September 11th 2010

.Today marks the anniversary of a very sad day in our history. But one of the great things about living in a small town is that we celebrate life and get together as a community. Maybe it just coincided with September 11th this year, maybe it was a fall kick-off, I am not sure but it was a blast!

We went out this morning to go to the farmer's market and found a street full of sales, people and music. The Farmer's Market was busy as usual, with yummy produce. This is where I normally get my fruit, since I enjoy the time with the boys, love fresh locally grown fruit and want to support our farmers. We then headed around the streets hitting up some "yard sales" which lined Main Street and we found some great deals. Next we went home and found Dad going to play golf so I decided to take the kids to the park.

While at the park, we found a bounce house, games, local vendors, free hot dogs and pop corn, and a singer performing on the stage. Stephen and I decided after playing at the park for a little while and having a snack that we would try our hand at some of the games. Little did we know that there was going to be a "Minute to Win It" official game going on. Stephen and I both played and I won for the women, competing in the games of "junk in your trunk" and "Separation Anxiety". Our times were the best in the region so I am looking for an NBC casting call. :) Stephen came in first for the boys in "volcano drop" with a time of 5.42 seconds! It was so fun! Scottie played in the duck pond and fishing games and got some fun prizes with his tickets. We had a blast!! Hope your day was as good as ours. Enjoy the video of Stephen in his "Minute To Win It" glory.

End of Summer fun

So the week of Labor Day is considered the end of summer... How I am sad to see another season go, but look forward with great anticipation to my favorite season, autumn. As we said our good byes to summer, we did a lot of great things. We went swimming a couple of times, hung out at the park, went to the Reston Zoo with Lisa and Julia, had a women's night out at pottery, saw family and went to an air show!

Stephen and Scottie enjoyed going to Sherando park for a birthday party and learning about light sabers. They had lots of fun battling in the woods with the other boys and had a blast on their play equipment.

Later in the week, Lisa and Julia had us out to their house to go to the Reston Zoo. It was a fun time with the kids. We went on a ride in a wagon pulled by a tractor into the "Savannah" and was able to feed an ostrich, see Stephen's favorite animal, zebras, and see a camel up close and personal. There were many other critters to see, monkeys, kangaroos, goats and sheep in the petting area, pot bellied pigs, porcupines, and pythons just to name some of the bigger ones. The kids liked being able to get close to the animals, closer than normal. It was a fun time, but very hot! Then we went back for naps and headed to the pool. We had fun at the pool, swimming and playing. Stephen has grown so much over the summer. He is doing so well with swimming. I am sure next summer he will be swimming without floaties.

I had a great time out with my girls and we were creative with our time. Becca, one of my best friends has been taking pottery classes with her boys as some fun mom time and decided to see if we would like to go and make some fun things also. I have to say that I really enjoy working with my hands and being able to create fun and useful things while having some great girl time.

The air show was fantastic. It was up in Martinsburg, West Virginia and the feature was the Air Force Thunderbirds!! Peter was able to get us some passes because one of his bosses is the sister of the #2 pilot and we were fortunate enough to be able to eat with the pilots, talk with them, and get some autographs. The Army Golden Knights parachute team was also there but due to high winds they were not able to perform. We saw my favorite aircraft, the A-10 Warthog, and the Navy's F-18 along with many other smaller aircraft. On the ground we were able to see a C-5, Black hawk helicopter, and a really cool plane that takes off like a helicopter but then rotates it's propellers and becomes an airplane called a Osprey. Caleb was home from the Air Force Academy so he was able to join us and this was an added treat for the boys along with me since we don't get to see him so much and we all LOVE Uncle Caleb!

So as summer comes to a close, we look back with fond memories but look forward to many more that will come this fall. Many park days, exciting trips, and birthdays are just around the corner!!

My Little Man

Stephen has grown up so much this year... I look back at last summer's photos and Stephen still had a baby face. Now I look at him and see a little Peter! It is amazing the transformation kids go though and how when you look at them every day you might miss it. Remember to look back and then you can see how much your little boy grows!

Faces of Scottie

Just loving the end of the summer... and the many faces of Scottie. I cherish these as he is growing so fast!

(Look, Mom, fishies!)

We had a blast when Clarke County had its fair. We went with our friends, Michael and Nicolas, to visit the animals one day and watch the 4-H club show their calves. Then Stephen, Scott and I went back on Friday night and we played on some of the rides, looked at the cows and horses, had some kettle corn, and watched some bull riding. It was great fun to see Stephen in his cowboy hat watching the cowboys try to stay on the bull for 8 seconds and then go nuts if the cowboy stayed on. He had fun watching the clown try to keep the bull away when the guys fell off. Scottie was scared of the bulls at first, which was reasonable since they are so big, but then he ended up having a great time and being right up front just like his brother. The night unfortunately ended early because I had a reaction to something in the air or one of the animals.

We went back on Saturday for discount time, and was also able to watch outlaw lawnmower racing. For those of you who don't live in the Valley, Lawnmower racing is supped up ride on tractors that go super fast and they race them around here. IT is very fun to watch grown men act like kids and take seriously their races. They even sometimes get a little dirty! Scottie liked it except for the noise. They were not only fast but also very loud. It was a good time though. The next event was Demolition Derby. I thought what kind of boy mom would I be if I didn't take my kids to see cars crash each other until they couldn't move? So we rode a few rides and then went back and watched the D.D. The kids got a kick out of this and so did I until I realized actually how dangerous it was. The last battle was between all the winners of the previous rounds and these cars held nothing back. One even flipped one on the side and was left with his back tires off the ground! All in all we had a blast at our fair. Hope the pics let you see what the County Fair in the Valley is like.

Maine trip

We took our annual road trip to Maine about 2 weeks ago. It was beautiful, stressful, and fun all rolled into one bundle of trip. Stephen, Scott and I were joined by my sister, Steph and her son, Marc (4 1/2 months old) for the long trek up through Pennsylvania, Mass, Conneticut, New York, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Maryland and Maine. It took around 15 hours with Steph and I switching back and forth who was driving and who was tending to the kids. We decided to try and drive through the night to help with car time hoping that they would sleep most of the ride. I must say that it worked well, at least for Stephen and... Marc! They did well sleeping in the car but Scottie on the other hand wanted to be out of his seat and not be quiet or sleep most of the night. He was happy most of the time just to hold his Mommy's hand but it was a long drive until he fell asleep most of the end of the trip.We enjoyed time at the "Lakehouse" fishing, boating and throwing rocks in the water. Scott and Marc enjoyed seeing fish that were caught, Stephen and Scottie even tried their hand at fishing. We had a great time playing games, learning a newcard game, Pitch, and playing lots of Greed.

Next we headed up to Presque Isle where Mom and Tim live. The garden was beautiful like always and we were shown somenew verities of veggies. We also went to the Northern Maine Fair and had a great time on the merry- go-round. Mom and Tim served ice cream as a fund raiser for their church.

We did a lot of snuggling Marc on the trip as it was the first week that Steph was without Jarrod full time. She also got sick so to try and keep him healthy Mom and I watched him as much as possible. We had great times making up soothing songs to sing to him while swinging on their porch swing. We were able to celebrate Steph's birthday even though she was just starting to recover from the sickness. Jarrod suprised her with some flowers and I made her a cake!Stephen and Scott took to their Uncle Cameron, Uncle Jeremy, and Aunt Kristen like they saw them every day. Stephen especially loved playing with Uncle Jeremy cause he got lots of video game time with him (Jeremy introduced him to his new favorite game, Pokemon). He also taught him a little about his favorite sport, hockey. It was fun to dress the kids up in his old stuff and watch him teach them about something he is passionate about.

We also took the kids blueberry picking. I love Maine blueberries and so did the boys. They ate handful after handful so it took a little extra time picking. Scottie even ended up with a diaper full of blueberries and a fun diaper rash too! It was a great experience to share with the boys. Mom and I look forward to the time together each year and it was fun to share it with the kids. All in all we had a great time. Steph and I headed back home with the three boys Saturday. We had a great road trip with lots of girl time!

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

I took Steph and Marc to the airport yesterday and sent her back to Seoul, South Korea for another 10 months. I had a great time with my sister while she was here and bonded with Marc over the time we were together. Marc and I hit it off, kinda like he remembered me from the week I was able to spend with him when he was just a month old. While Jarrod was back in Korea about 2 weeks earlier than Steph, I was able to help her out taking care of him and giving her some much needed breaks. Sometimes Marc would be so fussy and within minutes of me singing and rocking him, he would fall asleep in my arms! It was precious! I am so thankful to have this special time with him. I am going to miss the late night singing, card playing, and special sister time with Steph. It was great to see my little sister being such a great Mommy, and sharing the moments of this summer with her. I can't wait to see the changes in my little nephew, him growing, learning to walk, talk, eat and be a little man! I know that Steph andJarrod will do their best by him and lean on God to grow him to the full man he will become! I am so excited to see the changes but a little sad not to be able to witness them myself... Scottand Stephen also are going through a little Marc and Steph withdrawal. Today when we got up and went to the farmers Market, they wondered if Steph and Marc would be coming too. I reminded them we took them to the airport yesterday and with a little sad look they remembered. Steph and Stephen really hit it off and Scott loved Marc to the fullest, even having tantrums when he wasn't allowed to get close as not to give his fever to Marc. I know that even though there are many miles between us, the love our family has for Uncle, Aunt T, and Marc will span the distance many times over.

Thanks for the fun memories and I look forward to next summer with great anticipation for the memories to come. You guys have left great impressions on our family.