The First Day of School...

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhhhhhhh..................

It came.
It passed.
I didn't quite break down.
I'm rather proud of myself.
Yup.

The dreaded day is over. The 1st day of school. Part of me is so proud of the them, (Britt and Bay), part of me is glad to get them out of the house for several hours a day, part of me is glad to have a schedule and rules and decent bed times again.

And, yet...

theres this BIG part of me that longs for them to be as they were.

Brittani is going to high school. High School. What's up with that? Remembering my freshman year in high school is literally sending me into a panic. If she even thinks about doing some of the things I did...and I know she is...thinking them at the very least! It's hard to let them go. She's still the curly-topped, tom-boy, non-seatbelt-wearin', cute as all heck, lookin-just-like-her-daddy, just-turned-5 year old that I met all those years ago.

siggghhhhh......

Don't get me started on the other one.

This baby of mine...this part of myself...what is missing in this house between the hours of 12:30 - 3:30 pm? Where is that constant buzz in my ear? Where is the distant laughter in the back yard? The squeal of excitement mixed with more than a little anxiety when she whooshes down the slide?

It's down the street. In the 150 year old school house that overflows with the sounds of dozens of others just like her. Dozens of other mothers that don't know what to do with themselves now that their constant companion for the past 5 years is growing up. I'll tell you what they do. I've seen them. I AM them. They show up at the school 20 minutes early just to catch a glimpse of their loveys playing on the mulch-covered playground with their classmates. Will that boy over there pull her pigtails? Will that girl over there make fun of her for that tiny hole in her sweater? Will that one over there become her best friend in the world and share things with her that only best friends can? Will that boy become her first crush...will this one break her heart...or will that one turn out to be the one she marries someday? Can't I stay with her all day and create a happy little world for her to live in? No...but I can create for her a happy little home to come to at the end of the day.
And I do.
At least I try to.

Well, at least I still have Travis... for now anyway!

:o)

Back from the beach...

Well, we got back from our vacation about 4 days ago...it was sooooo nice! We went to the Francis Scott Key Family Resort in Ocean City, MD. It was pretty nice! The thing I liked about it was that it was very geared to families with small children, which, of course, we have! There was 3 pools, 2 outdoor and 1 inside. The inside pool had a pirate-themed water park thing goin' on. There was a warter slide, a kiddie pool, a ton of different "splash water on you" things...it was fun!

The beach was fun. Brittani and Eric pretty much spent the entire two days we were actyually on the beach ....on the beach. They slept and slept and slept! They each eventually came to the water for a little slash, but that was uit! Lazy Bums! Baylee and Travis, on the other hand, couldn't stay away from the water! They loved splashing around and digging in the sand...but especially splashing around! I didn't think Travis would go for it...but boy did he ever!

I know his favorite part of our whole vacation wasn't the beach, though. Or the water park. Or our "Family Resort". It was the go-karts. Oh yes...the go-karts. We all went mini golfing and racing one of the nights we were there. When we saw the cars...we knew we had to give it a try! Britt took Baylee, I went by myself, and Travis went with his Daddy...the racer of all racers! Needless to say, Eric and Travis came in first place! Britt and Baylee came in 2nd...and slow-poke me...I brought up the rear! But oh my...It Was So Much FUN!!!!!

Well, another update I have for you all...Travis is now sleeping in a Big BoyBed. During vacation, when we realized that he was too big for the Pack-n-Play, we just let him sleep in the bed with us, and he was fine. So, I got the bright idea that when we got home, he would go to the toddler bed. He loves it! Finally...something is easy with this kid! Now if only we can get the potty-training and sharing under control...

A special note for my honey...

You are strong and good
You are kind and quick to laugh
You are their hero.

You sacrifice
You play
You hug and kiss
You teach and lead


Daddy, papa, father, padre, sir, ...
there are so many ways to name you...

but there is only one you.
They are lucky to have you.
I am lucky to have you.

You are the one person on this earth that loves our babies as much as I do.
All three of them.

You get it.


I watch you with them...playing on the floor with them like only a daddy can...mom's too much of a sissy...I watch you brush their hair out of their eyes with a tenderness I've never seen out of you...this special tender touch is reserved only for them. I see the light shining in their eyes as they look at you in a mixture of laughter, love, and a little bit of awe.

I see that light refelected in your own eyes...often welling with emotion as you watch them growing up...

...helping Britt with her homework...
...Baylee molding herself into you with one of her hugs...
...sitting with Travis watching racecars on tv...

My heart aches for my child self...never having had many "daddy" moments...but I feel so thankful to God that he gave our babies you. They are so lucky...as are we...but, then again, you know that just as well as me.

You get it.



Happy Father's Day, Eric...I truly love you with all my heart

p.s. please forgive my lack of pictures of Travis...for some unknown, odd reason, this dumb thing won't let me upload any more pictures...i'm so frusterated...and I'm so sorry to my poor baby...I didn't forget him :o(

Almost 2 months....oops!

Hey ya'll!

Wow...I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated! Well, when you have 3 kids to take care of and love and cuddle and snuggle, and be driven crazy from...time gets away from you,

ya know?

Well, the biggest news on the homefront is sad, in a way...kinda the end of an era...

Get ready...

It's big news...

I just want you to be sure your ready for this little nuggett of information...

Eric had a vasectomy.

:o(

I know, I know...thousands of guys do it every year and we're (well, he's) in his mid 30's now, and we have a beautiful (emphasis on the ful...as in full) family, yadda, yadda, yadda...

So why do I feel so sad?

I know I'll get over it...but every time I think that we'll never have another baby...ugh. I'm one of those women that are either very crazy...or very lucky...but I loved being pregnant. It was pretty easy on me...I didn't get very sick at all, yes, my ankles did swell up like two gigantic over-stuffed sausages when I was with Travis, and my 21 hour labor and delivery with Baylee wasn't terribly pleasant, and the heartburn, my goodness, the heartburn...but all in all...the good things about being pregnant (aside from the miraculous end result!) totally outweighed the bad. I mean, like a 100,000,000 times over.

Oh well...moving right along...

Summer's here (almost)! Yay!!!

We opened up the pool the other day and boy is it ever nice to jump in on a hot day! After getting home from the gym and being all hot and sweaty...yeah baby! Oh, and Britt and I went to get new swimsuits...I was still wearing the one I had from before we were married...7 YEARS AGO!!!! So, needless to say...it was time! I got a really cute tank-kini thing with a halter top and little riveted holes cut out of it and Britt got a cute multi colored brown-ish orange-ish thing. Very cute! It actually wasn't as bad as it had been in previous years...thank you very much Conditioning Center at the Lebanon YMCA!!! I still have a ways to go till I get to my goal...but I can definately see a difference.

Well, this is getting pretty long...so I'll wrap it up...and let me end on the note of my ever-so-famous last words...

I'll try to update more often.

Yeah, I know...

:o)

Spring has officially sprung ~ finally!

Ahhhh.....the warmness! Finally, after months of crap, do I finally get my beloved spring weather! Not too hot, yet warm enough for a tank top...not too cold, yet cool enough to be outside all day! I absolutely love love love spring! Did you get that yet? Seeing the kids roll around in the dirt and sandbox, scraped up knees and dirty fingernails...did you ever notice that distinct smell that kids get after being outside several hours on a warm day? Kind of a mix between sweat and shampoo from their bath the night before, all wrapped up with the sweet scent of grass and their juice breath puffing at you asking for a snack...ahhhh....no wonder I love spring so much.

These are the times, the precious moments, that I want to freeze, capture and store away to get out and look at in my old age, like old photos worn and tearing.

Playing frisbee with Baylee (she's just starting to get the hang of the throw!), digging in the sandbox with Travis and one of his gazillion trucks. Even Brittani seems more pleasant these days. Her friends hanging around the house even annoy me less!

Now, if only I can get a grip on the spring cleaning!

Rain, rain, go away...

Well, today is a rainy freezing cold Saturday. Absolutely miserable ouotside. My poor daffodils and hyacinths aren't going to know what to do with themselves! Oh well, we didn't really have much of a winter, so I guess I can't really complain. And I guess we need the rain...blah, blah, blah...

Well, Brittani's Meme (Debbie's mom) is here for the weekend. She's so sweet. Britt has to do her Drama in church tomorrow so she wanted to come see it. I'm so glad she comes down for things like this, I think it means a lot to Brittani, kinda gives her a sense of that side of her family. Even if she never does see her mom. But thats not Britt's fault. Debbie madde her choice and now Brittani and in turn, us, have to pay the price for it. Debbie's selfish decisions affect a whole lot more people than just her and John and Britt. But, what else can we do except try to deal with what we have now. We have to try to pick up the pieces of Brittani's broken heart and scotch tape them together the best we can. It will get better. Please Lord, let it get better.

Can you tell the way the crappy weather is affecting me?!?!

On a lighter note, the Ladies Retreat last weekend was a great time. The speaker was not as, let's say, dynamic as some of the other years...(she was the Dean of Education at Philedelphia Biblical University...snnnoooorrrreeee....), but I think she had some good things to say. The fellowship alone was worth the trip. And, (big drum roll here) I actually confronted my one friend that left me scrounging for a roommate. I was so proud of myself! Anyone who knows me knows I really tend to let things slide off my back, but I didn't want any resentment to be there so I talked to her and told her how I felt and she apologized...Profusely!!! I actually felt bad because I made her cry, and I totally didn't mean to do that! I just wanted to get some stuff off my chest! But she said she had been so overwhelmed with stuff in her life that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. She sounded really sincere, and I really believed she was truly sorry...so I was very glad that I got the guts to do that. Yay me!


Well, my darling little Baylee had her Kindergarten Visitation last week. She was so excited and had so much fun that she was literally shaking and trembling when she was telling me about it! She's so darn cute, and so enthusiastic! I hope she keeps this joy for learning throughout her whole life. I have to say...I'm very emotional about her growing up so fast. I remember bringing her home from the hospital like it was yesterday....



It was the day of my 27th birthday. I was wearing this baggy blue overall dress thing that was so ugly, but too comfy to pass up. Shadow was the only one here at the house waitning for us. I was so scared I wouldn't know what to do. After all, hadn't I just given birth to her at 3:32a.m. the morning before? All I wanted to do was to go back to the hospital so I could ask the nurses a hundred million questions like I had been, but there was no going back...we were home.
The Lord must have known how nervous I was because, thankfully, he gave me a sleeper! I timed her one day...she actually slept like 20-21 hours a day back then! Holy cow, I thought there was something wrong with her! But that was fine with me. I didn't even hardly ever put her down when she was asleep. I just loved to hold her all the time. It was so peaceful. I would basically spend my days holding, nursing, and sleeping with my little angel. She was the absolute best baby! We were so lucky...and we still are. She has grown to be an absolute angel of a little girl. She shares with her little brother without us asking, she always says please and thank you, she has a truly genuine love and compassion for other people.

She holds my heart.

Brittani turns 14...oy vey!

Brittani had her 14th Birthday this weekend. Well, technically, it was on Monday...but who wants to par-tay on a monday, right? So Friday night I took her and 5 of her girlfriends to Cedar Lanes for Glo-Bowling. It was a lot of fun, I have to say. We all kinda stunk...but it was fun. The only thing was, it was from 10:30p.m. - 1:30a.m. Oh. My. Goodness. I didn't factor in the time it took to take everyone home either...so, while we left the bowling alley at like 12:45, Britt and I didn't get home till almost 2 a.m.! That is entirely too late for an old fart such as myself! About 7-8 years ago it was no problem...but let me tell you... there is a big difference between early 20's and early 30's! And I wasn't even drinking!

After getting a few hours sleep ( I woke up at 8:00 with the little kids...Britt slept till 11:00 - and then had a nap!), I had to start getting ready for the "family" party which was to be at 5:00 on Saturday evening. Britt being vegetarian and all, wanted me to make a "veggie" lasagna, which, surprisingly, turned out soooo good! I also wanted to make my hamburger bar-b-q (think sloppy joes, but much better for all you on the west coast ;o)) just in cast the lasagna turned out like crap, and make the cake...which also turned out, I must say, extremely delicious. All this while trying to clean the house, and somewhere in there get a shower! But thankfully, it all turned out good.

I was just sorry that most of Erics side of the family didn't show up. It was nobody's fault...just things didn't work out. Grammie couldn't come because she was sick, Nick, Melissa and Austin didn't come because they were sick, Brandon, Rachel and Jakey didn't come because Rach had other plans already. I guess it's my fault, really. I didn't tell anyone about it till Tuesday. But that won't happen again. Next year everyone will know in plenty of time. I just hope Britts feelings weren't hurt. But she had a lot of other family here, including her "me-me" (Debbie's mom) and her Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Nan with their daughter Kirsten from that side of her family...so I think that kinda made up for it. I'm really glad they came...I think it makes Brittani feel a lot more "normal".

Well, Monday was also Brittani's first day of track. It was also her last day. Apparently it was "toooo haaaard" for her, so she wants to go out for cheerleading and basketball. I must say, her track record (no pun intended!) isn't so good with sports. So hopefully she'll find something that she wants to do that is a challenge for her, but not going to flare up her asthma every 5 minutes! We'll just continue to support her in whatever she decides. But man, those $50 track shoes...

ouch!
:o(