Look at that! Another post in the same month!

We had two of Morgan's friends and their families over for a cook out on August 1st. Actually, I cooked at 3pm and then put it in the crock pot until time to eat at 6pm. :) That sure was easier than trying to cook hamburgers and hot dogs while kids were running around. I got to visit more, too.

First is Molly and Morgan on the swings. They would swing as high as they could and then jump off and see who could get closest to the sidewalk. Oddly enough, none of them hit the sidewalk and got hurt.

Next is Morgan teaching Brigid to play baseball. She is into tennis and did not play T-ball this year, so she was not really that interested. Didn't keep him from trying...

Then we have Lauren playing in the sand box. They

really loved that. At one time, all 5 of them were in the box. But I didn't have my camera ready so I missed it!

Steph brought cupcakes for dessert, which Catie really enjoyed.

Since life is now all about our children, I only have pictures of them to share. Sorry, but that's how it is. :)

Here are the pictures from our visit with Mom and the Arches.

The boys had a wonderful time in the pool. It sure was hot.

In this photo, Logan is trying to dump water on Morgan as he slides down the slide.

Then when Morgan tried to return the favor of dumping water, Logan was not so excited.

But in the end they all had no problem sharing a nice dry towel.

Looks like I'm behind on the blog. Again. Mom, Darese, Logan and Ben came up to visit last Tuesday. The boys had a great time. I'm waiting for pics from Darese since I was to lazy to run upstairs in the office for my camera. They stayed until 5pm. It was nice that they didn't have to rush off. Darese and I worked on our Valentine gifts while Logan and Ben took a nap in Morgan's room, Reese took a nap in his room and Mom took a nap on the sofa. Morgan played his DS in the kitchen with us and asked when Logan was going to wake up.

Mom made seat covers for our picnic table. The wood was getting splintery so I measured the seats and she made thick covers that have a velcro strap underneath to keep them from sliding off. Waaaay cool! Thanks, Mom! I may even get my lazy self down and take a picture one of these days.

I think this is the last post for tonight and should bring me up to date. As it is 11:06pm, I really should be getting to bed!

We were invited down to Molly's house for dinner on the 4th and to watch the fireworks. They have a wonderful view of Port Carbon's fireworks since they are at the top of the hill on First Street. We had a great time. They have a big back yard and Morgan had fun playing with Molly and Brigid, who was also invited. The fireworks were postponed due to the threat of rain, but Stephanie's brother came by and set some off for our viewing pleasure. The children really enjoyed that, except for Catie. It was too loud for her so she hid inside with her Pappy.

We walked down again on the 5th to see the town fireworks. They did a wonderful job and were beautiful. It is the first time we did not watch them from Reese's parents' backyard. It was a different view. Very nice.

PS Morgan lost his 3rd tooth last night! He lost the 2nd one on May 13th. Weird!

Left to right in the back: Molly, Aislinn, Brigid, Morgan, Johnathan

Left to right in the front: Michael, Rory, Catie (Molly's little sister)

Not pictured: Lauren, Brigid's little sister

We had Morgan's birthday party at Heisler's again this year. Not as many kids were able to come as last year. Probably because it was on June 28th and many people were on vacation. But we still had fun. They played mini golf; boys on one course, girls on the other. The boys won. Well, they finished first. I don't think anyone kept score. They even managed to kill a spider stuck in the cup on hole 10 or thereabouts. Of course they squished it before they all hit the ball in so they had to inspect the ball to make sure there were no spider guts on it. Boys! But it was all good. The most fun they had was punching the empty pinata. They would jump up as high as they could and whack it with their hands. A couple of times, they almost landed on Catie who was running around under the pinata.

I have definately not been keeping up with this site. Things just keep happening and I get distracted!

Morgan's birthday was June 18th. The big 6! Here are some pictures of the small party we had for him that day. He is laughing at us singing "Happy Birthday". His grandparents ordered a Star Wars cake for him. We ordered subs and invited them up for lunch. Usually we have it in the evening for dinner, but Morgan had VBS at 6 that night so we celebrated at lunch instead. He had just as much fun. He got, among many other things, additional LEGOS for his collection. He sure loves to put them together and it teaches me patience to let him do it himself.

June 4th was Morgan's Kindergarten Graduation ceremony. Reese was able to attend in a wheelchair, one week after his surgery. It was still hard for him to get around, but he was there. That was his goal and he achieved it. Amazing.

There were 12 children graduating with Morgan that day. The ceremony was very nice. They sang songs they learned throughout the year and recited poems for each month of the year. Morgan's was August. He received his diploma from the principal, Mrs. Scarbinsky.

We invited Molly and her family for lunch afterward and the kids had fun running around, playing ball, blowing up balloons and drawing pictures. On each other as well as the paper.

It is so hard to believe that Morgan will be 6 tomorrow. We are having Reese's parents up for lunch to celebrate his special day. His party with friends is not until June 28th, at Heisler's. But we have to do something on the day itself. I'll post pictures tomorrow. Really I will.......

The school had their end of year picnic at Knoebel's on May 23rd. Morgan had a great time with his friends Aiden and Matthew. Here they are doing the frog hop. When the ride goes up to the top and 'hops' down, all the kids scream 'ribit' with each hop, at the top of their lungs. Then the man operating the ride says, "Why are you whispering? I can't hear you!!!" It makes them scream all the louder.

On May 28th, I took Reese down to the Reading Hospital for his total hip replacement. That was a long day. We left at 9am and I got home at 11pm. We had this planned since early March and it seemed like it would never get here, but all of a sudden, it was time. He went into surgery at 1:10 and the dr called at 4:10 to say they were just finishing up. His hip was in worse shape than they expected so it took them longer to repair it. He was discharged the following Saturday.

Tomorrow will be 3 weeks and he is walking around with just a cane. We all went for a walk around the block this afternoon and he had no trouble keeping a steady pace. He spends most of his day in the chair with his little friend (the remote) and Morgan. On Father's Day, he was able to go to church with us and he threw the ball to Morgan in the back yard for a few minutes. He gets tired quickly because he has not been able to use those leg muscles for over 5 years. But he is getting better every day.

Where do I start? It has been so long since my last posting, I'll probably have to separate events into 2 or 3 postings.

On May 13th, Morgan lost his second tooth. He walked in the Memorial Day parade with his T-Ball team. None of which showed up, however. So he was an honorary member of Molly and Kierstyn's team and walked with them. He sat for the program at the Library Gazebo afterward and got his picture taken with Molly and her little sister, Catie. We had dinner with Reese's parents. See Morgan happily getting another juice box out of the cooler? It was hot that day! But the food was good and we managed to eat more than necessary.

What beautiful weather. Sure it's been a little cooler and raining these last few days, but spring is here. The sun is shining today. Check out our cherry tree! We planted it when we moved here in 2000. Amazing how it has grown. Yesterday, I cut the grass for the first time this spring. I could still smell fresh cut grass when I got home last night at 9:30. I love that smell. Soon be time to start grilling and having picnics outside. Morgan has off today because there is 2008-2009 Kindergarten testing at school. Hopefully it will be warm enough to spend most of the day outside. We are going down to have lunch with Reese and may have to go to the gstore, but other than that we 'got nothing'.

Big things happening at your house? Feel free to share with the rest of us. I know blue eyes is traveling to LA. We will be traveling to see barnabas on Sunday. Hope to see some of you at church if we get there in time. I will try to keep the boys moving right along so we get an early start.

Saturday was the opening ceremony for the baseball season. It was a disorganized but fun time. We had the opening ceremony at 11, team pictures at 12:15 and a game at 1pm. Too long to stay around but not quite long enough to go anywhere.

The opening ceremony was very nice. All the teams gathered on the field in their team shirts and caps. They played the national anthem and everyone saluted the flag. Then they announced each team, their manager and coaches and each player.

Morgan is on Abdo's again this year. This time he is one of the 'big kids' only he's not so big. There are 10 kids on his team, 3 or 4 returning from last year. I think he has one more year in t-ball and will then move up to minor league, if he is still interested in the game.

The first game of the season was tie 4-4 (they are always ties in t-ball). Morgan was up to bat twice and had 2 great hits. The second was out to the fence because the other team had tiny kids and they couldn't get the ball. They were all so funny, running to third base instead of first and playing in the dirt instead of watching for the ball. Reese got hiccups from laughing.

Another beautiful day. Just like yesterday, only not so hot. It rained this evening, after 6pm. But that was OK. Morgan and I were inside bowling, golfing and playing baseball. It was so nice to have the front door open and feel the breeze coming in through the screen. I am sooooo ready for spring and warmer weather.

Yesterday, Reese, Harold and Morgan went to a Phillies game in Philadelphia. Long bus ride. They didn't get home until after 10pm. Morgan got washed up and fell into bed, fast asleep in under 10 minutes. They had fun, for the most part. But it was a really long day for the little guy. And the bigger guys, too, I think. Strange how tiring it can be just riding in a bus.

Today, Morgan and I got our gloves on and went for a long walk to pick up trash. This weekend was the SKIP clean up and we decided to do our part to Keep It Pretty. (Morgan thot it should be Keep It Perfect. Works for me!) We found lots of trash as well as recycleable material. It was fun until it started to rain on our way home. It's amazing the things people toss along the road. We got a bag full of trash and only cleaned up one side of the road. But what we did looks nice. For now.

I had company today. Mom, Darese, Logan and Benjamin came for a visit. We had a great time. We all took a road trip to WalMart/Subway to pick up lunch. Then I put up the tent in the living room for the little guys to eat their lunch in. While they took a nap, Darese and I played Wii and Mom laughed at us. Darese and I went to pick Morgan up from school (while Mom took a nap) and the boys were awake by the time we got home. They had about 1 hr to play outside with Morgan before they had to leave for home. They enjoyed digging in the garden, kicking the ball, throwing the cloth-bee (a fabric frisbee) and relaxing on the lawn chairs with cherry jello. I'm so glad it was sunny enough for them to be outside. After they left, we ate dinner and went down to watch Morgan's T-Ball practice. It got a bit chilly after the sun started to go down!

Happy Easter. I know -- it was over a week ago. Whatever. I've been busy. Anyway......Here is Morgan in all his Easter finery. Quite the Easter gentleman. We had lunch at the Dutch Kitchen with Reese's mom; his dad was sick. It was a bit chilly, which is to be expected since Easter was so early this year. But at least it was not snowing. I never complain that it does not snow.

I have exciting news regarding Morgan. He lost his first tooth on Friday, March 28th. Yea Morgan! He came out of school and showed me the empty spot in his mouth. I asked him if it hurt. He said it did a little and it was bleeding a little and he cried a little. But then he took a drink and it stopped bleeding. They gave him a little blue treasure chest to keep his tooth in. Very cute. He has been telling everybody. Last night he and I ate dinner at Pizza Hut to use the last of his Book It! coupons. He told the waitress, "I lost a tooth!" Usually, he does not even say hello to anyone. Guess he's growing up. My little boy!

I'm baaaaaaack! It's a new month and I purpose in my heart to post more regularly. All month long I have purposed. But I'm for real now.

How rude of me........I missed saying "Happy Birthday, Reese". It was March 4th. Thanks to all of my family that contributed to the care package. He was so surprised. So many fun goodies were included. I have a thank you card all ready for him to fill out. That's as far as it has gotten. I'm not writing it for him!

I hope to have Easter pictures to post. Next week already. Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, the Sunday School children (all 5 of them) marched around the sanctuary waving palms as the congregation sang "The Palms". I think they were cute. I couldn't really see since I was playing the organ and had to concentrate on the song. It's not an easy one for me to play. But Easter Sunday I get the week off. Rose Marie is playing and I picked some good Easter hymns for her. "Up From the Grave He Arose", "He Lives" and something else I cannot remember. But it's a joyous one. Last Easter she played and neither of the above songs were chosen. The ones she picked were not very joyous Easter hymns. But this year I am large and in charge and things will be done right.

Three cheers for the Silver Medal winners!

I am proud to announce that Morgan and his good friend, Molly, took the Silver in the Two-Man Bobsled Race at the Kindergarten Olympics held yesterday at Nativity BVM High School. The photos are courtesy of Stephanie, Molly's mom. Some of the events included jumping over mats, crawling under chairs, stepping in as many rings as possible and "ice skating". Reese and I were unable to attend because of work, but Morgan's grandparents were there to cheer him on. They said he ran fast and jumped far, as can be seen by his flushed cheeks. He loves to be on the move. All of the participants received a green medal for good sportsmanship. This was a wonderful time for the children. I know Morgan and his classmates practiced hard for many weeks prior to this event. They have gym class every Monday, but missed many classes because of school delays/cancellations, most of which happened on a Monday.

Morgan having fun with his cousins. Most of the time, he was outside playing with Nathan, but I managed to catch a couple of shots inside.

The weather cooperated yesterday. I got to go home to visit and exchange the Valentine gifts. We had a nice time. Once we finally got started. I wanted to leave at 11, but it was more like 11:30 before we were heading out. Then I stopped at the bank and everyone in front of me had a long, involved transaction. I should have waited, but thot it would save time since I was going past the bank........Anyway, Morgan had a great time. He played with the other boys and Shanda the whole time he was there. Except when I forced him inside to eat his PB&J. We got home at 7pm. It was a lot of driving for me, but worth it to see all the girls again and for Morgan to play with cousins. Looks like the next time will be March 30th for the meals.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It is a happy day. School was not closed today, just a 2 hr delay, and I am finally able to get out of the house. Yesterday was cold and rainy. Didn't go anywhere except to shovel ice. Last night was very windy and seemed to dry up most of the water. So here I am. Able to leave the house and what am I doing? Sitting inside posting the blog. I do believe I am messed up.

Hope to see some of you on Saturday around 1:30pm. I just received confirmation of the time. I'll bring my little boy and my box.....which I have not opened...or peeked in...but did shake gently...and smell.

The tire got fixed and I was back at home by 10am. Plenty of time to do my dirty job for today before I picked msb up at 11:45. Early dismissal because of the snow. It is supposed to get bad this afternoon. My dirty job was to clean out msb's coloring book cupboard. He gets coloring books and pages from everywhere and I have been shoving them onto the pile to get them off the pile on the bar. I have way too many piles. It was to the place where I couldn't fit another sheet on the pile. Time for a dirty job! I would really be ahead if I could do a dirty job every day.

It sure is cold out! This morning, it was 4 degrees when Reese left for work at 6:30am. School was delayed for 2 hrs and it warmed up to 9 degrees by 10:30am. Cold and windy. I do not hate many things, but I do believe one of them would have to be winter! I do not know if it got up to 20 today, but it is back down to 12. Supposed to snow tomorrow afternoon. Where is spring??? Reese picked up a nail in his tire somewhere over the weekend. Don't know if it was in Mt Carmel on Saturday or at work today. Anyway, weather permitting, I have to take it down to be fixed tomorrow. Love doing that kind of thing.

Today turned out OK after all. We were to meet Rebecca in Mt Carmel at 12. When Reese and Morgan left basketball practice at 10:30, it was snowing and 33 degrees. I was afraid we wouldn't be able to meet her. However, I thought and thought about it and it went up to 34 degrees then 35. So we decided to try it. If it got bad, we would just turn around. The roads were fine. We found Matucci's with no problem. Wonderful food. We ordered garbage pizza (pizza with everything on it). It even had shrimp on it. It was great. Morgan got a plain cheese pizza and ate 2 pieces. Rebecca, Reese and I ate 2 slices each then split the rest. She was going back to Lewisburg to meet Barry after his meetings and then they were heading home. It was great to see her again. I got my Valentine presents in case the weather does not cooperate next weekend for me to go down home. Blue eyes, she has your lyrics. Yea. They turned out great!

Today is Souper Bowl Sunday. No, it's not a typo. Today, we collected cans of soup to be given to the Pottsville Soup Kitchen. So many people celebrate Super Bowl Sunday with tons of food, we wanted to share a little of what we have with others.

So. Now that I have shared with others, I can plan my own Super Bowl party. Harold is coming up to watch the game. I made deviled eggs and we are having sharp cheese, ring bologna, cheese sticks, chips, crackers, yogurt, applesauce and popcicles. Yum! The last 3 healthy items are for Morgan.

Tuesday is Fat Tuesday. I will be spending most of the morning delivering donuts that people ordered from Morgan. I have to take some down to Reese at work, drop some off to the pastor, some to Janet, some to Harold. I think I will then be so tired and hungry I will have to eat the entire dozen we ordered for ourselves! Seems only fair...

And the next day it rained! And is still raining. School was closed today because it was around freezing and the sidewalks were very bad. Had to find things to entertain a little boy. We put a LEGO helicopter together. Only missing 2 pieces. But we found them later in the day. He helped me move the sofa out to rescue a few of his 'guys' that had fallen and couldn't get up. How does all that stuff get under the sofa? I'm ashamed to name the things I found under there, but I will anyway. A raisin, mini M&M (yellow), gold fishie, lead from a mechanical pencil (that was Reese's doing), an army guy's leg and more. We had grilled cheese and peanut butter crackers for lunch. I said to Morgan, "If I have 6 crackers, now can I split them evenly between you and me?" He said "Three for you and three for me. I know that three plus three is six!" Such a little guy to know so many things. Now he is playing color by number on the computer while I'm trying to work since I couldn't go to work today. Right. Working. That's what I'm doing. Just after I get this finished. And finish talking to catchme.

But I am an angel! Really I am. See??? Morgan showing off before the Christmas play on January 6th. They were all very cute and well behaved, with that one exception.

Can't believe it is the 22nd of January already. Happy 40th, Blue Eyes. Hope you enjoyed your big party. Sorry I couldn't be there. Maybe next time you turn 40. haha

10:30 and I should be in bed. But I'm not. I'm playing on the blog. Which no one ever reads. Hey Blue Eyes, did you finalize that list of songs yet? Hurry, hurry so I can catch Catch Me and she can burn the CD before we get any older. Oops. Too late. I fixed some typos in the previous message and look at that ...... we are already 2 minutes older. O well.

Check out this pic. Morgan put this together all by himself. The first time, he asked me for help. Then he was playing and not watching where he was going and he knocked it over. He got out the directions and put it back together. Amazing what they learn.

2008! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We had a fun time. Morgan stayed up to watch the ball drop in Time Square for the first time this year. Usually, he is in bed long before the ball drops and we just sneak in and give him kisses as we whisper "Happy New Year". This year he stayed up and had all his favorite snacks: chips, yogurt, oranges, juice and Ritz crackers. We took Mom-Mom and Pappy to Ruby Tuesday for dinner, then went home to wait until it was time for the party. We played carnival games on the Wii, Pappy came up and we played some more. Then it was time to drag out the snacks and watch the crazy people in Time Square. Nice to watch from home! We got cleaned up after the party and were in bed by 1am. We slept in until 10:30! It's been a long time since the little guy let us sleep late. But tonight it is early to bed - school and work tomorrow. Vacation is over. It was fun, but it will be really nice to get back to some sort of schedule again.

Morgan is an angel for the school Christmas Program. Can you imagine how sweet it would be to see 11 more of these little children all angelic and singing "Silent Night" and "Go Tell It On The Mountain"? May not happen, though. They are calling for major snow. School is cancelled today because of the sleet. It's been a while since I had to entertain Morgan for so long. But I am managing. With the help of coloring books, computer games and Old Maid cards..... The Community Christmas Concert has been re-scheduled for Sunday, December 23rd. It was set for this Sunday, but they have too much faith in the weathermen and are expecting snow.

Happy Halloween! Happy Birthday Annie! Boo! Did I scare you??? Morgan was Spiderman for Halloween. He wore this to the Story Time party, School party and trick-or-treating. Isn't he adorable?

Morgan scored the first goal of the game this season for the Blue Dragons (the tiny little guy in blue with his leg up for a kick). And now tomorrow is the last game. It's been a crazy October. Run here, run there, never stopping anywhere. Hopefully November will be a little less nuts. Planning on going down to visit the family for Thanksgiving. Where will we eat? Can someone tell me?

I'm working on getting pictures together of our trip to the Renaissance Faire in September. It was so much fun! We stayed from 11-8:30. Opened and closed the joint! So much to see: juggling, stilt walkers, knife throwers, sword swallowers, the Royal Falconer (the Queen's own cousin, ye know), pirates, a human chess match, jousting without armor and the Queen. And lots of food: taco salad, soup in a bread bowl, kettle corn, pizza. It was a nice day. Got a little cold after the sun went down, but we were prepared with jackets in the truck. It was nice. We took Morgan there a few weeks later. He really enjoyed it. He played some midevil games and won a plastic sword. Poked lots of people with it, too, until we took it from him.

Well, the profile photo is on there for now. What a runaround to get it to stay. Wonder how long it will last?

Nothing in the month of July. What? Was I busy or something. Guess so. More later. I promise.

Hot - Hot - Hot

Not complaining. Remember so long ago when I was so tired of being cold? I do. I can handle the heat. Doesn't mean I have to like it........Pour it on, I say.

Tomorrow is the last swim class. Guess I should take the camera tonight if I want any pictures. Tomorrow's may be canceled due to a storm.

We spent a Day Out With Thomas last Friday. It was fun. Nice day. A bit windy, but not too hot. Morgan had a good time. Just the right weather for ice cream, which he had. They had a cool new thing this year - A Thomas made of Legos. He was pulling a scene of the Island of Sodor made of Legos. And, of course, a legos table. Morgan's favorite. Then we played mini golf. Another of Morgan's favorites. It's all about the little guy....

Happy 5th Birthday, Morgan. Last Monday...Well, yes, I've been busy. Crazy busy, you may say. Reese and I took off Monday for Morgan's birthday. We ate birthday donuts (see photo), had lunch at Wendy's, played a round of mini golf (Morgan got a hole-in-one on #16), played outside with his new pitcher/batter/soccer net, had cake and ice cream and opened presents with the grandparents and swim class at 6:30pm. Loooooong, hot day. With no nap for anyone. Morgan crashed very quickly that night, as soon as everyone stopped calling to say happy bday. Which he really enjoyed.

Swim class last night was cancelled due to the storm. We got rain, finally. The grass looks better already. Just wish we could share with others. Today is windy and a little cool. Just enough to keep the windows open. Tomorrow, we are spending the night in Lancaster and going to the Day Out With Thomas on Friday. It will be our third year going there. We'll have the weekend to rest up from our vacation. That's always nice.

Who is that handsome young man in the tie? That would be our little guy. He graduated from Pre-K last Thursday, May 31, 2007. There were 22 at graduation -- 12 in the morning class and 10 in the afternoon class. It was a very nice service. They sang lots of their favorite little songs and each one went up the mic and said their name, age and what they want to be when they grew up. Morgan wants to be a policeman. For now.....

We had to go to work after graduation, but after work we took Morgan to the circus. It was just a little circus at the fire company, but he liked it. There were little cats that jumped really far and through hoops. He liked them. And the 11-year-old juggler. And the zebras that tried to escape. And the clown who cried on the audience when the ringmaster threw away his radio. And the lady who had 50 hula hoops. She looked like a slinky with that many hoops around her. Then we went to the block party and ate pizza and he rode on some of the little rides. It was a long, hot day. But I think we all had fun.

Saturday was his birthday party. We had 8 kids at the party and some adult friends. The kids played mini golf and then had lunch and ice cream. Morgan blew out the #5 candle and then we hung the pinata. We got the pull string kind, much to the disappointment of the older kids. I think they all had fun. Fortunately, the Waffle House was air conditioned. It was very hot outside! I know I'm tired. Still. But, it's summer vacation and time for more fun. Wheeeeee!!!!!

Another lovely day. Much sun. It surely was wonderful.

Morgan had a full day. Team pictures at 10:40, opening ceremony at 12:15 and a game at 2:00. We were not going to attend the opening ceremony, but changed our minds. I'm glad we did. All the teams lined up around the Little League diamond and the announcer called out the teams and names and everyone cheered. Then they played the National Anthem (I cried) and an "army guy", as Morgan would say, threw out the first pitch. It was nice for the kids.

Our first game of the season was against Spataro's. Morgan's friend Aiden is on that team. Morgan was our first batter. He had a good hit. The nice thing about T-ball is everyone wins! He got to run all the bases and was eventually the first one to get home.

He played at the pitcher's mound and third base. He to talk to Aiden while playing third base because no body hits balls there. He had to pay attention when playing pitcher's mound, and got lots of catches. Sort of. They all did a great job and no one was wounded. That's always good!

Happy birthday yesterday, Rosemary!

Yesterday was a crazy, crazy day. I left home at 8:15 am, took Morgan to school, dropped a sub order off at the sub shop for Reese's friends at work and went to work. I picked up the subs after work at 2:30 and then picked Morgan up and ran home to change so we could help Larry and Janet move out of the Parsonage and back into their house. (It was flooded last June and is finally redone.) Then I raced home at 5:30, inhaled a sandwich and ran to T-ball practice at 6. After practice, we went back to Larry's to help them finish up and didn't get done until after 8:30. We picked Morgan up at his grandparents and stopped at Wendy's for a frosty and fries. Healthy!! Then dragged ourselves home to take showers and crash.

Morgan woke up today with a bad cough and low grade fever. I didn't send him to school, so I didn't get to help Lorraine move into the Parsonage. They were cutting it close. In one door and out the other.

Tomorrow will be fun, too. T-ball pictures at 10:40, opening ceremony at 12 noon and the first game at 2pm. I'll want to do nothing but sleep! Then down home for a visit on Sunday. Tuesday is the class field trip to the Zoo. And then a game that night. Whose idea was it to schedule so many things???

Happy May Day. First day of May and it is beautiful outside! Sun and more sun. I love it. Yesterday I was sitting out on the back steps, enjoying the wind, remembering the snow and being thankful it is gone. The snow, that is. I may do laundry and hang it out. I would like to mow the grass, but the lawn mower is in the back of the shed with the picnic table in front of it. I do not think I can move the table by myself, but I may have to try. I REALLY want the grass cut........ Maybe I will plant some more flowers. Maybe I will clean out the garage or pick up sticks. Anything to be outside enjoying the nice day. One thing I will not do is stay inside on the computer. So there ends this posting!

Snow today. That surely was annoying. I thought for sure we were past all that. School was canceled today. We had about 2 inches of heavy, wet snow. Some places north had 8+ inches and many people lost electricity. Glad that wasn't us! Hopefully, this is finally the last of it. I had my hummy feeders out and they froze. I had to bring them back inside. I hope to put them back outside for good. The last two T-ball practices have been canceled because of the cold weather. So much for that smart ground hog........

Mom, congratulations on your new bedroom color. Good job, blue eyes. Can't wait to see it. What room are you doing next?

catchme, I tried to catch you tonight, but you were already at work. Reese found a way to cancel the second computer. We just need to refuse it when it comes. Hopefully it comes tomorrow night and Reese is there to take care of it. I don't like being responsible for things like that. Not fun when it gets messed up. Not that it would....haha.

Murpee, honey, have you been able to log on with your new username? The problem may be that I switched to some new kind of blogger thingie that has to do with google. Not really sure.......Ask catchme how she signed on. If you can catch her, that is.

Happy Easter yesterday. It was colder yesterday than it was on Christmas Day. What is with that? But we managed. Somehow. I bought new white sandals and wore them in the freezing cold. But they were so pretty.....and on sale......I couldn't help it. I don't think it is supposed to warm up any time soon. T-ball practice for Morgan starts on Thursday. Weather permitting. It is calling for rain.

Morgan is back to school tomorrow. It has been a very long weekend. They had off Thursday, Friday and Monday. It will be nice to get back on a schedule. With Reese also off Friday and Monday, my schedule is non-existent.

I'm trying to get back into scheduling my meals for the month. I got away from it lately. I have April's meals done. Hopefully, I can stick with it.

Hard to believe Andrew is 1 year old today. Happy Birthday, Andrew. I try not to think that Morgan starts Kindergarten in September.

Today, we helped move some boxes to the Library. They finally got the carpeting put down. Next on the list is putting up and filling the shelves and getting the new circulation desk installed. That's wonderful. I really miss the Library. It's just too bad that Morgan will not be able to attend Story Time unless they have it turing the summer. It is during the day and he will be in school. All day Kindergarten. There I am on that subject again!

What a sad week. Tuesday we learned that Morgan's teacher Miss Lynn's husband passed away Monday night of a massive heart attack. He was 44. They have 3 children in college, high school and elementary school. One of them found him at home. I went to the viewing last night with Stephanie, one of the other pre-K moms. Miss Lynn is doing OK for now, but it will be hard. The funeral was today. She will be back to school after Easter. The children will help her deal with things, I'm sure. I will get her address, blue eyes. For sure.

Did I mention I found Reese's key? It was in his pants pocket. Fortunately, I looked there again (for the 4th time) before I started the laundry. I'm so happy!

What an absolutely beautiful day! Sunny and 59 degrees. We went out to breakfast after church today and then for a ride. We drove around a local campground/park and then home the back way. Nice day for a drive. Morgan fell asleep about 5 minutes from home. I did laundry and hung it outside on the line. Now I'm posting this blog next to the open window. There is a slight breeze and the birds are singing. Almost too nice to be inside at the computer. I believe we will all go for a walk around town later. The kids need fresh air and less TV.

I FOUND MY KEYS! They have been lost since Saturday when msb and I were making snow angels. Most of the snow has melted -- finally -- and when I looked for them today, there they were on the back side of a snow pile. Wonderful! Now, if we could only find Reese's key to his truck.....

Spring is here! Yea, right! They are calling for 3-12 inches of snow tomorrow afternoon and evening. Why is that? I want that to stop. I'm ready for spring. I have been so spoiled by the last few days we've had. Morgan and I went for walks and watched the snow melt. It is almost all gone from our yard. Then, today it rained and now it is 36 and cold and windy. So much for putting the winter coats away.

The Library is getting carpet put down on April 5th. I'm so excited for them! That will be wonderful. Then I guess all that is left to do is set up the shelves and start to fill them. Many people have donated books and movies. Janet was able to save the DVDs. There were a lot less of them and they were easier to move than the books.

Well, spring weather or not, I'm getting ready for it. I have changed the sheets/curtains in my room to pink and white. Well, I'll do the curtains tomorrow. Hopefully. But I did start on the bed. And I'm getting ideas for making palm fronds for the Sunday School children (probably just Morgan haha). We want them to enter the sanctuary on Palm Sunday morning waving palms as the congregation sings "The Palms". They have Sunday School during morning worship, so none of the people get to see them. I think this will give them a chance to be a part of the service and to let the congregation get to know who they are. I know when I first started coming to church, I didn't know who the Sunday School children were because I never saw them. They were already gone with their parents by the time I got downstairs. So, we shall see.

Finally out of the house today! Went to the mall for lunch and the gstore for milk and lotion. Lots of dry skin running around here because of the heat. The heat from the heaters, not from the weather! I heard that I-81, I-78 and I-80 were finally re-opened today around 4pm. It is still ice covered here. Some melted because it got up to 35 today, but still a lot left.

Great news! In about 3 weeks, it will start getting dark at 7:30pm. Yea! Spring is on its way. Not fast enough for some of us, but it's a start.

TK, you will appreciate this -- a handmade sign along the closed highway read "HONK IF YOUR ANNOYED". If they were sitting there for so long, shouldn't someone have noticed that??

TADA--I finished my dirty job today! In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun (which I failed to do) and -- snap -- the job's a game. And every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake (which I would not eat, blue eyes), a lark, a spree.... I will stop there.

Happy Valentine's Day yesterday.

Second day with no school. Shoveled snow twice yesterday. Actually, we shoveled at 11am and I hurt my back, so I got out of the second shoveling at 8pm. The snow was soooo heavy. It was half water underneath. msb had fun. He used the broom on the bushes until he got tired of that. Then he jumped in snow piles, swept the steps, slid down the slide into snow piles, threw snow balls.... It is 18 degrees today and everything is ice. But the sun is out and it sure looks purty. Chances for school tomorrow are pretty slim. So many of the areas are rural and in bad shape. We shall see. Probably I should work on some dirty jobs while I have Reese to watch msb. Right. That will happen. Right away.

Morgan took this picture with our digital camera. Meet his puppies: Desert, Rowdy, Brutus, Carefree, Hobo, My First Puppy, Sneakers and Whitey. Reese purchased Rowdy, Brutus, Hobo and Sneakers in airports on various trips for Eitel. Desert was a gift for Morgan's baby shower. My First Puppy, who got to be in the Christmas card this year, was purchased for Morgan's first Christmas. Whitey belongs to a sleeping bag. Carefree was a gift from Aunt Wilma. I thot he did a pretty good job taking the picture. They are snuggled under his blankies.

Well, so much for my Dirty Job this week. I didn't get around to packing up my 2006 papers. However, I did fix Reese's e-mail. Yea for me. I'm such the computer guru. I was on the phone with the cable company for about 45 minutes, but I finally figured it out. Thanks anyway, Carol. :-) At least I wasn't downstairs eating something. Twila shared a website with me, but I forget what it was. Something about nutrition. Very interesting. I think I wrote it down and lost my note.

They say we are supposed to be getting snow this week. They just don't know when. It would be nice to have a regular week after last week. We had 2 hour delays every day except Friday. Messin' with my schedule.

Check out Chef Morgan. He is mixing up peanut butter brownies for our Super Bowl Party. His favorite part was making sure the eggs were all mixed up.

Will the cold ever end? I think we may have school at the normal time tomorrow for the first time this week. It has warmed up to 14 degrees. Heatwave!
I have a dirty job lined up for tomorrow. And it's not even Wednesday. I have to pack up my 2006 statements and bills. I hate to do that, so I've been putting it off. No longer! If there is no delay tomorrow, I will do it as soon as I drop Morgan off at school.
I saw the thank you note from Su. Doesn't it make you feel good to cheer someone up? We are a nice family.

The Valentine gifts are in the mail. Really they are. They should be in Hagerstown tomorrow. I am so impressed with myself that I actually got them done. I think the plan is for the exchange to be on Saturday the 17th. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can go down.
Here is Morgan playing his new favorite game -- jumping into a pool of babies. He gets all his stuffed animals out of the toy box and piles them at the bottom of the steps. Then he jumps from the landing into the babies and "swims" around. The slippers on his feet are his scuba shoes. He makes sure the babies that make noise or have something hard inside are put to the side to watch so they don't poke him. Such an imagination!

We had fun tonight. Pappy came up to watch the Super Bowl and Morgan and I had all kinds of snacks to put out. He wanted to make sure Pappy got to have some red fish since they are Morgan's favorite. We had donut holes and Morgan offered them first to Daddy and Pappy then took one for himself. He was really getting tired toward the end of the game. Waaaay past his bedtime of 8:08. He went to sleep quickly.

Is it cold where you are? It is 7 degrees here and very windy. School is delayed 2 hrs tomorrow because of the cold. I'm sure Morgan will be up bright and early...

Guess what!?! I finished my Valentines today! I just have to pack them up to send to Mom. Yea for me! Morgan wanted to help me. I said, "Sure. Use the glue gun all you want!" Just kidding. I made him an orange mouse and he was happy.

Tomorrow is Lunch with Grandparents, so I don't have to pick Morgan up at school. Harold and Teenie will have lunch with him and bring him home. I am planning to clean up my kitchen tomorrow when he is in school. I have to go to the bank, but I promise to come home immediately and get right to work. Riiight!!! We shall see.

I'm ready! Ready for lots of things. Ready to lose weight (laugh if you like). Ready to get my desk organized (why do I hear more laughing?). And ready to get back into Dirty Job Wednesdays. Who's with me???? Let me hear ya say "YEAH!"

Tomorrow is Wednesday. My Dirty Job will be to get started on the Valentine gifts. Not really dirty, just something I've been putting off for way too long. I will soon be getting a call from 'you know who' asking for them to be sent to Hagerstown so the out of state ones can be mailed. I plan to drop msb off at school in the am and then come home, make a cup of tea, turn on some music and get started. Hopefully, I can get the things together tonight and be all set. Wishful thinking, I'm afraid. But stranger things have happened, I guess. Like me keeping up (sort of) with this blog. haha What are you planning, Blue Eyes? Anyone else? If you are already finished, you need not reply and rub it in.

Remembering Daddy for the Holidays. Reese and I made this wreath for the cemetery. Morgan and I helped Mom put it up the last time I was down for a visit. I hope it holds up to the wind and snow.

We went to a birthday party today. Morgan loved running around with the other little kids. We don't run much with him so he was glad to have a chance to go, go, go. He has too much energy for us.

Thursday was the Parent/Teacher conference at school. Morgan's teachers said he is doing well in school and they see no problem in him being ready for Kindergarten. It's so hard to believe that he is that old already. He really likes school and will miss his teachers. But I'm sure the Kindergarten teachers are just as nice....

Wow! Is it the new year already? Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you had a safe and happy holiday season.

I was at church 3 times on Christmas Eve. Yes indeed. We had the regular worship service at 10am, then a 7pm and 11pm Christmas Eve service. It was very nice singing "Silent Night" in the candlelit church. We started the service with Holy Communion and were reminded that the beginning of the story would have no meaning without remembering the end of the story.

We had a good Christmas. Opening presents at our house, then lunch at Reese's parents' house and opening presents there. It was a long day. Reese and Morgan both had off the week between Christmas and New Year and I only worked Thursday. It was nice being off, but I was sure glad to see January 2nd come around and get back to some kind of a schedule.

I am so excited about the DVD catchme is making for Valentine's Day. It will be awesome for sure. I may have to dig up some more pictures, just in case I haven't sent enough. haha

Parent/Teacher conferences are coming up soon. Can't wait for that. I think they will soon be testing the kids to see if they are ready for Kindergarten. Our friend, Jim, who works at the school, heard from Morgan's teacher that Morgan is a brilliant student. That makes us feel good, but worried that he will be too smart and be bored and get into trouble. Trouble? Not my little angel.

Morgan had his school program today. They sang 3 little songs. Very cute. The picture did not turn out well at all. They were very grainy with the flash and blurry without the flash. But this one turned out OK. Here are Brigid, Molly and Morgan before the show.

Tonight was the last Community Cantata concert. It was so fun. So many voices, all four parts. Great. We ended with a version of the Hallelujah chorus. I may join them again next year. In my spare time, that is.

I think I only have a few things left to do. Surprising Mom on Tuesday, choir practice Thursday and Christmas Eve services at church. Then I'll be done. For the holidays. Morgan and Reese are off the week between Christmas and New Year. We will do many fun things, I'm sure. Like play with Morgan's Christmas presents. haha

Reese and Morgan finishing dessert at the Covered Dish Social.

Happy Birthday, Twila! I called her today, can't believe I remembered. Thanks blue eyes. I called her at work just before she had to leave. Morgan sang a song to her that we made up: "There's a candle on my nose, on my nose. There's a candle on my nose, on my nose. O I wonder if it'll stay or should I choose to blow it away. There's a candle on my nose, on my nose. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" You had to be there.......

Mom called tonight to tell me they are having the bells, harp and childrens' choir on Sunday. Could I come down for that? Sure! Add it to my empty schedule! No problem. I would if I didn't have the concert that night at 7pm. The trip down is too exhausting to come back and sing right away. So maybe they will have something like that in the summer.

PS Charlie called me today for no reason whatsoever. haha

Morgan's Sunday School party was fun. Lots of cookies and goodies for the kids. The boys got match box cars and really had a great time racing and crashing them. I think they said there were about 17 kids signed up. After most of them left, we set up tables for Tuesday night's covered dish dinner. Sunday night was the Christmas Cantata at the UCC Church in Landingville. Because I rode with two other ladies in the cantata, I didn't get home until 9:30. But it was fun and they said they had a turnout of about 120 people. Lots of people for such a small church. Tomorrow night is our Ladies' Society covered dish social. I have to make peanut butter fudge. Thursday I have a Church board meeting and Saturday is dress rehersal for Sunday night's cantata at the Luthern Church here in town. Then I think I'm done. I won't know what to do with myself!

Today is the 5th day of the new month. Baby Jesus will be born on December 25. That was from Morgan. They focus on Jesus for Christmas at school. Yea!

We had snow flurries today. Just enough to make me feel I was living in a snow globe. I caught some on my glove. There were a bunch together, but I could make out individual flakes. Amazing! I never saw one so detailed. Guess I never took the time to look at them. Can't take time to smell the roses, so taking time to view the snowflakes is the next best thing.

Morgan is in the other room counting backwards from 100. I just heard him say to Reese, "Daddy. I can count backwards from 100. Do you want to hear me?" Reese said sure, so he took off. He is down to 35. It's amazing.

I have a meeting tonight at 8 and we haven't eaten dinner yet, so I must run, run again. Slowly but surely I'm getting things done. Friday is the community childrens' Christmas Party, Saturday is choir practice, Sunday is the Sunday School Christmas Party and the Christmas program, Tuesday is the Ladies' Society Covered Dish social, Wednesday is Christmas Caroling with the school....

The Bazaar is over! Yes, I was there from 11-5 and I'm tired. It was fun, but a looooong day. We made about $600 including the craft table, attic treasures table and food. I think there were 3 tables of junk left over and we started with 6. Not many of the crafts went, but they were not priced as cheap as the attic treasures. We left everything set up, except the food, in case some want to check it out after church tomorrow.
Does anyone know about acupressure? Wilma? I checked it out online and think I may try it. It looks cool.
In other news, Morgan counted backwards from 80. For no apparent reason, he just started counting backwards. At first I didn't realize what he was doing, then I was shocked to realize it was counting backwards. Yea for Morgan!

Happy Holidays! The season has started. The first thing I have every year is the REALTOR Holiday Party. That was last night. We have it at the Oak Hill Inn and the entire restaurant is closed for our party. This year there were 123 signed up. The food was so good -- salad, rolls, ribs, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, sausage and pasta, roast beef, pork, crab cakes and shrimp cocktail. And the dessert.....chocolate cake that melted in my mouth. You know how cake at restaurants is sometimes so dry? Not this time. Chocolate cake with peanut butter icing between the layers and vanilla creme on top, drizzled with that cherry stuff that is usually on cheese cake. And I only had 1 small piece. There were 3 tables full of door prizes from the offices and affiliates. But no one called my number. Maybe next year.

So what's next? Set up tonight for the Christmas Bazaar at church tomorrow. I have to go shopping for prizes because Reese is in charge of the kids' game. And I need to finish some of the crafts I made and make peanut butter fudge for the bake sale table. The bazaar is from 11-5 tomorrow and I hope I don't have to be there all that time. I'll be snoozing at my post and people will get things for free.