Halloween

Hard to believe it's already been a week since Halloween - the week just flew by! We had a fun day. We went to our friend Steve and Liz Butler's house around 3:30 for a pre-party. We always trick-or-treat on their road with them. This year falling on a Saturday, they had a bunch of people over in the afternoon for food and fun before trick-or-treating. It was a great time! Lily dressed as a "bee fairy/princess", Micah was Spiderman, and Emmalee was a "sun fairy", recycling her costume from last year's dance recital. I figure, if we have to spend $50 on a costume she wears once, for a less than 10 minute recital number, she can wear it again. I'm envisioning many more years as various fairies.... :-)

Early in the evening, we met up with my friend Sandy and her kids Nathan (Mario) and Lindsey (Hermione from Harry Potter) to trick-or-treat on my Aunt Sharon's street. We have been doing this now every year for the last 7 years!

Then it was back to the Butler's to walk their street. They live on a circle, which is nice. We hit every house on the circle and then had more food back at the Butler's house afterward!

It was a fun night, and we have over 10lbs of candy to show for it! Which Steve and I have been diligently eating after the kids go to bed... shhhhhhh

Choo Choo!

All aboard the Potty Train! Yep - I dare say we may be on our last pack of diapers EVER. Lily has been a champ at both peeing AND pooping on the potty all last week and this week! I have just been staying home (for the most part) with her and letting her run around the house with no pants on, and she has peed on the floor only 2 times in the last 2 weeks!

Hooray!!

In other news - Emmalee and Micah are both doing GREAT in school! Micah really loves his class and his teachers - he looks forward to school every morning. They do some really COOL stuff. On Monday they had family night at a local farm that is part of the school, and we got to go on a hayride and see the classroom they will be visiting when they go to the farm. There was a corn maze and a hay ride too. He is also playing t-ball and loves it!

Emmalee is enjoying third grade - she is becoming quite the writer! She really enjoys writing stories and is very detailed in her descriptions! She is participating in Girl Scouts again this year, and of course is taking ballet lessons again. I am one of the room parents for her class this year, and I am excited that I will be able to spend quite a bit of time in the classroom for various activities.

So far it has been a fun year!

Week of Firsts!

1. Emmalee started her first day of 3rd grade bright and early Monday morning! Her teacher's name is Mrs. Jacobs, who has the reputation of being the nicest teacher in the school! Emmalee, of course, already loves her. She is excited about the kids in her class as well, and has been having a wonderful first week! She has had a little bit of math and reading homework every night.

2. After finding Lily sleeping on her FLOOR Sunday night, because she had climbed out of her crib but was unable to climb back in - and she tried; her stool was pulled over next to the crib - we decided it was time to take down the crib and put up her big girl bed on Monday morning! I was unsure of whether or not she would stay in it, and at naptime, she climbed right in, didn't get out, and fell fast asleep for a wonderful 2 1/2 hour nap! Hooray! She has continued to do wonderfully all week!

3. Tuesday morning was Lily's first day of preschool at Little Blessings, the same once-a-week preschool Micah went to last year. We loved it, and the teacher/owner so much, we signed Lily up for the 2-year-old program this year! Off she went, and had such a great time that, when it was time to go home, she threw a crying FIT! I knew she would love it there! She will go every Tuesday morning from 9-11:30am. Which means I will have 2 1/2 hours a week to myself!

4. Tuesday night was the Open House/Orientation at Micah's new preschool. We all went and met his teachers and his classmates, and the kids got to check out their room. Then, this morning (Thursday), Micah had his first day of school! He is going to the Wintonbury Early Childhood Magnet School (http://www.wintonburymagnet.org/), and he goes to school 5 days a week, all day. He went right in this morning without a second glance back! I have a feeling he's going to love this school!

This weekend we are spending some time at the Woodstock Fair Friday night and Saturday, and Sunday Steve and I are going to MA for the night for a going-away party for our good friend Micah, who is being deployed to Afghanistan for a year. The week after next, Emmalee starts back up with ballet lessons, Micah is starting t-ball, and Lily and I will be going to a Mommy and Me story time on Fridays at the library! Busy busy!

Summer Stuff!

We had Lily's kid party last weekend here at the house. It was a good time with good friends! One of my friends lent me her bounce house, and the little kids had a great time in it. Steve also bought water balloons, which were the biggest hit with the kids. Aside from a minor accident in which Lily somehow sliced her toe open (and thankfully did NOT need stitches although it bled like crazy!), everyone had a great time!

Monday and Tuesday of last week we all went over to Cape Cod, where my sister Andrea and her family were renting a house for the week. The weather was gorgeous and we spent both days at the beach playing in the water. The waves were great on Monday, and Tuesday the water was so calm that we were able to let the kids wade by themselves. They loved it! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera!! Grrrrrr.

This past Thursday night was Emmalee's Summer Theater Camp performance of Pinocchio. She played the part of "Angelina Bobalina Banana Fana Fofalina", the evil witch of Party Island that turns the kids into donkeys. She was GREAT! At the end of the show, it was announced that next year's performance will be The Wizard of Oz, and she can hardly wait! Here are pictures of Emmalee with her 2 favorite teachers/camp directors, Mr. Zuliani (left) and Mr. Morency (right).

Saturday morning was so beautiful and I was dying to do something outside. Naturally, I wanted to go to the beach, but Steve was all beached out (he's not a huge fan), so we decided that, after 5 years of living at the base of the Heublein Tower, we would FINALLY hike to the top of the mountain and check it out. We put Lily in the kid backpack and set out. It was a great hike, and the house and tower is amazing. It was the summer home of the Heublein family. I wanted to move right in. The views were awesome - you could see as far as Springfield, MA, and all over CT and some of New York from each direction. Very Cool. I highly recommend doing it sometime if you are ever in New England. 120 stairs to the observation deck (which they used as a ballroom back then), but so worth it. On our way back down we found this adorable orange newt, and then in the road on our way out, we saw this snake. Steve and I had fun, the kids had fun, and there was minimal whining.

We have nothing planned for the month of August, and I am looking forward to spending more time at the pool, and going back to the beach, and relaxing before school starts. And of course... the Woodstock Fair!

Lily is 2!

Happy Birthday to Lily! We can't believe she is already 2! She got up this morning and we sang Happy Birthday to her in her bed - she loved it! Then she woke up Micah and Emmalee and we all gathered in the family room for Lily to open her presents. Her expressions as she opened them were priceless! She got some candy, ponytail holders ("pretty ponies" she calls them), an outfit, and a baby high chair from Steve and I , and a cool sand and water toy from Micah and Em. Then we had donuts for breakfast, which we put 2 candles in, and sang Happy Birthday to her again. She blew out her candles, then wanted to doit again!

She has been feeding her baby all morning!

Tomorrow we are having her friend party here. The weather is supposed to be great, which is good since I can't fit 30 people (friends plus their families!) in the house!

Summer Summer Summertime!

Hard to believe the summer is already half over! We have been keeping real busy, going to the pool, going to the beach, spending time outside in the yard, and hanging out with friends!

Emmalee is doing theater camp again this summer - they are doing the musical "Pinocchio", and a revue of songs from "Suessical" and "Annie". She goes to camp every morning from 8-10. They will put on the performance at the end of the month!

Last week Micah did an arts/crafts/music day camp - I won a free week at the Relay for Life! He was the only boy there, but he really enjoyed it!

I have hired a helper to come to the town pool with us a couple of afternoons a week. Her name is Heather and she is a college student home for the summer. She is a great help - I couldn't go with all 3 kids by myself, since there are 4 pools and each kid wants to be in a different pool!

We spent all day yesterday at Misquamicut Beach - good times! The traffic getting there was horrible, but we had a great time once we arrived! We celebrated Lily's birthday down there with the Goodwins - she was SO excited when we all sang Happy Birthday to her!

Lily's real birthday is this Friday. Saturday morning I am having a friend party here for her. One of my friends let me borrow her inflatable bounce house. There will be 3 2-year-olds here, and some of Micah's friends, and even a couple of Emmalee's friends will be here! Should be a good time!

Our Little Sunshine Girl

Emmalee had her dance recital this past Saturday. Dad came over to watch Micah and Lily so Steve and I could go watch the 3+ hour performance (thank you!). Of which Emmalee danced for about 5.5 minutes. But it was SO worth it. Her ballet class performed "Here Comes The Sun", wearing bright yellow and orange tutus. They all did SUCH a great job - it was amazing seeing how far the girls have come since the beginning of the year, and how Emmalee has progressed as a dancer these last 6 years. This year was her 5th year with The Dance Connection studio, and at the end of the recital, she received special recognition on-stage, and a trophy. She was so excited and proud! And, without trying to be biased at all, Steve and I think she is one of the best dancers in the class. She is very graceful and really learns her steps and all. She has decided that she will go ahead and stick with ballet for next year too. It really is her "thing"!

Relay, and a bunch of lasts...

Last weekend I participated in my second American Cancer Society Relay for Life. I walk on my friend Jenn's team. Jenn is a 2-year breast cancer survivor and a very good friend of mine. This year I was able to attend the opening ceremonies, which was very emotional. I am thankful to have been able to watch Jenn and several other survivors walk the first lap, the Survivor Lap. What a celebratory walk that was! There were several teams participating. One of them was a team walking for a 29-year-old girl named Naomi who is battling breast cancer. Naomi was there, with a scarf covering her bald head, walking with her friends and family, until she had to leave for her chemo treatment. As I walked, I prayed, "Please don't let me have to walk in this relay for one of my own family members someday". I brought Emmalee and Micah with me, and they had fun walking (or in Micah's case, running) and playing with their friends, and participating in some of the activities that were available. I had to work Saturday night, but I went back early Sunday morning to walk some more and attend the closing ceremonies (and I won a free week of music/art camp for Micah in a raffle!). I am glad to be a part of this, and Jenn and I have already started talking about fundraisers for next year's Relay!

Last Monday was Micah's last soccer game. He ran up and down the field like crazy, but I don't think he ever made contact with the ball... The highlight of the night for him was receiving his medal!

Also last Monday was Emmalee's last Brownie meeting. The girls prepared little skits for the parents. Emmalee did a skit, showing us proper phone manners. And she got to wear a pretty pink dress... (because apparently you should be dressed in your finest when talking on the phone). She received an award at the end of the night - she was named "Sing-along Queen". Now if that isn't Emmalee...

Tonight is Em's last softball game. And yesterday was her last ballet class. Her recital is on Saturday - you can be sure I'll post pictures afterwards! Micah's last day of school is tomorrow, Emmalee's is next Thursday. Everything is coming to an end...

Milestone!

This morning, Lily told me she had to go potty. She does this often - anytime anyone else goes to the bathroom, she'll say she has to go too, and lots of times I will indulge her and take off her diaper and sit her on the potty. She'll sit there a while, and then say she's done. Well today, shortly after she woke up, Lily told me she had to go potty. And then she took off her pj pants and started pulling at her diaper. So I took it off, sat her on the potty, and she looked at me all seriously, and then started to pee! Her eyes brightened, a huge smile came over her face, and she laughed and laughed. Then she said "more" (or in Lily-language, "mo"), and did some more! I hugged her and let her pick out a special treat (fruit snacks). Congratulations, Lily! I am so proud of you!!! I am starting to glimpse the light at the end of the diaper tunnel!

Crazy May and into June!

Wow - it is already June - where does the time go? We had a busy month! Emmalee has been playing softball every weekend, and still loving it! Micah has been playing soccer on Mondays, and not really loving it. This past Monday I reminded him "Hey, you have soccer tonight!", hoping to rouse some enthusiasm. He exclaims "Oh yeah!" and then his smile goes away and he says "but I have no soccer skills. oh wait, I have one skill - running fast." And indeed he does run fast across the field - not always in the same direction as the ball - but fast nonetheless! After his game Monday Steve asked if he liked soccer and Micah said "no, there are too many teams (meaning players)". So at least he gave it a shot. His last game is this Monday. Next Spring we'll do t-ball. He really wants to do that!

Over Memorial Day Weekend we went on our annual trip to NY. We left on Thursday evening this year and made it to Mike and Andrea's in Syracuse around 11pm (we would've been about 35 minutes earlier if Steve had taken the exit I told him to take rather than going the "scenic route"). My favorite quote was when he said "YOU are questioning ME on directions?" He later apologized... We spent Thursday night and much of the day Friday at Andrea's, then said goodbye to Emmalee and Lily and took Micah with us to Rochester, where we spend each Mem. Day Weekend at our friend's Courtney and Rick's house with anywhere from 4 to 7 other couples from college. THANKYOU ANDREA for keeping Lily. She would have been a nightmare out there! Micah, however, had the time of his life. The only other kids were 4 other little boys, ranging in age from 1 to 6. He had a blast. So did we. Always a good time up there. Monday morning we drove back to Andrea's for a picnic and to get the girls, and then drove home.

This past Monday we took Micah's toddler bed out of his room and he FINALLY got his big-boy bed! He was so excited! He loves it! Also on Monday we had a fun MOPS playdate at a local park. It was a beautiful day, and Micah and Lily had a great time!

We had some excitement on Tuesday when I found a HUGE spider, bigger than any I have ever seen before, on the kids' playscape outside. It was too big to step on, so Steve bee-sprayed it, and then we watched it die a slow death. This picture was taken while it was dying, and had already started to get smaller - it was really gigantic. It's carcass is still outside, and even all shriveled up, it is about the size of a quarter. Wednesday afternoon I found it's slightly smaller little sister in our basement - and stepped on that one. Gross.

Last night was no fun. Shortly after Emmalee went to bed, she got up and was crying that her ear hurt. We gave her some Motrin and sent her back to bed. Later during the night, after Steve and I had gone to bed, she came into our room crying about her ear again. She got into bed with us, and Steve went down to sleep in her room. She tossed all night, and woke up every 20 minutes or so crying in HORRIBLE pain. Therefore, I didn't sleep either. At 3am I was finally able to give her another dose of Motrin, but it wasn't touching the pain. It was a rough night. This morning, Steve brought her to the walk-in clinic. I thought that would be better than waiting for her doctor's office to open at 9, considering that I probably wouldn't even get through by phone until 9:30 or 10, and then wait for them to see her. She was home by 9:30 with antibiotics for her "monster ear infection" in her left ear, and one brewing in her right ear as well! She was hoping to be able to go into school, being that her class had earned a special "cozy reading day" today, but she promptly fell asleep on the couch as soon as she got home and is out! Poor thing!

And now it is the weekend again! I will be working all night, Emmalee has a softball game tomorrow and then Steve's brother and wife and kids are coming over. Sunday Steve has baseball games, and I have a busy day at church, then work on Sunday night! Whew!

My 4th Child

Look closely at the banner Emmalee made for me at school, and you will see that I have an extra child. Yes, we have been hiding Uma away for several years now, but she decided to make an appearance on Mother's Day this year.
Actually, Uma is one of Emmalee's friends at school, and since she helped Emmalee make the banner, Em thought it was only fitting that her name be on it as well. Cute.
Mother's Day was very nice - although extremely hectic! Steve and the kids made me french toast and bacon, which was delicious! They gave me the Wii Fit game, which we have all been enjoying! Micah made me a tissue-paper-stained-glass pen holder at school, and Emmalee made me a very nice card at school. It mentioned how I am extremely good at cooking, and I had to wonder who she was thinking about when she wrote that... :-) Emmalee had a softball game in the afternoon, and she played very well! I had to work at night, but that was fine. It was busy, and the customers were generous! We missed going over to Grandma and Grandpa's house, though.

Sports Star!

Emmalee had her first softball game this past Sunday afternoon. She was fourth in line at bat. The coaches pitch and, if after 5 pitches the girl does not hit the ball, they pull out the tee for her to hit off of. Which I think is stupid - what happened to 3 strikes and you're out - but oh well. So the first girl gets up at bat. 5 pitches pass, then she hits it off the tee. The second girl gets up at bat. Again, 5 pitches, and she hits it off the tee. Third girl - same thing. Then Emmalee gets up to bat. I'm standing there praying "please don't make her need the tee", and I know Steve, aka Mr. Baseball, was praying the same.

One pitch passes, then another. She's swinging, and missing. The third pitch she swung, hit it straight down, it hit her on the leg and sat there at her feet. They called it a foul ball. Fourth pitch - CONTACT! The ball goes flying through the air! HOORAY! She got a base hit, and came home! She was up at bat 3 times, hit the ball each time (no tee!), and made it home twice. She's really enjoying softball!

Where have we been?

It's been a long time since I have posted anything! Where have we been, you may be asking? Well, Emmalee started softball at the beginning of the month, and practices 2x a week. She also still has dance lessons once a week, and it is crunch time, since the big recital is at the beginning of June! This is her 5th year of lessons, and Emmalee will be getting a 5-yr trophy!

Easter was fun - we spent it at my grandparent's house at the lake with the whole Goodwin clan! All 6 great-grandchildren were there, and we tried to get a picture of them all, but didn't succeed in getting them all to look at the same camera! Oh well!

Last week was Emmalee's spring break, and we decided to go on a short vacation! Early Saturday morning we drove down to Baltimore and spent the gorgeous sunny afternoon at the Inner Harbor. We then flew to Orlando that evening, and spent 4 beautiful warm days in Florida! We went to Downtown Disney, shopped at a huge outlet mall, played miniature golf, drove to Clearwater Beach, and spent a day at Universal Studios. The kids had a great time, and so did Steve and I! We then flew back to Baltimore and drove an hour to Steve's brother Jeff's house. We spent a night and a day there before driving back home. It was a nice vacation.

And then this week, Micah started Soccer! He had a lot of fun at his first practice and game, but then told me "I don't think I'm too good at this" because he didn't score! Oh well - he's got 6 more weeks! And Emmalee has her first softball games this weekend, and every weekend until the middle of June (there go any weekend things we wanted to do...).

At the end of the month, we will do our annual trip up to NY for Memorial Day Weekend! We'll drive to Syracuse and drop off Emmalee and Lily at my sister's for "their own vacation" with the cousins, and Steve and I and Micah will then go on to Rochester to visit with our friends. We bring one of our kids with us to Rick and Courtney's house - this year is Micah's year because:
-Emmalee likes to stay at Andrea's and play (and boss around) with Rafe
-Lily is a pain in the neck and gets into everything and will be too crazy to come to our friends' house, and she is old enough now to stay without us, and will have fun with Maggie and Sam
-Micah's buddies Oliver and Charlotte (they are all born within weeks of each other) will be joining their parents at Rick and Courtney's this year too, and it will be fun to have them all together


So - that is what we have been up to - and also enjoying the early summer weather! Hope you are all doing well!

Irish

On St. Patrick's Day, Emmalee came home from school talking about being 1/2 Irish. I told her she was not 1/2 Irish, but less than 1/4. So at dinner (by the way, I made corned beef reubens and they were DELICIOUS) she kept saying "I'm a quarter Irish" over and over. Micah pondered this for a while, and then said "I'm a dime!"