Life with my Fruit Cakes

Car issues

2010-08-16T16:37:00.001-05:00

For those of you who know about Milly Grilldweller, the mouse who kept using our grill as a birthing center, you will appreciate this. I took the car for an oil change and alignments, when cleaning out the air filter thing,...... they found a mouse house..... My gas mileage should improve!!!!! And my alignment goes straight now.......

Life at Tech Camp

2010-06-30T11:54:00.001-05:00

My head is being filled with mass quantities of web and tech stuff to use for teaching. I don't know if I can handle too much more..... there are so many options! It's amazing!

Mom and Dad's house arrives

2010-06-14T14:02:00.006-05:00

House arrives.
House backed in.
House parked. I don't have pictures of the crane picking up the house and putting the two halves together...... that all happened the next day!

Side of house

Front of house

Having fun in Colton

2010-06-14T13:14:00.010-05:00

~ Our first boat ride in 2010~

Christopher likes throwing rocks in the water! He even found some clam shells but we discovered why at the end of our ride.

Hi Mrs. Edwards!!!!!

Jumping in at once! This class plays together and enjoys being together! That's what it's all about!

We saw our otter swimming by! He jumped around our boat a few times and swam away!

What a happy day!!!

Cities I've visited

2010-04-27T11:55:00.001-05:00

Hereford, UK

Paris, France

London, UK

Saint-Malo, France

Venice, Italy

Prague, Czech Republic

Naples, FL, USA

Arles, France

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Christopher's presentation on Kangaroos

2010-04-18T16:05:00.002-05:00

When Andrew was in first grade, for two weeks he had The Big Fever. It was really freaky! During this time, he was supposed to be preparing for a presentation on cheetas! We made his cheeta at home and he has finished his book before The Big Fever. This year was Christopher's turn! He spoke about kangaroos! We even showed him pictures of us with kangaroos in Australia. He introduced himself!
Showed his book and model

Then read his book to Nancy and me. I am so proud of my boys!

Mom and Dad's new house

2010-04-18T15:55:00.007-05:00

Finally got started on the foundations of the new house! You can see the outline, the flow in the background....
Our house on the other side of the creek!

The living room addition! As you all know, Mom and Dad are totally into the Minimalist look........ NOT so they need to add more room to the living room just to fit the furniture! The rest of the house is awesome!

Happy Spring..... almost!

2010-03-09T11:58:00.007-05:00

We've been bit with the skiing bug, now that winter is just about over! LOL!!! As usual, but we have enjoyed a few weekends on the slopes! So I'm going to try and post some pics, but the computer is not cooperating! "Done, but with errors on page." it tells me!

Grrrrrrr, I say! Finally, it worked! But the pics are too small! Will need to resave them!

The boys took lessons and while we had a few scares on the chairlift, mostly involving me falling off..... Ahem! They have really taken to it and Andrew has even skied on a blue square, although the crash at the bottom was pretty spectacular.

Titus has been a lot of fun, and skiing with friends has been great! Peter is so into it, I had to buy him a new ski jacket so he could look the part! LOL!!!!!

We've also been snowshoeing, although not as much as last year!

If you ever get the chance to go to Catamount, I say GO!!! It is truly beautiful and the trails are open to the public! The lodge can be rented!

Anywho, this weekend may be our last weekend to ski, but we will definitely be skiing next year! Our goal is to get skis for all and keep doing the "buy one-get one free" pass

thing at the gas station!

It's been ages again

2010-02-01T12:00:00.002-05:00

What happened to January????? It flew by and already we are starting the second semester! I've had my fifth graders and we had a ball!

So what's new in the family????

Well.......

Andy is doing very well in school! He loves his teacher and I think it's quite mutual! She is a lovely lady! It's his first time in a single teacher classroom, but he still gets to see the other third grade teacher. He is still tall-ish, about 4'4" and weighs 63 pounds! He's in the 66% for his age! He loves math and art. His reading is getting much better and his cursive writing is coming along! He was the Triple A student of the month for his class.

Christopher is also doing well but tends to slack off. Grrrrr. He weighs 42.8 pounds and measures 43 inches. Still our bubbie! He loves to read, read, read! He uses the wildest expressions and makes us laugh! He loves to snuggle!

Peter has discovered his inner wood worker! He is working on a cupboard for me in the bathroom! He is also cleaning out the basement like a fiend. He worked very hard on the treehouse all summer long! It's all enclosed with windows! We need to put up shingles and add the slide. He also built a shed in back of the garage! He is on top of things!

We spent Christmas in Madley this year! It was lovely but a bit bittersweet as Christ and Tony will be renting out their house to move to Cyprus for a year. But we had a great time with Julie, Stuart and all the kids! We spend New Year's Day exploring the Tower Bridge and the HMS Belfast!

Well I must make photocopies!

Summer Slide Show

2009-08-10T00:54:00.000-05:00

3/4 through summer.......

2009-08-10T00:17:00.002-05:00

Wow, we've had quite the summer! Since I last posted so much has happened! So here's the list of doings;
1. Andy went to 4H camp and liked it. Now Christopher can't wait to go next year.
2. Christopher went to Cooperative Extension Camp and loved it! Andy wants to go next year!
3. Both boys did swimming lessons and summer soccer and did fairly well! Lots of skills were learned!
4. We went camping at Higley Flow and survived!
5. The tree house is still a work on progress but WOW what progress there has been.
6. I've done a whole bunch of silly little projects that I've wanted to do forever like sanding and refinishing the kitchen table, sanding and refinishing Grand-mere's dresser which is now in our room, fixing and painting the wicker settee which is now reposing on the deck, putting up shades in the bedrooms, in a few hours, the pantry will be started, I got rid of a ton of stuff through garage sales, I sanded, resealed and repainted the grill, I 'curb-appealed' the mail box. Little projects but things that are done and I've wanted to do for ages.

Now let's post some pics.....

Really, time must stop flying like this.......

2009-06-24T08:05:00.010-05:00

I mean it's June already and the end of June at that!!!! The year is half over and I'm still mentally in January! LOL! But I'm glad that vacation is here!

I can't remember if I posted a pic of Christopher at the prom, but here it is! This is the red carpet look! He was very tired at this point but all the children looked lovely!

Andy's First Communion was also that same weekend, we were a very busy bunch! Here's a picture of him with Father, Angel and Mr Vaccaro, his teacher!

Peter has been working on the tree house when ever it isn't raining (and some days when it has)! The weather hasn't been cooperating for us! He took last Wednesday off to do Donuts with Dad in the morning and was going to work all afternoon but the Electric Company showed up to change out the old poles for new, taller ones. Ergo, no power, no power tools. *sigh*.
Currently, the flooring is complete, the stilt (to keep it stiff) are done and the sill plate and some side supports are going up! Next come the in between bits of walls.

Andy has finally lost the fang tooth and then another one came out the following night! He looks like Cat from Red Dwarf! We also bought a flag for Flag Day! So Peter called his parents and they sent us a Union Jack! I must go back to Evans and Whites and get another pole, but this one with hooks!!!! I think our house was once refered to as the Mini-UN by Patty Goodnow, it's going to look like that again!

We went to the W!ld Center in Tupper Lake for Father's Day! The boys really had a great time and want to go back again! We didn't even get to the play area!!!

Next week Andy is going to 4H camp for his first overnight visit! I hope he has a ball! He is very excited! The boys will also be doing swimming lessons at the beach and summer soccer in the evening. Christopher will be going to two weeks of day camp at the Cooperative Extension. We are booked in at Higley Flow for a weekend of camping and I want to do a road trip with the boys in August! Should be a fun and busy summer!

May was a banner month!!!!

2009-06-02T14:41:00.002-05:00

First of all, We had a fabulous GNO on May 8th! The girls are always so much fun! Mom came out with us, she fits right in! Christopher was a doll as one of the crown bearers at the 2009 Junior Prom on May 16th! The children were all adorable! The next day was Andy's First Holy Communion and he did such a great job! We did a reading together and he went to communion like it was old hat! We had a party after for both Andy and his friend Garrett at our house which is always so much fun! The following week, I was walking into school and the president of our association approached me to congradulate me on getting tenure! Can we say PASS OUT?????? I couldn't believe it! What a shock! I was thrilled to say the least! Peter got a great start on the tree house for the boys! I had another good observation and now we are in June and it's time to think of the beach, camping and more fun in the sun! Andy is going to 4H camp for a weekend, both boys are going to do summer soccer, and of course, there will be mornings at the beach!

Pictures to come!

Another update

2009-05-13T14:27:00.004-05:00

Egads...... only 22 days left of school and I can finally breathe out and relax!!!!!! I feel as if I've been on the go go go since Spring Break! Last weekend, Mother's Day..... not very relaxing! We had a GNO at South of the Rock Inn and I got birthday prezzies! How cool is that! Saturday we were going to do masses of work in the garden but the weather didn't cooperate and instead there was thunder! So I took the boys bowling! Andy almost beat me! If it hadn't been for the strike (off of a bumper) on the last lane, I would have lost to my seven year old son! Mother's Day we drove to see Grandmère Laurin. I finished a book, read a whole one and started another. It's a long day!
Here's a pic of my students and me when we made cheese fondue in school! We wrote a little article about it and put it in the district newsletter! Just to keep the French classes in people's minds!

Also, I haven't mentioned this but I am now to new coordinator for the foreign exchange student program at school! This is going to be so much fun!!!!! I can't wait to meet the new kids!

Andy is still waiting on a top tooth to come out! He looks like Nanny McFee with one tooth hanging out! He also has a bottom tooth that is loose! The two top ones are coming in...... hopefully they'll push that other one out before First Communion on Sunday!

Last night was the Confirmation service! I was a sponsor for one of my students! Very cool! He chose Edward as his saint name! It was very nice to be asked to participate and I hope to encourage his growth in faith for a few more years!

Well, that's about it! I'm off home to work in the garden and do a bit of refinishing!

Beginning of May

2009-05-06T14:11:00.010-05:00

It's been a month already and so much has happened! We had a great time on our trip to England and France and made many new friends. Here's a pic of Peter on the Strand next to a blow-up Dalek! Dr Who is everywhere! Ed and Peter in front of Westminster Abbey. Peter at Windsor Castle after touring the State Appartments!

Me with some of the kids at Juno Beach, the Canadian landing site on D-Day! The group outside of Notre Dame before we did some Power Souvie buying! My favorite souive store is next to Notre Dame, it's very cool!
The Eiffel Tower at dusk before we took a boat tour and got mooned by three Frenchies! LOL!!!

And our last night there, the car lights on the Champs-Elysées heading toward l'Arc de Triomphe!

I saw purple......

2009-04-03T07:23:00.009-05:00

YES, the crocus is coming up in the garden! I saw a robin, it hasn't snowed in a few days, could it be?????

Spring time!!!!!!!!
So we are leaving for England and France in six days! Very exciting! I will start doing my suitcase this weekend! I love this pillow, but not at $150.00..... But then again, I could make it my self!!!! Okay, that was rather random, but I do think the pillow is cute! As for my suitcase, I know what I'm bringing on this trip...... the problem is usually Peter! He always way overpacks and doesn't wear half of what he brings...... and.......
Of course, I have a total cold! My ears are full and not working, my eyes hurt and let's just say that I'm surprised my nose hasn't flown off of my face and hit someone, but it will soon!!!! Christopher has had a fever the last few days so he missed some school! The doctor thinks they may have seasonal allergies! I will be most miffed! I made sure to breastfeed them so we could avoid this but alas, I guess they can still get allergies! Most vexing!

I'm going to try and upload a cute video of Christopher telling a story!

Well, it's still processing! But I hope it works faster than yesterday, when I finally just gave up! But let me post more pics from Brussels!

So here's a pic of Christopher taking his picture in the mirror! You can see Andy looking at him and Peter and I are trying to sleep, or at least get a rest!

Here's a pic of Andrew and Christopher with Saskia and Jensen when we stopped for lunch! We had a lovely morning! We walked all over, saw the royal residence and played in a park! Peter and Karen had a chance to chat and catch up on life...... and I finally met Karen! Peter went to her wedding the weekend before I flew over to meet him the first time! Christopher did get a bit tired walking all over, so Karen popped him Jensen's wheelchair and they rode together! Christopher thought that was the greatest thing, but I don't think Jensen was too keen! Of course, Christopher could hop right off......

*sigh*

Sometimes, life throws you a curve ball and you just have to go with the flow........

... and remember to count your blessings, be they in disguise or right in front of you!

Finally......

2009-04-02T12:11:00.009-05:00

I have the CD with all the pics from our trip last summer that we were missing!!!!! I can't log into the slide show site while at school, but I will soon! That is if I remember to take the CD home! LOL!!!!

But I'll post a few pics!!!!

Here we are on the lions in Trafalgar Square and the boys are having an ice cream in the Atomium in Brussels!

The Atomium was an awesome visit! It's shaped like an iron atom! We had fun checking out the exhibits!

Andy's loose teeth

2009-03-22T15:11:00.003-05:00

Here's a little video of Andy demonstrating his wiggly teeth and showing off our messy kitchen!!!!!Christopher has taken to drumming on old litter booxes, computer frames, and bins to some rocking music! Peter plays the squash raquette and they have a ball!!!!

Whew......

2009-03-16T13:43:00.005-05:00

I haven't posted in so long!!!!! Let's see what is happening in our lives!

Well....... Let's post some pics!

Andy's two front teeth are finally very loose and they may fall out very soon! I have a video at home that I must post of him moving them around! Andy has been playing lacrosse at school and while it's hard to get him there, he likes it once he starts playing! Peter is helping out as a coach of sorts which is great as he's getting to know some of the kids!

Here's a pic of Christopher! No loose teeth on him yet, but he is reading up a storm!

They both been taking gymnastic lessons at SUNY Potsdam. Andy kept standing on his head so we wanted him to learn to do this properly! Once again, hard to get them there but they like it once they get going!

And a picture of me with Jacob and Linzie, my French IV students after we made a fondue (without wine). It was really tasty and we've made quite a few recipes that were easy but delish!

I've been reading up a storm, which I love..... and the librarian even calls me when a new book by a favorite author arrives! That is so cool!

During February break, we went to Ottawa to visit BOB FM, and in the process saw the Obama Motorcade go by! What a treat! This is the first time I've ever seen a presidential anything in person!

Peter and I are leaving on a trip to the UK and France with students in 24 days! I hate to leave the boys, and it's been quite the quandry! At first, they were staying with Nancy! Then Peter wanted them to go to Florida, then it's let's send Nancy to Florida.... but alas, it's just too much of a hassle! So I'm hoping that they'll stay with Nancy and have fun.

At school we've started a CPCS Biggest Loser! So far I've lost 1/2 pound, but 3 pounds all together! Weigh-in is on Wednesday so we'll see how it goes! I've been walking alot at school and yesterday we rode our bikes! Also, Santa brought Andy and Christopher a tether ball game so we've been playing that alot!

And that's about it for us these last two months!

Cold Season is upon us!

2009-01-22T08:38:00.012-05:00

In more ways than one! Not only have we had a lot of sub-zero days, the boys have had wicked colds and I'm still drippy! Peter's bronchitis appears to be a bit better and so is his back......

I had to laugh at NPR, they were reporting from Minnesota about the cold........ Isn't is always cold in Minnesota? We've had more cold than there...... How is this news? It's winter.....

Anywho, here are some pics from last weekend! Heather found a man to teach the kids how to make an igloo! I won't divulge his secret but I will say it does not include secret Inuit technology. The kids enjoyed the building process and all climbed inside to check it out!

As the sun set, they did a little bit of sledding, too!

The next day, while playing in the igloo, Darren invited a bunch of kids to snowshoe across Higley to their house! Of course, Andy was all for it!

Starting out.....

Halfway across

I see Mommy!!!!!

Andy and Cole

Andy has really enjoyed his snowshoes! I'm hoping to get a pair for Christopher and another adult pair! Waiting for sales! LOL!!!!!

This weekend is the Colton WinterFest! Should be alot of fun! Pancake breakfasts, library hours, spaghetti dinners, bed races and more snowshoing, along with the quilt show which is always so amazing!

On Tuesday, the whole school celebrated the Inauguration! I've never worked in a school where there was a mock election and a celebration of all things politics! And yet, Andrew is perfectly aware of the President's name and all! How awesome is that! We started by meeting in the gym for the Pledge and National Anthem. Mr Bogart said a few words (Well done, Craig) and then we heard "Hail to the Chief". Upon returning to class I had my students do some acrostic poems and an inauguration Trivia hunt! Special arrangments were made for lunch so that we could all meet in the auditorium to watch the Inauguration. The students all broke into applause when Obama first appeared on the screen! It was awesome to watch it with everyone! The students loved it and having had this experience will, hopefully, remember it....... What an historical day!

HEY!

2009-01-12T11:57:00.015-05:00

At school I have those pic and video icons! Hmmmmm, what does it all mean???? Maybe the 'puter I was using is, shall we say, not up to speed...... Nah, that's not pithy enough! I'll think of something! Here's a pic of Andy standing up on the sled, going down the hill. Peter is just happy to go down the usual way........ He still managed to twist an ankle.... and I'm wondering if his current back pain is from this?!?! This is Andy and Christopher's school picture for 2008! I love that Andy is holding on the Christopher! They look really happy and usually are! LOL!!!

André ordered a Guiness whe we went out to Darcy McGee's in Ottawa. I had heard about the shamrock in the foam but I'd never seen it! Very cool!

While we were in Ottawa, Andy and I went to the Byward Market in search of BOB FM, Andy's favorite radio station! http://www.939bobfm.com/ We were hoping to see Vinney, the funky Brit deejay we like to listen to at night or at least get a mug for Peter!! Alas, that was not to be! Instead, the ladies at the reception desk gave us a T-shirt for Peter! I love this picture of Andy, his expression is perfect! The BOB logo is the one on the end of the building and it's the only one that is hard to see! We are hoping to take a day in February to go bacak with Peter and all go skating on the canal and do a studio tour!

Here's a pic of Andrew skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa! He was doing really well until his feet got sore! New skates are in the offing! I don't know why but he loves to chew on his jacket! What is up with that???? Sore teeth????

Now he's not skating but riding in the sled thing! André and I pushed him along, it was fun for me but I couldn't hear him very well! Here is Andy with André and Michèle! You can see the part of the canal that was open! Only about 2.5 miles but it was alot of fun!

After all that 'skating', Andy was a bit tired and pensive!

Hmmmm, take two~

2008-12-30T10:08:00.000-05:00

Still no icons for pics or video! What's up with that????

Andy woke me up waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too early this morning! He's been cuddling with his teddy bear, Henry Freddy, that Maria gave him when she was here two years ago! I've taken pictures to send to Maria! Andrew has even fed him some marshmallows! (Not really)

here's Andrew......

thos two this are fruit cake thing's!!!!!!!!

(Corrected version) "These two things are fruitcake things"

Hmmmmm

2008-12-30T04:50:00.000-05:00

I'm looking for the toolbar to add video and such to posts and I cannot find it! How very odd......

Anywho, things in December started rolling when Mom and Dad got home, finally, on the 12th! I was in two concerts with the Potsdam Community Chorus and the Orchestra of Northern New York that weekend, we sang the Messiah. Singing with an orchestra was amazing. We sang in the two St. Mary's which is totally different from Hosmer Hall. I hope that the PCC is invited to sing with the orchestra again!

On Monday we had a make up basketball lesson as the one Wednesday before was cancelled due to a massive snow storm! We all decided to take the kiddos out to Ponderosa after to celebrate! It was wild but we had fun!

Something happened on Tuesday but I can't remember now.....

Wednesday Dad and Peter came into school for events with the boys! Dad did the holiday reading with Andrew and Peter did crafts with Christopher! They had lots of fun!

Thursday was the winter concert! Don Washington, the choral music teacher outdid himself again! As always, the kids wrote their own music, sang and danced! The theme of the concert was a Harlem Rent Party. The school is doing a Roaring Twenties Project so this fit right in! Seeing the kids boogie woogie was awesome! But the best part is that before the concert, Don recorded the songs in the recording studio and got local businesses to furnish CD's, labels and printing. At the concert, we bought CD's of the music and all the money went to the Neighborhood Center! I was blown away! But like Don said, the kids didn't wear mittens and sing Christmas Carols.....

Christopher's class sang "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" and Andrew sang "Music can change the world!"

Friday the high school went to Maxcy Hall for the day! We skated, played games, ate, relaxed.... it was a nice day! I used to think the "Olympics" were fun, but now I see that they were an artificial competition that didn't involve all the kids..... just playing and being is so much better! They set the competition and all were included on their own terms! I skated! Loved it!

And there started our vacation! Which is now half way over and I am awake at 5 AM blogging! I would post pics but can't find the pic poster icon!!!!!

Wow, it's been a while again!

2008-12-30T04:28:00.000-05:00

Hey, Merry Christmas all! I hope you all had a wonderful day! We certainly did!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T12:21:00.008-05:00

Sleigh bells ring.........

Are you listening?

In the lane........

Snow is glistening!

A beautiful sight! We're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland!

Check out the ornament with a pic of baby Andrew and Mommy on the right!
What a happy boy!!!!!!

Day out at Potsdam Central......

2008-11-18T11:37:00.003-05:00

While I'm in the Mentoring Program at CPCS, I have to do an outside observation each year! So I've been to visit my friends who happen to teach at Potsdam Central! Each time I'm come back with a little tidbit of something to use! So even to this old dog..... a new trick can be taught!

But what is new in our lives?????

Well, Andrew is really enjoying playing basketball on Mondays and Wednesdays! It's fun as I'm able to trade off rides for him with other Moms and we can be safe in our knowledge that all will be okay! His skills are improving... but I doubt he'll be a great athlete like Grandpa or his uncle! But if he's having fun, that's okay!

Christopher is spelling up a storm! He is sounding out words, singing all kinds of songs and just charming us all! What a joy he can be!

Peter has been learning alot about stocks and things! It all goes over my head because to me it's not real if I can't see the money! Show me the money!!!! Anywho, he's really into it and having (you guessed it) fun!

As for me, I'm going through a bit of an insomnia cycle which I hope will end soon! I just find myself waking alot in the night and not feeling rested at the best of times! I have a flu shot and it seems like I've felt icky-boo ever since! But I'm really excited as the PCC is doing their concert this weekend and it's going to be streamed live! Here's the scoop!

Our upcoming concert will have a live audio stream via the web for those friends and family members who are not able to be in Potsdam, NY on Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 3 p.m. eastern.Those wanting to hear the concert should go to the Crane website: www.potsdam.edu/CRANE
and follow the "Crane Streaming Web Events" tab on the left near the bottom of the page.

So if you want to hear us, check it out! But remember, we are in Eastern Time.

Other than that, getting ready for Christmas has been on my mind! The boys have indicated what they would like from Santa! We will be making cookies and such as usual! I'm jazzed to do up our tree and decorate this year! Should be fun, they are getting so independent!

Next week, Peter and I will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary! I can't believe how time has flown by, but once again, when you are having fun.........

White Rabbit white rabbit white rabbit.

2008-11-02T20:56:00.008-05:00

So it's November! And again, I'm thinking, "What has happened here????!!!!! I have totally lost autumn..... where did September and October go?????"

My theory, after much contemplation and thought...... is simply this! Time flies when you are having as much fun as I am!

So over the weekend, I found more of my former students on Facebook! Amazing the number of them who went into teaching! I think they had such a good experience in school, they decided to stay! And NO, not because they were MY students, probably more because they had Lennie McKinnon as a teacher. She was the BEST!

Anywho...... Halloween was a blast! It was my first time trick or treating in snow..... but we only had a few spills and the kids had a ball! Christopher just ran to the house and came back. He wasn't interested in the candy! I wasn't about to stop him! Andy got a little but of an upset tummy which meant I got some wonderful Mommy cuddles! What's not to love!

Pictures???? You want to see pictures????

This picture was taken at the triplets house on a papadom type chair! I got in it once...... I think I left a body part when I tried to get out!!!!!Christopher took a few seconds from some serious block building to give me a scary face!

Here are my best shots of Pimp My Hayride! In these you can see the lights! But it was huge! 19 feet long, lit and the tunes were great!! I think we need to put cup holders next year! LOL!!!! Check out Peter is his bonewear!

Saturday we had dinner with Esther, Tom and their three children. It's amazing how you can have friends that you see maybe twice a year and just pick up where you left off! Sharing childbirth does that! They spent an amazing year in Costa Rica and we just had to hear all about it! Esther made roasted pumpkin which I've never had but it was yummy and I must try it!

Well, it is time to head for the Land of Nod and I'm getting a bit frosty down here in the dungeon known as our basement! Soon it will be lovely..... but for now..... a cuppa will do!

OH! KUDOS to Maria who was 'on the spot' at an accident and got to practice her paramedic stuff! Someone had a nasty cut from a fall and she was applying the pressure and asking all the questions! She is our HERO today! Maria is hoping to attend Liverpool University (or a universtiry in Liverpool) to become a real paramedic! How cool is that!?

Lots of news!

2008-10-31T09:02:00.012-05:00

Well, once again I see that I've been busy busy busy and I've neglected my blog!

So I've got a ton of pics and news to share!

First off, last weekend, another Paris Hilton whirl wind of activity! We started with the Fall Festival at school! I went home and got the boys dressed in their costumes! Here are some pics! Andy wore a costume my Grandmother made for my Dad. It's at least 60 years old and it just fits Andy! He won a prize for the oldest costume at the Fall Festival!

Christopher was cute as a frog and had fun playing all over!

After the Fall Festival, we ran home to change for a Bonfire at Nancy's house! I didn't take any pics, but let's just say it was big..... very big!

Saturday night was GNO (Girl's Night Out). We went out for Moroccan food and had a ball talking and laughing! That's what Girl's Night is all about!

Sunday was the PTSA 5K walk/run. After worrying about rain all week, it was a beautiful day. We had about 100 people come out.

On Tuesday all hell broke loose! It snowed! We knew it was going to snow but had no idea it would snow this much! This was at about 5:00. We lost power two hours later and just got it back yseterday afternoon! This is the third time in five months we've lost power for more than one day! We are not impressed with the power company right now. We didn't have school on Wednesday in my daze, I invited the triplets over to play! We had a super lunch! Not bad for making soup and sandwiches without power! (Gas stove!) We even had dessert! Thankfully we have the generator and a wood stove, although being without power is much easier in the summer than the 'winter'. I say 'winter' because it's still autumn, but with the benefit of snow.....

So.... tonight will be the first time we Trick-or-Treat in the snow....... I'm sure the pics of Pimp my Hayride will be very interesting!

Stone Valley Trail

2008-10-14T16:27:00.005-05:00

We had a super weekend! On Sunday we went to a warehouse auction hoping to get some awesome granite countertops. Instead we got some awesome crown moulding! Then we went to Cornwall for Canadian Thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle who now expect me to say grace. I will need to prepare! Usually I just use the words from something we are singing (amazing how that works) but the parable of the maidens and the lamps didn't really work. So I adlibbed.... not so good! HEY! Maybe I'll be off the hook?!?

Monday morning, Rebecca, one of my former students, came by to visit with her little boys! She lives up the road from me and now her kids are going to CPCS. We had a super chat and she finally got to meet Peter! She graduated from school before he immigrated over here!

On Monday afternoon we took advantage of the beautiful day to take a walk on the Stone Valley Trail!

And, good news, my aunt had her surgery and all is well! She is trading in martini cocktails for pill cocktails! Oh, the life! She hopes to be home tomorrow!

This Day Has Had 28 Hours.....

2008-10-11T22:23:00.003-05:00

And I feel like I've been awake for every single one!

Last Tuesday, Aunt Michele went to the doc for a check up! She was admitted to the hospital that day and told she would be having surgery! Today is Saturday! She has been told she will be having surgery since Thursday and she still hasn't! I'm glad she is being taken care of and that the nurses are really awesome, but really..... nationalized health really has some problems when they can pick and stick to a surgery time. Meanwhile, she has a blood clot in her neck that is causing blood to pool in her fingers and they are turning black. (And I mean BLACK....)

So last night, Aunt Muriel calls, for sure they will operate this morning, they are coming to get her at 6 AM. I left for Ottawa at 9:30, expecting to arrive as she was in recovery! NOPE! She is still in her room..... waiting. Needless to say, today was not the day! I'm glad I went to see her, though, we had a lovely chat without interruption (*!) about all kinds of things and watched "I Love You to Death", a favorite! Kevin Cline just makes me laugh!

So I told Peter I would check out the mall for 'fuzzy pj's' for Andrew! I did the Bayshore mall and I have come to the conclusion that boys 8-18 don't wear pj's of any sort, which someone forgot to tell me, as I know I didn't get the memo, and my son wants fuzzy pj's. It could be a long winter..... he doesn't fit in his other fuzzies. But I did get them the funniest hats at IKEA. One is a birthday cake and the other is a fruit basket! What a hoot!

This week, Peter and I cleaned my car! We took the car seats out! I think they hadn't been moved in 3 years! My car is in shock! I am in shock! But it looks so nice and smells alot better!

Anywho, the boys have been just amazing us with their growing, but Andrew still has a bit of a stubborn streak! Christopher drew a picture for us this week! I know, you are thinking, kids draw pictures all the time. Not Christopher, he had no interest is writing, drawing, painting, etc. So when he wanted to draw me a picture, I wasn't about to stop him! Then he wrote his name, not once, but twice, all eleven letters!

The long and short of it is that I'm really enjoying this phase! The boys still need us but not all the time! They can play alone or with friends, and I don't have to survey 24/7. Christopher will play with magnets or legos for hours at a time! He just loves it! Andy loves to play and run around! I can't wait until Monday, we are going to plant bulbs! Peter bought a bunch of tulips, daffodils, crocus and hyacinths! I love my spring bulbs and he knows it! What a sweetie he is!

Anywho, I'm tired but life is good!

Long long weekend with too many parties! I may need to buy some Paris Hilton shades!

2008-10-05T19:44:00.005-05:00

Here's a pic of Andy and his pals just before blowing out the candles! Of course we had a
Thomas cake, just like Christopher's but they love it and the P&C makes yummy cakes! In the pic you can see from right going counter clockwise; Max, Maddie, Kassidy, Grace behind Andrew, Taylor, Maddie R, Maura's little head and Christopher's head! We are missing Garrett, Cole, Claire, Sage, Callie, Allie, and Rachael! Peter made a seriously awesome chili... and I know the secret ingredient! And, no, I'm not sharing! It was that good!
I'm including the video of Andy at the Harvest Festival learning to shoot a bow and arrow!

Oh and here's the Wake Up Birthday Waffle! Okay, so Andy ate most of the whip cream and the candle fell! But he does like his waffles! We even made sure that Christopher was up to join in the fun!

So alot of fun this weekend and I feel like I need a weekend to recover from my weekend! Of course, my parents left for Florida today which means I'm going to be having Mommy-Withdrawals. I really get so down when they leave! But the good news is that the town has approved their purchase of some of our land so they will be moving next to us sometime next year, if they can sell their house!

My mother-in-law, Christine visited a cousin she hasn't seen in ages! Apparently part of their family tree has been traced back to the 1500's on the Walden side of the family! How very cool!

Well, I'm off to the Land of Nod to try and catch up on sleep and, oh yeah..... that man who shares my bed, my husband! Would be nice to talk to him for a bit, too! He's been working outside all day getting wood stacked!

G'Night!

Happy Birthday Andy!

2008-10-02T16:35:00.003-05:00

Here is a video of Andy getting his cake at Mom and Dad's house! You see my parents, Peter, Christopher and my brother André who came up for the night! Andy was a very happy boy!
PS: Actually, Peter just pointed out to me that you don't see André as he was on the phone with his wife....... so he missed the singing, but not the cake!

OMG!

2008-10-01T10:58:00.003-05:00

The wildest thing just happened! My pal Debbie is subbing today and she came in to have lunch with me! When I got up to get a napkin, she asked me if I have broken my shoes......

The bottoms of the heel part had just come off! How bizarre!

So I used a glue stick and I hope that will keep them together until I can find some super glue!

Happy Birthday, Andy

2008-10-01T10:12:00.003-05:00

Last night, we celebrated the last evening of being non-parents.... as it was the day I went to the hospital to have Andy! What was supposed to be a nice calm night with a little cervidil to get me started and a shot of pitocin in the morning turned into a vomiting, walking, moaning, cringe-fest of heavy "OH MY GAWD GET ME AN EPIDURAL" labor! And I didn't get the epi.... "too late", I was told! But in the end, with Peter holding on to me every step of the way, after three hours of pushing (which seemed like fifteen minutes)...... we had a beautiful baby boy!

Today he is seven years old and still is, with his brother, the light of our lives!

I also want to congratulate Rachael and Aaron on the birth of their little boy Mavarick (what a cool name) at 1:00AM, on Andy's birthday! I remember Rachael commenting on me rubbing my belly when I was preggers..... she thought it was great! *sigh* I'm wishing you all the joy in the world!

Will post a pic of Andy's wake up waffle when I can!

Harvest Festival 2008

2008-09-27T16:45:00.001-05:00

A great time was had by all!

Fishing on Higley!

2008-09-16T11:30:00.004-05:00

Sunday we went for a boat ride! Peter asked, "Where?". I answered, "Let's try Higley". So you can see the dam in the background!

Peter showed the boys how to cast with their rods! Christopher's was easy to use so he caught on quickly! Andrew took a bit longer but they both enjoyed it! We totally didn't catch anything, but it was fun to practice!

I finally got to drive the boat, it's alot of fun, but Peter is a much better teacher of fishing! I found Andy's rod to be a bit complicated! But the boys really liked casting and trolling! We also tried to stop and visit the Seymour's but they weren't home!

We have power

2008-09-16T11:28:00.002-05:00

I can finally do laundry! It's piling up!

Andrew is so going to get a massive bath tonight! He has been all kinds of freaked out and so he sleeps under the duvet and gets all sweaty! He is seriously gross!

Christopher has a bit of a cold!

Peter and I just need sleep! Tonight we are having pizza and going to bed EARLY!

Day Two of no power because of Ike!

2008-09-16T07:22:00.002-05:00

I really have to complain about these hurricanes that hit the South and we get the tail end and lose power. I mean really!!!!!! It's just not fair! This is the third time this year that we've lost power due to a storm that 'occurred' elsewhere!

So I say, kindly keep your storms and the resulting mess to yourselves!

Do we send our snow to you when we get too much???? No!

Did we send the Ice Storm to wreak havoc on you???? No!

They come, they drop snow, we shovel it and go on!

That being said, I feel for the people who keep having their homes destroyed! We lost power, no biggie..... but we still have our home.

I guess I can stop whining, because I have no cheese and it's early in the morning!

Mega-tidy mega-clean

2008-09-07T17:35:00.003-05:00

Today I did something I've wanted to do but just didn't have the 'get-up-and-do-it' in me!

I cleaned off a set of bookshelves and tidied! In the process found a whole bunch of pics of me as a child! Wish I had a scanner......

I cleaned out the cupboard in the bathroom and made a pile of stuff for the holiday store the PTSA does at the holidays,.......

I, then decided to clean out the top drawer in the bathroom..... oh.... the dust! I hesitate to think of it! But I also tossed some stuff that had long outlived it's expiration date!

I was on a roll! I cleaned under the kitchen sink! More tossing!

I am still cleaning the grill..... I'm on the third spray of oven cleaner! YUCK!

I took down all the 'homework' posters Christopher had from speech class and I'm going to put up the real stuff on the kitchen wall! The two 'wine' pictures and the 'dance like nobody is watching, love like you've never been hurt' sign!

Peter has been working in the laundry area and it's coming together! More of the wall is insulated! I know.... you're thinking..... what do mean, more of the wall is insulated???? Well part of it is still not done. But more is! YEAH!

Laundry is all done, we will be eating dinner soon, in a tidier dining room, and then I will fold all the rest of the laundry and it will be done! I'm thinking that within two weeks, I may have my machine upstairs and doing laundry won't require braving an obstacle course to get to the machine! I will merely need to gather and toss in! Voila!!!!!!!

It's been a great weekend and I look forward to an excellent week at school!

Bye now!

LeMayoBeer

2008-09-07T16:29:00.002-05:00

Last week during dinner, Christopher decided he wanted to know what would happen if we mixed lemonade, mayonnaise and beer.....

The LeMayoBeer recipe, while fun to put together, was a definite bust. Of course, from the scientific standpoint, yes, the lemonade made the mayo curdle and the beer caused alot of fizz. Then it all separated.

The smell was appalling, although Peter did venture a taste.

It came and went in a matter of minutes..... and down the sink. I was wondering if it would mega-shine the fittings, but alas, it didn't.....

LeMayoBeer is no longer.

First Day of School

2008-09-04T10:23:00.002-05:00

Well..... I would like to say that my boys jumped on the bus all happy and ready to go......

But.....

Christopher was pretty chirpy!

Andrew...... *sigh*...... crying and clinging to me, telling me he's scared and wants to be with me! I have tear marks on my shirt! Poor bubby!

Peter put him on the bus this morning, still sniffly...... but his bus driver, Leo sussed out the situation and got him to climb in! Peter is not sure if he was all that willing but on he did get!
I called Nicole, his teacher when I arrived to give her the heads up! Hopefully his morning went well! I was going to run down and check but a student showed up for Ben's study hall and he's not there!

Also, I didn't get any pics! Mega-Bummer......

On the plus side, we went to the library yesterday and I ordered some books on hold that I wanted to read. I like that we can read books from other libraries! I started reading the Molly Murphy books but our library only has two of them so I'm awaiting the arrival of the other three! AND.... there's a new Hamish Macbeth that I took out! YEAH!!!!

Well, I'm off downstairs to check on Andrew, back in a flash!

Well, I'm glad to report that both boys have had a super first day! Andrew is doing a scavenger hunt with the son of one of my former students..... Christopher was getting on the bus to go home. All is well!

WHEW!!!!!!!

In school, new start!

2008-09-03T10:15:00.003-05:00

So I'm sitting at my desk...... I have a new bulletin board so my white board has a few pics on it! The bulleting board has the "thief stealing paintings from the Louvre" jokes, I printed it out and laminated it! The books are ready, I have gotten desks with front legs so they won't tip!

Life is good!

I just moved out the tippy desks for desks with front legs! That will make my life easier..... I won't tip over any desks when I try to sit on them!

I know..... you are all saying, "SHOCK HORROR!!!!! Teachers should NEVER EVER sit on desks!" Well, 411 kiddos, I do....... sad, but true! I am a desk sitter! But I ALWAYS keep my knees together..........

Just a few more things to post and some stuff to organize!

So I gotta say goodbye to the summer.......

2008-09-01T17:21:00.009-05:00

but darling, I promise you this,

I'll send you all my love, every day in a letter......

sealed with a kiss!

I love that song, but it is so true! Today is the last day of summer vacation! Quite frankly, we've had a superb time! The trip was great. The swimming lessons were great. We did alot of fun things. The house is fairly clean. It's been awesome. After a few years of pulling out my hair and not getting a whole nights sleep..... this is great!

It's not the big trip that we did that made the whole summer, it was the little things like dinner with friends, cuddling with the boys every morning, working in the garden with Andy, swimming, hearing them laugh while I read a book, riding to the corner for ice cream.... all those memories make me smile!

Yesterday we were invited to a relaxed BBQ. By the time dinner was served, we were very relaxed! Brett makes awesome blender drinks, and they have these HUGE glasses!

The kids really enjoyed the bouncy pool and just being able to run around without worrying about cars! The house is on a cul-de-sac, very nice, very quiet.

Here we have dancing kids! They rode bikes, they danced, the made s'mores, they sang, they jumped! They had a ball!!!!

This morning Peter and Dad took care of some tree issues we had as a result of a few storms! Just one of those things that you just up and get moving on it. And POOF* It's done!

Now I'm looking forward to starting a new school year, from the beginning and really having fun!

Can we say GA-ROSSE!!!!!!!

2008-08-25T07:11:00.004-05:00

A week ago Wednesday night, Minou meowed at the door and I let her in not knowing she was carrying contraband! There was a mouse with her! She is such a good hunter kittie! When I realized the situation, it was too late to get rid of mouse as it was firmly hidden behind a bookshelf.

So we put out traps and tried to encourage Minou to catch the mouse but other than a sighting under the kitchen sink and when Peter emptied the trash (from under the sink) and the mouse ran into a cold air return...... we hadn't seen it!

Until this morning.......

After Peter left for work, the boys and I came down stairs and I saw Minou with the trap! Thinking she was going to get snapped and since when did cats like peanut butter, I was TOTALLY GAGGED WHEN I REALIZED SHE WAS CHOWING DOWN ON MOUSE-IN-TRAP! Right there, on the welcome mat in front of the door!!!!!!!

How to get this out of the house.......

The boys wanted to watch and my 'try not to show emotions' thing went right out the door! I was totally grossed out and there was no way to hide it!

I found an old pair of tongs (not thongs..... ) and picked up the trap (no mouse) and flung in out the door!

I looked outside, there is only guts left on the deck!

Ga-Rosse!

Playing under the jungle gym!

2008-08-23T21:03:00.004-05:00

I took the boys to the playground for a while and they had a ball playing with the wood chips under the jungle gym!

There is a neat little area with a seat and a little table area. The kids like to put the woodchips on the tray and push them through a little drainage hole!

They worked at this for about half and hour, which I didn't mind as it was at least in the shade! It was quite warm on Friday here, the first day I've noticed the heat!

Just as Andrew started to get bored, Maddie, Max and Emma arrived! That meant they had to start playing in the sand boxes. This included parading with the little umbrellas that go over the sandboxes! They make very nice little 'turtle shells'.

After that, they washed all the 'babies' in the drinking fountain! I'm glad that Andy doesn't bring The Guys out and about with him! I couldn't deal with a wet Shaun, Moustache, or Baby Bear (AKA Mr Specs). Andrew was into the washing, though! He made sure all the dolls and all the outfits were very wet and 'clean'.

Sorry, Christina! I can't imagine the car ride home was any fun with soaking kids and 'babies'...... Andy was a bit wet, but at least not dripping!

At least we had a bit of time out. Christina and I organized a 'field trip' for next week! I think we are going to go to the Wild Center in Tupper Lake! There was a bit of "girl time" for Mommy!

Christopher's first ride without training wheels!

2008-08-23T19:46:00.002-05:00

Or stablizers as Peter calls them! Kimmy helped him out to get started and to stop but he did go on his own! I can't believe we may be out of training wheels already! Didn't I just give birth to this child yesterday??????

Crickey, it's Friday already!

2008-08-22T08:44:00.006-05:00

Well, one week left of summer vacation! It's been a superb vacation, that's two in a row! What did we do this week????

#1. We worked at the garage sale Monday and Tuesday! Tuesday we froze, it was frosty up here! I didn't sell anything.....
#2. Wednesday had a meeting at school! I love this school, meeting that are meaningful! So awesome!
#3. Yesterday we went on a field trip to Cornwall to visit rellies! It was my Aunt and Uncle's 43rd wedding anniversary, but alas, the were on a romantic get-away to the cancer clinic where my uncle goes every six months to get checked out! *Sigh* so lovely!

My Aunt and Uncle have a cottage on the St Lawrence, it was a deal where they owned the cottage but not the land! Recently, all the cottagers got the chance to buy the land also! Here are some pics of thier view!
#4. On the way home, we went to pick up Minou who had gone to the vet for a Fluff-n-puff. Poor thing, she is not used to grooming and is still out of it! We will need to take her back as she's had a few 'accidents'..... poor baby!
#5. I did more tidying in the master bath so Dad and Peter can start to work on plumbing and the foundation for the washer and dryer! Peter is going to build it on mouse 'mats' (AKA mouse pads) so that will help absorb the vibrations. He brought home a huge box, and I have put all the heating components we have hanging around in it. Heating has been contained!

So today we took Minou to get a mini-wash and went to the playground!

Have a great weekend!

A week in review... that's not too exciting

2008-08-18T15:25:00.002-05:00

So last week.... what did I do????

Oh yes, Monday I cleaned up from Christopher's party! Tuesday is a blur..... but Wendesday, I remember! It was the Grand Opening of our new local Walmart SuperCenter! We went there! I was great! Andrew had his picture taken with the Keebler Elf! He hugged the Pillsbury Doughboy about ten times. He and Christopher chatted with the Colgate Toothpast robot! And they even let me get the stuff I needed! Thursday I went to the dentist to get five fillings! I regret not getting those flouride treatments they give kids nowadays! I won't put flouride in thier water/juice, but at the dentist.... go for it! Friday we did garage sale! It wasn't great but at least I got some stuff out of my house!

Over the weekend, Peter and I cleaned out the 'masterbath' to start moving the washer and dryer upstairs! We also looked at some carpet tiles for the basement! Once the W&D are upstairs, the W&D room will become Peter's workroom! That will free up space in the basement so we can fix it up as a family room!

So slowly but surely, a few more things are getting done in the house! I have two weeks until school starts so I hope we get more done soon!

The new bedroom pantry

2008-08-13T18:29:00.003-05:00

Cutting the counter top! There was alot of sawdust in the air!

Popping it into place!

You can see the upper cabinets and the glass blocks which give light into the hallway!

Our artistic attempt at showing the whole area.... though the window! All you can see is me, the glass blocks and the lake outside! LOL!!!! Oh, and the window frame!

2008 Beach Party

2008-08-12T14:15:00.000-05:00

Christopher's birthday

2008-08-12T13:58:00.000-05:00

CRISIS! CRISIS! CRISIS!

2008-08-09T21:25:00.002-05:00

This is reallty bad! Two things!

1: I totally forgot to take Christopher to a birthday party today until I started folding laundry at about 5:30! The party was at 2:00. I feel like such a toad!

2: Christopher dropped the camera! No, he was not getting back at me!!!! But thankfully I got the insurance and I still have my old camera (that doesn't work well but at least it does work) so I can still take pics of the party!

On the good side.......

The bedroom pantry is DONE! Peter cut the counter top this evening and we put it in! It looks great! Still need to add the light and some outlets.... but the cupboards are in and I've already redone the linen closet!

2008 Olympics

2008-08-08T11:10:00.006-05:00

The American team entering the Bird's Nest!

I don't know if you've seen the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics but they were absolutely fantastic!!!!!!

The Chinese did a fabulous job! I can't begin to think of the work and imagination that went into that spectaculaire!

Happy Birthday Christopher!

2008-08-07T20:27:00.006-05:00

Today he is five!!!! Where has the time gone?????? Will post pics from the day and the party soon!

Yes, that building behind him is the Parliament Building with Big Ben in the middle and the Victoria Tower on the left! This was taken in the London Eye!

BTW, Dad and I put in the cupboards for the bedroom pantry, will get some pics of that too!

Beach Days 2008

2008-08-02T22:40:00.001-05:00

Last Days with Chris and Tony

2008-08-02T22:22:00.001-05:00

Chris and Tony's house

2008-08-02T21:19:00.003-05:00

I took alot of video but this is just the front of my in-laws house, which they call a bungalow! Be that as it may, it's a really nice house and we love visiting there! It's such a happy place! Anywho, the neighbors are all lovely! We really enjoyed meeting Anthony and Claire who live directly across with their daughters Amy and Lucy! The boys loved having friends to play with!

The houses on Church Croft are all very similar and other than the typical additions, they all had a little something different! It's a very cool place!

Somewhere over the Rainbow!

2008-08-02T21:10:00.003-05:00

I walked out of the house one night to get something from the car and noticed that we had a complete rainbow with a very slight second one that was fading fast!! The boys loved it so I had to video it! LOL!!!!!

Another week has passed

2008-08-02T19:13:00.002-05:00

We've had quite the week here in the North Country! On Sunday, I noticed that Andrew was rather spotty... as he's only 6 I can assume they are not zits. So when it was still there on Monday, I called the doctor! She says it's not the chicken pox but he still has spots! We didn't got to swimming on Tuesday, just in case! But Wednesday he wasn't showing any signs of getting

***WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP***

DON'T READ IF YOU GET QUEASY

**** WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP***

pussiness..... so we just went about our daily business. Basically, I don't know what was going on, but he either had a super mild case of chicken pox because he's been vaccinated or he got alot, and I mean ALOT of bug bites!

So Tuesday, Andy and I painted the stairs to the basement as a surprise for Peter! It's not the best paint job, but Andy worked really hard! While half of the steps were drying, we went outside and started in on the 'scrub' patch in the backyard! I did my best Charlie Dimmock impression, except I wore a bra! We didn't get it all done, but we put quite a dent in the mount! Of course, if I had Tommy Walsh, Willie and Allen Titchmarsh helping me, I'm sure it would now be a water feature....... soon, very soon! Coming soon to this backyard!

Anywho..... Michelle, the swimming instructor who was one of my students my first year of teaching was saying how impressed she is with their progress at the beach this year! Even though they've missed three weeks of lessons, they are progressing very well! I noticed that both boys are excited to go to lessons and have participated willingly. Last year, Christopher did not go into the water and Andrew rarely made it through a whole lesson. It was cold last year, but it's been the same this year! What a difference a year can make!

The boys have been really good about getting themselves dressed and ready for the beach this summer! I hope this continues into the school year! It would make life so much easier!

So it's August! Christopher's birthday in on Thursday! The Swimming party is also on Thursday and they are doing a birthday theme! Michelle is jazzed that someone is actually having a birthday that day! We are having a BBQ on Sunday! The usual, BBQ alot of stuff, have cake and play games! The adults can have fun, too! You know, in that funky grape juice sort of way!!

So the plan for this week is to put more of a dent in the 'patch' and to get the bedroom pantry cupboards put it! As we are having a party on Sunday, I guess it would also be a good idea to find the kitchen table and clear away some of the papers that are taking over the house!

I really need Clean Sweep! Peter did alot of work in the basement and it's looking good...... but I still need Clean Sweep! Speaking of which, Nancy and I are going to do that garage sale we never got around to doing so that will help alot!

I'm hoping that soon I can post some video and more pics from the trip along with stuff we've taken since our return!

Toodles!

Egads, it's been weeks.... (well, a week and a bit)

2008-07-29T15:56:00.003-05:00

And I haven't posted a blessed thing! But we arrived home safely, although very late! Leaving Chris and Tony was hard hard harder than ever! We really had such a good time! But the best was listening to the kids giggle and laugh with Chris and Tony in the morning, they would go jump on thier bed! So amazingly awesome!

We got back into the swing of things after one day of jet-lag-itis! On Monday, I was just not able to move coherently and driving nearly did me in! But Tuesday found us back at the beach with the gals and *Sha-bang!* Girl's Night Out that night! We had a ball at Mama Lucia's, drank lots of wine and just chatted away!

*sigh* I missed my gal pals!

Last Sunday we all went to Hawkesbury to do a final clean through and packed up a ton of stuff! It was hard to leave the little appartment where Grandmère had lived for so long but I have to say, she looks so much better! We went to visit her at the home, it's nice, the people are nice and she looks so rested and happy! Hard as it is.... what's best for her is paramount.

So this week we are doing some cleaning! Today, we spent some time going through toys to see what could go and what would stay! I have two big boxes of stuff to go. I don't know if I will have a garage sale or just donate it but it's leaving the house by the end of next week!

Today Andrew was covered, I mean covered in little red dots on his back and his front..... Of course, I freaked..... got an appointment with Dr Okie Dokie (Szoke) and of course, it's not chicken pox, just bites.... but they are everywhere! So I also got some benedryl! I don't know what happened.... but it's everywhere......

So that's the update-du-jour..... hopefully soon I will get a slide show on from our trip and such!

Happy Birthday to Jen!

Take care, all!

sigh

2008-07-18T10:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, Andy was really poopy and droopy, even though we went to Play Planet! He laid next to me under his coat and I read him stories while Christopher played! By the time we got home, he was all 'feak and weeble' (AKA weak and feeble). We borrowed a thermometer from the family across the street and he was hot hot hot! So we loaded him up with tylonal and hoped for the best! He was feverish all night and this morning, we took him to the doctor! He has 'tonsils'. So the doc suspects a throat thing! AND.... for all moms with sick kids out there, the office had it's own pharmacy. CHA CHANG..... it was great! No dragging a sick child to the drug store for 20 minutes. Then, when we tried to pay BAH BANG, National Health says any child under 16 does not pay for meds. And they even gave us ibuprofen because we only had tylonal here! Can I just say..... why is it that most countries can overcome the lobbying forces of health insurers and get onto a national health system! I know there are problems with the NHS, but it appears to me that those are minor compared to not taking a child to the doctor or using the ER for primary care because they can't get insurance...... But the on-site pharmacy.... that was really great!

Anywho, he is still feverish but feeling a bit better now.... that doctor is fairly confident that he will be able to fly home on Sunday!

From the London Eye!

2008-07-17T05:34:00.004-05:00

Here's a little video from the London Eye that I took! It goes from Charing Cross train station (Charing = Chere Reine= Dear Queen in French) to the Parliament buildings in Whitehall (named because the palace there was all white back in the day!) Whitehall from Parliament Square to Trafalgar Square were one huge white palace in the 1700's. Here's a link to Wikipedia with more pics and some history!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehall

Julie's graduation!

2008-07-16T15:42:00.004-05:00

Here are Sam, Julie and Maria outside of Hereford Cathedral before the graduation ceremony!

Here is a video of the Graduands walking in! Julie is toward the end, after I put Andy's head down and there is a gap!

And the happy clan with the Graduate! Well done Julie! Congrats from all of us!

Here is a link to the wikipedia cathedral site for more info on this awesome building!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereford_Cathedral

Caves and the Brecon Beacons!

2008-07-15T17:27:00.009-05:00

Here's a pic of Andy and Christopher with Saskia and Jensen! They are the children of one of Peter's high school pals. Karen drove from Essen, Germany to meet up with us! The kids are standing in front of Manneken Pis! This is quite the famous little statue! Check out the history! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis It's a funky little thing but we just had to see it..... twice! We did get some lovely chocolates nearby! And no... they didn't taste like.........

Anywho!

This is some of the views we had today! We visited some caves which leads to the view! All these little rivers lead to the water that created the caves! It was really awesome and informative! I think Andy learned something, but he will deny it!

Inside the caves were just dripping to show just how the water can get through the limestone! It was amazing to see the water coming down and flowing away! And I have to say, the people who run the caves also had a lot of history of the formation of the Earth, including dinosaurs to show just how this all came about!

Can you see the eggs and the pterodactyl? They have stuff like that all over and it really did feel like a damp, humid rainforest. Of course, it was somewhat hot and humid here...... Which was odd, but this has been the warmest day we've had! And the rain did manage to not hit monsoon proportions! Just a weeeee drizzle! Here is a link to the caves http://www.showcaves.co.uk/danyrogof.html

So at dinner, I asked Christopher is he wanted peas? No thank you! Corn? No thank you! Tomatoes? No thank you! A five knuckle sandwich! Ooh yes, that would be lovely!

LOVELY!? My son said it would be lovely!

Yeesh!

Andrew was playing trucks and he refered to them as lorries the other day!

I think they are having fun! But crisps are not chips, no how no way!

Off to Wales again!

2008-07-15T13:14:00.003-05:00

We are really doing alot of exploring of the Gallic roots! Today we visited these awesome caves called Dan-yr-Ogaf. They were really fantastic! But I think the best part of the trip was seeing Andy holding hands with Christine all afternoon and then wanting to drive back to Madley with Granny and Grandad!

I will post some pics of the caves, they were really amazing. Now Peter and the boys are playing marbles. The boys found the marbles in a vase they wanted to put the flowers in from when they decided to help Grandad cut some flowers after Christopher decided he wanted to water the plants when it was totally apparent that neither Mommy nor Granny could play the frisbee cricket game in the garden when we got home! Did you get that????

Tomorrow is Julie's graduation! She has been working on a degree the last year and it's all come to fruition! Congrats to Julie and all the graduates as they comtinue on the journey of life!

Thursday is the Ninth Anniversary of our American Wedding! We totally forgot! I'm sure we'll manage to celebrate it somehow!

So that's the scoop!

London, here we come!

2008-07-14T16:01:00.008-05:00

Here it is! The pic of the boys in front of Big Ben after we drove and drove and drove through London to find a parking spot! We paid the 'congestion charge', we got congestion! LOL!!!! But in the end, it was worth it! We parked in China Town, walked to Picadilly Circus, cruised down HayMarket to Trafalgar Square, sautered down WhiteHall, (blew a raspberry at Gordon Brown) and saw Big Ben!

On the way up to the car, behind the Queen's Horsy Place, we got a cool view of the London Eye!

Getting a picture on the Lions was very important!

Westminster Abbey! We didn't go inside to visit, there is only so much the boys could take but it's really an amazing place! And Big Ben is behind it! Off to the left, is a smaller church called St Margaret's. It is also lovely and it's the usual parish church!
Here we all are on the London Eye with Parliament in the background! We took a London Duck tour first but it was the famous 'Monsoon' that dumped a month's worth of rain in one day on the UK so the pics aren't that great!

Life....

2008-07-14T13:49:00.003-05:00

Been a while but I will post about Brussels and London very soon..... really I will!

Country Fair in Bromyard!

2008-07-06T13:49:00.008-05:00

Today we were just sitting about relaxing when.... *POOF* we were off to a country fair to see some steam engines! The sun was out and things were looking good so we hopped in the car and took off to a town north of Hereford! There were alot of traction engines, which for Thomas fans means engines like Trevor! Here's a pic of the boys with a small one that was used to run a mini-saw mill!

I had visions of the Giant Veg competition from The Curse of the Were-Rabbit! And I was not disappointed! Christine and I toured a tent of prize winners! There was flower winners, crafts winners, knitting winners and a whole section for student work! All of it was interesting to see!

Of course, there were rides! The boys went on the Ferris wheel, a train ride, a big slide, a swing and a bouncy slide! Christopher got scared on the bouncy slide and had to be rescued by Peter!

Then, of course, being England, it rained! We were covered in mud by the time we left! We will be hosing down the crocs and sneaks later! The boys and Sam have been washed, we will need to do copious amounts of laundry and next time I will know to bring the wellie boots......

Peter and Christopher took a ride on the big slide called helter skelter! Andy and Sam also went on it!

Here they are having a ball on the big swing!

Tonight Sam and Maria had dinner with us as Julie has finished her walk in London to raise money for kidney research! All went well for her and we had a delish meal of pork, potatoes, veg and lots and lots of ice cream!

Rainy Day in England!

2008-07-05T15:33:00.006-05:00

But we had a superb day anyways! We went to the leisure pool (pronounced leh-zhur, not lee-zhur). We picked up Sam along the way! This pool has a slide, sprays and a wave machine! Christopher was not at all keen, but soon he was all about floating along! We all had fun on the slide (except Christopher) and the waaves were great! And.... it was warm! LOL!!! Tonight we had dinner with Julie! Tomorrow she is walking the Seven Bridges Walk to raise money for Kidney Research in London! So Sam will stay with us tonight!

Good Luck, Julie and all walkers!

Here's a picture of the gang at the Circus; Maria, Julie, Tony, Chris, in front, Sam, Christopher, Peter and Andrew!

This is one happy cow with a beautiful view of the countryside at Smallwood Farm!

Having fun in the English countryside!

2008-07-04T12:14:00.013-05:00

Since Sunday it's been go go go! Or it just feels that way! LOL!!!

Let's see, I've already forgotten some things but we have visited Hereford and the cathedral. We went on a walk in Queenswood. We went to Wales. We went to a fastastic fun park called Planet Play (or is it Play Planet?). We went to the circus last night! Today we visited the cutest little family farm! Almost cuter than the Thomas Farm! And that's hard to do!

Here's a pic of the kids at Queenswood Park!

Andy, Peter and Christopher in front of Hereford Cathedral, home of the Mappa Mundi! This is one of the oldest maps of the world, from when it was perceived as being flat!

The view from Karen and Danny's garden in Boughrood, Wales. They have a lovely green B&B there! We met Cassidy and Dawn!

The beginning segment of the circus!

On the hay wagon at Smallwood Farm.

Also, today is the tenth anniversary of our engagement! And we were sitting on straw bales back then also!

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 40th birthday, Peter!

2008-06-30T07:32:00.003-05:00

Today is Peter's 40th birthday! Chris and Tony invited their neighbors and friends over! Tony and Julie were in charge of the grill! A good time was had by all! The boys met some new friends, we met some old friends and all had a super time! It was a nice, sunny afternoon except for cake time, when in English tradition, it started to rain! But we all sat in the conservatory and had cake and sweets!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Ten years ago, I almost burned down Peter's flat by making him a cake with 30 candles! I'm surprised I still had eye brows by the time I got the cake to Peter!

Eleven years ago, on Peter's birthday, I met his family for the first time!

Time really does fly when you are having fun!

We're here

2008-06-29T04:51:00.004-05:00

Arrived yesterday and already Andrew is running his Grandad ragged! Chrisopher is still sleeping, it's 10:51. I think he was tired! Chris and Tony have planned a BBQ today for Peter's birthday, the Big 4 0. They put a big placard up with all kinds of photos of his life, very cool! Later I will post a video of the garden!

The garden here is really fantastic! They have some of the same plants we do but so many are not Zone Three hardy! Speaking of which, could someone deadhead my gallardia! They are the daisy like flowers that are yellow and red! These plants self seed like mad, so help yourself to some heads! I think they will grow anywhere!

Take care all!

We're ready!

2008-06-26T21:57:00.003-05:00

The bags are packed, the beds are changed, the fridge is clean, the plants are nestled in new mulch, I think we're ready! The boys have new crocs (Andy's with embellishment), we have a new camera, the cat is supplied, the mail is turned off, Peter has new allergy shots, and we all have new haircuts! We should be good to go!!!!

Let's see what the actual travel day brings!

I'll next write from the other side of the Big Pond!!

We have been packing fiends!

2008-06-23T12:25:00.007-05:00

Another banner weekend at the Edwards household! We are getting so excited to go to the UK, you just don't know!

But first, the news......

We finally got all papers signed, t's crossed, i's dotted and Sheady Knoll is now the property of Mike and Sue Shea! They have thier little acre of heaven in Colton! I am so happy that this is finally finished. They can get their knoll in ship shape and start enjoying life. And we are down to 15 mostly wooded acres on a lake! Whew..... one less thing to worry about!

This weekend, Mom and Dad took the boys and I to visit Grandmère Laurin! She's been in hospital for a few weeks now and it looks as if she will be moving to an assisted living facility! Hey, she made it well into her 90's on her own....... Here's a pic of Mom and Dad with Grand-mère and Andrew! Christopher was just too scared by the whole thing! He was having a hard time not seeing Grand-mère in her house, where she always is...... Andy picked out a butterfly balloon and a little angel figurine for her, along with giving many many hugs! He's really interested in learning about the generational stuff!

On our way home, we stopped in Massena to get supplies and on a whim, I asked Dad to take me to Office Max. While there I threw caution to the wind and got a new digital camera! Our old one is lovely, but the lens doesn't always open and close as it should! I picked out another Kodak Easyshare but it's got 8.2 mega pixals and a 2.7 LCD screen and I no longer need the loading dock to move pics around. And it's a beautiful dark red! It came with a free 1gig SD card so with all that I have, we can take alot of pics and video!

Sunday, Andrew and Christopher took part in a Bowl-a-thon to support the Colt's Pride Booster Club!It's a bit of a dark video, I hope you can see some of it! It as atomic bowling! Andy must have thought I was going to take his picture! I got alot of the "teeth look"! Oh, and I won the 50/50 raffle but I can never keep the money so I took back my dollar, and gave them the rest!

My students took their State Exam this morning and did okay! Three didn't pass, but considering that they had a rough start to the year, I can't be too upset!

Well, this just in, Mom is on her way to Hawkesbury! Must be time! I guess Wednesday is move day! Hmmmmm, I guess it's not much of a rush, my Dad wants me to go over to his house and give him a pedicure! Go figure!

Belated Father's Day

2008-06-19T14:22:00.003-05:00

The alarm went but I hit the snooze several times before rousing myself and remembering that Andy and I had a plan! Easing myself from the bed, I tip-toed to Andy's room, tickled his tum and whispered, "It's time." Surprisingly, he jumped out of bed and together, we crept down the stairs!

I popped the waffles into the toaster and set about making tea. Andy played a Mickey Mouse game on the computer while he waited! I got the tray, put out some plates and made myself a bowl of cereal! When the toaster popped, I prepared the waffles, organized the drinks, put a vitamin on each plate. Then, Andy and I crept back up the stairs, we got Christopher and slowly, quietly walked into the bedroom!

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!

Andy jumped on the bed and presented Peter with his "All about my Dad" book.

And a few days late, but with the same love, Peter got his breakfast in bed with the boys!

P.S. I forgot to add that the boys stayed with my parents on Saturday night so brekkie in bed with them was out of the question. But rest assured, Peter had breakfast in bed with me on Father's Day. (Get your mind out of the gutter, I made him eggs sunny side up on toast!)

Today was Christopher's Moving Up Day

2008-06-19T13:17:00.006-05:00

And the pics and video are a hoot because Mr Christopher suddenly got stage fright! This from a child who hugs and high fives the whole fifth grade class..... Poor Bubby! But as always, we think he was cute!

Here's some footage!
So he sat with his head down......

And then he got his certificate! The song was too bizarre!

But in the end, he is a happy boy and going on to Kindergarten next year with the wonderful teachers Andrew had!

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-16T12:17:00.006-05:00

Originally, Peter and I had planned a little 'do on Saturday but the weather looked miserable so we switched it to Sunday!

Here's Dad sitting with Marijke and Irene! As always, he was ready with a story! We may be meeting up with Marijke in the Netherlands this summer!
There are children hiding behind that tree, one of many that fell during the 'storm'. It made a great place to hide! You can't see The Two Maddies behind the tree.......

I'm not quite sure why I have a picture of Debbie and Peter admiring our lawn, with Jeff looking on, or why Heather is in the background...... Or it could be that they were checking out our thatch???? No, really, they were looking for pieces of glass from a wine glass that broke! But it does look odd........

Happy Father's Day to all Dads, here or gone.......

WE HAVE POWER!!!!!

2008-06-13T07:06:00.016-05:00

The men were at the house yesterday when I got home! They were so nice! First they reattached the line to the house! You can see them on the ladders here! We hadn't fully attached it after the renovation so we still need to do that but it's up and secure! We just need to fasten down the part that goes to the meter!

Here's a pic of them from the back where all the trees fell! This normally would have been all in the shade! You can see where the lilacs are just totally squished! And there were so beautiful this year! My Dad thinks they'll come back fuller, but I will trim them back alot!

One thing that is freaky, the pole behind our house (that caused all the problems for us and up the road) is quite rotten at the top and really should be replaced. But in the interest of having power, they fixed the massively broken ones and when finished, came back to our house to make sure there were no fireworks!

My house is a mess but at least I have clean dishes and Peter got rid of quite a bit of the brush but there is still a big pile in the front yard and driveway!

It's not pretty!

2008-06-12T07:56:00.009-05:00

Here's a video I took out in back of the house in the middle of the fallen trees! It's looking like we lost a good chunk of our shade trees and gained more area to mow. I would rather have the trees! But then again, we have a few saplings left to plant also!
Peter showed Andy how to count the rings to see the age of the trees! Very cool!

Christopher and Grandpère were playing Spies! Christopher likes wearing Peter's helmet, he thinks its an astronaut helmet! What an imagination that child has! They were walking around whispering to eachother on their "Spy phones". Grandpère's spy phone was a ball so he said he was 'global'! He wouldn't know how to use a cell phone if it bit him on the tukus! LOL!!!!!

Peter was interviewed for the news!

2008-06-12T07:44:00.000-05:00

Here's the link! It shows some of the damage done by the storm!

http://www.wwnytv.net/index.php/2008/06/11/st-lawrence-county-resident-survey-storm-damage/

Living like the Pioneers!

2008-06-11T13:57:00.003-05:00

I tried to call Peter from school today and I got my Dad. This is bad as it means that we don't have any juice at home. We have Vonage, so no juice=no cable=no phone. All of our calls will be routed to my parents house. But at least I was able to charge up my phone while here.

So anywho, the upstart of the whole convo is that it looks like we won't have power until the weekend. I am so going to have to wash in the lake! It is still cold..........

Andy can't believe that people used to (and some still do) live without electricity and he's all about freaked out!

HOLEY COW!

2008-06-11T07:04:00.004-05:00

We had a massive storm yesterday and lost power while in school! Peter had sent an e-mail telling me to bring in the patio stuff! I called Mr Davis (god of the day) who went over and brought it all in! I doubt the umbrellas would have survived! Luckily for us, no damage to the house! But we lost alot of trees and there is no power at home! Peter is doing his "Paul Bunyon" thing today!

It's actually two big pine trees that fell, taking out a bunch of other trees that provided us with alot of shade! We are fortunate that they weren't much taller, they landed right at the back of the house!

We've heard us other families who weren't so lucky! Here's a link to some photos of the storm!http://northcountrynow.com/hometown-photos/view.asp?a=Potsdam&id=1980. It's really gutting to see this!

And here's some video of our little village and the Anglebergers house! Angel is a member of the PTSA and Jeff is the Board of Education president! The trees outside their home were just beautiful! http://www.wwnytv.net/index.php/2008/06/10/update-tornado-watch-ended-storm-watch-remains/

Andrew Update!

2008-06-10T10:31:00.002-05:00

Tooth number two has fallen out! New tooth is already growing in behind. The tooth fairy came and left Andrew $2.00. He is very pleased!

~*~*~*~ I was in the process of writing this when the storm hit! ~*~*~*~

Anywho, we got home and found that Grandmère and Grandpère had also left $2.00. Their house is okay, also. But they were gone to Hawkesbury to see my Grandmother who is in the hospital recevering from a fall!

Yesterday was a bit freaky!

Hot hot hot weekend!

2008-06-09T11:54:00.010-05:00

Like most of us, we were melting this weekend in the first big heat of the summer! But we had an awesome weekend! Christopher went to a birthday party Saturday and had fun. That night we had s'mores with camping friends! Here's a pic of Claire, Maddie, Cole and Andy. It was a beautiful sunset. We were on the water which was lovely! The kids had a great time. The Moms and Dads had fun, too! And I have to say, I've not enjoyed such s'mores in a long while.

Sunday I was saddened to hear that a neighbor of ours, who sings in our church choir, passed away suddenly last week! It is really hard to think we all sang together at Holy Communion! I guess you never know when it will end. I am very fortunate that the admins here are so cool, I will be able to walk over and sing at her funeral! How very sad........

After church was the parish picnic. Lots of fun and remembering Velma. But it was hot hot hot! Thankfully we had a breeze so we were comfie in the shade! There was a bounce house and Father Ray got in..... what a nut!

I took a video of the lake and our house, here it is! I also got some footage of Peter on the ladder putting up gutters in this heat! Poor guy, he worked so hard but it was just too hot! So we went for our first boat ride of the summer! You can barely see our house behind Peter! It was lovely to be in the shade! We really live in an awesome place, it's so nice! Once we build a dock, we can jut hop in the boat and take off! I want to get a kayak!

So to finish off, here are a few pics of Miss Minou!

Drawing.....

2008-06-06T14:19:00.003-05:00

When Andy comes to my classroom, he likes to draw on the whiteboard quite a bit! Twice he has drawn really awesome rockets. This is the latest one!

He always includes the trajectory of the rocket and the planet where it is going! And he writes USA on the rocket, but it's hard to see on this one!

I will try to post the other pic if I can find it on the computer at home!

Here's a video of my classroom! It's a messy room right now, it's the end of the day and I haven't picked up the flotsam that accumulates during the day yet! But on the whole, it's a lovely room with a view out towards to playing fields!

It's a small world after all.......

2008-06-06T08:29:00.006-05:00

At the cousin's Communion party last Sunday, Linda's sister gave Aunt Denise a little book. Her sister, Suzanne who works for the ambulance found it at work. It's a "First Aid to the Injured" book. And inside, inscribed on the cover, is my grandmother's name and her address!

This is the clearest picture I could get!

Isn't it wild to think that 80 years later we would find a book that belonged to my grandmother, and it would be found by her grand daughter-in-law's sister?

Amazing! Thanks Suzanne for finding this and giving it to us!

WOW! It's been quite the day!

2008-06-05T14:21:00.007-05:00

Today was the day Ben (the Spanish teacher) and I decided to do the speaking parts of our exams! I have to say, this school is wonderful! Our principal organized everything, we just had to tell him the day and he sorted out the room, the sub, and everything! Not like years past where I had to find a room and someone would usurp it.... much to my dismay!

Anywho, the kids did a great job, only one missing and I can easily do that tomorrow!

While I had a break of time, I was able to donate blood. This is something I was told I could never do again because I'd been in Europe too much. But the time limit has changed. So maybe I can start up again! AND..... I got a t-shirt! In the 80's we never got t-shirts!

Here's a pic of all the Canadian cousins with the boys! I know, they look a bit demonic! I think they were quie pictured out! This was taken at Chloé and Katherine's First Communion party! They are the two girls sitting together on the

right! The only I regret about not having girls is not being able to dress them up for Communion in the white dress....... *sigh* But next year I get to dress up Andrew in a white suit for his First Communion.

Big News Flash!!!!! Peter's cousin Anne is expecting baby #2 in February! YEAH! Another Australian cousin on the horizon! It's still early but I'm sure all will be well!

Rainy weekend

2008-05-31T20:50:00.003-05:00

I think I should have bought some wellie boots when I had the chance! It's been raining here like a banshee all weekend! Then it's bright sunny, then rain, then sun, then rain.....

WE ARE ALL CONFUSED!!!!!!

Yesterday Andy rollerbladed for the first time! I will post pics when I can! He was so funny but he did very well! We went to the Spring Fling at school! Andy really enjoyed it! He played a ton of games and I hit the crafts tables! It was alot of fun!

Tomorrow we are having quite the day! Andy is off to a birthday party, we are picking him up from there and heading to Cornwall for First Communion! Both Katherine and Chloé will be celebrating this year!

Christopher is invited to a birthday party next weekend, there is a parish picnic on Sunday... and we are just rush rush rush!

At some point, I need to vacuum! LOL!!!!

Just some news......

2008-05-29T08:58:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I took Christopher to get his eyes checked at the optomitrist. He didn't do well at teh school screening so we needed to get it checked! Well, he does NOT need glasses!

Whew.....

Although he had picked out a little "Scooby Doo" pair and they were so cute on him! I had brought my camera just in case to take a pic... but alas, there was no need!

I have to give a HUGE HONKING THANKS to my pal Stephanie who helped me get my feedblitz working! So sign up and get up to date news from the Nut House!!!!

It's raining.......

2008-05-27T12:03:00.002-05:00

Heaven forbid, Christopher should melt!!!!!

Nature Walking with Andy!

2008-05-27T11:52:00.005-05:00

Andy and Peter went for a Nature Walk behind our house yesterday afternoon after tadpoles were discovered by Christopher!

So they took lots of pistures and Andy has decided he will scrapbook them!
He kept asking Peter all kinds of questions, but mostly, "Is thsi Nature?" To which Peter tried to explain that it is all nature! We live in nature!
We will check back on the progress of the tadpoles later this week!

After the parade!

2008-05-26T19:15:00.006-05:00

As we were all standing about chatting after the parade, I suddenly realized that I couldn't see Christopher......!

Small panic ensues but I calmly look around for him! I see a small set of feet behind a sign but they are clad in ballet slippers, not the usual socks and Thomas sneakers....

So I go for it!

I called out..... "Where's Christopher?"

Debbie, Christina and Peter all look at me like that third eye is showing.......

He was in my arms!

Debbie says that shows how comfortable he is! I think it shows that I'm losing my mind!

Happy Memorial Day!

2008-05-26T16:14:00.007-05:00

This morning we all went to the Memorial Day Parade in town! It was really cool. While waiting for the parade to start, we had the chance to chat with friends, the kids played and looked at the resident geese.

I was really pleased to see some veterans, many in uniform marching. We should cheer for our heros.

So here's a list of some of our family's heros.
1. Camille (a tanker commander) and Ernest (a medic) Charlebois; my great-uncles who fought in the Normandy Invasion.
2. Leslie & Rose Walden and George Edwards; Peter's grandparents. Leslie was on the Homefront, Rose operated the search lights and was in the Women's Auxiliary and George was a PT instructor for the Army.
3. Frank Bird, a friend who just came back from Iraq.
4. Scott Baxter, another friend (perhaps the first Gulf War) who is now a member of our Board of Education.
5. Bill Praynor, a beach pal who has been in the Middle East and survived but can't handle teaching ROTC at Clarkson! (it's the repetition....) some people teach..... some people are heros.

We give a big THANK YOU to all of you! And everybody who died so we can live free!!!!

Sunny Sunday!

2008-05-25T15:37:00.002-05:00

What a fab weekend it's been! The boys stayed with Mom and Dad Friday and we are back in our routine!

Peter and I went on a date Friday night! That's right, just the two of us! It was very romantic. We took a sunset drive along some beautiful hills. We talked, we laughed, we chatted! It was idyllic!

We went to Lowes! We bought the cupboards for our pantry in the bedroom. One upper, one base, one countertop and one semi-flush light!

*sigh* Life is good!

Saturday Mom and I made our escape! We went shopping in Massena for the day! Got lots of little things taken care of, like returns, got the boys new trash cans, got a wedding gift, got end of year teacher gifts. We just enjoyed being on our own!

Today, after church the boys went back to Mom and Dad's. There's a little boy who comes to visit his great-grandparents (people younger than my parents.... I really started late) and the boys love playing together! I sanded and started varnishing the cupboards, did laundry and worked in the garden! Soon I'm off to Mom and Dad's for dinner! The boys are staying again! Such fun!

OMG, Peter and I watched Knocked Up last night! What a funny movie but so very bizarre! Something happened and instead of laughing, I just started to cry! Totally freaked out Peter. It was the earthquake scene when she realized that Ben hadn't read the baby books. I remember being so upset that Peter didn't read them either! I felt like this was my baby.... and he didn't need to prepare for it in anyway, I was on my own!

Strange the things that come back to you when you least expect it!

Friday Afternoon!

2008-05-23T14:20:00.003-05:00

Today was an interesting day! Wednesday I had to kick two boys out of a class who were just being bozos and have been all year! I spoke to an admin and one of the boys I don't think will be back in class. As both boys were suspended today, the class and I had a super talk! I think they now understand where I'm coming from as far as frustration with their progress (or lack there of). We have decided that next year will be PHENOMENAL! I am really jazzed about this!

So I'm sitting at my desk getting ready to leave and it is chucking it down with rain! Yeah...... Hopefully it will abate in a few minutes and I can go home!

The boys will be staying with my parents! I'm so glad they are back! This is a treat for all of us! I couldn't just up and go visit my grandparents (they live in another country) so it's wonderful that the boys can get to know their grandparents! And they are totally aware of the grands in the UK. 33 days until we fly over! I know Andy can't wait to see Sam and Maria! And he's very excited about going fishing with Grandad! Christopher will be such a joy to Christine! He has such a personality now!

Speaking of the Bisto! I called Nancy's to talk to him..... he was too busy watching Scooby -Doo! Go figure!

Well, I think I have time to get to the car before drowning!

Have a Happy Memorial Day and remember our heros!

Amazing imagination

2008-05-23T07:01:00.002-05:00

Last night, we had a very short thunderstorm! Andy does not like thunder at all! Usually he hides under the covers of our bed. So of course, he suddenly comes rushing upstairs to our bedroom (I was in mid-swiff) and jumps on our bed with Peter!

This morning, Andy says, "That was a really short storm last night! God only bowled three times! Maybe he was late for something! I bet he was late for a friend's birthday party so he could only do a short bowling.

What a lovely boy!!!!!

Andy is the Triple A student

2008-05-20T07:12:00.002-05:00

Yep, both of the boys made Triple A this year! Andy's teacher, Miss Osier came up to tell me how well he's been doing.

We are very pleased with both of them and hope that in lieu of the sports scholarship, maybe we can go for academic ones!

Anywho, that's the scoop! I will include a pic when I get one!

What a great weekend!

2008-05-19T14:07:00.002-05:00

Holey Canolli!!!!! What an awesome weekend!

First of all, I picked up the boys and we went into town very quickly to get a birthday prezzie for the party Christopher was invited to! Very cool! The boys were whiney at first but then were great! Got home, Peter arrived, we went to Mom and Dad's to get wood and I vacuumed up some bugs! Had dins and hit the hay!

Saturday, I awoke to Coffee and Frenchtoast in bed! It was awesome! The boys made me cards, so cute and we all lolled around for a while! Then we got up, went outside, poodled around a bit! I took Christopher to his party! I don't know about Christopher, but I had a ball! Turns out that the little girl, Nya, her grandmother I've kind-of known for years and I worked with her grand-aunt! WHO KNEW!!!!! But even wilder, this man looks at me and says, "You're Christopher's mother?".... Mais oui! When his daughter was born, his wife and I shared a hospital room! (remember, the mat-ward was packed that week, and the new one hadn't opened yet!) I couldn't believe it! Like he remembered me......! Wild! So one of Christopher's classmates was born a day before he was! Too freaky!

So there were four of my students at the party. That was very strange for me! Afterwards, we drove home and I poodled some more. Not quite sure what I did but in involved alot of poodling!

Mom and Dad arrived Saturday night! YEAH!!!!! We had a super dinner and just relaxed! The boys spent the night with them!

Sunday: Holy Communion at church so the choir sang! Then we got the Smith children and the Smith van, went back to our house to change and went to the 5K walk/run for health and wellness! Lots of fun and the rain held off! After, I took Max home and Maddie came to play with the boys! But Barb called to say that one of the dogs wasn't looking good! As I was on emergency call patrol, I took old Roscoe to Doc Smith, my vet, who did an emergency visit! Turns out he was running a fever and probably has an infection so a few shots and some meds, he looked alot better! We finished up the day having dinner with Mom and Dad! It's so nice to have them home!

Right before bed, Peter gives me a lovely little box! He bought me a beautiful blue topaz pendant! It's lovely! A tear drop shape with a pretty gold top!

All in all, it was an interesting weekend!

Whew!

Guess what????

2008-05-14T11:25:00.002-05:00

I rode my bike to school today! There are FOUR hills between my house and the school, but only one is a toughy! My legs were a bit rubbery when I walked to the building and I was a total sweatball but I have survived so far! Tomorrow is supposed to be chillier so the sweatball ting won't be a problem for the rest of the week but the rain thing may be an issue on Thursday!

Mid-May already

2008-05-13T08:29:00.002-05:00

Wow.... where has May gone????? We have been having too much fun outside, so I haven't been blogging!

I must say, I had a wonderful Mother's Day! As much as I love going to see my Grandmother, knowing that I could sleep in, go to church, and relax outside in the garden all day was just much more fun! The boys made me English muffins in bed, then we went to church school, where they planted all the plants from Easter in the gardens around the church! After, Peter met us in the parking and we went out for brunch! The afternoon was spent out side just puttering around the yard! It was lovely! Peter made dinner, too! All in all, it was my favorite Mother's Day! But of course, there are many more to come!

Actually, the weekend started off really nice! On Friday, the softball teams played Brushton-Moira so I got to see some of my BMC students. The boys played on the jungle gym and I had some quality Mommy time! Peter went to Wood Club so the boys and I watched a movie together! Actually, the movie turned out a bit wierd so we just cuddled and had fun!

Saturday I took the boys to a car wash sponsored by the Sophomores. Andrew had a ball helping to wash cars, unfortunately he also washed a few of the kids! LOL!!!! Then we invited Kimmy to come with us to the plant nursery and we got a few plants. Kimmy and the boys played while I got to garden! Peter, Kimmy and the boys picked up some of the trash on the road near our house so that looks alot nicer! We went to the family fun dance night at school. I really enjoyed the line dancing and Peter was such a good egg and danced away with abandon!!!

So had a super weekend, nobody was ill and we were outside most of the time!

Superb!