FROM OUR SANDBOX TO YOURS.....

Spring has sprung.....for now!

2010-03-08T12:01:00.003-05:00

Wow, we are getting lucky with this weather lately!! Most of the snow has melted and it's been sunny and in the 50's all weekend so today Avery and I decided to pack a picnic and head to the local museum grounds for lunch. I packed a bag of leftover bread in hopes of seeing some ducks and as soon as we got there we found an entire flock of hungry feathered friends. Hopefully this awesome weather will continue so we can take Rylee on Wednesday when she has off of school.

Miss Avery feeding the ducks before lunch......

They got a little too close for comfort here, lol!!! Poor things, it's like they went the entire winter without food!

Chilling by the bridge enjoying a sandwich. The ducks were hanging around yelling for more food!

A self portrait before starting our walk...

Avery found this "waterfall" and just had to get her picture with it.

Homework and sneaky fun!

2010-03-08T11:58:00.002-05:00

What does Avery do all day when Rylee is at school?? She plays with Rylee's DS of course!! She used to sneak it into a corner so I wouldn't see her but now she understands how to use it so I let her play with it once in a while.

And so we don't forget about Miss Rylee.....here's a picture of her working hard on her homework. Some days I wonder how I ever got an education without a computer....it's basically mandatory these days starting in kindergarten.

Dear Mr. Anonymous.....

2010-03-03T12:37:00.002-05:00

To the anonymous person that keeps leaving links in my comment section........please stop!!! No I am not interested in making money, getting free stuff, linking my blog, etc. I can and will delete your comments.

Snowy days and a long overdue update!

2010-03-03T12:09:00.001-05:00

Oh my, it's been a long time since I've been on here so this might be a long post! Let's see....over the last month we've had our share of snow, in fact, WAY too much! Average snow totals for our area are usually around 20 inches a year. Well, we got a double whammy in February that brought over three feet in less than a week, yes, I said three FEET, and that doesn't include the "little" storms we've also had. Now some might say that's it's my fault. I was the one that wished for a big storm but I had no idea that wish would bring so much snow, I just wanted my kids to see what a "real" storm as like because up until now four inches was considered "big" to them. Needless to say, I will NEVER wish for a big storm again! Besides the mess left by the storm Rylee now has a bunch of school days to make up due to closings. Anyway, here are a few of the many pictures we took from that week.

Chilling in the backyard, literally!

In her snow fort....no tunnels allowed in this house.

Miss Avery, poor thing, she couldn't even walk in the snow!

Who needs a sled when you have snow pants!

Let's see, on to updates....

Rylee got her second period report card and is still doing great in school. They now have ten spelling words a week instead of six and the words are much harder now but she's mastering them within a day or so. She has also started "Rocket math"...something totally new to me. She has two minutes to get as many math problems right as possible. Last week she got all 40 answers right so now she gets moved to the next level. Her reading is also getting better by the day and next week she gets to practice her skills by reading to the kindergarten class. Oh, and since she got her glasses she hasn't had one headache!! Wohoo for that!! Swimming is over for the season. She ended her season with two individual trophies, two individual medals AND her team went undefeated so the first season was a success!!

Miss Avery is doing wonderful as well. School is going great for her and she still loves going. We got her first progress report a few weeks ago and she doing so well that they are moving her up to the next class which consists of mostly older 4 year olds and young 5 year olds. She's a very smart little girl, just a little shy :-) We recently went on a field trip to the local grocery store and our next field trip is in a few weeks, we're going to the county nursing home to sing for the wheelchair bound patients.

Well, I think that's it for now....I'm sure I'll think of something soon. Oh yeah, both girls had their yearly well-child checks ups and of course they are both fine. Rylee weighed in at 55 lbs. and little Avery tips the scales at 33 lbs. now!

The Pagoda and Rylee's new specs.

2010-01-23T14:27:00.001-05:00

The girls have been asking about the Pagoda ever since they spotted it on top of Mt. Penn one night so we decided to take them up to see it. What is the Pagoda you ask??? Well, I always thought it was a gift from another country but apparently it's not?!?!? Anyway, here's the correct information on it, some of it is very interesting! http://www.pagodaskyline.org/pagoda/

They actually still flash the lights every Christmas Eve to warn all of the children that Santa has been spotted and is on his way, a cool trick for parents who need to get their kids to bed! Every other night of the year it glows red thanks to the new LED lights that surround it. So anyway, here are the pictures from this morning. You'll also notice that Rylee has a new fashion accessory. Yes, she got glasses. They came in this morning and we just HAD to rush right over to pick them up. She absolutely loves them and wants to wear them all the time. I give her a week before the thrill wears off.

Daddy and the girls looking out over the "ever so safe" city of Reading.

The Pagoda.....the shops inside were closed, boo!

Check out the new specs!

She wanted a picture alone...

First swimming trophies

2010-01-11T19:56:00.001-05:00

Rylee got her first swimming trophies this past weekend, wohoo!!!! We are so proud of her and she is so proud of herself. It makes all her hard work and our driving to and from the pool every night worth it!! Normally she competes in the 8 & under age group which doesn't give her much of a chance considering she's only six but this invitational was different. They had the kids compete with only kids the same age. She got first in freestyle and second in butterfly!!!

Standing in front of the results sheet....with her name listed on top!!!!

Chilling between races having some lunch.

And with with her first trophies...daddy is putting a trophy shelf in her room...I have a feeling we will need it!

Christmas part 2

2010-01-11T19:55:00.001-05:00

The girls and their cousins getting ready to open presents!!!

They had no idea that Santa go ahold of some Zhu Zhu Pets for them!!

Every cool hamster needs a car....and a garage to keep it in!

Christmas part 1

2010-01-11T19:52:00.001-05:00

Christmas was a whirl wind of activity like usual but we had a great day!! It started off early and lasted until 9:30pm!!! The girls got everything on their lists and so much more. Now we just have birthdays to get through!

Avery with Kai-Lan, her most wanted present...

My, I mean Rylee's, new addiction....if anyone knows how to beat the final castle LET ME KNOW!!!

Great Nanny and Great poppop with the great grand kids.

Gran and poppop (my parents) with the kids...

Snow days....

2010-01-11T19:50:00.000-05:00

This winter has been very snowy so far and the girls LOVE it!!!

Dawns wedding.....

2010-01-11T10:52:00.001-05:00

Sorry it took me so long to post pictures of the wedding but FINALLY here they are!!!

For those that don't follow me on a regular basis here's the story.....

Dale's sister got married Thanksgiving weekend and both of the girls (and daddy) were in the wedding. We were a little worried about Avery getting through the day. She can still be very shy at times and I had visions of her refusing to walk down the aisle when it was time but she did absolutely wonderful! Both of the girls cruised down the aisle and stood there looking like a couple of angels. Yes, for just a few minutes my girls looked and behaved like angels, lol!! After the wedding we all headed over to the reception and the girls danced from the time they got there until they crashed five hours later.

All ready to go!!!

Dancing the night away.......

Mommy and the girls

Daddy and Rylee

Stay tuned for more posts....I have so much to catch up on and I am going to TRY to get it all done this week. Here's a little sneak peak for those who can't wait....we have two birthdays this week, the first swimming trophies were won last weekend and Christmas was a blast again!!

So like I said, stay tuned.....hopefully I'll get those stories posted in the next few days!!

Swim Team

2009-12-14T20:28:00.005-05:00

Wow, it's been SO long since I've been on here!! Let's see, between Christmas shopping, running the girls to and from school and swim team I barely have time to breath these days! I'm looking forward to things calming down a bit after the holidays then........okay.....never mind, I just realized that we have two birthdays to get through in January, lol!! Sooooo, maybe I'll get some sleep in February??

Anyway, Rylee has been doing great on the swim team. Practice is every Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights and most Saturdays are spent at one pool or another for a meet. She also got her first quarter report card and is doing great in school!! She's right on track in most things and is even above average in a few....what more could I ask for. We absolutely love her teacher as well, I had my parent teacher conference a few weeks ago and I could have talked to her all afternoon.

Miss Avery is doing great in school as well. She's really starting to open up more and has her little group of buddies that she hangs out with now. She has a best friend at school and they are so cute together. Deborah is also very shy so they pretty much just stare at each other for the first few minutes, lol!

Dale's sister got married last weekend and both of the girls were in the wedding! They looked absolutely adorable and did a great job walking down the aisle! They also tore up the dance floor at the reception when they got there too, lol! Honestly, I think the only time they left the dance floor was when they got hungry!

Well, that's the quick update for now. We hope everyone has a happy, safe and healthy holiday!! For now I'll leave you with a video of Miss Rylee swimming butterfly at last weeks meet....

Trick or treat 2009

2009-11-01T19:47:00.001-05:00

Gotta make this update short so here goes!!!

Long story short, we had lots of fun, got WAY too much candy and got soaked during the candy walk. We went out early hoping to beat the rain.......no such luck, it started when we were about as far away as we could get. So we continued on, umbrellas in hand, and ran from house to house.

Dr. Rylee and head cheerleader Avery.....

Assuming the position

Trick or treat gang 2009. This is right before we started our candy walk, and right before the rain came. Yes, we kept going under umbrellas, nothing stops us from chocolate!!!

At my moms house with Bailey and Ethan...

Apples, apples and more apples!!

2009-10-07T13:05:00.002-04:00

So last week when I made apple dumplings my Greek neighbor, Albert, happened to stop over and I sent him home with an apple dumpling. He had never had one and showed up at our door an hour later with stars in his eyes asking me how I make them and what kind of apples I use. Fast forward to yesterday..... about 1:00pm the doorbell goes off and it's Albert with a case, yes a case, of 100 Granny Smith apples! He owns a local diner and asked his vendor to get him a case. I was shocked! He didn't want money for them and his only request is that I teach the girls how to make apple dumplings one day. Soooo, guess what I'm doing today? I pulled out my largest crock pot and filled it with apples for sauce and I have a double batch of apple crisp cooking away in the oven. He's never had apple crisp either so I'll be sending a batch over to him later. So now I only have 50 apples in my fridge, lol. Hmmm, I wonder what I'll make tomorrow!

It's hockey time!!!

2009-10-04T20:15:00.001-04:00

Wohoo, it's almost hockey season!! Now, I really could care less about NHL hockey but for some reason we got hooked on minor league hockey a few years ago and now it's become one of our favorite winter activities. The girls absolutely love going and have so much fun while we are there. We have the same seats for every game so we know everyone that sits around us and the girls have a blast cheering with everyone. Our team is of course our local team, the Reading Royals. They are training a few miles from our house and Sunday they had a meet and greet session after practice so we decided to surprise the girls by going. Before we went in to meet the players daddy had another surprise for Rylee, her very own jersey!! She was so excited and had every player sign it during the meet and greet. There are a few returning players but it's mostly a new team so hopefully that's a good sign that this season will be better than last year. Pre-season games start next weekend so look for lots of pictures soon! LETS GO ROYALS!!!

Rylee and daddy showing off their new jerseys while waiting for the players to come off the ice.

With Scott Langdon, one of last years returning players

With Rob LaLonde, another returning player.

Apple Dumpling recipe.....

2009-09-28T15:20:00.002-04:00

Wohoo, someone actually reads my blog AND asked for my apple dumpling recipe, lol!! I know I have a few faithful readers, but these are people I actually know so I'm very excited to have a reader that I've never "spoken" to! Okay, sorry for the excitement, it's raining here and I'm dealing with my first cold of the season so I'm a little drugged up at the moment, lol! Anyway, there really is no "recipe" for my apple dumplings, it's just kind of one of those things that gets passed down through the family, but I'll try my best to estimate on the quantities. This recipe is so stinking easy there's no way you could mess it up unless you burn the dumplings......

You'll need...

Pie crust, homemade or store bought. If using store bought get a couple of packs.

Apples...baking work best because they hold up during cooking. I usually use Granny Smith
but used Jonathon the last time because local Granny Smith aren't ready yet. Peel, core
and slice the apples.

Butter....the real stuff if possible

Brown sugar.....the darker the better.

Cinnamon.

Roll out (or unwrap) the pie crust. If using store bought use one pie crust per dumpling. Place peeled and sliced apples in the middle. Top with about 2TBS butter and 4TBS. brown sugar and then fold the sides of the pie crust up to the top until they all touch. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees until the crust is golden, usually about 45min. The brown sugar will melt out, scoop that up and drizzle it over the top when serving warm.

Let me know if you make them and how they turn out!!

The "official" start of fall...

2009-09-28T11:34:00.001-04:00

Nothing announces the start of fall like having good old fashion apple dumplings for dinner. The kind that drip with brown sugar when you lift them off the tray, not the cheap ones in the store. Yes, I know what you're thinking, who eats apple dumplings for dinner, right? Well, I was raised Pa. Dutch and it's totally normal in that culture. In fact it's like an annual rite of passage and I look forward to it every year. Dale is still getting used to it, okay, he still thinks it's strange but he just smiles and goes along with me. I still remember the first time he went to my parents house for dinner and my mom served apple dumplings, I thought he was going to fall out of his chair. So anyway, last Friday we headed up to Green Dragon to get our apples. Green Dragon is like an outdoor Amish farmers market meets flea market kind of place. The Amish grow the BEST produce and it's dirt cheap up there. Plus it was a nice night to be walking around outside and the girls had fun watching the Amish buggy's pull in and out. Sunday was apple dumpling day and they were delish! I made them a little big, in fact so big that we couldn't even finish the tray AND I still have apples left over for another batch. Here's a picture of my hard work before we cut into them! The brown stuff on the bottom of the tray is all the brown sugar that melted out of the dumplings.

By the way, we eat ours right out of the oven with milk poured over them. It's the only way I know how to eat one, I don't think I've ever had one cold.

September Update....

2009-09-25T13:26:00.001-04:00

Wow, I've been so busy that I haven't updated in almost a month!!
Let's see, the girls are in school now and doing great!

Rylee loves all day school and is having fun buying everyone milk with my money, lol! Her school has a lunch account program that allows us to deposit money ahead of time.
It's great for the kids because they don't have to carry money with them
every day but she doesn't get the fact that it's still money! All she knows
is that she pays for her lunch by placing her finger on the pad so of course
when a new friend asked Rylee to buy her an extra milk Rylee said okay.
Of course I put a stop to it right away and there's no more buying rounds of
milk for the class, lol! If "blanks" mom wants her to have an extra milk
than she can pay for it! Anyway, other than that Rylee is doing great
and every day has been "green" so far. She fills out a chart at the end of each day, green is good, yellow means she was warned about something but stopped, red means it was a bad day
with multiple warnings and blue means the teacher and or principle will be calling soon.
Man, if she ever gets blue she should just find a different bus stop to get off of because
she won't like living here anymore, lol!

Miss Avery had her first school field trip yesterday and absolutely
loved riding the bus! We went to a local orchard to learn about apples. We also
took a hayride, picked an apple and then went to the pumpkin patch to
pick a pumpkin. It was a very fun morning but VERY buggy! I've been told that she's extremely shy in school but she's getting better. I knew she would be shy, that's just who she is.

And I'll end my little update with this picture. I hit up a HUGE consignment sale this week called Just Between Friends and scored big time. Word of advice, if you ever have
this close by check it out! I got SO many things that look brand new and even some stuff with the original tags still on them dirt cheap! Example....brand new Gymboree fleece pants WITH the $22 store tag still on them....$3.50 at the sale!!!!! Brand new shoes for Rylee, store tag reads $16.95.... $5.25 at the sale. Can you say SCORE!!! Anyway, Miss Avery went with me and was such a good girl during the hour I spent shopping so I let her go through the toys to pick something out. She picked out a real working vacuum cleaner. It's cordless,rechargeable and has a place to empty out all the dirt when she's done with it. Price.....$6.00! It's a Bissel so I'm sure someone spent a nice chuck of change on it brand new.

Germs...

2009-09-08T11:35:00.002-04:00

Ugh, this past weekend was not a good one! It all started Thursday around 11:00 when the school nurse called to tell me that Rylee wasn't feeling well. So, I pick her up thinking it will just be one of those 24 bugs, WRONG!! Whatever is going around is one nasty intestinal virus and it lasts for days. Rylee is pretty much over it now but Avery is still out of commission. I feel so bad for her, she just doesn't know to run to the bathroom so half the time she doesn't make it and anything she eats goes through her within an hour. The poor thing has absolutely no energy so she's been laying around all weekend taking naps. I called the doctor Sunday night and I think I'm going to take her in if it doesn't get better by tomorrow. She's a little underweight to begin with so it's not like she can afford to lose a few pounds.

Pre-school!

2009-09-01T08:48:00.000-04:00

Well, Avery is hopefully having fun at her first day of pre-school
right now! She was a little clingy at first but after a few
minutes she left my side with no tears and
went over to the play area to meet some new friends.
So now I have no excuses, that elliptical is waiting for me.
I loaded my MP3 with some new songs to get me going, lets see
how long it lasts, lol!

1st grade here I come!!

2009-08-31T12:14:00.001-04:00

Rylee is officially a 1st grader now! She must have been excited because she was up at 6:45, 15 minutes before her alarm clock was set to go off. She got dressed, made her bed and was in our room before I even got up. I'm sure she'll have some good stories to tell when she gets home, she was in afternoon kindergarten last year so this is her first year for lunch at school and recess with her friends.

Miss Avery will start pre-school tomorrow. She seems excited about it but

I have a feeling tomorrow morning is going to be a rough one. She's a

shy little girl and I anticipate lots of tears when I drop her off. Stay tuned for

pictures of her on her first day as a pre-schooler!!

Summer fun at the pool..

2009-08-26T16:09:00.001-04:00

With the future weather forecast looking a bit chilly and school starting next week I think our pool days are severely numbered. I grabbed my camera today so I could get a few end of summer shots. Hopefully the weather will hold out today, the pool is having the last moonlight swim tonight and the girls really want to go. We've missed every one so far for various reasons so it will be neat to see how the girls like swimming at night.

Miss Avery and her noodle, she thinks she's an Olympic swimmer when she uses this...

A rare sighting of Rylee above the water..

She could jump into the pool for hours...

Rylee practicing her new talent, a back dive off the wall

Friday night fun

2009-08-26T16:03:00.001-04:00

What do you do with two bored kids on a rainy Friday night? Take them
to Ozzy's of course! This was our first time there, it wasn't anything special but the girls had fun and burned off some extra energy in the process. We stopped at Cold Stone on the way home, yummy!!

In the two story high kids gym...

We got a game of mini golf in after the rain stopped

If only they could get along like this all the time......

Gosselin sighting...

2009-08-26T12:01:00.001-04:00

Last night Dale took the girls to the Reading Phillies game while I was at work and they ran into the Gosselins while they were there. Well, nine of the Gosselins, Kate wasn't there for obvious reasons. Yes, we are fans of the show (minus Dale, lol!). We live in their hometown and now we live about 15 minutes from their new house. It's funny to watch the show because they go to so many local places. Our girls get their hair cut at the same place as the Gosselins, we shop at the same stores, etc. Most of the paparazzi pictures are taken at places within 2 minutes of our house. Anyway, so last night they apparently rented a box close to where Dale and the girls were. Rylee was so excited to meet Maddy, in fast she's spent the entire morning watching re-runs of the show. Dale said that Jon was very nice and Rylee and Avery got to talk briefly with the kids. TLC was also there filming so there's a slight chance that the girls will also be on the show!!

**Disclaimer-the two asian girls in the picture are not Gosselin kids, they are our nieces. I have been asked about this twice already, lol***

After a long day at the pool.....

2009-08-12T15:54:00.000-04:00

Seems Miss Avery just can't keep up with these long days at the pool. The poor girl passed out while sitting on the couch just 10 minutes after we got home yesterday afternoon. She must've worn herself out trying to keep up with the big kids, lol!

Hersheypark happy!

2009-08-07T20:35:00.002-04:00

We decided to surprise the girls with an overnight trip to Hersheypark on Wednesday. Now, we have known about this for a few weeks but kept it a secret, man was that hard! Anyway, so we got up on Wednesday morning and acted like it was just an average day. I secretly packed while Dale ran to get the tickets. Around 1:00 we told the girls to get in the car and they noticed the bags in the back. We told them that we were going to a different pool, one kind of far away. When we got to Hershey Rylee noticed the street lights (they are Hershey Kisses) and said "Hey, we're at Hersheypark!!" I told them that the rides were closed and that we were just going to a hotel to swim for the day. So we get to the hotel, check in, swim a bit and then get ready for dinner. After dinner we told them that we were going to a big playground. Well, they got SO excited when we pulled in and parked. Of course Rylee accused me of lying to her but she got over it real fast! We did Chocolate World and then headed in for a few hours of rides before the park closed. (You get into Hershey for free the night before if you buy full day tickets) The next morning we got up, checked out and went to Bob Evans for breakfast (Carmel praline banana pancakes, YUM!!) before heading back to Hershey. We had perfect weather and spent most of the morning in the water park before doing more rides. It was a long day and the girls passed out within 10 minutes of getting in the car, lol!

Rylee and Avery as factory workers!

Miss Avery in the wave pool

Rylee rocking her new Speedo. I think she's beyond "girly" suits, she likes racing suits better now. I also think her arm muscles are bigger than mine, lol. Yep, she's my little swimmer!

On our way home after a long day

Pocono Race

2009-08-07T20:32:00.001-04:00

Well, once again Dale went to a race and it was rained out! This seems to be a pretty consistent thing, lol! Anyway, the two other guys that went with Dale couldn't make the trip back the following day so my dad and I decided to go on Monday. Good thing we went because we had a great time and were treated to much more than just a race. We had pit passes and garage passes that gave us access to pretty much everywhere and everything before the race AND after the race we were invited to Victory Lane to celebrate with Denny Hamlin, the winner. How cool is that?!?!? When we got home we realized that we were standing right behind Kenny Wallace as he was doing the post race report and because of that we were on TV for about an hour!!!!!

Me with Kurts car before the race.......

Joe Gibbs being interviewed after the race.

He owns the winning car.

My dad with Kenny Wallace....

Our private picture in Victory lane with Denny Hamlin, the winner.

Last nights meet

2009-07-28T11:47:00.001-04:00

Rylee had her final swim meet last night and it was so close but we lost :-(

Rylee did great as usual and I swam and beat the 18 year olds twice! I even came from about 20 feet behind to pass the other team and win in a relay. Ha, take that!! This old mama still has it in her!!

Our final record for the season stands at 5-1, not too bad! Hopefully next year we can win the league championship!! Anyway, here are a few assorted pictures from the evening.

Rylee and the gang getting ready to hold the flags for the national anthem before the meet......

All of them up on the blocks during the anthem. Rylee is in lane two.

Miss Avery acting goofy and trying on a pair of goggles.

Rylee taking a break in between races.

Well, that's the end of swim team for this summer. We have the team party tonight and then we get a break until November when it all starts up again.

Rylee is really excited about swimming for Wilson this year, hopefully she'll enjoy it!!

On that note, it's hotter than you know what outside so I'm going to log off and head to the pool for the afternoon! Ahhh, spending the summer at the pool is hard work but someone has to do it, lol!!!

Aunt Hopes party....

2009-07-28T11:43:00.001-04:00

Aunt Hope came home from Oregon for a visit, YAY!!!!
During her visit we had a picnic at my parents house so Hope could see everyone, here is a picture of her playing with the kids......

Hope you had a safe trip home and we can't wait to see you again!!

Rylee's first swimming video

2009-07-13T21:17:00.003-04:00

Ugh, I feel like it's been forever since I updated. We're in the middle of swim season right now and it seems like we're always at the pool for either practice or a meet. Our last meet of the season is in two week and then we get a few months off before age group swimming starts. Age group is something new to Rylee and she seems really excited to do it. I, on the other hand, grew up on the age group team and know how loooooooong those meets can be so I'm not quite as excited. We're talking 3-4 hour swim meets every Saturday from November until February. Add to that a few invitations that last all day and there's not much time for anything else. And that's not including practice three evenings a week. Ugh!! But, it's the next step in the sport so we'll support her as long as she wants to do it.

We had yet another meet tonight and Rylee did awesome! Her butterfly has improved 100% since the beginning of the season and her backstroke looks great as well. In the beginning of the season she was turning over onto her belly WAY too early while doing backstroke and getting disqualified so I showed her how to look for the backstroke flags and then count her strokes. Now she knows that once she crosses the flags she has 10 more stroke until the wall. Anyway, here's her first swimming video. Hopefully it works, this is the first time I tried to add a video to the blog............

If you're in the area two weeks from now stop by the pool. We have our last meet that night and if we win we'll be undefeated and win our league!!

Swim meet pics.

2009-06-29T21:43:00.001-04:00

Yes, I was a good mommy tonight and I remembered to take my camera so here are a few pictures from the meet earlier tonight. Oh yeah, we won 250-231, it was a close meet!!

Up on the blocks, getting ready to start...

and she's off......

Her freestyle looks amazing for a six year old...

Rylee in the middle doing the team cheer before the meet.

Go Wyo. Hills!!!!

Mmmm, blueberries!

2009-06-29T21:38:00.001-04:00

YES!!! They are finally ready! We headed out to the local "pick your own" place this morning after swimming practice to pick the first blueberries of the season. It worked out perfectly since Rylee is always hungry after practice. I swear, they really should weigh the kids before and after they go into the fields because both Rylee and Avery ate two pounds while picking, lol!

Rylee while hunting for the perfect bush

My hormonal three year old being miserable

chowing down on the way home
See the marks on Rylee's hands? That's how we know what she's swimming in the meet tonight, lol!

The biggest puddle ever....

2009-06-28T20:09:00.001-04:00

After a REALLY bad storm last Friday the girls decided to look for rainbows. Well, we found a rainbow, but we also found the biggest puddle I have ever seen! It was at the end of our bock and it was a result of WAY too much rain coming down WAY too fast. Needless to say, a few innocent jumps in the puddle turned into this.........

Our puddle....., yes, I am taking the picture from that far away and I'm still standing in the puddle!!

And down they go!

Don't even ask?!?!?

Anyway, well, crap, I guess I'm not doing such a good job with blogging lately. Sorry, we've been spending most of our days at the pool since the weather has finally changed to more summer-like conditions. Let's see....

Rylee had her first swim meet last Monday and did great!! She swam the 25 meter freestyle, 25 meter butterfly and in the free relay. On the way out of the meet I was met at my car by another swim team parent. She informed me that as she tried to get around my car she cut it a little too close and hit my rear bumper. She claims that she was braking but my entire corner is pushed in so I think she got the brake and the gas confused. Okay, no big deal right?? We exchanged information and I thought all was well. WRONG!! Guess who went on vacation the next day and has yet to call her insurance company!!

So, now I am stuck because they can't release authorization to fix my car until they hear from her. So here I sit with a crappy looking car and there's nothing I can do until she gets her butt back from the beach. Lovely, huh??

But, anyway, let's move onto happier things, shall we?? We had a "block wide" yard sale this morning and got rid of a bunch of stuff! The crib, changing table and bassinet were all gone within the first hour. Rylee and Avery also had their first lemonade stand set up. They were so cute, during the "down" times they went around to the neighbors trying to sell to them. I think their grand total was $18 and it will all go towards snacks at the pool.

Well, I'd love to write more but I'm just spent. I worked last night, got home around 11:30, went to bed around 1:00, got up at 5:30, did the yard sale and then went to the pool for the afternoon so I'm ready to pass out! Rylee has another swim meet tomorrow, hopefully I'll remember my camera this time so check back in a few days for swim team pics!!

Averys big girl room...

2009-06-14T20:23:00.002-04:00

Well, the Winnie the Pooh themed nursery has officially left the house. Dale spent all of last weekend painting Avery's room and it turned out great!

The wall above her toy box. Yes, the side pictures are not even, I need to fix this.....

Avery's bed. Three of the walls are purple, the other one is the same green that's in her comforter.

The walls are still kind of bare, I have a few ideas but I need to think about it for a while. Heck, it took me two months just to pick paint colors, it may be years before Avery has something more on her walls, lol!! A border would look nice but Avery took her old one down so I'm not investing in that kind of money right now for it to be ripped off.

Other than that it's been kind of quiet around here lately. I got home from work last Saturday to Avery in our bed with a 103 degree fever. She also complained of a bellyache and a headache so I dosed her up with Motrin and

spent the night nodding off and on while she spent the night next to me moaning in her sleep. That lasted all day Sunday and it ended Monday morning after she got sick twice. Good thing I was in the middle of steam cleaning her room because I needed it to clean the furniture. Poor girl, she still doesn't know to run to the bathroom when she gets sick. Tuesday morning comes and Rylee wakes up complaining of a headache. I check for a fever and give her Motrin. At this point I thought that maybe her headache was from Dale painting all weekend (I'm very sensitive to that smell) so I tell her to take a shower and see how she feels. She gets out of the shower and feels better so she gets ready for her LAST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!!!!! Yes, our first baby is now a first grader!! We are so proud of her!! Crap, I'm getting off track here, where was I????? Oh yeah, so she heads off to school and I think all is well. Boy was I wrong. The moment she stepped off the bus at the end of the day she broke down in tears. I felt her head and she was burning up so we get home and I take her temp, it's 103.4. Not good considering I'm due at work in 1.5 hours and it's now too late to call off. I called my in-laws and told them that we wouldn't be over (they watch the girls every Tuesday) and then I called Dale and told him that he needed to leave work a few minutes early so I could get to work in time. I went to work but got to leave early so I was home by 9:00 and of course Rylee was in our bed waiting for me. By the next morning she felt better but man, that was one mean virus!!! Fever generally don't bother me but I don't like it when they are that high. At one point Rylee's was 104 and that kind of scared me.

Soooo, other than Avery's new room and illnesses we've been spending most of the nice days at the pool. Both of the girls already have their own group of friends to hang out with. It's so nice to be able to actually sit down at the pool. Last year they didn't know anyone so I had to entertain them, this year Rylee takes off to the diving board as soon as we get there and Avery sets up shop with her friends at the baby pool. Avery has officially become the "cool kid" because she has paint brushes ;-) I'm telling you, give a kid a bucket of water and a paint brush and it will keep them busy for hours at the pool!! Swim team starts tomorrow and Rylee can't wait. She's even talked one of her new friends into joining so they can hang out together all day. Our first meet is next Monday so look for pictures soon!!!

Well, that's the update for now. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. We're off to a rainy and cool start here in Pa. but hopefully that will change soon!!

Mommy and Daddys day out.....

2009-06-01T09:59:00.001-04:00

Boogity, boogity, boogity let's go racing!!!!

We spent Sunday in Dover at the race and had a great time while the girls were enjoying some quality time at grandma's and grandpa's house. The weather was perfect and our seats were great, we couldn't ask for much more! Well, Kurt winning would've been awesome but he finished 5th, we'll take that!!!

Note to self, remember to apply sunscreen to nose next year. I did the rest of my body but forgot my face and well, let's just say that my nose is bright red and you can definitely tell that I was wearing sunglasses all day, lol!!

Us in front of "Miles" the monster, the track mascot.

The view from our seats. We were between turns three and four, 12 rows from the track.

That's our boy, the #2 Miller Lite "Blue Deuce"

The field during a caution.

Soap Box Derby

2009-06-01T09:54:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday our nephew Bailey was in his first Soap Box Derby
so we went to cheer him on. He did a great job!!!

Coming down the hill at over 30 mph.

After his race with his car

Strawberries!!!

2009-06-01T09:50:00.000-04:00

Mmmm, finally our local orchard opened to the public and we took
full advantage of it by picking some fresh strawberries last Friday.
Later that night I made strawberry shortcake and it was YUMMY!!

Bikes, a parade and the pool!!

2009-05-24T20:24:00.002-04:00

Well, Rylee FINALLY got brave enough to ride her bike without training wheels. She had the strength last year, just not the confidence, but this year she took off after only 20 seconds of help! She thinks she's cool now because she can ride with the big kids. Avery also graduated to a "big girl bike", with training wheels of course. I pulled Rylee's old bike out just to see if Avery could fit on it and within an hour she was cruising the street with Rylee. I really didn't think her legs were strong enough but I guess she's stronger than I think!

This past Saturday we went to the annual Memorial Day parade and the weather was perfect!! The girls were so excited because they knew the pool would open when the parade was over. So, after the parade was over we stopped by the park for a quick lunch and then ran home to get changed into our bathing suits.........

Getting ready for the parade.....and candy!!

After her first dip of the season....the water is still freezing!

Showing off her new bathing suit after a swim

Well, you know where to find us if you need us in the next few months, just call the pool!!!! Swim team practice starts June 15th so we'll be there every morning for that and then we'll probably stay for the afternoon. Swim meets are every Monday night so look for lots of pictures soon and if you're in the area come to cheer Rylee on!! Oh, and yes, I already got suckered into racing a few times this summer. Seriously, didn't I retire from swimming 15 years ago?!?!?

Word of advice, never have your ex-coach be your daughters coach, that's how you get suckered into racing when you're in your 30's!!

Mothers Day

2009-05-11T12:37:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was Mothers Day and we had a great day! It started with Dale and Rylee running to Dunkin Donuts for bagels and my Chai tea. Avery climbed out of bed when they got back and it was present time. Now, the girls had been talking about this all week but wouldn't tell me exactly what they made. Dale had taken them to a Home Depot Kids Club workshop last weekend and they made me mini wheel barrow plant holders!! They are so cute, Rylee made me a pink one and Avery made me a purple one. I also got an assortment of pictures that Rylee had made at school. After we got done with that I was told that we would also be going to a baseball game that afternoon. So, I got a shower, ran to the grocery store and then we headed over to the Reading Phillies game for an afternoon of fun.

Rylee with Screwball, the main mascot......

Avery doing her best to stay awake during naptime!

After the game we came home and my parents and grandparents came over for dinner. Then I ran to Walmart for some Aloe lotion as my body began to itch. It was so windy at the game I didn't even think about getting burned, that is until my neck and cheeks started to feel a bit warm. Yep, I woke up this morning with a nice looking farmers tan on my arms, lol!! Not to worry, the pool opens in a few weeks!!

Fireworks!!!

2009-05-09T22:26:00.001-04:00

It's that time of year again, time for weekly fireworks!!!!
Our local minor league baseball team sets off fireworks after every weekend night game and this was the first weekend for it. It's only a ten minute drive from the house so we keep track of the game online, when it gets close to the end we hop in the car and drive over. I started this with Rylee last year and she loved it. Now that Avery doesn't mind the noise she gets to join us!

The girls patiently waiting in the back of daddy's car.

Watching the fireworks for the first time without climbing into my lap and covering her ears.

Fireworks picture!

Little music lover....

2009-05-09T22:15:00.001-04:00

Miss Avery found Rylee's old MP3 player and is totally in love with it. In fact, she sat on our bedroom floor for almost an hour yesterday while I did laundry. What's on "her" MP3 you ask?? Hannah Montana, Camp Rock,
and a few of her favorite Disney songs.

Jamming to the music!

Action shot....she's singing along to Hannah!

And so there's no hard feelings, Rylee with daddy's MP3, she has her own playlist on it.

Seattle trip

2009-04-29T12:36:00.004-04:00

Copy and pasted from the email I sent out because I don't feel like typing the entire thing again!!!

Hello everyone!! Okay, since we are getting a ton of emails/phone calls asking us how our trip was I decided to write one big email and send it to everyone. There's no way I'm going to type the same thing ten times, lol!!

Anyway, our trip was great. We're exhausted but we're happy to be home. The time change was a killer. Just as we got used to West coast time we had to leave so now we're trying to get back on East coast time, talk about confusing!!! My body doesn't know when to sleep, when to wake up, or what meal to eat! Here's what our schedule looked like for the last week.............
Wednesday- we got up bright and early at 3:45am to leave for the airport. The girls did GREAT getting up that early, Rylee even woke herself up as soon as she heard Dale get in the shower. All I had to do was whisper "time for Seattle" into Avery's ear and she jumped out of bed wide awake. We drove to the airport and our first flight to Chicago took off at 7:45. That flight was very bumpy and we learned that the girls get motion sickness just like me. We got to Chicago, found the play area and hung out there for a while before eating and getting back on the second plane. The flight out to Seattle was very boring. Honestly, the Mid-West is nothing but fields and more fields!! We got to Seattle around 1:30 (West Coast time), got our rental and headed to the hotel. By this point we were exhausted from traveling so we went to dinner and then back to the room. John came over and the guys went to the bar for a little while I got the girls to sleep.

Thursday-sight seeing day!! We spent the morning at the Children's Museum and then went to see the Space Needle followed by Pike's Place. Pike's Place is a famous farmers market. If you've ever heard of the place where they throw the fish, this is it!! Anytime someone orders a fish (think big ones with heads still on) the guys throw it to the person behind the counter. It's really cool and one of Seattle's most popular attractions. We watched that for a while, walked around and then headed back to the hotel for dinner. Thursday night was also the bachelor party.

Friday- Aunt Hope came to see us!!! Yay!!! She got in around 11:00am so we spent the afternoon at the zoo with her before heading back for the rehearsal and dinner.
It was clear enough this day to see Mt. Rainier from Seattle. Wow, what a sight, it was breathtaking! We only think we have big mountains on the East coast but ours are ant hills compared to the west!!

Saturday-more time with Hope!! We went to the Seattle Aquarium that morning and then walked along the waterfront for a little before going back to get ready for the wedding.
The wedding was really nice. They got married at one of the local marinas in Kirkland (a suburb of Seattle) so they had Lake Washington in the background, very pretty!! The reception was in the hotel and we had so much fun. The girls danced until the passed out around 10:30.

Sunday-we got up, packed up and checked out of the hotel since we were staying at the airport that night. After checking out we met Hope and had a private tour of Franz Bakery (where she works) and then walked along the waterfront and did some shopping before saying good-bye to her. She lives in Portland and had a long drive so she left around 3:00.
Thank you once again Hope for everything!!! We had such a good time with you. After Hope left we went to John's house to say good-bye before heading to the airport. Another clear day and more views of Mt. Rainier. On the way to the airport we spotted a Rainforest Cafe, one of our favorite places to eat while on vacation so we surprised the girls by stopping there for dinner. We got to the Marriott, checked in, took the rental car back and went to bed.

Monday-wake up call at 3:30am!! Once again, the girls hopped right out of bed! We grabbed the 4:15am shuttle to the airport and took off at 6:00 for Dallas. That ride was awesome. We went over so many snow covered mountains, don't worry, I took lots of pictures!! We got into Dallas a little early (11:15am) and were told that out gate wasn't ready yet so they parked us (and about 6 other planes) on an old runway. We were told that it would only be 10 minutes but that turned into over 30 minutes and as a result we watched our connecting flight take off without us. Yes, we missed our flight, our flight home. Ugh!! So, we were stuck in the Dallas airport for about three hours. There we people all around us with masks on because of being so close to Mexico and the swine flu thing going on. Let's just say it was NOT fun!! Luckily they got us on the 4:00 flight and we got into Phila. around 8:00, came home, unpacked and went to bed!!

Well, that's our little vacation story. Let's see, Seattle over-all is really nice. Very clean, natural, VERY environmentally friendly, no trash anywhere, and the people are very polite, almost too polite, they don't use car horns or yell if you cut them off, lol. The traffic is horrible though, think of driving the Schuylkill Expressway every time you need to go somewhere and that's how it is. We got lost quite a few times. I did miss my Chai Lattes though and couldn't find anywhere that had good ones. I guess that's what I get for looking for tea in a city known for coffee!! The girls loved flying and did great! They each had a backpack filled with games and toys and that kept them busy while in the air. It was worth the trip but we're all glad to be back home. Now we just have to get used to this time zone again!!

To see the pictures please visit the following link. I took WAY too many pictures (about 300) and it would take forever to upload all of them to the blog. Click on the pictures to enlarge them, most pictures have captions to explain what they are.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=nancee2014&target=ALBUM&id=5329796441707563665&authkey=Gv1sRgCPLL3by7oPPM4wE&feat=email

Happy Easter From Rylee And Avery!

2009-04-12T19:56:00.000-04:00

Quick review of the day........
Up too early, got way too much candy and ate BIG meals twice in five hours, lol!
Happy Easter!

Easter Eggs!

2009-04-09T12:43:00.001-04:00

We did the traditional egg coloring this morning as soon as the girls woke up. Here are the results!

Miss Avery coloring her egg before it gets dipped.......

Rylee creating her masterpiece!

Working hard.......

The finished product!! Notice the two empty spots?? Yep, we dropped a few, lol!

Happy Easter everyone!!!!!

Remember Me??

2009-03-13T12:31:00.003-04:00

Wow, has it really been almost two months since I lasted blogged? I really need to get my act together!

Let's see, I guess I'll do a family update first. We're finally getting close to our big cross-country trip to Seattle. Word of advice, NEVER tell two kids about a big trip months in advance. Not a day had gone by since November without Rylee asking about it and every time Avery sees an airplane she reminds me that we are going on one. Anyway, this is by far the biggest trip we have done as a family and I'm really looking forward to it. Well, I'm looking forward to it once we are there, lol. I'm not a fan of flying and having a two hour layover in Chicago with kids doesn't exactly sound like fun but I'm sure everything will go just peachy! We did change out flight on the way back, instead of coming back through Chicago we now fly through Dallas. Not exactly "along the way" but going through Dallas will avoid a three and a half hour layover in Chicago during naptime so it works out better AND we still get back to Phila. by dinner. Other than that nothing else has really been going on. Of course we've been to a few more Royals games and we still have tickets to a few more. We had a few snowy days but nothing too big. I wanted a really good storm, the kind that drops a foot overnight, but I guess I'll have to hope for that next year now.

On to kid updates....

Rylee is doing great in school! She got her first report card and is right on track. In fact, she's even a little above where she should be for reading! They started with weekly spelling tests and

so far every test has been perfect. She signed up for two after school classes that start soon. She picked a golf class and a dance/cheerleading class. She also lost two teeth within the last two weeks AND she still has one more loose one!!

Her 6 year well-visit stats are......

height- 45 1/2 inches

weight- a solid nothing but muscle 50 pounds!! yep, she's my child :-)

Avery is turning into a little girl. It's kind of bittersweet to watch her grow so fast. She's very into fashion and will protest if you pick the wrong clothing out for her. She also likes her hair to be "so pretty" all the time. She knows every letter and their sounds and has even started to write some on them, her favorites being H and T right now. Ironically even though she's a princess she turning into quite the outdoor lover as well. We had a hard time getting her to come in on snow days and now that the weather is changing she wants to be outside all the time.

Her 3 year well-visit stats...

height- 36 1/2 inches

weight- a tiny 28 pounds

So, those are the updates for now. Hopefully the weather will warm up so we can get outside with the camera soon. For now, I'll leave you with a picture of "toothless".............

Kids Day..

2009-01-19T19:41:00.002-05:00

It was another Reading Royals hockey day and the girls had soooo much fun. Since it was a school holiday it was kids day and then after the game we got to skate with the players at a local sports complex. Rylee skated around with a Sharpie and got the players to sign her new shirt. I think she got about 20 autographs including the coach and the two all-stars.

Avery during her 5 minutes on the ice before giving up and sitting on the bleachers with daddy.

Rylee getting her first autograph....

and another......

and another...

Being interviewed for the local news....

Royals Game

2009-01-16T22:49:00.000-05:00

We had another Royals game tonight but this one was special. Birthday girl Rylee had her name announced at the game and then afterward got to go down to the locker room to meet one of the players.

Avery having fun while cheering for her team. It worked and we won, yay!!

Poor girl, she can't handle these late nights...bedtime is usually 8:30, this picture was taken around 9:00, lol.

Rylee outside the locker room with her new favorite player, Brock Hooton.
He rocks!!

My little helper....

2009-01-16T22:37:00.000-05:00

So, my New Years resolution this year is to get back in shape.
Most mornings are spent on the elliptical followed by some type of strength training.
Apparently Avery feels the need to get into shape as well, lol.

Happy birthday Rylee!!

2009-01-16T12:34:00.002-05:00

Yep, I now have a six year old!! Wow, she's just growing up WAY too fast and I guess it's only fair that I write about her birth since Avery got her story told. So here goes....

The beginning of the pregnancy was definitely "not normal",lol! For about a week I had been having really bad abdominal pain at night but I ignored it until one morning I couldn't get out of bed. I called work to tell them I wouldn't be there and then I called Dale to come home so we could go to the ER. He gets home in record time and we take off. We get to the hospital, check in, the doctor does a quick exam, takes some blood and then tells me that they need to wait until the results come back before doing anything else. About 20 minutes later he comes back in and says "You're pregnant but the levels are really low. We think it's ectopic and you'll need surgery. Sorry, but we can't give you any medication for the pain.", and then he walked out of the room. Yes, this is exactly how we found out, crappy, right??? I wasn't due for my period for another week so even though we were trying being pregnant didn't even cross my mind. So, off to the ultrasound room I went. Because it was so early they couldn't detect anything. I was told to take it easy, go back for a repeat ultrasound in a week and I would also be required to get bloodwork done every other day for the next week to see how my levels were. Long story short, my levels went up like normal and two weeks later an ultrasound confirmed that everything was okay. My ovaries just decided to flip out because of the pregnancy and that's what caused the pain. I was told that it's totally normal, kind of rare and very painful (no crap!!). The rest of the pregnancy went great. I felt wonderful and loved every minute of it. Christmas Eve was my first internal check. I was 1 cm dilated. Wohoo, I thought!! New Years Eve was my second check. 3cm dilated and I'm told to "stay close to home, it won't be long now". Umm, yeah right! My due date (Jan. 13th) came and went. I went in for an (overdue) check-up and on the way out one of the doctors stopped me and asked me about my weight gain. When I told him what I had gained me told me that I looked "too big" to have only gained that amount and that he'd like to do a quick ultrasound. Okay, no problem. I bee-bop into the room and hop onto the table. He does the scan and says "I'd like to induce you tomorrow, I'm estimating this baby to be over nine pounds already" WHAT?? TOMORROW? NINE POUNDS??? So, he tells me to be at the hospital around 7:00am for the induction. I go back to work, call Dale and my mom and then my boss tells me to go home for the rest of the day to relax. I spend to rest of the afternoon calling everyone that I know and I get no rest. That evening Dale and I go out to dinner and when it comes time for bed he went to the spare bedroom so I could get some uninterrupted sleep (he snores, bad!). Around 2:30 I wake up, go to the bathroom, lay back down and realize that I feel quite crampy. I brush it off thinking it's from the internal exam earlier that day. Hmm, now the cramps are coming and going. I lay in bed for about an hour and time them. Yep, I'm in labor!! I spent the rest of the night watching TV and timing contractions while Dale slept. Around 5:30am the phone rings "This is the XXXXX hospital, you are scheduled for a 7:00 induction but we are extremely busy right now Don't' come in as scheduled, we'll call you when we're ready for you". Dale tells the nurse "too late, she's already in labor". So they go back and forth on the phone, how long are the contractions, how far apart are they, are you okay being at home, etc. and it's decided that we are okay with staying home for now. 6:30 the phone rings again, it's the hospital telling us that a room just opened and we should come in. So we head to the hospital all excited, park in the garage, walk across to the entrance and up to the 2nd floor. I get checked in and my doctor comes in to do a quick exam. Yep, active labor and I'm 6-7 cm. HUH??? But I still feel fine?? I'm still laughing and I just walked across the parking lot and into the hospital by myself. How did that happen so fast?? She asked me about medication and although I still felt great it was my first baby,I had a "fear of the unknown" and got the epidural right away. 1:30 come and I start to feel like crap. They had turned my epidural off at this point, they wanted to me be able to effectively push. 2:00, time to push!! At this point my body takes over and I push 5,6,7 times in a row before stopping. I kept thinking, just cut me open, I can't push a nine pound baby out! 2:30 comes and she's crowning but not moving down much. I push again and feel a huge "pop", and she comes out with the next push. It's a girl!! We were so excited because up until this point we didn't know the sex. They weigh her, 7lbs. 12oz. WHAT?? What happened to "over nine pounds". Oh well, she's healthy, that's what matters. I found out later that the "pop" I felt was her shoulders getting "unstuck" in my pelvic bone. I had shoulder dystocia, which is where the baby's shoulders are too wide to fit past the pelvic bones. Because of that she required some extra stimulating right after her birth (she wasn't breathing) but the nurses did a GREAT job of not letting us know. I found out later that night that her first APGAR score was a 2, had I known that right away I would've freaked out. From that day on she has been one of the strongest little girls that I know. Now she's an energetic six year old who loves school, loves swimming and loves her family. She's become somewhat of a tomboy over the years but still loves to climb into our bed every morning for a quick snuggle before starting the day. I'm still amazed when I watch her play. How did she get so big so fast?

So, to you Rylee, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday Avery!!!!

2009-01-12T12:24:00.002-05:00

We have a birthday in the house today!! As of 3:59am Miss Avery is now 3!!! Wow, these past years went so fast!! It seems like it was just yesterday that I found out about her being on the way. I woke up on a Monday morning and realized that I was late so Rylee and I hopped into the car and ran to Giant for a pregnancy test. On the way home "Daughters" by John Mayer was on the radio. I remember thinking well so much for that test, this song must be a sign that we're about to have another baby and our second girl. To this day that song reminds me of that morning. I went home took the test and called Dale right away with the results. I think morning sickness kicked in as soon as I hung the phone up, lol!! The first few months were pretty stressful. I was sent for monthly ultrasounds for the first five months to check my cervical length because of my cervix being so scarred from previous surgeries. I was told that if at any time they weren't happy with the ultrasound results I would have to have a cerclage put it, which is here they go in and literally stitch the cervix shut. Everything went so smooth and before I knew it I was due with baby girl #2!! I was induced two days before my due date because I had shoulder dystocia with Rylee and an ultrasound estimated Avery to be getting close to Rylee's birth weight. Dale and I went into the hospital bright and early on Wednesday January 11th expecting this to be a smooth, easy, fast labor just like with Rylee. Boy were we wrong!!! I got checked in, hooked up and then the resident came in with the cytotec tablet. Crap, that hurt so bad and he had NO idea what he was doing!! We sat around for a few hours and watched as the monitor started to track my contractions. My OB came in around noon and checked me, I was 4cm. The contractions kept coming so I walked the halls hoping to speed things up. Around 6:00 my OB came back to check me, I was still 4cm. CRAP!! She broke my water and told me"this will speed things up for you". Yeah right!! She came back at 11:00, checked me and reported my progress, which was NOTHING!! I couldn't understand why I was having contractions but they weren't doing anything. She explained that because my cervix was so scarred it just wasn't able to open. So, we were told to hang out for the night, baby was fine so there was no need to rush things. At this point I was frustrated and tired so I got the epidural thinking that I would sleep a few hours and then be woken up for a C-section. The epidural never worked because apparently there was a kink in the line and as they were trying to find it they pulled it out of my back. At that exact moment my cervix decided to give in and open. I have never felt such pain in my life!! I'm still shocked that I didn't break the bed rails because I had a death grip on them. The nurses came flying in, checked me, called my OB and broke the bed down within a matter of minutes. After 15 minutes of hard pushing little Avery came into the world weighing 7lbs 9oz., exactly what she was estimated to be. No shoulder dystocia, I didn't tear, and she was perfect. What more could we ask for. She was and continues to be such an easy going little girl. She's our little princess girly girl who loves getting her hair done and her nails painted. She's the one that completed our family and we're so happy to have her here! Happy 3rd birthday Avery!!

Party Pics.

2009-01-12T12:17:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was party day! We had a smaller party this year, family and close friends only, so the party was at our house.
Everyone had fun and the girls had a blast too. Thank you everyone!!!!

Avery opening her new comforter for her bed. She's getting a "big girl" room as soon as the weather warms up.

The cake, it HAD to be Hannah Montana!

Blow those candles out!!

Rylee with her new Nintendo DS, and yes, I did play with it after she went to bed!!

Rollerskating....

2009-01-05T20:26:00.001-05:00

This past weekend our nephew had his 8th birthday party at the local rollerskating rink.
Let's just say the girls had a really good time but it was hysterical to watch them on skates for the first time!! Rylee did okay because she's been ice skating a few times but Avery was a total goofball! By the end she was getting pretty good for her age, she was even pushing my hand away so she could go by herself which was fine with me because I had my own rollerblades on so I was flying around the rink! My body hurts a little this morning but I'm thinking Avery's butt has to hurt more, there's a big black and blue mark on it, lol!!

Rylee getting the hang of it

Avery holding on tight

Happy birthday Bailey!!!!

Another one lost....

2008-12-29T12:25:00.000-05:00

Miss Rylee lost another tooth this morning!! This one has been hanging for a while, we really thought the tooth fairy would be coming Christmas Eve but Rylee was afraid to pull it until now. Her other top tooth is noticeably loose but it's going to be a while before that one is ready to come out. To celebrate her lost tooth we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch today, yum!!

Christmas Pics.

2008-12-26T13:02:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!! We're still trying to recover here but the girls are having a blast playing with their new toys. Here are a few of the many pictures from the day.........

6:15am, mommy couldn't wait any longer and woke us up!!

Avery with her new "Shrek" game for her V-Smile

"My other favorite color is green"

Look, we can see the tree again!!

Great Nanny with all the kids

Avery with her V-smile Pocket System

Rylee and "Paige", her American Girl Doll

Cousin Ella jamming on her new guitar while Rylee sings along

Snow Pics...

2008-12-17T07:08:00.001-05:00

We got our first good snowfall yesterday and the girls had a blast playing in it. Dale took them out while I was at work to play with our neighbor. I guess playing in the snow made the girls really tired, it's 7:15am, Rylee just woke up and Avery is still in bed, usually they are both up by 6:45 at the latest!! Enjoy the pictures!!

Trouble #1 and Trouble #2

With our neighbor.....

Yes, Avery's mouth is full of snow, she likes to eat it!!!

To our special elves.........

2008-12-15T11:46:00.001-05:00

Daddy came home from work on Friday with some early Christmas presents for us. Apparently there are a few elves out there that think we are pretty special (and cute too!!). From the bottom of our hearts we thank you.

Hugs and Kisses,

Rylee and Avery

Weekly project

2008-12-08T20:41:00.002-05:00

So, on Black Friday I got a gingerbread house kit for $5.00 at A. C. Moore thinking we could do it that evening. Then the box sat, and sat and sat some more, lol!

Anyway, we finally tackled it tonight and it was surprisingly easy and fun. Avery wanted nothing to do with the actual project, she just wanted to eat the candy.

Rylee and I looking very serious while decorating

Ry and the house

Avery had to get a pictures taken too, notice the icing on her cheeks, lol!

The finished house, not bad for our first time.

Ignore me....

2008-12-01T20:37:00.004-05:00

So, I took a few more pictures this afternoon and now THIS will be the Christmas card pic. The cards are already ordered so I can't change my mind again, lol! The top of Rylee's hat is cut off but I really don't care, I'm sick of taking pictures!

Christmas card picture...

2008-12-01T11:27:00.003-05:00

So we had our yearly Christmas card photo shoot this morning and it went like it always does. Rylee looked at the camera while Avery looked at the floor, Avery smiled, Rylee didn't, Avery gave me a goofy look while Rylee pretended to sleep, etc. After about thirty shots I finally got one that will work for the cards. I have finally realized that the perfect picture doesn't exist so this one will have to do. For those of you on our list, the cards will be on the way as soon as Winkflash ships them to me!

Thanksgiving and more....

2008-11-30T20:06:00.001-05:00

Pictures from the Reading Royal's hockey game Wednesday night.............

Rylee and Slapshot aka "Slappy"

Avery having a great time!

Slapshot out and about in between periods.

He shoots t-shirts to the crowd with the gun on the back

of his four wheeler.

Thanksgiving was spent at my sister in laws house where we ate WAY too much food. Then I got the brainy idea to get up at 4:30am for some Black Friday shopping. I was actually pretty amused watching the crazy people run through the stores as they opened. I was back home by 6:45 with some donuts for the girls before going back out to hit up the Children's Place sale.

Today (Sunday) we woke up to a cold and rainy day so we decided to take a road trip to the Lancaster Outlets. On the way back we stopped at Park City to walk around a little bit and we grabbed some Cinnabon's on the way out for breakfast tomorrow. Mmmm, I can't wait!!

Puzzles, snow and another lost tooth

2008-11-21T07:50:00.001-05:00

Rylee's favorite puzzle....

She took this picture herself after finishing the puzzle. She was so excited because she did the puzzle with no help from mom or dad. She usually gets frustrated with the border and asks for help.

Yep, she yanked another one this week! It's kind of hard to tell because her adult tooth was already halfway in! It came up behind her baby tooth and will hopefully shift into place now that the other tooth is gone (her other one did). The tooth fairy brought $3.00 and a new princess toothbrush this time.

Look, it's snow!!!! This is what we woke up to this morning. Actually the grass was almost covered last night but most of it it melted overnight. It has been lightly snowing off and on all week, I have a feeling we're in for a long snowy winter!

Oh, Avery has some new phrases that are way too funny not to share!

She's learning the alphabet and can now recognize almost every letter, her favorite letter is the "wubble-doo" (W), lol! We have corrected her more times than I can count so I gave up. Besides, it's so cute when she says it!!

Sleeping Beauty has become "Sleeping Booty" in this house. Not sure why, maybe she has a big butt under that dress??

And finally her versin of Jingle Bells goes like this........

Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell

Jingle all the way

Old McDonald had a farm

and a one horse open sleigh

HEY!!!

Yes, I'm not kidding, she sang it all the way to the bus stop yesterday with me cracking up behind her!

This and that....

2008-11-12T11:54:00.001-05:00

Not much going on this week. We went to the football game last Friday and we'll probably go again this Friday as long as the weather looks okay. Wilson is in the play-offs now so the games are finally getting good. Other than that we've been keeping busy with indoor projects. The weather is getting colder by the day so our outside time is limited. I've officially started my Christmas shopping. Usually I'm almost done by this time but the economy has slowed me down a bit this year. I guess I better get my butt in gear though, Christmas will be here soon!

Anyway, here are a few pictures to make you smile......

A random picture of the girls this morning while waiting for Rylee's bus.........

Wednesdays are gym day, Rylee's favorite "subject", lol!

My mother-in-law sent this bag of marshmallows home with the girls last night. I put it next to my Kitchen-Aid so you can appreciate the size of the bag, lol! That being said, anyone have a good recipe that includes marshmallows??? Don't worry, Rice Crispy treats are on the list already!

The Official Candy Haul

2008-11-03T09:20:00.000-05:00

We now have candy for the next three years! Keep in mind, this doesn't include the coloring books, crayons,
puzzles, lip gloss and other non-edible items that the girls also got and I'm pretty sure that Dale
already took a bunch of candy to work this morning before I could sort it. The gift bag is filled about 3/4 of the way and will be going to work with me tomorrow night and we still have four big bowls full!!! YIKES!

Trick or Treat

2008-10-31T21:28:00.001-04:00

Halloween Pictures.......

Of course we came home with WAY too much candy and most of it will be going to work with me tomorrow but the girls had a blast once again!

Rylee aka. Cheetah

Miss Avery as her beloved Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street

Halfway through the candy walk and still having fun

The lovely attitude of a five year old....

(Okay, so I got caught stealing her candy, but I didn't deserve that look!)

Rylee's School Picture...

2008-10-28T15:00:00.001-04:00

Rylee's first school picture.....they did a great job!

Pumpkin carving pics.

2008-10-28T09:06:00.002-04:00

Saturday morning was pumpkin carving time and the girls loved it. Here are a few pictures.....
****Ignore the girls clothing, they are in "project gear"****

Rylee getting into it.....

Typical Avery, she won't get her hands dirty, lol!

Avery gathering seeds, Rylee getting the last of the pulp out.

Daddy and Avery deciding on a face.

This is the only picture of Dale without his middle finger

being extended, he hates carving, lol!

The finished products.....

Tagged.....

2008-10-17T13:05:00.004-04:00

So apparently I've been tagged by my online buddy Kristine, hopefully I do this right, lol!! I'm supposed to go to my sixth photo album and post the sixth picture.

This is Miss Avery doing her first painting project, lol! Aunt Hope, who lives in Oregon, sent the girls a little care package and it included these shirts that came with laundry paint. Ignore the Dora jammies, we did this project in the morning, before shower time!

And just to be fair here's a picture of Rylee during the same project. With the way her hormones have been lately if she sees a blog of only Avery she might have a breakdown. Ugh, if this is the way a normal almost six year old acts I can't wait to see the teenage years!

So now comes the fun part, tagging someone else! I'm gonna go with Julie Anne since I know she has to have a good picture hidden somewhere!!

Elton concert....

2008-10-17T12:53:00.003-04:00

So, as many of you know I went to the Elton John concert on Wednesday night. Wow, what a great show! He opened with "Funeral For A Friend" (an old but very good song) and then followed that with "The Bitch Is Back" (my theme song, lol) before playing what seemed like every top song he ever came out with. His encore started with him spending 15 minutes signing autographs for people in the front row before he sat down to play "Pinball Wizard" and then finally "Your Song" which he dedicated to his fans. I think the highlight was him doing "Candle In The Wind" and "Daniel" solo, just him and the piano, OMG, I had chills, he sounded incredible!! I really wanted to take my camera but there were signs all across the entrance and they were checking bags when you went in so the camera stayed in the car. Of course as soon as the concert started there were flashes going off everywhere so I guess I should've been a rebel and tried to sneak the camera in! The girl I went with got a few pics. on her cell phone so hopefully one of them got okay.

Hopefully I'll see him again next year. There's a BIG rumor going around that Billy Joel is coming out of retirement to go on tour with Elton. This comment was made by Billy's guitarist and also by Elton so I'm hopeful that it will happen. I saw that concert in 2003 and I'll be fighting for those tickets again!

Weaver's Orchard

2008-10-12T12:41:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Saturday mornings trip to Weaver's Orchard for their family fall festival....

Getting ready to go out to the pumpkin patch...

Avery and her "little, little baby pumpkin"

This one looks good, huh?

Rylee and her 30 lb. pumpkin

Heading back to the orchard

Digging in the corn box

Who taught her that?!?!

Sleepy Head...

2008-10-10T20:59:00.006-04:00

This was taken at 8:30 this morning. I guess she was worn out from her late night at Disney On Ice. Yes, she's in our bed. She came over around 5:30 (I think) and I didn't have the heart to send her back to her room with the sun on it's way up.

Disney on Ice Pics.

2008-10-09T21:46:00.005-04:00

Wow, what a great show! The girls really enjoyed it and so did I. Here are a few of the WAY too many pictures that I took, some of the pictures are really dark because, well, the lights were out for the show, lol!!!

Before the show...

The Lion King

Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy

The Little Mermaid

Lilo and Stitch

Tinkerbell

The entire gang at the end of the show

"I throw up"

2008-10-09T13:05:00.003-04:00

So a few minutes after I put Avery to bed last night I heard her coming down the hall. Nothing new, I assumed that she was trying to get out of going to bed like most nights so I got up to get her back to her room. When I got into the hall she was standing there saying something that I couldn't understand. It took a few times for me to get it, she was saying "I throw up in my bed". LOVELY!!! Before I even got close to her bed I could smell it, ugh, I hate that smell. I'm still not sure why she got sick, I checked her temp and it was slightly high, 99.7, but not high enough for me to consider it a fever, and she's been fine ever since. After I changed her sheets she declared herself "sick", she knows that's a free ticket into our bed for the night, lol! So, Dale spent the night in her bed and she got to sleep with me.

Disney On Ice is tonight and the girls are excited!! We told them yesterday. Hopefully I'll get some good pics.

Less than a week until the Elton John concert, wahoo!!!! I have to check to see if Chocolate World is still open, anyone know? I Know the park is closed but I would love to get my hands on one of those Hershey's special dark milkshakes that they make at Chocolate World.

The Monster Mash........

2008-10-06T10:06:00.006-04:00

Just thought I'd get everyone into the Halloween sprit with a little Monster Mash, lol!!! Come on, you know you're singing along right now, now crank it up and start dancing! The girls have been listening to the Halloween CD in my car for over a week now. Ahhh, I love this time of year.

Another Football Friday...

2008-10-05T20:59:00.002-04:00

Nothing really new and exciting happened within the last week. We went to the homecoming football game on Friday, it was really cold but worth it. The team is undefeated halfway through the season. I'm not sure why I like going so much considering I don't watch pro football but it's really fun and the girls have such a good time.

This weeks schedule is pretty much the same with the exception of Thursday. We are going to see Disney On Ice but don't tell the girls, they don't know yet!! I can't wait to see Avery's face when Mickey and Minnie come out on the ice. She's a big Mickey Mouse Club House fan so she's really going to love this!

Rylee officially has her Halloween costume but you'll have to wait to see what she is going to be! We're still searching for Avery. She keeps changing her mind so I think I'll wait a few weeks to buy her costume.

The Magical Tooth Fairy

2008-09-23T12:19:00.003-04:00

Well, the tooth fairy made her first stop to our house last night and left a trail of stars on her way out. Let me tell you, that tooth fairy really knew how to sprinkle her stars because it took me 20 minutes of vacuuming to get them all up and I'm sure I'll be finding stars for weeks. Anyway, Rylee loved it! Of course last night she went right to sleep like usual with her lost tooth placed safely under her pillow in a bag. I snuck up about an hour later to realize that Rylee had fallen asleep holding on to the bag! CRAP!!! I somehow managed to get the bag out of her hand, took the tooth out of the bag and used that bag for her money ($5) and then I sprinkled some stars in the bag as well before sealing it back up. Then came the fun part, I sprinkled stars from her bed to her window in her bathroom. Well, I woke up to her looking over me, she was soooo excited to show me the money and the trail. She's probably bragging to everyone at school right now, lol!

The Tooth Fairy trail

I wanted to do all gold/silver but Walmart only had multi colored stars.

So yesterday I decided that I really need to get back in shape. I guess most people would consider me in shape but I know what I am capable of doing and, well, let's just say my body doesn't look even close to what it used to look like! I know my body will never be the same after being pregnant twice but my goal is to get back into a bikini next summer and look good wearing it. Rylee has decided that she wants to work out with me and the elliptical is just happy that it will be used for something other than collecting dust, lol! I did 30 minutes on the elliptical yesterday while the girls danced around the living room to the 80's music channel and today we did a Pilate's workout. Did you know that Comcast has FREE Pilate's workouts in their On-Demand section? Let me tell you, that stuff works, my butt and abs. are still burning!

It's out!!

2008-09-22T20:05:00.003-04:00

Notice anything different??

Looks like there's a tooth missing!!!!

Yes, the tooth has finally come out! After playing with it most of the morning and then going to school with it hanging sideways (!!!!) Rylee decided to pull it out. Now we're just waiting for her to go to sleep so the tooth fairy (aka. me) can come. I got confetti so I can make a tooth fairy trail from her window to her bed. Yeah, I'm a dork but I think it sounds kind of magical. I have talked to a few people, apparently the going rate for a first tooth is $5.00. Whatever happened to a quarter!?!?!?!?!

Loose tooth and a football game

2008-09-21T20:39:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone, I hope you had a great weekend! Rylee FINALLY has a loose tooth. When she was at the dentist in June he told us that her two front teeth were "slightly loose". Well, I could only tell when I really pushed on them so I just kind of blew it off. Rylee woke up Saturday morning and came running into the room telling me to check her tooth. It's as loose as it can be without falling out! So, as I'm checking it I notice that her gums behind it are all white. I was just about to yell at her for poor brushing habits when I realized that the "white stuff" is actually the new tooth that's already through! She's been complaining about her teeth hurting lately and I figured that's what it was but I didn't think the teeth were that close to popping up. Soooooo, keep checking back because I have a feeling that the tooth will be gone by the end of the week. Luckily she had her school pictures taken last Friday so we won't have a "toothless picture".

Let's see..... Friday night we went to the football game (see pic below), Saturday we went mini golfing and then I worked that night. Today was my usual Sunday morning grocery shopping trip followed by a lazy day around the house. Rylee helped me make a pumpkin pie and we had that for dessert tonight. Not much going on this week, school for Rylee, play for Avery, work for Dale and laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc. for me! Hopefully I'll have a picture of Rylee missing her first tooth. What is the going rate for a first lost tooth these days anyway??

The girls right before we left for the game.

Brrrr

2008-09-19T07:44:00.004-04:00

Okay, will someone PLEASE tell mother nature that it's not November yet! We woke up this morning to a very chilly house and Mr. Weather Man on T.V. is claiming that it's 49 degrees outside right now. It wouldn't be that bad but Dale likes to sleep with the windows open so I don't realize how cold it is until I jump out of my nice warm spot on the bed and get hit it a cold blast of air. Today is only going to be in the mid 60's and it's going to get down into the 40's tonight so I guess fall is officially rolling in.

Quick update on the girls. Nothing much to report, lol! With Rylee's school schedule we really don't have any time to do anything fun in the morning and by the time she gets home from school I am getting ready to start dinner. We're going to another football game tonight. The girls are very excited about going now that they know what to expect. There just better be hot chocolate there because it's going to be cold! Avery wants a "Wilson shirt" like Rylee's and of course they don't make them that little so I am going to try to be crafty today. I got a plain red shirt and I'm going to use iron on patches, wish me luck! I tried it the other day but I left the iron on too long and melted the patches, oops! Hey, I never claimed to be crafty, I just said that I would TRY!

Oh yeah, I'm going to see Elton John again!!!!!!!! I absolutely love him and he puts on a great show so I can't wait. This will be my second Elton concert, third if you count seeing him with Billy Joel. Yes, that concert was amazing too. I'm going with one of my good friends from work. Our birthdays are the following week so we are using this as a "birthday girls night out". We're going to have so much fun, I can't wait!

Quick Update

2008-09-11T08:50:00.002-04:00

Not much going on this week. We're slowly getting into the new school schedule. Rylee loves school so far and doesn't understand why she can't go on the weekends. She also started swimming lessons again. Obviously she knows how to swim but she's now in the advanced class that teaches stroke technique along with basic lifesaving skills. I've decided to not put her in age group swimming this winter. I don't want her getting frustrated (it's very competitive) and honestly I'm not ready to sit through four hour long swim meets yet! I remember those Saturday morning and they are sooooo long for the entire family. That's another reason why I put her back into lessons, it will keep her in the water until swim team starts next summer.

Miss Avery has been going great as usual. She's turned into quite the little fashion diva. I have her pile of winter clothing sitting next to her dresser waiting for the cooler weather to get here. She spends hours just sitting there trying everything on. She will now tell me that she wants a "pretty dress" on and if I pick an outfit out that she doesn't want to wear she gets mad.

We took the girls to their first Wilson football game last week and they loved it! We fully expected them to only last until half-time but they spent the entire game in the stands cheering.

We only took one break and that was for snacks and the potty, lol! Rylee is just getting into the whole school spirit thing so she thought it was pretty cool.

Here's a picture from the game, it was taken with a cell phone so the quality stinks but you get the idea!

Happy Labor Day!

2008-09-01T20:44:00.002-04:00

The "unofficial" last day of summer is here and I'm already missing it. The pool closed today so we went for our last swim this afternoon. It was kind of neat, almost every member was there so it was like a big party, we all said our goodbyes and promised to come back next year. This morning we went peach picking with my mom. It started out good, we had planned on only picking enough to eat for the week but we got a little carried away and picked also 30 pounds. Hey, at least we got the discounted rate, lol! When we got home we added the peaches to the big pile of apples and pears that I picked from my parents tree last night. Now I just have to figure out what I want to do with it all. I made apple dumplings for dinner tonight (Yes, it's a Pa Dutch thing, where else can you eat apple dumplings for dinner and not get looked at funny?) and I have peach muffins cooling as we speak. The pears will last longer than the peaches so I think I may make some peach sauce tomorrow. Mmm, it's really good heated up and poured over vanilla ice cream in the middle of winter. I may have to actually buy apples this year. My parents have three trees and none of them look too good yet. I usually make a crock pot full of applesauce to freeze and I'm not sure I'll even get enough apples to do that. I checked the trees last night when I was picking for dumplings and it looks like the deer have been busy eating them already. Oh well, I'm sure the girls will be excited about going back to the orchard to pick apples.

Meet Wilson..

2008-08-28T12:27:00.002-04:00

Meet the newest member of our family, lol! His name is Wilson, he loves pats on the head as you walk by him, hates rain (according to Rylee), and his favorite hobby is watching for Rylee's school bus in the afternoon. He did fairly well on the car ride home from Lowe's this morning, he sat in between the girls but he almost fell over because we forgot to buckle him in.

Okay, so it's not a real dog, but the girls think he's pretty cute and Rylee is so proud to display her school spirit! Now I just have to find on of those "Bulldog Country" flags that I see hanging everywhere and we'll be set for the school year!

First day of school...

2008-08-25T20:36:00.003-04:00

Rylee had her first day of kindergarten today and LOVED it! We drove her to school but she
requested to ride the bus home and now wants to take the bus every day. Her bus stop is at the end of the block and Avery loves watching for the bus to come. The only bad part, Rylee gets home in the middle of Avery's nap and the district won't let kindergarteners off the bus without a parent/responsible adult there so I need to get Avery up early. I woke Avery up this afternoon by whispering "time to go to the bus stop". Boy, I never saw a child jump up so fast!! She was so excited! Here are a few pictures from the big day............

Getting ready to go in.....

In the lobby where they got lined up...

Coming off the bus and still smiling!

Oh yeah, want a good laugh. We started to potty train Avery last week and she has been doing wonderful with it so far, a few accidents but those are to be expected. This afternoon the girls were playing outside on the playset and all of the sudden Avery comes running up to me telling me that she pooped in her cotton training panties. Apparently she had decided to take one more quick ride down the slide before coming to me because when I looked up I saw an eight foot long smear of poop going down the slide!!!! EWWWWW!! I guess it came out of the sides of her panties when she sat down at the top of the slide. Dale came home just in time to see me getting the hose ready and when he found out what it was he nearly fell over laughing. Ugh, it was nasty!

Happy 50th birthday mom!!

2008-08-17T13:17:00.005-04:00

My mom turned 50 this weekend and we had a surprise party last night for her (yes, my parents are very young!). Everyone had a great time and I think we really surprised her! Here are a few pictures from the big bash....

Ahh yes, a party isn't complete until it has an embarrassing cake

Surprise!!

Happy birthday to you!!

Mom and dad, still looking good!

You might be a swimmer...

2008-08-09T22:16:00.007-04:00

I found this somewhere and sadly, I understand all of this and have actually done most of it.

You might be a swimmer...

>If whenever you hear an electronic beep, and you instinctively jump, you might be a swimmer.
>If you have rings around your eyes unrelated to the amount of sleep you got, you might be a swimmer.
>If waking up before dawn to exercise seems normal, you might be a swimmer. (You might also be crazy)
>If jamming a piece of Styrofoam between your legs is not a kinky sexual activity, you might be a swimmer.
>If bugs die of chlorine poisoning when they land on your skin, you might be a swimmer.
>If you sport long, curling hair with split ends on your legs, you might be a swimmer.
>If the phrase "This set with fins" is better than hearing "You just won $1000," you might be a swimmer.
>If you answer, "I don't need to" when someone asks when you showered last, you might be a swimmer.
>If you love a good lightning storm when you have outdoor practice, you might be a swimmer. [hahahaha so so so true]
>When you learn how to squirt water 15 different ways, you might be a swimmer.
>When your long term goal is to slap your bicep on your lat, you might be a swimmer.
> When you wake up before six for the free doughnuts, you might be a swimmer.
>When you go through so much latex in one season you could wallpaper your room, you might be a swimmer.
>If a friend asks how a certain guy dresses and you reply, "I only see him without his clothes on" you might be a swimmer. [SPEEDOS!!!]
>If your friends have stopped asking you about your plans for the evenings, you might be a swimmer.
>If you go from store to store desperately trying to find your favorite sports drink, you might be a swimmer.
>If the first place you go when you're stressed out is a swimming pool, you might be a swimmer.
>If among your heroes are Janet, Jenny, or Amanda, or you know who I'm talking about, you might be a swimmer.
>If your daily apparel is held together by knots or is torn and see through, you might be a swimmer.
>If you have an inhaler in every color of the rainbow, you might be a swimmer.
>If the phrase, "50 double armed backstroke with a breast stroke kick¡± makes you happier than anything, you might be a swimmer.
>If being fish-like is a compliment, you might be a swimmer.
>If your friends don't even call you anymore because they know that you have no time to do anything, you might be a swimmer.
>If your nightmares consist of a series of numbers ending in 0 or 5, you might be a swimmer.
>If you have hickeys on your neck, you might be a swimmer or you might be lucky.
>If you sweat chlorine even after showering, you might be a swimmer.
>If you just don't understand the charm of the swim suit edition, you might be a swimmer.
>If getting smacked on the butt doesn't bother you at all, you might be a swimmer.
>If someone asks if you have any siblings and you start listing teammates, you might be a swimmer.
>If you cut yourself every time you shave, because you only do it 3 or 4 times a year and are out of practice, you might be a female swimmer.
> If you are determined, strong, smart and tough, you might be a swimmer.

And to add one last one... if your fingers are stained red from eating powdered Jello
every Saturday morning at the meets you might be an age-group swimmer.

Hersheypark Pics.

2008-08-09T21:36:00.004-04:00

A word to the wise.... When staying overnight near Hersheypark DO NOT stay at the Red Carpet Inn and Suites in Palmyra. Ugh, it was nasty, the room stank like an old cabin, there was dirt under the beds and the air conditioner was leaking so bad that the carpet was wet under it. We made the mistake of booking online without really researching it much and we have learned our lesson! I didn't expect it to be anything like the Hershey Hotel but come on, I expected them to at least clean the popcorn up from under the beds! As promised, here are a few pictures from our mini vacation!

At Chocolate World...

Meet Mr. Hershey Bar!

On the Fun Slide with Avery...

All aboard!

My tiny little girl, what a princess!

On her first "big girl" coaster, Trailblazer

Before the ride started, Avery didn't look so good after it was over!

Yeah, she looks "Hersheypark happy"!!

Another sick child...

2008-08-09T11:16:00.004-04:00

When it rains it pours in this house and today we have another sick child to deal with. Rylee started to complain of a headache last night but I thought it was just from the paint fumes that got into the house (Dale was spray painting right outside the door). Well, this morning she woke up with her head still hurting, her belly upset and a fever of 102. She's such an active child so when she gets sick she really feels it. She camped out on the couch this morning watching The Bee Movie and now she's taking a bath to "wash the germs away".

Hersheypark was so much fun! The weather was perfect and the lines were not bad at all! It was a little chilly for the waterpark but that didn't stop Rylee from splashing around for a while. Avery went on her first "big girl" rollercoaster and liked it. I'll post the pictures later this week.

Another little swimmer in the family....

2008-08-06T10:17:00.004-04:00

Miss Avery has a new talent, swimming! The summer started off with her being very clingy in the water and now she's a little fish! Her new thing, diving off the bottom step of the pool and swimming underwater to me a few feet away. She's so cute, she keeps her eyes open and kicks her little feet until she reaches me. I took her into the deep end yesterday to see how she would do and she dove right off the wall into 6 feet of water and swam to me, I was about five feet away. I didn't expect this to happen so of course the camera was at home, hopefully I'll get some good pictures of her soon.

Peaches!!

2008-08-04T20:58:00.006-04:00

One of the best things about living in Pa. is the summer produce and we are taking full advantage of it this year! We headed out to the local orchard this past weekend to pick
peaches for the first time. The peaches are on top of this huge hill so we got a great
view of the entire peach orchard and the apple orchard as well. The girls loved being able to
eat the peaches right off the tree. That reminded me of when I used to have my own peach tree. I loved waking up in the morning, stepping outside and picking my breakfast right
from the trees. Sadly, the tree overproduced one year and the branches split so my dad had to cut the tree down. Anyway, after we were done in the orchard we stopped at the playground before heading home for lunch.

**Disclaimer** Not sure what's going in with this post and why it's putting so many spaces in.
I tried to fix it, I can't, oh well!!

Trying to pick a peach

Can't get any fresher than this!!

At the playground and still eating!

Look Ma, I can do it too!!

On the rock climbing wall.

We'll be heading out to Hersheypark for a mini vacation on Thursday so look for lots of fun pictures next week!!

Sick little girl...

2008-07-26T14:30:00.002-04:00

Avery has been sick for the last few days. She started with a fever Wednesday night and continued it for most of Thursday. By Friday she had blisters in her mouth and around her ankles, official diagnosis, Hand Foot and Mouth. No big deal, Rylee had it a few times when she was little so we know what to expect. Here's a picture from the first day of the fever, she spent most of the day either laying on our bed or laying on the couch.

Swim meet pics....

2008-07-21T21:44:00.007-04:00

Rylee did awesome once again!! We swam against Amity A.C. and only lost by 16 points, it was an exciting meet! She swam the 25 meter freestyle and the 25 meter backstroke this week. She's getting pretty good at backstroke now that she knows how to use the backstroke flags to avoid hitting her head at the end. Here's a few pictures from the meet. Mommy raced again as well but we won't scare you with those pictures, lol!!

Getting ready for her first race..

After the race and still smiling!

Backstroke start, she can barely reach the bar to start!

Goofing off between races...

Sign me up, I wanna be on the swim team too!!

Blueberrry picking!!

2008-07-21T10:29:00.004-04:00

I decided to take Miss Avery blueberry picking this morning while Rylee was at school. This was something new to me so I had no idea what to expect. Thank God I had sneakers on both of us because we had to walk way out into the orchard and the grass was still wet from the storm last night. All the way out Avery kept saying "I don't likea blueberries". (Yes the "a" is there for a reason, she adds an "a" on the end of some words). Well, her opinion changed as soon as she had her first fresh picked blueberry. I think she ate more than what she put into the bucket and she's been eating them ever since we got home. I have a feeling that I'm going to have a massive diaper mess to clean up later. I also have a feeling that Rylee will want to go later this week once she gets home and gets a taste. That's okay though because we already ate most of the berries picked this morning.

See mom, this is how you do it!

Working hard

Who needs a bucket when you have an empty belly to fill!

2008-07-17T13:01:00.002-04:00

Wow, this summer is just flying by so fast! Rylee had another swim meet this past Monday and she did awesome! She swam 25 freestyle, 25 backstroke, and the free relay. They didn't have a meet last week so she had two weeks of nothing but practice and WOW, what a difference that made! She looked so much better. The coach also asked me to come out of "retirement" and swim at the meet because they needed one more person for the relays so after 15 years of not competing or practicing I poured my body back into a competition suit and raced. It actually didn't feel as bad as I thought it would. I was nervous on the blocks but once I got into the water it all came back within seconds. I just felt a little strange racing against a bunch of 15 year olds who probably train year round! Anyway, one more meet to go and then the season will be done. Rylee has had so much fun so far, I really hope this is just the beginning for her.
We also have some really big Avery news to report.... She has officially given up her pacifier!!
Those who have ever dealt with a "paci baby' know how hard it is to get children to give them up but Avery did great and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. She still asks for her "buddy"once in a while but accepts that he is now gone. Now we just have to work on potty training. I think we're going to really work on that once Rylee starts school. It's just so hard to concentrate on it right now when we are constantly on the go. Well, that's the weekly update. Sorry, there's no new pictures this week, my camera has been collecting dust lately!

Mini Golfing!

2008-07-11T15:02:00.004-04:00

We took both of the girls mini golfing together for the first time, what a blast! We didn't keep score but I think Avery won, she tends to cheat a bit, lol!!

Daddy helping Avery...

Who needs a club when hands work better, lol!!

Waiting for daddy to finish the hole.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

2008-07-09T20:54:00.007-04:00

Man, what a bust of a holiday weekend! It rained pretty much all weekend so we were stuck inside. We did go to the annual 4th of July parade Friday morning (in the rain,lol) but the pool was closed pretty much all weekend and the fireworks were cancelled for both nights. Finally by Sunday afternoon the sun came out so we went to the pool for a little bit and then went to see the fireworks that were cancelled the night before. Not much else to report. The swim team has a "bye" week so Rylee didn't have a meet on Monday but she's been practicing every day and I can already see a big improvement.

Here's a few pictures from Community Days last week....

Miss Avery riding the cars

Riding the Bee ride

The Train Ride

Doing the Free Fall Tower (yes, she really IS crazy)

First Swim Meet

2008-07-02T07:58:00.006-04:00

Rylee had her first swim meet on Monday and did GREAT! She swam two events, 25 butterfly and 25 freestyle. The poor girl, she got so excited before her first race that she forgot to put her goggles down but she kept going and even ripped them off halfway through the race,lol. I really don't think she even knows that she's racing against other kids yet, she's just excited when she finishes because she likes to hear the parents clapping for her. Miss Avery LOVED cheering for her big sister, but i think she liked the snack area better, every time I looked over she had convinced someone else to buy her a piece of candy. Yes, mean mommy put a stop to that after a while. Swim team practice is going good so far. It's Monday through Friday for a half an hour. They usually do a warm up of three laps (with a break after each one), work on stroke technique for a while and then do a warm down of a few more laps. The Wilshire Relays is coming up so they have been working on relay starts lately as well. Here's a few pictures of Rylee at her first meet!

Starting her first race.

She doesn't quite have the dive down yet ;-)

Team Fees: $35.00

Team Suit: $43.25

Team Cap: $10.00

Goggles: $10.00

Seeing her complete her first race: Priceless!

Second race, the goggles are down this time!

Cheering her team on with her new best friend.

Even the smallest team shirt is way too big!

Swim team here we come!

2008-06-23T20:11:00.005-04:00

It's official, Rylee is on the swim team! I took her to a swim meet tonight so she could see what it's like and she wants to try it so I signed her up while we were there. We went to Dick's and got her a racing suit, goggles and a cap so she's all set for her first practice tomorrow morning! I'm so excited for her but I'm not looking forward to sitting through those long age group meets again,lol. Stay tuned for pictures, she has her first meet next Monday and if you're not busy head over to our pool to cheer her on!! Our little girl is now a swimmer!!!

Yup, she's got the build of a butterflier, just look at those thighs!

Vacation 2008

2008-06-20T19:52:00.010-04:00

Well we're back and we survived another vacation to Ocean City, New Jersey! The ride down was quite interesting. We got stuck in traffic on the Blue Route in Phila. because there was a Phillies game starting within the hour and Rylee got car sick. Yeah, it wasn't fun! Luckily I had a plastic tub full of toys in the front so I dumped that out and got it to Rylee just in time. Ugh, the car stank until we could pull over in New Jersey to clean it out. The poor girl, that was her first time and she was so scared. The vacation was great once we got there. The girls had so much fun and already miss being there. The weather was perfect all week. Sunny and warm during the day but cool at night for the boardwalk. It only rained once and we were already back home for the night so we were safe. Rylee made a friend within minutes of being on the beach the first day and ironically Kelsey was staying in the house next to ours so they got to be best buddies for the week. Avery loved playing in the sand and actually took a few steps into the ocean for the first time. Her new nickname is now "beach bunny" because she loved being on the beach. We went to Atlantic City on Wednesday to go to The Rainforest Cafe for dinner. If you have never been to one I highly suggest going even if you don't have any children. It's so cool and the kids loved it! A bit pricey but worth it once in a while! After dinner we walked the boardwalk for a while before heading back to OC. We spent our last day at the waterpark that's on the boardwalk. It's become somewhat of a tradition to do that and it works out great because we don't have to deal with sand all over the kids for the car ride home. I had to stand on the side and watch most of the action this year because I still wasn't cleared for swimming so most if not all of the pictures are of Dale and the girls. I have my six week check up this week and hopefully most of my restrictions will be lifted and I can go swimming! I REALLY miss being in the pool and it's hard watching the girls have so much fun while I stand on the side. So, that's pretty much the story. I took a ton of pictures (over 200) and I am having a hard time picking only a few to share so I made a slideshow of the best pictures. Enjoy!!

Our first baby....

2008-06-11T10:07:00.004-04:00

Rylee is now officially a pre-school graduate!!! She had her graduation ceremony last Friday night followed by a visit to Rita's for ice cream. Here's a picture from the big night....

Other than that nothing much is happening this week. We're trying to stay cool during this heatwave so we've been spending most of our time at the pool, which stinks for me because I can't actually get in the pool until I'm fully recovered. I have my final post-op visit in two weeks and I hope she tells me that I'm healed enough to swim!! I was told at my two week post -op visit that I could do "10 second dips" but I miss being able to be in the water with the girls. Good news though, the pathology report came back great. Everything was taken out and there's no need for further treatments or surgery. WAHOO!!! I can finally breath a sigh of relief after five years of dealing with this!

We've got quite a busy schedule for the next week. We have a wedding in Altoona (3 hour drive) on Saturday, staying there that night and then coming home on Sunday. The girls are staying with Dale's parents while we're gone. I'll spend the rest of Sunday unpacking from the wedding and then repacking for vacation. We leave for Ocean City on Monday as soon as Dale gets home from work and we'll be there for the rest of the week. Ugh, hopefully I'll find time to sleep!

Sisterly Love...

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

Rylee has been begging to sleep in Avery's room for a few nights now so we finally let her do it the other night. On the nights that I tell her "no" she waits until Avery is asleep and then sneaks into her room without us knowing!! It's actually kind of cute, she brings her pillows and blankets down and sets up a little bed on the floor next to Avery's bed. Here's a picture from the other night, I snuck in after they fell asleep. On the nights when Rylee is allowed to sleep in Avery's room they squeeze into Avery's twin bed together.

We also joined a pool for the summer, YAY!! I'm sure we'll have lots of pool shots soon since I plan on spending most of the summer there. We've already gone a few times and the girls love it. I'm thinking of signing Rylee up for the swim team too. I'm kind of worried because Rylee is very young to be on a team but I know the coach there and she wants Rylee on the team and is very willing to work with her. We'll see, the meeting is Monday night and then we'll go from there.

Wow!!!

2008-05-29T08:50:00.003-04:00

Holy crap,it's been almost two months since I updated the page, sorry about that!! For those of you that know the story, my surgery was May 21st and recovery is going pretty good so far. I'll know more once the pathology report comes back next week but my doctor is very optimistic about everything. Anyway, the girls are doing great. They have been spending most of their time with Dale since I can't move around too fast yet. This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend and the weather was PERFECT!!!! We went to the local parade on Saturday morning, followed by a walk to the playground. I overdid it a bit that morning so the rest of the day was spent at home with me laying down. Sunday was a nice relaxing day. We went to Dale's parents for dinner, it was nice to get out but I was in bed by 8:30 that night. Monday it was pretty hot so we went to the local pool and the girls LOVED it. The water was only 68 degrees but they both went in and had a blast. We may join that pool but if not we are joining aonther one so most of the summer will be spent in water!! Yay!!! Tuesday was really hot and humid so the girls got to run around in the sprinkler. Avery was scared of it last year but not this year!! She took off and ran right into it as soon as I turned it on. Well, that's all for now, we'll be heading to Ocean City, NJ for our annual visit in a few weeks so look for loads of pictures then. For now here's a few pictures taken over the last month.....

A few pictures of the girls at the local playground....

Sprinkler pictures....

Please forgive me....

2008-04-04T11:48:00.004-04:00

Sheesh, I guess I've slacking lately on the blog, huh!! It's been over a month now so I have to think about what's been going on. Let's see, Rylee started spring swimming lessons a few weeks ago and is doing great as usual. The coach for Wyo. Hills pool is trying to talk me into getting Rylee on the team this summer but I think we're going to hold off for one more year. I don't want her to start too young and get frustrated. Rylee also had a VERY big day last week, kindergarten sign-ups were Monday morning. She was tested and is ready to go so now we just have to see if she gets into the full day class or if she'll be going half days like most of the kids. Her school only has enough room for one full-day class so it's a lottery to see who gets in. We went to Chuck E Cheese after sign up with a few of the other kids so that Rylee would know them when the big day gets here. Avery has turned into a little chatterbox lately, lol! Her speech is great and very clear for her age as well. She's definitely turning into a little princess though and is more "girly" than Rylee but she'll still hold her own when we have our wrestling matches at night.
Easter was a ton of fun this year. The girls got WAY too much candy but hey, that's part of it, right? We had our egg hunt in the house this year, it was just too cold to be outside at 6:30am in the middle of March! Well, the girls are starting to yell for lunch so I better go feed them before they turn into wild animals. Here's a few Easter pictures for y'all to enjoy.
I'm sure you can figure them out on your own, I'm too lazy to label them today!!