His first roller coaster ride!
He just loved the paddle boats...of course he spent most of the time trying to get his friends wet!!
Driving all by himself this year!!
With one of his "girlfriends"


The school year is just about over...My Lord, where did it go? It just seems like yesterday that I was putting Max on the bus for the first time ever...now he is mere days away from becoming a first grader!! Andrew and Abby have just 5 full days left of school and then their wonderful regents exams to take the following week. Max graduates from kindergarten on the 23rd but his official last day of school is the 25th. We know who is teacher is going to be next year and I am thrilled to pieces because she was the other kids teacher too. I just love her!!

Last week I went with Max's kindergarten class to Midway Park and he had the absolute best time ever! I did however learn that my son is quite the ladies man! He spent a lot of time with the girls!! He was also able to drive the Bumper Car all by himself this year..imagine that...he is tall enough to reach the pedals. Let us just say that I am very thankful that there are quite a few years yet before he will be able to drive an actual car...he wasn't the greatest at steering quite yet!!

Abby joined a Sand Volleyball league this summer and her first game was last night. She just loved it!! I keep telling her that she could be the next Misty May....wouldn't that be a hoot!!

The sun is shining today and I am very happy about that! I have some weeding to do in the gardens and then I may just pull up a chair in the sun and read and relax and enjoy my peace and quiet before all heck breaks loose next week when everybody and their friends are all here!!

Well, I had hoped to be sharing the news that we were moving on in the playoffs but...unfortunately the Cougar Curse reared its ugly head in the final inning of the game last night. This was such a heartbreaking loss for the boys...I can't even begin to describe how much it hurt to see these boys lose this game. And the kicker of it was...they had it...they had it...but then they just fell apart. I can't even explain how that happened because it just was so unreal. So things are quiet around the house...not many smiles coming from Andrew Thomas. And as we left the game last night I said "Next year guys" but the real kicker is that we have only one more "Next Year" as this great group of boys who deserve so much will all be seniors. That can just tug at your heart strings just a little bit. But, we need to put things in perspective...it is just a game....and it is what it is. Maybe in a little while the boys will all realize this and move on and quite possibly learn something from all of it. Here is to hoping and praying it doesn't take them too long to do just that.

My friend Lisa Monacelli took this cute picture of Max at last weeks play off game. He truly is the coolest bat boy around...her words but I have to agree with her. No matter what sport is being played he somehow ends up being the "Team Mascot" It is really quite cute to watch him with the boys...he just looks up to them so much!!

This past weekend was the Prom. Andrew Thomas went stag with a bunch of his friends. Thankfully he really isn't into a particular girl at the moment (something I can do without for awhile...teheheee) They had a great time and after the Prom the school hosted an After Prom Party all night which is great because it keeps the kids off the roads and helps keep them safe. Andrew had fun at that too and came home with a $25 cash prize as well as 2 free Bison's Baseball Tickets. Pretty cool I think!!

So after weeks and weeks of not even picking up a piece of paper...I finally created a card for the Card Positioning Systems blog challenge this week using sketch 117. Now, I am not entirely thrilled with what I came up with but I AM THRILLED that I created something finally. Maybe this will be the start of my creative comeback. Here's crossing my fingers and toes on that one!!

We had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. On Monday we went to the Allegheny State Park with mom and dad and our niece Margaret for a day of fishing, hiking (gone bad for the two girls!!) canoeing and eating. It was a beautiful albeit kind of chilly day and it was so nice to just relax and not do much of anything. Lots and lots of people were enjoying the park that day. Max caught two fish...more than anybody else. He wasn't so sure that he liked fishing before that though because he said you just stand here and can't move around at all. But after hooking that first fish of his I think he was "hooked" Yes, I know, bad pun but purely intended!! Grandpa also said that he was an expert paddler in the canoe...he was so cute!!

Tonight the baseball team is playing in the quaterfinals of the playoffs. On paper these boys should win without a hitch but sometimes they forget to bring their all when it comes down to these important games. I sure hope tonight is not one of those nights and they win so they can continue on. I guess I will be crossing my fingers and toes for this too and saying lots and lots of prayers.

Other than that things have been really quiet here. Just trying to get my plants planted and finish up things that I want to do outside for the summer months. We had so many days of beautiful weather that I became completely spoiled. Fortunately for our gardens though we did get a bit of rain the last couple of days and even a few nasty thunderstorms. I wasn't happy to be stuck inside but it was much needed so I am not complaining!!

Thanks for stopping by today and I am promising not to be so much of a stranger anymore!!

I love this weekend....yes because I believe that we should all take the time to remember, thank and pray for our military...both past, present and future. Because of them we are allowed so much that we have in our amazing country.

This weekend also is a special because it begins all of the fun summer time activities that I so long for after such a long and hard winter!! Planting gardens, spending time outdoors, bon fires and being with the family outside enjoying the beauty that God has provided!!

We have been busy here in NY....baseball is now into the playoffs...hopefully we will have many more games to play....as long as they win we keep on playing. Andrew and his friends Dan and BJ spent an amazing day in Cincinnati at the Bengals stadium last week for a football combine. They enjoyed themselves and had a chance to "strut their stuff" for their future college coaches. We have been getting many, many calls and letters from colleges all over the country interested in Andrew. It is exciting but overwhelming all at the same time. It makes me tear up just a bit knowing that next year is his last year here at home and after that....who knows but God what life will hold for him. I am excited and sad all at the same time!

Our weather has been just plain gorgeous here this past week and I have spent many hours outside in my gardens. Hoping to get out and buy some plants to put in today. But of course we are always busy and always on the go so I am not sure just how much I will be able to get done today.

I have not created in a long, long time...I did however print out a picture that I am mulling a layout over in my head. Hopefully I will be spurred to create...I can't explain the emptiness it causes me when I can't get myself create. I am sure it is much like a writer who isn't able to put words to paper. I sure hope it goes away soon!!

Have a great weekend and enjoy your time with family. Remember to hug a veteran and give them a big thank you!!

It has been a long time since I blogged last. Too long!! I just took a lot longer to recover from my incident then initially thought. Hopefully I am on the mend now and soon I can wake up without any sort of ailment!!

I don't know where to begin so I guess I will just start with Mother's Day. I had a wonderful day from start to finish....I woke up to my hubby's famous pancakes and went to sleep when the day was done with my son's awesome cheesecake in my tummy! And everything in between was wonderful too. I did have a moment of sadness while sitting in church and seeing a little girl in front of me with the most beautiful gingham dress on. It had adorable pink buttons and she had adorable black mary janes on. Why would this make me sad? Because it reminded me of all of the pretty little dresses that my mom would make the girls and it just made me miss her so terribly much! I can't even begin to count how many dresses she must have made. Each one was a little piece of artwork....she was an amazing seamstress!! I still have hanging in my closet the very last dress that she ever made...Abby's First Communion dress...I don't have the heart or the gumption to ever put it away...it is a reminder to me of my mom and what an awesome mom she was. Eventually when the time is right I will give this dress to Abby for her own daughter to wear but for now it is a piece of my mom that I can't bear to give away.

Okay, I guess I got a little sidetracked there....We went to the Olive Garden with Andrew's family for dinner. The great grand parents, the grand parents and Drew's aunt and uncle from California. The biggest and best surprise was that Maddie drove down from Rochester to eat with us. I didn't even have a clue that the boys called her to tell her about it. That was a wonderful Mother's Day surprise for me!! Then of course because we were in the "big city" I was allowed to go to some craft stores and of course buy some new goodies!! Hopefully these new items will get me out of my crafty slump and help me get my butt in gear once again!!

On that note...I have a tiny little bit of exciting news...I won a layout contest for an online scrapbooking magazine!! You can click here to see the article. So my layout above has been published!! How cool is that!! This is a favorite layout of mine and it just warmed my heart that it was chosen. Made my crappy month just a little bit less crappy!!

I am going to go and create now in my newly cleaned and organized scrap room. Hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) I will have something new to share with you tomorrow!! Thanks for stopping by!!

I have been terrible about posting since being back but I have a good excuse. I had not really felt well ever since being back from vacation...my sinus' were terrible and I was just not feeling like doing anything at all. Sunday my chin started swelling up and I had terrible pain in my mouth...of course I tried to treat these symptoms by myself because 1. I hate going to the doctor or dentist and 2. I hate being on antibiotics. Unfortunately though I was not very successful in curing my problem. I woke up Wednesday morning at 3am and my entire face from chin to ear was swollen, I had terrible cold sweats and just felt like my brain was not working well at all. I called my poor sister Lisa at 4am (don't ask me why I just didn't go upstairs and wake up Drew...cause I just don't know why I didn't) She came over and took one look at my face and marched upstairs to wake Drew up and have him take me to the emergency room. So off we go and...well...my sinus infection decided to take up residence in my gum area around a tooth that had been broken. The doctor decided that he needed to lance my gum to get the infection out...omg...I have never in all of my life seen anything so gross as the stuff that came out of my mouth!! But as gross as it was it was an immediate relief of pressure and pain. So he sent me home with some awesome pain pills and super strong antibiotics. I am starting to feel human again and I have learned that I need to not let a sinus infection go for as long as I did!! Scary, scary stuff!!

Consequently, I have not created in weeks and I have really not done much of anything except try to get through each day. We did celebrate Andrew Thomas' 17th birthday last week. Watched a bunch of baseball games for the boys...which their record is now 2 and 2 in t he league. And the weather last weekend was absolutely gorgeous here so we spent many hours outside working on the yard and the deck. I have to say that this is the first time we have ever been able to pressure wash and seal our deck in April!! Of course the weather since has been a bit dreary and rainy...little bit of sun but kind of cool temps. I just wish that summer would get here already!!

Thanks for stopping by and checking on me...have had lots of people wonder where I was and that kind of makes me feel pretty good!! Have a great May 1st!!

This was what we woke up to every morning from our hotel room...gorgeous isn't it?
Soaking up some of that sun!!
Playing mini golf with the Oakes and Grandma and grandpa
waiting to go into Hooters....that was kind of a bust this time!

This is the front of our resort. We were on the 5th floor this year which was totally fine with me...the kids were not happy because they wanted to be higher!! Poor things!!
The boys are flying kites...kite flying is pretty awesome on the beach...you don't have to work too hard!!
Maddie, Abby and Max being cute on the beach!!
A little beach loving with Abby and Max.
Max blowing the bubbles that he got from the Easter bunny (yes the bunny found us!!) off of our balcony.


I am so sad that we are home....I just love the beach and it was so hard to pack up on Saturday and come back. We had such a relaxing time and enjoyed the days by the ocean and the sunny warm temps. We didn't do a lot of touristy things this year...mostly we stayed on the beach or at the ball games. We did get in a couple of nights of mini golf because Max wouldn't hear of not doing that!! All in all the trip was amazing and I am counting the days till we go again. I have warned my husband that as soon as he retires we are heading to the ocean to stay forever. So my goal in life now is to save enough for house on the beach!! (smile)

So I guess I need to try and get my bearings again and get back into a routine. It was hard to send everybody off to school this morning but I had lots of laundry and dog hair to take of today!! Hopefully I will get back into the swing of things soon!! By the way...our weather is crappy today here...what a stinking reality check!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope I didn't bore you with my pictures. I can't wait to scrap some of these!!