Isn't this what Sundays Are For

.....accomplishing absolutely nothing!! I've developed a new obsession for blogs so I've been tweaking mine and browsing tons of others. Trying to get ideas and clues on how to do things!

Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday this week - Featuring Gregory

Gregory will soon be turning 13 and entering 8th grade! I can hardly believe I will be the mother of a teenager (am I really that old???). When Greg was born, digital cameras were not a hit...maybe not even invented?!? So the following pictures are the oldest ones that I have of him on my computer and because I'm not getting my scanner out anytime soon - I'm featuring Gregory when he was five - the year he started Kindergarden. In these pictures, he is the same age as Joseph is now and he is getting ready to start kindergarden.

I love you Gregory! I wish I could keep you young and innocent for many years to come. You've been wonderful and never give me a hard time. You've made all the right decisions so far in life and I'm going to wish upon every star in the sky that it continues.

Flashback Friday

My very first car was a Dodge Colt which I'm pretty sure was brand spankin new in 1985! My car payments were less than $100 a month! I got the car right after I graduated from high school in 1990 as you can see my tassle is hanging from the rearview mirrow. Also you will notice a yellow ribbon tied around the mirror because during the early 1990's the Gulf War started. I remember the night we started bombing like it was yesterday. The only car I have a picture of is my first - and what a milestone that was in my life!

Since this beauty, I've owned about six other cars! But never with any of these have I reached the mileston of OWNING A VEHICLE THAT WE HAVE PAID OFF! I'm so excited to have a great vehicle that is only five years old and I still love - that is now payment free!

Joseph Turns Five

I can't believe it - Joseph has turned five! We asked him a couple months ago what type of party he wanted and he said Indiana Jones. Joseph will fixate on things, and this was it - so we started the planning. I made small cloth messanger bags and whips for each boy and then bought them brown foam Indiana Jones hats. When the kids arrived they started the festivities with pin the hat on Indiana Jones.

From there, they earned their costumes - so off to the tent went the little guys and out came eight Indiana Jones'.

After that it was on to the snake pit. They had to test their balancing as they walked the plank and the reward - if they were brave enough, they could capture their own snake! Once all the boys conquered the snakes, they were given a map piece which directed them to the Cafe.

Set up for sampling were boars eyes, monkey brains and jungle worms...anyone daring enough to try a sample???

After the feast, the next map piece directed them to the sand pit where, if they dug deep enough, they would find gold!

When the loot bags were full, on to mummy the mommies!

The final map piece directed them to the buried treasure. Find the X marking the spot, grab your shovels and DIG! When the treasure was unearthed, it was full of pinata makings.

Slacking....

Well, I've been slacking in the blogging lately! This summer has been nothing but moving in fast forward. Since the whole remodel project began the first of July, I've barely had time to sleep, let alone anything else. And here it is the second week into August and I still have one more bedroom to finish on the other side. Nona and her family moved in a week ago and since then, it's harder for me to go over and work because 1 - I don't want to bother her, 2 - all her stuff is there and trying to work around it is driving me insane and 3 - whenever I try to go over and leave the little boys with Greg, they always wander over and how in the world can I get anything done with four boys running crazy!

It will get done eventually along with all the other projects I'm planning in my head and I will spend time with the kids at some point before they have to go back to school!

Flashback Friday

July 2004

So flashback Friday is a little late this week, but it's all because of these two little guys. These handsome boys are my nephews, Daniel (red) and Jason (blue). This picture is from their first birthday and they are modeling their new rides made by none other than Uncle Steve! At the time, I was 8.5 months pregnant with Joseph, busting at the seams, praying labor would come at any minute. This past weekend we went to Buffalo to celebrate birthday number 6 for Daniel and Jason. They will be going into first grade; they have moved on from wooden harley rockers to big two wheeler bikes! Where has the time gone! Happy Belated Birthdays Boys!! We love you and are glad that every year we are there for your birthday!

Flashback Friday

While I was pregnant with Joseph and about 4 weeks from delivery, the Department of Corrections decided to reorganize and Steve who had been at Dry Hill was going to either be relocated to Sing Sing or he could "put his name on the list" for something closer....and safer. We'll after lots of research, sleepless nights and worries, we decided on Five Points Correctional Facility. Steve had some Paternity leave to take after I had Joseph, so after his leave, he had to start at Five Points. We (me, Greg and newborn Joseph) moved into Steve parents house while the search for a new house started. Every time I had available I would meet Steve at the outlet mall and we would scour the areas for someplace to call home....what an ordeal that was. Five Points is located in Ramoulus, NY pretty much in the middle of nowhere and I was not having that. I'm a social girl and if there was not a Wal-mart or Mall within 20 miles, I wasn't having it. We decided on Canandaigua, NY. It still meant about an hour drive for Steve, but it was closer than the 2.5 hour drive from Waterown. Canandaigua was a gorgeous area to live, the school system was excellent, there were stores and mall all over, downtown was the place to be and his sister and family were less than an hour away and Rochester was only 30 minutes.

We moved down in March, Greg was enrolled in school, we found an awesome apartment but the luck stopped with me finding a job. Steve was working days and I wanted to work nights so I would not have to leave a newborn with strangers and the cost of living was a little high, which meant day care expenses were over the roof!

We lasted until September - I was miserable and wanted to be with my family. Joseph had just turned one and we found out that we were having another baby. I wanted to come home and would not take no for an answer! Not to mention that Greg's dad was giving me a hard time and every other weekend I had to drive to Syracuse for the swap. This was not a fun drive with a very cranky one year old, being five months pregnant, and a very unhappy Gregory who wanted nothing to do with seeing his dad. Plus, I was doing this alone.

Steve transferred to Gouverneur and we came home!! We often travel to Buffalo to visit Steve's sister and will make a point in stopping in Canandaigua for lunch, a wander around the mall and a drive by our old place. Every year they have an awesome craft show that crowds the main street and overflows onto all the side streets. Conveniently, it always falls on the weekend we have to go to Buffalo for our nephews birthday! Next weekend, July 18th, I'll be hitting the streets of our old stomping ground....Steve and I often remark that when we retire we would like to move back to the area - steering clear of Five Points!!

The blog picture is a row of cottages along Canandaigua Lake that I took during our relocation. Here are a few more.

Happy Fourth of July...

Celebrated on July 6th. Because the weather was not cooperative the fireworks was postponed until last night. I took my three guys and met my friend with her kids at the park. We lounged on the hill and listen to the symphony and then watched the fireworks. It was a great night!

Joseph "ism"

Joseph told me the other day that "after I am done pooping or peeing I like to sit in the bathroom for some peace and quiet". Geez - I thought I was the only one that enjoyed that hidden secret of the bathroom!

Happy Fourth of July

14 Hours+ 4 Days+5 Trash Bags =

One livingroom that is stripped of wallpaper and the walls scrubbed. Today I finished steaming the paper remnants and then scrubbed the walls to get off all the remaining glue and pieces of paper. Then the basboard and floors were scrubbed too. Every muscle and joint in my right arm and hand ache and a few fingers are actually numb - but I'm so excited about this project and how well it's turning out. Next for this room - Steve need to patch some wall areas, fix the windows and lay down the new flooring. The pictures aren't the best because the sunlight was fading....as was I.

Project - Day 3

Still no pictures of the house project we have started, but take my word for it - it is one big mess! But a good mess - a work in progress mess. The rugs downstairs have been torn up and all the staples removed and trash hauled to the dump. Most of the wallpaper has been scraped in the living room, just a few more spots that will be finished tomorrow. My mother in law came over and helped me today because Steve had to work. We scraped for 4.5 hours and we'll be feeling it tomorrow. Gregory even came over and scrapped a whole wall, I'm not sure if he really wanted to, but we bribed him and said if he helped us out with watching the little boys and doing some work we'll get him a new skateboard with all the accessories (wheels, bearings.....). The little guys were awesome, no one fought, cried or got in our way the whole time.

Now I've got some drinks in the fridge and the pizza piled on platters. As soon as Nona and Tiffany get here with their troops we sit, eat, talk and relax!

Steve is off tomorrow so we'll be back in full swing - all day! Sunday Steve works a double and if the weather is nice I will be spending some time with my sons in Sackets Harbor. I love going and strolling up and down the streets, eating ice cream and sitting by the water. Of course, they'll be in their flag shirts, Greg will be hating every minute of it and I'll be taking pictures!

And So It Begins

July 1st has arrived, which means to us, so have renovations. Miss Bea has officially moved out and the paint buckets have moved in. Today Steve tore up all the carpeting to expose the hardwood floors and I started pulling down wallpaper, stripping windows of their old dusty curtains and mini blinds. We've decided to take out a home equity loan and really do this right; the kitchen is in need of major renovations. There are no appliances, only about 4 cupboards, a small counter, linoleum from 1940ish and one old....very old white porcelain sink.

On the agenda for tomorrow - finish pulling up staples from the carpet and steam some of the wallpaper off. We will be taking a side trip to the park tomorrow night for the Fourth of July festivities!

Flashback Friday

July 2006

Our family of five along with my mother spent the Fourth of July at Disney World. It was the best fireworks celebration that I have ever experienced. I don't have any pictures of the show, I have never been able to perfect night time photos, but here is a picture of the castle, the next best thing to see at Disney! It was probably the hottest day yet of the summer when we went, but it was still awesome!

When I was around 9 years old, I spent the Fourth of July at Disney with my parents. I have the picture of me standing in front of this same castle with my goofy hat on to prove it.

Kitchen Renovations

Renovations have begun on our kitchen. We're not getting into gutting walls and installing new cupboards - that will come, but for now, we are making some cosmetic changes to freshen things up a bit. So far I have primed all the molding, windows, doors and edges. Day two plans - roll the remaining sections on the walls and hope that with the heat and humidity it will dry in a reasonable amount of time. If we can get this done early enough and it dries in the one hour that is promised on the can, maybe I can edge the walls in the color!!

He Did It!

Three years ago, September 2007, Joseph started his first day of prek just one month after turning three. He started at Bright Beginnings at Jefferson Rehabilitation Center. I had many mixed emotions about him going to prek at JRC as it is an integrated program for what we call "typical" children and mentally disabled children. One of the major pros for me was that I work for JRC, so I was right there with him, in the beginning he was there the hours I was at work, so it eliminated the need for additional babysitters and the cost for him to attend was discounted by 50%. The part I was concerned about was the integration....would the class be slower, would he be bored, would he even learn anything??

I'm sooooo glad I made the decision to enroll Joseph in this program. The classes were not slow at all, they are the pace of any average preschool, he was definately not bored, and he learned more than I ever imagined! He has gained the self confidence to enter kindergarten knowing everything from counting to 100, colors, shapes, letter recognition, writing his name to making friends, being able to speak to others, making eye contact, and the list goes on!! I'm so proud of all that he has accomplished in these past two years and I'm so anxious to see how the next 13 years are going to go.

I have nothing but good things to say about the JRC preschool program. All the teachers and assistants that he has had from start to finish have been awesome! Everyone knew Joseph and understood him, where there to help him and me, offered suggestions and ideas so we could all work together to bring him from what he was to what he has become.

First Day of Prek

Last Day of PreK

Monday Blues

Flashback Friday

Every year since Greg was little, I buy the $5 Old Navy flag shirt for the Fourth of July. I don't have many pictures of just Greg when he was little because scanning and digital photography wasn't that popular! But here are the pictures of the last few years. I went out yesterday and bought their shirts for this year! I think Greg is a little upset over the whole thing, but all I ask is for him to comply for one day!

2005

2006

2007

2008

Three out of the four pictures where taken in Florida...seems we always go to Florida in July! However, this will be the first year since 1980's that I will not be going to Florida, except the year 2004 when I was 8.5 months pregnant with Joseph. I could not endure the drive! I'm going to miss our vacations to Florida, but it will sure be nice to see other parts of the USA!

Best Buds

We were so fortunate in finding our house because our neighborhood is filled with little boys and all my kids have tons of buddies right in the neighborhood. The group of boys that Greg hangs out with range in age from 11-17. At first I found that hard to believe because when I was growing up, the kids a couple years older than me, wanted nothing to do us "younger kids". But these boys all get along great.

This is only a few of the boys on their first day of school - Nate, Chris and MJ (or big Mike as the little guys call him).

My good friend Tiffany lives down the street and she has two little boys - Brady and Patrick who are 6 and 4. We also befriended Winona (aka Nona) and her two boys Christopher and Adam who are 7 and 4. Nona and the boys live in the military housing right by the school the boys will be attending, all within walking distance from our house. Most weekends we are all hanging out because mine and Tiffany's husbands work and Nona husband is in Iraq.