Aunt Hopes party....

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

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.

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!

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....

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...

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.....

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

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!!!

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!!

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

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!!!

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....

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

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!

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!

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??

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".............