Wordless Wednesday

Rachael's Team Wins at Disney

Soccer is huge to our family. We are a soccer family and our lives revolve around the simple fact that holiday weekends bring soccer tournaments.

This weekend Rachael's team competed in the Disney Memorial Day Soccer Shootout. The Disney Complex was huge, it was beautiful and it was very organized. Every game was on time and there was always a ref waiting. Even the awards ceremony went off without a hitch. It was a great experience.

Rachael played a phenomenal game of soccer this weekend. Her team did great, they worked together and it all came together.

The team played 4 games, 3 of them were shutouts. They allowed 1 goal the entire tournament and scored 13 goals.

They won the championship game 2-0.

Look how proud they are .....

Rachael is on the far left ... check out the smile :)

Violin Concert

Rachael had her end of the school year Advanced Strings, Violin Concert this week. I was impressed at how far this young group of musicians has come. Just last year I remember alot of squeaky bows. This year it sounded beautiful!!

That was the last of the end of year school activities for Rachael and Erin. It started a month ago with Field Day, Earth Day, Erin's Lowry Park Field trip & Rachael's field trips to Cracker Country & the Shriners Hospital. It is hard to believe that it's over, it went by, at times, so fast and sometimes much too slow. Next year Rachael will be the big kahuna, the graduating class, and walk around the school for a year and be referred to by the little ones as "she's a 5th grader".

Kasey's last concert is this weekend. Kasey's school year ends on June 2nd, she has managed to exempt most of her final exams. She told Erin and I earlier this week that the seniors have graduated, that she is now a High School Senior!

Time flies .......

Here are some pictures of Rachael with her violin and her entire orchestra.

Rachael is right in the top row middle, right in front of the Brave !! Too Cute!!

Wordless Wednesday

Breakfast Guilt !

Weekday mornings are a wee bit crazy. Now with Rachael being a "5th grade patrol trainee" she needs to be at school by 7:20am. We need to drop off Kasey first at the high school, pick up a friends daughter on the way, and head up to Rachael and Erin's school to drop her off, next stop is Trevor's daycare and back to the elementary school to drop Erin off because he can't go with Rachael due to the fact he can't be there until 7:33am.

I spend a lot of time pushing the kids toward the door every morning. This includes breakfast. Breakfast needs to be quick and easy and it can't be too hot because that requires cool down time and we don't have that kind of time. It is safe to say that waffles, bagels, french toast sticks are usually on the menu. Something that cools down quickly when butter or cream cheese is applied.

This causes me a little mommy guilt. I feel bad because I don't have time to cook all the good things they really want, so on the weekends I try to make up for it by making something they really enjoy!

This weekend was Mommy's Famous Chocolate Chip Pancakes. There is absolutely nothing famous about them besides the kids think I'm the bestest Mommy because they got a little chocolate for breakfast. And since they complain very little about their less than stellar weekday routine, they should have a little fun ...... and there are some left over for breakfast tomorrow.

By the way... there is only 12 days left until school is out for the summer. I am so excited .... oh, the kids are too :)

Boys Night Out at the Trop ....

The deal was if Rachael had a girls night out (click here for Jonas Brother post), then little Erin would also get a boys night with Dad. They decided on a little dinner and a Ray's game. If you are a MLB fan, then you know that the Ray's don't draw a huge crowd and there is never a need to get your tickets early. There were no worries that there would plenty of tickets to go around.

They met JD for wings before the game and headed over to the Trop (Tropicana Field). Where else in the country can you see a Major League Baseball game for $25 and sit right above the 3rd baseline?? Amazing!! Look at the picture below, there isn't anyone there!

I'm a very loyal Yankees fan, have always been. It has been instilled in my children that they are loyal Yankees fans and that the Rays are a local convenience. With that being said, the Rays hat the Erin is wearing was bought just for this game. No worries, Papa, he is still wearing his Yankees hat. It is looking kinda worn lately, so he may need a replacement soon :)

Please no comments about the Yankees and their trials and tribulations this year. I'm well aware, and reminders are not necessary. I'm not a fair-weather fan ........ For the record, I think spring training at Steinbrenner Stadium (aka Legends Field) bring out more fans than a regular season Ray's game!

He loved the game! Can you tell?

The Trop....with lots of empty seats...where are the people??

Erin and JD ... Glove in hand (HOW CUTE IS THAT?)

How do you spend your dash?

I read the poem "How do you spend your dash" quite a few years ago. And over the years I have seen it passed around via e-mail. A friend sent it to me last night and I wanted to share. I haven't seen it in a "movie" form before. It is very beautiful.

Sometimes it takes something like this little poem to realize that your "dash" is all that really matters. Sometimes, you just have to sit back and accept people for who they are. Don't dwell on the negative, focus on the good and stay true to yourself. Lead by example, knowing that what you do may never be appreciated by some, but the people who matter most appreciate it. When all else fails, go by the "Golden Rule". Love your family and friends, everyone of them is a true blessing.

Click here to view "The Dash"

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12 NIV

Happy Birthday Sean & Taylor

Happy Birthday to Erin's Sister Sean and our niece Taylor. We wish we could be there to celebrate your day with you! We love you both and hope you have a wonderful & happy day.

Wordless Wednesday

I'm going to try and participate in a Wordless Wednesday! I'll post cool, fun pictures that do not need explaining or some pictures that don't really fall under any particular topic. But something you will enjoy.

Let Wordless Wednesday begin!

Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms in my life, My Mom, My Grandmother, Mom's in my family, and all my Mommy Friends!

It Takes a Mother

It takes a Mother's Love
to make a house a home,
A place to be remembered,
no matter where we roam.

It takes a Mother's Patience,
to bring a child up right,
And her Courage and her Cheerfulness
to make a dark day bright.

It takes a Mother's Thoughtfulness
to mend the heart's deep "hurts,"
And her Skill and her Endurance
to mend little socks and shirts.

It takes a Mother's Kindness
to forgive us when we err,
To sympathize in trouble
and bow her head in prayer.

It takes a Mother's Wisdom
to recognize our needs
And to give us reassurance
by her loving words and deeds.

It takes a Mother's Endless Faith,
her Confidence and Trust
To guide us through the pitfalls
of selfishness and lust.

And that is why in all this world
there could not be another
Who could fulfill God's purpose
as completely as a MOTHER!

by: Helen Steiner Rice

It's Official, Summer is Here!

Once our kids notice that the weather is warming up and it is time to break out the swim suits, they immediately start asking about going boating with Erin's friend, JD. They don't stop asking until Erin can give them a firm "We are going Saturday"!

They love the water, the ocean, the beach, and all things boating related! Erin loves to "captain" the boat and guide us down the canal. And Rachael likes to sit up front and catch some rays!

From the Marina we had a short little trip out to Shell Island where we hung out for most of the day. The kids walked the beach and threw the football. They did a little bit of swimming, but the Bay water is about 75 degrees. That is a wee-bit to chilly for my kiddies.

This was Trevor's first boating trip. He loved the boat, loved the water, but the sand didn't seem to impress him to much!

We had a awesome time with JD and Kylie! We can't wait until we can do it again! And we hope Tai and Gabe will be there.

Here are some pictures to make you northerners a little jealous :)

Captain Erin's

Ummmm, Can we slow down a little ?

Just snacking away !

Playing on the beach

Trevor loved the water, not the sand, but the water

Trevor is very daring, this one made me nervous.
But for the record, we were docked at Shell Island and the water is very shallow

Just enjoying the seabreeze

Returning from the sandbar

This will work for a foot rest!

I just love baby feet, especially his!

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday dear Nic, Nic ...

We hope you have a wonderful birthday!

We hope you do something fun, but whatever you do, we hope you have a super day!

Happy Birthday!

Things I remember about Papa

My Papa would have turned 93 today! In Memory of his beautiful Life, I thought I would do a top 10 of my memories...

1. The fact that he loved country music made me laugh, he called it "his cowboy music"
2. He always yelled at me for coming too close to the curbs when making a turn and he would run over the curb
3. The fact that he was a regular at all East Longmeadow High School Football games and sat in the announcers box and nobody ever stopped him, that makes me laugh too
4. In the spring he would take me for walks in the woods to pick the pussy willows
5. In the summer he would take me for walks in the woods and I would get stung by a bee EVERYTIME
6. He would openly admit he carried a stick because he was afraid of snakes
7. He would take us to his garden every spring and we would pick which pumpkin would be ours come October
8. Telling me to run and get the salt shaker to eat the tomatoes we had just picked off the vine. He wanted me to eat the tomatoes and I would eat the beans without telling him
9. We would put the bushels of fresh vegetables from his garden in his garage for the neighbors to come and pick up
10. Meeting us at the busstop everyday after school, and the bus stop was literally 10 steps from his backdoor
11. He called me JoJo

So there are 11 top ten things ...... BUT, there are so many more.

I Should Have Known ....

We have been trying to get Little Erin how to ride his two-wheeler bike for nearly a year. Erin isn't really a trial and error kid. And we all know riding a bike requires a little error. And there lies the problem, error involved falling off and that was just enough to make little Erin stand there and firmly tell us "NO"!

We started off with this little, tiny bike, actually it was his first bike ever, we bought it for him when he was 2. It was about 3 sizes too small for him and his knees didn't hit the handlebars, they went OVER the handle bars. But it gave him the confidence to ride a two wheeler, knowing that there 0% chance he could fall off that bike!

I began asking him to ride his bigger bike, which actually is more of the correct size for him, a couple weeks ago. Again, a firm "NO". Remember that trial and error issue, it kicked back in. I asked and asked and there was no way he was giving up the tiny bike. I tend to get frustrated when I know the kids can do something and they don't want to, so I just gave up. This was a battle that I was clearly not going to win, so why keep fighting.

Last night Erin was outside playing with the kids and Roo (Little Erin) ran inside yelling, "Mommy, I'm riding my big bike!". I couldn't believe it, he was riding up and down the street like a pro! Up the driveways, up the sidewalks, and around the cars. Finally, after a year of us pushing him to ride a bike and a year of him pushing us back with the firm "NO" he was riding. Yeah, one small victory.

I asked Erin how he finally got Roo on the big bike. His reply, "I told him I would give him a dollar".

A dollar! That is all it took to get him to ride that bike... Nearly a year ago, we should have offered him a dollar...

I should have known .....

I figured out the video thing ... Here is video proof that he is riding like a pro....

This Day in History

Where were you 11 years ago??? You were probably at our wedding!! Yup, today is 11 years of wedded bliss!!

Happy Anniversary Sweetie!!

We have our babysitter scheduled for tonight. Kasey is usually to busy to babysit for us on a Saturday night, but I had her pencil us in! I think dinner and a movie are on the agenda!

I do not have any digital pictures from our wedding! They didn't do "digi" back in the old school! I wish I did ..........

Here are few things that have changed:

• Kasey was 5 years old at our wedding, she now can drive
• We have 3 more children since that day. Rachael 10, Erin Jr. 7, Trevor 22 months
• I have owned 3 minivans ......
• I use my oven, not always successfully
• I am on the Board of Directors for our Soccer Association... GO FIGURE
• I am NOT on the PTA. However, I belong to it to get the school calendar
• Party like a Rockstar, has a whole new meaning. It now means we were invited to Chuck E Cheese for yet another birthday party
• Our dog Buzzy was 1 year old at our wedding, he is still hanging in there
• Our Fuzzy Family consists of Buzzy, the English Bulldog, Pogo, the toy fox terrier, Samie, the cockatiel, A parakeet, name sunny & a leopard gecko named Hissy.
• I have spent the past 11 years trying to talk Erin into moving to Massachusetts, and I will keep trying until we are in a nursing home. And if my family would stop calling and telling us how much snow is on the ground, I may actually succeed some day

It is a happy day !!