Stitches.

My friends Tanya and Gary just sent me a link to a clip from Ellen that left me in stitches! It is Ellen calling this 88 year old lady who is a fan from Austin, Texas. it is good clean fun and I hope we hear more from her!!!
http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/ellen-gladys-hardy-p1.php
on another Stitches note- Gibson got his removed today and was very brave about it, although his skin had kinda grown over some of them and the scissors poked him. He shrieked and cried a little bit. He was really scared, so he did really well under the circumstances. I was trying to chill him out and told him the antibacterial ointment looked like boogers- which he loved and disgusted the doctor (a lady who is subbing for ours right now). Here are the before removal and after removal pics, and yes, the doctor DID think I was a nut for taking them, thank you very much!!!

Purple princess!

My lovely friend Ali flew up here at the last minute to try to resolve a medical issue, and she loves my kids and talks to Delaney often. well, little princess was running around (sans clothes for some reason!) with a shopping cart and went up to Ali and said "bye Ali, I be right back. I goin' shoppin'!" Ali laughed and said, "Where are you going? Red White and Blue ?" (our favorite Thrift store) Delaney nods and says," Uh-huh, and purple!" (her "flave-writ col-uh"). Now we have a new boutique!!

Ali was later reading her a bedtime story, one of our favorites, Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boyton, which catalogs a silly turkey that keeps putting his clothes on wrong. At the end, he finally puts them on right (with purple socks! and red shoes), but dives into a pool. After they were done reading stories, they said nightly prayers, with Ali going first. Delaney then said hers and pretty much mimicked Ali until the ending where she said "purple socks, red shoes, AMEN!"

You know, if you needed it in Spanish...

She is really like this everyday!!!

Leavin' us in Stitiches.

So last weekend was supposed to be a joyous family occasion, and it was sweet- but short! We Started off in Md with Derick's mom and to reunite with Gibson after a week away (he SOOO didn't miss us and LOVED being an only [read: spoiled] child for a week!) Then we went to another area in MD, where little niece was baptized and then, we all got to go back to Derick's brother's (John's) house where the fun could truly begin! Here are our families!

They had a moon bounce there that I was planning on getting on myself- it had a bounce, a climbing wall and then a slide down the other side, lots of yummy food and drink, and a swing set.

Well, Gibson DOMINATED the moon bounce- zooming up the wall, then jumping down the slide, but it was pretty hot out there and he felt he needed to keep moving- so he went to the swing set instead. It gets a little murky here, but apparently he pounced onto the "rock wall" part of the swing set, banged his shin, and it kind of popped open in a huge, bleeding gash. Luckily John is a Police officer with oodles of other skill sets (rescue diver, Marshall, first responder, maybe an EMT) and he had a friend at the party who is a Athletic Team Trainer and knew tons of first aid type stuff and they bandaged him up like CRAZY with butterfly bandages, gauze, tourniquets, ice packs and the whole 9 yards- but they also told us the bad news- he def. needed stitches, because his cut was gaping so much. So the rest of our afternoon was spent in an Urgent Care where our screaming son (that Lanacaine really set him off! it stings!!!) received 6 stitches.

He of course had to give his super-villain face as we were leaving with the nice, sympathy-inducing super bandage too. He and his sister conked out for most of the ride home after his traumatic afternoon! We are so sorry our visit with family was so brief- we did enjoy it when we were together- but our boy being a boy- left us in stitches!

Photo finish!

So, the pics are in on the race photography website, Sportography.com, and although my sweet friends always say I am photogenic, this was NOT one of those times, folks! Just realized how UNFLATTERING the tri-suit can be! But hey, I finished it!!! and the reason why there are 7 photos of me finishing is because my mother in law was friendly to the photographer!!!

so if you are really interested in see my glorious action shots, go to the above link and see the last page (pg. 4) of the "Lost and Founds" for running, then by bib number 315 for an even lovlier bike shot, and I didn't see any swim ones (thank goodness for small favors!), but you can go poke around the first pages of the "browse event" pictures to see the pier, steps, lake and stuff..... my race was Diamond in the Rough on July 12, 2008 if you get turned around.

Thanks for being such fans and for supporting me so much! I will really need it November 1st! (actually I have found the training to be SOO much worse than the race itself!!) Evidently I need to get rid of the chocolate too!

Big boy on Va-cay!

Since we were in Maryland for the race, and are returning next weekend for our niece's baptism, Grandma asked if Gibson could stay! We discussed with him and let him make the choice and he chose to stay! Apparently he is having a ball and hasn't even asked to call home (although Delaney asks for him about every two hours). I told my mother in law if she wanted to get his haircut, she could- and here it is! I thought it was so cute and that toothless grin just seals the deal! Sigh- I miss my little big man!

My fans are waiting!

I know, you want to know, but I haven't gotten any good pictures yet! (and I probably won't get any GOOD ones) but here goes:I successfully completed the longest and most arduous Triathlon I have ever done on Saturday, July 12th. It is an International or Olympic Distance and this one did not fool around with the short swim or easy bike course either! In fact, even the run was difficult with about four different terrains, now that I think about it! I will give the (as close as I get to it) Reader's Digest version of my experience, but if you want every drop of detail, I can send you the nitty gritty race report later...

Anyway, lots of prayers were said on Friday when my mother in law and I saw the bike course- all up hill. I cried and prayed alot and the next morning, I actually adopted a whole new attitude- riding up and down hills just might be fun. So I took that with me, and tried to ignore that up to seeing the bike course, I had been scared of the mile lake swim!
Another thing I had been praying about was my wetsuit. I did an open water practice with it on Wednesday and was really having a terrible time with it. I prayed that I might get a specific answer whether or not to wear it because I had reasons for both. Twenty minutes after arriving at the race, an announcement is made: the water temperature is 83 degrees- all wetsuits are BANNED from the competition- so is THAT specific enough for me????

Anyway, open water swim was actually quite nice, albeit slow, but there were plenty of life boats to save me if I went too wild. You had to run up a pier and 35 steps, then into transition to get your bike, Run with your bike to a mounting area and then off you go on your 28 miles of hills!


would you know I had so many prayers answered that day, that it WAS actually alot of fun zooming down hills! The hill that I could not even gear my manual transmission car on (it was THAT steep) was really tough, but I DID NOT get off of my bike a single moment the entire course- and I have to say I am really proud of that, because I passed several that had to walk their bike up (I had even asked the race director if it was legal to do, because I was totally planning on it!!!) . Granted I was going less than 5 miles an hour, but I was pumping it!!!

The five mile run was heavy and hard by that point- I think the awards ceremony was over by then as well, and my legs felt like tree trunks after that strenuous ride, but I kept going. I freaked out early on because I realized that I didn't have my bib (number) on and was terrified they were going to DQ me after all that work!! I admit I walked a good chunk, especially when we were running on grass (seriously??!!) and it was so hot, i was just trying to stay upright- let alone moivng forward. Near the finish, I started my sprint in, and the huge tri team camped there began blowing bull horns,and cheering so i ran even faster to at least finish with some dignity. The Very Best Thing was that my mother in law brought the kids- and they were cheering for me as I came in! I felt so proud that they could see me cross the finish line!


Less than four hours (not MUCH less) after I started, I finished it!

Knitting Nerdiness- AGAIN! and again

Here is Michelle Wasden wearing her ab-fab Anthropologie capelet with 3/4 arms - tapered too I might add!! I whipped this up after a very careful and thorough yarn search! The wool was this fabulous handpainted stuff that has about a million colors- you could wear anything with this and it would match! I also lucked out on a cool toggle button so she can wear it inside out too.

She did it again!

Michelle Wasden did even more works of art with my children- Got to love PhotoShop and Creative Genius!!! I was considering making these surprises, but I can't hold these back!Love how we captured him perfectly- Power Ranger Wanna be!!

Can anyone say DIVA?? Captured her perfectly too!

and my absolute favorite...

Like a SLUG!

So I did something the other day that other mothers will GASP when they read- I got up, shuffled into the kitchen, threw together food for my son (props to the nutritious Nutella sandwich and milk), turned on a movie, and went back to bed. Now while I know that no other mother out there has EVER done that, the movie was actually debated upon for a while- Gibson always trying to sneak in the ever present violent daddy movies- and we eventually settled on Star Wars: A New Hope.


I actually woke up Laughing hysterically when my son comes running back to the room with disgusted look on his face saying " Mom, Why is Jabba the Hut just a big sea slug????!!!!"



Needless to say the geek in me was a little worried that he knows more about the ocean that Star Wars- really what kind of mother am i???

Diva beast!

So little miss got into my makeup-(AGAIN!) and would you believe the little Vixen actually got some mascara on her eyelashes!! That means that not only does she pay really close attention to Mommy, but she has good coordination too!!!

S-a-f-e-t-y dance!

Actually, it is Safety Town- and it is an adorable and fantastic service provided by Ewing Schools, and the Kiwanis Club. Gibson and all other rising Kindergartners got to attend a two week long program that taught them the importance of all kinds of Safety- fire, pedestrian, stranger, road, train, water and many more. Gibson loved his camp councilors but hated the homework he was supposed to do every night! The gym at Ewing High was set up as an adorable town and they even had roads, a traffic light and vehicles. They took two field trips to a fire station and one to a police station and there was a police officer that was with them for the entire two week period that they could learn from. They had an adorable graduation with several songs and safety demonstrations. I am so glad he got to attend and I think he was glad too!

Just the girls!

In early June, I went out with my Gym girls- the chicks that motivate and inspire me! My fantastic Trainer Chris and my "Team" Aliah and Faith. Aliah was going to be shafted by the global calendar and have her b-day fall on Father's day, so just us went out and had fun with some INCREDIBLE Mediterranean nosh! We loved terrorizing the cute waiter, and eating (and by the way, eating too) and of course, showing off our GUNS!!Even earlier in June i got my Indoor Cycling certification with Faith down in Atlantic City! Here we are with our hilarious instructors! So now I am Spin Certified!! I will let everyone know if that amounts to anything eventually!

Then later that weekend, was the baby shower for a lady I have known since the week after I came to NJ! She is having a GIRL!!! Derick actually got to baptize her husband, so our families go way back! I also got to take one of my great friends Jenn with me, so it was great catching up. To top it all off, My friend Anne Taber was here from Great Britain and I got to spend an afternoon in New York with her! So there were lots of Girl moments in June!

Before Malissa

Unfortunately, I also lost my cell phone and thus began a vicious cycle of breaking the TWO replacements- so feel free to text me so I can get your number on my newest phone! After Malissa

Joshua celebrates...

the last day of Kindergarten! We took a road trip to Rainforest Cafe! The kids actually liked the food, but with a place like this, you go for the ATMOSPHERE (although the exploding volcano cake made it worth it to me!!! YUM!!!)

Delaney tried to give thumbs up too, but came up with number 1 instead! (Gib as power ranger in the background)
Gibson as fish in front of the tank!

Graduate!

Gibson graduated from Camelot Preschool in an adorable ceremony that of course made Mommy cry. He has been here for three years of his life and the teachers have become family. Finding this school was also an answer to SEVERAL prayers! We loved this place and he has learned so much there- it was an end to an era- Until Delaney joins in '09!

Miss Leah, Mrs. Rachel, Mrs. Lannigan, Miss Stacey, miss new teacher I never met, Mrs. Susan (director of school)

I think the sound is shot in this video, but he pointed at me mid-procession and said something like- hey how did you get over there? you were over there!




This is supposed to be "If you're happy and you know it" but I think the sound is broken! Charlie and Molly are the other two stars, and Ms. Stacey!

They sang lots of songs, said the pledge, recited the alphabet in sign language and the sounds every letter says, and of course got their diplomas. three other cute things were "Superlatives"- Gibson got most lost teeth, but refused to smile to the crowd on demand, a presentation of flowers to the mommys, and launching their career goals (deep sea diver) on a balloon with their daddies (and of course, Gibson's went right into a tree!!)


Afterwards there were treats and mingling. Delaney took advantage of the toys!

Um, this "thing" he can do by himself on here is a LIE!!!

It was such a sweet occasion, and we were proud of our little graduate!

Almost in Kindergarten!

On Wednesday June 18th, all the upcoming Kindergarteners got to got to school and hang out with their classmates and teachers while the parents got to be in a long winded schpeil about how to read to, feed and care for your child- I wish I was kidding, but I am not. I almost fell asleep, but tried to be dignified about it. ANYWAY! it was exciting to see more of Gibson's school and he seemed to have a really great time. They made the Ks in the picture during their craft time.

Hatchery at Howell!

Whew-this summer is flying by! we have had a busy one so far!

One of the first things we did this summer was attend the Hatchery program at Howell Living History Farm. We just called it farm camp, but we were super excited because our friend Rachel was teaching. When I signed up for the camp I was surprised at how small the cost was- but then I was reminded that I would be required to work around the farm while Gibson was learning in the Hatchery program! WOW, what a good deal that was for the FARM!!!! We actually did some pretty heavy labor, and Gibson and the kids got to do some really cool things. The gang of parents and grandparents that I worked with everyday were so awesome and I miss them now that it is through!

Here is a breakdown of some of the Shenanigans we were a part of:

Monday
Moms/Dads, grandpas/grandmas: moved wood, logs and brush. Although a BEAUTIFUL wood pile was created, I did not get a picture- and I am telling you- it was a work of art (and very sweaty hard labor!). I think my fav part was hanging out of the back of the Toro while we drove around the farm- and of course MY woodpile ;)



Kiddos: Well, the initial report I got from Gibson was this: "We fed the animals. guess what, mommy? for snack we got to eat butter on crackers!" At least 20 minutes after I ooh-ed and ahh-ed over his brief report, I found out that they actually MADE the butter they ate by "churning" it in jars with marbles in them!

Tuesday
Moms/Dads, grandpas/grandmas: More brush removal, weeding and primping main road garden, picking up litter on the main road (seriously, cigarette butts are/is litter people!!!) and beginning to take down an event tent (trickier than it seemed!). Somewhere around this time I realized i had poison ivy: on. my. back. side! GRR!


Kiddos: They began dyeing wool and got to collect the eggs from the chickens, along with the daily feeding of the animals (you bring in scraps from home- the animals and kids get a kick out of it!)

Wednesday

Moms/Dads, grandpas/grandmas: More work on the tent, beginning to pick up Osage orange branches- folks these things do NOT mess around- huge thorns that can pop tires and cripple a horse. We used pitch forks and rakes to deal with these monsters! Then to make sure we didn't waste any of our remaining time, we got to shovel sheep poop in their yard!
Kiddos: used their dyed wool to make really cool butterflies! Thursday
Moms/Dads, grandpas/grandmas:More, and I mean MORE Osage orange clippings. While we didn't actually cut them, there was still alot of work to do to make sure none were left on the ground.
Kiddos: Cool butterfly kites- as we came in from the Osage (different part of the farm) we got to watch them try to fly them by running down a hill! It was really cute and they were so happy!
Friday
Moms/Dads, grandpas/grandmas: I heard there was even more Osage to do, but I was the helper parent with the kids and Rachel. We had a blast brushing the horse, feeding the pigs, collecting eggs from the chickens, shelling corn to feed to the sheep, grinding corn for food for the farm animals and making beaded bracelets with colors that would remind us of the farm. After we were done, some of the families hung around and we had a little picnic.



This week was SOOO much fun! but hard work and a learning experience too!