Sunday, September 20, 2009

3 Kids and a Dog

Not much is new here besides the new school routine. The kids have been in for 2 weeks and have gotten into the swing of it pretty well. I thought I'd have a lot more time, but I mostly do the same things, just by myself. I don't have to drag them all to get groceries or fight with them about doing errands. And the house stays cleaner for a little longer until they all come home.
Sandy gets a little bored during the day without the neighborhood jumping on the trampoline and leaving shoes on the grass to chew on. She'll be fine though.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

First Day of School

Here are the kids on their first day of school. I think I went through a bit of a crisis. Riley said I was acting weird all day. I think I just didn't know what to do with myself. Riley had the day off, but tomorrow I'll have the whole house to myself! This is so different! And the battery to the camera went thru the wash, so we used the computer camera.
They all had a good day. Each of them found his/her class and made it home on the right bus. Goodbye summer! And hello school!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Growing Up

Can you believe it? My baby lost her first tooth! She starts kindergarten in a couple of weeks and is growing up so fast! She still likes me to read her stories before bed though and will sometimes get so tired that she falls asleep on the couch at like 2 in the afternoon. She's still my baby.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Emmaus Parade

The Borough of Emmaus, a town about 5 minutes from us, had a 250th celebration parade. Our friends who live in Emmaus invited us to go with them. It was a nice parade and we found some good shade. We hadn't seen a parade for a long time. It was pretty fun.

Swimming Lessons

The kids are done with swimming lessons. It went just for a week, but they each learned a lot.Amy didn't like it the first day. She cried. Then the next day she loved it.
Elli just swam and swam. When they did the torpedo, she went the farthest without taking a breath. The teachers kept telling her she could only come up for one breath and then stop. She was.
Adam didn't think he learned anything, but he can swim the real way and breath the real way now. No doggy paddle for him anymore. They all want to take it again next year. They all did a great job!

Saturday, August 01, 2009

11 Years Together

This is us in 1998 announcing our wedding. We got married 11 years ago today. And look at us now. We haven't change a bit, have we?! Happy Anniversary Sweetie!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

I Made Sushi!

And it tasted just like the real thing! Right before we moved, my friend, Debbie, had a bunch of people over to her house to learn how to make sushi, yaki soba (which I've already made since and it was delicious!) and tongatsu. I have been dying to try to make it and I finally gathered my ingredients. It wasn't as hard as I thought, but I still messed up a little. I was so excited. I had wasabi sauce and egg soup on the side and was hoping everyone would enjoy it as much as me so we could have a party and serve this meal and make some fortune cookies for dessert. Too bad for me, cause I was the only one who liked it. I've been eating it for lunch and dinner for about 3 days. I don't care! I love it!

GIANT SLUG!

Elli found a humongous slug this week and came shouting in the house. Adam was so grossed out by how much slime it left on his hand after I made him pick it up to move it away from the house. It was thick and ugly!

Adam Turns Nine!

Adam turned 9 on the 16th, but he voted to get a Nintendo DS instead of having a party. We had to celebrate after we got home from the DC trip. He wanted shrimp for dinner and carrot cake for his cake. These are two of his friends from the neighborhood, Jason and Andrew. I felt bad we didn't do much for his birthday, but he was more than happy with his gifts. And he got lots of Bakugan from family.

Taking the Metro

Riley had a conference in Washington, D.C. last weekend and the families were invited to come. We saw the Pentagon, the Capitol, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and the Evening Parade at 8th and I . The easiest way to get around was to take the Metro. Once we figured it out, it wasn't too bad. There was a stop right by our hotel. The kids had fun, but were sure to hold our hands wherever we went.
A few times it wasn't too crowded, but most of the time we were all standing around a pole.

The Pentagon

Riley had meetings all morning at the Pentagon. The families got to come along. Some wives without kids took a tour of the building while those with kids walked around and saw the memorial outside. I knew we couldn't take pictures inside the Pentagon, but I thought outside was OK.
I got in trouble. Several people came over shortly after I took the first photo to scold me and Adam said, "STOP." It's just the outside of the building. Who knew?

Touring the Capitol

Friday we got to take a tour with Riley after his meetings. I wasn't super excited about the Capitol, but it was one of my favorite things of the trip. This is where the House of Representatives and the Senate meet to pass bills and we got sit in on one of the debates.
This is the painting inside the big dome. It was hand painted and the man actually fell off the scaffolding while painting. Can you imagine painting that well upside down? That is George Washington in the purple blanket thing. All the art and architecture of the building was pretty amazing.
The lines were long and we had to wait wherever we went. Elli passed the time by twirling in any open space. I love the look of the girl behind her.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Finding Stuff To Do

We are not used to these long summers having come from a year round school schedule, so I thought we should get a pool membership and go swimming almost everyday. We've gone about 3 times and each time the kids freeze! It barely gets above 80. I'm not complaining at all, but for the membership sake, I hope August warms up a little bit.
Elise, remember these? They don't call them Roller Racers anymore. Something like Sidewalk Scooter and they are still kind of expensive. We found an outdoor shopping mall with a toy store and candy factory, so the kids let me go there if we are bored. We both win.
And here's a park with old toys in it that we came across. You don't see merry-go-rounds very much anymore. I'm always the pusher.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

House Pictures, finally!

Alright everyone, but mostly Mom. Here are all the pictures of the house. I didn't get the basement, but it has my sewing stuff and the toys. the pictures are a bit blurry, sorry about that. Hopefully, though, you'll be able to put the pictures together and get an idea of what it's like. The neighborhood is full of town homes squished together, but once you get inside you don't feel squished. Oh, and by the way... we moved to Macungie, Pennsylvania. Riley is attached to a reserve unit in Allentown. We should be here about 3 years.

Front Room and Entry

Here is the front door and living room. I was so excited to have a place for the piano and my clock. I feel a little bad that I like my stuff so much, but I really like my stuff!

Family Room

The previous owners had these walls painted a plum purple color that did not go with anything I had. It matched the border she had in the kitchen, but it still didn't work. That was really the only thing we had to change. And we replaced the carpet upstairs.

Kitchen and Yard

This is the eat in kitchen. I was pretty worried there wouldn't be enough room for the table, but there is plenty. We took down a border and painted. I still need to paint one of the chairs.
The deck is right off the side of the kitchen. Not a huge yard, but Riley bought an old fashioned push mower, so it seems big on grass cutting days. The neighbor keeps offering his lawn mower whenever Riley mows it.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Stairs

We made it to the top. The stairs are split in two sections with a turn.

Bedrooms

Here's Riley's and my bedroom. There's a closet and bathroom behind me. We are on the back of the house.This is Elli's side of the room.
This is Amy's side.
And Adam's. He doesn't want anything on his walls. Too bad. I'll find something. Their rooms are at the front of the house.

Bathrooms

This is the kids bathroom upstairs. It has light blue walls. The floor is tiny tiny tiles. I love the floor.This is the 1/2 bath on the main floor. The paint is green. I like it, too.