00

The second meeting with Santa was in this meeting house in my Grandmother's community. When I was their age my parents would bring me here for parties. It still looks and smells the same. This Santa was by far the best. He has to bend over to get into the door and that is a real beard. He reads The Night Before Christmas and then spends a lot of time with each kid. Needless to say they were awe struck.

Santa Meeting Take 1

2011-01-09T12:21:00.005-05:00

The first meeting with Santa took place at the Festival of Trees and was to be followed by many more. The kids never asked why Santa seemed to be everywhere.

My Little Pilgrim

2010-12-30T15:46:00.003-05:00

Bella's Thanksgiving play was so cute. This year she got to be a Pilgrim and last year she was an Indian. She sang with the best of them which is a nice change from the Boy's Thanksgiving plays at this same school where he just stood there and made faces.

Thanksgiving and Twister

2010-12-30T14:36:00.003-05:00

It was a nice Thanksgiving with family and cosmos! I like Thanks Giving since it does not require shopping in the mall. We had lots of yummy food as usual.

My sister-in-law told the Boy to get a game after dinner so they could play. I bet she didn't expect Twister. Poor thing, what a good sport, Twister after eating and wearing jeans. I bet she will pick the game next time!

Halloween in the Middle

2010-12-30T14:19:00.004-05:00

Oh yeah we had Halloween in the middle of my Blogging vacation! We visited family and then we did the trunk or treat at church. They got tons of candy and had lots of fun. My little princess and vampire.

Fire Department Trip Take 5

2010-12-30T14:07:00.003-05:00

We had the annual Fire Department tour. I think I've done this at least 5 times maybe more. Perhaps I can become an honorary fireman. Of course, I could be the Mom of half of those firefighters. They look like babies. The Hubby was able to come to this trip and he fit right in with the kids. For the girls it was all about look fashionable in the hats.

Hershey Park and Rudolph

2010-12-30T12:47:00.005-05:00

We went to Hershey Park to see Santa and his reindeer and on the way home we collided with Rudolph on I-83. Needless to say the van won thanks to the hubby who is a much better driver than me. I would have swerved off the road - no doubt!

The most stressful part aside from the deer incident was trying to get a family photo! The Boy is a pro, the girl not so much.

He was trying really hard to coach her during this photo opportunity.

She loves to look somewhere in the distance when taking pictures.

She's pretty good with candid photos. There are buffalo in the background. They have a really big zoo at the park.

I went on this ride about 8 times in a row and Daddy watched.

It was super cold suspended above the park on this ride.

The Boy did not want to go on this ride, but he finally broke down and rode it. He had a blast. We are taking baby steps to get ready for Disney. I think we have a long way to go till we work him up to the Tower of Terror.

Here's the damage. Three Thousand Dollars. We even had a head imprint on the hood.

Pumpkin Antics

2010-12-01T09:48:00.004-05:00

This is the first year that we carved our pumpkins early. Last year we put them in bed and quickly remembered that we forgot to carve the pumpkins so we pulled them out of bed and carved them in their PJs. This year was silly pumpkin carving. First they had fun making finger mustaches and then they squished all of the "pumpkin guts" between their fingers. Then the shirts came off and the kids decided the caveman carving of the pumpkins was more fun.

Boys Will Be Boys

2010-11-30T13:57:00.004-05:00

Here is a group photo from the last soccer game of the season. It's cool to see the kids go from a bunch of boys who knew a couple of kids to a team that looks forward to seeing each other each week. The Hubby was the coach again for the boy's team. It seems that the same amount of patience is needed each year even though they are one year older!

The Boy loves the group aspect of soccer. He is a natural pack animal.

He appeared to be counting the number of players on the field while he was in the goal. It gets kind of boring over there when your team mates are doing a great job of keeping the ball down field.

Now it appears that the ball is getting closer. He stopped a lot of goals during this game.

I love this photo because it is not my kid out there break dancing. Sometimes I focus so much on whether my kid is paying attention so it is good to see that it happens with other kids. I am sure that his parents are sitting on the sideline thinking, "Why does my kid have to be the only one on the field goofing off?" My advice to new sport parents is to look around when you think this and I am sure that you will see other plane/cloud watchers, dirt diggers and paper/rock/scissor players out there.

They eat up the parent praise!

Blah, I mean Ho Ho Ho

2010-11-29T21:42:00.003-05:00

I hate Blogger, I was suppose to be posting about the Boy's last soccer game, but alas I keep getting this stupid Bad Request page when I try to upload photos. So, here is my first pass at round 1 of Christmas Cookie baking - what do you think?

Festively decorated sugar cookies
Snicker doodles
Peanut butter cookies with a Hershey Kiss
Magic Bars/7-layer
Chocolate Chip
and some sort of mint cookie.

What is on your baking list? My hubby will have to answer because I am convinced that he is the only person (aside from Julie and Puna) that read this Blog (: Of course his brother is making bacon chocolate chip cookies for his work cookie exchange so we may not want to hear from that side.

Amazon

2010-11-29T21:24:00.004-05:00

I look at these pictures from Grand Parent's Day at the Pre-School and all I can think of is "Man my daughter is an amazon!" Her Uncle and Cousin on the husband's side are really really tall and I think she may have dipped into this gene pool. Tall girls are cool, right??? I always complain when I try on pants that they are too long and I could be at my current weight if I was like 4 or 5 inches taller - no problem. I mean, who cares if she towers over the boys at the middle school dance? She could get a volleyball or a basketball scholarship but too bad she wants to be a jockey or something else horse related.

They made ice cream which is the yearly tradition for Grand Parent's Day at the school. I tried this once with our friends who came over for dinner with their son when we first reconnected. It wasn't a pretty scene. It seemed like such a cool idea in theory, but in reality we wound up with cream all over the kitchen and the adults were tossing ice cold bags back and forth in their hands with ski gloves on. It was a true mess. I can't believe that they ever came back. It was quite frightening. So, if you come for dinner and want ice cream you may want to bring a pair of ski gloves and an apron.

Fall Festival

2010-11-19T13:44:00.006-05:00

This pose reminds me of the Titanic - I'm the king of the world!

I think we had more fun in the store than we did in the Fall Fest area.

I even hate fake snakes

The kids were so scared of Grand mom in this mask that she had to convince them to pose with her.

The saying above the door reminds me of my Father-In-Law.

This is cool, but boy is it bumpy!

Too bad the fittings weren't tighter, I wonder if I could get one of these as the time out chair !

I hate corn mazes about as much as I hate snakes. I have no sense of directions and the kids like to plow through the rows of corn.

Can you find the missing child?

So sweet when she wants to be!

I can never get both smiling at the same time.

So, we headed to the girl's pumpkin patch field trip to find out that it was canceled when we got there. We made a 4 plus hour round trip to wind up at the Garden Center 5 miles from the house!

Upwards - The Journey Begins

2010-10-26T11:01:00.003-04:00

We have been pretty busy with soccer this past season. Both the hubby and I are coaching. I am coaching the 4 year olds and he has the second grade boys. I think they both have their own rewards and challenges. The kids love all of the attention especially when they get to run through the Blast Off Tunnel before the game.

They have learned sportsmanship, but like all 4 year olds, they really like to win and score goals.

They have also made friends and it has been pretty cool seeing them come together as a team and for some to come out of their shells.

This is my nephew and he is on my team. A favorite position on the field is grass picker. Don't get me wrong, he has had is share of goals both against us and for us (:

Aren't they so cute!

They are just learning the rules of the game. Here they all stand eagerly waiting to see if the ball will slowly make it's way into the goal.

They have all become a lot more confident.

Here's Bella, she scored 6 goals in one game. Of course, she has scored 6 goals in total all season, but whose counting (: Tonight is our last practice and our last game in on Saturday. The season of being hoarse on Sundays is just about over. I spend most of my time calling their names to bring their attention back to reality, but hey they are 4.

Boo!

2010-10-21T08:32:00.004-04:00

I should be cleaning and getting ready for soccer, but here I sit. This was our most recent trip to the pumpkin patch. I think we had more fun in the store of the garden center after we got back from the hayride. Grandma' is in the mask and the kids were all freaked out.

A Very Dangerous Game

2010-10-20T16:15:00.004-04:00

So my Sister-In-Law pictured above flying through the air encouraged everyone to come out and join the new county Adult Kickball League. We thought the injury waiver was pretty funny, I mean it's kickball right! Here she is flying through the air which was in the game before she fell running to first base and banged up her leg.

This is my Brother - doesn't he look so happy - stay tuned.

This is my Brother falling on his head.

This is my Husband running over my Brother causing him to still have a stiff neck weeks later!

This is Larry, he is a determined military guy. In a subsequent game he fell running to first base and broke his clavicle. He stayed in the game and caught 3 balls before he went to Urgent Care who has seen many Kickball injuries over the last few weeks.

This is Larry's wife being silly. I think this might be where she pulled her quad which may have led to her tearing her quad while maneuvering a diaper change.

This is the Husband, God please keep him safe during the last 2 games!
Anyone want to play next year, but you must have good insurance and also sign the waiver. Perhaps we are getting old????

Post Fishing Derby

2010-10-20T08:46:00.002-04:00

The Fishing Derby ended with a dip in the pool and the kids had a blast. Bella cannot wait till she can swim like her brother in order to get the coveted water slide wrist band!

Fishing Derby and a Really Tight Spot

2010-10-17T20:04:00.002-04:00

What can I say - she's a tomboy in a dress.

Only a real man is proud to fish with a pink Barbie pole!

Here is the rod that The Boy won last year for catching his first fish.

Our first trip with the new RV was to the Navy campground for the Scouts camping trip. We came in after dark and the campground was REALLY TINY and our 30 foot RV just squeaked into the spot. We had to drive through the grass and into other sites just to get that sucker into a spot along with lots of help from the fellow campers. The hubby did a great job minus all of us monkeys in the truck fretting away.

Back to School We Go!

2010-10-13T20:13:00.004-04:00

O.k. this post makes me feel like a blogging slacker, yes this is the first day of school and interim reports came out last week. We have been booked with scouts, soccer, school and everything else. This year's send off was a bit different because Grandmom and Grandpa from Montana came back with us after the wedding and stayed for almost a week. Yes, this is the trip that went on forever! We spent 1 month of weekends away from home and ended it all with house guests. The Boy was excited to have all of his Grandparents at the house for his send off.

He also has the same second grade teacher as he had last year. When I told him that he would have the same teacher he thought that he had failed first grade. It was funny to me but not to him. Luckily he really likes her and she's great. His favorite subjects are art, music and math - he must be following in his Dad's footsteps because I am tone deaf.

All Dolled Up

2010-10-01T21:20:00.006-04:00

The day finally came that Bella has been waiting for all year - Her first manicure, pedicure and updo! Now Daddy wasn't quite ready for all of it and I thought it was because he didn't want to see his little angel growing, but I think it is actually because he is not looking forward to all of the the future manicures and pedicures that he will be paying for in the years to come! She was so thrilled to sit in the big chair and have her toes done and to have her fingers in the soapy bowl. Of course she chose pink with sparkles. She looked like an angel that day and so did the bride! The Boy on the other hand was a bit of a nail biter. The first time he tried his tux on was the morning of the wedding thanks to the beach trip and we were so relieved that it fit. Here he is posing on the toilet at the hotel first thing in the morning. He loved the tux and was bummed that it was only a rental. He looked like a million bucks.

Two Hotels and One Beach House Later!

2010-09-29T07:59:00.006-04:00

After the last Pop-Up camper trip we headed to NC where we spent our first night in a hotel before the beach house and then we ended the beach trip with a wedding in VA. My Brother-in-Law married a gem and we are so happy to have her in our family. She's a second grade teacher and the Boy thinks she is too cool and Bella will always remember her as a princess in a long white dress. We were so worried that the kids would do something awful like not walk down the aisle, but they did great. Here are some pics from the rehearsal and wedding. We were really scared about the rehearsal because we drove from NC to the hotel and headed right to the rehearsal. Now that was one scary thought all week, but it worked out. Cheers to many many years of happiness!

Last Pop-up Trip!

2010-09-13T07:40:00.005-04:00

We took our last trip in our Pop-up to Dutch Wonderland which ironically was our first trip in our Pop-up when we bought it. We went to the Park for 2 days and then we took the kids roller skating which seemed like a cool thing to do in my head. Well, it was like trying to teach someone to walk for the first time on ice! The kids were not happy (at all) when they started, but then they began to gain confidence. We will have to take them again so they can practice now that our backs have healed from all the leaning over and picking up. On the last day the latch broke on the trailer door and luckily hubby has an endless supply of straps in his truck so he tied it up like a present with a bow and home we went. Now, posts of the new RV trips to follow!

Emerald Isle, NC 2010

2010-09-12T20:41:00.012-04:00

Gosh, a month of weekends traveling coupled with 4 days of house guests and the start of school leaves little time for blogging. We are truly lucky that we have clean socks at this point and we remembered to bring all members of the family home.

Our adventures started with a trip to Emerald Isle, N.C. The kids had a big first - Jet Skiing. The Boy was cautiously excited and the Girl was ready to rock and roll from the mention of the word. Needless to say they had a blast and now a jet ski is on the X-Mas list..... got that one Santa, better get those elves working! We had a house with a pool across from the ocean and the Boy learned how to do flips into the pool which was a bit of a nail biter for Mommy. We also did go carts, arcades, tasty treats, a boat trip to an island and lots of other fun stuff. The Boy loved learning how to body surf and Bella collected lots of shells and did her share of boogy boarding. It was a great trip! Next, camping with our new RV and the wedding!

The latest addition to the family!

2010-07-31T22:17:00.005-04:00

This is totally uncharacteristic of me, but I fell in love with this RV, yes RV. Some girls want diamond tennis bracelets and a 2 cartat engagement ring - me I love to travel. Given that travel abroad isn't in our cards right now we'll have to settle for road trips in style. It also completes our little "Redneck Yacht Club" we have built here in the county since movin' from the big city -We now have our pop-up pool, slip-n-slide and big old RV on the side of the garage. I have at least 2 more acres here to fill with stuff!

Groovin' into the Future

2010-07-31T08:02:00.004-04:00

I grew up in the house we now live in and my best friend and I would do the same dancing on top of the fireboxes. It was so funny to come in and see them both grooving to the music. How do you like the new bookcases that Grandma' and Dad built on both sides of the fireplace and the new mantle and firebox covers! Off to clean the house now ):

Old Friends

2010-07-30T18:10:00.002-04:00

This is my friend Beth and I met her back in the Tech Boom in 1999 (I believe). We were both recruiters with the same tech company in Baltimore. It was a crazy time and we had lots of fun enjoying all of the cool perks that came with the boom. Now she is an organizational guru and she can set your life straight or at least get your space in order. You can see her hanging out here at Simply Organized or providing life tips at Simply Inspired. She's a busy girl, but I was so happy that her and her hubby were able to stop over for lunch a couple of weeks ago!

So Much to Celebrate

2010-07-30T17:59:00.004-04:00

On the 4th of July we had a July 4th, Happy Birthday and Retirement party. The significant thing to note in these pictures is that Bella wouldn't get near the water last year and this year she's a nut. It's amazing what a year can do! Perhaps next year the kids will get along all the time, hey it's a dream I know, but what difference a year can make.

Up Up and Away!

2010-07-30T17:54:00.002-04:00

Grandma and her buddy playing around as usual.

The British are Coming!

2010-07-16T10:39:00.004-04:00

We decided to sign The Boy up for a traveling British Soccer Camp. His coaches came to the US to teach kids how to play soccer and they are traveling all over the US this summer. Well this week they are here and The Boy has been perfecting his soccer skills which up to this point include watching planes in the sky, picking grass and walking like a robot in the field. Man, they have their work cut out for them. I was impressed to see that he was actually playing the game! He did still maintain his normal trying to chat with all of the ponytail girls, but he was actually running after the ball! Perhaps soccer will be different this year, we shall see in the fall.

Frontier Town Camping

2010-07-13T08:26:00.007-04:00

We took the family camping at Frontier Town just outside of O.C. The kids had a blast. Here is what our typical day looked like: horses on the beach at Assateague and "surfing", water park and pool after lunch and then 2 nights of all you can eat seafood buffets for dinner then S'mores by the campfire at night. It was a nice long weekend.

Random Thoughts

2010-07-12T15:33:00.001-04:00

"If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”

All By Myself

2010-07-06T21:39:00.002-04:00

Bella has been harassing us to let her spend the night "all by myself" at her friend's house. We were pretty hesitant since we made The Boy wait till he was 5 and a half, but we decided to let the strings out a bit early and let her go. They were so excited and we made an even exchange by having her brother spend the night with us so the boys could play. Here they are all dolled up for the sleep over with their flip flops, sun dresses, purses and overnight bag. I love the hand on the thigh and pointed toe as her BFF smiles for the camera. I can just see this same pose 10 years in the future. They had a great time and couldn't wait till it got dark so they could put on their PJs, get in bed and have an official sleepover. No calls in the middle of the night and now she can't wait to have the next sleep over.

Happy Daddy Day!

2010-07-06T21:25:00.002-04:00

The kids made cards for Father's Day and a couple weeks before we took Hubby to pick out his new Droid. We have pretty much lost Dad since the acquisition of his new toy. Just like any good Dad he made us dinner on Father's Day and smoked the world's largest rack of ribs. Any excuse to drink beer and roast meat with fire - right? He's such a great Dad and Husband that he really deserved the day off, but he insisted on the cooking, he's a good egg.

Happy Birthday Part III - Get Out Your Guns

2010-07-06T14:19:00.007-04:00

The Boy wanted a laser tag party for his birthday which sounded great since I would not have to come up with games and entertain children. Well, about 1.5 hours before the party we got a call that they were running late. The thought of 22 boys and nothing to do was quite frightening. Luckily, the hubby had an idea to just switch the timing around and do cake and ice cream first along with gifts. That all worked out and they threw in a candy cannon to make up for the schedule. The Boy thanked us for the next few days for the candy cannon surprise. We just let him think that we threw it in as an extra - shhhhhh. Even the "older" boys had fun.

Happy Birthday Part II

2010-07-06T13:46:00.005-04:00

Birthday Part II consisted of a small gathering of family for cake, ice cream and some pool time. My nephew came as a shark and he was so darn cute.

Happy Birthday Part I

2010-07-06T11:26:00.007-04:00

Happy 7th Birthday! This is part 1 of 3 for the birthday celebration. We took the boy and his friend to the new indoor pool and they had a blast (little Sis and her friend tagged along too). We then headed to dinner of his choice for his favorite dinner of cheeseburger and french fries. He was quite excited with the new video game and "IPod". He is getting so big and now all of those little baby teeth are starting to wiggle, perhaps the Tooth Fairy will be the next visitor.

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

2010-07-06T07:55:00.006-04:00

We had Field Day at the end of the school year and the kids were great despite the fact that it was about 100 degrees and no shade to be found. They were so excited because this is the first year they could participate in the whole field day and win ribbons. Our son will do anything for a ribbon except hold a sopping wet sponge over his head in the relay race - he hates to get yucky just like his Dad.

Heading to Pre-K Next Year!

2010-06-23T11:07:00.003-04:00

We also had the last day of school celebration for Bella and her friends. It was so cute to see all of the girls and the one little prince they have in the class chatting and playing.

Here is a shot of them showing us how they say their prayers - there is nothing like seeing a group of little ones in prayer together.

I have no idea what they were doing at this point. They were so distracted by the parents in the room. They are so trained to smile for the camera.

This is her BFF - BTW she is having her first sleep over soon. Daddy has to get used to that idea.

Here are her teachers and boy are they patient. All those girls bickering over who is going to wear the most popular princess dress during free time.

This is Mrs. Angie and she is the captain of the whole operation. I knew this was the right place to put the kids was because during our initial call she told me that if a child is having a hard time they just love them up and work through it with them. They are so sweet and have provided both of our kids with a great spiritual base.

Moving to Wolves

2010-06-19T18:51:00.009-04:00

What a busy few weeks, hence the absence of posts. On the Scout front the boys had their last den meeting where they were awarded their belt loops for the last part of the year. They were so excited to get all of the shiny new loops.

Next was the Den picnic at the park. These boys could light up a small country on the fuel they can burn when they are running in a big crazy pack. It was a great night to talk about the last year and how it seemed like school had just started. Our little guy will be in second grade next year!

There was lots of general silliness.

They finally climbed on top pf the dragon which has been a big goal of the boys ever since we started coming to the park when he was 2. I am sure they shouldn't be up there, but they worked so hard.I call this thing the arm breaker. It makes me pretty nervous because the Boy runs full speed ahead staring at his feet the whole time. He is also convinced that he is by far the fastest pusher.
Our honorary Scout came along too. She is going to be a great Girl Scout.

The last Scout celebration brought us to graduation from Tiger Cub to Wolf. Again, lots of boy excitement. They had a great year with trips to the nature center, police station, NASA, Capital Visitor Center and many more fun activities. It was great to see them all grow this year despite the madness and noise.

And Then There Were Three!

2010-06-10T07:44:00.006-04:00

Happy Birthday to my blue eyed baby!

2010 First Camping Trip

2010-05-21T09:35:00.015-04:00

Well we started the camping early this year and already have one trip behind us. This past weekend we went to Catawissa, PA to visit the Knoebels Amusement Park. I learned a very important thing about the GPS on this trip. As our trusted driver looked around at about the 3rd quaint, but tiny town on our trip, he said "Did you enter Most Use of Highways" into the GPS? "Nope" I replied "I used fastest route!". This my friends is not fastest in terms of time, but most direct route, which could very well be little tiny towns with narrow roads and tight turns with our little trailer behind us. Well, it took almost 6 hours to get there using the "Fastest Route" option. Hubby is such a good sport.
Along the way we scored with this great place to eat which had cartoons! A little electronic babysitting was definitely appreciated at the halfway point.
So, before I start posting our trips of the season let me just warn you that camping with kids is not always 100% fun for the parents. Honestly, 2 kids in such close proximity to each other for an entire weekend can make one a little nutty. Above is hubby's best try at "Grumpy Face" - this evening the boy refused all attempts of a photo. So why do we pack all of our belongings up and head into the woods for weekends? Most people think it's cool, but not for them (:
Well, we just get to escape the chores and day to day and just be silly as a family.
We eat food that we don't get during the day to day meals at home like cheeseburgers almost too big to hold and all the mess can just drop on the ground for the critters like skunks not dogs.
The kids get to stay up way too late and play with glow sticks.We can sneak in a little Mommy and Daddy time to chat about whatever after bedtime.
The S'mores are just not the same when you make them at home.Hubby's favorite part of the day - Cowboy Coffee and lots of bacon. The kids are also really excited at breakfast because that means we are so much closer to the reason we came.There is lots of time to stop and smell the flowers. We all had pockets full of wilted flowers by the end of the trip. Laundry day after a camping trip is always interesting.
We always pick a camping trip around some sort of highlight that is too far for a day trip. What happened to the sweet little 4 year old poses. Bella wouldn't even get close to Kozmo. She has a huge fear of any life size cartoon characters. I need to find a Disney Princess to see what she would do because isn't that one of the highlights of taking your kid to Disney?
This is in our first ride of the day. Look how refreshed and excited we all look. By the end of the day Bella announced "My belly is all full of rides" and believe me that held true for all of us!

This was one of many rides that threw us in the air and rocked us back and forth. Both kids are crazy and wanted to ride everything. Bella is only 4 and was up for anything, she will be a stunt woman when she grows up. It took till this year for our soon to be 7 year old dare devil to get on these type of rides. He is definitely the more cautious or perhaps more sensible one.To prove how crazy the kids are they both went on this wooden coaster. It was definitely the ride to call it a day after. I mean how can you top that adrenaline rush other than riding again and that was not happening!
The last great thing about camping is that the kids get to meet new people and by the end of the weekend it's like they have know each other forever. Too bad as adults we loose that ability or perhaps we are just too busy at some points in our lives. Our next trip will take us to the beach for 3 days!

An Unconventional Mother's Day

2010-05-08T22:30:00.013-04:00

For Mother's Day this year the Moms celebrated a day early with a wine tour.

We hopped on the Boomerang Party Bus and set out for our adventure!

The first winery was on top of a mountain and it was stunning.

We soaked up the sun on the patio of the vineyard and had fun chatting.

Had to stop for the customary tourist picture.

The first tasting was actually in the processing area of the winery and we learned all about the regional grapes and the vineyard .

We then headed to the second winery and ate the best chocolate covered strawberries and more wine and sun.The Party Bus truly lived up to it's name on the way home. There was booming music lots of dancing and laughter.This is Nikki and she is the founder of the Boomerang Bus and she is a blast needless to say. She used to be a school teacher in another life. It's funny where your dreams can take you.

The girls definitely let loose cruising 55 miles per hour down the highway!
P.S. My wonderful Hubby and kids also cleaned the house and all of the bathrooms I must note while I was out kicking up my heels. This is also my 200th Blog Post!

Oh Sunny Day

2010-05-07T10:08:00.005-04:00

Pull out those sunglasses - it's going to be a great weekend and not just because Mommy is going on a wine tour!

The Biggest Show

2010-05-07T09:30:00.005-04:00

We went to the Circus a few weeks back and I was warned that I may see a bunch of protesters around the building, but there wasn't any excitement.

There was plenty of excitement inside. These tigers were nasty and mean.

The kids loved seeing the elephants walking in a line holding onto each others tails.

The kids loved all of the acrobats.

I should have went into manufacturing these whirly things you pay an arm and a leg for at the circus.

You Might Be a Redneck If........

2010-05-03T22:13:00.004-04:00

It's official we have moved from city life to country life. You might be a redneck if your neighbor has access to one of these and your kids are outside in their PJs at 7:30am eating a nutritious breakfast of Popsicles.

Is it an Alien?

2010-04-23T21:32:00.003-04:00

How can you be serious with bright green glittered hair? Hope you had an informative Earth Day!

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack

2010-04-23T12:23:00.005-04:00

We went to one of the first baseball games of the year with a friend and her boys and had lots of fun. They had an Easter Egg hunt throughout the stadium and they also had an amusement park area. Bella spent the entire time of the merry-go-round and the boys were all over the place. They had a person mission to ride every animal on the merry-go-round, but they were very fond of the monkey in the blue jeans. I think we saw about 20 minutes of the game and Bella saw about 2 minutes. The park was just too much fun for them! Perhaps next time we should take the hint and go to an amusement park instead.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

2010-04-21T07:47:00.005-04:00

May all of your birthday wishes soar up to the sky sweetie - we love you!

Hippity Hoppity Sugar High

2010-04-19T08:15:00.009-04:00

We had an action packed Easter this year. We dyed eggs as usual. Usual meaning way past bedtime and the customary I forgot the white vinegar trip to the grocery store.

At leas the Easter Bunny was a little more prepared and the baskets were all set shortly after our little bunnies went to bed.
Easter morning is a lot like Christmas at our house. They love the Easter goodies and primarily look forward to an East Breakfast of Champions consisting of Chocolate bunnies, jelly beans and whatever they can stuff in their mouths before brunch.

We then headed to Church so the volunteers in the rooms could enjoy our sugar induced madness. Based on the noise level I would say our kids were not the only ones eating chocolate bunnies for breakfast.

After Church came brunch and then the Easter Egg Hunt! Oh Boy - More Chocolate!

Then off to Grandmom's house for more candy! Bella enjoyed some quiet time on the porch swing with Daddy and the Boy learned that not all toys need batteries.

Then off to our cousin's house for more food and a birthday celebration. Oh and even more candy! I think the kids are just coming down from the sugar high!

Fruits and Veggies - Perhaps

2010-04-15T20:51:00.002-04:00

Every year I say that I am going to grow a garden from seeds and this year I actually did it! Well, I haven't really done it yet since they are still little tiny plants, but we have high hopes! In my Mom Fantasy World I thought that this would be a good way to get them interested in eating veggies, but I know that won't be the case (:

Happy Friday

2010-04-02T08:22:00.002-04:00

This is what I saw out of my office window today. It's nice to live in an area with such beautiful scenery. The doggy next door scared them so I had to take a quick shot.

2010-03-30T13:59:00.005-04:00

Our son took a field trip to the local businesses to learn about commerce. First stop Wal-Mart where they learned the Wal-Mart cheer and they also got to go behind the curtain so to say and took a peek into the big freezer which was the highlight of the trip. They also liked the box crusher. Next stop was lunch, pizza of course. Then off to the bank where the only questions revolved around the bank robbery that happened a few weeks back. Next to the fire house and then to Safeway. The Boy has learned the art of becoming the volunteer from Church. Essentially he stands within close proximity to the person he deems will be selecting volunteers and then he stretches his hand waaaaaay up high and flashes his baby blues. In this case he got to push the button to grind the meat - yuck. It's fun to see him in his element.

You the Best Ever

2010-03-30T13:15:00.001-04:00

Some things just come easy for kids.

Capital Vistor's Center

2010-03-29T20:34:00.003-04:00

It's pretty cool to live right outside of the Nation's Capital and to a a friend who happens to work there. We took the Scouts on a tour and we were treated like Rock Stars which is key when you have a pack of wild boys with you. She swept us through security, had our badges and passes on hand and set us up for a private tour. The private group was probably more of a favor to the adults who actually traveled to the Nation's Capital for the tour and didn't want to have to hear the Guide answer all of the questions about "The dead guy" Aka George Washington who was buried under the floor there at one time.

The boys got to pretend like they were an angry mob with torches.

This was Bella's favorite part - The BIG White Statue.

Door Stop on Wheels

2010-03-29T20:16:00.005-04:00

Welcome to the Pinewood Derby - Ladies and Gentleman, see an undergraduate degree in Mass Communication/Broadcasting is absolutely practical. With this degree you can be the announcer at the Pinewood Derby. You did a great job honey!

Our son sat patiently and waited to see his car going racing down the track. Racing at high speeds is not exactly what it did, but more about that later.

Proud Pop He won a ribbon and a trophy, more about that later too. There were many creative and speedy cars at the race all oiled and shaped into all sorts of cool objects like the surfboard below. None were as cool as our "Door stopper on wheels" as I affectionately refer to it.

Well, our "Door stop" may not have been the fastest one for sure, but it was slow enough to win the "Slow Poke" award. Yes, the Den Leader was successful in snatching the largest trophy of the day! At the end of the Derby in the parking lot our son looks at his Dad and stated "Dad we need to talk about that car for next year's race".

It's a Princess Party!

2010-03-12T07:11:00.006-05:00

Bella had another Girly Party a couple weekends ago and she got to dress up like a Princess. She had her heart set on wearing this particular dress which my flower girl wore in my wedding almost 10 years ago. My Flower Girl will be driving soon!

At the Princess Party they played all sorts of games. Bella was the first to teach the girls that you could win the limbo if you just crawled under the bar. She's so smart.

Next they played "Pin the Crown on the Princess". They all cheated what can I say.

Then there was good old musical chairs. Bell learned that being the winner actually pays out last in this game. She figured out that all the girls who didn't get a chair were rewarded with a jewel ring. She was so close to winning when she purposely threw the game.

What can I say - you can dress her like a Princess, but she is a tomboy at heart! The one with the Hula Hoop is my little flower girl the night of our wedding. She can be a little tom boy too.

Time to straighten out the old crown.

We also had Valentine's Day at school.

10 Girls and one little boy. She's making a heart with her arms.

"Cakecano"

2010-03-02T21:28:00.006-05:00

This past weekend was a totally packed weekend and it started out with the Father-Son Bake-off for the Scouts banquet. What normal woman wouldn't want to turn her kitchen over to these goofy boys to destroy it - I mean bake a cake in it. The directions specified that the only thing Moms could do in this event was to hold the fire extinguisher.

It started out well wouldn't you say?

Not sure how you can bake a cake when your eyes are covered.

Not sure how you can bake a cake when this is your Father.
Now this is where the focus came into play - at least for one of them. We have owned this Kitchen Aid for 10 years and I think they believed that somehow all you have to do was put this out on the counter and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies would magically appear - poof!

The peanut gallery joined in on the decorations.

The cake was awesome and they did a great job even though it was a bit stressful at times!

Happy Friday!

2010-02-26T16:40:00.000-05:00

Pull your boas and have a fantastic weekend!

I can fly!

2010-02-25T07:53:00.001-05:00

When you take a bunch of big kids to a 3 year old birthday party this is what you get!

WW Recipe: Penne with Vodka Sauce

2010-02-24T16:20:00.003-05:00

I made this last week and I had to share!
Penne with Vodka Sauce
Penne alla Vodka
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1 cup pasta, 7.25 fl oz sauce • Calories: 356 • Points: 6.25 pts

2 tsp butter
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 shallots, minced
3 oz prosciutto, chopped
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup vodka
salt and pepper
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

12 oz uncooked (6 cups cooked) whole wheat or high fiber penne

In a large sauté pan heat butter on a low flame. Add garlic and shallots and sauté until soft, about 2 minutes. Add prosciutto and red pepper flakes and cook another minute. Add tomatoes, vodka, salt and pepper and cook on low, covered about 20 minutes. Add basil and half and half, mix well and cook another 5 minutes. Serve this over pasta and top with grated cheese.

My Snowy Valentine

2010-02-24T08:54:00.002-05:00

For Valentine's Day we went to Church and then out to breakfast. Grand mom picked up candy for them which they promptly ate before breakfast hit the table. Note: See the tape on the cat door - that's their sneaky way of trapping the kitty. Poor Poor Kitty.

Let it snow....let snow... let it snow snow and more snow!

2010-02-23T07:51:00.009-05:00

I remember complaining that we never get a good snow storm, just enough to cancel school for a day to go sledding. Boy did my wish come true times two! With over 40 inches of snow we would loose our daughter for sure and all we would be able to see would be the top of a pink snow hat through the snow.

King of the Hill

They quickly learned that they could perform miracles like walking on top of snow.

Our garden was practically filled to the brim with snow. These were not the visions I had of the garden when we built it.

They soon learned that the driveway was the easiest place to play.

Shoveling became the new hobby and why not since there was no hope of ever getting to the gym.

We could sled after the first snowfall, but forget about it after the second! Whenever we have snow an abundance of children show up on our hill. It gets so bad that Gavin starts referring to them as "Hey Kid".

Ahhh the classic snow angel or it could be pure exhaustion from walking through chest deep snow.

The calm of the morning before the house wakes up.

Great Wolf Lodge

2010-02-22T08:51:00.003-05:00

We took our kids and niece to the Great Wolf Lodge and we had a great time. I had a tiny Oh My God I am Surly Going to Loose a Kid moment as I peered down through the plate glass window onto the gigantic waterpark.

Every time the bell rang 1,000 gallons of water came pouring out of this gigantic bucket. Thank God I have good hearing!

This was our downtime after the fire alarm woke us up and we had to wait to get into the waterpark.

We spent about 10 hours in the waterpark and there was a lot of other stuff to do that we didn't even have time during our stay. The kids got to eat rock candy and run around the hotel in their PJs way past their bedtime.

They even had story time each night which was cool.We rode the world's scariest water slide. We willingly got into a raft which dropped us into a 6-story funnel and we flew 30 feet up the sides of the funnel and I thought for sure that I was going to loose my first born. At the bottom he said that was awesome and when asked if he wanted to do it again promptly responded "No way!!!".

Light Eggplant Parm

2010-02-02T08:43:00.001-05:00

Since I can't load pictures right now - I'll tell you what we had for dinner last night. It as so good and healthy! I took it from Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes.

Lighter Eggplant Parmesan

Servings: 6 servings • Time: 60 minutes • Points: 5 ww points

1 large eggplant (2 lbs)
1 tbsp olive oil
12 oz fat free ricotta
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 egg
2 cups reduced fat mozzarella (I used Sargento)
3 cups homemade tomato sauce
salt

Start by making the sauce if you don't have any already made. While the sauce simmers, slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices. Lightly salt the slices and put in a colander to release excess moisture for about 1/2 hour. Lay on paper towels to soak up any extra moisture.

Preheat oven to 450°. Brush eggplant lightly with olive oil on both sides and place on cookie sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning half way through until eggplant is golden brown.

In a medium bowl combine ricotta, egg, parsley and 1/4 cup of grated cheese.

In a 9x12 baking dish, put a little sauce on the bottom of the dish and put a layer of eggplant to cover the bottom of the dish. Top with 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese and sauce. Add another layer of eggplant and repeat the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and sauce until everything is used up. Top with sauce and the mozzarella cheese and the remaining grated cheese.

Cover with foil and bake until cheese is melted and everything is bubbling, about 30 minutes at 400°. Remove foil and bake an additional 8-10 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it sit about 10 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

Technical Difficulties

2010-01-31T22:09:00.000-05:00

Due to technical difficulties your regularly scheduled blogging has been put on hold again! I was in the middle of blogging our last weekend trip when my excited daughter jumped in the air and pulled my external drive thing that makes picture loading a breeze onto the floor. It is now D-E-A-D.........UGH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I won't be able to post anything until hubby has free time to replace it ):

Second Verse Same as the First

2010-01-30T21:57:00.002-05:00

Clearly the driveway does not provide enough practice time so we decided to take a visit to my old HS track. It went better than the first attempt, but there was still a fair amount of leaning and slight panic for our brave but unwilling to let his training wheels go son. I mean really - the neighborhood boys would be nice enough not to make fun of a 15 year old with training wheels... right so perhaps this is all in vain...

Aviation Scouts

2010-01-30T11:43:00.003-05:00

We took the Scouts to the Aviation Museum for Scout Day and they had lots of fun. They made model airplanes, paper airplanes and launched them from a special paper airplane launcher and did all sorts of cool hands on activities. Bella even had her own little magic show with the stream of air and the ball - look Mom no hands!

Best Birthday I Ever Had!

2010-01-28T09:00:00.004-05:00

We celebrated the Big 4 for our little princess a few weeks ago and of course she wanted another Pony Party. She fell in love with Peanut who gently carried all 16 of her friend's around the ring. She had a great party and we did all sorts of girly things like hair painting, stringing candy necklaces and playing in the dirt. Her brother even rode his first horse!

Then we had a family birthday party and she was so excited to have Part 2. She sat in the chair before we opened presents and she said "This is the best birthday ever!".

First Attempt (of many I am sure)

2010-01-25T20:21:00.002-05:00

I know there are tons of great Moms out there, but there is something pretty awesome about seeing a Dad and his boy learning how to ride his first big boy bike. Plus he has a height advantage.

Memory Issues

2010-01-24T19:52:00.008-05:00

So for Christmas I treated myself to a nice new camera of which takes the world's largest pics therefore the Blog had to take a little break till we found a suitable alternative to speed up the picture loading! Now that is solved and we should be back in business. I just need to learn how to use the camera and we will be good. Here's a look back at Christmas morning - nothing fancy just photos so I can catch up to present day!

The Eve of Craziness

2009-12-30T16:52:00.019-05:00

Christmas always reminds me of just how blessed we are. We take a trip out in the morning on Christmas Eve and this year we went to Union Station. Usually we do the national tree and the Arboretum, but we were feeling a bit more low key. Not that fighting for parking and accidentally letting your baby roll into M street in the middle of Georgetown isn't fun - Ugh!

We had our annual Christmas Eve beer for lunch.....

Our son has a new fascination with the flag after joining the Cub Scouts.

Bella did a little window shopping and some dancing in the middle of the music store. She just might be Daddy's little musician.

More window shopping. Daddy better get used to this, but he already looks like a pro. One day he will be holding her purse rather than her scarf.

The kids are just so excited this year - Bella has been joyfully pronouncing "It's the Christmas Season!!!" since the turkey came off the table in November! The Boy has been keeping a very detailed Santa list now that we can read and write. He also writes us hate mail when he is in time out, but that's another post.

We had our family over for a yummy Christmas Eve feast. Homemade Potatoes Au' Gratin or Heart Attack on a Plate... it was so good.

Hubby's Brother spent the night with our soon to be Sister-In-Law. He put the ring in the tree the week before and asked for her hand in marriage. She's a doll and the kids LOVE her.She's also a school teacher and The Boy thinks that is soooo cool. She has lots of fun with them and teaches them all sorts of cool stuff. Now I can call her when I don't understand the homework that is sent home. Yes I have already had to Google terms used in first grade homework, I guess a Master's degree only goes so far these days.

Cookies and Milk were set out for Santa.
We even remembered food for the tired reindeer. The kids threw open the blinds in the morning to check on the food. Boy reindeer are messy eaters!
Of course we stayed up late and helped out Santa.

Let It Snow.. Let It Snow...Let It Snow

2009-12-20T21:40:00.003-05:00

We received about 2 feet of snow here and enjoyed some sledding after the shoveling was done. Last year Bella cried and cried when she went out into the snow. This year she was a snow bunny! The kids had a blast sledding and the adults had fun too and lots of exercise!!!

Ho Ho Ho

2009-12-19T12:32:00.004-05:00

The kids went to have Breakfast with Santa and they had lots of fun. They are just too silly for words.

Throw Away the Keys....

2009-12-19T12:25:00.005-05:00

We took the scouts to the local Sheriff's office and they were all locked up and handcuffed. The boys loved it and it was right up their alley. They asked the poor officer every questions about guns and bad guys and guns and helicopters and more guns.

Great Balls of Fire

2009-12-19T12:09:00.002-05:00

We went to the bonfire to end all bonfires. The flames were about 5 stories high and it looked like a cruise ship on fire. They were using heavy machinery to load the wood. It was so hot that they had to have a little bonfire off to the side for the kids.

Gong UP

2009-12-19T11:51:00.002-05:00

Hubby and I coached the boys Upward soccer league and we had lots of fun. Bella can't wait to play and then we are really going to be busy!

Twick or Tweat!

2009-12-19T11:37:00.004-05:00

Gosh Halloween was just as busy as Christmas it seems. We had Trunk or Treat at Church which was a lot of fun. We also had a party with the Scouts and then we had just the normal school parties and dress up days.

Here and There

2009-12-19T11:31:00.003-05:00

We had an impromptu pizza night around the fire pit.

We went and saw a movie where we had to wear those great 3-D glasses. They have sure come along way from the red and blue lens paper glasses.

Robot Constuction Project

2009-11-11T23:38:00.002-05:00

This is my son's and my first robot construction project. The first part of the project is the Brain Control Module. The module began life as a 56k Creative Labs PCI internal modem. As you can see, we have adapted the unit by removing the metal backing and jamming a cleverly-improvised antenna under a microchip.

As you know, a Brain Control Module doesn't come from the shop with a physical control unit, so we obviously had to install one of our own. That's a fifteen-year-old PC joystick that has had its connector wires stripped and attached to the twisted pair copper wires from the similarly-stripped unwanted telephone connector. Best of all, we can just snap the end of the cable right into the Brain Control Module. (BCM)

The antenna on the BCM is specially tuned, because it came from the same box of paper clips, to transmit to the antennas on the remotely-controlled robot unit. The robot itself is made up of one Jimmy Neutron toy, with two straightened paper clips as antennas and the lens from a broken digital camera as an eye. You can see the lens is zip-tied to Jimmy's backwards head.

Altogether, I would say the project was a success, although the robot didn't actually do anything. The green star is not connected to this research project in any way, except that it was another candidate for disassembly.

But....Jesus Loves Me

2009-11-05T21:38:00.002-05:00

Tonight I was enjoying the calmness in the house when I hear Bella yell you threw my gold necklace. Fear floods through my body - Mom Intuition can picture them climbing a chair to reach the jewelry box in her room - carefully removing the Cross Christening gift from her jewelry box and flinging it across the room into the abyss of stuffed animals and ponies.

I flew up the steps and went into a frantic search for the necklace that my Grandmother gave Bella. She must have been watching from above and chuckling to herself as I turned into crazy Mom. Thankfully my calm husband found it on the staircase. I put the necklace around my neck after he carefully removed the knots from the delicate chain so I could put it safely away in my jewelry box.

Bella saw me in the kitchen and said "I want to wear my necklace" and I said "You can wear it to school on Friday" and she looks at me with those big eyes noticing the gold Cross around my neck and states proudly "But Mommy Jesus loves me." No matter how cute that was I am still not putting this necklace back in her little unsupervised Jesus loving hands!

Hottest Christmas Toy

2009-11-05T14:36:00.002-05:00

I am so excited - I scored 2 Zhu Zhu pets today, what has my life come to that this is the highlight of my week! The site below is so awesome. You just type in the hard to find item and if you set the sound it will roar like a lion. The items sell out in 1 minute or less after the roar so make sure you are logged into Walmart, Target and Toys-R-Us ahead of time. If you take time to enter in credit card information and all that you will loose out because you have to hit complete order or they may sell out while you are in the process of buying.

Zh Zhu Pets

Fall Festival

2009-11-01T20:14:00.008-05:00

We went to a Fall Festival at a local garden center and the kids including Daddy had a blast.

Visitor

2009-11-01T14:13:00.003-05:00

Grandma had a visitor and the kids brought it over to see Mommy. I like this one a little more than the snake. The kids tried to feed it all sorts of things with no luck.

You've Come A Long Way - Baby

2009-11-01T14:09:00.002-05:00

We went and saw the 3-D movie - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It's been forever since I have worn 3-D glasses and boy have they come a long way. We all looked like Clark Kent.

Snakes and Frogs.....Oh My!

2009-11-01T14:03:00.007-05:00

We are Den Leaders for G's Cub Scout troop. I am learning all sorts of weird guy rituals and I even touched a really big snake. Now that's called taking one for the team. I didn't want to nor did I like it, but I don't want my kids to be scared of things just because I am, but really they should be (:While the Scouts were running around like crazy boys, Bella posed in front of the world's largest cow.

Going UP!

2009-11-01T13:53:00.004-05:00

We are coaching G's Upwards Soccer team this year and hence one more reason why I haven't been around much. It's been a lot of fun and I have even started learning the rules of the game as Assistant Coach. The best part of the whole thing is the personality of the kids. You never know what they are going to say. Last week one of the girls said to me..."You smell like something." and I said "like perfume?" and she said "Nooooooo HOT DOGS!" Huh? I don't even really eat hot dogs hmmmmm.

Bella is DYING to play, but for now she is somewhat content to goof off on the sidelines.

Coach takes his job very seriously. In fact the kids love playing kick the coach where Coach has to make animal sounds whenever they can hit him with their ball. The popular sound is "Alien" - not sure when that became an animal sound, but the kids love it.

Our main objective aside from having fun is just trying to get them all to run in the same general direction. They are awesome though!

End Hunger

2009-10-11T11:10:00.006-04:00

We spent a beautiful Fall evening enjoying the End Hunger concert last night. The statistics are unbelievable in a county which is the 6th richest in the nation. We alone have 1,584 children who are fed by our local Food Pantry - we have 4,950 local residents living in poverty and assistance is cut off if you earn $14,001. 13% of MD Seniors live below the poverty line. It's also hard to believe that just $15 can feed a family for a week... I'd be more than happy to tell you how to help.

Hubby had the honor of being part of this great cause. He played with one of our local kids who was brave enough to sing in front of more people than I could count. The three on stage had never played with each other before this night and they were fantastic. Our kids were so proud to see Daddy on stage and Bella ran up to the front of the stage yelling Daddy... Daddy! She just came in and pointed to the above picture and said "That's Daddy on stage, he played a beautiful song" Good job sweetie!