Career path for my kids

I have chosen the career path for my children...

They way that they stretch out the the simplest and most mundane tasks, to take much longer than needed. The way that they make me scream like a lunatic. The way they've been talking back with an air of entitlement. These are valuable skills to have and I think they will fit right in at the TSA, the DVM, or any other government run facility.   (thanks for the idea@Bob Lynn)

The making of Camp Grandma Photo

What a project getting this photo. It was really funny watching the video though.

Mini Golf and the Bounce House

We spent yesterday at the firehouse fundraiser in the park...well really an empty field. Then went to play mini golf. It was torturous to say the least. Between the two preschoolers and the 40 yr old that has the mentality of a preschooler it took over an hour for 18 holes. Collin (3 1/2 yrs) quit at hole 11. Jeff melted down at hole 15. Christy took an extra 15 minutes after we were done.
FUN TIMES!



Then our evening consisted of teasing our kids and the mentally impaired. This is what happens when we babysit and grandma Susan is working. :-)

Migrating North

At some point in May Tony was offered a job with a company called Nypro located in Clinton, MA.  He was due to start on June 1st so we decided to take a trip to Hershey Park, PA.  Actually the trip had been scheduled to go to PA and NJ for a few months but his reunion in PA had been cancelled.  Since we had already booked hotel rooms and couldn't get our $$ back we made it a mini vacation.  So we skipped the last day of school and headed north with Dad's car packed with all his stuff and me and the kids in the van following him.  The plan was to get to Hershey and then split up after the trip.  He headed north and I headed south to my mom's to drop off the boys so I could go back to TN and get the house packed up for the move.

Here are a few photos of the Hershey trip.  I think the real ones are on my laptop (in Massachusetts) and I forgot to upload them to Flickr.
We wound up meeting two old friends from my high school (Katie and Christine Wiemer) while we were there.  They had seen my post on facebook that we were headed there and they happened to be camping there that weekend.  It was fun for the boys since some of the kids were close to their age.  Alex met a new friend named Alex...LOL  and Jeff met twins, Tommy and Jimmy.

Alex's new friend Alex!

April and May Updates

Well for those of you NOT on facebook you probably are wondering what the heck is going on?


Let's go back to April...
We had some fun school activities that included an annual Spring Egg Hunt and Party!  Baseball and TBall too!

Then in MAY we had a surprise birthday visit to Grandma Susan.  We got to swim in the pool, see Uncle Anthony build the deck and gazebo and watch Aunt Lesley move into the new addition on the house.





Then we had all of the last day of school events! Party at the Kindle Farm, 2nd/3rd grade kickball game, and Charlotte's Web County Fair.



There was more after this but the photos are on my desktop at Grandma Susan's house. When I get back there this weekend I will update a post.

Holiday Program

Jeffrey had his Christmas Program at school tonight. They made the cutest shirts to wear for the performance. Hand print Christmas trees and fingerprints for the ornaments.  We sort of knew Jeff would not want to participate (the relentless I hate school coming out of his mouth all weekend should have been our first clue).  We tried to bribe him with it being his special day.  We let him pick a place for dinner (Cracker Barrel) and then we visited Barnes & Noble before the program.

He was the last kid in the line of kids and he was hanging on to Jennifer (his teacher) for protection. Even his favorite gal, Mary Grace, couldn't give him the courage to participate.   Oh well, maybe next year.

Snow day

A typical snow day in TN. The big white fluffy flakes, blades of grass still sticking through the blanket of white, and the boys rolling snow hay bales around the yard.

I felt like complete crap all week but today really was the worst.  Did as many little chores as I could before collapsing to watch about 12 episodes of Young and the Restless on the DVR. 

We had an unfortunate Pitt loss this afternoon...but at least Alabama beat Florida.  :-)
Now it is time to wrestle the kids to bed.  I have a feeling it will be a tough one tonight.  Hope your day was snowy and beautiful just like ours.

Boys Christmas Tree

Here are some photos of the boys decorating their tree in the family/playroom. They really love going through all of the ornaments.  I put mostly all of their ornaments on this tree. The wooden painted ones are some I made when I was about 5 yrs old with my mom.  I would love to find a set of them to do with my kids someday.  I bought some plain wooden ones last year and we did paint them, they were just not detailed like the old ones.  You can see the reindeer one we did last year next to the toy soldier vintage one in the 2nd to last photo.

Parade of lights...

The boys and I took a quick trip to Dollywood this past weekend. We had a grand time at the hotel swimming in the pool (well they did, I just watched). Then we headed to our favorite place Dollywood! The lights were fantastic as always. We took a train ride since it was a pretty warm day, and we haven't been on it for a while. They were fixing it earlier in the season and it wasn't running the few times we went.
I used my new camera for most of these photos (until the battery died, bummer).
Enjoy.

Auntie Em...Auntie Em!

Today is extremely gusty outside. I expect to see a witch and a house swirling through the air soon. I had to run out to close the trash can lids (they blew open and garbage was flying out). Mental note, next time put stuff in trash bags first. :-) Then I had to run out and fetch all of my lawn chair cushions that my guests took out of the deck box where they were stored. (thanks) 
Now I am just hope nothing comes crashing through the back door glass.

Today is starting off slowly, I am a little under the weather with the sore throat and clogged ears thing going on. I am going to attempt to start putting up the Christmas tree I think. I would much rather just go back to bed.

Here are some photos from the weekend in Virginia, Nov. 6th.

Working and planning

So I have been working these past two weeks on web design stuff. I am excited and feel like I have a purpose again. I really enjoy helping people get their business online. I am almost done with my real website as well. I am going to actually start designing and building for a part time job. So if you know anyone that needs a website or even a banner ad I am your gal!

Oh and I started and ETSY store too. This is a place where you sell handmade goods. You can see the little banner to the right of what is in my store. Click on the banner to take you there.
www.janiceandcompany.etsy.com

The kids are going to camp next week (just day camp). I hope to post some of their fun online soon. They have been playing in the backyard on the slip and slide almost every day. We are not going to join the pool this year as we are vacationing at least two weeks this summer and we can go to the state park pools just a short drive away for a lot less $$.

Tball is over for Alex, we are having a trophy party tomorrow for his team at the park. It should be fun. Jeff has one more game then who knows what his lame ass coach will do for the team. Probably nothing.

The pen pal group I started on facebook has been launched. I am still trying to match up a few kids but should have that done by the end of the day today. I am thrilled with the response I got, I can't wait to see how it goes. I should offer some prizes or something. Hmmmm...the most letters sent, the longest letter sent, the least, etc. LOL

I am counting down the days till my MWSC trip. That is a retreat I am going on with my online friends from www.scrapbookeronline.com. I am so excited to meet all the ladies I have been chatting with online for almost 2 yrs now. We have shared our photos, our troubles, and our joys. It is such a welcoming group and I am so appreciative of my friend Leslie to have invited me to join them.

I think I need to get back to work now. Almost done with my site. Hopefully can launch it later today.

Ciao people!

Spring Portraits - Jeffrey

These were taken by Britney at Sears in JC Mall. She was great with him. He has a really short attention span and like clowning for the camera. If you go to get photos there tell them I sent you. You may get a special freebie.
I did a little photoshop editing of my own after I got these home.