Labor Day 2009

We spent Labor Day weekend at the lake again this year. The weather couldn't have been better. We were able to play in the lake on both a calm and wavy day as well as get in a great boat ride. Abby and Will played with their cousins of all ages and had a blast.


Abby and Will played really well with each other. It was nice to be able to actually sit a little on the beach and watch them entertain each other.




There was tons of bird poop on the pier so some of the adults started the process of washing it all off. Will decided he wanted to help so he went and got a bucket of water from the lake and walked it over. I am not sure how much water was actually still in the bucket by the time he got it there but it was really sweet to see him wanting to help with out my prompting. Abby decided she wanted to help too and brought over a bucket as well.

We feel so grateful to get to spend several weekends up at the Lake. It is a beautiful and relaxing place with lots of family and good friends. I know we are making such precious memories for our children.

We drove home early from the Lake on Monday to meet my side of the family for a special lunch. My grandparents have been married for 60 years, what an amazing milestone. It was nice to see everyone get together to honor them and their commitment.

We are back to school today for Abby and tommorrow Will starts preschool. Looking forward to all that the approaching fall season has to offer.

Kids being Kids

Here is a funny video of my kids just because. Will decided to make an invention and of course I had to capture his creativity. Then things went down hill from there. I love that my kids can be so carefree and silly. I love that Will loves to dance. So here are my kids in all their silliness and I loved every minute of it. Remember to pause the music on the bottom left of the blog;)

Irish Festival 2009

This past weekend was the Dublin Irish Festival. It is attended by close to 100,000 people and is an event we attend every year we can. This year we took Abby and Will on Saturday afternoon and then came back without the kids for Saturday evening.

Here Abby and Will are doing some type of Irish jig to the tune of the hokey pokey


Here Abby and Will are flying high, I am glad they enjoyed it as we waited 45 minutes to an hour to get to do it.

Abby and Will jumped and climbed on all sorts of things and had a blast. I will try and post some video of them on the climbing wall.

We heard some great music that night and we were able to enjoy the evening with some great friends as well. I recommend checking out celtic-tenors.com and brigidscross.com.

Pool Day!!

This past Friday night Mike met us at the pool for an evening swim. Mike has been really wanting to take the kids swimming so I took them Friday @ 4pm and he met us there @6pm. We had a great time, Abby passed the swim test which was very difficult as she had to swim against a current. She was so proud of herself as was I. Here are some picture of our evening. Abby and me, Mike and Abby on the tube slide and Will eating his PB&J. It was a beautiful evening and a great time of family bonding. I am looking forward to many more of these fun family events. Thank you Lord for the blessing of my family. For children who love to laugh and a husband who wants to be there for them at all times. I am truly grateful.

Good Weekend

Well this weekend was fun for all. On Friday I took Abby and Will to Grandma's for a weekend stay. The kids were very excited as they always have fun there. After I dropped off the kiddos I had to get a new driver's license. I was a little worried waiting in line as both ladies ahead of me could not understand the directions to the vision test. The man behind me started laughing a little bit because it was a sight to see these women keep asking questions and the lady behind the counter kept saying the same thing, "Middle column, 4th row". I turned around to him and said " I am not going to laugh because that could be me next". Needless to say I did pass and got a brand new pretty license. I was in desperate need of a new picture as my last one I got taken just after a new haircut gone bad, too much bangs for me to handle.

Friday night Mike and I went to downtown Dublin and had a light meal on the porch of Brazenhead. The temperature was perfect and with music in the background it made for a fun evening. On Saturday I slept in(yeah for me) and then we headed out to do some shopping. We really wanted to go to the Memorial Tournament but were unable to get tickets this year. We went to Easton instead and enjoyed the weather and a little retail therapy. The kids went with the grandparents to Youngs Dairy and had a great time petting animals, playing in the barn and scoring two presents each from the gift shop. My children are certainly deprived!!! On Saturday night we headed to downtown Dublin again for a great meal at Tucci's. We ate outside again and had a delightful meal. We were hoping to see some of the golfers from the tourney there but they were in a private dining room. We were home by ten oclock each night and it was nice to catch up on some sleep.

Sunday we attended our church and then headed to pick up the kids. We ate cake and ice cream to celebrate my upcoming birthday. Then we headed home and Mike taught his last Dave Ramsey course at church. My husbands cousin stopped by with a beautiful arrangement of flowers for my birthday. I really think they are the prettiest flowers I have ever recieved.

So it was a nice relaxing weekend for Mike and I and an activity filled weekend for the kids and grandparents. We are so blessed to have two sets of grandparents who actually like taking our kids for the weekend. We love that our families are less than an hour and half away each. Thankyou Lord for a wonderful kick off to the summer.

Family Movie Night

Well we had our first official family movie night tonight. My husband Mike suggested we do it and it was alot of fun. We often have alot of weekend nights where we hang out together as a family but we thought it would be nice to make the night a little special. So we rented the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, ordered pizza and put a blanket down in the family room and had a picnic. It was alot of fun and I think it is a good idea once in a while to make something so ordinary as watching a movie a little more special. We had seen the movie together in the theater but the kids wanted to see it again. They were so funny watching it and there is some upbeat music so the kids got alot of exercise grooving to the chipmunks. It really is a cute movie that the whole family was able to enjoy.

I hope to establish the tradition of a special family night more often. Right now we are fortunate that the evenings are pretty free for our kids so really every night is some sort of family night. Yet I know this will change as the kids get older and so establishing the importance of a family special night is a good thing. I know it is nothing new and a lot of other families do it but this was our first official one and I am very grateful for the memories created. I am also cherishing the fact that our kids actually want to hang out with us because I know that is not always guarenteed as the age. Yet I am hopeful that by teaching them the value of "family time" early will leave a lasting impact on them.(Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6)

Spa Day

Well this afternoon while Will took a rare afternoon nap, Abby had a wonderful idea. She wanted me to fix her hair like at a real hair salon. This sounded fun to me as I have always loved getting my hair done so we hit the ground running.


First I gave her a great scalp massage, followed by a shampoo. She requested conditioner as well so we did that.


Then I gave her a quick blow dry to get her hair slightly less damp for the next step


Then we decided to go ahead and get some curls going. She sat patiently as I rolled the curlers. She really was the perfect client. Very chatty and she sat super still.


Here is the final result. Doesn't she look fabulous. When I was taking the curlers out she was asking about why we didn't leave them in very long. I told her that if you leave them in too long the hair will get too curly and frizzy. She then says "You mean like Oprah". Yes Abby, like Oprah. Oh she is too cute. Thankyou Lord for this precious little girl who covets spending time with me. I love her so.