At the Top

After all the rocks, we finally made it. Amy didn't want to get too close to the edge.Riley likes to point out all the landmarks he knows, but when I asked him where they were one more time to get a picture, he stopped.
All of them checking it out.

Philadelphia Phun

The kids had a 5 day weekend and Riley gets antsy sitting around that long, so he had big plans for us. First was a trip down to Philadelphia to see the sights. It sure was a right chilly day, but it was better than sitting home in my nice warm house. I guess.This is Independence Hall behind them where the Declaration of Independence was actually signed in that building! Maybe. We think. Pretty sure. We didn't go inside it. You had to buy tickets.
And this is THE Liberty Bell! THE one!
And this is Benjamin Franklin's grave. There is just so much history out here.
And the last thing we did was tour the US Mint. The coins that have a P on them came from this very building. We couldn't take pictures inside to show though. Adam was pretty excited for this. He's been collecting coins for a couple years.

Thanksgiving at Home

We decided to stay home and have a family dinner this year. We had friends over for dessert later that day, so we had an earlier meal. Somehow this threw off the whole day for the kids. They couldn't understand why we were eating "dinner" so early and kept asking what we would have for real dinner. Here they are waiting, confused and grumpy that we were eating so early.
Nice candles to create a dinner "mood".
Finally Adam was happy when he got his big drumstick. He wasn't able to finish it.
Each person got to pick one thing they wanted for dinner besides the bird. It was my first time cooking the entire meal by myself. I was in the kitchen ALL morning! Seriously! That's a lot of work right there. It was yummy though.

Week with Grandma!

My mom came out from Idaho to watch the kids while we went to the ball this year. We had a whole week to spend with her and here is some of what we did.Amy had a puzzle for her to help put together almost every morning.
One night we played games and had popcorn and snacks. We played Cadoo, Uno, and Go Fish! We also enjoyed some of the famous caramel popcorn my mom makes, but it was gone faster than I could get a picture of us scarfing it down. Mmm.
Amy got her hair curled a couple times and she looked like a new lady. Mom always did our hair cute when I was little. Maybe I should take more time on that.
And she read stories and watched movies most days, too. What you don't see is all the WORK that my mom did. I got so spoiled with her here, it was hard to start my chores on Monday. She vacuumed and scrubbed my floors, ironed my curtains, did dishes, folded laundry, sewed a few projects, weeded my flowers, and probably did things I don't even know about! Oh, and she found our mysterious filter and washed it out, but my favorite was when she cleaned my banister and showed me the rag. Then she said, "Look at how dirty that was!" It's OK. I'm not offended. My mom is the best cleaner around! She's going to find these things no matter what!

On Our Way to the Ball

Before we head out the door, let's get a picture! This is the 2nd year I wore this dress, but we didn't get any pictures last year, so whatever. The kids ordered pizza with Grandma and watched a movie. Thanks Mom for coming out to watch the kids!

Costumes 2009

Adam is a Ghost Buster. He made the blaster pack out of boxes and parts of our old VCR and some foam tubing from the hardware store. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but once he got the goggles and knee pads on, I was pretty impressed.
Elli is a not-green witch. She wanted to be Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, but when we put the green makeup on, she screamed, "My Eyes! My Eyes!" So she rubbed it all away. Still pretty wicked though.
Amy switched from Little Red Riding Hood to a Cheerleader at the last minute. People thought she was Barbie.

We thought Adam was old enough to go out Trick or Treating alone with friends this year. Riley took the girls out with the neighbor and his daughter. About 20 minutes into the fun, it started raining hard. Adam came home and called it quits. The girls were already soaked so they kept at it a while longer. We have much too much candy.

Carving Pumpkins

Pulling out slimey pumpkin guts. Gross.
We got a lot of seeds for roasting though. Mmm Boy. (We did a cinnamon batch and a Worchestershire batch. Smelled so good.)
Amy got a spider, Elli did a two sided pumpkin face, and Adam did Frankenstein.

Kindergarden Parade

The schools here let the kids dress up and have a parade around the building. I remember doing it when I was little, but thought it was long gone. In all the other districts we've been in, they are allowed "Fall Festivals", but definitely no "Halloween". Amy was Little Red Riding Hood, but didn't want to carry the basket, which I told her she needed. Adam and Elli's parade was at the same time but I had already told Amy I'd go watch hers.

Valley Forge

We went to Valley Forge a couple weekends ago after it stopped raining all those days. It is where George Washington stayed for several months during the winter. We saw the house he lived in and the army cabins scattered around. No fighting took place here, so it wasn't super exciting. Riley always has to stop at every information plaque along the way.
These are the soldiers cabins. It probably was a long, cold winter. I would not have been a happy camper. Not while Georgie Porgie was in a nice warm house across the yard.
The kids are standing in a well they used for, well, water.
Adam claims not to have fun, but I snuck a picture of him and he looks happy to me. I think we were taking bathroom breaks and playing with Sandy on the grass.

Happy Trails

Since there wasn't much else to look at, we parked the car and picked a trail to try out. The fall time is beautiful in Pennsylvania and it was fun just to walk thru the woods. Elli found a huge leaf that they fought over and carried around trying to find which tree it came from.

It's What Boys Do

On the trail, Adam started pretending he was a soldier. I asked Riley where he learned this from and he said, "I don't know. It's just what boys do."
First he ran. Then stopped and looked.
Then ran, rolled, and paused. Shot a few times, then...
... was up and running again. He did this whenever we walked thru the "prairie" as he called it.

Conference Goodies

General Conference came and went too fast. I've tried using food to motivate the kids before and it still works pretty well. You can see our chart with the topics matching the snack. As long as the kids look forward to watching Conference, I'll keep making the treats.
Here they are with their empty bowls waiting for the talks to begin. This year the strategy was to collect the snacks and then eat them all at the end. Not me. I like to nibble as I go. Yup, I play the game too.

Day Off

Either the kids had the day off of school or Riley had a drill weekend, but either way, I had an afternoon with bored kids. We went to a park we always drive by and I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd taken the kids to the park. All of a sudden, they were the big kids that were almost too big to play there. I think we scared the toddlers, but it was fun.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!