Sunday, June 28, 2009

Church Picnic

Today was the annual church picnic. We had a really good and relaxing time. Both our priests are from Niagara so they kept score: Americans vs. Africans. Africans won in soccer but I believe the Americans pulled it out in ping pong. Fr Francis is the only person I know who can play soccer and talk on the cell phone at the same time. I did what I do and took lots of pictures. Megan hung out at the skate park and played soccer. Jason didn't last long at soccer but Megan let him borrow the skate board for a while. Anthony played soccer but only because no one would take him up on a game of football. The food and conversation was wonderful. I am so glad that Steve was home to be there with us.

Here are some pictures from today.

Megan trying it out on her skate board.
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Jason giving it a try:

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This baby belongs to noone in this picture:
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but she loves Anthony
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And one last one of Anthony
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Proud of Her

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We are proud of her. It's been a tough year for Megan. She had started off this school year really good and very determined. Soon after the school year started DJ's Father was murdered and he moved. This was tough for her. Her grades fell apart and so did her attitude. After December, Megan decided enough was enough and she just wasn't happy being unhappy.

She told us and her teacher that by the end of the school year she would be on the honor roll. Let me tell you, that when this child gets something in her head there will be NO changing it. It took some serious work and some sacrifices but she did it. We got her report card a couple of weeks ago and was impressed. We let her know that she pulled her grades up to a 3.5 but the numbers really didn't mean much to her, until last night.

The joys of a small town. They post the High School and Middle School honor roll in our newspaper. I wish I took a picture of her face when she saw her name in the paper. Now the numbers mean something. She looked at it then checked where her friends are. Quickly she ran to the computer to type an email to her friend in Italy to let her know where on the list she was. Then looked at us and said "4.0 next year guys." Followed by "he he I am higher then Anthony."
A quick DJ update: His fathers killer was sentenced to life with possible parole in 25 years. Megan keeps in contact with DJ regularly. Now that summer is here, she is missing him big time. There was some talk that he would be here sometime to visit for a couple of weeks. I really really hope it works out.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Fathers Day

I don't have to much to report for Fathers day. We just didn't do much and that is exactly what we wanted to do.

Anthony is away at wrestling camp and I am missing him today. It seems very strange to be celebrating something and not having all the kids here. Just wait until my birthday. Two kids will be gone. My parents will be here so it won't seem so empty.

This is a picture of our desert last night. The hamburger buns are cupcakes and the hamburger is a brownie. The french fries are made out of sugar cookies. Megan helped me put together the basket and french fry bag. Jason was moral support and official taste tester. They tasted pretty good and Steve was impressed. I wish I could say this was my idea but it wasn't. I got the idea from another blog I follow.
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I hope you have a great day. I am off to swimming lessons then VBS and to finish out the night soccer practices for both Megan and Jason. The lazy days of summer have begun.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Birthday Lady Grandma

Have a wonderful birthday Lady Grandma. We miss you and really wish we could be there to celebrate with you.
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This is one of my favorite pictures of Steve and his Mom.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

An Almost New Camper

We have had this pop up camper for a few years now. Steve lived in it for 6 months before we finally moved up here. As you can see, it really needs some help. The plastic bag is covering a hole.
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After sitting for 2 years we finally decided to get it fixed.

Here it is now.
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The canvas looks a little loose, but after it's been used a couple of times it will start to shrink up a little bit. I was very nervous about ordering it from a company we have never used before. I would highly them, they where wonderful. Thanks Sherry and RV Workshop.
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Believe it or not, it took about 5 minutes to get the old canvas off and just about an hour to get the new on.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

10,000 Pictures and More...

I have officially taken more then 10,000 pictures on my camera. I have been trying to pass 10,000 for a couple of weeks now, but just couldn't get it done. Jubilation finally put me over. I took over 400 pictures in one weekend. I will post more about Jubilation and some pictures in the next couple of days. Today is just an update of whats been going on in our lives the last couple of days.

A huge thank you goes to our teachers in this district. They voted to take a pay cut in order to help save sports and activities. They also saved a counselors job at the middle school. We went from having to raise $300,000 to having to raise $75,000. Our fees went from $100 to $150 a sport. People are pretty happy (me too, we where looking at having to pay $575 a sport) but I am not overly jumping for joy yet. The $75,000 will be covering transportation and the cost of referees. The Boosters Club is going to take on this task. Last year they where able to raise between $30 and $40,000 all year. Our little town is at 15% unemployment and we have yet another plant being shut down at the end of this month. I am just not sure that we can squeeze this community even more. I am not sure what will happen if we don't make that goal. I am just so thankful for the generosity of our teachers and coach's for making personal sacrifices to keep sports and activities alive at our schools.

An Anthony love life update: Well, it ended this weekend. He really means it when he said he wants to stay friends. He just is not in the same place she is. When he has free time, he would rather be causing bodily harm to his best friend with an air soft riffle then hanging out at the park with a girl. Now if she had a air soft riffle he would remember to call her.

Megan and I are getting ready for VBS to start next week. Yes, I am teaching again. Speaking of teaching, I guess I am teaching Sunday school again next year. I am just not sure what class I will be teaching. The church changed how they will be doing youth groups in the future. They formed a Youth Ministry Counsel. Guess who is on it. I think it is to funny, because they got Steve to be on it too. He never saw it coming.

I guess that is it for updates for now. Have a good day.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Lake

We decided yesterday to take the kids up to the lake.
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It was a little bit chilly but absolutely beautiful.
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Jason was the only one brave enough to swim, but he did end up getting the other two to help build a sand castle.
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Steve rented a paddle boat and took the kids out on it. I didn't get many pictures of the boat because I was looking for a missing flip flop in a river of muck. We never found it.
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The lake is a hot spot around here and is usually packed, but we had the lake mostly to ourselves. It probably had something to do with thunderstorms in the forecast. We never let stuff like that stop us.
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It also has a great campground attached to it that we are hoping to go back to in August.
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Even had a hang glider drop in.
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Sunday, June 07, 2009

Thank You

Thank you Paula Dean. I made her peanut butter chocolate brownies tonight. Very yummy but very sweet. The kids loved them and are bouncing off the walls and my stomach hurts. I should know better. Anything with brownie mix and peanut butter chips is going to be super sweet.

A belated happy 16th birthday to our nephew Joseph.
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We hope you had a great birthday, and I can't believe you are 16 already. That means one thing, Anthony will be 16 in a few months. Now my stomach really hurts.

That's it for tonight. I am tired and really need to be in bed.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

88 More Days

It's a cruel joke but I can't help myself. Today is the last day of school for this family. I woke the kids up this morning the same way I have since Anthony was in Kindergarten.

"Everyone get up, it's the last day of school. 88 more days until the next school year starts." I am laughing as I post this. This usually earns an eye roll from the oldest two, but the little one lost it.

"WHAT, THAT'S ALL OF SUMMER. THAT'S NOT ENOUGH TIME. IT'S ALMOST OVER." I had to show him the calendar to get him to relax. I am an awful parent, because I am still chuckling. The really bad thing is, I will do this a couple of more times during the summer. To be fare, I also do this during the school year too.

I have a love life update on the oldest child in the house. As of Monday he has a girl friend but don't get to worked up, it might be over all ready. She yelled at him for spending too much time with his friends. She's in trouble because Anthony and his two best friends I think share a brain. I will keep you posted. Hopefully she doesn't read this.

Beware of future post's: The school district budget committee will meet tonight and vote on budget cuts for next year. One of the cuts proposed is sports and activities. I am just warning you, I might not be a happy camper.

That is it for now. I have a bbq with Jason that I need to get ready for. Maybe I will mention to his buddies that there is only 88 days of summer left. hehehehe

Hey....... wait a minute, that means I only have 88 more days till I have to go back to work. This is suddenly not so funny.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Our Reality

First off, I told you I would start posting. Believe me I have more.

This is our reality.
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We love to camp, fish and hike. This time of year, ticks are out. Megan caught (and not on purpose) two ticks. This one is on her side and the other was on her forehead. Poor kid, as much as she plays with bugs she's not crazy about these.

We are no strangers to ticks. A couple of years ago Jason ended up with 7 and me with one. Thank God for Julie, because she is the one who got them all off of us. She is such a good friend, she offered to meet me half way and take care of it for me. We live 2 hours away from them.

We are getting ready to mushroom hunt so I am sure this won't be the last of these this year. I had to force myself to learn to get rid of them myself. I did it and I am very proud of Megan. She kept it together and we tried not to freak each other out.

A couple more pic's:

These are of my Moms plane as it takes off and the kids watching.
We miss you Mom.

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Nana

Nana

Last Week we had to say goodbye to Steve's Nana. She lived a full 96 years and I have too many wonderful memories to try and post here. This wasn't a surprise, she told everyone that she missed Gramps and was ready to go be with him. They just had that kind of marriage. To me, her passing was a relief. She is with Gramps and that is where she is happy.

We love you Nana.

Hey Look, It's an Update

I have no real excuse so I won't try to make one. Megan and I have found an online game that we have been playing together. I sit on one computer and her on another and we yell back and forth. It's a lot of fun but a real time drainer.

As I type this, my camera is hooked up to the other peter and uploading pictures. I do have a picture to share but it deserves a blog post all of its own. I will work on that next.

Is this totally boring you yet, it is me. I guess what I will do is stop rambling on about nothing and work on a couple of different post's.