summer

Grandma's Marathon weekend was F U N fun at our house. I even took a few random pictures. Looky here...

Amy supervising giant marshmallow roasting. Clearly Steve does not know what he's doing (I just know that's what she's thinking - HA!)

Did I mention they were GIANT marshmallows???

How cute are little girls? Seriously cute.


You know you're a redneck when...you use the air compressor to get your fire started. Ok, this is probably not safe.


Ah summer....

run a 5K, check

I keep telling myself should make a bucket list of all the things I want to do before I die. Like writing them down will make me actually do them. I never actually follow through on the whole making of the list though. Probably because I'm just too lazy. Or maybe because I have more determination than I give myself credit. If I really want something, maybe I don't need a list...

List or no list, running a race was never on it. I'm not a runner. Then last summer Joe's cousin Jen highly encouraged me to take up running. This spring she asked me to join her in the William A. Irvin 5K. So I did. I know it's only a 5K, but I'm pretty proud of myself for setting a a goal that was difficult for me and sticking to it. I really hated the running, but really loved the feeling of accomplishment and having my family there cheering me on. I can still picture Gabe jumping out of the crowd waving and yelling like crazy when he saw me. It was really awesome.

Here's proof I did it, don't mind my lack of style.


Thanks for all your encouragement Jen, you rock! And make me laugh REALLY hard!


And no, I won't be running the Marathon or even the half next year, so don't even ask.

The End

oh yeah...we went to FL

...in April! Ok, so I don't blog much anymore, whatever. We've been to Orlando so many times, but this was the best trip yet. Largely because we went with Carrie and family again AND our kids are older and more self-sufficient which means they require less supervision and leave us alone more. Yet they are still young enough to want us around, lovely. Our trip was the perfect balance of downtime and activities. So much fun...let's do it again guys!

We were there over Easter. Easter egg hunt, steak and shrimp on the grill, Vicki racing the kids around the pond after a few glasses of wine...it's a long story, don't ask. Very fun night.




We topped off a great evening with a late night drive to Merrit Island near Cocoa Beach where we spent the night so we could get up at 4:30 AM and watch the Space Shuttle launch. So worth the drive and the lack of sleep!


We never go to Orlando without hitting Fun Spot. It's a great park with carnival type rides. The kids seem just as happy here as they are at any of the big parks. Why we continue to torture ourselves is beyond me. It was beautiful out each day of our trip. The colors at Fun Spot with the evening sky were gorgeous.

Although I kind of like this one better in sepia.


I hope these boys are friends forever. Makes my heart happy.







We also did Universal, went out a lot and had a ton of pool time. Those pictures are all apparently on Ava's camera, which I just don't have energy for at the moment.

winter revisited and spring has sprung

Spring cleaning apparently includes getting the winter pictures off my camera...finally!

A quick look back at Christmas. Ava looks like one of the Price is Right girls presenting her brother here.

Oh, my pretty girl with the twinkly Christmas lights...


Gabe wanted a mohawk in the worse way. When he got his haircut before Christmas, Darcy kept agreeing that she'd give him one. Meanwhile I'm standing behind him shaking my head at her - no way! She cut it so he could get it to stand up with a lot of product. He was a little disappointed that it wasn't a "real mohawk". Bless Darcy's heart for convincing him it was a unique kind of mohawk and he needed to own it.

Hmm...peace dude or rabbit ears???


We went skiing, cross country and downhill, a lot this winter. We took the kids to Giants Ridge and Powder Horn along wih the local hills. They did great! Ava joined me on a few jaunts at Korkki Nordic on the skinny skis. The girl has some natural ability and real potential. I'm looking forward to having her as a ski partner. Gabe took snowboard lessons. I have a feeling he'll be pushing to do more of that next year. Our last outdoor winter adventure was sledding a few weeks ago with the Meneghini's. We had fun! Well right up until the point that Carla had a major wipeout that is. I didn't get a picture of her taking the jump on a saucer. Trust me, she had some major air going.

Paul and Kasey cruising.

Look how cute Carson is...



Just as cute upsidedown!

I have about 100 pictures of Joe with various kids piled onto one sled. They have the same expression in every single picture. Love it :)



That's enough about winter. On to spring!!!

As I was sitting here working on this, I looked out the window and saw the kids on their bikes. My camera was right there. How could I not go snap a few pictures to capture these gorgeous kids enjoying another beautiful early spring day (thank you Mother Nature!) .

Living in the country in the spring means mud boots. Ava can make them work with any outfit. Pre-ride warm up?

I still remember coaxing Gabe to ride a bike. When did he grow up?

She actually considered asking for training wheels back, but then she decided to see if she could remember how to ride first. Good choice, A.



I'm happy it's spring. I can't wait for summer. Now it's my turn to go enjoy the day!

skiing at spirit

We love to ski! Gabe and Ava have been skiing for several years now with no real injuries, until today. I didn't know what to think when I saw skis and polls scattered all over the hill Ava standing wide eyed, Charlotte (8) with her back to me, Gabe curled up in a ball on the ground. When Charlotte turned around and I saw the gigantic goose egg on her head, I knew something bad happened. Gabe and Charlotte collided. Heads hitting heads or heads hitting helmets, who knows. Ava says it was loud, and I can tell you it had to have been ugly. I went to Gabe, crying like crazy. He lifted his head and looked at me, and I was in shock when I saw the huge bruise growing above his eye. He couldn't even open his eye! Apparently head injuries like this can look worse than they are. Joe finally told me to step away when I wouldn't quit freaking out about him needing to go to the hospital. In the end, he's fine. I'm his mom, so I'm sure I'm making more out of this than it is, but I think it looks horrible. Here he is about 5 hours after it happened. What do you think?

happy birthday amy!

You get totally ripped off having your birthday on Christmas, but I remembered you! Happy Birthday to my friend that I love to laugh with, that tells the best (albeit longest) stories and is always the last one to call it a night. Hope you have a great birthday and a good Holiday too!

belly pics

I want to be a really good photographer. Of course, I want this to happen on its own. I want to be naturally good at it...yeah, pretty sure that is not going to happen. Now that my kids are older, I've let myself spend more time with my camera. I'm on a mission to find new subjects that will let me take up their time in hopes that they'll get one or two decent pictures out of it, and I'll get some good practice. I hope Jamie and Kevin find something they are happy with after today's shoot. It wasn't nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be. It was fun! I learned a lot, and I'm so appreciative of their time. (And thanks Joe for building the backdrop for me!)

How cute are they?!?

Less than a month to go!

Some peoples say it's cheesy, but we just had to do the heart...I like it :)

By the way if you need pictures taken of yourself or your kids, give me a call...I still need A LOT of practice!