I'm leaving on Jet Plane

Tomorrow morning I am headed to NYC to visit my friend Jen. I am going all by myself, which is even more exciting. So, watch the "Today Show" on Monday morning and look for me. I do not have any real plans but I have never been to NYC so I am excited. I will return home Tuesday evening.

Also, this is our 100th post. I can hardly believe that I have had 100 things to share. It has been a lot of fun updating our blog and I look forward to 100 more posts in the future.

Happy 3rd Birthday Seth!!

Some of his goodies.
He was very excited about his dinosaur cake.

Today we celebrate Seth. He turns 3 years old today. We had a family party for him on Monday, Memorial Day. We borrowed a moon bounce from some friends and put out the little pool. It was a nice day. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. It is hard to believe that my little boy is three. He was a very fussy baby and I was not sure how to handle it for a long time. He had reflux which caused him to cry all the time. I remember coming home from a vacation in July right after Seth was born, so Seth was only 2 months old, my little brother was with us and about an hour into the trip, with Seth crying the entire time, my little brother said, "I thought babies liked to ride in the car. Why does he cry all the time?" If I only knew how to get him to stop I would have. He still is my child that is sick the most. He has been to the ER two times for breathing problems. We have to have a nebulizer and his medicine on hand at all times just in case. Luckily we have not had to use it too much this spring. Seth is a very happy boy. He likes to make us all laugh. His smile is contagious. He loves being a big brother. He is always aware of where his baby sister is and what she is doing. He has just recently become quite attached to me. I am not sure if it is a delayed reaction to Lucy or just a phase he is going through. Seth is full of life and very much a boy. He likes cars, trucks, trains, pirates, balls, wrestling, dinosaurs and anything else a boy would like. I am grateful that he is a part of our family. And that I get to be his mother.

We made it.

We made it through our busy weekend. We did have a few minor things go not as planned but it was a wonderful weekend. They boys left for their camping trip Friday and evening. They were very excited. They did not get any rain until they were packing up on Saturday morning to come home. I got up Saturday, took the girls to a friends house and headed to my race. I finished the 5k in just over 36 minutes. We ran through Charles Town. My friend who was watching Emma and Lucy lives in town. I was not sure of the race course but was very excited that just over the halfway mark we ran past her house and Emma was outside to cheer me on. She was just as excited to see me. That gave me the boost I needed to get to the end. As I was turning the corner to the finish line I saw Sean and the boys at the finish line cheering me to the finish. It was nice having them there. After the race we had Jacob's soccer game and Emma's dance. They both went well. We all headed home to get cleaned up. Sean had to go to work so he went first. He came downstairs with tweezers in hand because he had pulled two ticks off of him. We checked the boys and found two on Jacob and three on Seth. I also found one on the shower wall as I was taking a shower. Then Jacob found two more in his hair later in the day that we had missed in our check. And this morning I found one in the Orange Juice in the fridge. YUCK!!! It must have gotten into the cooler and on one of the water bottles. I feel like I have bugs crawling all over me and in my house. We made it to Sean's parents. After I got Lucy in bed Jacob and I headed up the Woodbridge to participate in the Relay for Life. We stopped at Target to get rain coats/ponchos so we were not soaked. Unfortunately, there was lightening when we got there and they had moved everyone into the school. Shortly after that they decided to cancel the remainder of the event. Jacob was bummed that he did not get to walk the track but was sound asleep before we got back to Sean's parents house.

Sunday morning we headed to our old ward at church. It was a lot of fun to see friends. Then we headed to church one more time with Sean's parents to see more friends. In the afternoon we spent a few hours with a family that we had not seen in a while. It was great to catch up and see the new additions.

Monday morning the boys headed home and the girls and I headed to Southern Maryland. We went to my sister Jennifer's to see her new baby girl. She is beautiful. It was great to have a day to visit and hold my new niece. She made Lucy look huge. Sean fed the missionaries by himself because we got stuck in a little bit of traffic on the way home, bad planning on my part. We finally made it home around 7pm.

Today Sean headed to school with Jacob for his field trip. They are going to a Children's museum in Hagerstown, MD. Jacob wanted me to go but I get car sick and I have not been on a bus in long time and I am sure that the teacher did not want a chaperons that was going to throwing up all over the kids.

Busy Weekend

I am gearing up for what is going to be a fun filled, very busy weekend. Sean took today off so we go some planting done. We were given some blackberry and raspberry bushes and got those planted today. We also planted our tomato plants and some banana pepper plants. We will hopefully get the rest of the garden in next week.

The boys are headed out to the father/son camp out tonight. Before they return tomorrow morning I will have run a 5k for Jacob's school. Once they return Jacob has his last soccer game of the season. It has been a lot of fun for him. Sean will head to work after that and I will be alone for the rest of my busy Saturday. Then we head to Emma's dance recital in the afternoon. Immediately after her recital we are heading to Stafford for dinner with Sean's parents. There I will put the three younger ones to bed and Jacob and I will head to Woodbridge for the "Relay for Life". One of my friends from high school, her mother passed away of lung cancer about three and a half years ago. We have enjoyed each year that we have participated in the relay. We expect to have a great time this year as well. It will be a late night but well worth it. We will head back to Stafford to Sean's parents in the early hours of the morning and hopefully get a little bit of shut eye. Why is it that you can go several weekends with nothing happening then have weekend where you have a ton of things going on. Even though we have all this planned I have had to turn down about 4 other things for the weekend.

Sunday we will go to church with Sean's parents. Then Monday the girls and I will head to Southern Maryland to see the newest addition to our family, my niece Lilliana Grace. I will definitely be ready for a nap by Tuesday.

Happy Anniversary

Today I celebrate 8 wonderful years with my best friend and eternal companion. Sean and I were sealed in the Washington DC Temple on May 12, 2001. Some days it is hard to believe that 8 years have already passed and other days it seems like it has been much longer. In those eight years we have added 5 children to our family and moved 3 times. We have had many sleepless nights and fewer mornings to sleep in and snuggle. We have been on a cruise, been to the beach, been to the mountains, flown cross country with 3 children and been on many long road trips. We have also had a few weekends away without our children. I look forward to many more years together. Yesterday we were able to go out for the afternoon while Sean's parents watched our children. We went out to a wonderful lunch, did a little shopping and purchased bunk beds for the boys.

I LOVE YOU SEAN!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

I had a wonderful day. Sean and Jacob made me a wonderful breakfast. They made bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches and hash browns. Then we just hung out around the house and played some games. Sean's parents are here for the weekend also. After the games we headed to church, which starts at 3pm right now while they are extending our chapel. We had dinner with another family at church. We did it last week also and it is a lot of fun. Sean and the kids got me the Wii fit for Mother's Day. Sean took the kids out earlier in the week. When they got home Seth came upstairs to our room, where I was, and said to me. "Mommy, we got the Wii Fit!" Emma was quite upset and hit him and told him it was a surprise and you were not supposed to me. We are really enjoying the Wii fit. The kids are excited each time they unlock a new game.

I am grateful for the blessing I have been given to be a mother. I love my children and love watching them learn and grow. I am grateful for a wonderful husband that takes care of us.

I love my own mother very much. Our relationship is much different, 100 times better, than I ever imagined that it could be. She is a wonderful grandmother to my children also and that means the world to me. I LOVE YOU MOM!!

Happy Anniversary

Today is our one year anniversary of starting our family blog. And also when we announced to everyone that we were going to add Lucy to our family. We have had great year and I have enjoyed blogging to keep everyone up to date with our family. Our kids love to look at the pictures and read the things that are posted. It has been fun. Hopefully we will make it to two years.

This week is teacher appreciation week at Jacob's school. Monday we took his teachers some flowers. Today we took them a bag of goodies. I walked around with him so he could give all of his specials teachers their bag. He is quite reserved. It was fun to watch each teachers reaction and Jacob light up as each one thanked him. We are grateful for Jacob's wonderful teachers this year.

Wednesday Jacob and Emma went to the dentist. They both did a great job. No cavities so we do not have to go back until November. Seth will get a turn then also.

We have a weekend full of birthday parties, soccer games and of course Mother's Day. Sean's parents are coming to spend the weekend with us.

I love to read.

We have always read to our kids. In fact when Jacob was toddler he used to bring us an endless amount of books to read. It was the first thing he wanted to do every morning. Well, it has carried over into him being able to read. Jacob has become a good reader and loves to read. Emma and Seth really enjoy listening to him read. Yesterday morning Jacob wanted to read the new chapter easy reader that he got in Michigan "Ghosts". So they all climbed up on the couch and snuggled under a blanket for a story from their big brother. I had to get a picture. I love that my kids love books.

Yesterday we started our 6 week long (at least) journey of attending church from 3pm - 6pm and travelling 40 minutes to Winchester, VA. Our chapel is getting a new addition to make it bigger. They are hoping to finish in 6 weeks. We brought dinner in the crock pot and enjoyed dinner at the church with some friends of ours and then headed home. It was bed time when we got home. The kids did better than we expected. Hopefully this will be a quick 6 weeks. And we will have a beautiful new chapel to meet in when all is done.